Biodiversity and Conservation ( IF 3.4 ) Pub Date : 2020-01-31 , DOI: 10.1007/s10531-020-01942-6 Eneko Arrondo , Ana Sanz-Aguilar , Juan Manuel Pérez-García , Ainara Cortés-Avizanda , José Antonio Sánchez-Zapata , José Antonio Donázar
Abstract
Events of non-natural mortality in human-dominated landscapes are especially challenging for populations of large vertebrates with K strategies. Among birds, vultures are one of the most threatened groups experiencing sharp population declines due to non-natural mortality. Factors causing non-natural mortality are usually studied separately. However, the potential use of an integrated index able to predict large-scale mortality risks of avian scavengers could be especially useful for planning conservation strategies. Here, we used the Human Footprint index to examine the impact of landscape anthropization on the survival rates of 66 GPS-tagged adult Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) in two Spanish regions. Foraging in more anthropized areas resulted in a significantly higher individual mortality risk mainly due to collisions with vehicles, poisonings, electrocutions and fatalities with wind turbines. Mean yearly survival rates were estimated at 0.817 ± 0.043 SE and 0.968 ± 0.018 SE for individuals from the more and less anthropized regions, respectively. Additional research should investigate whether some vulture populations could be acting as sinks unnoticed due to metapopulation dynamics. From a broader point of view, our study shows that a straightforward Human Footprint was a useful index to predict the survival of top scavengers and can be highly applicable to planning large-scale conservation measures.
中文翻译:
景观人类化影响顶级清道夫的生存
摘要
对于采用K策略的大型脊椎动物种群而言,人类主导景观中非自然死亡的事件尤其具有挑战性。在鸟类中,秃鹰是受到非自然死亡而种群急剧减少的最受威胁的群体之一。通常会单独研究导致非自然死亡的因素。但是,潜在地使用能够预测禽类清道夫大规模死亡风险的综合指数可能对规划保护策略特别有用。在这里,我们使用人类足迹指数来研究景观人类化对66个GPS标记的成年欧亚狮riff秃G(Gyps fulvus)在两个西班牙地区。在更多的人类地区觅食导致个人死亡风险显着增加,这主要是由于与车辆相撞,中毒,触电和风力涡轮机造成的死亡。来自或多或少人类化地区的个体的平均年生存率分别估计为0.817±0.043 SE和0.968±0.018 SE。进一步的研究应该调查由于种群动态,某些秃鹰种群是否可能充当未注意到的汇。从更广泛的角度来看,我们的研究表明,直接的人类足迹是预测顶级清除剂存活的有用指标,并且可以高度适用于计划大规模的保护措施。