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

Abstract

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.

Forest raptor nest selection traits in Mediterranean forest (Maamora, North Africa): conservation implications

“…We considered the four most widespread species: Booted Eagle, which is an effective hunter particularly sensitive to the management of forest ecosystems (García Dios and Viñuela 2000, Suárez et al 2000, Bosch et al 2005); Long-legged Buzzard, an adaptable predator with a broad habitat niche; Black Kite, which is an opportunistic hunter and scavenger (Sergio et al 2003, Messabhia et al 2019); Common Kestrel, a small generalist falcon (Fargallo et al 2009). All these species occur together in some other Mediterranean areas (Poirazidis 2017). The nests of the studied species represented 89% of the total raptor nests found in the area.…”

“…Multispecies studies of raptor nest-site habitat selection in temperate forest are abundant, but they are not as common for Mediterranean regions (BirdLife International 2004, Barrientos and Arroyo 2014, Poirazidis 2017, Bouchahdane et al 2019). Maamora Cork Oak forest in northern Morocco is the largest single stand of Cork Oak in the world (Emberger 1939).…”

Az energiatermelés tájtörténeti szempontú áttekintése

“…A mezőgazdaság mellett megjelenő energiatermelés a gazdasági fejlődés egyik kulcsa lehet. Ugyanakkor fontos megjegyezni, hogy az élővilágra, különösen a madárvilág egyedszámára negatív hatással vannak a szélturbinák (Poirazidis 2017) és a tájképi hatásuk megítélése is vegyes, elsősorban a környező települések gazdasági hasznától függ. A 91 MW villamos áramot termelő Brandenburg-Britest fotovoltaikus erőmű Németországban, amely 2012 kezdte meg működését egy korábbi katonai repülőterén (Zimmermann 2012).…”

Diurnal raptors at rescue centres in the Czech Republic: Reasons for admission, outcomes, and length of stay

“…The potential role played by raptors as effective means in the fight against the spread of certain zoonoses is also associated with this [6]. Raptor populations in a given region are not stable [7] and are often influenced by the characteristics of the specific area and a number of other demands. A large number of raptor species are, nevertheless, demonstrably endangered today [8].…”