Sammanfattning

Land use and landcover change alter the ability of habitat networks to maintain viable species populations. While their effects on the quality, amount and patterns of landcover patches are commonly studied, how they affect ecological processes, such as predation on focal species remains neglected. This macroecological study tests the hypothesis that predator assemblages are affected by land use intensity linked to different socio-economic contexts. We measured the distribution and abundance of two avian predator groups (generalist corvid birds and specialist raptors), and proxy variables that mirror their food resources, at three spatial scales in northern Europe's West and East. In total, we made 900 survey counts for avian predators and their resources in six landcover strata throughout five landscapes and analyzed their relationships. The abundance of omnivorous corvid birds was associated with the number of anthropogenic food resources. Thus, corvid birds were most common in the urban and agricultural landcovers, and where forest cover was low. Corvid bird abundance, and availability of their resources, increased with increasing land use intensity. Raptors were less abundant than corvid birds and most common in semi-natural grasslands. The number of raptor species increased with decreasing land use intensity. This study shows that the abundance and composition of avian predator species must be understood to maintain functional habitat networks.

Nyckelord

conservation; corvids; ecological processes; ground nesting birds; macroecology; predation; raptors; spatial scale; trophic interactions

Publicerad i

Diversity
2019, Volym: 11, nummer: 5, artikelnummer: 70
Utgivare: MDPI

SLU författare

• Angelstam, Per

  • Skogsmästarskolan, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Naumov, Vladimir

  • Skogsmästarskolan, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    
  • Høgskolen i Innlandet

Globala målen

SDG15 Skydda, återställa och främja ett hållbart nyttjande av landbaserade ekosystem, hållbart bruka skogar, bekämpa ökenspridning, hejda och vrida tillbaka markförstöringen samt hejda förlusten av biologisk mångfald
SDG11 Göra städer och bosättningar inkluderande, säkra, motståndskraftiga och hållbara


UKÄ forskningsämne

Ekologi


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/d11050070

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/100959