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The release of farm-reared animals for shooting causes frequent conflicts between hunters and conservationists, since, while this management practice is economically important in some game areas, it carries several risks for biodiversity conservation (e.g. the introduction of new pathogens or the release of alien species and/or hybrids). However, these conflicts have received little attention in the literature. In particular, social-psychological factors, which are very important driving conservation conflicts, have been often ignored in the study of releases. Our main goal was to examine attitudes and beliefs of game managers towards the release of farm-reared red-legged partridges in small-game estates within central Spain, where more than 3 million partridges are released annually. Data were collected through face to face interviews with 45 game managers. More than 70% of the interviewed managers expressed negative views towards releases, and these included arguments about their detrimental effect on natural partridge populations, their low effectiveness, and their consideration as artificial hunting. Very negative views predominated among managers who had never released partridges (mostly those of non-commercial estates), and were frequently expressed by those who released partridges occasionally. In contrast, positive views were mostly given by managers who released partridges annually, and arguments used generally referred to the economic benefits of releases. Some managers expressed at the same time both positive and negative views on releases (i.e. ambivalent position). These findings suggest that there exists a relative polarisation among game managers, and that the position of those who were very critical of releases is close to that of conservationists. Our results also suggest that managers' decision-making regarding releases is likely influenced by a variety of beliefs and attitudes as well as the socioeconomic setting (e.g. economic interest in the outcome of the behaviour). This highlights that the study of different aspects, including social and psychological as well as economic, is essential for understanding and resolving conservation conflicts, such as those caused by releases. ; This work was supported by the European Commission (7th Framework Programme for R&D through project HUNT, 212160, FP7-ENV-2007-1), by CSIC (PIE 201330E105), and by Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (PPII-2014-016-A). M. Delibes-Mateos is currently funded by Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo of Junta de Andalucía, and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement 267226. ; Peer reviewed

et al. ; Hunting is an activity that appears to provoke – often immediate and strongly pronounced – moral assessments, i.e., judgments of what is 'right' or 'wrong'. A large body of literature explores these moral arguments, often from a philosophical or normative perspective, focusing on specific types of hunting. However, studies that ground such explorations in empirical, systematically analysed, yet contextualised data seem to be missing. We argue that such an approach is essential to understand conflicts over hunting and wildlife management, and present data from focus group discussions and interviews with hunters, non-hunters and hunting critics across six countries in Europe and eastern Africa. Our findings suggest that moral arguments play an extremely important role in the legitimation and delegitimation of hunting practices through discourse. In particular, study participants referred to the motives of hunters as a factor that, in their eyes, determined the acceptability of hunting practices. Moral argumentations exhibited patterns that were common across study sites, such as a perceived moral superiority of the 'moderate' and 'measured', and a lack of legitimacy of the 'excessive'. Implicit orders of hunting motives were used to legitimise types of hunting that were suspected to be contested. On the basis of these findings, we discuss how the moral elements of hunting discourses relate to broader discourses on environmental management, and how these are used to establish (or dispute) the legitimacy of hunting . Our analysis also suggests that there might be more overlap between moral arguments of hunters, non-hunters and hunting critics than popularly assumed, which, where required, could be used as a starting point for conflict management. ; This work was conducted as part of HUNT-Hunting for Sustainability (http://fp7hunt.net/) and funded by the European Union's Framework Programme 7 as well as the authors' organisations. ; Peer reviewed

Fischer, Anke et.al. ; In many contemporary societies, multiple functions are connected to hunting. Here, we use the concept of multifunctionality to investigate the role of hunting beyond its traditional function of supplying meat. Hunting may contribute, for example, to biodiversity conservation, recreation and the preservation of economies and cultures in rural areas. Our comparative analysis of hunting in eight study sites in Europe and Africa examines the tensions and trade-offs between these ecological, economic and social functions of hunting, and investigates the interplay between the institutions regulating these functions to better understand conflicts over hunting. Based on this analysis, we present institutional arrangements that have developed to address these challenges of multifunctionality, and explore the institutional change brought about by such arrangements. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for policy and institutional design. ; This work was conducted as part of HUNT-Hunting for Sustainability (http://fp7hunt.net/) and funded by the European Union's Framework Programme 7 as well as the authors' organisations. ; Peer reviewed

A basic rule to attain sustainable use of harvested resources is to adjust take to availability. Populations of red-legged partridges in Spain have decreased in recent decades, and releases of farm-bred partridges to improve short-term availability are increasingly common. We used questionnaires and bird surveys to assess whether harvest was related to availability of wild partridges or intensity of farm-bred partridge releases. We studied 50 hunting estates, including 6 administratively labeled as intensive (with few numerical and temporal restrictions to releases). In addition, we considered hunting pressure (number of hunters × hunting days/km2) and habitat as explanatory variables in the analyses. In intensive estates, annual harvest was exclusively related to release intensity, indicating that in these estates hunting is detached from natural resources and approaches an industrial activity based on external inputs. In non-intensive estates, harvest was affected by wild stock availability, walked-up shooting pressure, and habitat (greater harvest in estates with more Mediterranean shrubland). In these estates, releases did not increase annual harvest, and can be considered an inefficient practice. Additionally, the relationship between abundance estimates and harvest disappeared in estates with low partridge abundance estimates, suggesting possibilities for overharvesting in a large proportion of estates. Increasing the abundance of wild red-legged partridge through techniques like habitat management, and improving the adjustment of harvest to availability, may be a good strategy to increase long-term harvest in non-intensive estates. Additionally, Government and managers must create ways to segregate and label the estates where only wild red-legged partridges are managed from those where releases are used, to reduce ecological costs of management decisions. ; This work was supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development through project HUNT (212160, FP7-ENV-2007-1) and the Consejería de Agricultura of Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM). ; Peer reviewed

A basic rule to attain sustainable use of harvested resources is to adjust take to availability. Populations of red-legged partridges in Spain have decreased in recent decades, and releases of farm-bred partridges to improve short-term availability are increasingly common. We used questionnaires and bird surveys to assess whether harvest was related to availability of wild partridges or intensity of farm-bred partridge releases. We studied 50 hunting estates, including 6 administratively labeled as intensive (with few numerical and temporal restrictions to releases). In addition, we considered hunting pressure (number of hunters × hunting days/km2) and habitat as explanatory variables in the analyses. In intensive estates, annual harvest was exclusively related to release intensity, indicating that in these estates hunting is detached from natural resources and approaches an industrial activity based on external inputs. In non-intensive estates, harvest was affected by wild stock availability, walked-up shooting pressure, and habitat (greater harvest in estates with more Mediterranean shrubland). In these estates, releases did not increase annual harvest, and can be considered an inefficient practice. Additionally, the relationship between abundance estimates and harvest disappeared in estates with low partridge abundance estimates, suggesting possibilities for overharvesting in a large proportion of estates. Increasing the abundance of wild red-legged partridge through techniques like habitat management, and improving the adjustment of harvest to availability, may be a good strategy to increase long-term harvest in non-intensive estates. Additionally, Government and managers must create ways to segregate and label the estates where only wild red-legged partridges are managed from those where releases are used, to reduce ecological costs of management decisions. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

Specialist species, using a narrow range of resources, are predicted to be more efficient when foraging on their preferred food than generalist species consuming a wider range of foods. We tested whether the foraging efficiency of the pallid harrier Circus macrourus, a vole specialist, and of sympatric Montagu's harriers C. pygargus, a closely related generalist, differed in relation to inter-annual variations in vole abundance over five years (including two peak- one intermediate and two low vole abundance years). We show that the hunting parameters of pallid harriers strongly varied with vole abundance (higher encounter rates, capture rates and proportion of successful strikes in high than intermediate and low vole abundance years, respectively), whereas Montagu's harriers showed stable capture rates and hunting success (proportion of strikes that were successful), irrespective of vole abundance. Encounter rates and capture rates were higher for pallid than for Montagu's harriers when voles were abundant, but lower when voles were scarce. The hunting success of pallid harriers was also lower than that of Montagu's harriers when voles were scarce, and when they had to target alternative preys, in particular birds. Overall, estimated biomass intake rate was 40% higher for pallid harriers than for Montagu's harriers when voles were abundant, but 50% lower when voles were scarce. Our results indicate that specialists predators, like pallid harriers, which evolve specific adaptations or breeding strategies, do better when their preferred prey is abundant, but may face a cost of specialisation, being not efficient enough when their preferred prey is scarce. These results have broader implications for understanding why specialist predators are, in general, more vulnerable than generalists, and for predicting how specialists can cope with rapid environmental changes affecting the abundance or predictability of their preferred resources. ; This paper also contributes to the project Ecocycles (EUI2008-03641, BIODIVERSA. ERA-net project, European Union's 6th Framework Programme for Research). ; Peer Reviewed

The release of farm-reared game is considered a conflictive management tool because of its potential harmful ecological effects on wildlife and associated habitats. Estimates of the number of animals released and the area where this game management takes place could give an idea of the magnitude of their potential impacts. We aimed to quantitatively assess the release of farm-reared red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) in the province of Ciudad Real, central Spain, one of the main hunting areas in this country. We analysed the official permits that the regional government granted to the hunting estates to release farm-reared partridges between 2006 and 2012. Our results show that an average of 800,000 partridges were released annually in the study area. A decrease in the number of hunting estates that used this game management practice, as well as in the number of red-legged partridges officially released, was observed during the last years within the study period. This might be a consequence of the current economic crisis, rather than a change in management styles. Release intensity was spatially heterogeneous, being higher in the southeast of the study area, where historically red-legged partridge was more abundant. Most of the red-legged partridges released came from only four farms placed in northern Spain. Our results suggest that this management activity should be better monitored and that spatial regulations should also be considered. ; Work was supported by the European Commission (7th Framework Programme for R&D through project HUNT, 212160, FP7-ENV-2007-1) and by CSIC (PIE 201330E105). ; Peer reviewed

Many farmland bird populations are declining, and their negative trends are often associated with changes in land-use or farming practices, including the use of agrochemicals. The red-legged partridge (RLP) is a Mediterranean farmland game species of high socio-economic importance whose populations are thought to have declined sharply since the mid-20th century associated with farmland changes. However, no large-scale studies have tested whether abundance or trends of RLP are related to farmland composition or management. We used hierarchical distance sampling models to estimate RLP abundance in 2010 in central Spain (Castilla-La Mancha), a main European population stronghold of this species. We studied associations between RLP density and land-uses (including variation in management: irrigated crops or organic farming). We also assessed regional abundance variation over seven years (2010–2017) and its relationship with changes in land-use. Our results show that RLP abundance increased with the availability of natural vegetation and traditional rain-fed vineyards, but decreased with increasing proportions of tree crops and irrigated vineyards; the latter association was less pronounced in areas sensitive to nitrate contamination in water, where the amount of fertilizers applied in farmland and use of certain farming practices is more strictly regulated. These results support the idea that increases in intensive vineyards are detrimental to the RLP. We also report a strong population decline of RLP in the region, with a 51% abundance reduction in seven years. This decline was steeper in areas where more natural vegetation had been lost and where ecological tree crops had increased. Overall, our results indicate that changes in land-use (type of crop, or the destruction of natural vegetation in farmland) and farming practices (e.g. use of irrigation in certain crops, use of nitrates) have important impacts on this farmland bird, affecting both spatial distribution and population dynamics. ; This study was funded by the project AGROPERDIZ (SBPLY/17/180501/000245; Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and "Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional"). Xabier Cabodevilla was supported by a PhD Grant, financed by the Basque Country Government (Grants no. PRE_2018_2_0273). ; Peer reviewed

Wild red-legged partridge populations have experienced important declines in recent decades. With an aim to increase or maintain hunting quotas, releases of farm-reared red-legged partridges have concomitantly increased. However, the sustainability of this management practice is increasingly questioned. Farm-reared partridges suffer a high mortality rate immediately after release, and many released birds may already be dead before hunting takes place. Therefore, it is possible that if hunters adjust harvest to the number of farm-reared released birds, this may lead to an overhunting of the wild breeding stocks. We investigated here whether autumn mortality by hunting of radio-tracked birds that bred in the previous summer differed between hunting estates that use or do not use releases as part of their management practices. Although our sample size was limited (32 radio-tagged birds monitored throughout the hunting season in four estates, with only one conducting releases), our results report novel data that support this cause for concern. We found that hunting was the main cause of mortality and that the proportion of hunted partridges was much higher in the estate with releases of farm-reared birds than in the three estates that did not use releases. Therefore, the release of farm-reared partridges, instead of reducing hunting pressure on the breeding stock through a potential dilution effect, may have an opposite effect. This should be confirmed with more spatial replicates, but raises serious concerns regarding the long term sustainability of wild partridge populations and their exploitation for hunting purposes in estates that overhunt partridge populations due to releases. ; This study was supported by the Comunidad de Castilla-La Mancha (Bases científicas preliminares para un plan de conservación de la perdiz roja en Castilla-La Mancha) and Spanish Ministry of Science (MCYT-REN200307851/GLO and CGL2004-02568/BOS). FC was supported by the Andalucía Talent Hub Program launched by the Andalusian Knowledge Agency, cofounded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Program, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (COFUND–Grant Agreement n° 291780) and the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment of the Junta de Andalucía. ; Peer Reviewed

The fast intensification of agriculture affects many systems. In recent decades, traditional vineyards have been rapidly converted to trellis vineyards in Spain (the country with the largest vineyard surface worldwide) in an attempt to reduce harvesting costs and increase vine productivity. The implications of this modernization of vineyards on farmland biodiversity are still largely unknown. We studied 52 vineyards (26 traditional and 26 trellis) from June to September in south-western Spain, aiming to describe the effect of the modernization of goblet-shape traditional vineyards on vine structure and their management, as well as its effect on species' occurrence in vineyard plots. We applied hierarchical occurrence models to assess the occurrence probability of 10 bird species and two mammal species in traditional and trellis vineyard plots. Vineyard modernization involved taller vines (connected by metallic guide wires and poles by rows), greater distance between vine rows, bigger plot sizes, the systematic implementation of irrigation, and an application of fertilizers through the watering system (fertirrigation) in a third of studied vineyards. Other agrochemical treatments seemed to be equally used in both vineyard types. Due to the use of herbicides and frequent tilling, both types of vineyards showed low natural vegetation groundcover. Vineyard modernization had clear effects on fauna biodiversity in vineyard plots, with a higher occurrence in trellis vineyards of some species (rufous-tailed scrub-robin, European goldfinch, red-legged partridge, and house sparrow) and a higher occurrence of other species (European rabbit and European greenfinch) in traditional ones. Thus, vineyard modernization can drive a change in the community of birds and mammals that inhabit them. In addition, vineyard use by some species (particularly ground-dwelling ones) was strongly determined by the presence of arable land adjacent to the vineyard. These species may therefore use vineyards during summer because they provide water and/or better cover than harvested crops. Animals attracted to vineyards for water could be exposed to toxic doses of nitrates that are routinely applied through the watering system in a third of these. To maximize benefits for biodiversity, it would be advisable to manage modernization schemes in order to maintain landscape heterogeneity, with vineyards of both types combined with other agricultural systems, as well as higher proportions of natural vegetation surface cover. ; F.M. and B.A.'s time for writing this paper was within the AGROPERDIZ project (SBPLY/17/180501/000245), funded by the "Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional" (Feder) and "Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha" (JCCM) (recipient: F.M). X.C. was supported by a Ph.D. grant from the Basque Country Government (Grant number PRE_2018_2_0273). ; Peer reviewed

We explored the views held by Spanish hunters on hunting, and assessed how these views varied according to participant characteristics and whether or not the responses were made public via a hunter's magazine. Hunters expressed many positive values in relation to hunting, but were critical of their own community as well as other stakeholders. Spanish hunters felt misunderstood and even attacked by society at large. There was also a widespread negative perception of the future of hunting. The frequency of references to different opinions varied between anonymous and public respondents and in relation to age group. Participants who expressed their opinions publicly mentioned the ecological values of hunting more frequently, were more critical towards their own community, and viewed the future of hunting more positively than anonymous participants. This may indicate an intended projected positive image; namely, Spanish hunters may publicly emphasize those views that improve their position in society. ; This study was initiated as part of HUNT-Hunting for Sustainability project (http://fp7hunt.net/), which was funded by the European Union's Framework Programme 7; was partially funded by Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha through project PPII-2014-016-A; and contributes to PIE 201330E105 (CSIC). M. Delibes-Mateos is currently funded by V Plan Propio de Investigación of the Universidad de Sevilla (Spain). ; Peer Reviewed

Daily activity patterns in mammals depend on food availability, reproductive stage, habitat selection, intraspecific interactions and predation risk, among other factors. Some mammals exhibit behavioral plasticity in activity patterns, which allows them to adapt to environmental changes. A good example of this can be found in the red fox Vulpes vulpes. This species is adapted to living in highly humanized environments, where it is often culled because it may affect human interests (e.g. through the consumption of game species or livestock). We assessed the potential main drivers of the daily activity patterns of the red fox in 12 Iberian Mediterranean areas through the use of camera traps. Among drivers, we considered main prey availability (European wild rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus), degree of human disturbance (e.g. distance to human settlements, and intensity of predator control) and habitat structure. Our results revealed a predominantly crepuscular and nocturnal activity of foxes with local variations. Although overall fox activity increased with rabbit availability, the temporal overlap with prey activity was on average low, because foxes increased activity when rabbits decreased theirs (twilight-night). Red fox activity rhythms seemed to be determined by human presence where human disturbance is high. In addition, diurnal activity decreased in areas with higher levels of human disturbance (closer to human settlements and high predator control intensity) and increased in dense habitats. Our study shows that daily activity patterns of highly adaptable species are determined by several interacting drivers, resulting in complex behavioral patterns. This suggests that further ecological studies should consider different factors simultaneously for a better understanding of daily activity patterns of wildlife in different landscapes. ; This study was funded by projectsCGL2009-10741 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU-FEDER funds); HUNTing for Sustainability(212160, FP7-ENV-2007-1), and OAPN352/2011 (Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales, Spain). F. Díaz-Ruiz and J. Caro enjoyed postdoctoral contracts financedby the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (Operational Programme FSE 2007/2013). M. Delibes-Mateos is currently funded by Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo of Junta de Andalucía, and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement 267226. ; Peer Reviewed

Context In Spain, the release of farm-reared partridges to hunt is increasingly used, despite being thought to affect sustainability of wild stocks and to reduce the need of natural habitats for game. Aims To explore the market value as a possible incentive for current management, we evaluated within a segment of the red-legged partridge hunting market whether the use of farm-reared birds (as opposed to wild stock) or the naturalisation of landscapes are affecting the hunt market price. Methods We considered estates that sell individual hunting days and contacted buyers through advertisements. We gathered all advertisements for the 2010 season in four top hunting magazines and two websites, and conducted a telephone survey to record price and associated characteristics of hunts. We looked for relationships between price and the characteristics of sold hunts, using general linear models. Key results Hunts varied largely in price, but neither restocking nor naturalisation of the landscape explained price variation, at least within our sample of estates. The absence of price difference between wild or released partridges could be reflecting the current difficulty to distinguish both kinds of products in the market. Conclusions Market forces alone might not be promoting the public interest of the sustainable use of wild stocks versus industrial hunting based on farm-reared birds. Implications If promoting conservation and sustainable use of wild stocks is considered a major goal of official institutions in charge of biodiversity conservation and game management, they should promote reliable ways of identifying estates selling wild or restocked partridges, and they should also evaluate benefits and costs associated with hunting farm-reared birds relative to wild birds, so as to help internalise these costs and benefits if necessary. A study of the determinants of hunter demands would also help explain variation in supply and market prices.

1. Conflicts over the management of wildlife species that impact human livelihoods are increasingly frequent. In Spanish farmland areas, the European rabbit, one of the most important game species, can cause considerable crop damage. Tensions typically emerge between farmers who advocate rabbit reduction and hunters who are responsible for controlling populations when crop damage occurs but wish for healthy rabbit populations for shooting. 2. In this study, we used in-depth interviews and small group discussions with farmers, hunters and representatives of the governmental environmental and agricultural agencies to assess their positions in this conflict. 3. Our results showed tensions between and within groups, and that the conflict is influenced by leadership, distrust and past decision-making issues, and by differences in beliefs among groups. Positions of farmers and hunters are also relatively rigid, which may make difficult their engagement in collaborative processes. To be effective, such processes would demand that local leaders were empowered and likely also that external neutral mediators were involved. 4. Our study highlights the complexity and dynamic nature of the conflicts associated with wildlife species causing damage to human livelihoods and provides new insights that may be useful to facilitate dialogue and negotiation between stakeholders and to aid management and governance. ; This study was funded by projects CGL2013‐43197‐R (Ministerio de Economía y Competetividad) and PII‐201810I026 (CSIC) and contributes to the project RTI2018‐096348‐R‐C21/C22 (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE).