Habitat choice of a secondary cavity user indicates higher avoidance of disturbed habitat during breeding than during food-hoarding

Baroni, Daniele; Masoero, Giulia; Korpimäki, Erkki; Morosinotto, Chiara; Laaksonen, Toni

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2021.118925

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…GLAPAS is known to be a structurally rich, mature spruce and mixed forest specialist species during the breeding season [ 122 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 ], and clearcuts and logging have been shown to affect habitat suitability [ 131 ], as well as population size [ 132 ]. Structurally rich mature forests are habitats with some of the highest densities of small mammals [ 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 133 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Response of Owls to the Dampening of Small Mammal Population Cycles in Latvia

Avotiņš

Kerus²,

Auniņš

2023

Life

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Strong numerical and functional responses of owls to voles in cyclic environments are well known. However, there is insufficient knowledge from the boreonemoral region in particular, with depleted populations of small mammals. In this study, we describe the dynamics of the small mammal population in Latvia from 1991 to 2016 and link them to owl population characteristics. We used food niche breadth, number of fledglings, and population trends to lay out the numerical response of six owl species to dampened small mammal population cycles. We found temporarily increasing food niche breadth in tawny and Ural owls. There were no other responses in the tawny owl, whereas the breeding performance of three forest specialist species—pygmy, Tengmalm’s, and Ural owls—corresponded to the vole crash years in Fennoscandia. Moreover, the populations of forest specialist owls decreased, and the change in the Ural owl population can be attributed to the depletion of small mammal populations. We found evidence of a carry-over effect in the eagle owl arising from a strong correlation of declining breeding performance with the small mammal abundance indices in the previous autumn. We conclude that dampening of the small mammal population cycles is an important covariate of the likely effects of habitat destruction that needs to be investigated further, with stronger responses in more specialized (to prey or habitat) species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Response of Owls to the Dampening of Small Mammal Population Cycles in Latvia

Avotiņš

Kerus²,

Auniņš

2023

Life

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“…Because male and female pygmy owls differ in a variety of ecological traits (e.g. breeding dispersal [46], habitat selection [46], prey selection [13]), we first tested for the presence of sex-specific individual variance by running the GLMMs with ASReml-R [47]. Individual variances for the number of prey items, total mass stored and proportion of mice were significantly different between the sexes (electronic supplementary material, table S2).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the long-term repeatability of food-hoarding behaviours in an avian predator

et al. 2021

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Food-hoarding behaviour is widespread in the animal kingdom and enables predictable access to food resources in unpredictable environments. Within species, consistent variation among individuals in food-hoarding behaviours may indicate the existence of individual strategies, as it likely captures intrinsic differences in how individuals cope with risks (e.g. starvation, pilferage). Using 17 years of data, we estimated the long-term repeatability of 10 food-hoarding behaviours in a population of Eurasian pygmy owls ( Glaucidium passerinum ), a small avian predator subject to high temporal fluctuations in its main prey abundance. We found low repeatability in the proportion of shrews and the average prey mass stored for both sexes, while females were moderately repeatable in the mass and the number of prey items stored. These two pairs of behaviours were tightly correlated among individuals and might represent two different sets of individual strategies to buffer against starvation risks.

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“…For this study, we divided habitat composition around each involved nest box into three classes (with three forest subclasses, see below) according to the methodology described by Morosinotto et al (2017) and Baroni et al (2021) as we worked in the same study area. We calculated areas of (1) forest stands and individual areas of young, middle-aged, and old-growth forests, (2) clear-cuts, and (3) agricultural lands (Table 1).…”

Section: Environmental Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We calculated areas of (1) forest stands and individual areas of young, middle-aged, and old-growth forests, (2) clear-cuts, and (3) agricultural lands (Table 1). The habitat types (variables 1-3) were identified using landscape maps based on the SLICE dataset (Mikkola et al, 1999;Morosinotto et al, 2017;Baroni et al, 2021) and further processed in ArcGIS software (version 10.5; Esri, United States). Areas newly clear-cut in 2021 were identified personally during the field season and confirmed by comparing older and current satellite landscape images.…”

Section: Environmental Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-fledging survival of Tengmalm’s owl offspring in boreal forests: Interactive effects of varying dynamics of main prey and habitat composition

et al. 2023

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The knowledge about the mortality rate of offspring is crucial for estimating bird population dynamics and conserving species with declining populations. Parents of predatory birds provide food for their offspring during the post-fledging dependency period, which is frequently described as essential due to inexpert flying skills. Using radio telemetry, we studied fledglings’ probability of dying by starvation and predation in Tengmalms’ owls (Aegolius funereus). Nestlings (21 and 39) from 10 and 14 broods in 2019 and 2021, respectively, were equipped with leg-mounted tags and monitored throughout the post-fledging dependency period in west-central Finland. In total, 28 out of 60 fledglings did not survive the post-fledging dependency period (12 died due to starvation, and 16 were predated). The fledglings’ probability of dying by starvation and predation was 3.7 and 2.4 times higher, respectively, in the decreasing (2019) than during the increasing (2021) abundance of main foods (voles), showing that prey availability is essential for survival during the post-fledging dependency period. The probability of starvation increased with augmenting agricultural lands in the home range and increasing precipitation after fledging, which indicated that parent owls avoided hunting in open areas and during rainy nights. The predation rate during the post-fledging dependency period increased with augmenting cover of old-growth forests in the home range. This result suggested that coverage of old-growth forests is nowadays so small in the study area that they act as ecological traps for newly-fledged owlets. The reason is that the main avian enemies of Tengmalm’s owls’ (goshawks and Ural owls) also prefer old-growth forests for breeding and hunting.

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Habitat choice of a secondary cavity user indicates higher avoidance of disturbed habitat during breeding than during food-hoarding

Cited by 8 publications

References 80 publications

Numerical Response of Owls to the Dampening of Small Mammal Population Cycles in Latvia

Numerical Response of Owls to the Dampening of Small Mammal Population Cycles in Latvia

Estimating the long-term repeatability of food-hoarding behaviours in an avian predator

Post-fledging survival of Tengmalm’s owl offspring in boreal forests: Interactive effects of varying dynamics of main prey and habitat composition

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