First Documented Case of Long-Distance Dispersal in the Egyptian Vulture (N<scp>eophron percnopterus</scp>)

Elorriaga, Javier; Zuberogoitia, Íñigo; Castillo, Iñaki; Azkona, Ainara; Hidalgo, Sonia Jiménez; Astorkia, Lander; Ruiz-Moneo, Fernando; Iraeta, Agurtzane

doi:10.3356/jrr-08-53.1

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Also for estimating the linkage among sites we used a conservative estimation, the median dispersal distance of the species. For example, we assumed that the Egyptian vulture ( N. percnopterus ) has a dispersal distance of 55 km, despite the documented case of long distance dispersal at 550 km in Spain [50]. Thus, we do not overestimate the potential impact of future changes on network structure, since longer dispersal distances lead to even more highly connected networks and even less changes in the network properties of the potential future distribution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Connectivity of a Protected Areas' Network under the Prism of Global Change: The Efficiency of the European Natura 2000 Network for Four Birds of Prey

et al. 2013

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Climate and land use changes are major threats to biodiversity. To preserve biodiversity, networks of protected areas have been established worldwide, like the Natura 2000 network across the European Union (EU). Currently, this reserve network consists of more than 26000 sites covering more than 17% of EU terrestrial territory. Its efficiency to mitigate the detrimental effects of land use and climate change remains an open research question. Here, we examined the potential current and future geographical ranges of four birds of prey under scenarios of both land use and climate changes. By using graph theory, we examined how the current Natura 2000 network will perform in regard to the conservation of these species. This approach determines the importance of a site in regard to the total network and its connectivity. We found that sites becoming unsuitable due to climate change are not a random sample of the network, but are less connected and contribute less to the overall connectivity than the average site and thus their loss does not disrupt the full network. Hence, the connectivity of the remaining network changed only slightly from present day conditions. Our findings highlight the need to establish species-specific management plans with flexible conservation strategies ensuring protection under potential future range expansions. Aquila pomarina is predicted to disappear from the southern part of its range and to become restricted to northeastern Europe. Gyps fulvus, Aquila chrysaetos, and Neophron percnopterus are predicted to locally lose some suitable sites; hence, some isolated small populations may become extinct. However, their geographical range and metapopulation structure will remain relatively unaffected throughout Europe. These species would benefit more from an improved habitat quality and management of the existing network of protected areas than from increased connectivity or assisted migration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Connectivity of a Protected Areas' Network under the Prism of Global Change: The Efficiency of the European Natura 2000 Network for Four Birds of Prey

et al. 2013

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“…, 2009). Exceptional dispersals of up to 550 km have been detected between some Western European populations (Elorriaga et al. , 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of connectivity between continental and differentiated insular populations in a highly mobile species

Agudo

Rico

Hiraldo

et al. 2010

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim Genetically differentiated insular populations are candidates for independent units for conservation. However, occasional immigration to reduced island populations may occur and potentially have important consequences in their future viability and evolutionary potential. In this study, we investigate the conservation implications of population structure and connectivity of insular and continental populations of a migratory raptor as determined using genetic tools and satellite tracking. Location Western European populations in the Iberian Peninsula and two insular populations in the Mediterranean Sea (Balearic Islands) and Atlantic Ocean (Canary Islands). Methods We genotyped 22 microsatellite loci in 96 Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) from the Iberian Peninsula, 36 from Menorca (Balearic archipelago) and 242 (85% of the current population) from Fuerteventura (Canary Islands). We analysed genetic variation to estimate structure, gene flow, genetic diversity, effective size and recent demographic history of the populations. Additionally, 19 vultures were marked with satellite transmitters to track their migration routes. Results Insular populations were genetically differentiated from those of the mainland. We detected immigration in the insular populations and within the continental counterpart. We found similar levels of genetic variability between the continent and the islands, and a bottleneck analysis indicated recent sharp population declines in both archipelagos but not on the continent. Main conclusions Our study provides evidence that, in spite of significant differentiation, insular populations of highly mobile species may remain connected with the mainland. Conservation programmes should take into account population connectivity and integrate differentiated units of management within complex units of conservation that can best maintain processes and potential for evolutionary change.

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“…We selected 20 species from the atlas: 6 species that are globally threatened and near threatened (IUCN 2015), 2 species that are critically endangered according to the local red list (Anton, Estrada & Herrando 2013), 1 invasive species and 11 common species representing a variety of taxonomic groups, dispersal capabilities and habitat types, in order to include a wider variety of habitat network structures in the analysis (Table 1). Median natal dispersal distances, used to define dispersal probabilities, were found in the literature for 12 species (Donazar, Hiraldo & Bustamante 1993;Mart ın & Bucher 1993;Inchausti & Bretagnolle 2005;Wiens, Reynols & Noon 2006;Meriggi et al 2007;Rodriguez, Jansson & Andren 2007;Elorriaga et al 2009;Hern andez-Mat ıas et al 2010;Barlow et al 2013;Rubio et al 2015) and calculated for the remaining 8 species using the model by Sutherland et al (2000), which estimates median dispersal distances from the body mass and diet of the species.…”

Section: S T U D Y a R E A A N D S P E C I E Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Single‐node vs. multi‐node centrality in landscape graph analysis: key habitat patches and their protection for 20 bird species in NE Spain

2017

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Summary Habitat connectivity is a major concern in biodiversity conservation. Network analysis provides efficient tools for assessing landscape connectivity and identifying priority areas for protection. Widespread approaches consist of ranking individual habitat patches by their importance for connectivity. However, depending on the spatial arrangement of patches, and on the complementarity or redundancies between different patches in the network, the group of patches that together best contribute to connectivity may differ from the top individual patches. Here we apply individual ranking (single‐node) and group prioritization (multi‐node) methods to identify key patches in the habitat network of 20 bird species in Catalonia, Spain. We compare single‐node evaluation using the landscape index probability of connectivity (PC) and two multi‐node evaluations that focus on two different aspects of connectivity: reachability and fragmentation. We quantify how well the species’ habitats and key patches are covered by the Natura 2000 network of protected areas, as given by all three methods. We discuss some species‐specific differences between results, and general, multi‐species solutions. The key patches for reachability were widely scattered, while patches that best prevented fragmentation were concentrated in core areas. Key patches according to single‐node PC were in intermediate position, although more similar to the fragmentation patches. The patches that minimized fragmentation were highlighted as more crucial for low‐mobility species, while reachability patches scored higher for long‐distance dispersers. For most species, the key patches were not better protected than total habitat. We identify two main areas that concentrate priority patches for all the studied species (including the endangered Neophron percnopterus) and offer suggestions for the potential improvement of the Natura 2000 network. Our work provides a significant step towards the inclusion of multi‐node prioritization in landscape network analysis. The concept of multi‐node reachability, especially, provides an additional viewpoint to the assessment of connectivity. The multi‐patch algorithm we applied optimizes efficiency, overcoming computational limits associated with the high number of combinations that potentially arise in multi‐node analysis. We believe that a combination of multi‐node evaluations and PC has the potential to increase the realism and applicability of landscape network analysis for biodiversity conservation.

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First Documented Case of Long-Distance Dispersal in the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)

Cited by 12 publications

References 20 publications

Evaluating the Connectivity of a Protected Areas' Network under the Prism of Global Change: The Efficiency of the European Natura 2000 Network for Four Birds of Prey

Evaluating the Connectivity of a Protected Areas' Network under the Prism of Global Change: The Efficiency of the European Natura 2000 Network for Four Birds of Prey

Evidence of connectivity between continental and differentiated insular populations in a highly mobile species

Single‐node vs. multi‐node centrality in landscape graph analysis: key habitat patches and their protection for 20 bird species in NE Spain

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