Modification of the third phase in the framework for vertebrate species persistence in urban mosaic environments

Downs, Colleen T.; Alexander, Jarryd; Brown, Mark; Chibesa, Moses; Smith, Yvette C. Ehlers; Gumede, S. Thobeka; Hart, Lorinda A.; Josiah, Kyrone K.; Kalle, Riddhika; Maphalala, Machawe; Maseko, Mfundo S.T.; McPherson, Shane; Ngcobo, Samukelisiwe P.; Patterson, Lindsay; Pillay, Kerushka R.; Price, Cormac; Raji, Islamiat Abidemi; Ramesh, Tharmalingam; Schmidt, W.; Senoge, Ntaki D.; Shivambu, Tinyiko C.; Shivambu, Ndivhuwo; Singh, Nikisha; Singh, Preshnee; Streicher, Jarryd P.; Thabethe, Vuyisile; Thatcher, Harriet R.; Widdows, Craig D.; Wilson, Amy‐Leigh; Zungu, Manqoba M.; Smith, David A. Ehlers

doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01501-5

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…In addition, lawns, gardens, shade trees, and the provision of food plants, ponds, nest cavities, and supplementary food (e.g. bird feeders) often attract wildlife species to urban areas in South Africa (Downs et al 2021). Some of these species are in turn, important prey for various raptor species (McPherson et al 2016a;van der Meer et al 2018;Suri et al 2017a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

South African raptors in urban landscapes: a review

McPherson

Sumasgutner

Downs

2021

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Globally, but especially in Africa, increasing human populations and anthropogenic land-use change are generally affecting diversity negatively. Urban environments in southern Africa typically comprise a mosaic landscape of anthropogenic infrastructure with some green spaces. These urban cities have a range of fauna that have persisted or increased in population density compared with areas that are more natural. We analysed the occurrence of diurnal and nocturnal raptors using South African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2) data and reviewed literature. We found 66 raptor species occurred in South African cities. Thirty species had reporting frequencies greater than 10% in at least one of the 11 cities assessed, revealing impressive diversity of the raptor clade in South African cities. Five species were both abundant and widespread, occurring >10% in five or more cities each, of which three belong to the scavenger guild: Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus, African Fish Eagle Haliaeetus vocifer, Common Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus, Yellow-billed Kite Milvus aegyptius and Black Sparrowhawk Accipiter melanoleucus. However, only a few of these 66 raptors had been extensively studied in urban areas: the Black Sparrowhawk, African Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus, Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus and Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus. This lack of research is specifically severe, given that Africa is hosting a unique and diverse range of raptor species and that numbers and diversity of raptors have declined dramatically over the past decades across the continent. In fact, these four extensively studied species occurred in higher densities in urban areas than rural areas, which indicates that urban areas might create valuable opportunities for urban conservation, not least through public engagement. Rapaces sud-africains dans les paysages urbains: un bilanÀ l›échelle mondiale, mais surtout en Afrique, l›augmentation des populations humaines et les changements anthropiques d›utilisation des terres ont généralement un impact négatif sur la diversité. Les environnements urbains en Afrique australe comprennent généralement un paysage en mosaïque d›infrastructures anthropiques avec quelques espaces verts. Ces villes urbaines ont une diversité de faune qui a persisté ou a augmenté en densité de population par rapport aux zones plus naturelles. Nous avons analysé l›occurrence des rapaces diurnes et nocturnes à l›aide des données du South African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2) et examiné la littérature. Nous avons trouvé 66 espèces de rapaces présentes dans les villes sud-africaines. Trente espèces avaient des fréquences de déclaration supérieures à 10% dans au moins l'une des 11 villes évaluées, révélant une diversité impressionnante du clade des rapaces dans les villes sud-africaines. Cinq espèces étaient à la fois abondantes et répandues, présentes> 10% dans cinq villes ou plus chacune, dont trois appartiennent à la guilde des charognards: l'Elanion blanc Elanus caeruleus, le Pygargue vocifer Haliaeetus vocifer, la Buse commune Bu...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

South African raptors in urban landscapes: a review

McPherson

Sumasgutner

Downs

2021

Ostrich

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“…Despite the many challenges of urban environments, there has been an increasing tendency for some herp, avian and mammalian species to persist in the urban habitats of KwaZulu-Natal (Downs et al, 2021). In our study area, the maintenance of green spaces (especially natural habitats and human-managed green spaces) and connectivity within an urban matrix increase biodiversity and provide conservation value (Roberts, 1994;Downs et al, 2021). The Crowned Eagle is one of these species persisting in this urban mosaic landscape, but it faces anthropogenic threats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Urban Crowned Eagles' main threats are nest failures because of nest disturbance and extreme weather, incidents with anthropogenic infrastructure, or direct human-eagle interactions that cause injuries and death (McPherson et al, 2016a,b;Muller et al, 2020;Downs et al, 2021). Approx.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, it is hoped that this facilitates people of various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds to coexist with their urban eagles. With continued increased urbanization globally, there is a need for human-wildlife interactions, especially conflict, to be turned into coexistence (Frank et al, 2019) for species persistence in urban mosaic landscapes (Downs et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Surviving the Urban Jungle: Anthropogenic Threats, Wildlife-Conflicts, and Management Recommendations for African Crowned Eagles

et al. 2021

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Larger carnivores often trigger human-wildlife conflicts that arise from perceived threats to humans and domestic animals’ safety, which generate the need for management and removal strategies. These issues become especially challenging when humans and wildlife coexist close to one another, for example, in urban landscapes. African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus) are powerful forest raptors that breed within the metropolitan green-space system of Durban and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Negative human-wildlife interactions can occur because eagles occasionally predate on pets, such as cats (Felis catus) and small dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and provisioning domestic stock to nest sites has previously been quantified. Here, wildlife management becomes critical, usually aimed at reducing or eliminating causes of economic or social harm, but have to be balanced against conservation goals regarding threatened species. In this study, we (i) identified causes of harm or loss of Crowned Eagles because of injuries (n = 53 incidents; 31 mortalities); and (ii) describe interactions with negative perceptions to human livelihoods, particularly concerning predation on pets and livestock. Anthropogenic causes of mortality were more likely to be reported than remote natural deaths, which provides important opportunities for mitigation measures. Most avoidable are electrocution on utility poles, persecution via gunshot wounds and poisoning (targeted or secondary), while collisions with anthropogenic structures, such as glass panes, vehicles and fence wires, are more challenging to mitigate. Out of 44 verified Crowned Eagle vs. pets and livestock conflicts, we documented 19 dog attacks (2012–2020), with detrimental impacts on social perception and acceptance of urban eagles. Pet and livestock conflicts were primarily associated with juveniles and immature eagles (83%). Of these, 19% occurred during September alone, which marks the end of the post-fledging dependency period; 70% occurred outside the breeding season. We provide management recommendations regarding various categories of Crowned Eagle human-wildlife interactions. For example, activities such as rehabilitation and falconry can coordinate to achieve a high standard of public support and conservation outcomes for Crowned Eagles. Finally, we discuss using different management intervention strategies, including rehabilitation, falconry, re-wildling processes, and lethal control of specific “problem” individuals toward achieving the goal of sustainable, healthy Crowned Eagle populations that coexist with humans in urban landscapes.

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“…Anthropogenic infrastructures bisect habitat, increase the cost and mortality risk of movement and create novel temperature gradients, driving changes to population and community-level processes including predation [31][32][33]. Urban ecosystems are often a mosaic patchwork of suitable habitat, with both natural and managed greenspaces, which can bolster the persistence of some urban-dwelling species [34]. However, habitat fragmentation can reduce prey abundance broadly or disproportionately increase abundance for a small number of prey species, affecting predator diet selection and evenness [7,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Downtown diet: a global meta-analysis of increased urbanization on the diets of vertebrate predators

et al. 2022

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Predation is a fundamental ecological process that shapes communities and drives evolutionary dynamics. As the world rapidly urbanizes, it is critical to understand how human perturbations alter predation and meat consumption across taxa. We conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the effects of urban environments on three components of trophic ecology in predators: dietary species richness, dietary evenness and stable isotopic ratios (IRs) ( δ 13 C and δ 15 N IR). We evaluated whether the intensity of anthropogenic pressure, using the human footprint index (HFI), explained variation in effect sizes of dietary attributes using a meta-regression. We calculated Hedges’ g effect sizes from 44 studies including 11 986 samples across 40 predatory species in 39 cities globally. The direction and magnitude of effect sizes varied among predator taxa with reptilian diets exhibiting the most sensitivity to urbanization. Effect sizes revealed that predators in cities had comparable diet richness, evenness and nitrogen ratios, though carbon IRs were more enriched in cities. We found that neither the 1993 nor 2009 HFI editions explained effect size variation. Our study provides, to our knowledge, the first assessment of how urbanization has perturbed predator–prey interactions for multiple taxa at a global scale. We conclude that the functional role of predators is conserved in cities and urbanization does not inherently relax predation, despite diets broadening to include anthropogenic food sources such as sugar, wheat and corn.

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Modification of the third phase in the framework for vertebrate species persistence in urban mosaic environments

Cited by 21 publications

References 82 publications

South African raptors in urban landscapes: a review

South African raptors in urban landscapes: a review

Surviving the Urban Jungle: Anthropogenic Threats, Wildlife-Conflicts, and Management Recommendations for African Crowned Eagles

Downtown diet: a global meta-analysis of increased urbanization on the diets of vertebrate predators

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