Habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers
Summary Hen harriers Circus cyaneus prey on red grouse Lagopus l. scoticus and high breeding densities of harriers can limit the number of grouse available for shooting in the autumn. Ultimately, grouse hunting contributes to the maintenance of heather moorland, an ecologically important habitat for...
Published in: | Journal of Applied Ecology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2004
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.0021-8901.2004.00890.x https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x |
id |
crwiley:10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x 2024-09-15T18:02:09+00:00 Habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers Amar, Arjun Arroyo, Beatriz Redpath, Stephen Thirgood, Simon 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.0021-8901.2004.00890.x https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Applied Ecology volume 41, issue 2, page 305-314 ISSN 0021-8901 1365-2664 journal-article 2004 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x 2024-07-18T04:26:54Z Summary Hen harriers Circus cyaneus prey on red grouse Lagopus l. scoticus and high breeding densities of harriers can limit the number of grouse available for shooting in the autumn. Ultimately, grouse hunting contributes to the maintenance of heather moorland, an ecologically important habitat for biodiversity in general and hen harriers in particular. Predation rates vary widely among harrier individuals. Understanding which factors influence this variation would be useful to target management to mitigate the effect of harriers on grouse, such as diversionary feeding. We used a simple habitat‐based approach to test whether we could identify harrier nests to which most grouse were delivered. Using remote sensing habitat data, we tested whether delivery rates of dead grouse to the nest by hen harriers were higher for those pairs nesting in sites with more heather Calluna vulgaris . A relationship between heather cover and grouse delivery rates might have been expected as grouse densities were correlated with heather cover. After adjusting for annual variation in grouse abundance, the rate at which grouse were delivered to harrier nests was positively associated with the proportion of heather cover within 2 km of harrier nests. This was primarily due to the positive effect of heather cover on female delivery rates. This result allowed us to use habitat data to predict the harrier nests to which most grouse chicks would be delivered. Comparison of predictions of the model with observations of food delivery to nests indicated that, in terms of grouse chick delivery, the model correctly predicted the top 50% of harrier nests in five of six years. We undertook an experiment where carrion was provided to certain harriers at nest sites, in order to decrease their predation on grouse. Data from this experiment showed that when harriers were given diversionary food, the relationship between grouse predation rate and habitat was removed, with grouse predation reduced to negligible levels in most cases. This demonstrated ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Circus cyaneus Wiley Online Library Journal of Applied Ecology 41 2 305 314 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Summary Hen harriers Circus cyaneus prey on red grouse Lagopus l. scoticus and high breeding densities of harriers can limit the number of grouse available for shooting in the autumn. Ultimately, grouse hunting contributes to the maintenance of heather moorland, an ecologically important habitat for biodiversity in general and hen harriers in particular. Predation rates vary widely among harrier individuals. Understanding which factors influence this variation would be useful to target management to mitigate the effect of harriers on grouse, such as diversionary feeding. We used a simple habitat‐based approach to test whether we could identify harrier nests to which most grouse were delivered. Using remote sensing habitat data, we tested whether delivery rates of dead grouse to the nest by hen harriers were higher for those pairs nesting in sites with more heather Calluna vulgaris . A relationship between heather cover and grouse delivery rates might have been expected as grouse densities were correlated with heather cover. After adjusting for annual variation in grouse abundance, the rate at which grouse were delivered to harrier nests was positively associated with the proportion of heather cover within 2 km of harrier nests. This was primarily due to the positive effect of heather cover on female delivery rates. This result allowed us to use habitat data to predict the harrier nests to which most grouse chicks would be delivered. Comparison of predictions of the model with observations of food delivery to nests indicated that, in terms of grouse chick delivery, the model correctly predicted the top 50% of harrier nests in five of six years. We undertook an experiment where carrion was provided to certain harriers at nest sites, in order to decrease their predation on grouse. Data from this experiment showed that when harriers were given diversionary food, the relationship between grouse predation rate and habitat was removed, with grouse predation reduced to negligible levels in most cases. This demonstrated ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Amar, Arjun Arroyo, Beatriz Redpath, Stephen Thirgood, Simon |
spellingShingle |
Amar, Arjun Arroyo, Beatriz Redpath, Stephen Thirgood, Simon Habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers |
author_facet |
Amar, Arjun Arroyo, Beatriz Redpath, Stephen Thirgood, Simon |
author_sort |
Amar, Arjun |
title |
Habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers |
title_short |
Habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers |
title_full |
Habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers |
title_fullStr |
Habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers |
title_sort |
habitat predicts losses of red grouse to individual hen harriers |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.0021-8901.2004.00890.x https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x |
genre |
Circus cyaneus |
genre_facet |
Circus cyaneus |
op_source |
Journal of Applied Ecology volume 41, issue 2, page 305-314 ISSN 0021-8901 1365-2664 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00890.x |
container_title |
Journal of Applied Ecology |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
305 |
op_container_end_page |
314 |
_version_ |
1810439417534349312 |