Effects of human disturbance on spatial and temporal feeding patterns of Blackbird<i>Turdus merula</i>in urban parks in Madrid, Spain

Fernández‐Juricic, Esteban; Tellería, José Luis

doi:10.1080/00063650009461156

Cited by 150 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Sumasgutner et al 2014a;Russo and Ancillotto 2015;Demeyrier et al 2016). For instance, increased human disturbance associated with urban areas, including pedestrian traffic, has been found to reduce nest spacing (Fernández-Juricic 2002), species density (Fernández-Juricic and Tellería 2000) and species richness (Schlesinger et al 2008). The introduction of non-native predators (Bonnington et al 2013;Loss et al 2013), collisions with buildings and vehicles (Erritzoe et al 2003;Bishop and Brogan 2013), and pollution ; Kempenaers et al 2010;Isaksson 2015) have also been shown to have negative effects on the health, survival and reproduction of urban wildlife.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The breeding performance of raptors in urban landscapes: a review and meta-analysis

et al. 2017

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Global urbanisation is rapidly increasing and can have profound impacts on wild flora and fauna. For many species, the impacts are detrimental and irreversible, whereas others are able to colonise and apparently thrive in these novel, human-made environments. Raptors are particularly susceptible to changes in the environment due to their position at the end of the food chain, yet some species are increasingly associated with towns and cities. To explore the impact of urbanisation on raptors, we reviewed the literature and compared breeding performance in urban and rural populations globally. In general, raptors began breeding earlier and had larger brood sizes in urban compared to rural environments. However, some of these raptors also fledged fewer young in urban habitats, apparently caused largely by a lack of prey and, in some cases, increased human disturbance. As such, urban environments may act as ecological traps for some raptor species. Species differed in their response to urbanisation. In particular, specialist bird predators such as Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) had a higher breeding performance (clutch size, brood size, number to fledge and nest success) and showed a positive response to urbanisation compared to those that predate on small mammals, such as Eurasian Kestrels (F. tinnunculus), which showed a negative response. This suggests that prey availability is one of the most important determinants of the success of urban-nesting raptors. We demonstrate a need for continued research into the breeding performance of raptors that live in urban environments, and stress the importance of focusing on the reasons for any differences in breeding performance between urban and non-urban environments in order to aid conservation and management efforts for this iconic bird group.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The breeding performance of raptors in urban landscapes: a review and meta-analysis

et al. 2017

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“…Much of the past work on impacts of recreational disturbances on avifauna has been focused on waterbirds, where the negative effects of human recreational activities on their foraging behavior and habitat use have been well documented (Fernández-Juricic and Tellería 2000;Verhulst et al 2001;Rodgers and Schwikert 2002;Stolen 2003;Pease et al 2005;Cardoni et al 2008). Human recreational disturbances are also known to cause reduction of reproductive success and nesting failures (Bolduc and Guillemette 2003;Finney et al 2005;McGowan and Simons 2006;Steven et al 2011;Whitfield and Rae, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recreational disturbances often cause birds to spend considerable amounts from their energy budget to avoid humans, i.e., the vital energy that otherwise could be conserved for survival, migration and breeding. Nature-based recreation can have significant negative effects at the individual, population and community level (Fernández-Juricic and Tellería 2000;Mallord et al 2007;Steven et al 2011;González-Oreja et al 2012;Wang et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of tropical avifauna to visitor recreational disturbances: a case study from the Sinharaja World Heritage Forest, Sri Lanka

2016

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Background:We investigated the impact of human recreational disturbances on the distribution of birds along a popular nature trail in Sinhararja World Heritage Forest, Sri Lanka. It was hypothesized that visual and noise stimuli caused by the presence of humans affect the distribution of avifauna associated with this nature trail. Methods:Nine circular plots of 25 m fixed-radius laid along the trail (0 m), and 18 plots laid perpendicular to the trail at 75 and 150 m intervals, were studied from March 2013 to January 2014. The degree of human recreational disturbances was assessed in terms of visitor group size (visual disturbance) and their noise level (sound disturbance). These disturbances were categorized along a four-point scale (no human disturbance, low, medium and high disturbance). The relationship between disturbance levels and the abundance of birds was statistically tested.Results: ANOVA results revealed that the abundance of birds differed significantly under various intensities of recreational disturbances at each distance level. A significant negative correlation between abundance of birds and intensity of disturbance at 0 m distance suggests an avoidance of edge habitats by birds in the presence of humans. Abundance of birds increased at the 75 and 150 m distance levels with increasing disturbances occurring at the trail. Significant negative correlations were further observed between disturbance level and the abundance of birds in ground/understory and sub-canopy vertical strata of the forest at 0 m distance. Conclusions:Under high levels of recreational disturbance occurring at this trail, the abundance of birds near the trail declined significantly, while bird abundance in the interior of the forest increased. The sensitivity of individual bird species to visitor disturbances varied with the vertical stratum of the forest they usually occupy. Birds occupying the ground, understory and sub-canopy are particularly sensitive to recreational disturbances while bird species occupying the canopy and above are less vulnerable to recreational disturbances.

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“…Animals commonly move away from an approaching human or encroaching human activities such as recreation and this response can have adverse influences on, for instance, their feeding success (Burger & Gochfeld 1998, Fernández-Juricic & Tellería 2000, range use (Andersen et al 1997), reproduction (Giese 1996, Miller et al 1998), survival (Wauters et al 1997, West et al 2002 and abundance (Miller et al 1998, Fernández-Juricic 2000, 2002.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining spatial priorities for capercaillieTetrao urogalluslekking landscape conservation in south‐central Finland

Sirkiä

Lehtomäki

Lindén³

et al. 2012

Wildlife Biology

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SummaryAnimals' avoidance of humans or human activities can have several adverse effects on their distribution and abundance, and a frequent tool used by conservation managers to avoid such effects is to designate 'buffer zones' (or set-back distances or protection zones) around centres of animals' distribution within which human activity is restricted.A common method used to prescribe buffer zones involves one or two measures of disturbance distance: 'alert distance' (AD), the distance between the disturbance source and the animal at the point where the animal changes its behaviour in response to the approaching disturbance source, and 'flight initiation distance' (FID), the point at which the animal flushes or otherwise moves away from the approaching disturbance source.Recommendations on 'safe-working distances' (essentially, buffer zones around breeding sites) have been made for a number of UK breeding bird species, but without any objective justification. With recent changes in Scottish legislation on human access to the countryside and protection of some breeding birds' nest sites there was therefore a need to review available information on disturbance distances for 26 'priority' bird species which breed in Scotland.Preliminary assessment revealed few previous studies quantifying disturbance distances for the study species, and so an expert opinion survey was conducted in which opinion was solicited on 'static' and 'active' disturbance distances (i.e. AD and FID, respectively) when birds were approached by a single pedestrian when incubating eggs and when with chicks. The survey resulted in 89 respondents providing 1083 opinions on disturbance distances.It was difficult to validate independently the results of the survey, because relatively few empirical studies had been conducted on disturbance distances for the study species. Subjectively, however, the survey appeared to give similar 4 results to those of research based on quantified field observations, although distance estimates in the expert survey may have been slightly high in some species.A number of descriptive statistics for AD and FID are presented for each of the species from the expert opinion survey, including upper distances which incorporated 90 % of opinions on AD (although it is highlighted that AD is probably impossible to measure in practice for many species when breeding).Species accounts, describing the results of a literature review for each study species (and related species) on disturbance distances, are also presented and include published information on AD and FID, responses to a number of disturbance sources, previously prescribed buffer zones and forestry practices, when relevant.Expert opinion is typically used as a stopgap in research as a bridge between empirical evidence and policy (although our review suggested that it is probably frequently misused in this field by not being a temporary measure and with insufficient validation) and, given the shortage of empirical field studies, it is recommended that the expert survey r...

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Effects of human disturbance on spatial and temporal feeding patterns of BlackbirdTurdus merulain urban parks in Madrid, Spain

Cited by 150 publications

References 26 publications

The breeding performance of raptors in urban landscapes: a review and meta-analysis

The breeding performance of raptors in urban landscapes: a review and meta-analysis

Response of tropical avifauna to visitor recreational disturbances: a case study from the Sinharaja World Heritage Forest, Sri Lanka

Defining spatial priorities for capercaillieTetrao urogalluslekking landscape conservation in south‐central Finland

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