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Human-Induced Changes in Landscape Configuration Influence Individual Movement Routines: Lessons from a Versatile, Highly Mobile Species

Landscape conversion by humans may have detrimental effects on animal populations inhabiting managed ecosystems, but human-altered areas may also provide suitable environments for tolerant species. We investigated the spatial ecology of a highly mobile nocturnal avian species–the red-necked nightjar...

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Autores principales: Camacho, Carlos, Palacios, Sebastián, Sáez, Pedro, Sánchez, Sonia, Potti, Jaime
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4128739/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25110888
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104974
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author Camacho, Carlos
Palacios, Sebastián
Sáez, Pedro
Sánchez, Sonia
Potti, Jaime
author_facet Camacho, Carlos
Palacios, Sebastián
Sáez, Pedro
Sánchez, Sonia
Potti, Jaime
author_sort Camacho, Carlos
collection PubMed
description Landscape conversion by humans may have detrimental effects on animal populations inhabiting managed ecosystems, but human-altered areas may also provide suitable environments for tolerant species. We investigated the spatial ecology of a highly mobile nocturnal avian species–the red-necked nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis)–in two contrastingly managed areas in Southwestern Spain to provide management recommendations for species having multiple habitat requirements. Based on habitat use by radiotagged nightjars, we created maps of functional heterogeneity in both areas so that the movements of breeding individuals could be modeled using least-cost path analyses. In both the natural and the managed area, nightjars used remnants of native shrublands as nesting sites, while pinewood patches (either newly planted or natural mature) and roads were selected as roosting and foraging habitats, respectively. Although the fraction of functional habitat was held relatively constant (60.9% vs. 74.1% in the natural and the managed area, respectively), landscape configuration changed noticeably. As a result, least-cost routes (summed linear distances) from nest locations to the nearest roost and foraging sites were three times larger in the natural than in the managed area (mean ± SE: 1356±76 m vs. 439±32 m). It seems likely that the increased proximity of functional habitats in the managed area relative to the natural one is underlying the significantly higher abundances of nightjars observed therein, where breeders should travel shorter distances to link together essential resources, thus likely reducing their energy expenditure and mortality risks. Our results suggest that landscape configuration, but not habitat availability, is responsible for the observed differences between the natural and the managed area in the abundance and movements of breeding nightjars, although no effect on body condition was detected. Agricultural landscapes could be moderately managed to preserve small native remnants and to favor the juxtaposition of functional habitats to benefit those farm species relying on patchy resources.
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spelling pubmed-41287392014-08-12 Human-Induced Changes in Landscape Configuration Influence Individual Movement Routines: Lessons from a Versatile, Highly Mobile Species Camacho, Carlos Palacios, Sebastián Sáez, Pedro Sánchez, Sonia Potti, Jaime PLoS One Research Article Landscape conversion by humans may have detrimental effects on animal populations inhabiting managed ecosystems, but human-altered areas may also provide suitable environments for tolerant species. We investigated the spatial ecology of a highly mobile nocturnal avian species–the red-necked nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis)–in two contrastingly managed areas in Southwestern Spain to provide management recommendations for species having multiple habitat requirements. Based on habitat use by radiotagged nightjars, we created maps of functional heterogeneity in both areas so that the movements of breeding individuals could be modeled using least-cost path analyses. In both the natural and the managed area, nightjars used remnants of native shrublands as nesting sites, while pinewood patches (either newly planted or natural mature) and roads were selected as roosting and foraging habitats, respectively. Although the fraction of functional habitat was held relatively constant (60.9% vs. 74.1% in the natural and the managed area, respectively), landscape configuration changed noticeably. As a result, least-cost routes (summed linear distances) from nest locations to the nearest roost and foraging sites were three times larger in the natural than in the managed area (mean ± SE: 1356±76 m vs. 439±32 m). It seems likely that the increased proximity of functional habitats in the managed area relative to the natural one is underlying the significantly higher abundances of nightjars observed therein, where breeders should travel shorter distances to link together essential resources, thus likely reducing their energy expenditure and mortality risks. Our results suggest that landscape configuration, but not habitat availability, is responsible for the observed differences between the natural and the managed area in the abundance and movements of breeding nightjars, although no effect on body condition was detected. Agricultural landscapes could be moderately managed to preserve small native remnants and to favor the juxtaposition of functional habitats to benefit those farm species relying on patchy resources. Public Library of Science 2014-08-11 /pmc/articles/PMC4128739/ /pubmed/25110888 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104974 Text en © 2014 Camacho et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Camacho, Carlos
Palacios, Sebastián
Sáez, Pedro
Sánchez, Sonia
Potti, Jaime
Human-Induced Changes in Landscape Configuration Influence Individual Movement Routines: Lessons from a Versatile, Highly Mobile Species
title Human-Induced Changes in Landscape Configuration Influence Individual Movement Routines: Lessons from a Versatile, Highly Mobile Species
title_full Human-Induced Changes in Landscape Configuration Influence Individual Movement Routines: Lessons from a Versatile, Highly Mobile Species
title_fullStr Human-Induced Changes in Landscape Configuration Influence Individual Movement Routines: Lessons from a Versatile, Highly Mobile Species
title_full_unstemmed Human-Induced Changes in Landscape Configuration Influence Individual Movement Routines: Lessons from a Versatile, Highly Mobile Species
title_short Human-Induced Changes in Landscape Configuration Influence Individual Movement Routines: Lessons from a Versatile, Highly Mobile Species
title_sort human-induced changes in landscape configuration influence individual movement routines: lessons from a versatile, highly mobile species
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4128739/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25110888
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104974
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