Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Crop vegetation structure is more important than crop type in determining where Lesser Kestrels forage

Crop vegetation structure is more important than crop type in determining where Lesser Kestrels... Summary We studied foraging habitat selection by Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni throughout the breeding period in south-west Spain by means of transects on which foraging observations were recorded. We focused on the effects of habitat and crop type, but also on the effect of vegetation structure and the presence of agricultural activities in the field on Lesser Kestrel use. We considered both the accumulated use of the foraging area during the breeding season and the instantaneous foraging habitat selection by kestrels. Foraging habitat selection was highly dynamic following crop development and agricultural activities. Almost all major arable crop types showed positive selection during some part of the breeding cycle. Accumulated use by kestrels demonstrated positive associations with wheat and cotton fields and negative selection of permanent habitat types, such as forested areas, woody crops and built-up areas that have no prey or are not used by the species due to unfavourable structure. Vegetation structure appears to play a major role in instantaneous foraging selection. Lesser Kestrels select fields with short vegetation and intermediate cover. They also forage on field margins and where agricultural activities such as ploughing or harvesting that facilitate access to prey are being conducted. Our results help to clarify apparent controversies among previous studies on the subject, highlighting the importance of the heterogeneity of agricultural landscapes around colonies (crops at different growth stages which provide variable vegetation height and cover during the breeding cycle) and the effect that agricultural activities have on facilitating access to prey. Beyond the species-specific approach, our work encourages further studies on habitat selection by farmland birds to account not only for human-based categorisation of habitats (e.g. crop type) but also on objective measures such as vegetation height and cover that influence access to prey and better reflect the high dynamism of agricultural landscapes. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Bird Conservation International Cambridge University Press

Crop vegetation structure is more important than crop type in determining where Lesser Kestrels forage

Bird Conservation International , Volume 24 (4): 15 – Apr 8, 2013
Download PDF
15 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/cambridge-university-press/crop-vegetation-structure-is-more-important-than-crop-type-in-3eWPJVQBcw

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Copyright
Copyright © BirdLife International 2013 
ISSN
1474-0001
eISSN
0959-2709
DOI
10.1017/S0959270913000129
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Summary We studied foraging habitat selection by Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni throughout the breeding period in south-west Spain by means of transects on which foraging observations were recorded. We focused on the effects of habitat and crop type, but also on the effect of vegetation structure and the presence of agricultural activities in the field on Lesser Kestrel use. We considered both the accumulated use of the foraging area during the breeding season and the instantaneous foraging habitat selection by kestrels. Foraging habitat selection was highly dynamic following crop development and agricultural activities. Almost all major arable crop types showed positive selection during some part of the breeding cycle. Accumulated use by kestrels demonstrated positive associations with wheat and cotton fields and negative selection of permanent habitat types, such as forested areas, woody crops and built-up areas that have no prey or are not used by the species due to unfavourable structure. Vegetation structure appears to play a major role in instantaneous foraging selection. Lesser Kestrels select fields with short vegetation and intermediate cover. They also forage on field margins and where agricultural activities such as ploughing or harvesting that facilitate access to prey are being conducted. Our results help to clarify apparent controversies among previous studies on the subject, highlighting the importance of the heterogeneity of agricultural landscapes around colonies (crops at different growth stages which provide variable vegetation height and cover during the breeding cycle) and the effect that agricultural activities have on facilitating access to prey. Beyond the species-specific approach, our work encourages further studies on habitat selection by farmland birds to account not only for human-based categorisation of habitats (e.g. crop type) but also on objective measures such as vegetation height and cover that influence access to prey and better reflect the high dynamism of agricultural landscapes.

Journal

Bird Conservation International – Cambridge University Press

Published: Apr 8, 2013

References

  • A new look at the statistical model identification
  • The Great bustard in Andalusia, Southern Spain: Status, distribution and trends
  • Método de caza y balance energético diario de Falco naumanni durante el periodo premigratorio
  • Predictive models for Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni distribution, abundance and extinction in Southern Spain
  • Influence of spatial and temporal dynamics of agricultural practices on the Lesser Kestrel
  • Landscape and weather determinants of prey availability: Implications for the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni
  • Regime et comportement alimentaires du faucon crecerellette Falco naumanni en Crau en periode prenuptiale
  • Functional analysis of mate-feeding in the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni
  • Foraging habitat selection, land-use changes and population decline in the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni
  • The role of fallow in habitat use by the Lesser Kestrel during the post-fledging period: inferring potential conservation implications from the abolition of obligatory set-aside
  • Recent changes in landscape structure and function in a Mediterranean region of SW Spain (1950–1984)
  • Do different habitat preference survey methods produce the same conservation recommendations for lesser kestrels?
  • Modelling the foraging habitat selection of Lesser Kestrels: conservation implications of European agricultural policies
  • Foraging activity and use of space by Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni in relation to agrarian management in central Spain
  • Foraging in a patchy and dynamic landscape: human land use and the white stork
  • The second silent spring
  • Sexual differences in microhabitat selection of breeding little bustards Tetrax tetrax: Ecological segregation based on vegetation structure
  • Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni
  • Prey density, prey detectability and food habits: the case of Bonelli’s eagle and the conservation measures
  • Meeting the ecological challenges of agricultural change: editor´s introduction
  • The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections
  • The Eye in the Sky: Combined Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems and GPS Data Loggers for Ecological Research and Conservation of Small Birds
  • The effect of weather on Lesser Kestrel breeding success: can climate change explain historical population declines?
  • Patterns of Orthoptera abundance and Lesser Kestrel conservation in arable landscapes
  • Temporal changes in Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni diet during the breeding period in southern Spain
  • Microhabitat use and segregation of two sibling species of Calandrella larks during the breeding season: conservation and management strategies
  • Farming influences on the food and hunting of kestrels
  • Managing landscapes for the little bustard: lessons from the study of winter habitat selection
  • Farmland habitat selection of wintering Lesser Kestrels in a Spanish pseudo-steppe: implications for conservation strategies
  • Conflicts between Lesser Kestrel conservation and European agricultural policies as identified by habitat use analyses
  • The effect of vegetative cover on the foraging strategies, hunting success and nesting distribution of American kestrels in central Missouri
  • Does land irrigation actually reduce foraging habitat for breeding lesser kestrels? The role of crop types