Juvenile Dispersal of Harpy Eagles (<i>Harpia harpyja</i>) in Ecuador

Urios, Vicente; Muñiz-López, Ruth; Vidal‐Mateo, Javier

doi:10.3356/jrr-16-54.1

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…We therefore distinguished records of breeding and non-breeding individuals as animals in logged landscapes may not be able to reproduce given the absence of appropriate trees. We concluded that there was evidence of breeding if any of the following conditions were met: (1) eagles with greyish-white plumage, as such eagles are fledglings that are known to be unable to traverse flight distances longer than 2-km from their natal tree [15,16]; (2) adult individuals with brown breast coloration, which can only result from weeks of contact with tannin-rich leaves of the fresh nest material branches during incubation, and then brooding of the young chick [50]; and (3) any individual recorded at a nest. Consequently, we were able to identify locations that were in fact breeding sites for this eagle.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Averaging 6.6 kg, the Harpy Eagle is the largest extant raptor on Earth, and is surpassed in size by only the extinct, island-living Haast Eagle ( Harpagornis moorei ; [14]), which humans wiped out from New Zealand’s South Island. The Harpy Eagle is a forest species with the lowest reproductive rate of any living bird, producing a single offspring every 30–36 months [15,16]. Harpies have been persecuted over their entire range [17–20], and their feathers and talons are ubiquitous ornaments, with feathers often part of Amerindian arrows and headdresses [21,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Species distribution modeling reveals strongholds and potential reintroduction areas for the world’s largest eagle

et al. 2019

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The highly interactive nature of predator-prey relationship is essential for ecosystem conservation; predators have been extirpated, however, from entire ecosystems all over the Earth. Reintroductions comprise a management technique to reverse this trend. Species Distribution Models (SDM) are preemptive tools for release-site selection, and can define levels of habitat quality over the species distribution. The Atlantic Forest of South America has lost most of its apex predators, and Harpy Eagles Harpia harpyja —Earth’s largest eagle—are now limited to few forest pockets in this domain. Harpy Eagles are supposedly widespread in the Amazon Forest, however, where habitat loss and degradation is advancing at a rapid pace. We aim to describe the suitability of threatened Amazonian landscapes for this eagle. We also aim to assess the suitability of remaining Atlantic Forest sites for Harpy Eagle reintroductions. Here we show that that considerable eagle habitat has already been lost in Amazonia due to the expansion of the “Arc of Deforestation”, and that Amazonian forests currently represent 93% of the current distribution of the species. We also show that the Serra do Mar protected areas in southeastern Brazil is the most promising region for Harpy Eagle reintroductions in the Atlantic Forest. Reintroduction and captive breeding programs have been undertaken for Harpy Eagles, building the technical and biological basis for a successful restoration framework. Our distribution range for this species represents a 41% reduction of what is currently proposed by IUCN. Furthermore, habitat loss in Amazonia, combined with industrial logging and hunting suggest that the conservation status of this species should be reassessed. We suggest researchers and conservation practitioners can use this work to help expand efforts to conserve Harpy Eagles and their natural habitats.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species distribution modeling reveals strongholds and potential reintroduction areas for the world’s largest eagle

et al. 2019

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“…Establishing and reinforcing the current KBA network throughout the Chocó-Darién ecoregion could be important for habitat continuity essential to dispersing harpy eagles (Urios et al 2017) between Central and South America. The Darién region of Panama has a high density of breeding harpy eagles and is considered the current stronghold of the species in Central America .…”

Section: Gap Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Range-wide habitat use and Key Biodiversity Area coverage for a lowland tropical forest raptor across an increasingly deforested landscape

Sutton

Anderson

Franco

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Quantifying habitat use is important for understanding how animals meet their requirements for survival and provides useful information for conservation planning. Currently, assessments of range-wide habitat use that delimit species distributions are incomplete for many taxa. The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a raptor of conservation concern, widely distributed across Neotropical lowland forests, that currently faces threats from increasing habitat loss and fragmentation. Here, we use a logistic regression modelling framework to identify habitat resource selection and predict habitat suitability based on a new method developed from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Area of Habitat range metric. From the habitat use model, we performed a gap analysis to identify areas of high habitat suitability in regions with limited coverage in the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) network. Range-wide habitat use indicated that harpy eagles prefer areas of 70-75 % evergreen forest cover, low elevation, and high vegetation heterogeneity. Conversely, harpy eagles avoid areas of >10 % cultivated landcover and mosaic forest, and topographically complex areas. Our habitat use model identified a large continuous area across the pan-Amazonia region, and a habitat corridor from the Chocó-Darién ecoregion of Colombia running north along the Caribbean coast of Central America. Little habitat was predicted across the Atlantic Forest biome, which is now severely degraded. The current KBA network covered ∼18 % of medium to high suitability harpy eagle habitat exceeding the target representation (10 %). Four major areas of high suitability habitat lacking coverage in the KBA network were identified in the Chocó-Darién ecoregion of Colombia, western Guyana, and north-west Brazil. We recommend these multiple gaps of habitat as new KBAs for strengthening the current KBA network. Modelled area of habitat estimates as described here are a useful tool for large-scale conservation planning and can be readily applied to many taxa.

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“…However, data collected on more than 30 individuals has not been analyzed or published and the published information is based on limited studies along its geographic range (Aguiar-Silva 2016; Muñiz-Lopez et al 2012;Rotenberg et al 2012;Urios et al 2017). These published results illustrate the need for a more formal and quantitatively rigorous approach to elucidate the underlying mechanisms influencing movement ecology of this major predator of neotropical forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersal and space use of captive-reared and wild-rehabilitated Harpy Eagles released in Central American landscapes: Implications for reintroduction and reinforcement management

Naveda‐Rodríguez¹,

Campbell-Thompson²,

Watson³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Understanding the spatial context of animal movements is fundamental for establishment and management of protected areas (PA). However, these data are not readily available for large raptors, particularly for tropical species. We telemetry-tracked 36 captive-reared and wild-rehabilitated Harpia harpyja and estimated dispersal and space use after release in Mesoamerica. We evaluated the effectiveness of PA in the protection of home ranges and examined how individual traits (sex/age), human intervention (captive management/release method) and landscape composition and configuration influenced dispersal and home range using mixed-effects models. Mean post-release dispersal was 29.4 km (95% CI: 22.5-38.5), annual home ranges averaged 1039.5 km2 (95% CI: 627-1941). The home ranges of nine individuals were distributed across three countries. Home ranges were influenced by release method, patch richness, patch and edge density, and contagion. PA in Mesoamerica may not be effective conservation units for this species. Harpy Eagle average home range greatly exceeded the average size of 1115 terrestrial PA (52.7±6.1 km2) in Mesoamerica. Given its spatial requirements, restoration of the Harpy Eagle in Mesoamerica may provide an opportunity to inform the design and management of dynamic conservation concepts, such as biological corridors. Due to their wide use of space, including transboundary, Harpy Eagles conservation efforts may fail if they are not carefully coordinated between the countries involved. Future restoration efforts of umbrella forest-dwelling raptors should select release sites with highly aggregated and poorly interspersed forest. Release sites should have a buffer of approximately 30 km and should be located completely within PA.

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Juvenile Dispersal of Harpy Eagles (Harpia harpyja) in Ecuador

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 18 publications

References 34 publications

Species distribution modeling reveals strongholds and potential reintroduction areas for the world’s largest eagle

Species distribution modeling reveals strongholds and potential reintroduction areas for the world’s largest eagle

Range-wide habitat use and Key Biodiversity Area coverage for a lowland tropical forest raptor across an increasingly deforested landscape

Dispersal and space use of captive-reared and wild-rehabilitated Harpy Eagles released in Central American landscapes: Implications for reintroduction and reinforcement management

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