The value of transhumance for biodiversity conservation: Vulture foraging in relation to livestock movements

Abstract

In recent decades, intensive techniques of livestock raising have flourished, which has largely replaced traditional farming practices such as transhumance. These changes may have affected scavengers’ behaviour and ecology, as extensive livestock is a key source of carrion. This study evaluates the spatial responses of avian scavengers to the seasonal movements of transhumant herds in south-eastern Spain. We surveyed the abundance of avian scavengers and ungulates, and analysed the factors affecting the space use by 30 GPS-tracked griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). Griffons’ foraging activity increased in the pasturelands occupied by transhumant herds, which implied greater vulture abundance at the landscape level during the livestock season. In contrast, facultative scavengers were more abundant without transhumant livestock herds, and the abundance of wild ungulates did not change in relation to livestock presence. We conclude that fostering transhumance and other traditional farming systems, to the detriment of farming intensification, could favour vulture conservation.

Survival of a small reintroduced griffon vulture population in the Apennines: Insights from Global Positioning System tracking

“…Thus, food availability for scavengers increase, both because of the higher overall number of domestic ungulates, and because their spreading across high elevation pastures, which, instead, are devoid from late autumn to mid-spring due to the snow cover, in line with other studies demonstrating the value of transhumance in favouring vultures' foraging opportunities as per the spatial response of griffon vultures to the seasonal movements of livestock. 12 Two supplementary feeding stations exist, one for each study site, which are provisioned with ungulate carrions (mostly sheep and goat) once or twice a week (Figure 1). These sites represent predictable feeding patches potentially affecting movements and foraging habitat selection of individuals.…”

“…10 The Eurasian griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus Hablizl, 1783) is a long-lived species, with highly gregarious habits, whose food is usually represented by carrions of both domestic and wild medium-to large-sized mammals. 11,12 Its range encompasses many areas through Africa and Eurasia. 13 Although some populations still have a favorable conservation status, others are declining at significant rate and threatened within a short time frame.…”

In search of a sustainable alternative for meat production: understanding the purchase intention of meat from transhumance origin

“…Most of today's transhumant livestock in Spain consists of sheep and cows (Olea and Mateo-Tomás, 2009) and one of the main products obtained from this livestock is meat (Aguilera-Alcalá et al ., 2022). However, the lack of differentiation of pastoral systems in general and transhumance in particular makes difficult for consumers to find them in the market.…”

Landscape Implications of Contemporary Abandonment of Extensive Sheep Grazing in a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System

“…The relevance of the transhumant system over time has given rise to the appearance of livestock breeds, such as the Merino breed, which is a highly appreciated sheep for its wool, and the traditional breed that used mountain pasturelands in Spain the last centuries; to legal regulations of transhumance since the s. VI, and more intensely since the XII century; to a network of livestock roads; to create a cultural context; and to the maintenance of ecosystem multifunctionality by sheep in the mountain pasturelands, including the conservation of productivity, diversity of habitats, ecosystem services, biological richness, and landscape structure [9,[12][13][14]. Some authors [15][16][17] attribute to these periodic livestock movements and the successive occupation of different territories the maintenance of associated fauna in the same areas, such as Neophron percnopterus, Aegypius monachus, and Gyps fulvus, which benefits from the death of any animals along the way. They, therefore, underline the importance of such extensive pasture systems in the conservation of avian scavengers as source of carrion [16,17].…”

“…Some authors [15][16][17] attribute to these periodic livestock movements and the successive occupation of different territories the maintenance of associated fauna in the same areas, such as Neophron percnopterus, Aegypius monachus, and Gyps fulvus, which benefits from the death of any animals along the way. They, therefore, underline the importance of such extensive pasture systems in the conservation of avian scavengers as source of carrion [16,17].…”