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Marcelino J, Moreira F, Franco AMA, Soriano-Redondo A, Acácio M, Gauld J, Rego FC, Silva JP, Catry I. Flight altitudes of a soaring bird suggest landfill sites as power line collision hotspots. J Environ Manage 2021; 294:113149. [PMID: 34218073 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic structures are increasingly encroaching wildlife habitats, creating conflicts between humans and animals. Scaling up renewable energy requires new infrastructures such as power lines, that cause high mortality among birds since they act as obstacles to flight and are used for perching and nesting, which can result in collisions or electrocutions. These interactions often endanger wildlife populations and may also result in high financial costs for companies. Flight behaviour plays a crucial role in collision risk, and the study of flight altitudes enables us to understand what drives birds to fly at collision risk altitudes. This allows the identification of high-risk areas, conditions and bird behaviours, and the implementation of mitigation measures by power line companies. In this study, we use boosted random tree modelling to identify drivers of white stork (Ciconia ciconia) flight altitudes and to investigate the factors that lead them to fly at collision risk altitudes. We found that the main drivers of flight altitude for this soaring bird species were time of day, distance to the nearest landfill site and cloud cover density. Bird age, habitat type and season were comparatively less important. Collision risk increases during crepuscular hours near landfill sites, also in days with high cloud cover density and during the breeding season. In recent years, hundreds to thousands of storks congregate daily at landfill sites to take advantage of the predictability and superabundance of anthropogenic food waste. Some of these sites have high density of power lines, becoming collision risk hotspots for storks and other landfill users. Despite being susceptible to collision, our results suggest that white storks can avoid power lines to a certain extent, by changing their flight altitude at ca. 80 m from these structures. This study shows that the implementation of mitigation measures for existing power lines should be prioritized in areas in the vicinity of landfill sites within white stork distribution ranges, and the projection of new lines should avoid those areas. These measures would benefit species vulnerable to mortality due to power line collision, and it would also reduce associated power outages and economic costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Marcelino
- Centre for Applied Ecology "Prof. Baeta Neves" (CEABN-InBIO), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.
| | - Francisco Moreira
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal; CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal; REN Biodiversity Chair, CIBIO/InBIO-UP, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Aldina M A Franco
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Andrea Soriano-Redondo
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal; CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Marta Acácio
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Jethro Gauld
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Francisco Castro Rego
- Centre for Applied Ecology "Prof. Baeta Neves" (CEABN-InBIO), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal
| | - João Paulo Silva
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal; CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal; REN Biodiversity Chair, CIBIO/InBIO-UP, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Inês Catry
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal; CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal; REN Biodiversity Chair, CIBIO/InBIO-UP, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal.
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Marcelino J, Silva JP, Gameiro J, Silva A, Rego FC, Moreira F, Catry I. Extreme events are more likely to affect the breeding success of lesser kestrels than average climate change. Sci Rep 2020; 10:7207. [PMID: 32350294 PMCID: PMC7190627 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64087-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change is predicted to severely impact interactions between prey, predators and habitats. In Southern Europe, within the Mediterranean climate, herbaceous vegetation achieves its maximum growth in middle spring followed by a three-month dry summer, limiting prey availability for insectivorous birds. Lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) breed in a time-window that matches the nestling-rearing period with the peak abundance of grasshoppers and forecasted climate change may impact reproductive success through changes in prey availability and abundance. We used Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as a surrogate of habitat quality and prey availability to investigate the impacts of forecasted climate change and extreme climatic events on lesser kestrel breeding performance. First, using 14 years of data from 15 colonies in Southwestern Iberia, we linked fledging success and climatic variables with NDVI, and secondly, based on these relationships and according to climatic scenarios for 2050 and 2070, forecasted NDVI and fledging success. Finally, we evaluated how fledging success was influenced by drought events since 2004. Despite predicting a decrease in vegetation greenness in lesser kestrel foraging areas during spring, we found no impacts of predicted gradual rise in temperature and decline in precipitation on their fledging success. Notwithstanding, we found a decrease of 12% in offspring survival associated with drought events, suggesting that a higher frequency of droughts might, in the future, jeopardize the recent recovery of the European population. Here, we show that extreme events, such as droughts, can have more significant impacts on species than gradual climatic changes, especially in regions like the Mediterranean Basin, a biodiversity and climate change hotspot.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Marcelino
- Centre for Applied Ecology "Prof. Baeta Neves"/InBIO Associate Laboratory, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - J P Silva
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal
- REN Biodiversity Chair, CIBIO/InBIO-UP, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal
| | - J Gameiro
- cE3c, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - A Silva
- Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, I.P., Rua C do Aeroporto, 1749-077, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - F C Rego
- Centre for Applied Ecology "Prof. Baeta Neves"/InBIO Associate Laboratory, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - F Moreira
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal
- REN Biodiversity Chair, CIBIO/InBIO-UP, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal
| | - I Catry
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-601, Vairão, Portugal
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Laboratório Associado, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal
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