Habitat Use and Selection: Is Habitat Management the Key to Restore Red-Legged Partridge Populations?

Casas, Fabián; Duarte, Jesús; Gonçalves, David; Meriggi, Alberto; Morales, Manuel B.; Ponce, Françoise; Reino, Luís; Traba, Juán; Vargas, J. Mario

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-96341-5_3

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 43 publications

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“…Extensive vegetation and habitat diversity both had a negative effect, that is, in areas with a high proportion of extensive vegetation or a high habitat diversity the number of predated nests decreased. From a grey partridge's perspective, large areas of extensive vegetation and high habitat diversity likely increase the availability of good nest sites and thus facilitate microhabitat selection and predator avoidance, as has been shown for other species (Benton, Vickery, & Wilson, 2003; Coates & Delehanty, 2010; Casas et al ., 2022). At the same time, heterogenous landscapes can dilute predator activity by distributing it among more structures and large extensive areas are more difficult to search thoroughly for predators (Bergin et al ., 2000;Seymour, Harris, & White, 2004 ; Panek, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distance to the edge and other landscape features influence nest predation in grey partridges

Laux,

Mayer,

Beeke

et al. 2023

Animal Conservation

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Predation and habitat deterioration are the main reasons for the strong decline of ground‐nesting farmland birds such as the grey partridge Perdix perdix in Europe. Grey partridge nests and incubating females are especially vulnerable to predation. We have previously demonstrated that predator activity is much lower inside flower blocks (agri‐environment schemes sown with a flower seed mix) than at their edges and that predator activity in flower blocks depends on the surrounding landscape. Here, we investigate whether these differences in predator activity translate into differences in grey partridge nest predation and assess predation patterns relative to landscape and nest site characteristics. We recorded the success of 56 nests of radio‐tagged grey partridges between 2009 and 2017 in an agricultural landscape in Central Germany. We used Bayesian logistic regression to analyse the effects of nest site and landscape characteristics on nest predation on a subset of 46 nests (21 nests successful, 25 predated). Distance to the edge of the nesting habitat was the most important predictor, reducing predation probability from 66.8% at the edge to 18.5% at 85.5 m. Predation probability decreased with increasing length of habitat borders, habitat diversity and the area of permanent grasslands and fallows. Predation probability was higher further from settlements and increased with increasing woodland area in the agricultural matrix. When considering linear landscape structures, nest predation patterns matched the patterns of predator activity from our previous studies. Results suggest that the distance to the edge of the nesting habitat is most important and that nest predation may be reduced by providing sufficiently broad nesting habitats. Nest predation may further be minimized by increasing habitat diversity and coverage of extensive vegetation types and by establishing conservation measures for grey partridges further away from woodlands. These measures may also benefit other ground‐nesting farmland birds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distance to the edge and other landscape features influence nest predation in grey partridges

Laux,

Mayer,

Beeke

et al. 2023

Animal Conservation

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A landscape-based approach to design flower blocks may reduce mammalian predator activity and protect ground-nesting farmland birds

Laux,

Waltert,

Gottschalk

2024

Biodivers Conserv

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High predation rates threaten many ground-nesting farmland birds and are difficult to address through conventional measures such as lethal predator control or fencing. Landscape-based approaches for conservation measures promise an alternative by reducing predator - bird encounters, but require detailed knowledge of landscape effects on predation risk. Different habitat elements attractive to predators could have opposing effects on neighbouring nesting habitats, with implications for conservation: Increased predation risk due to higher predator activity (A) or reduced predation risk by distracting predators (B). Here we focus on the placement of conservation measures using flower blocks targeted at Grey Partridges in a Central European Farmland. Based on a three-year camera trap dataset, we investigated effects of landscape structure and composition on mammalian predator activity within flower blocks at two scales (100 m and 500 m radius around the camera) with generalized linear mixed models. Length of linear edge structures, i.e., field block borders, was most important, with a greater availability of linear edge structures leading to a decrease in predator activity at both scales (hypothesis B). Conversely, predator captures at both scales increased with increasing extensive vegetation area (i.e., permanent grassland, flower blocks and fallows) and in proximity to roads, indicating that these may attract predators and increase predator densities (hypothesis A). Our results suggest that a landscape-based approach can mitigate predation risk for ground-nesting birds in flower blocks and analogous conservation measures. Highly structured, small-scale agricultural landscapes seem to be particularly important for reducing mammalian predator activity in flower blocks.

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Ocellated lizard predation patterns on red-legged partridge nests in olive groves

Duarte¹,

Farfán

2023

Journal of Vertebrate Biology

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Habitat Use and Selection: Is Habitat Management the Key to Restore Red-Legged Partridge Populations?

Cited by 4 publications

References 43 publications

Distance to the edge and other landscape features influence nest predation in grey partridges

Distance to the edge and other landscape features influence nest predation in grey partridges

A landscape-based approach to design flower blocks may reduce mammalian predator activity and protect ground-nesting farmland birds

Ocellated lizard predation patterns on red-legged partridge nests in olive groves

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