Conservation Strategies and Habitat Management for European Forest Birds

Summary Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus and Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus are open-country birds of prey with overlapping distributions. Although both species face similar conservation threats across their ranges, work to date has largely been undertaken at a national scale with few attempts to collate and assess factors relevant to their conservation at an international scale. Here we use an expert knowledge approach to evaluate the impact of conservation threats and the effectiveness of conservation strategies for each species across Europe. We report results of responses to a questionnaire from 23 Hen Harrier experts from nine countries and 12 Short-eared Owl experts from six countries. The majority of responses for both species reported declines in breeding numbers. The perceived impact of threats was broadly similar for both species: ecological factors (predation, extreme weather and prey availability), changes in land use (habitat loss and agricultural intensification) and indirect persecution (accidental nest destruction) were considered to be the greatest threats to breeding Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl. Short-eared Owl experts also highlighted lack of knowledge and difficulties associated with monitoring as a major conservation challenge. Despite broad-scale similarities, geographical variation was also apparent in the perceived importance of conservation threats, with some threats (such as direct persecution, large-scale afforestation or habitat degradation) requiring country-specific actions. Implementation of different conservation strategies also varied between countries, with the designation of protected areas reported as the most widespread conservation strategy adopted, followed by species and habitat management. However, protected areas (including species-specific protected areas) were perceived to be less effective than active management of species and habitats. These findings highlight the overlap between the conservation requirements of these two species, and the need for collaborative international research and conservation approaches that prioritise pro-active conservation strategies subject to continued assessment and with specific conservation goals.

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Responses to the black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) invasion differ between habitat specialists and generalists in central European forest birds

Journal of Ornithology ◽

10.1007/s10336-015-1231-4 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 156 (4) ◽

pp. 1015-1024 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jan Hanzelka ◽

Jiří Reif

Keyword(s):

Black Locust ◽

Robinia Pseudoacacia ◽

Forest Birds ◽

Central European ◽

Habitat Specialists ◽

European Forest

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Spider Communities and Biological Control in Native Habitats Surrounding Greenhouses

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects9010033 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 33 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Belén Cotes ◽

Mónica González ◽

Emilio Benítez ◽

Eva De Mas ◽

Gemma Clemente-Orta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Management ◽

Frankliniella Occidentalis ◽

Generalized Additive Model ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Additive Model ◽

Conservation Strategies ◽

Generalist Predators ◽

Niche Complementarity ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Spider Abundance

The promotion of native vegetation as a habitat for natural enemies, which could increase their abundance and fitness, is especially useful in highly simplified settings such as Mediterranean greenhouse landscapes. Spiders as generalist predators may also be involved in intra-guild predation. However, the niche complementarity provided by spiders as a group means that increased spider diversity may facilitate complementary control actions. In this study, the interactions between spiders, the two major horticultural pests, Bemisia tabaci and Frankliniella occidentalis, and their naturally occurring predators and parasitoids were evaluated in a mix of 21 newly planted shrubs selected for habitat management in a highly disturbed horticultural system. The effects of all factors were evaluated using redundancy analysis (RDA) and the generalized additive model (GAM) to assess the statistical significance of abundance of spiders and pests. The GAM showed that the abundance of both pests had a significant effect on hunter spider’s abundance, whereas the abundance of B. tabaci, but not F. occidentalis, affected web-weavers’ abundance. Ordination analysis showed that spider abundance closely correlated with that of B. tabaci but not with that of F. occidentalis, suggesting that complementarity occurs, and thereby probability of biocontrol, with respect to the targeted pest B. tabaci, although the temporal patterns of the spiders differed from those of F. occidentalis. Conservation strategies involving the establishment of these native plants around greenhouses could be an effective way to reduce pest populations outdoors.

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Early Successional Forest Birds and the Effects of Habitat Management in Different Landscapes

10.23860/thesis-brenner-stephen-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Stephen Brenner

Keyword(s):

Habitat Management ◽

Forest Birds

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Modeling Potential Dispersal Routes for Giant Pandas in Their Key Distribution Area of the Qinling Mountains, China

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.636937 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Xuehua Liu ◽

Lanmei Liu ◽

Linna Liu ◽

Xuelin Jin ◽

Melissa Songer

Keyword(s):

Giant Panda ◽

Habitat Management ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Conservation Strategies ◽

Distribution Area ◽

Ailuropoda Melanoleuca ◽

Qinling Mountains ◽

Giant Pandas ◽

Dispersal Routes ◽

Source And Sink

The national surveys on giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) population and habitat quality have shown a high-density population of this species in the Qinling Mountains, China. We investigated five adjacent nature reserves (NR), i.e., the key distribution area of giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains, to model and identify the potential dispersal routes for giant pandas. We hypothesized that giant pandas will spread to neighboring areas when the population of the species keeps increasing. Habitat suitability was firstly evaluated based on environmental and disturbance factors. We then identified source and sink patches for giant pandas’ dispersal. Further, Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model was applied to calculate cost of movement. Finally, the Current Theory was adopted to model linkages between source and sink patches to explore potential dispersal routes of giant pandas. Our results showed that (1) the three large source patches and eight potential sink patches were identified; (2) the 14 potential corridors were predicted for giant pandas dispersing from source patches to the neighboring areas; (3) through the predicted corridors, the giant pandas in the source patches could disperse to the west, the south and the east sink patches. Our research revealed possible directional patterns for giant pandas’ dispersal in their key distribution area of the Qinling Mountains, and can provide the strong recommendations in policy and conservation strategies for improving giant panda habitat management in those identified sink patches and also potential dispersal corridors.

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A Niche-Based Framework to Assess Current Monitoring of European Forest Birds and Guide Indicator Species' Selection

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0097217 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. e97217 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Amy S. I. Wade ◽

Boris Barov ◽

Ian J. Burfield ◽

Richard D. Gregory ◽

Ken Norris ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Indicator Species ◽

Forest Birds ◽

Species Selection ◽

European Forest ◽

Current Monitoring

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Building for Birds Evaluation Tool: Assessing the Value of Residential Areas for Forest Birds

EDIS ◽

10.32473/edis-uw418-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Mark E. Hostetler ◽

Jan-Michael Archer

Keyword(s):

Forest Birds ◽

Residential Areas ◽

Evaluation Tool

N/A

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Predicting changes in distribution of a large coastal shark in the face of the strengthening East Australian Current

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13322 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 642 ◽

pp. 163-177 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Y Niella ◽

AF Smoothey ◽

V Peddemors ◽

R Harcourt

Keyword(s):

Austral Summer ◽

Conservation Strategies ◽

Limiting Factor ◽

Commercial Fisheries ◽

East Australian Current ◽

Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽

Marine Animals ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Southeastern Australia ◽

The Face

In the face of accelerating climate change, conservation strategies will need to consider how marine animals deal with forecast environmental change as well as ongoing threats. We used 10 yr (2009-2018) of data from commercial fisheries and a bather protection program along the coast of New South Wales (NSW), southeastern Australia, to investigate (1) spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence in bull sharks and (2) environmental factors affecting bull shark occurrence along the coast of NSW. Predicted future distribution for this species was modelled for the forecast strengthening East Australian Current. Bull sharks were mostly harvested in small to larger estuaries, with average depth and rainfall responsible for contrasting patterns for each of the fisheries. There was an increase in the occurrence of bull sharks over the last decade, particularly among coastal setline fisheries, associated with seasonal availability of thermal gradients >22°C and both westward and southward coastal currents stronger than 0.15 and 0.60 m s-1, respectively, during the austral summer. Our model predicts a 3 mo increase in the availability of favourable water temperatures along the entire coast of NSW for bull sharks by 2030. This coastline provides a uniquely favourable topography for range expansion in the face of a southerly shift of warmer waters, and habitat is unlikely to be a limiting factor for bull sharks in the future. Such a southerly shift in distribution has implications for the management of bull sharks both in commercial fisheries and for mitigation of shark-human interactions.

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