Estimating the influence of overhead transmission power lines and landscape context on the density of little bustard Tetrax tetrax breeding populations

Silva, João Paulo; Santos, Mário; Queirós, Luís; Leitão, Domingos; Moreira, Francisco; Pinto, Manuel; Leqoc, Miguel; Cabral, João Alexandre

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.03.027

Cited by 39 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Contrary to other studies (Suarez-Seoane et al 2002;Silva et al 2004;Osborne and Suarez-Seoane 2007;Silva et al 2010), we found no effect of proximity to anthropogenic infrastructures on the occurrence of little bustards at the landscape scale. However, at the smaller scale, displaying males located at points further from roads, suggesting that when not constrained by the availability of pastures and new fallows, roads were avoided.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Density and habitat preferences of male little bustard across contrasting agro-pastoral landscapes in Sardinia (Italy)

Santangeli

Dolman

2011

Eur J Wildl Res

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The little bustard Tetrax tetrax has undergone severe range contraction within Europe due to abandonment of traditional agro-pastoral activities. Previous studies of habitat selection have mainly focused on extensive cereal and cropland mosaics, while the species' ecology in pastoral landscapes is understood less well, and data are completely lacking from the Sardinian population. We conducted distance sampling surveys of displaying males across three contrasting landscapes in Sardinia and modelled habitat preference at both the landscape and local (within pastures and recent fallows) scale. Abbasanta, with a balance of pasture and cropland, the greatest isolation from roads and shortest vegetation, supported the highest little bustard densities (95%CI 2.7-3.4 males/100 ha). Significantly lower densities were found in two landscapes with lower isolation from roads and taller vegetation within grasslands: Campeda (0.1-0.2 males/100 ha), comprising cropland and pasture in similar proportions to those found at Abbasanta, and Campidano (0.3-0.4 males/100 ha) that was dominated by cereal agriculture. At the landscape level, males preferred pastures and recent fallows over arable lands. At the local scale, within grasslands, probability of occurrence was greater with shorter vegetation, more legume and green herb cover and at points remote from roads. Shorter vegetation in grasslands resulted from high grazing pressure, and habitat suitability for breeding males depends strongly on extensively grazed grasslands. Conservation efforts for this species should focus on maintaining traditional agro-pastoral practices which maintain large areas of extensively grazed pastures and recent fallows located far from roads.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Density and habitat preferences of male little bustard across contrasting agro-pastoral landscapes in Sardinia (Italy)

Santangeli

Dolman

2011

Eur J Wildl Res

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“…; Silva et al. ). We strongly suggest that plans for new power lines, such as plans for wind‐energy facilities, take into consideration the distribution ranges, stopover sites, and migration routes of species vulnerable to collisions, especially in developing countries where power‐line infrastructure is expanding quickly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Collision with power lines is also a main cause of mortality for other threatened bustards species (Jenkins et al 2010;Silva et al 2010;Dutta et al 2011;Martin 2011). In these species, migration mortality may limit population growth because bustards' demography is sensitive to small changes in adult survival (Combreau et al 2001;Palacín et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in bird‐migration patterns associated with human‐induced mortality

Palacı́n

Alonso

Martín

et al. 2016

Conservation Biology

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Many bird populations have recently changed their migratory behavior in response to alterations of the environment. We collected data over 16 years on male Great Bustards (Otis tarda), a species showing a partial migratory pattern (sedentary and migratory birds coexisting in the same breeding groups). We conducted population counts and radio tracked 180 individuals to examine differences in survival rates between migratory and sedentary individuals and evaluate possible effects of these differences on the migratory pattern of the population. Overall, 65% of individuals migrated and 35% did not. The average distance between breeding and postbreeding areas of migrant individuals was 89.9 km, and the longest average movement of sedentary males was 3.8 km. Breeding group and migration distance had no effect on survival. However, mortality of migrants was 2.4 to 3.5 times higher than mortality of sedentary birds. For marked males, collision with power lines was the main cause of death from unnatural causes (37.6% of all deaths), and migratory birds died in collisions with power lines more frequently than sedentary birds (21.3% vs 6.3%). The percentage of sedentary individuals increased from 17% in 1997 to 45% in 2012. These results were consistent with data collected from radio-tracked individuals: The proportion of migratory individuals decreased from 86% in 1997-1999 to 44% in 2006-2010. The observed decrease in the migratory tendency was not related to climatic changes (temperatures did not change over the study period) or improvements in habitat quality (dry cereal farmland area decreased in the main study area). Our findings suggest that human-induced mortality during migration may be an important factor shaping the migration patterns of species inhabiting humanized landscapes.

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“…This dynamic approach has proven very useful to facilitate the implementation of integrated management in insular systems (González et al 2008;Jørgensen and Nielsen 2015), as well as to assess the effects of the interactions between socioeconomic and environmental aspects on biodiversity, including the case of flagship species in arid environments (Silva et al 2010;Pérez et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic modelling of the potential habitat loss of endangered species: the case of the Canarian houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata fuerteventurae)

et al. 2016

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In this work, we apply a dynamic modelling approach to analyse the habitat loss of the Canarian houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata fuerteventurae). This tool allows us to assess the effects of the socio-economic and environmental interactions on the factors threatening the habitat and to carry out a prospective analysis. The results show a potential habitat loss of around 13 % during the period 1996-2011, the land uptake and increase in new roads and tracks being the factors contributing most. After model testing, a set of scenarios was explored. Under the business as usual (BAU) scenario, around 20 % of the habitat would be lost by the end of the period considered (2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023)(2024)(2025). The impact of the economic growth scenario on the habitat would mean an additional loss of around 21 % with respect to BAU, whereas under the recession scenario, the loss might be around 6.5 % lower than BAU. The policy of restoration of gavias-traditional farming systems-would suppose an additional loss of almost 6 %, relative to BAU. If this policy took place under economic growth conditions, it might mean an additional loss of almost 28 % relative to BAU. These results point to the existence of a potential trade-off between the recuperation of ecosystem services offered by restored gavias and the conservation of the houbara habitat, which must be addressed within the management processes, as well as to the need for compensatory measures to guarantee the conservation goals.

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Estimating the influence of overhead transmission power lines and landscape context on the density of little bustard Tetrax tetrax breeding populations

Cited by 39 publications

References 31 publications

Density and habitat preferences of male little bustard across contrasting agro-pastoral landscapes in Sardinia (Italy)

Density and habitat preferences of male little bustard across contrasting agro-pastoral landscapes in Sardinia (Italy)

Changes in bird‐migration patterns associated with human‐induced mortality

Dynamic modelling of the potential habitat loss of endangered species: the case of the Canarian houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata fuerteventurae)

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