Carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem

Abstract Carrion plays an essential role in shaping the structure and functioning of ecosystems and has far‐reaching implications for biodiversity conservation. The change in availability and type of carcasses throughout ecosystems can involve negative effects for scavenging communities. To address...

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Published in:Ecosphere
Main Authors: Stiegler, Jonas, von Hoermann, Christian, Müller, Jörg, Benbow, M. Eric, Heurich, Marco
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3063
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spelling crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.3063 2024-09-30T14:46:24+00:00 Carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem Stiegler, Jonas von Hoermann, Christian Müller, Jörg Benbow, M. Eric Heurich, Marco 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3063 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fecs2.3063 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3063 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3063 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3063 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecosphere volume 11, issue 4 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 journal-article 2020 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3063 2024-09-05T05:09:22Z Abstract Carrion plays an essential role in shaping the structure and functioning of ecosystems and has far‐reaching implications for biodiversity conservation. The change in availability and type of carcasses throughout ecosystems can involve negative effects for scavenging communities. To address this issue, there have been recent conservation management measures of carrion provision in natural systems. However, the optimal conditions under which exposing carcasses to optimize conservation outcomes are still limited. Here, we used camera traps throughout elevational and vegetational gradients to monitor the consumption of 48 deer carcasses over a study period of six years by evaluating 270,279 photographs resulting out of 15,373 trap nights. We detected 17 species visiting carcass deployments, including five endangered species. Our results show that large carcasses, the winter season, and a heterogeneous surrounding habitat enhanced the frequency of carcass visits and the species richness of scavenger assemblages. Contrary to our expectations, carcass species, condition (fresh/frozen), and provision schedule (continuous vs single exposure) did not influence scavenging frequency or diversity. The carcass visitation frequency increased with carcass mass and lower temperatures. The effect of large carcasses was especially pronounced for mesopredators and the Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ). Lynx were not too influenced in its carrion acquisition by the season, but exclusively preferred remote habitats containing higher forest cover. Birds of prey, mesopredators, and top predators were also positively influenced by the visiting rate of ravens ( Corvus corax ), whereas no biotic or abiotic preferences were found for wild boars ( Sus scrofa ). This study provides evidence that any ungulate species of carrion, either in a fresh or in previously frozen condition, attracts a high diversity of scavengers especially during winter, thereby supporting earlier work that carcass provisions may support scavenger communities and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Lynx Lynx lynx lynx Wiley Online Library Ecosphere 11 4
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description Abstract Carrion plays an essential role in shaping the structure and functioning of ecosystems and has far‐reaching implications for biodiversity conservation. The change in availability and type of carcasses throughout ecosystems can involve negative effects for scavenging communities. To address this issue, there have been recent conservation management measures of carrion provision in natural systems. However, the optimal conditions under which exposing carcasses to optimize conservation outcomes are still limited. Here, we used camera traps throughout elevational and vegetational gradients to monitor the consumption of 48 deer carcasses over a study period of six years by evaluating 270,279 photographs resulting out of 15,373 trap nights. We detected 17 species visiting carcass deployments, including five endangered species. Our results show that large carcasses, the winter season, and a heterogeneous surrounding habitat enhanced the frequency of carcass visits and the species richness of scavenger assemblages. Contrary to our expectations, carcass species, condition (fresh/frozen), and provision schedule (continuous vs single exposure) did not influence scavenging frequency or diversity. The carcass visitation frequency increased with carcass mass and lower temperatures. The effect of large carcasses was especially pronounced for mesopredators and the Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ). Lynx were not too influenced in its carrion acquisition by the season, but exclusively preferred remote habitats containing higher forest cover. Birds of prey, mesopredators, and top predators were also positively influenced by the visiting rate of ravens ( Corvus corax ), whereas no biotic or abiotic preferences were found for wild boars ( Sus scrofa ). This study provides evidence that any ungulate species of carrion, either in a fresh or in previously frozen condition, attracts a high diversity of scavengers especially during winter, thereby supporting earlier work that carcass provisions may support scavenger communities and ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Stiegler, Jonas
von Hoermann, Christian
Müller, Jörg
Benbow, M. Eric
Heurich, Marco
spellingShingle Stiegler, Jonas
von Hoermann, Christian
Müller, Jörg
Benbow, M. Eric
Heurich, Marco
Carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem
author_facet Stiegler, Jonas
von Hoermann, Christian
Müller, Jörg
Benbow, M. Eric
Heurich, Marco
author_sort Stiegler, Jonas
title Carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem
title_short Carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem
title_full Carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem
title_fullStr Carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem
title_full_unstemmed Carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem
title_sort carcass provisioning for scavenger conservation in a temperate forest ecosystem
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2020
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3063
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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3063
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https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3063
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op_source Ecosphere
volume 11, issue 4
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