An innovative system to detect active nests!

Dr. A. Santangeli recently went to Cáceres, as part of the European Commission LIFE project on Agroestepas Ibéricas. The project, spearheaded by SEO Birdlife Extremadura, primary goal is to create and deploy an innovative system designed to detect nests of steppe birds, which are frequently destroyed by mechanical crop spring harvesting. The system utilizes a drone equipped with a thermal camera, working in conjunction with a machine learning algorithm. This setup will allow for the detection and precise location of bird nests using thermal imagery in almost real time, aiming to significantly reduce the risk of nest destruction during agricultural activities.

GEDAi on Streaming: La Resistencia Cientifica!

 A. Sanz-Aguilar explains the ecology and behaviour of the Storm Petrel and other vertebrates. LA RESISTENCIA CIENTIFICA 2.0 .  Here min. 25

SEAGHOSTS on the air!

Dr A Sanz Aguilar illustrates the SEAGHOSTS projects. Its aims and partners. Meanwhile she tells us about the ecology and behaviour of this extraordinary petrel. In Spanish: here

SEAGHOSTS project on Storm Petrels!

Photo: V. Paris

The EU-project SEAGHOSTS is on the starting blocks. The project, led by the University of Barcelona, joins 16 groups of research from 10 different countries to study the movement and the ecology of the Storm Petrels. A. Sanz Aguilar, from the GEDAi, will be responsible for the demographic part. More information here (catalan) and here (spanish).

GEDA conference on Lizards !

Dr. A. Rotger will give a seminar on the ecology and life-history of the Balearic Wall lizard at the Visitor Centre of Carbrera National Park in Colonia St Jordi. 

The seminar is free and for all public. Friday 19/04/2024, 19h - Colonia St Jordi.

New Publication on mortality of migratory birds!

Serratosa, J., Oppel, S., Rotichs, S, Santangeli, A., [...] , Jones, V. R. 2024 Tracking data highlight the importance of human-induced mortality for large migratory birds at a flyway scale. Biological Conservation 293, 110525

In a shell: Despite stable frequencies of human-induced mortality over the past 15 years in the African-Eurasian flyway, conservation efforts targeting energy infrastructure and other human activities are necessary to mitigate these threats and safeguard bird species.

Abstract: Human-induced direct mortality affects huge numbers of birds each year, threatening hundreds of species worldwide. Tracking technologies can be an important tool to investigate temporal and spatial patterns of bird mortality as well as their drivers. We compiled 1704 mortality records from tracking studies across the African-Eurasian flyway for 45 species, including raptors, storks, and cranes, covering the period from 2003 to 2021. Our results show a higher frequency of human-induced causes of mortality than natural causes across taxonomic groups, geographical areas, and age classes. Moreover, we found that the frequency of human-induced mortality remained stable over the study period. From the human-induced mortality events with a known cause (n = 637), three main causes were identified: electrocution (40.5 %), illegal killing (21.7 %), and poisoning (16.3 %). 

Additionally, combined energy infrastructure-related mortality (i.e., electrocution, power line collision, and wind-farm collision) represented 49 % of all human-induced mortality events. Using a random forest model, the main predictors of human-induced mortality were found to be taxonomic group, geographic location (latitude and longitude), and human footprint index value at the location of mortality. Despite conservation efforts, human drivers of bird mortality in the African-Eurasian flyway do not appear to have declined over the last 15 years for the studied group of species. Results suggest that stronger conservation actions to address these threats across the flyway can reduce their impacts on species. In particular, projected future development of energy infrastructure is a representative example where application of planning, operation, and mitigation measures can enhance bird conservation.

 

 

New Publication on birds and humans!

Marjakangas, E.-L., Johnston, A., Santangeli, A., & Lehikoinen, A. (2024). Bird species' tolerance to human pressures and associations with population change. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, e13816. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13816

In a shell: About 22% of bird species can tolerate heavily modified human-dominated environments, while only 0.001% are exclusive to intact environments, with variations in HTI linked to species' population trends, providing valuable insights for conservation planning and identifying species at risk

 Abstract: Some species thrive in human-dominated environments, while others are highly sensitive to all human pressures. However, standardized estimates of species' tolerances to human pressures are lacking at large spatial extents and taxonomic breadth. Here, we quantify the world's bird species' tolerances to human pressures. The associated precision values can be applied to scientific research and conservation. We used binary observation data from eBird and modelled species' occurrences as a function of the Human Footprint Index (HFI). With these models, we predicted how likely each species was to occur under different levels of human pressures.

Then, we calculated each species' Human Tolerance Index (HTI) as the level of the HFI where predicted occurrence probability was reduced to 50% of the maximum species' occurrence probability. We used resampling to obtain estimates of uncertainty of the Human Tolerance Indices. We also compared tolerances across species with increasing, stable, and decreasing population trends. We found that 22% of the bird species tolerated the most modified human-dominated environments, whereas 0.001% of species only occurred in the intact environments. We also found that HTI varied according to species' population trend categories, whereby species with decreasing population trends had a lower tolerance than species with increasing or stable population trends. 

The estimated HTI indicates the potential of species to exist in a landscape of intensifying human pressures. It can identify species unable to tolerate these environments and inform subsequent conservation efforts. We found evidence that species' sensitivity to human-dominated environments may be driving birds' use of space. Bird species' tolerances are also linked to their population trends, making the tolerances a relevant addition to conservation planning.

 

GEDA at the 11F!

GEDA at the 11F, the International day of Women and Girls in Science. More info on the activities here and interviews here. For updates: https://www.instagram.com/imedea_uib_csic/