Population Estimates for the Diverse Raptor Assemblage of Dadia National Park, Greece

Poirazidis, Κonstantinos; Schindler, Stefan; Kakalis, E.; Ruíz, Carlos; Bakaloudis, Dimitrios E.; Scandolara, Chiara; Eastham, C.; Hristov, Hristo; Catsadorakis, G.

doi:10.13157/arla.58.1.2011.3

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Our focus on the population and territory level did not allow us to further tease apart territory quality from variation in individual behaviour, but at the territory level there is a large amount of variation in both occupancy and breeding success, with some territories being abandoned, new ones founded and some exhibiting breeding failure almost every year. Population densities of all three study species showed a significant increase since the early 2000s and are at the upper bound of published estimates (Newton & Gammie 1979;Penteriani 1997;Rutz et al 2006;Poirazidis et al 2011; P erez-Garc ıa, S anchez-Zapata & Botella 2012). Although we investigated factors that influence the mesopredators' breeding performance before and after superpredator re-colonization, the observed population growth cannot only be explained by this factor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 41%

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Intraguild predation leads to cascading effects on habitat choice, behaviour and reproductive performance

Mueller

Chakarov

Heseker

et al. 2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Intraguild predation (IGP) is a commonly recognized mechanism influencing the community structure of predators, but the complex interactions are notoriously difficult to disentangle. The mesopredator suppression hypothesis predicts that a superpredator may either simultaneously repress two mesopredators, restrain the dominant one and thereby release the subdominant mesopredator, or elicit different responses by both mesopredators. We show the outcome arising from such conditions in a three-level predator assemblage (Eurasian eagle owl Bubo bubo L., northern goshawk Accipiter gentilis L. and common buzzard Buteo buteo L.) studied over 25 years. In the second half of the study period, the eagle owl re-colonized the study area, thereby providing a natural experiment of superpredator introduction. We combined this set-up with detailed GIS analysis of habitat use and a field experiment simulating intrusion by the superpredator into territories of the subdominant mesopredator, the buzzard. Although population trends were positive for all three species in the assemblage, the proportion of failed breeding attempts increased significantly in both mesopredators after the superpredator re-colonized the area. We predicted that superpredator-induced niche shifts in the dominant mesopredator may facilitate mesopredator coexistence in superpredator-free refugia. We found significant changes in nesting habitat choice in goshawk, but not in buzzard. Since competition for enemy-free refugia and the rapid increase in population density may have constrained niche shifts of the subdominant mesopredator, we further predicted behavioural changes in response to the superpredator. The field experiment indeed showed a significant increase in aggressive response of buzzards towards eagle owl territory intrusion over the course of 10 years, probably due to phenotypic plasticity in the response towards superpredation risk. Overall, our results show that intraguild predation can be a powerful force of behavioural change, simultaneously influencing habitat use and aggressiveness in predator communities. These changes might help to buffer mesopredator populations against the negative effects of intraguild predation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 41%

“…; Poirazidis et al . ; Pérez‐García, Sánchez‐Zapata & Botella ). Although we investigated factors that influence the mesopredators’ breeding performance before and after superpredator re‐colonization, the observed population growth cannot only be explained by this factor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraguild predation leads to cascading effects on habitat choice, behaviour and reproductive performance

Mueller

Chakarov

Heseker

et al. 2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Results here are similar with that in Dadia National Park, Northeastern Greece, in the predominance of reptiles in the diet (Vlachos & Papageorgiou 1996). Dadia and Amvrakikos do differ in some landscape aspects although both are located in Mediterranean climate areas; however, the diurnal raptor population is much lower in the Amvrakikos (Zogaris et al 2003;Poirazidis et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet of the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Clanga pomarina) in Amvrakikos Wetlands National Park, Greece

Alivizatos¹,

Papandropoulos²,

Zogaris³

2020

Ecol. Mont

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The diet of the lesser spotted eagle (Clanga pomarina) was studied in the area that is now the Amvrakikos Wetlands National Park during the Spring periods of 2000 and 2002 by analysis of pellets and prey remains found at two active nest sites, in two different territories. Among 155 prey items collected, in terms of biomass, the diet was 43% reptiles, 30% birds, 24% mammals, 3% amphibians and 1% arthropods. The most important prey taxa were brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) at 19%, water snakes (Natrix spp.) at 11% and moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) at 11% composition. Despite a wide availability of semi-natural and agricultural habitats around the immediate nesting areas, the species seems to have invested in foraging largely on water-dependent animals. The species maintained only one or a maximum of two pairs in the wider region during the study, this being at the southwestern margin of its global breeding range. Conservation insights and recommendations are presented.

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“…Details of the SRM scheme, describing both spatial and temporal parameters, are provided in Poirazidis et al (2011). For a detailed map of the study area, transect and vantage points' position, as well as landscape and vegetation analysis, National Park limits and core areas' extension, see Schindler et al (2008Schindler et al ( , 2015 and Poirazidis et al (2009).…”

Section: Field Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Raptor Monitoring as conservation tool: 12 year results in the light of landscape changes in Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park

Poirazidis¹

2017

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Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park forms part of the Natura 2000 network in a region of Greece and represents one of the most diverse landscapes for raptors (birds of prey) breeding in Europe. It is adjacent to Bulgaria and Turkey and is a renowned biodiversity hotspot. WWF Greece established a Systematic Raptor Monitoring scheme in this area in 2001.This study summarises the results of the first 12 years of monitoring in the National Park. Overall, 25 to 27 raptor species were recorded by pooling data, of which20 species reproduced in the National Park. Raptors with continuous presence in the National Park exhibited stable, species-specific inter-annual variation. An average of 348±15.4 raptor territories were distributed throughout the National Park for all species. The Common buzzard (Buteo buteo) and the Shorttoed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) were the most common species year-round, followed by the Lesser-spotted eagle (Clanga pomarina) and Booted eagle (Aquila pennata). The Long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus), Honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) and Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) exhibited a noticeable drop in population numbers over the study period. A significant new entry was the re-appearance of the Whitetailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), which was recorded breeding again in the region after a 21-year absence. Species trends, along with their ecological traits, are discussed with respect to landscape changes in Dadia NP and minimum viable population and territory thresholds are proposed to outline essential conservation issues. Although a multi-year balance of the total number of occupied territories for all species was recorded, the number of common species increased compared to specialist species which had smaller, de- RESEARCH ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalKonstantinos Poirazidis / Nature Conservation 22: 17-50 (2017) 18 clining populations. The abandoning of traditional livestock farming, which induces an increase in closedcanopy forest coverage, might have led to the decline of the Lesser-spotted eagle, Long-legged buzzard and Honey buzzard numbers. Additional pressure is added from specialist forest dwelling raptors which are favoured by this change in habitat. The results of this study are expected to provide useful insights to facilitate conservation and management decisions about raptors and their habitat in this region.

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Population Estimates for the Diverse Raptor Assemblage of Dadia National Park, Greece

Cited by 18 publications

References 18 publications

Intraguild predation leads to cascading effects on habitat choice, behaviour and reproductive performance

Intraguild predation leads to cascading effects on habitat choice, behaviour and reproductive performance

Diet of the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Clanga pomarina) in Amvrakikos Wetlands National Park, Greece

Systematic Raptor Monitoring as conservation tool: 12 year results in the light of landscape changes in Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park

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