Bioclimatic and environmental suitability models for capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) conservation: Identification of optimal and marginal areas in Rodopi Mountain-Range National Park (Northern Greece)

Poirazidis, Κonstantinos; Bontzorlos, Vasileios; Xofis, Panteleimon; Zakkak, Sylvia; Xirouchakis, Stavros; Grigoriadou, Elpida; Kechagioglou, Stavros; Gasteratos, Ioannis; Alivizatos, Haralambos; Παναγιωτοπούλου, Μαρία

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00526

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Wildfire likelihood is enhanced also by the land abandonment that incurs increased fuel loads through the expansion of woody vegetation where grazing and small-scale farming declines [90]. The land abandonment-induced expansion of canopy cover is documented in parts of our study area [91,92] in the Rhodope mts and Dadia forest. This trend, apart from other negative biodiversity impacts [93,94] reduces the open areas raptors such as the golden eagle rely for hunting [95][96][97], like the small openings where reptile capture is possible [13] and the open ridges that we found to favor hare predation in the breeding season.…”

Section: Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Pronounced Seasonal Diet Diversity Expansion of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Northern Greece during the Non-Breeding Season: The Role of Tortoises

Sidiropoulos

Whitfield²,

Astaras³

et al. 2022

Diversity

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Golden Eagles are resident in Greece and known to feed mainly on tortoises when breeding. However, information on alternative prey is scarce, especially during the tortoise brumation, that roughly coincides with the eagles’ non-breeding season. We analyzed 827 prey items collected from 12 territories over five territory years and 84 records of eagles hunting or feeding behavior. Tortoises dominated the breeding season diet (71% of prey categories on average) and over half of all hunting/feeding observations. While no spatial structure was evident, habitat variables such as forest canopy cover were important associates in golden eagle diet seasonally. A significant seasonal pattern emerged in diet diversity, using a subset of six territories with at least 10 samples per season. Eagles shifted from a narrow, reptile- based breeding season diet dominated by tortoises to a broader non-breeding season diet, that included more carrion, mammals and birds. Breeding season specialization on ectothermic prey is a trait usually associated with migratory raptors in the Western Palearctic. The observed dietary diversity expansion accompanied by residency in the absence of ectothermic prey, highlights the adaptability of the golden eagle, a generalist predator. Tortoise populations in Greece are of conservation concern and land use changes as well as climate change, such as development and land abandonment may increase the prevalence of catastrophic megafires, exacerbating the threats to the golden eagle’s main prey when breeding. We discuss this and other diet related conservation implications for the species in northern Greece.

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Section: Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Pronounced Seasonal Diet Diversity Expansion of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Northern Greece during the Non-Breeding Season: The Role of Tortoises

Sidiropoulos

Whitfield²,

Astaras³

et al. 2022

Diversity

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“…The model with an AUC value greater than 0.9 was regarded as excellent (Guisan & Thuiller, 2005). threshold approach was proved to be superior to other threshold division methods (Poirazidis et al, 2019). Then we used the maximum test sensitivity plus specificity threshold as a threshold or "cutoff" value for each scenario, and habitat suitability was divided into four classes: high suitability, moderate suitability, low suitability, and unsuitability (Table S4).…”

Section: Species Distribution Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting the potential distribution of 12 threatened medicinal plants on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau, with a maximum entropy model

Yang,

Zhu,

Song

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Climate change is a vital driver of biodiversity patterns and species distributions, understanding how organisms respond to climate change will shed light on the conservation of endangered species. In this study, the MaxEnt model was used to predict the potential suitable area of 12 threatened medicinal plants in the QTP (Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau) under the current and future (2050s, 2070s) three climate scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP8.5). The results showed that the climatically suitable habitats for the threatened medicinal plants were primarily found in the eastern, southeast, southern, and some parts of the central regions on the QTP. Moreover, 25% of the threatened medicinal plants would have reduced suitable habitat areas within the next 30–50 years in the different future global warming scenarios. Among these medicinal plants, RT (Rheum tanguticum) would miss the most habitat (98.97%), while the RAN (Rhododendron anthopogonoides) would miss the least habitat (10.15%). Nevertheless, 33.3% of the threatened medicinal plants showed an increase in their future habitat area because of their physiological characteristics which are more adaptable to a wide range of climates. The climatic suitable habitat for 50% of the threatened medicinal plants would migrate to higher altitudes or higher latitudes regions. This study provides a data foundation for the conservation of biodiversity and wild medicinal plants on the QTP.

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“…To derive a map of suitable/unsuitable habitats from the continuous species density distribution, a threshold must be applied. Selection of the optimal threshold is particularly critical because of the binary distribution of species suitability (suitable or unsuitable); small changes in the threshold can result in very different maps (Poirazidis et al, 2019). In previous studies three methods for selecting logistic thresholds for the division of suitable and unsuitable geographical areas that are considered to give greater prediction accuracy have been identified: the minimum training presence (MTP), ten percentile training presence (10P), and equal test sensitivity and specificity (ETSS) (Cao et al, 2013).…”

Section: Geographic Distribution Of Picea and Pinus Since The Late Gl...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic changes in forest cover and human activities during the Holocene on the northeast Tibetan plateau

et al. 2023

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Human activities strongly influenced the present-day environment of the Tibetan Plateau, especially in the northeastern area. The questions over when and to what extent humans began to utilize the plateau environment have been long investigated, but there are still gaps in our understanding, such as the relationship between forest dynamics and anthropogenic activities. Here, we simulate the potential Holocene geographical distribution of the three dominant coniferous species in the Northeast Tibetan Plateau in response to climate/environment and analyze pollen records and multi-proxies for anthropogenic activities to explore human impact on natural forest dynamics. Simulation results show marked expansion of Picea and Pinus coniferous forests in the Early Holocene (11.5–8.3 ka BP), continuing into the Mid Holocene (8.3–4.0 ka BP). However, there was a slight contraction of forest in the Late Holocene (4.0–2.6 ka BP) in the western part of the region, and near disappearance in the eastern Qaidam Basin, although both Pinus and Picea slightly increased in Hehuang Valley. Pollen analysis confirms the patterns, with an increase in arboreal pollen mainly comprising Pinus and Picea from Early to Early Mid Holocene (11.5–5.3 ka BP), followed by a decrease. Proxies of anthropogenic activities, including carbon concentration, archeological sites, and, synanthropic plants, increased significantly after 5.3 ka BP, with archeological evidence for intensive exploitation of forest and turnover of natural vegetation. We argue that forest retreat at 5.3–4.0 ka BP was due to the expansion of cropland and increasing demand for wood. Significant coniferous forest retreat and degradation from 4.0 to 2.6 ka BP, with forest succession in Hehuang Valley, was driven by the booming population, extensive grazing, and forest exploitation; the drying cooling climate may have aggravated the pace of deforestation at higher elevations. This study presents new insights into the deforestation on the Northeast Tibetan Plateau in the Holocene.

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Bioclimatic and environmental suitability models for capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) conservation: Identification of optimal and marginal areas in Rodopi Mountain-Range National Park (Northern Greece)

Cited by 19 publications

References 51 publications

Pronounced Seasonal Diet Diversity Expansion of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Northern Greece during the Non-Breeding Season: The Role of Tortoises

Pronounced Seasonal Diet Diversity Expansion of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Northern Greece during the Non-Breeding Season: The Role of Tortoises

Predicting the potential distribution of 12 threatened medicinal plants on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau, with a maximum entropy model

Dynamic changes in forest cover and human activities during the Holocene on the northeast Tibetan plateau

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