The dark side of raptors’ distribution ranges under climate change

Almpanidou, Vasiliki; Tsapalou, Vasiliki; Tsavdaridou, Anastasia I.; Mazaris, Antonios D.

doi:10.1007/s10980-020-01025-5

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Raptor exposure to ALAN and urbanization are expected to increase in the future (Seto et al 2012;Almpanidou et al 2020). Thus, it is essential to improve our understanding on the potential impact of increasing urban ALAN on raptors (Almpanidou et al 2020). The new predation opportunities provided by ALAN have been exploited by many species from different taxonomic groups (Fleming and Bateman 2018), such as fish (Bolton et al 2017), amphibians, reptiles (Perry et al 2008), bats (Stone et al 2015), passerine birds (Lebbin et al 2007), and diurnal and nocturnal raptors (Negro et al 2000;DeCandido and Allen 2006;Rutz 2006;Canário et al 2012;Buij and Gschweng 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Artificial light at night as a driver of urban colonization by an avian predator

2020

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Urbanization and artificial light at night (ALAN) are major drivers of local biodiversity losses causing community alterations, disruption of predator-prey interactions, and ultimately, promotion of cascading effects. However, some species can colonize urban environments. ObjectivesWe explore the role of ALAN as a driver of the colonization of urban environments by a nocturnal avian predator, the burrowing owl Athene cunicularia. MethodsWe studied in a suburban locality in La Pampa, Argentina: 1) prey availability with pitfall traps under streetlights and control sites; 2) diet by analyzing pellets; 3) space use by deploying GPS data-loggers to breeding owls; 4) nesting habitat selection by comparing environmental variables at nest and random locations; and 5) productivity by correlating environmental variables with the number of fledglings. ResultsFirst, streetlights altered the invertebrate availability, attracting them to illuminated areas. Second, the owl diet was more similar to the invertebrate taxa trapped at pitfall traps under streetlights than that in control traps. Third, owl space use was determined by streetlights. Owls spent more time around light sources, particularly during the nighttime. Fourth, the most important habitat feature influencing the nesting habitat selection was the distance to streetlight. Owls selected areas close to streetlights for nesting. Finally, productivity was not explained by any of our habitat variables. ConclusionsWe demonstrate that ALAN alters the availability of invertebrates and plays a role in the diet, space use, and occupation of urban burrowing owls. Streetlights increase foraging efficiency for owls due to the clumping of prey attracted to lights. This predator-prey relationship might be only supported in suburban environments where low urbanization levels let burrowing owls nest in bare ground areas, and invertebrates are attracted to ALAN from surrounding wilder areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%