Vegetation height and structure drive foraging habitat selection of the lesser kestrel ( Falco naumanni ) in intensive agricultural landscapes

PeerJ

article

Sara Cioccarelli¹  Anna Terras³  Giacomo Assandri⁴  Alessandro Berlusconi⁵  Nunzio Grattini⁷  Alessandro Mercogliano¹  Aliona Pazhera¹  Andrea Sbrilli⁶  Jacopo G. Cecere⁴  Diego Rubolini¹  Michelangelo Morganti⁶ 

[1] Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, University of Milan;Ethology Unit, Department of Biology, University of Pisa;Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers;Area Avifauna Migratrice, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale;Environment Analysis and Management Unit—Guido Tosi Research Group— Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria;Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque;SOM Stazione Ornitologica Modenese “Il Pettazzurro”

关键词: Alfalfa;    Agroecosystems;    Biodiversity-friendly cultivations;    GPS tracking;    Harvesting;    Habitat selection;    Winter cereals;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13979

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Habitat selection in animals is a fundamental ecological process with key conservation implications. Assessing habitat selection in endangered species and populations occupying the extreme edges of their distribution range, or living in highly anthropized landscapes, may be of particular interest as it may provide hints to mechanisms promoting potential range expansions. We assessed second- and third-order foraging habitat selection in the northernmost European breeding population of the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni), a migratory falcon of European conservation interest, by integrating results obtained from 411 direct observations with those gathered from nine GPS-tracked individuals. The study population breeds in the intensively cultivated Po Plain (northern Italy). Direct observations and GPS data coincide in showing that foraging lesser kestrels shifted their habitat preferences through the breeding cycle. They positively selected alfalfa and other non-irrigated crops during the early breeding season, while winter cereals were selected during the nestling-rearing phase. Maize was selected during the early breeding season, after sowing, but significantly avoided later. Overall, vegetation height emerged as the main predictor of foraging habitat selection, with birds preferring short vegetation, which is likely to maximise prey accessibility. Such a flexibility in foraging habitat selection according to spatio-temporal variation in the agricultural landscape determined by local crop management practices may have allowed the species to successfully thrive in one of the most intensively cultivated areas of Europe. In the southeastern Po Plain, the broad extent of hay and non-irrigated crops is possibly functioning as a surrogate habitat for the pseudo-steppe environment where most of the European breeding population is settled, fostering the northward expansion of the species in Europe. In intensive agricultural landscapes, the maintenance of alfalfa and winter cereals crops and an overall high crop heterogeneity (deriving from crop rotation) is fundamental to accommodate the ecological requirements of the species in different phases of its breeding cycle.

【 授权许可】

CC BY