Natal philopatry in young Cape Vultures <i>Gyps coprotheres</i>

Hirschauer, Margaret T; Wolter, Kerri; Neser, Walter

doi:10.2989/00306525.2017.1245683

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The degree of natal philopatry (the likelihood that individuals breed at or near their place of origin) can influence the extent of genetic structuring in animal populations. Data from radio tracking and ringing studies have suggested that G. coprotheres exhibit natal philopatry 27,28 . Analysis of individuals collected from the six breeding colonies across South Africa did not support strong natal philopatry in this species, rather the genetic data suggests regional philopatry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Younger birds are inefficient feeders and forage more widely to avoid feeding competition with adults 22–25 . Literature indicates that individuals return to their natal colony to settle and breed 26 , but natal philopatry has only been confirmed in a few ringing studies 27,28 . There are currently three core G. coprotheres breeding populations in South Africa: one in northern South Africa (Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces); the second in the high lying regions of the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa and Lesotho 14,18,29 ; and an small isolated breeding colony in the Western Cape province of South Africa 18 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low genetic diversity and shallow population structure in the endangered vulture, Gyps coprotheres

Kleinhans

Willows‐Munro

2019

Sci Rep

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Globally, vulture species are experiencing major population declines. The southern African Cape vulture ( Gyps coprotheres ) has undergone severe population collapse which has led to a listing of Endangered by the IUCN. Here, a comprehensive genetic survey of G. coprotheres is conducted using microsatellite markers. Analyses revealed an overall reduction in heterozygosity compared to other vulture species that occur in South Africa ( Gypaetus barbatus , Necrosyrtes monachus , and Gyps africanus ). Bayesian clustering analysis and principal coordinate analysis identified shallow, subtle population structuring across South Africa. This provides some support for regional natal philopatry in this species. Despite recent reductions in population size, a genetic bottleneck was not detected by the genetic data. The G. coprotheres , however, did show a significant deficiency of overall heterozygosity. This, coupled with the elevated levels of inbreeding and reduced effective population size, suggests that G. coprotheres is genetically depauperate. Given that genetic variation is considered a prerequisite for adaptation and population health, the low genetic diversity within G. coprotheres populations is of concern and has implications for the future management and conservation of this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low genetic diversity and shallow population structure in the endangered vulture, Gyps coprotheres

Kleinhans

Willows‐Munro

2019

Sci Rep

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“…Multivariate analysis of morphological measurements has been regarded as a successful approach in sexing many bird species (Donohue and Dufty 2006;Svagelj and Quintana 2007;Reynolds et al 2008), including vultures of the genus Gyps (Xirouchakis and Poulakakis 2008). Other studies in southern Africa have discussed sex differentiation in Cape Vultures according to general morphological characteristics of the head, highlighting that females have a narrow head (as seen from the lateral canthus of the eyes) with an egg-shaped dome on top, while the males have a more triangular, flattened head with more prominent eye sockets (Mundy et al 1992, Naidoo et al 2011, Nsikani et al 2015, Hirschauer 2016. As this method has not been statistically validated, it therefore remains important to test the applicability of such morphological characteristics of the head as a method to determine sex in this species.…”

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confidence: 99%

Sexing Cape VultureGyps coprotheresbased on head morphometrics

Hirschauer¹,

Zimunya

Wolter³

et al. 2018

Ostrich

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The Cape Vulture, Gyps coprotheres, is considered sexually monomorphic in the literature, however visual differences in head shape between the sexes have been observed. Furthermore, head morphometrics of other Gyps species show statistically significant variation between the sexes. We show that head morphometrics can be used to determine the sex of Cape Vultures. Males generally have wider and shorter heads, and larger bill depths than females. Discriminant function analysis with data from 63 individuals identified the three most predictive variables in sex determination to be head width, head length, and bill depth. We also provide an equation which can be used in conjunction with head measurements as a method to determine the sex of Cape Vultures in the field with an overall accuracy of 84% (92% accuracy for females and 72% for males).

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Population growth rates in northern Cape VultureGyps coprotherescolonies between 2010 and 2019

Hirschauer¹,

Wolter²,

Howard³

et al. 2020

Bird Conservation International

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Summary The ‘Endangered’ Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres has been monitored across its range for decades through disparate studies varying in geographical scope and length. Yet, no long-term, range-wide survey exists for the species. Coordinated monitoring across the range of the Cape Vulture would be logistically challenging but provide a holistic view of population dynamics in this long-lived species that forages across much of southern Africa. Here, we report breeding pair counts from seven colonies in the Cape Vulture’s north-eastern breeding region from 2010 to 2019. We used state-space models to assess population growth across time. Manutsa, Soutpansberg, and Nooitgedacht colonies increased significantly over the study period, with three other colonies having positive estimates of population growth, but 95% credible intervals overlapped zero. The smallest colony at Moletjie is declining toward extirpation; only one breeding pair remained in 2019. Our results suggest the north-eastern population has been stable or increasing since 2010 with our 2019 surveys counting 2,241 breeding pairs across all sites. Indeed, there is an 89% chance that the population across the colonies we monitored increased from 2010 to 2019. Coordinated, range-wide, full-cycle monitoring is needed to thoroughly assess conservation status and efficacy of conservation actions taken for this endangered species.

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Natal philopatry in young Cape Vultures Gyps coprotheres

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Low genetic diversity and shallow population structure in the endangered vulture, Gyps coprotheres

Low genetic diversity and shallow population structure in the endangered vulture, Gyps coprotheres

Sexing Cape VultureGyps coprotheresbased on head morphometrics

Population growth rates in northern Cape VultureGyps coprotherescolonies between 2010 and 2019

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