Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T17:39:34.047Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Modelling sandgrouse (Pterocles spp.) distributions and large-scale habitat requirements in Spain: implications for conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2013

ANA BENÍTEZ-LÓPEZ ,
JAVIER VIÑUELA ,
ISRAEL HERVÁS ,
FRANCISCO SUÁREZ  and
JESÚS T. GARCÍA
ANA BENÍTEZ-LÓPEZ*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, E-13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
JAVIER VIÑUELA
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, E-13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
ISRAEL HERVÁS
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología. Edificio de Biología C/Darwin, 2 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
FRANCISCO SUÁREZ
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología. Edificio de Biología C/Darwin, 2 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
JESÚS T. GARCÍA
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, E-13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
*
*Correspondence: Ana Benítez-López Tel: +34 926 295 450 ext. 3392 Fax: +34 926 295 451 e-mail: ana.benitez@uclm.es
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Knowledge of the factors determining species distributions is essential for developing conservation strategies. Sandgrouse Pterocles alchata and P. orientalis are threatened in Spain, the stronghold of European populations. Spatial modelling was used to: (1) assess the relative importance of abiotic, anthropogenic and geographical factors in the distribution of both sandgrouse species, (2) determine the most important anthropogenic predictors for each species occurrence, and (3) identify areas where conservation efforts should be prioritized. Abiotic and anthropogenic factors explained most of the variation in sandgrouse distributions. Both species were associated with arid flatlands, arable land cover being the most important anthropogenic variable determining their distribution. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the main driver of agricultural management in Europe, and may thus have a direct effect on sandgrouse distributions. P. orientalis exhibited broader habitat tolerance than P. alchata; the latter species tolerates warmer climates. Consequently, the network of core and marginally suitable areas identified for each species differs, and connectivity between the populations of these areas seems unlikely. Potential future changes in sandgrouse distribution will probably be directed principally by the synergistic effects of climate change and expected land-use transformations resulting from the new CAP and ongoing population growth, urbanization and infrastructure development.

Keywords

biogeographyconservationPterocles alchataPterocles orientalissandgrousespecies distribution modelssteppe birdsthreatened speciesvariation partitioning procedure
Type
THEMATIC SECTION: Spatial Simulation Models in Planning for Resilience
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 132 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Araújo, M.B., Cabeza, M., Thuiller, W., Hannah, L. & Williams, P.H. (2004) Would climate change drive species out of reserves? An assessment of existing reserve-selection methods. Global Change Biology 10 (9): 1618–1626.Google Scholar
Bakkenes, M., Alkemade, J.R.M., Ihle, F., Leemans, R. & Latour, J.B. (2002) Assessing effects of forecasted climate change on the diversity and distribution of European higher plants for 2050. Global Change Biology 8 (4): 390–407.Google Scholar
Benítez-López, A., Alkemade, R. & Verweij, P. (2010 a) The impacts of roads and other infrastructure on mammal and bird populations: a meta-analysis. Biological Conservation 143 (6): 1307–1316.Google Scholar
Benítez-López, A., Martín, C.A., Casas, F., Mougeot, F., García, J.T. & Viñuela, J. (2010 b) Áreas de campeo y movimientos estacionales de la ganga ibérica Pterocles alchata . In: XIII Congreso Nacional y X Iberoamericano de Etología. Ponencias y comunicaciones, ed. Casinello, J. & Castro, F., p. 130. Ciudad Real, Spain: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM.Google Scholar
BirdLife International (2011 a) Species factsheet: black bellied sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis [www document]. URL http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2964 Google Scholar
BirdLife International (2011 b) Species factsheet: pin-tailed sandgrouse Pterocles alchata [www document]. URL http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2959 Google Scholar
Borcard, D., Legendre, P. & Drapeau, P. (1992) Partialling out the spatial component of ecological variation. Ecology 73 (3): 1045–1055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brotons, L., Mañosa, S. & Estrada, J. (2004) Modelling the effects of irrigation schemes on the distribution of steppe birds in Mediterranean farmland. Biodiversity and Conservation 13 (5): 1039–1058.Google Scholar
Brown, J.H. & Lomolino, M.V. (1998) Biogeography. Sunderland, MA, USA: Sinauer Associates.Google Scholar
Burfield, I. (2005) The conservation status of steppic birds in Europe. In: Ecology and Conservation of Steppe-land Birds, ed. Bota, G., Morales, M.B., Mañosa, S. & Camprodon, J., pp. 119–139. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions & Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya.Google Scholar
Burnham, K. & Anderson, D. (2002) Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: a Practical Information-Theoretic Approach. New York, NY, USA: Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Cardoso, A.C., Poeiras, A.S. & Carrapato, C. (2007) Factors responsible for the presence and distribution of black bellied sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis in the Nature Park ‘Vale do Guadiana’. Ardeola 54 (2): 205–215.Google Scholar
Casas, F., García, J.T., Mougeot, F., Benítez-López, A., Martín, C.A., González, S., Urmeneta, A. & Viñuela, J. (2012) Movimientos estacionales de la ganga ibérica (Pterocles alchata) en la Reserva de la Biosfera de las Bardenas Reales (Navarra). In: XIV Congreso Nacional y XI Iberoamericano de Etología. Libro de resúmenes, ed. Redondo, T., p. 60. Sevilla, Spain: Digital CSIC.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1960) A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement 20 (1): 37–46.Google Scholar
Cramp, S., Simmons, K., Brooks, D., Collar, N., Dunn, E., Gillmor, R., Hollom, P., Hudson, R., Nicholson, E. & Ogilvie, M. (1985) Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Channell, R. & Lomolino, M.V. (2000) Dynamic biogeography and conservation of endangered species. Nature 403 (6765): 84–86.Google Scholar
De Juana, E. (1998) Family Pteroclidae (sandgrouse). In: Handbook of the Birds of the World, ed. Hoyo, J. Del, Elliot, A. & Sargatal, J., pp. 30–57. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions.Google Scholar
Donald, P., Green, R. & Heath, M. (2001) Agricultural intensification and the collapse of Europe's farmland bird populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 268 (1462): 25.Google Scholar
Driscoll, D.A. (2007) How to find a metapopulation. Canadian Journal of Zoology 85 (10): 1031–1048.Google Scholar
Dunning, J.B. Jr, Stewart, D.J., Danielson, B.J., Noon, B.R., Root, T.L., Lamberson, R.H. & Stevens, E.E. (1995) Spatially explicit population models: current forms and future uses. Ecological Applications 5 (1): 3–11.Google Scholar
Estrada, J. & Curcó, A. (1991) La Xurra (Pterocles orientalis) i la Ganga (Pterocles alchata) a Catalunya: evolució i situació actual. Butlleti del Grup Catala d'Anellament 8: 1–8.Google Scholar
Fielding, A.H. & Bell, J.F. (1997) A review of methods for the assessment of prediction errors in conservation presence/absence models. Environmental Conservation 24 (1): 38–49.Google Scholar
Font, I. (2000) Climatología de España y Portugal. Salamanca, Spain: Universidad de Salamanca.Google Scholar
Fox, J. & Weisberg, S. (2011) An R Companion to Applied Regression. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage.Google Scholar
Freeman, E. (2007) PresenceAbsence: An R Package for Presence-Absence Model Evaluation. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 507 25th street, Ogden, UT, USA.Google Scholar
Herranz, J. & Suárez, F. (1999) La ganga ibérica (Pterocles alchata) y la ganga ortega (Pterocles orientalis) en España. Distribución, abundancia, biología y conservación. Madrid, Spain: Colección Técnica, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales.Google Scholar
Hinsley, S.A., Ferns, P.N., Thomas, D.H. & Pinshow, B. (1993) Black-bellied sandgrouse (Pterocles orientalis) and pin-tailed sandgrouse (Pterocles alchata): closely related species with differing bioenergetic adaptations to arid zones. Physiological Zoology 66: 20–42.Google Scholar
Hortal, J., Rodríguez, J., Nieto Díaz, M. & Lobo, J.M. (2008) Regional and environmental effects on the species richness of mammal assemblages. Journal of Biogeography 35 (7): 1202–1214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IGN (2006) Vías de comunicación. Península Ibérica, Canarias y Baleares. Data available at EuroGlobalMap [www document]. URL http://www.eurogeographics.org/products-and-services/euroglobalmap Google Scholar
INE (2001) Cifras de población referidas al 1/1/01.Real Decreto 1420/2001, de 17 de diciembre de 2001. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid, Spain [www document]. URL http://www.ine.es/ Google Scholar
INE (2006) Cifras de población referidas al 01/01/2006. Real Decreto 1627/2006, de 29 de diciembre de 2006. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid, Spain. URL http://www.ine.es/ Google Scholar
Krebs, C. (1978) Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance. New York, NY, USA: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Lane, S. J., Alonso, J. C. & Martín, C. A. (2001) Habitat preferences of great bustard Otis tarda flocks in the arable steppes of central Spain: are potentially suitable areas unoccupied? Journal of Applied Ecology 38 (1): 193–203.Google Scholar
Legendre, P. (1993) Spatial autocorrelation: trouble or new paradigm? Ecology 74 (6): 1659–1673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, C., Berry, P.M., Dawson, T.P. & Pearson, R.G. (2005) Selecting thresholds of occurrence in the prediction of species distributions. Ecography 28 (3): 385–393.Google Scholar
Mac Nally, R. (2002) Multiple regression and inference in ecology and conservation biology: further comments on identifying important predictor variables. Biodiversity and Conservation 11 (8): 1397–1401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madroño, A., González, C. & Atienza, J.C. (2004) Libro rojo de las Aves de España. Madrid, Spain: Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales.Google Scholar
MAGRAMA (2011) Encuesta sobre superficies y rendimientos de cultivos . Análisis de las técnicas de mantenimiento del suelo y los métodos de siembra. Madrid, Spain: Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente.Google Scholar
Manrique, J. & De Juana, E. (1991) Land-use changes and the conservation of dry grassland birds in Spain: a case study of Almeria province. In: The Conservation of Lowland Dry Grassland Birds in Europe, ed. Goriup, P.D., Batten, L.A. & Norton, J.A., pp. 49–58. Peterborough, UK: Joint Nature Conservation Committee.Google Scholar
Mañosa, S., Estrada, J., Folch, A., Bonfinl, J., González-Prat, F. & Orta, J. (1996) Bird-habitat relationships in the Catalan steppes. In: Conservación de las aves esteparias y su hábitat, ed. Fernández Gutiérrez, J. & Sanz-Zuasti, J., pp. 27–41. Valladolid, Spain: Junta de Castilla y León.Google Scholar
MAPA (1998) El Libro Blanco del Agua en España, Documento de síntesis. Madrid, Spain: Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación.Google Scholar
MAPA (2001) Plan Nacional de Regadíos. R. D. 329/2002, de 5 de abril. Madrid, Spain: Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación [www document]. URL http://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2002–8129 Google Scholar
Martí, R. & Moral, J.C. (2004) Atlas de las aves reproductoras de España. Madrid, Spain: Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales.Google Scholar
Martín, C.A., Casas, F., Mougeot, F., García, J.T. & Viñuela, J. (2010 a) Positive interactions between vulnerable species in agrarian pseudo-steppes: habitat use by pin-tailed sandgrouse depends on its association with the little bustard. Animal Conservation 13: 383–389.Google Scholar
Martín, C.A., Casas, F., Mougeot, F., García, J.T. & Viñuela, J. (2010 b) Seasonal variations in habitat preferences of the pin-tailed sandgrouse in agrarian pseudo-steppes. Ardeola 57: 191–198.Google Scholar
Martínez, C., Suárez, F., Yanes, M. & Herranz, J. (1998) Distribution and abundance of the pin-tailed sandgrouse Pterocles alchata and the black-bellied sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis in Spain. Biological Conservation 45 (1): 11–20.Google Scholar
McCullagh, P. & Nelder, J.A. (1989) Generalized Linear Models. London, UK: Chapman & Hall/CRC.Google Scholar
Ninyerola, M., Pons, X. & Roure, J. (2005) Atlas Climático Digital de la Península Ibérica. Metodología y Aplicaciones en Bioclimatología y Geobotánica. Bellaterra, Spain: Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.Google Scholar
Norris, K. (2004) Managing threatened species: the ecological toolbox, evolutionary theory and declining-population paradigm. Journal of Applied Ecology 41 (3): 413–426.Google Scholar
Olea, P.P., Sánchez-Barbudo, I.S., Viñuela, J., Barja, I., Mateo-Tomás, P., Piñeiro, A., Mateo, R. & Purroy, F. J. (2009) Lack of scientific evidence and precautionary principle in massive release of rodenticides threatens biodiversity: old lessons need new reflections. Environmental Conservation 36 (01): 1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osborne, P.E., Alonso, J.C. & Bryant, R.G. (2001) Modelling landscape-scale habitat use using GIS and remote sensing: a case study with great bustards. Journal of Applied Ecology 38 (2): 458–471.Google Scholar
Pain, D.J. & Pienkowski, M.W. (1997) Farming and Birds in Europe: the Common Agricultural Policy and its Implications for Bird Conservation. San Diego, CA, USA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Parry, M.L. (2007) Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pleguezuelos, J.M. (1992) Avifauna nidificante de las sierras béticas orientales y depresiones de Guadix, Baza y Granada: Su cartografiado. Granada, Spain: Universidad de Granada.Google Scholar
Quinn, G.P. & Keough, M.J. (2002) Experimental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
R Development Core Team (2012) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria [www document]. URL http://www.R-project.org Google Scholar
Ricklefs, R. (1987) Community diversity: relative roles of local and regional processes. Science 235 (4785): 167.Google Scholar
Santos, T. & Suárez, F. (2005) Biogeography and population trends of Iberian steppe birds. In: Ecology and Conservation of Steppe-land Birds, ed. Bota, G., Morales, M.B., Mañosa, S. & Camprodon, J., pp. 69–102. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions & Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya.Google Scholar
Seoane, J., Carrascal, L.M., Palomino, D. & Alonso, C.L. (2010) Population size and habitat relationships of black-bellied sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis in the Canary Islands, Spain. Bird Conservation International 20 (2): 161–175.Google Scholar
Seoane, J., Viñuela, J., Díaz-Delgado, R. & Bustamante, J. (2003) The effects of land use and climate on red kite distribution in the Iberian peninsula. Biological Conservation 111 (3): 401–414.Google Scholar
Shannon, C.E. & Weaver, W. (1949) The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana, IL, USA: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
SIGPAC, MARM (2006) Sistema de Información Geográfica de Parcelas Agrícolas (SIGPAC) [www document]. URL http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/agricultura/temas/sistema-de-informacion-geografica-de-parcelas-agricolas-sigpac-/ Google Scholar
Suárez-Seoane, S., Osborne, P.E. & Alonso, J.C. (2002) Large-scale habitat selection by agricultural steppe birds in Spain: identifying species-habitat responses using generalized additive models. Journal of Applied Ecology 39 (5): 755–771.Google Scholar
Suárez, F., Hervás, I., Herranz, J. & Del Moral, J.C. (2006) La ganga ibérica y la ganga ortega en España: población en 2005 y método de censo. Madrid, Spain: SEO/BirdLife.Google Scholar
Suárez, F., Martínez, C., Herranz, J. & Yanes, M. (1997) Conservation status and farmland requirements of pin-tailed sandgrouse Pterocles alchata and black-bellied sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis in Spain. Biological Conservation 82 (1): 73–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thuiller, W., Richardson, D.M., Pyšek, P., Midgley, G.F., Hughes, G.O. & Rouget, M. (2005) Niche-based modelling as a tool for predicting the risk of alien plant invasions at a global scale. Global Change Biology 11 (12): 2234–2250.Google Scholar
Traba, J., García de la Morena, E., Morales, M. & Suárez, F. (2007) Determining high value areas for steppe birds in Spain: hot spots, complementarity and the efficiency of protected areas. Biodiversity and Conservation 16 (12): 3255–3275.Google Scholar
Walsh, C. & Mac Nally, R. (2008) hier.part: Hierarchical Partitioning. R package version 1.0–3 [www document]. URL http://cran.r-project.org/ Google Scholar
Whittaker, R.J., Nogués-Bravo, D. & Araújo, M.B. (2007) Geographical gradients of species richness: a test of the water-energy conjecture of Hawkins et al. (2003) using European data for five taxa. Global Ecology and Biogeography 16 (1): 76–89.Google Scholar
WWF & SEO/BirdLife (2010) ¿Quien contamina cobra? Relación entre la política agraria común y el medio ambiente en España. Report. SEO/BirdLife and WWF España, Madrid, Spain.Google Scholar
Zuur, A.F., Ieno, E.N. & Smith, G.M. (2007) Analysing Ecological Data. New York, NY, USA: Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Benitez-Lopez Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Benitez-Lopez Supplementary Material(File)
File 59.7 KB
Supplementary material: File

Benitez-Lopez Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Benitez-Lopez Supplementary Material(File)
File 13.7 KB
Supplementary material: File

Benitez-Lopez Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Benitez-Lopez Supplementary Material(File)
File 52.6 KB