Globally, vultures are one of the most threatened of all groups of birds. European vulture populations are benefited by several anthropogenic food sources such as landfills. Current European Union directives aim to decrease the amount of organic matter dumped in landfills, reducing this important food source for some vulture species. In this context, we assessed the effect of the reduction of organic waste available and accessible for scavengers in a landfill on the visitation probability and abundance of a local Eurasian Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus population in Central Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula), using a long-term dataset of captured-marked-recaptured individuals in the period 2012–2018. Our results indicated a decrease in the visitation probability due to a significant reduction of organic matter dumped into the landfill after a waste treatment centre was built (0.82 to 0.76) that may cause a permanent emigration of vultures in response to food reduction. However, the estimated annual abundance of vultures tended to grow over time due to the positive trend that regional vulture populations have experienced in recent decades. These results suggest that population processes occurring at regional scales are more relevant to vulture populations than local waste management measures. A reduction in locally available food can make a site less attractive, but species with high dispersal capacity such as vultures may overcome this issue by moving to other suitable sites. Although Griffon Vultures obtain most of the food from domestic and wild ungulates, a regional application of European directives could threaten an important alternative feeding source, especially in food shortage seasons where landfills could be supporting the energetic requirements of the species. Conservation strategies should be planned to counteract the possible negative effects of new European directives on scavenger populations.

在全球范围内，秃鹫是所有鸟类中受威胁最严重的鸟类之一。欧洲秃鹫种群受益于几种人为食物来源，例如垃圾填埋场。目前的欧盟指令旨在减少垃圾填埋场倾倒的有机物质的数量，从而减少一些秃鹫物种的重要食物来源。在这种情况下，我们评估了垃圾填埋场中拾荒者可利用和可接触的有机废物的减少对当地欧亚狮鹫Gyps fulvus的访问概率和丰度的影响。使用 2012 年至 2018 年期间捕获-标记-重新捕获个体的长期数据集对加泰罗尼亚中部（伊比利亚半岛东北部）的人口进行了统计。我们的结果表明，由于废物处理中心建成后倾倒入垃圾填埋场的有机物显着减少（0.82至0.76），访问概率下降，这可能会导致秃鹫因食物减少而永久迁出。然而，由于近几十年来区域秃鹫种群呈现出积极的趋势，估计秃鹫的年度数量往往会随着时间的推移而增加。这些结果表明，与当地废物管理措施相比，区域范围内发生的种群过程与秃鹫种群的相关性更大。当地食物的减少会降低一个地方的吸引力，但秃鹫等具有高扩散能力的物种可以通过迁移到其他合适的地点来克服这个问题。尽管秃鹫从家养和野生有蹄类动物那里获取大部分食物，但欧洲指令的区域性应用可能会威胁到重要的替代食物来源，特别是在食物短缺季节，垃圾填埋场可以满足该物种的能量需求。应制定保护策略，以抵消欧洲新指令对食腐动物种群可能产生的负面影响。特别是在食物短缺季节，垃圾填埋场可以满足该物种的能量需求。应制定保护策略，以抵消欧洲新指令对食腐动物种群可能产生的负面影响。特别是在食物短缺季节，垃圾填埋场可以满足该物种的能量需求。应制定保护策略，以抵消欧洲新指令对食腐动物种群可能产生的负面影响。