Key Role of European Rabbits in the Conservation of the Western Mediterranean Basin Hotspot

Delibes‐Mateos, Miguel; Delibes, Miguel; Ferreras, Pablo; Villafuerte, Rafael

doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00993.x

Cited by 236 publications

(182 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…The scarcity of the main food resources exploited by the griffon vultures (predictable large carcasses) would lead to an increase in indirect competition with subordinate species for small and medium-sized carcasses, in a process similar to the hyperpredation observed in predator-prey systems (Courchamp et al 2000). In the Iberian Peninsula the carcasses of wild rabbits are heavily exploited by facultative predators and carrion-eaters (Delibes-Mateos et al 2008) and for some threatened species like the Egyptian vulture, the cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) and the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) constitute an essential part of the diet during the breeding period (Hiraldo 1976;Donázar and Ceballos 1988;Margalida et al 2009). In a field experiment carried out during 2005 and 2006, when the availability of large carcasses was still high, we observed that 30% of the wild rabbit carcasses were consumed by griffon vultures, which displaced other species like Egyptian vultures, red kites (Milvus milvus), black kites (Milvus migrans), marh harriers (Circus aeruginosus), common European buzzards (Buteo buteo), and common ravens (Corvus corax).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary shifts in two vultures after the demise of supplementary feeding stations: consequences of the EU sanitary legislation

2010

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Among vertebrates, specialization in scavenging has appeared only in "true" Gyps vultures, which usually base their diet almost exclusively on carcasses of medium and large-sized mammals, whereas all other scavengers rely on broader ranges of prey. The availability of food for scavengers in Western Europe has not been limited during recent decades permitting the existence and growth of huge vulture populations. From 2000 onwards, however, EU sanitary legislation has progressively limited the abandonment of dead animals in the field resulting in a sudden reduction of food availability with unknown ecological and conservation consequences. Here, we examine the dietary response of a tandem of carrion eaters, the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), showing different degrees of dietary specialization. Our results showed that after the reduction in numbers of supplementary feeding stations (vulture restaurants) the niche breadth of the griffon vulture has broadened and now includes significant amounts of wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and garbage. The diet of the Egyptian vulture, on the contrary, did not vary substantially. The diet overlap showed patterns probably conditioned by interspecific competition and the progressive exploitation of unpredictable carcasses. On a short-term scale, consequences for smaller scavengers could be negative due to the monopolization of resources by the dominant and much more abundant griffon vulture, however in the long-term all guild species would benefit from the exploitation of unpredictable carcasses, which could enhance the possibilities of coexistence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary shifts in two vultures after the demise of supplementary feeding stations: consequences of the EU sanitary legislation

2010

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“…We address this key limitation using coupled ecological nichepopulation models with source-sink dynamics 6,7 , simulating the stochasticdemographicresponsesofIberianlynxto:spatialpatterns of rabbit abundance conditioned by disease, climate and landuse variation; and changes in climate suitability and landscape modification. We consider the interaction between rabbits and Iberian lynx as unidirectional, because lynx are extremely rare, whereas rabbits are abundant and have greater than 30 vertebrate predators,many ofthem widelydistributed andlocally abundant 15 . Rareeffortstoaccountforspeciesinteractionsinclimate-ecological forecasts have used overly simple approaches; by adding an interactingspeciesasanadditional predictorinacorrelativemodel, or by restricting the distribution of one species to the modelled distribution of the other 16 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Adapted conservation measures are required to save the Iberian lynx in a changing climate

et al. 2013

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The Iberian lynx (Lynxpardinus) has suffered severe population declines in the twentieth century and is now on the brink of extinction 1 . Climate change could further threaten the survival of the species 2 , but its forecast effects are being neglected in recovery plans 3,4 . Quantitative estimates of extinction risk under climate change have so far mostly relied on inferences from correlative projections of species' habitat shifts 5 . Here we use ecological niche models coupled to metapopulation simulations with source-sink dynamics 6,7 to directly investigate the combined effects of climate change, prey availability and management intervention on the persistence of the Iberian lynx. Our approach is unique in that it explicitly models dynamic bi-trophic species interactions in a climate change setting. We show that anticipated climate change will rapidly and severely decrease lynx abundance and probably lead to its extinction in the wild within 50 years, even with strong global efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In stark contrast, we also show that a carefully planned reintroduction programme, accounting for the effects of climate change, prey abundance and habitat connectivity, could avert extinction of the lynx this century. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, why considering prey availability, climate change and their interaction in models is important when designing policies to prevent future biodiversity loss.The 9 Rui Nabeiro Biodiversity Chair, CIBIO, University of Évora, Évora, 7000, Portugal, 10 Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. *e-mail: maraujo@mncn.csic.es towards increasing the carrying capacity of reintroduction sites through habitat restoration, relocating rabbits and limiting direct anthropogenic-related fatalities 4,13 .Although a well-financed effort to avert the extinction of this charismatic species is underway (> e94 million funding since 1994) 4 , non-accounted threats, such asclimatechangeanditsinfluenceonpreyabundance,arenotbeing considered in recovery plans.Here we provide the most comprehensive analysis of the likely effects of climate change yet for a threatened vertebrate. So far, models used to investigate how climate change will

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“…Within its native range, rabbits are the preferred prey for most of the Iberian vertebrate predators and therefore, a species of conservation concern (Delibes‐Mateos et al., 2008; Virgós, Cabezas‐Díaz, & Lozano, 2007). Meanwhile, in other areas of the world, rabbits are invasive species that spread quickly in new environments, causing severe damage to the ecosystems they invade (Lees & Bell, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infrastructure features outperform environmental variables explaining rabbit abundance around motorways

Planillo

Malo

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Human disturbance is widespread across landscapes in the form of roads that alter wildlife populations. Knowing which road features are responsible for the species response and their relevance in comparison with environmental variables will provide useful information for effective conservation measures. We sampled relative abundance of European rabbits, a very widespread species, in motorway verges at regional scale, in an area with large variability in environmental and infrastructure conditions. Environmental variables included vegetation structure, plant productivity, distance to water sources, and altitude. Infrastructure characteristics were the type of vegetation in verges, verge width, traffic volume, and the presence of embankments. We performed a variance partitioning analysis to determine the relative importance of two sets of variables on rabbit abundance. Additionally, we identified the most important variables and their effects model averaging after model selection by AICc on hypothesis‐based models. As a group, infrastructure features explained four times more variability in rabbit abundance than environmental variables, being the effects of the former critical in motorway stretches located in altered landscapes with no available habitat for rabbits, such as agricultural fields. Model selection and Akaike weights showed that verge width and traffic volume are the most important variables explaining rabbit abundance index, with positive and negative effects, respectively. In the light of these results, the response of species to the infrastructure can be modulated through the modification of motorway features, being some of them manageable in the design phase. The identification of such features leads to suggestions for improvement through low‐cost corrective measures and conservation plans. As a general indication, keeping motorway verges less than 10 m wide will prevent high densities of rabbits and avoid the unwanted effects that rabbit populations can generate in some areas.

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Key Role of European Rabbits in the Conservation of the Western Mediterranean Basin Hotspot

Cited by 236 publications

References 77 publications

Dietary shifts in two vultures after the demise of supplementary feeding stations: consequences of the EU sanitary legislation

Dietary shifts in two vultures after the demise of supplementary feeding stations: consequences of the EU sanitary legislation

Adapted conservation measures are required to save the Iberian lynx in a changing climate

Infrastructure features outperform environmental variables explaining rabbit abundance around motorways

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