A multi-scale analysis of habitat selection in peripheral populations of the endangered Dupont’s LarkChersophilus duponti

Abstract

SummaryHabitat selection of endangered species in peripheral populations must be considered when designing effective conservation plans, as these populations tend to occupy atypical habitats where species-environment relationships are not well understood. We examined patterns of habitat use in peripheral populations of the endangered Dupont’s Lark Chersophilus duplonti using a multi-scale approach and assessed the spatiotemporal transferability of these models to test for their generality. Our results show that at microhabitat (circles of 50-m diameter used by the species versus random points) and macrohabitat (occupied/unoccupied squares of 1 ha) scales the species selected flat and non-forested areas, but at the microhabitat scale the cover of small shrubs was also important. Models developed at patch scale (occupied /unoccupied sites) identified only site size as an important predictor of species occurrence. Habitat models transferred successfully among sites and years, which suggests that these models and our recommendations may be extrapolated over a larger geographic area. A multi-scale approach was used for identifying conservation requirements at different spatial scales. At the patch scale our models confirm it is a priority to maintain or enlarge the extent of habitat patches to ensure the viability of the studied metapopulation. At the macrohabitat scale our results suggest that reducing tree density in low slope areas would be the most effective management action. At the microhabitat scale, encouraging the presence of small and medium-sized shrubs, by clearing certain scrubs (e.g. large brooms Genista spp. and rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis) or promoting traditional low-level extensive grazing, should increase the availability of high-quality habitats for the species, and thus the number of potential territories within a patch. These recommendations largely coincide with the ones given for core populations at specific scales elsewhere.

European population trends and current conservation status of an endangered steppe-bird species: the Dupont’s lark Chersophilus duponti

“…The species inhabits flat (<10–15% of slope) shrub-steppes, avoiding dry pastures and cereal fields ( Garza et al, 2005 ; Seoane et al, 2006 ; Pérez-Granados, Lopez-Iborra & Seoane, 2017 ). Habitat fragmentation and land use changes, common issues in steppe ecosystems, have been documented as the main threats to the species ( Tella et al, 2005 ; Íñigo et al, 2008 ; Garza & Traba, 2016 ; Pérez-Granados, Osiejuk & López-Iborra, 2016 ; Gómez-Catasús, Garza & Traba, 2018 ).…”

Testing the conspecific attraction hypothesis with Dupont's Larks, a resident species of songbird in central Spain

“…, Perez‐Granados et al. ). Neither potential site was occupied by Dupont's Larks in the year before (three surveys were conducted at each site during the 2017 breeding season), but there were some intermittent records of the species, during the breeding season in the preceding decade (CPG and JT, unpubl.…”

Nest site selection of South Georgia Diving-petrels Pelecanoides georgicus on Codfish Island, New Zealand: implications for conservation management

“…As previous surveys (Imber and Nilsson 1980, Taylor and Cole 2002, Cole 2004) indicated a strong dependency on foredunes, we assessed SGDP nest site selection using two approaches: 1) nest site selection in the whole dune system (all potential nesting habitat), and 2) nest site selection in the foredunes (core nesting habitat) (Pérez-Granados et al 2016). For the second approach, we created a 20 m buffer around each detected burrow site in ArcGIS 10 and discarded all random points falling outside this buffer.…”