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Bravo C, Sarasa M, Bretagnolle V, Pays O. Hedgerows interact with forests to shape the abundance of mesopredators and their predation rate on eggs in farmland landscapes. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 901:165712. [PMID: 37517728 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Nest predation is the main cause of reproductive failure, particularly in ground-nesting birds on farmlands. Understanding the links between nest predation and habitat change can help design effective management schemes to constrain the negative impact of predation pressure on birds. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationships between landscape attributes, predator distribution, and nest predation are still unclear. Here, we use an experimental approach to examine the effects of distance to the hedgerow as well as hedgerow and forest densities on the abundance of major mesopredators of ground nests of our study area (i.e., corvids) and on the predation rate of artificial ground nests (n = 2576). We found evidence that landscape configuration influenced predation patterns differently depending on the predator species. Nest predation by corvids was more likely in homogeneous and open agricultural landscapes with a low density of forest and hedgerows, whereas predation by other predators was more likely close to hedgerows. Nest predation by corvids and the abundance of corvids also tended to be lower in landscapes dominated by grasslands. Other variables such as road density and distance to human settlements had contrasted effects on the likelihood of a nest being depredated by corvids, i.e., no effect with proximity to human settlements and decreasing trend with road density. Altogether, our results suggest that landscape features interact with mesopredator distribution and their predation rates of ground nests. Therefore, from a conservation and management perspective, a heterogeneous agricultural landscape that includes a mixture of crops associated with patches of forests, hedgerows, and grasslands offering alternative food to generalist predators should contribute to reducing ground-nesting bird predation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Bravo
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372, CNRS and La Rochelle Université, F-79360 Beauvoir-sur-, Niort, France; Univ Angers, BIODIVAG, 49000 Angers, France.
| | - Mathieu Sarasa
- BEOPS, 1 Esplanade Compans Caffarelli, 31000, Toulouse, France; Fédération Nationale des Chasseurs, 92136 Issy-les-Moulineaux cedex, France
| | - Vincent Bretagnolle
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372, CNRS and La Rochelle Université, F-79360 Beauvoir-sur-, Niort, France; LTSER «Zone Atelier Plaine & Val de Sèvre», CNRS, 79360, Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Olivier Pays
- Univ Angers, BIODIVAG, 49000 Angers, France; REHABS International Research Laboratory, CNRS-Université Lyon 1-Nelson Mandela University, George Campus, Madiba drive, 6531 George, South Africa
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Delcourt J, Hambuckers A, Vangeluwe D, Poncin P. Fifty years of spring censuses in black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix) in the High Fens (Belgium): did the rabies vaccination has a negative impact on a fox prey population? EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2023; 69:24. [PMID: 36789286 PMCID: PMC9911939 DOI: 10.1007/s10344-023-01642-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
Since 2017, a reinforcement programme was developed to save the last, endangered, Belgian population of black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix), in the High Fens Natural Park. To improve the success of this programme, an analysis of past data of this population was undertaken to understand the causes of its past decline. A time series analysis was applied, using annual spring male census data recorded between 1967 and 2016. In the period 1967-1993, there was a fluctuation around an equilibrium of a population of ca. 40-45 males. The peak of 85 males observed in 1971 was probably due to a succession of several favourable years in terms of environmental conditions, albeit without an exceptional annual growth rate. It seems that fox density, by using the occurrence of rabies as a proxy, has an impact on the black grouse population. After 1993, the population dynamic changed drastically, decreasing continuously until finally reaching quasi-extinction. On average, the population lost 15.4% of its size each year. Climate models, applied in previous studies to explain these population trends in the High Fens, failed to describe this major modification in this population's dynamic and its recent decline. We suggest that this negative effect was mainly induced by a significant increase in predation by red fox (Vulpes vulpes), whose abundance has increased considerably since the 1990s, in particular, as a consequence of the eradication of fox rabies. We also discuss alternative hypotheses, such as the impact of other predator species, modification of the natural environment and climatic modifications. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10344-023-01642-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johann Delcourt
- High Fens Scientific Station (Station Scientifique des Hautes Fagnes), University of Liège, Route de Botrange 137, B-4950 Robertville, Waimes, Belgium ,Behavioural Biology Unit (Prof. P. Poncin), Zoological Institute, University of Liège, Quai Edouard van Beneden 22, B-4020 Liège, Belgium
| | - Alain Hambuckers
- Behavioural Biology Unit (Prof. P. Poncin), Zoological Institute, University of Liège, Quai Edouard van Beneden 22, B-4020 Liège, Belgium
| | - Didier Vangeluwe
- Belgian Ringing Scheme BeBirds, RBINS (IRSNB), Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Pascal Poncin
- High Fens Scientific Station (Station Scientifique des Hautes Fagnes), University of Liège, Route de Botrange 137, B-4950 Robertville, Waimes, Belgium ,Behavioural Biology Unit (Prof. P. Poncin), Zoological Institute, University of Liège, Quai Edouard van Beneden 22, B-4020 Liège, Belgium
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Maag N, Mallord JW, Burgess MD, Lüpold S, Cristinacce A, Arlettaz R, Carlotti S, Davis TM, Grendelmeier A, Orsman CJ, Riess M, Stelbrink P, Pasinelli G. Accounting for predator species identity reveals variable relationships between nest predation rate and habitat in a temperate forest songbird. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e7411. [PMID: 36254300 PMCID: PMC9557003 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Nest predation is the primary cause of nest failure in most ground‐nesting bird species. Investigations of relationships between nest predation rate and habitat usually pool different predator species. However, such relationships likely depend on the specific predator involved, partly because habitat requirements vary among predator species. Pooling may therefore impair our ability to identify conservation‐relevant relationships between nest predation rate and habitat. We investigated predator‐specific nest predation rates in the forest‐dependent, ground‐nesting wood warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix in relation to forest area and forest edge complexity at two spatial scales and to the composition of the adjacent habitat matrix. We used camera traps at 559 nests to identify nest predators in five study regions across Europe. When analyzing predation data pooled across predator species, nest predation rate was positively related to forest area at the local scale (1000 m around nest), and higher where proportion of grassland in the adjacent habitat matrix was high but arable land low. Analyses by each predator species revealed variable relationships between nest predation rates and habitat. At the local scale, nest predation by most predators was higher where forest area was large. At the landscape scale (10,000 m around nest), nest predation by buzzards Buteo buteo was high where forest area was small. Predation by pine martens Martes martes was high where edge complexity at the landscape scale was high. Predation by badgers Meles meles was high where the matrix had much grassland but little arable land. Our results suggest that relationships between nest predation rates and habitat can depend on the predator species involved and may differ from analyses disregarding predator identity. Predator‐specific nest predation rates, and their relationships to habitat at different spatial scales, should be considered when assessing the impact of habitat change on avian nesting success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nino Maag
- Swiss Ornithological InstituteSempachSwitzerland
| | | | | | | | | | - Raphaël Arlettaz
- Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and EvolutionUniversity of BernBernSwitzerland
| | | | | | | | | | - Michael Riess
- Department of BiologyUniversity of MarburgMarburgGermany
| | | | - Gilberto Pasinelli
- Swiss Ornithological InstituteSempachSwitzerland,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZürichSwitzerland
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The potential for analyses of monitoring scheme data to inform about the impacts of invasive on native species. Biol Invasions 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-022-02785-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Sage RB, Hoodless AN, Woodburn MIA, Draycott RAH, Madden JR, Sotherton NW. Summary review and synthesis: effects on habitats and wildlife of the release and management of pheasants and red-legged partridges on UK lowland shoots. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Rufus B. Sage
- R. B. Sage , A. N. Hoodless, M. I. A. Woodburn, R. A. H. Draycott, N. W. Sotherton, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fordingbridge, SP6 1EF, UK
| | - Andrew N. Hoodless
- R. B. Sage , A. N. Hoodless, M. I. A. Woodburn, R. A. H. Draycott, N. W. Sotherton, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fordingbridge, SP6 1EF, UK
| | - Maureen I. A. Woodburn
- R. B. Sage , A. N. Hoodless, M. I. A. Woodburn, R. A. H. Draycott, N. W. Sotherton, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fordingbridge, SP6 1EF, UK
| | - Roger A. H. Draycott
- R. B. Sage , A. N. Hoodless, M. I. A. Woodburn, R. A. H. Draycott, N. W. Sotherton, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fordingbridge, SP6 1EF, UK
| | - Joah R. Madden
- J. R. Madden, Center for Research in Animal Behaviour, Exeter Univ.,, Exeter, UK
| | - Nicolas W. Sotherton
- R. B. Sage , A. N. Hoodless, M. I. A. Woodburn, R. A. H. Draycott, N. W. Sotherton, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fordingbridge, SP6 1EF, UK
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McMahon BJ, Doyle S, Gray A, Kelly SBA, Redpath SM. European bird declines: Do we need to rethink approaches to the management of abundant generalist predators? J Appl Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Barry J. McMahon
- UCD School of Agriculture & Food Science University College Dublin Dublin Ireland
| | - Susan Doyle
- UCD School of Agriculture & Food Science University College Dublin Dublin Ireland
| | - Aimée Gray
- UCD School of Agriculture & Food Science University College Dublin Dublin Ireland
| | - Seán B. A. Kelly
- UCD School of Agriculture & Food Science University College Dublin Dublin Ireland
| | - Steve M. Redpath
- School of Biological Sciences University of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK
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Feber RE, Johnson PJ, Macdonald DW. Shooting pheasants for sport: What does the death of Cecil tell us? PEOPLE AND NATURE 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ruth E. Feber
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Recanati‐Kaplan Centre Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
| | - Paul J. Johnson
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Recanati‐Kaplan Centre Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
| | - David W. Macdonald
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Recanati‐Kaplan Centre Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
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