Reinventing mutualism between humans and wild fauna: insights from vultures as ecosystem services providers

Abstract

In parallel with economic and social changes, mutualism in human-vulture relations has virtually disappeared worldwide. Here, we describe the mutualistic relationship between humans and the globally threatened Egyptian vulture in Socotra, Yemen. By analyzing both the spatial distribution of vultures and the amount of human byproducts they consume, we show that human activities enable the maintenance of the densest population of this rare scavenger, whereas vultures provide a key regulating service by disposing of up to 22.4% of the organic waste annually produced in towns. Globalization is impacting the archipelago, and therefore policies that better integrate societal needs and biodiversity conservation are urgently needed. We propose a win-win solution that relies on the restructuring of the mutualism, shifting from regulating services toward cultural services. Our study highlights the necessity of reconciling trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and economic development in a framework of global change affecting Middle Eastern countries.

Habitat selection by an avian top predator in the tropical megacity of Delhi: human activities and socio-religious practices as prey-facilitating tools

“…This reinforces the call for improved integration of socio-economic approaches to urban ecology, which will often require a reconceptualization of humans and their activities (Pickett et al 2001;Grimm et al 2008;Esbjorn-Hargens and Zimmerman 2009;Warren and Lepczyk 2012). Furthermore, the high predictive power of our logistic model of nest-site selection highlighted the importance of habitat models as potential conservation tools for urban planning (for integration of modelling and conservation in urban settings, see examples and reviews in Gordon et al 2009;Kowarik 2011;Lerman et al 2014). Overall, our model suggested that Delhi Black Kites selected several socio-ecological features at multiple scales, from local tree-arrangement, to neighbourhood-level landscape structure, to the larger-scale spatial zoning of access to subsidies provided by human socio-religious practices (see below).…”

“…However, for many urban species, the attraction to an extreme anthropogenic ecosystem is based on the exploitation of human provision itself rather than resilience to its actions, and for some synanthropic species this may derive from millennia of co-existence with man, better seen as an integral portion of their niche as well as a beneficiary of ecosystem services (e.g. Marzluff and Angell 2005;Gangoso et al 2013). In our system, Delhi kites cannot be thought of in isolation from humans and their voluntary and involuntary subsidies, which would qualify them as anthropophilic and anthropodependent species (sensu Hulme-Beaman et al 2016).…”

“…Pickett et al 2001;McKinney 2010). Nevertheless, some animal species have managed to adapt and thrive under such conditions (Lepczyk et al 2017), some for example can take advantage of human waste and reach densities that are not otherwise encountered (Brook et al 2003;Gangoso et al 2013;Inger et al 2016). These urban exploiters are often alien invaders seen as 'nuisances to eradicate ' (e.g.…”

“…Third, many of them are facultative scavengers that subsist on animal carrion and human waste, thus providing fundamental ecosystem and sanitary services, as well demonstrated in urban and rural environments (e.g. Margalida and Colomer 2012;Gangoso et al 2013;Moleón et al 2014;Inger et al 2016). Fourth, they are often dominant components of the community, potentially limiting other species, and thus contributing to faunal homogenization (McKinney 2006;Shochat et al 2010;Carey et al 2012).…”

Understanding, quantifying and mapping the use of poison by commercial farmers in Namibia – Implications for scavengers' conservation and ecosystem health

“…For example, vultures contribute to the disposal of human byproducts (urban organic waste ;Gangoso et al 2013) and carcasses of livestock and wild animals, thereby preventing the spread of diseases, such as ebola, anthrax, rabies . Vultures were also found to contribute to reduced green-house-gas emissions by limiting transportation needed to transfer byproducts (Morales-Reyes et al 2015).…”