Reviewing the Role of Vultures at the Human-Wildlife-Livestock Disease Interface: An African Perspective

Heever, Linda van den; Thompson, Lindy J.; Smit‐Robinson, Hanneline; Shaffer, L. Jen; Harrell, Reginal M.; Ottinger, Mary Ann

doi:10.3356/jrr-20-22

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 103 publications

(147 reference statements)

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“…As obligate scavengers, vultures play an indispensable role in carrion decomposition, potentially contributing to maintaining ecological health and preventing disease spread. 7 , 8 , 40 , 41 , 42 This is even more salient given the reduced number of vulture species (only 23) present worldwide. Furthermore, their indirect role in supporting SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) by preventing water contamination through carrion decomposition is an area that warrants greater exploration and acknowledgment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The global contribution of vultures towards ecosystem services and sustainability: An experts’ perspective

Santangeli,

Lambertucci,

Margalida

et al. 2024

iScience

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The global contribution of vultures towards ecosystem services and sustainability: An experts’ perspective

Santangeli,

Lambertucci,

Margalida

et al. 2024

iScience

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“…Originally focused on the transmission of disease from wildlife to humans, the concept of One Health articulates the close inter‐relationship between the health of wildlife and ecosystem health with the welfare and health of human populations. Birds, and vultures in particular, are often sensitive indicators of environmental damage, which include effects of chemical contaminants and a mirror into the One Health of the ecosystem (Ottinger et al, 2021; Thompson et al, 2021; van den Heever et al, 2021). Vultures are at the top of the food chain and provide an essential component in the maintenance of ecosystem health by waste removal, diminished disease transmission, and nutrient recycling (DeVault et al, 2004; Houston & Cooper, 1975; Ogada et al, 2011; Ottinger et al, 2021), thereby providing valuable ecosystem services.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Old World Vultures Reflect Effects of Environmental Pollutants Through Human Encroachment

Krüger

Botha

Coverdale

et al. 2022

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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African wildlife face challenges from many stressors including current and emerging contaminants, habitat and resource loss, poaching, intentional and unintentional poisoning, and climate‐related environmental change. The plight of African vultures exemplifies these challenges due to environmental contaminants and other stressors acting on individuals and populations that are already threatened or endangered. Many of these threats emanate from increasing human population size and settlement density, habitat loss from changing land use for agriculture, residential areas, and industry, and climate‐related changes in resource availability. Environmental chemicals that are hazardous include legacy chemicals, emerging chemicals of concern, and high‐volume‐use chemicals that are employed as weed killers and in other agricultural applications. Furthermore, there are differences in risk for species living in close proximity to humans or in areas affected by habitat loss, climate, and industry. Monitoring programs are essential to track the status of nesting pairs, offspring survival, longevity, and lifetime productivity. This is important for long‐lived birds, such as vultures, that may be especially vulnerable to chronic exposure to chemicals as obligate scavengers. Furthermore, their position in the food web may increase risk due to biomagnification of chemicals. We review the primary chemical hazards to Old World vultures and the interacting stressors affecting these and other birds. Habitat is a major consideration for vultures, with tree‐nesters and cliff‐nesters potentially experiencing different risks of exposure to environmental chemicals. The present review provides information from long‐term monitoring programs and discusses a range of these threats and their effects on vulture populations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1586–1603. © 2022 SETAC

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“…Vultures are obligate scavengers with a crucial role as highly specialized sanitarians (Mendoza et al, 2018). In some cases (particularly in West Africa), the presence of vultures may highlight unhygienic habits such as open-air abattoirs and garbage sites 1 , but usually, the role of vultures as keystone species (Mills et al, 1993;Buechley et al, 2018) means that their loss (and the loss of the irreplaceable cleaning services they provide) may result in mesopredator release, trophic cascades, zoonotic disease epidemics, and considerable economic, environmental, and One Health costs (Markandya et al, 2008;Plaza et al, 2020;Ottinger et al, 2021;van den Heever et al, 2021). From a positive perspective, the selection of a single vulture species for use as an umbrella species for all the African vultures may greatly reduce the costs of monitoring vulture populations and implementing conservation interventions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing African Vultures as Biomonitors and Umbrella Species

Thompson¹,

Krüger²,

Coverdale³

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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African vulture populations are rapidly declining, yet funding and other resources available for their conservation are limited. Improving our understanding of which African vulture species could best serve as an umbrella species for the entire suite of African vultures could help conservationists save time, money, and resources by focusing their efforts on a single vulture species. Furthermore, improving our understanding of the suitability of African vultures as biomonitors for detecting environmental toxins could help conservation authorities to detect changes in ecosystem health. We used a systematic approach based on criteria selected a priori to objectively evaluate the potential of each of the 10 resident African vulture species as (i) an umbrella species for all of the African vulture species, and (ii) an avian biomonitor. For each criterion, we scored the respective African vulture species and summed the scores to determine which species was best suited as an umbrella species and as an avian biomonitor. Our results showed that, overall, certain aspects of vulture ecology (large population sizes, large body sizes, long lifespans, and their ability to be monitored over numerous seasons) support their suitability as biomonitors, while other ecological traits, including their diets and the public's perceptions of vultures, could diminish their suitability. The White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) was the best fit of the 10 vulture species in our assessment as both an avian biomonitor and an umbrella species for all African vulture species. Meanwhile, significant knowledge gaps for other species inhibit their utility as biomonitors. Due to their large home-range sizes, African vultures may only be useful as biomonitors at a regional scale. However, there could be value in using the White-backed Vulture as an umbrella species, as an aid to conserve the entire suite of African vulture species.

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Reviewing the Role of Vultures at the Human-Wildlife-Livestock Disease Interface: An African Perspective

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 15 publications

References 103 publications

The global contribution of vultures towards ecosystem services and sustainability: An experts’ perspective

The global contribution of vultures towards ecosystem services and sustainability: An experts’ perspective

Old World Vultures Reflect Effects of Environmental Pollutants Through Human Encroachment

Assessing African Vultures as Biomonitors and Umbrella Species

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