Urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city

Abstract Although habitat transformation is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss, there are many examples of species successfully occupying and even proliferating in highly human-modified habitats such are the cities. Thus, there is an increasing interest in understanding the drivers favoring...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Natalia Rebolo-Ifrán, José L. Tella, Martina Carrete
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/20e337c8448a4ac1addb91ee51985948
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:20e337c8448a4ac1addb91ee51985948
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:20e337c8448a4ac1addb91ee519859482021-12-02T11:52:36ZUrban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city10.1038/s41598-017-03853-z2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/20e337c8448a4ac1addb91ee519859482017-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03853-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Although habitat transformation is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss, there are many examples of species successfully occupying and even proliferating in highly human-modified habitats such are the cities. Thus, there is an increasing interest in understanding the drivers favoring urban life for some species. Here, we show how the low richness and abundance of predators in urban areas may explain changes in the habitat selection pattern of a grassland specialist species, the burrowing owl Athene cunicularia, toward urban habitats. Predation release improves the demographic parameters of urban individuals, thus favoring an increment in the breeding density of the species in urban areas that accounts for the apparent positive selection of this habitat in detriment of the more natural ones that are avoided. These results suggest that traditional habitat selection analyses do not necessarily describe habitat choice decisions actively taken by individuals but differences in their demographic prospects. Moreover, they also highlight that cites, as predator-free refuges, can become key conservation hotspots for some species dependent on threatened habitats such as the temperate grasslands of South America.Natalia Rebolo-IfránJosé L. TellaMartina CarreteNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Natalia Rebolo-Ifrán José L. Tella Martina Carrete Urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city
description	Abstract Although habitat transformation is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss, there are many examples of species successfully occupying and even proliferating in highly human-modified habitats such are the cities. Thus, there is an increasing interest in understanding the drivers favoring urban life for some species. Here, we show how the low richness and abundance of predators in urban areas may explain changes in the habitat selection pattern of a grassland specialist species, the burrowing owl Athene cunicularia, toward urban habitats. Predation release improves the demographic parameters of urban individuals, thus favoring an increment in the breeding density of the species in urban areas that accounts for the apparent positive selection of this habitat in detriment of the more natural ones that are avoided. These results suggest that traditional habitat selection analyses do not necessarily describe habitat choice decisions actively taken by individuals but differences in their demographic prospects. Moreover, they also highlight that cites, as predator-free refuges, can become key conservation hotspots for some species dependent on threatened habitats such as the temperate grasslands of South America.
format	article
author	Natalia Rebolo-Ifrán José L. Tella Martina Carrete
author_facet	Natalia Rebolo-Ifrán José L. Tella Martina Carrete
author_sort	Natalia Rebolo-Ifrán
title	Urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city
title_short	Urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city
title_full	Urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city
title_fullStr	Urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city
title_full_unstemmed	Urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city
title_sort	urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/20e337c8448a4ac1addb91ee51985948
work_keys_str_mv	AT nataliareboloifran urbanconservationhotspotspredationreleaseallowsthegrasslandspecialistburrowingowltoperformbetterinthecity AT joseltella urbanconservationhotspotspredationreleaseallowsthegrasslandspecialistburrowingowltoperformbetterinthecity AT martinacarrete urbanconservationhotspotspredationreleaseallowsthegrasslandspecialistburrowingowltoperformbetterinthecity
_version_	1718394971159003136

Urban conservation hotspots: predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city

Ejemplares similares