Urban conservation hotspots: Predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city
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 li...
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2017
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| Acceso en línea: | https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_20452322_v7_n1_p_ReboloIfran http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_20452322_v7_n1_p_ReboloIfran |
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paper:paper_20452322_v7_n1_p_ReboloIfran2023-06-08T16:33:31Z Urban conservation hotspots: Predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city Rebolo Ifran, Natalia breeding habitat selection human predator South America species temperate grassland urban area 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. © The Author(s) 2017. Fil:Rebolo-Ifrán, N. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. 2017 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_20452322_v7_n1_p_ReboloIfran http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_20452322_v7_n1_p_ReboloIfran |
| institution |
Universidad de Buenos Aires |
| institution_str |
I-28 |
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R-134 |
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Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) |
| topic |
breeding habitat selection human predator South America species temperate grassland urban area |
| spellingShingle |
breeding habitat selection human predator South America species temperate grassland urban area Rebolo Ifran, Natalia Urban conservation hotspots: Predation release allows the grassland-specialist burrowing owl to perform better in the city |
| topic_facet |
breeding habitat selection human predator South America species temperate grassland urban area |
| description |
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. © The Author(s) 2017. |
| author |
Rebolo Ifran, Natalia |
| author_facet |
Rebolo Ifran, Natalia |
| author_sort |
Rebolo Ifran, Natalia |
| 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 |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_20452322_v7_n1_p_ReboloIfran http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_20452322_v7_n1_p_ReboloIfran |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT reboloifrannatalia urbanconservationhotspotspredationreleaseallowsthegrasslandspecialistburrowingowltoperformbetterinthecity |
| _version_ |
1768545116504457216 |