The Long-Lasting Territories of Forest Apex Predators Sustain Diverse Bird Communities throughout the Year
Apex predators, such as raptors, are used as surrogates to attain conservation objectives; however, their presence in a particular area does not necessarily mean long-term occurrence. Here we used data on long-lasting (20–40 years) territories of two generalist raptors: the diurnal Northern goshawk...
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MDPI AG
2022
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:14bd5bb61f4e423094793768d4cf6af7 2023-05-15T13:00:45+02:00 The Long-Lasting Territories of Forest Apex Predators Sustain Diverse Bird Communities throughout the Year Łukasz Kajtoch Bartłomiej Kusal 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/f13122128 https://doaj.org/article/14bd5bb61f4e423094793768d4cf6af7 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/12/2128 https://doaj.org/toc/1999-4907 doi:10.3390/f13122128 1999-4907 https://doaj.org/article/14bd5bb61f4e423094793768d4cf6af7 Forests, Vol 13, Iss 2128, p 2128 (2022) northern goshawk Ural owl Accipiter gentilis Strix uralensis surrogates flagship species Plant ecology QK900-989 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/f13122128 2022-12-30T19:32:01Z Apex predators, such as raptors, are used as surrogates to attain conservation objectives; however, their presence in a particular area does not necessarily mean long-term occurrence. Here we used data on long-lasting (20–40 years) territories of two generalist raptors: the diurnal Northern goshawk and the nocturnal Ural owl in deciduous and coniferous forests of southern Poland to assess their role as hotspots of bird diversity. Species richness and abundance of birds were much higher in the long-lasting territories of both apex predators than in random never-occupied sites and this pattern was common for breeding and wintering periods. These differences were more pronounced in deciduous than coniferous stands. Rare bird species (e.g., annexed in the Bird Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conservation of wild birds such as some woodpeckers and flycatchers) were found to be particularly associated with long-lasting territories of raptors. Long-lasting territories were also characterized by greater forest habitat quality (e.g., higher number of old trees and deadwood) with lower management intensity. These results strongly point to the role of long-lasting territories of raptors as surrogates of biodiversity. Such territories, if known in forests, could be excellent for the designation of protected areas or logging there should at least be reduced to allow for the continuous breeding of apex predators and associated bird assemblages. Article in Journal/Newspaper Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk Strix uralensis Ural Owl Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Deadwood ENVELOPE(-117.453,-117.453,56.733,56.733) Forests 13 12 2128 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
northern goshawk Ural owl Accipiter gentilis Strix uralensis surrogates flagship species Plant ecology QK900-989 |
spellingShingle |
northern goshawk Ural owl Accipiter gentilis Strix uralensis surrogates flagship species Plant ecology QK900-989 Łukasz Kajtoch Bartłomiej Kusal The Long-Lasting Territories of Forest Apex Predators Sustain Diverse Bird Communities throughout the Year |
topic_facet |
northern goshawk Ural owl Accipiter gentilis Strix uralensis surrogates flagship species Plant ecology QK900-989 |
description |
Apex predators, such as raptors, are used as surrogates to attain conservation objectives; however, their presence in a particular area does not necessarily mean long-term occurrence. Here we used data on long-lasting (20–40 years) territories of two generalist raptors: the diurnal Northern goshawk and the nocturnal Ural owl in deciduous and coniferous forests of southern Poland to assess their role as hotspots of bird diversity. Species richness and abundance of birds were much higher in the long-lasting territories of both apex predators than in random never-occupied sites and this pattern was common for breeding and wintering periods. These differences were more pronounced in deciduous than coniferous stands. Rare bird species (e.g., annexed in the Bird Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conservation of wild birds such as some woodpeckers and flycatchers) were found to be particularly associated with long-lasting territories of raptors. Long-lasting territories were also characterized by greater forest habitat quality (e.g., higher number of old trees and deadwood) with lower management intensity. These results strongly point to the role of long-lasting territories of raptors as surrogates of biodiversity. Such territories, if known in forests, could be excellent for the designation of protected areas or logging there should at least be reduced to allow for the continuous breeding of apex predators and associated bird assemblages. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Łukasz Kajtoch Bartłomiej Kusal |
author_facet |
Łukasz Kajtoch Bartłomiej Kusal |
author_sort |
Łukasz Kajtoch |
title |
The Long-Lasting Territories of Forest Apex Predators Sustain Diverse Bird Communities throughout the Year |
title_short |
The Long-Lasting Territories of Forest Apex Predators Sustain Diverse Bird Communities throughout the Year |
title_full |
The Long-Lasting Territories of Forest Apex Predators Sustain Diverse Bird Communities throughout the Year |
title_fullStr |
The Long-Lasting Territories of Forest Apex Predators Sustain Diverse Bird Communities throughout the Year |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Long-Lasting Territories of Forest Apex Predators Sustain Diverse Bird Communities throughout the Year |
title_sort |
long-lasting territories of forest apex predators sustain diverse bird communities throughout the year |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/f13122128 https://doaj.org/article/14bd5bb61f4e423094793768d4cf6af7 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-117.453,-117.453,56.733,56.733) |
geographic |
Deadwood |
geographic_facet |
Deadwood |
genre |
Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk Strix uralensis Ural Owl |
genre_facet |
Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk Strix uralensis Ural Owl |
op_source |
Forests, Vol 13, Iss 2128, p 2128 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/12/2128 https://doaj.org/toc/1999-4907 doi:10.3390/f13122128 1999-4907 https://doaj.org/article/14bd5bb61f4e423094793768d4cf6af7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/f13122128 |
container_title |
Forests |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
2128 |
_version_ |
1766259376511778816 |