11 research outputs found
Genetic structure of a patchily distributed philopatric migrant: implications for management and conservation
No full textSignificant demographic fluctuations can have major genetic consequences in wild populations. The lesser kestrel
(Falco naumanni) has suffered both population declines and range fragmentation during the second half of the 20
century. In this study we analysed multilocus microsatellite data to assess the genetic structure of the species. Our
analysis revealed significant genetic structuring of lesser kestrel populations, not only at the cross-continental scale,
but also regionally within the Central and Eastern (CE) Mediterranean region. We detected signs of genetic bottlenecks
in some of the peripheral populations coupled with small effective population sizes. Values of genetic differentiation
among the largest populations were low, albeit significant, whereas the small peripheral CE Mediterranean populations
showed higher levels of differentiation from all other populations. Gene flow levels were relatively low among the
discontinuously
distributed
populations
of
the
CE
Mediterranean
region.
We
argue
that
the
observed
spatial
genetic structure can be attributed at some level to the past demographic decline
experienced by the species.
Finally,
we
identify
management
units
in
the
region,
and
inform
the
design
of
conservation
actions
aimed
at
the
increase
of population sizes and dispersal rates among peripheral populations.
t
Comparison on the Prey Remains of Reintroduced Lesser Kestrels (Falco naumanni Fleischer, 1818) Colonies in Bulgaria
No full textThis study presents preliminary data on the diet composition of reintroduced Lesser Kestrels (Falco naumanni) in two restored colonies in Bulgaria—near Stara Zagora and in the Sakar Mountains at Levka village—based on pellet analysis. A total of 103 and 48 identifiable prey items (occurrences in the pellets) were recovered from the respective sites. Insects (particularly Coleoptera) dominated the diet at both colonies, but some differences were observed in the occurrence of vertebrate prey. Birds (Aves) were the second most common category in Stara Zagora, while small mammals (Mammalia) were more prevalent in Sakar. Annelids were detected only in Stara Zagora, and millipedes (Diplopoda) only in Sakar. Synthetic materials were found in pellets from Stara Zagora, suggesting plastic ingestion. Levins’ index indicated similar niche breadths (1.915 vs. 2.008), and Pianka’s index showed a high dietary overlap (0.981), pointing to broadly similar trophic preferences despite local prey availability
Potential threats posed by the wind power industry on the Lesser Kestrel: a continental-scale assessment
No full textRehabilitation and release of White-tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) in Bulgaria: A case study
No full textVolume: 13Start Page: 1End Page: 1
Non-breeding Range in Sahel of Lesser Kestrels Originating From Recovered Bulgarian Population
No full textMain mortality factors for the Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca Savigny, 1809) in Bulgaria
No full textThe Eastern Imperial Eagle is a globally threatened species, represented with not more than 35–40 pairs in Bulgaria. As a facultative scavenger feeding on carcasses and parts of dead domestic and wild animals, this species is extremely vulnerable to poisonous baits and toxic agents, intentionally or accidentally set up in its food. The present study identified electrocution and poisoning as the main mortality factors for the eagles in Bulgaria. We analysed a total of 56 cases among which 44 cases were related to the mortality of non-territorial eagles in different age classes, and we found 12 dead or distressed territorial birds recorded between 1992–2019. The main mortality factor was electrocution, accounted for 30.4% of fatalities. The poisoning was the cause of mortality in 12.5% of the non-territorial and 10.7% of the breeding birds. Some of the cases were laboratory confirmed as intoxication, while the others, based on the history, clinical symptoms and field evidence, indicated poisoning. The most commonly used toxic agents were anticholinesterase’s inhibitors. As a result of a timely therapy applied to the live birds found in distress with symptoms of poisoning, six eagles were successfully treated and released back in the wild. We found that mortality of eagles depended on the age of birds, breeding or dispersal grounds, while season had no significant effect
Genetic structure of a patchily distributed philopatric migrant: Implications for management and conservation
No full textSignificant demographic fluctuations can have major genetic consequences in wild populations. The lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) has suffered both population declines and range fragmentation during the second half of the 20th century. In this study we analysed multilocus microsatellite data to assess the genetic structure of the species. Our analysis revealed significant genetic structuring of lesser kestrel populations, not only at the cross-continental scale, but also regionally within the Central and Eastern (CE) Mediterranean region. We detected signs of genetic bottlenecks in some of the peripheral populations coupled with small effective population sizes. Values of genetic differentiation among the largest populations were low, albeit significant, whereas the small peripheral CE Mediterranean populations showed higher levels of differentiation from all other populations. Gene flow levels were relatively low among the discontinuously distributed populations of the CE Mediterranean region. We argue that the observed spatial genetic structure can be attributed at some level to the past demographic decline experienced by the species. Finally, we identify management units in the region, and inform the design of conservation actions aimed at the increase of population sizes and dispersal rates among peripheral populations.We are grateful to Action for Wildlife and ANIMA rehabilitation centres, the Lesser Kestrel Recovery project team (LIFE11 NAT/BG/360), J. Hernandez-Pliego and G. Giglio for helping with sample collection. D. Vavylis, G. Vakis and E. Toli assisted with fieldwork. LIFE for the Lesser Kestrel project team (LIFE+ 11 NAT/GR/1011), and namely K. Vlachopoulos, S. Polymeros and A. This study was financially supported by a scholarship awarded to A.B. by the A.G. Leventis Foundation
Broad‐front migration leads to strong migratory connectivity in the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni)
No full textAim: Migratory animals regularly move between often distant breeding and non‐breeding ranges. Knowledge about how these ranges are linked by movements of individuals from different populations is crucial for unravelling temporal variability in population spatial structuring and for identifying environmental drivers of population dynamics acting at different spatio‐temporal scales. We performed a large‐scale individual‐based migration tracking study of an Afro‐Palaearctic migratory raptor, to determine the patterns of migratory connectivity of European breeding populations. Location: Europe, Africa. Methods: Migration data were recorded using different devices (geolocators, satellite transmitters, Global Positioning System dataloggers) from 87 individuals breeding in the three core European populations, located in the Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas. We estimated connectivity by the Mantel correlation coefficient (rM), and computed both the degree of separation between the non‐breeding areas of individuals from the same population (i.e. the population spread) and the relative size of the non‐breeding range (i.e. the non‐breeding range spread). Results: European lesser kestrels migrated on a broad front across the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert, with different populations using different routes. Iberian birds migrated to western Sahel (Senegal, Mauritania, western Mali), Balkan birds migrated chiefly to central‐eastern Sahel (Niger, Nigeria, Chad), whereas Italian ones spread from eastern Mali to Nigeria. Spatial differentiation of non‐breeding areas led to a strong migratory connectivity (rM = .58), associated with a relatively high population (637 km) and non‐breeding range (1,149 km) spread. Main conclusions: Our comprehensive analysis of the non‐breeding distribution of European lesser kestrel populations revealed a strong migratory connectivity, a rare occurrence in long‐distance avian migrants. The geographical conformation of the species’ breeding and non‐breeding ranges, together with broad‐front migration across ecological barriers, promoted the differentiation of migratory routes and non‐breeding areas. Strong connectivity could then arise because of both high population spread and broad non‐breeding range.CLH; FCC Energía/Enerstar Villena S.A.; Alcalá de Henares Municipality; EDF Énergies Nouvelles S.A.; EuroNatur; Fundación Iberdrola España, Grant/Award Number: Project Migra; MAVA Foundation; French Ministry of Ecology, Grant/Award Number: Lesser Kestrel National Action Plan; Greek Green Fund; European Commission, Grant/Award Number: LIFE11 NAT/IT/000068, LIFE11 NAT/BG/000360 and NAT/GR/001011; Córdoba Zoo; Seiit‐R‐4; Consejería de Agricultura, Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural de Castilla‐La Mancha; MIUR, Grant/Award Number: PRIN 2010‐2011/20180‐TZKHC
Tracking data highlight the importance of human-induced mortality for large migratory birds at a flyway scale
No full textJ. Serratosa et al.Human-induced direct mortality affects huge numbers of birds each year, threatening hundreds of species worldwide. Tracking technologies can be an important tool to investigate temporal and spatial patterns of bird mortality as well as their drivers. We compiled 1704 mortality records from tracking studies across the African-Eurasian flyway for 45 species, including raptors, storks, and cranes, covering the period from 2003 to 2021. Our results show a higher frequency of human-induced causes of mortality than natural causes across taxonomic groups, geographical areas, and age classes. Moreover, we found that the frequency of human-induced mortality remained stable over the study period. From the human-induced mortality events with a known cause (n = 637), three main causes were identified: electrocution (40.5 %), illegal killing (21.7 %), and poisoning (16.3 %). Additionally, combined energy infrastructure-related mortality (i.e., electrocution, power line collision, and wind-farm collision) represented 49 % of all human-induced mortality events. Using a random forest model, the main predictors of human-induced mortality were found to be taxonomic group, geographic location (latitude and longitude), and human footprint index value at the location of mortality. Despite conservation efforts, human drivers of bird mortality in the African-Eurasian flyway do not appear to have declined over the last 15 years for the studied group of species. Results suggest that stronger conservation actions to address these threats across the flyway can reduce their impacts on species. In particular, projected future development of energy infrastructure is a representative example where application of planning, operation, and mitigation measures can enhance bird conservation.WCS Tanzania are grateful to the Wyss Foundation and Disney Conservation Fund for funding our vulture monitoring program. Aldina M. A. Franco's work was financed by the FEDER Funds through the Operational Competitiveness Factors Program — COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project Birds on the move ‘POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028176’, by InBIO (UID/BIA/50027/2013 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006821), and by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), via the EnvEast DTP, and NERC and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), via the NEXUSS CDT Training in the Smart and Autonomous Observation of the Environment. Funding for the development of the GPS tracking devices was provided by NERC (NE/K006312), Norwich Research Park Translational Fund, University of East Anglia Innovation Funds and Earth and Life Systems Alliance funds. Andrea Santangeli acknowledges support from the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions individual fellowships (Grant no. 101027534). Alessandro Andreotti thanks for the funding received by the European Commission through the Egyptian vulture LIFE project “Measures for the conservation of the Egyptian vulture in Italy and in the Canary Islands” (LIFE16/NAT/IT/000659) and the support provided by Carabinieri Forestali, Stazione Ornitologica Calabrese and De Rerum Natura. Tagging and tracking of Eleonora's falcons from Greece were conducted in the framework of the projects ‘LIFE13 NAT/GR/000909 Conservation measures to assist the adaptation of Falco eleonorae to climate change’ with the financial support of the European Union LIFE Instrument and the Green Fund and ‘Survey and Conservation of Seabirds in Greece’ funded by A.G. Leventis foundation. We would like to thank Marion Gschweng, Jakob Fric and Thord Fransson for assistance in field surveys and bird handling. The latter complied with current laws in Greece. The Ministry of Environment and Energy (Greece) kindly granted permission for capturing and tagging Eleonora's falcons (License numbers: 6ΧΨΑ0-ΟΚΤ, Ψ9Θ24653Π8-ΡΤ3). This is contribution No. 39 from Antikythira Bird Observatory – Hellenic Ornithological Society/BirdLife Greece. Flavio Monti acknowledges support from “Progetto Falco pescatore" (and project collaborators) and wants to thank the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, the Maremma Regional Park, the Diaccia Botrona Natural Reserve, the WWF Orbetello Lagoon Natural Reserve and the WWF Orti-Bottagone Marsh Natural Reserve, under the Tuscany Region administration, in Italy. Joan Real and Antonio Hernández-Matías are deeply grateful to Grup de Naturalistes d'Osona-ICHN, Grup d'Anellament de Calldetenes-Osona (GACO), Servei de Biodiversitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Ferrovial S.A., Consoci per a la Gestió de Residus Urbans d'Osona, Ministerio de Transición ecológica of Spain (V. Matarranz and A. Díaz). Funding was provided by project PID2020-117909RBI00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 from the National Plan of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and Red Eléctrica de España SAU, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera and Diputación de Barcelona. Joao L. Guilherme was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions grant agreement no. 766417. Beneharo Rodríguez thanks SEO/BirdLife as the organization leading the project of Barbary Falcon GPS-PTT tagging on Lanzarote.
Çağan H. Şekercioğlu and Kyle D. Kittelberger are grateful to Turkey's Department of Nature Conservation and National Parks and the Iğdır Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for providing us with the permits used for this study. Conservation Ecology Lab at the University of Utah School of Biological Sciences. Research permission in Tanzania was granted by the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, Tanzania National Parks and Tanzania Wildlife Authority. NCST/5/002/R/817. Vulture research in southern Tanzania was funded by North Carolina Zoo and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Corinne J. Kendall and collaborators are very grateful for the donor support provided by Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction), Dallas Zoo, Disney Conservation Fund, Leiden Conservation Foundation, National Geographic Society, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, and The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. Many thanks to Singira Ngoishiye, TAWA Selous Game Reserve, for their invaluable contributions to ensure successful deployment of satellite tags. Work in Selous Game Reserve (now Nyerere National Park) was conducted in collaboration with Frankfurt Zoological Society, and we appreciate their support. Corinne J. Kendall tagged vultures in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya as part of The Peregrine Fund's Pan African Raptor Conservation Program as part of her PhD at Princeton University and thanks Narok County Council, Mara Conservancy and neighbouring group ranches as well as Africa Eco-camps, Kenya Wildlife Service, National Museums of Kenya, Simon Thomsett, Wilson and Jon Masek, and Wilson Kilong. Work was covered under permit NCST/5/002/R/448 issued by the National Council for Science and Technology.
Damijan Denac thanks Comita d.d. and Elektro Ljubljana d.d. for supporting White Stork telemetry in Slovenia. David R. Barber is grateful to Wallace Research Foundation, The Acopian Family, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, VulPro (South Africa), Clive Barlow, The Gambian Department of Parks and Wildlife Management, Endangered Wildlife Trust (South Africa). Evan Buechley would like to thank the following collaborators that enabled tracking of Egyptian Vultures: KuzeyDoğa Society (Turkey), Iğdır Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks (Turkey), American University of Armenia, Ethiopia Wildlife Conservation Authority, Ethiopia Wildlife and Natural History Society, and our colleagues who assisted with Egyptian vulture trapping, including Emrah Çoban, Lale Aktay, Kayahan Ağırkaya, Berkan Demir, Mete Türkoğlu (Turkey); Anush Khachatrian, Garo Kurginyan (Armenia); Sisay Seyfu, Alazar Daka Rufo, Yilma Dellelegn Abebe, Girma Ayalew (Ethiopia). This work was financially supported by the US National Science Foundation, the Christensen Fund, National Geographic Society, the Whitley Fund for Nature, Faruk Yalçın Zoo and KuzeyDoğa’s donors, Turkey’s Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, NorthStar Science and Technology, HawkWatch International, the University of Utah, and The Peregrine Fund. Gradimir Gradev acknowledges funding by Project LIFE for Lesser Kestrel, LIFE19 NAT/BG/001017. Hristo Peshev thanks funding provided by the projects; ‘Recovery of the Populations of Large European Vultures in Bulgaria’ (LIFE08 NAT/BG/000278), ‘Vultures back to LIFE - Bright Future for Black Vulture in Bulgaria’ (LIFE14 NAT/BG/000649) funded by the European Union and project ‘Saving the Balkans’ last vultures: introducing Vulture Safe Areas as a model for scavenger conservation in the Anthropocene’ funded by Whitley Fund for Nature. Inês Catry was funded by contract 2021.03224.CEECIND. Funding for the work on rough-legged buzzards in Norway was provided by the Norwegian Environment Agency and the Environment departments at the Office of the County Governors of Troms and Finnmark, Trøndelag, Innlandet, Vestfold and Telemark, Oslo and Viken, Agder and Vestland. Ivan Pokrovsky is very grateful to everyone who helped collecting data in the field. This study was funded by the Max-Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the German Air and Space Administration (DLR). Partial funding was provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – EXC 2117–422037984. Tagging of common cranes in Estonia was supported by institutional research funding (IUT21-1) at the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, by the Environmental Investment Centre Projects 2015–2017, and by Research Development Projects from Estonian University of Life Sciences.
A significant proportion of the GPS birds provided by Ana Bermejo-Bermejo and Javier de la Puente were marked as part of the Migra programme developed by SEO/BirdLife between 2011 and 2021 and funded by Fundación Iberdrola España. José M. Fernández-García thanks rangers and practitioners from Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (Í. Mendiola, A. Lekuona, F. Diez, M. Olano, F. Ansorregi, E. Iriarte, J. Ugarte, A. Galdos, T. Aierbe, J. Vazquez, H. Beñaran) who performed most of the fieldwork. Licenses were issued by Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa. Technical support by SEO/BirdLife, IREC and governments of Aragón and Navarre. Funding was provided by Interreg POCTEFA Ecogyp (EFA 089/15). Julien Terraube thanks Dr. Beatriz Arroyo for assistance with data collection. The telemetry of Montagu's Harrier in the Czech Republic was supported by the European Union under the Operational Program Environment, project No. CZ.05.4.27/0.0/0.0/19_130/0010743. Lindy Thompson would like to thank John Davies, Colin Rowles, The Endangered Wildlife Trust and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Ethical approval was granted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Animal Ethics Subcommittee (AREC/094/015PD). Fieldwork was done with provincial research permits (ZA/LP/HO/2937, MPB. 5557 and MPB. 5581). Mansoor H. AlJahdhami thanks the Office for Conservation of the Environment, Diwan of Royal Court. Manuel Galán is grateful to Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y Reto Demográfico. Marcin Tobolka thanks funding from National Science Centre (Poland), 2016/23/D/NZ8/01902. Oliver Krone thanks the “Eagle Club”, Estonia. Orr Spiegel acknowledges funding by the Binational Science Foundation (BSF) 822/2019 grant. Pauline L. Kamath thanks support from NSF-BSF Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) Grant 2015904; USDA—National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Project Nos. ME021908 and ME022402 to PLK. Peter Palatitz was funded by LIFE11/NAT/HU/000926 and would like to thank Zsófia Nyerjak-Sumegi, Eva Horvath, Szabolcs Solt and Dr. Peter Fehervari for their help. Rainer Raab thanks the support from LIFE EUROKITE project (LIFE18 NAT/AT/000048). Ralph Buij, Richard Stratton Hatfield, and Shiv Kapila would like to thank the Narok County Government, National Museums of Kenya, the Wildlife Research and Training Institute and the Kenya Wildlife Service for their support of this project. Our work would not have been possible without the field expertise of Simon Thomsett and Lemein Parmuntoro and the technical expertise of the late Theo Gerrits. Finally, we are grateful for the support and help accorded by numerous camps and individuals within the Mara who made this work possible. Ralph Buij wishes to thank the Province of Flevoland for providing financial support for the Marsh Harrier study. Ralph Buij and Kjell Janssens thank Gerard Müskens, Reinhard Vohwinkel, Jan Nagel, Jacques van der Ploeg, and the NOP Birds of Prey Working Group for their cooperation. They acknowledge funding through the WUR Knowledge Base Program: KB36 Biodiversity in a Nature-Inclusive Society (project number KB36-5200044844) - which is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Ran Nathan thanks the Minerva Centre for Movement Ecology and Grants BSF-255/2008, BSF-904/2015, DIP NA 846/1-1, GIF-999-66.8/2008, JNF-KKL 14-093-01-6, ISF 2525/16 to RN for their kind support. Ron Efrat thanks people who helped with field work in Israel, especially to Walter Neser and Korin Reznikov. This work was supported by grant no. I-1465-413.13/2018 of the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF). Ron Efrat was supported by the Israeli Academy of Science's Adams Fellowship and the Ben-Gurion University's Negev Fellowship. Thanks to Professor Oded Berger-Tal for his help leading the Egyptian vulture project in Israel. Salim Javed would like to thank the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi for their support. Simeon A. Marin thanks the Project Greater chance for Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) in Bulgaria - Lesser Kestrel Recovery, LIFE11 NAT/BG/360. Šimon Krejčí was supported by the University of Veterinary Sciences Brno grant no. IGA 204/2023/FVHE. Steffen Oppel and Volen Arkumarev highlight that their work was carried out in the framework of the LIFE projects “The Return of the Neophron” (LIFE10 NAT/BG/000152) and “Egyptian Vulture New LIFE” (LIFE16 NAT/BG/000874, www.LifeNeophron.eu) funded by the European Union and co-funded by the A. G. Leventis Foundation, MAVA Foundation, and the BirdLife GEF/UNDP Migratory Soaring Birds project. Steven R. Ewing would like to thank the private individuals and organisations that funded the RSPB's Hen Harrier tagging programme, particularly the European Commission's LIFE programme through the Hen Harrier LIFE project (LIFE13 NAT/UK/000258), Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF), Lothian and Borders Raptor Study Group, Lush Retail Limited, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish and Southern Energy and the Welsh Government. We thank past and present RSPB staff that were involved in the LIFE project, as well as the licenced raptor workers, taggers and members of NERF and the Scottish Raptor Study Groups (too many to name individually) who monitored harrier breeding attempts and facilitated tagging efforts, as well as the many land managers and owners that permitted access to their land. Tracking of Imperial eagle in Bulgaria was funded by the LIFE Program of the European Union under the project “Conservation of Imperial Eagle and Saker Falcon in key Natura 2000 sites in Bulgaria” (LIFE07 NAT/BG/000068). Tomáš Veselovský acknowledges support from the Pannon Eagle LIFE project (LIFE15/NAT/HU/000902).
Tagging of short-toed eagles in Italy was funded by Parco Regionale Gallipoli Cognato e Piccole Dolomiti Lucane. Wayne M. Getz was funded by the National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 1617982; United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 904/2015. Rigas Tsiakiris is grateful to the FWFF-Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna (https://www.fwff.org/) with special thanks to Hristo Peshev and Emilian Stoynov for their technical support and advice. Sonja Krüger would like to thank Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Maloti Drakensberg Transfrontier project for their support. Pietro Serroni would like to thank GREFA for their support and collaboration throughout the reintroduction project, Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica for funding the gps tracking activity, Dipartimento Ambiente - Regione Calabria for funding the reintroduction project, and Dr. Giuseppe Cortone for ringing and marking of birds. Stoycho Stoychev would like to thank Dimitar Demerdzhiev.
Ülo Väli acknowledges support from the EC LIFE programme (project LIFE04NAT/EE/000072), Estonian Environmental Investments Centre (Projects No. 15432 and 15632), the Estonian Environmental Board, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Project no. 79-2017) and the Estonian University of Life Sciences (Project No. P180271). Tracking of saker falcons in Slovakia was funded by the LIFE projects LIFE09 NAT/HU/000384 Conservation of Falco cherrug in NE Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, and LIFE06 NAT/H/000096 Conservation of saker (Falco cherrug) in the Carpathian Basin. Vladimír Nemček would like to thank Jozef Chavko, Lucia Deutschová, Boris Maderič, Marcel Uhrin, Michal Noga, Mátyás Prommer, David Horal, Martin Dobrý and local ornithologists from Bulgaria and Germany, who helped us in the field and provided information for us. Support for title page creation and format was provided by AuthorArranger, a tool developed at the National Cancer Institute. We would also like to thank Jonas Waldenström and BirdLife International science team for their help and support.Peer reviewe
Tracking data highlight the importance of human-induced mortality for large migratory birds at a flyway scale
No full textHuman-induced direct mortality affects huge numbers of birds each year, threatening hundreds of species worldwide. Tracking technologies can be an important tool to investigate temporal and spatial patterns of bird mortality as well as their drivers. We compiled 1704 mortality records from tracking studies across the African-Eurasian flyway for 45 species, including raptors, storks, and cranes, covering the period from 2003 to 2021. Our results show a higher frequency of human-induced causes of mortality than natural causes across taxonomic groups, geographical areas, and age classes. Moreover, we found that the frequency of human-induced mortality remained stable over the study period. From the human-induced mortality events with a known cause (n = 637), three main causes were identified: electrocution (40.5 %), illegal killing (21.7 %), and poisoning (16.3 %). Additionally, combined energy infrastructure-related mortality (i.e., electrocution, power line collision, and wind-farm collision) represented 49 % of all human-induced mortality events. Using a random forest model, the main predictors of human-induced mortality were found to be taxonomic group, geographic location (latitude and longitude), and human footprint index value at the location of mortality. Despite conservation efforts, human drivers of bird mortality in the African-Eurasian flyway do not appear to have declined over the last 15 years for the studied group of species. Results suggest that stronger conservation actions to address these threats across the flyway can reduce their impacts on species. In particular, projected future development of energy infrastructure is a representative example where application of planning, operation, and mitigation measures can enhance bird conservation.publishedVersio
