Fig 7 - uploaded by Vojtěch Kubelka
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Trend of the abundance of Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago with 95% confidence intervals, based on the JPSP-the common bird monitoring scheme in the Czech Republic (ČSO 2017) since 1982 (100%).
Source publication
This article covers the most recent population estimates, trends, threats and protection measures for five meadow-breeding shorebirds in the Czech Republic (CZ) and Slovakia (SK): Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa limosa, Common Redshank Tringa totanus totanus, Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata arquata and Common...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... pairs in the area over the years, fledged juveniles were detected Common Snipe breeds regularly in both countries: 500- 800 breeding pairs in CZ and 30-100 in SK. Common Snipes inhabit lowland grasslands (meadows and pastures) as well as peat-bogs in more forested landscapes at higher elevations. Long-term trends are a strong decline in CZ (Fig. 7) and SK; medium-and short-term trends are also a strong decline in CZ (Table 1). Previous estimates for CZ were 1,200-2,400 pairs for 1985-1989 and 500-800 pairs for 2001-2003(Hudec & Šťastný 2005, Šťastný et al. 2006). There exist no more updated estimates in CZ and it is difficult to judge whether the negative trend continues because ...
Citations
... Despite recent important advances in assessing Hg exposure in Arctic seabirds and shorebirds, our Hg measurements is not currently available, but it would be useful given the current, large-scale declines in many Arctic shorebird populations (e.g., Kubelka et al., 2018).Thus, investigating whether Hg contamination is linked to adult survival and reproduction, especially for at-risk species, may be particularly useful. These mark-recapture studies on individuals that have been marked and subjected to demographic monitoring over several years would help our understanding of the effects of Hg on bird demography. ...
Since the last Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) effort to review biological effects of mercury (Hg) on Arctic biota in 2011 and 2018, there has been a considerable number of new Arctic bird studies. This review article provides contemporary Hg exposure and potential health risk for 36 Arctic seabird and shorebird species, representing a larger portion of the Arctic than during previous AMAP assessments now also including parts of the Russian Arctic. To assess risk to birds, we used Hg toxicity benchmarks established for blood and converted to egg, liver, and feather tissues. Several Arctic seabird populations showed Hg concentrations that exceeded toxicity benchmarks, with 50 % of individual birds exceeding the "no adverse health effect" level. In particular, 5 % of all studied birds were considered to be at moderate or higher risk to Hg toxicity. However, most seabirds (95 %) were generally at lower risk to Hg toxicity. The highest Hg contamination was observed in seabirds breeding in the western Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Most Arctic shorebirds exhibited low Hg concentrations, with approximately 45 % of individuals categorized at no risk, 2.5 % at high risk category, and no individual at severe risk. Although the majority Arctic-breeding seabirds and shorebirds appeared at lower risk to Hg toxicity, recent studies have reported deleterious effects of Hg on some pituitary hormones, genotoxicity, and reproductive performance. Adult survival appeared unaffected by Hg exposure, although long-term banding studies incorporating Hg are still limited. Although Hg contamination across the Arctic is considered low for most bird species, Hg in combination with other stressors, including other contaminants, diseases, parasites, and climate change, may still cause adverse effects. Future investigations on the global impact of Hg on Arctic birds should be conducted within a multi-stressor framework. This information helps to address Article 22 (Effectiveness Evaluation) of the Minamata Convention on Mercury as a global pollutant.
... There are two reasons why we believe that our results are comparable. First, pristine habitats are becoming increasingly scarce and many shorebird species (e.g., European population of northern lapwings or black-tailed godwits; Beintema, 1986;Kubelka, Zámečník, et al., 2018) Second, even seemingly pristine study sites are often located in accessible regions, close to roads and cities (Bulla et al., 2014;) that attract mammalian and avian predators. In other words, human-altered habitats are currently "natural" breeding habitats for red-wattled lapwings and for many avian species, and hence, we consider our results representative of the redwattled lapwing population and comparable with other nest predation data. ...
... We found nest predation to be relatively low in a subtropical population of the poorly studied red-wattled lapwing, breeding in an arid, artificial habitat. Such low predation rate contrasts with higher predation rates found in many related and unrelated species breeding both in the desert and other habitats (Mezquida & Marone, 2001; Mayfield based predation rates in Bulla et al., 2019;Freeman et al., 2020;Kubelka, Zámečník, et al., 2018). Although we found little variation in daily nest predation rate across the breeding season, the probability of night predation increased over the season, likely due to the extreme heat during the midday. ...
Predation is the most common cause of nest failure in birds. While nest predation is relatively well studied in general, our knowledge is unevenly distributed across the globe and taxa, with, for example, limited information on shorebirds breeding in subtropics. Importantly, we know fairly little about the timing of predation within a day. Here, we followed 444 nests of the red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus), a ground-nesting shorebird, for a sum of 7,828 days to estimate a nest predation rate, and continuously monitored 230 of these nests for a sum of 2,779 days to reveal how the timing of predation changes over the day and season in a subtropical desert. We found that 312 nests (70%) hatched, 76 nests (17%) were predated, 23 (5%) failed for other reasons, and 33 (7%) had an unknown fate. Daily predation rate was 0.95% (95%CrI: 0.76% – 1.19%), which for a 30-day long incubation period translates into ~25% (20% – 30%) chance of nest being predated. Such a predation rate is low compared to most other avian species. Predation events (N = 25) were evenly distributed across day and night, with a tendency for increased predation around sunrise, and evenly distributed also across the season, although night predation was more common later in the season, perhaps because predators reduce their activity during daylight to avoid extreme heat. Indeed, nests were never predated when midday ground temperatures exceeded 45℃. Whether the diel activity pattern of resident predators undeniably changes across the breeding season and whether the described predation patterns hold for other populations, species, and geographical regions await future investigations.
... There are two reasons why we believe that our results are comparable. First, pristine habitats are becoming increasingly scarce and many shorebird species (e.g., European population of northern lapwings or black-tailed godwits; Beintema, 1986;Kubelka, Zámečník, et al., 2018) Second, even seemingly pristine study sites are often located in accessible regions, close to roads and cities (Bulla et al., 2014;) that attract mammalian and avian predators. In other words, human-altered habitats are currently "natural" breeding habitats for red-wattled lapwings and for many avian species, and hence, we consider our results representative of the redwattled lapwing population and comparable with other nest predation data. ...
... We found nest predation to be relatively low in a subtropical population of the poorly studied red-wattled lapwing, breeding in an arid, artificial habitat. Such low predation rate contrasts with higher predation rates found in many related and unrelated species breeding both in the desert and other habitats (Mezquida & Marone, 2001; Mayfield based predation rates in Bulla et al., 2019;Freeman et al., 2020;Kubelka, Zámečník, et al., 2018). Although we found little variation in daily nest predation rate across the breeding season, the probability of night predation increased over the season, likely due to the extreme heat during the midday. ...
Predation is the most common cause of nest failure in birds. While nest predation is relatively well studied in general, our knowledge is unevenly distributed across globe and taxa, with for example limited information on shorebirds breeding in sub-tropics. Importantly, we know fairly little about the timing of predation within a day and season. Here, we followed 499 nests of red-wattled lapwings (Vanellus indicus), a ground-nesting shorebird, to estimate a nest predation rate, and continuously monitored 231 of these nests for a sum of 2951 days to reveal how timing of predation changes over the day and season in a sub-tropical desert. We found that 324 nests hatched, 77 nests were predated, 38 failed for other reasons and 60 had unknown fate. Daily predation rate was 0.97% (95%CrI: 0.77% – 1.2%), which for a 30-day long incubation period translates into ~25% chance of nest being predated. Such predation rate is low compared to most other species. Predation events were distributed evenly across day and night, with a tendency for increased predation around sunrise. Predation rate and events were distributed evenly also across the season, although night predation was more common later in the season, perhaps because predators reduce their activity during daylight to avoid extreme heat. Indeed, nests were never predated upon when mid-day ground temperatures exceeded 45°C. Whether the activity pattern of predators indeed changes across the breeding season and whether the described predation patterns hold for other populations, species and geographical regions awaits future investigations.
https://doi.org/10.22541/au.160991969.96235686/v1
Grasslands are globally threatened and their biodiversity, including grassland birds, is
declining markedly. To inform grassland bird conservation globally, we systematically
reviewed threats and conservation actions for grassland birds, extracting data from 528
papers. Across the 10 primary grassland regions of the globe, agriculture was the most
frequently or joint most frequently reported threat in nine regions (reported as a threat
in 73% of publications); hunting was the most frequently reported threat in the remain�ing region. Natural system modifications (reported as a threat in 32% of publications)
and climate change and severe weather (24%) were less frequently reported threats com�pared with agriculture. The types of threat from agriculture varied regionally, but the
most pervasive were livestock farming and ranching (reported in 58% of publications
where agriculture was a primary threat) and non-timber cropping (43%). Most agricul�tural threats relate to intensification, but agricultural abandonment, typically the cessa�tion of grazing, sometimes accompanied by tree planting/succession, poses an emerging
threat to some grassland birds (reported in 32% of publications where agriculture was a
primary threat). The most frequent conservation actions implemented to date include
land/water management and protection, and species-specific management actions.
Authors of reviewed publications in almost all regions recommend more land/water
management, followed by calls for further land/water protection. The parlous state of
grassland birds globally suggests that existing conservation actions for grasslands are inad�equate. Furthermore, our review suggests that these should be primarily targeted at reversing the negative impacts of agriculture, in particular livestock farming and cropping.
Wading birds can be found breeding in a myriad of habitats and ecosystems across Europe that vary widely in their land-use intensity. Over the past few decades, wader breeding populations have declined steeply in habitats ranging from natural undisturbed ecosystems to intensively managed farmland. Most conservation science has focused on factors determining local population size and trends which leave cross-continental patterns and the associated consequences for large-scale conservation strategies unexplored. Here, we review the key factors underlying population decline. We find land-use intensification in western Europe and mostly agricultural extensification and abandonment in northern, central and eastern Europe to be important drivers. Additionally, predation seems to have increased throughout the breeding range and across all habitats. Using collected breeding density data from published and grey literature, we explore habitat specificity of wader species and, of the most widely distributed species, how breeding densities change across a land-use intensity gradient. We found that two-thirds of all examined wader species have relatively narrow breeding habitat preferences, mostly in natural and undisturbed ecosystems, while the remaining species occurred in most or all habitats. The most widespread generalist species (black-tailed godwit, northern lapwing, common redshank, Eurasian oystercatcher, common snipe and ruff) demonstrated peak breeding densities at different positions along the land-use intensity gradient. To conserve both diverse wader communities and viable meta-populations of species, a diversity of habitats should be targeted ranging in land-use intensity from natural ecosystems to medium intensity farmland. Alongside, strategies should be designed to moderate predation of wader clutches and chicks.
