Long-Term Study of Reproductive Performance in Golden Eagles in Relation to Food Supply in Boreal Sweden

Moss, E. H.; Hipkiss, Tim; Oskarsson, Ingvar; Häger, Arne; Eriksson, Torsten; Nilsson, Lars‐Erik; Halling, Sven; Nilsson, P. B.; Hörnfeldt, Birger

doi:10.3356/jrr-11-48.1

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The taxonomic foraging preference towards these families is affirmed by various studies throughout the whole distribution area of the golden eagle (Cramp and Simmons , Steenhof and Kochert , Högström and Wiss , Haller , Ellis et al , Sulkava et al , Nyström et al , Takeuchi et al , Whitfield et al , Watson ). Decreasing availability of members of these optimal prey families was shown by several authors to enhance foraging generalism and reduce breeding success of golden eagles on regional scale (Pedrini and Sergio , Nyström et al , Takeuchi et al , McIntyre and Schmidt , Moss et al ). Although there are exceptions of this preference where golden eagles specialized on other prey taxa like hedgehogs or tortoises (Grubac , Högström and Wiss ) all of these preferentially foraged prey species fall under a medium‐size prey class between 0.5 and 5 kg.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the golden eagle, a decrease of breeding success was shown to be linked to increasing foraging generalism on a regional scale, as a result of declining abundance of preferred prey in the environment. This was true for golden eagles studied in Idaho (Steenhof and Kochert 1988), Alaska (McIntyre and Schmidt 2012) and Sweden (Moss et al 2012). Based on a summarising analysis of studies about the feeding behaviour of nesting golden eagles throughout the Northern Hemisphere, Watson (1998) found breeding performance of golden eagles to decrease significantly with increasing diversity of foraged prey species.…”

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confidence: 85%

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Availability of optimal‐sized prey affects global distribution patterns of the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos

Schweiger

Fünfstück²,

Beierkuhnlein

2014

Journal of Avian Biology

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Climate and landscape change are expected to significantly affect trophic interactions, which will especially harm top predators such as the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos. Availability of optimal prey is recognized to influence reproductive success of raptors on a regional scale. For the golden eagle, medium‐sized prey species between 0.5 and 5 kg are widely considered to be optimal prey during the breeding season, whereas smaller and larger species are deemed as energetically sub‐optimal. However, knowledge about the effects of optimal prey availability is still scarce on larger scales. To decrease this apparent knowledge gap, we combined biogeographical information on range margins with information about the foraging behaviour and reproductive success of golden eagles from 67 studies spanning the Northern Hemisphere. We hypothesized that availability of optimal prey will affect foraging behaviour and breeding success and, thus, distribution patterns of the golden eagle not only on a local but also on a continental scale. We correlated the diet breadth quantifying foraging generalism, breeding success and proportions of small (< 0.5 kg), medium (0.5–5 kg) and large‐sized (> 5 kg) prey species within the diet with the minimum distance of the examined eagles to the actual species distribution boundary. Closer to the range edge, we observed decreased proportions of medium‐sized prey species and decreasing breeding success of golden eagles. Diet breadth as well as proportions of small and large‐sized prey species increased, however, towards the range edge. Thus, availability of optimal‐sized prey species seems to be a crucial driver of foraging behaviour, breeding success and distribution of golden eagles on a continental scale. However, underlying effects of landscape characteristics and human influence on optimal prey availability has to be investigated in further large‐scale studies to fully understand the major threats facing the golden eagle and possibly other large terrestrial birds of prey.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 85%

Availability of optimal‐sized prey affects global distribution patterns of the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos

Schweiger

Fünfstück²,

Beierkuhnlein

2014

Journal of Avian Biology

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“…A large body of knowledge regarding the ecology of raptors has accumulated (e.g., Postupalsky, 1974;Steenhof, 1987;Sergio and Newton, 2003;Moss et al, 2012). In addition, raptors have a charisma due to their rarity and glamorous appearance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Furthermore, areas with high net primary productivity may supply both raptor and other bird species in the area with more resources and thus confer higher reproductive output for all (e.g., Seagle and Sturtevant, 2005). Raptors have been well studied in many locations worldwide, and many researchers have long concentrated their efforts on the monitoring of raptor reproductive output (e.g., Postupalsky, 1974;Steenhof, 1987;Sergio and Newton, 2003;Forsman et al, 2011;Moss et al, 2012). Therefore, the testing of this hypothesis could promote the conservation of many bird species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The usefulness of top predators as biodiversity surrogates indicated by the relationship between the reproductive outputs of raptors and other bird species

Senzaki

Yamaura

Nakamura

2015

Biological Conservation

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“…Important land uses are forestry and reindeer husbandry. Golden Eagles are monitored in this area: territory occupancy and breeding success are recorded and nestlings are ringed (Ekenstedt & Schneider 2008, Moss et al 2012. Visits to known territories in March confirmed pre-breeding activity, e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Variation in quality of Golden Eagle territories and a management strategy for wind farm projects in northern Sweden

2014

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Breeding productivity of 86 occupied Golden Eagle territories in northern Sweden varied greatly, with the upper quartile of the most productive territories being responsible for 44% of the total productivity of the studied territories. This information is used in a regional strategy for managing wind farm project proposals in areas inhabited by Golden Eagles, whereby the more productive territories are provided with a greater degree of protection than their less productive counterparts.

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Long-Term Study of Reproductive Performance in Golden Eagles in Relation to Food Supply in Boreal Sweden

Cited by 19 publications

References 32 publications

Availability of optimal‐sized prey affects global distribution patterns of the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos

Availability of optimal‐sized prey affects global distribution patterns of the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos

The usefulness of top predators as biodiversity surrogates indicated by the relationship between the reproductive outputs of raptors and other bird species

Variation in quality of Golden Eagle territories and a management strategy for wind farm projects in northern Sweden

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