Vultures, which are the only obligate vertebrate scavengers, have experienced the most rapid decline in conservation status of any group of birds over the past decade and comprise the most threatened ...avian functional guild in the world. Of the 22 vulture species, nine are critically endangered, three are endangered, four are near threatened, and six are least concern. Meanwhile, the vast majority of avian facultative scavenger species, such as corvids and gulls, have stable or increasing populations. We analyze the causes of this stark contrast in status and evaluate what ecological factors contribute to extinction risk for all 106 avian scavenger species. A random forest model shows that diet breadth, proportion scavenged diet, geographic realm, body mass, clutch size and taxonomy are leading predictors of extinction risk. Meanwhile, dietary toxins – most notably poisons and the veterinary drug diclofenac – are by far the most important anthropogenic threat to avian scavengers, comprising the leading cause of decline for 59% of threatened avian scavenger species and 88% of threatened vulture species. Currently, 73% of vulture species are extinction-prone (near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered and extinct) and 77% have declining populations, while only 13% of avian facultative scavenger species are extinction-prone and 70% have stable or increasing populations. As vultures decline, populations of many facultative scavengers are growing, causing trophic cascades from increased predation, competition, and invasion. Furthermore, vultures' highly specialized digestive systems efficiently eradicate diseases when consuming carrion, whereas facultative scavengers are more susceptible to contract and transmit diseases among themselves and to humans. We urge immediate action, particularly by regulating lethal dietary toxins, to prevent the extinction of vultures and loss of respective ecosystem services.
•Vultures are the most threatened group of birds, collapsing toward extinction.•70% of avian facultative scavengers have stable or increasing populations.•Diet specialization and taxonomy are leading extinction risk predictors.•Dietary toxins are main threat for 59% of all avian scavengers, 88% of vultures.•Vulture declines expected to cause trophic cascades and disease outbreaks.
Raptors provide critical ecosystem services, yet there is currently no systematic, global synthesis of their conservation status or threats. We review the International Union for the Conservation of ...Nature's Red List to examine the conservation status, distributions, threats, and conservation recommendations for all 557 raptor species. We further assess the significance of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) for raptor conservation. We also determine which countries contain the most species listed under the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (Raptors MoU). Raptors, especially Old World vultures, are more threatened than birds in general. Eighteen percent of raptors are threatened with extinction and 52% of raptors have declining global populations. South and Southeast Asia have the highest richness and the largest number of threatened raptor species. By country, Indonesia has the highest richness of raptor species (119) and most declining species (63). China and Russia contain the most Raptors MoU species, although they are not yet signatories to the agreement. Raptor species that require forest are more likely to be threatened and declining than those that do not. Agriculture and logging are the most frequently identified threats, although poisoning is especially detrimental to Old World vultures. Of the 10 most important IBAs for raptors, six are in Nepal. Highest priority conservation actions to protect raptors include preventing mortality and conserving key sites and priority habitats. Improved long-term monitoring would allow for conservation to be appropriately targeted and effectiveness of interventions to be assessed.
The prosperity and well‐being of human societies relies on healthy ecosystems and the services they provide. However, the biodiversity crisis is undermining ecosystems services and functions. ...Vultures are among the most imperiled taxonomic groups on Earth, yet they have a fundamental ecosystem function. These obligate scavengers rapidly consume large amounts of carrion and human waste, a service that may aid in both disease prevention and control of mammalian scavengers, including feral dogs, which in turn threaten humans. We combined information about the distribution of all 15 vulture species found in Europe, Asia, and Africa with their threats and used detailed expert knowledge on threat intensity to prioritize critical areas for conserving vultures in Africa and Eurasia. Threats we identified included poisoning, mortality due to collision with wind energy infrastructures, and other anthropogenic activities related to human land use and influence. Areas important for vulture conservation were concentrated in southern and eastern Africa, South Asia, and the Iberian Peninsula, and over 80% of these areas were unprotected. Some vulture species required larger areas for protection than others. Finally, countries that had the largest share of all identified important priority areas for vulture conservation were those with the largest expenditures related to rabies burden (e.g., India, China, and Myanmar). Vulture populations have declined markedly in most of these countries. Restoring healthy vulture populations through targeted actions in the priority areas we identified may help restore the ecosystem services vultures provide, including sanitation and potentially prevention of diseases, such as rabies, a heavy burden afflicting fragile societies. Our findings may guide stakeholders to prioritize actions where they are needed most in order to achieve international goals for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
Áreas Prioritarias para la Conservación de Buitres del Viejo Mundo
Resumen
La prosperidad y el bienestar de la sociedad humana dependen de ecosistemas sanos y de los servicios ambientales que éstos proporcionan. Sin embargo, la crisis de biodiversidad está afectando a los servicios ambientales y sus funciones. Los buitres se encuentran entre los grupos taxonómicos con mayor amenaza sobre el planeta, a pesar de tener una función fundamental en los ecosistemas. Estos carroñeros obligados consumen rápidamente grandes cantidades de carroña y desechos humanos, un servicio que puede ayudar en la prevención de enfermedades y en el control de mamíferos carroñeros, incluyendo a los perros ferales, los cuales pueden ser un peligro para los humanos. Combinamos la información sobre la distribución de las 15 especies de buitres en Europa, Asia y África con las amenazas que presentan y usamos el conocimiento detallado de expertos sobre la intensidad de las amenazas para priorizar las áreas críticas para la conservación de buitres en África y en Eurasia. Las amenazas que identificamos incluyeron el envenenamiento, la mortalidad por colisiones con infraestructura eólica y otras actividades antropogénicas relacionadas con el uso de suelo y la influencia humana. Las áreas importantes para la conservación de buitres estuvieron concentradas en el sur y el este de África, el sur de Asia y la Península Ibérica, y más del 80% de estas áreas no contaban con protección. Algunas especies de buitres requirieron áreas más grandes para su protección que otras especies. Finalmente, los países que tuvieron la mayor porción de todas las áreas prioritarias importantes e identificadas para la conservación de buitres también fueron aquellos con los mayores gastos relacionados con la carga de la rabia (por ejemplo, India, China y Myanmar). Las poblaciones de buitres han declinado marcadamente en la mayoría de estos países. La restauración de poblaciones sanas de buitres por medio de acciones enfocadas en las áreas prioritarias que identificamos puede ayudar a restaurar los servicios ambientales que proporcionan los buitres, incluyendo el saneamiento y la prevención potencial de enfermedades, como la rabia, una carga pesada que aflige a las sociedades frágiles. Nuestros resultados pueden guiar a los interesados hacia la priorización de acciones en donde más se necesitan para poder alcanzar los objetivos internacionales para la conservación de la biodiversidad y el desarrollo sustentable.
摘要
人类社会的繁荣昌盛依赖于健康的生态系统及其所提供的服务。然而, 生物多样性危机正在破坏生态系统的服务和功能。秃鹰是地球上最濒危的类群之一, 而它们却能提供基础的生态系统功能。它们作为专性食腐动物可以快速消耗大量腐肉及人类废弃物, 提供的生态系统服务有助于预防疾病, 以及控制哺乳类食腐动物, 如会对人类造成威胁的野狗。我们将欧洲、亚洲和非洲的全部十五种秃鹰的分布信息与其面临的威胁相结合, 利用详细的关于威胁强度的专业知识, 确定了非洲及欧亚关键的秃鹰保护优先地区。秃鹰面临的威胁包括中毒、撞击风能设施导致的死亡, 以及与人类土地利用和影响有关的其它人类活动。秃鹰的重点保护区域集中在非洲南部和东部、南非和利比亚半岛, 这些地区超过 80% 的土地没有得到保护。另外, 秃鹰中某些物种相比之下需要更大区域进行保护。我们还发现, 秃鹰的重要优先保护区域占比最大的国家同时也是那些在狂犬病上的支出最高的国家（如印度、中国、缅甸）, 而其中大多数国家的秃鹰种群数量已经明显下降。通过在我们确定的优先保护区域采取有针对性的行动来恢复健康的秃鹰种群, 可能有助于恢复秃鹰提供的生态系统服务, 包括环境卫生和预防潜在疾病, 比如狂犬病这种沉重的社会负担。我们的研究成果可以指导利益相关者在需求最迫切的地方优先采取行动, 以实现生物多样性保护和可持续发展的国际目标。【翻译: 胡怡思; 审校: 聂永刚】
Article impact statement: Eighty percent of areas important for Old World vulture conservation are unprotected and in southern and eastern Africa, South Asia, and Iberia.
Aim
Raptors serve critical ecological functions, are particularly extinction‐prone and are often used as environmental indicators and flagship species. Yet, there is no global framework to prioritize ...research and conservation actions on them. We identify for the first time the factors driving extinction risk and scientific attention on raptors and develop a novel research and conservation priority index (RCPI) to identify global research and conservation priorities.
Location
Global.
Methods
We use random forest models based on ecological traits and extrinsic data to identify the drivers of risk and scientific attention in all raptors. We then map global research and conservation priorities. Lastly, we model where priorities fall relative to country‐level human social indicators.
Results
Raptors with small geographic ranges, scavengers, forest‐dependent species and those with slow life histories are particularly extinction‐prone. Research is extremely biased towards a small fraction of raptor species: 10 species (1.8% of all raptors) account for one‐third of all research, while one‐fifth of species have no publications. Species with small geographic ranges and those inhabiting less developed countries are greatly understudied. Regions of Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia are identified as particularly high priority for raptor research and conservation. These priorities are highly concentrated in developing countries, indicating a global mismatch between priorities and capacity for research and conservation.
Main conclusions
A redistribution of scientific attention and conservation efforts towards developing tropical countries and the least‐studied, extinction‐prone species is critical to conserve raptors and their ecological functions worldwide. We identify clear taxonomic and geographic research and conservation priorities for all raptors, and our methodology can be applied across other taxa to prioritize scientific investment.
•We sampled bird communities on coffee farms in Ethiopia, where coffee originated.•Shade coffee farms had over double the species richness of forest sites.•Forest had a greater relative abundance of ...specialists and understory insectivores.•Ethiopian shade coffee is perhaps the most “bird-friendly” coffee in the world.•Ethiopia may benefit economically from preserving and certifying shade coffee.
Coffee is the most important tropical commodity and is grown in high-priority areas for biological conservation. There is abundant literature on the conservation value of coffee farms internationally, but there has been little research on this topic in Africa. Ethiopia is a diverse and little-studied country with high levels of avian endemism, pressing conservation challenges, and where Coffea arabica originated. We sampled bird communities in shade coffee farms and moist evergreen Afromontane forest in Ethiopia utilizing standard mist netting procedures at seven sites over three years to evaluate bird species richness, diversity and community structure. Although species diversity did not differ between shade coffee and forest, shade coffee farms had over double the species richness of forest sites and all but one of the nine Palearctic migratory species were captured only in shade coffee. There was a greater relative abundance of forest specialists and understory insectivores in forest, demonstrating that little-disturbed forest is critical for sustaining these at-risk groups of birds. Nonetheless, all species recorded in primary forest control sites were also recorded in shade coffee, indicating that Ethiopian shade coffee is perhaps the most “bird-friendly” coffee in the world. This is an important finding for efforts to conserve forest birds in Africa, and for shade coffee farmers that may benefit from avian pest regulation and biodiversity-friendly coffee certifications.
Conserving the evolutionary history of birds McClure, Christopher J. W.; Berkunsky, Igor; Buechley, Evan R. ...
Conservation biology,
December 2023, 2023-12-00, 20231201, Letnik:
37, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In the midst of the sixth mass extinction, limited resources are forcing conservationists to prioritize which species and places will receive conservation action. Evolutionary distinctiveness ...measures the isolation of a species on its phylogenetic tree. Combining a species’ evolutionary distinctiveness with its globally endangered status creates an EDGE score. We use EDGE scores to prioritize the places and species that should be managed to conserve bird evolutionary history. We analyzed all birds in all countries and important bird areas. We examined parrots, raptors, and seabirds in depth because these groups are especially threatened and relatively speciose. The three focal groups had greater median threatened evolutionary history than other taxa, making them important for conserving bird evolutionary history. Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar, New Zealand, and the Philippines were especially critical countries for bird conservation because they had the most threatened evolutionary history for endemic birds and are important for parrots, raptors, and seabirds. Increased enforcement of international agreements for the conservation of parrots, raptors, and seabirds is needed because these agreements protect hundreds of millions of years of threatened bird evolutionary history. Decisive action is required to conserve the evolutionary history of birds into the Anthropocene.
Resumen
En medio de la sexta extinción masiva, los recursos limitados están obligando a los conservacionistas a priorizar cuáles especies y lugares recibirán acciones de conservación. La peculiaridad evolutiva mide el aislamiento de una especie con respecto a su árbol filogenético. La combinación entre la peculiaridad evolutiva de una especie y su estado de conservación mundial genera un puntaje EDGE. Usamos estos puntajes para priorizar los lugares y especies que se deben gestionar para conservar la historia evolutiva ornitológica. Analizamos todas las especies de aves en todos los países y áreas de importancia ornitológica. Estudiamos a profundidad a los psitácidos, rapaces, y aves marinas por el nivel de amenaza que enfrentan estos grupos y porque cuentan con muchas especies. Estos tres grupos tuvieron una mayor mediana de historia evolutiva amenazada que los demás taxones, por lo que son de suma importancia para la conservación de la historia evolutiva ornitológica. Australia, Brasil, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nueva Zelanda y las Filipinas fueron países particularmente críticos para la conservación de las aves pues cuentan con la mayor historia evolutiva amenazada de aves endémicas y son localidades importantes para nuestros tres grupos focales. Se requiere de un incremento en la aplicación de los acuerdos internaciones para la conservación de los psitácidos, rapaces y aves marinas ya que estos acuerdos protegen cientos de millones de años de historia evolutiva ornitológica. Se necesitan acciones decisivas para conservar la historia evolutiva de las aves en el Antropoceno.
【摘要】
重引入顶级捕食者是生态系统恢复的重要方法, 同时也是一项挑战。灰狼 (Canis lupus) 在1900年左右在日本灭绝, 此后, 日本一直缺少顶级捕食者。目前, 野生有蹄类动物的数量正在增加, 对农业和森林造成了破坏。这引发了研究者和非政府组织持续争论是否应重引入灰狼, 以促进高生物多样性的生态系统进行自我调节。我们在全国范围内进行了一次调查, 分析了日本公众对灰狼重引入的态度。我们向全国88,318名公民发出了在线调查问卷。在12,028名受访者中, 除去那些回答无效、不完整或不具有资格的受访者, 我们获得了7,500份回答并进行了分析, 这些受访者在日本公民重要的社会人口属性方面具有代表性。不同意重引入灰狼的受访者 (39.9%) 多于同意的受访者 (17.1%), 还有许多受访者 (43.0%) 不能下定论。结构方程模型显示, 风险认知影响了公众态度, 意味着人们对灰狼袭击的威胁感知越明显, 就越不可能支持灰狼重引入。相反, 因野生动物价值观而对灰狼产生的态度 (如“我喜欢狼”), 以及对灰狼生态作用的信念 (如控制鹿的数量) 积极影响着公众对于灰狼重引入的态度。那些对灰狼重引入持积极态度的人表现出参与支持灰狼重引入行动的意向。我们的结果表明, 传播与灰狼生态作用有关的信息并培养人们更多的互助心态有助于积极推动日本公众对灰狼重引入的支持。【翻译: 胡怡思; 审校: 聂永刚】
Vultures comprise the most endangered avian foraging guild (obligate scavengers) and their loss from ecosystems can trigger trophic cascades, mesopredator release, and human rabies epidemics, ...indicating their keystone species status. Vultures’ extremely large home ranges, which often cross international borders of countries that have differing laws and capacity for wildlife conservation, makes conserving them challenging. However, satellite-tracking data can be used to identify habitat preferences and critical sites to target conservation actions. We tracked 16 Egyptian Vultures,
Neophron percnopterus,
in the Middle East and East Africa. We used dynamic Brownian bridge movement models to calculate home ranges and core-use areas, and we analyzed habitat use in a resource selection framework. Combined summer and winter ranges (99% utilization distributions) of all birds covered 209,800 and 274,300 km
2
, respectively. However, the core-use areas (50% utilization distributions) in the summer and winter ranges, accounted for only 0.4–1.1% of this area (900 and 3100 km
2
, respectively). These core-use areas are where the home ranges of multiple individuals overlapped and/or where individuals spent a lot of time, such as feeding and roosting sites, and are places where conservation actions could focus. Resource selection models predicted Egyptian Vulture occurrence throughout little-studied parts of the species’ range in the Middle East and East Africa, and revealed strong selection for proximity to highways, power distribution lines, and towns. While providing roosts (e.g. power pylons) and food (e.g. garbage dumps), anthropogenic features may also function as ecological traps by increasing exposure to electrocution and dietary toxins.
Long‐distance migrations are among the most physically demanding feats animals perform. Understanding the potential costs and benefits of such behaviour is a fundamental question in ecology and ...evolution. A hypothetical cost of migration should be outweighed by higher productivity and/or higher annual survival, but few studies on migratory species have been able to directly quantify patterns of survival throughout the full annual cycle and across the majority of a species’ range.
Here, we use telemetry data from 220 migratory Egyptian vultures Neophron percnopterus, tracked for 3,186 bird months and across approximately 70% of the species’ global distribution, to test for differences in survival throughout the annual cycle.
We estimated monthly survival probability relative to migration and latitude using a multi‐event capture–recapture model in a Bayesian framework that accounted for age, origin, subpopulation and the uncertainty of classifying fates from tracking data.
We found lower survival during migration compared to stationary periods (β = −0.816; 95% credible interval: −1.290 to −0.318) and higher survival on non‐breeding grounds at southern latitudes (<25°N; β = 0.664; 0.076–1.319) compared to on breeding grounds. Survival was also higher for individuals originating from Western Europe (β = 0.664; 0.110–1.330) as compared to further east in Europe and Asia, and improved with age (β = 0.030; 0.020–0.042). Anthropogenic mortalities accounted for half of the mortalities with a known cause and occurred mainly in northern latitudes. Many juveniles drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on their first autumn migration while there were few confirmed mortalities in the Sahara Desert, indicating that migration barriers are likely species‐specific.
Our study advances the understanding of important fitness trade‐offs associated with long‐distance migration. We conclude that there is lower survival associated with migration, but that this may be offset by higher non‐breeding survival at lower latitudes. We found more human‐caused mortality farther north, and suggest that increasing anthropogenic mortality could disrupt the delicate migration trade‐off balance. Research to investigate further potential benefits of migration (e.g. differential productivity across latitudes) could clarify how migration evolved and how migrants may persist in a rapidly changing world.
In a large tracking study of an endangered migratory bird, the authors found lower survival during migration compared to stationary periods and higher survival on non‐breeding as compared to on breeding grounds. They conclude that the cost associated with migration could be offset by higher non‐breeding survival at lower latitudes. The photo is by Kayahan Ağırkaya, KuzeyDoğa.
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