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International audience ; Among vertebrates, specialization in scavenging has appeared only in "true" vultures, which usually base their diet almost exclusively on carcasses of medium and large-sized mammals, whereas all other scavengers rely on broader ranges of prey. The availability of food for scavengers in Western Europe has not been limited during recent decades permitting the existence and growth of huge vulture populations. From 2000 onwards, however, EU sanitary legislation has progressively limited the abandonment of dead animals in the field resulting in a sudden reduction of food availability with unknown ecological and conservation consequences. Here, we examine the dietary response of a tandem of carrion eaters, the griffon vulture () and the Egyptian vulture (), showing different degrees of dietary specialization. Our results showed that after the reduction in numbers of supplementary feeding stations (vulture restaurants) the niche breadth of the griffon vulture has broadened and now includes significant amounts of wild rabbits () and garbage. The diet of the Egyptian vulture, on the contrary, did not vary substantially. The diet overlap showed patterns probably conditioned by interspecific competition and the progressive exploitation of unpredictable carcasses. On a short-term scale, consequences for smaller scavengers could be negative due to the monopolization of resources by the dominant and much more abundant griffon vulture, however in the long-term all guild species would benefit from the exploitation of unpredictable carcasses, which could enhance the possibilities of coexistence.

Current European sanitary laws are promoting the concentration of domestic livestock carcasses in lim- ited locations called 'vulture restaurants' or supplementary feeding stations in order to safeguard human health. However, this type of food concentration could lead to monopolization by a few, large dominant species. Management guidelines are urgently needed to ensure that potentially less competitive and more endangered scavengers can also benefit from this resource, considering that once abundant car- casses are now absent from the field. Here, we assess factors affecting the abundance of six avian scav- enger species at 17 feeding stations in northern Spain, considering aspects such as carrion availability, physiographic features, humanization, presence of heterospecifics and densities of scavengers during both winter and summer seasons. Results indicate that conditions for interspecific facilitatory processes are possible at low numbers (<100 individuals) of griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). Otherwise, the other avian scavengers are excluded. In a few cases, spatio-temporal patterns of segregation become apparent. Differences in the size of carcasses supplied to feeding stations as well as the local characteristics influ- ence the balance of species at these points and, therefore, how species of conservation concern use feed- ing stations. Future legislation should encourage the opening of numerous feeding stations supplied with low quantities of food to mimic the original condition of temporal and spatial unpredictability of car- casses and to maintain ecological relationships within the scavenger guild. ; Peer reviewed

Between 1996 and 2000 the appearance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy swiftly became one of the most serious public health and political crises concerning food safety ever experienced in the European Union (EU). Subsequent sanitary regulations led to profound changes in the management of livestock carcasses (i.e. the industrial destruction of around 80% of all animal carcasses), thereby threatening the last remaining healthy scavenger populations of the Old World and thus contradicting the long-term environmental policies of the EU.2. Several warning signs such as a decrease in breeding success, an apparent increase in mortality in young age classes of vultures and an increase in the number of cases of vultures attacking and killing cattle, as well as a halt in population growth, suggest that the decrease in the availability of food resources has had harmful effects on vulture populations.3. Between 2002 and 2005, a number of dispositions to the EU regulations (2003/322/CE 2005/830/CE) enabled conservation managers to adopt rapid solutions (i.e. the creation of vulture restaurants) aimed at satisfying the food requirements of vultures. However, these conservation measures may seriously modify habitat quality and have indirect detrimental effects on avian scavenger populations and communities.4. Synthesis and applications. Conservation managers and policy-makers need to balance the demands of public health protection and the long-term conservation of biodiversity. The regulations concerning carrion provisioning need to be more flexible and there needs to be greater compatibility between sanitary and environmental policies. We advocate policies that authorize the abandonment of livestock carcasses and favours populations of wild herbivores to help to maintain populations of avian scavengers. Conservation strategies should be incorporated into new European Commission regulations, which should be effective in 2011. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 British Ecological Society. ; Financial support was received by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (DGL2009-12753-C02), Ministerio de Medio Ambiente and Departament de Medi Ambient i Habitatge of Generalitat de Catalunya. ; Peer Reviewed

Wind-farms receive public and governmental support as an alternative energy source mitigating air pollution. However, they can have adverse effects on wildlife, particularly through collision with turbines. Research on wind-farm effects has focused on estimating mortality rates, behavioural changes or interspecific differences in vulnerability. Studies dealing with their effects on endangered or rare species populations are notably scarce. We tested the hypothesis that wind-farms increase extinction probability of long-lived species through increments in mortality rates. For this purpose, we evaluate potential consequences of wind-farms on the population dynamics of a globally endangered long-lived raptor in an area where the species maintains its greatest stronghold and wind-farms are rapidly increasing. Nearly one-third of all breeding territories of our model species are in wind-farm risk zones. Our intensive survey shows that wind-farms decrease survival rates of this species differently depending on individual breeding status. Consistent with population monitoring, population projections showed that all subpopulations and the meta-population are decreasing. However, population sizes and, therefore, time to extinction significantly decreased when wind-farm mortality was included in models. Our results represent a qualitative warning exercise showing how very low reductions in survival of territorial and non-territorial birds associated with wind-farms can strongly impact population viability of long-lived species. This highlights the need for examining long-term impacts of wind-farms rather than focusing on short-term mortality, as is often promoted by power companies and some wildlife agencies. Unlike other non-natural causes of mortality difficult to eradicate or control, wind-farm fatalities can be lowered by powering down or removing risky turbines and/or farms, and by placing them outside areas critical for endangered birds. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ; Peer Reviewed

Wildlife trade is a major driver of biodiversity loss worldwide. To regulate its impact, laws and regulations have been implemented at the international and national scales. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has regulated the international legal trade since 1975. However, an important volume of illegal trade—mainly within countries—continues to threaten several vertebrate groups, which could be due to a lack of specific legislation or enforcement of existing regulations. Our aim was to gain a more accurate picture of poaching and legal possession of native parrots as pets in the Neotropics, where illegal domestic trade is currently widespread. We conducted a systematic search of the laws of each of the 50 countries and overseas territories, taking into account their year of implementation and whether the capture, possession and/or sale of parrots is permitted. We compared this information with legal exports reported by CITES to assess differences between the enforcement of international and national trade regulations. We found that only two countries (Guyana and Suriname) currently allow the capture, trade and possession of native parrots, while Peru allowed international legal trade until recently. The other countries have banned parrot trade from years to decades ago. However, the timing of implementation of international and national trade regulations varied greatly between countries, with half of them continuing to export parrots legally years or decades after banning domestic trade. The confusion created by this complex legal system may have hindered the adoption of conservation measures, allowing poaching, keeping and trade of protected species within and between neighboring countries. Most countries legally exported Neotropical parrot species which were not native to those countries, indicating that trans-border smuggling often occurred between neighboring countries prior to their legal exportations, and that this illicit activity continues for the ...

Food webs developed under classical theoretical models often depict simplistic interactions among trophic levels linked by predation (Hairston et al. 1960). As a result, extensive research efforts have been devoted to studying predator-prey interactions, often ignoring the contribution of scavenging in food-web dynamics. However, recent advancements in food-web theory have recognized the widespread and critical role that scavenging plays in stabilizing food webs in ecosystems throughout the world, thus suggesting that previous models may have greatly underestimated the importance of scavenging in food web research ( Wilson and Wolkovich 2011; Barton et al. 2013). Such disregard for the importance of scavenging likely stems from a number of factors, such as human aversion to decomposing matter, difficulties in identifying scavenged versus depredated materials, and the fact that most species utilize carrion opportunistically (DeVault et al. 2003). Nonetheless, recent population declines of a number of obligate scavengers (e.g., vultures) have drawn international attention to this important group of species, and have sparked a renaissance in research on scavenging (Koenig 2006; Sekercioglu 2006; Ogada et al. 2012a; Moleón and Sanchez-Zapata 2015; Buechley and Şekercioğlu 2016a, 2016b; Ogada et al. 2016). ; This work was partially funded by project CGL2012-40013-C02-02 Spanish Government. The input of James C. Beasley was supported through funding provided by the US Department of Energy under Award Number DE-FC09-07SR22506 to the University of Georgia Research Foundation. This work has partially been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grant no. CGL2012-40013-C02-01/02 MIMECO and FEDER funds. ; Peer reviewed

Migrant populations must cope not only with environmental changes in different biomes, but also with the continuous constraints imposed by human-induced changes through landscape transformation and resource patchiness. Theoretical studies suggest that changes in food distribution can promote changes in the social arrangement of individuals without apparent adaptive value. Empirical research on this subject has only been performed at reduced geographical scales and/or for single species. However, the relative contribution of food patchiness and predictability, both in space and time, to abundance and sociality can vary among species, depending on their degree of flexibility. ; This work was supported by the project CGL2004-00270 of Spanish Government. ; Peer reviewed

Global warming due to human-induced increments in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) is one of the most debated topics among environmentalists and politicians worldwide. In this paper we assess a novel source of GHG emissions emerged following a controversial policy decision. After the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Europe, the sanitary regulation required that livestock carcasses were collected from farms and transformed or destroyed in authorised plants, contradicting not only the obligations of member states to conserve scavenger species but also generating unprecedented GHG emission. However, how much of this emission could be prevented in the return to traditional and natural scenario in which scavengers freely remove livestock carcasses is largely unknown. Here we show that, in Spain (home of 95% of European vultures), supplanting the natural removal of dead extensive livestock by scavengers with carcass collection and transport to intermediate and processing plants meant the emission of 77,344 metric tons of CO2 eq. to the atmosphere per year, in addition to annual payments of ca. $50 million to insurance companies. Thus, replacing the ecosystem services provided by scavengers has not only conservation costs, but also important and unnecessary environmental and economic costs.

Global warming due to human-induced increments in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) is one of the most debated topics among environmentalists and politicians worldwide. In this paper we assess a novel source of GHG emissions emerged following a controversial policy decision. After the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Europe, the sanitary regulation required that livestock carcasses were collected from farms and transformed or destroyed in authorised plants, contradicting not only the obligations of member states to conserve scavenger species but also generating unprecedentedGHG emission. However, how much of this emission could be prevented in the return to traditional and natural scenario in which scavengers freely remove livestock carcasses is largely unknown. Here we show that, in Spain (home of 95% of European vultures), supplanting the natural removal of dead extensive livestock by scavengers with carcass collection and transport to intermediate and processing plants meant the emission of 77,344 metric tons of CO2 eq. to the atmosphere per year, in addition to annual payments of ca. $50 million to insurance companies. Thus, replacing the ecosystem services provided by scavengers has not only conservation costs, but also important and unnecessary environmental and economic costs ; This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project CGL2012-40013-C02-01/02. Z.M.-R. was supported by FPU12/00823, M.C. by RYC-2009-04860 and A.M. by RYC-2012-11867. We thank B. Robles for his pioneering ideas on the energetic savings provided by vultures, and Entidad Estatal de Seguros Agrarios (ENESA) of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA) for supplying information. ; Peer reviewed

Global warming due to human-induced increments in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) is one of the most debated topics among environmentalists and politicians worldwide. In this paper we assess a novel source of GHG emissions emerged following a controversial policy decision. After the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Europe, the sanitary regulation required that livestock carcasses were collected from farms and transformed or destroyed in authorised plants, contradicting not only the obligations of member states to conserve scavenger species but also generating unprecedentedGHG emission. However, how much of this emission could be prevented in the return to traditional and natural scenario in which scavengers freely remove livestock carcasses is largely unknown. Here we show that, in Spain (home of 95% of European vultures), supplanting the natural removal of dead extensive livestock by scavengers with carcass collection and transport to intermediate and processing plants meant the emission of 77,344 metric tons of CO2 eq. to the atmosphere per year, in addition to annual payments of ca. $50 million to insurance companies. Thus, replacing the ecosystem services provided by scavengers has not only conservation costs, but also important and unnecessary environmental and economic costs ; This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project CGL2012-40013-C02-01/02. Z.M.-R. was supported by FPU12/00823, M.C. by RYC-2009-04860 and A.M. by RYC-2012-11867. We thank B. Robles for his pioneering ideas on the energetic savings provided by vultures, and Entidad Estatal de Seguros Agrarios (ENESA) of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA) for supplying information.

Global warming due to human-induced increments in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) is one of the most debated topics among environmentalists and politicians worldwide. In this paper we assess a novel source of GHG emissions emerged following a controversial policy decision. After the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Europe, the sanitary regulation required that livestock carcasses were collected from farms and transformed or destroyed in authorised plants, contradicting not only the obligations of member states to conserve scavenger species but also generating unprecedentedGHG emission. However, how much of this emission could be prevented in the return to traditional and natural scenario in which scavengers freely remove livestock carcasses is largely unknown. Here we show that, in Spain (home of 95% of European vultures), supplanting the natural removal of dead extensive livestock by scavengers with carcass collection and transport to intermediate and processing plants meant the emission of 77,344 metric tons of CO2 eq. to the atmosphere per year, in addition to annual payments of ca. $50 million to insurance companies. Thus, replacing the ecosystem services provided by scavengers has not only conservation costs, but also important and unnecessary environmental and economic costs. ; This work was funded by the Spanish MINECO (grant CGL2012-40013-C02-02)

Scientific and grey literature on invasive alien species (IAS) is conditioned by social, economic and political priorities, editorial preferences and species and ecosystem characteristics. This leads to knowledge gaps and mismatches between scientific research interests and management needs. We reviewed the literature on IAS management in Spain found in Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Dialnet to identify key deficiencies and priority research areas. The collected literature was classified, employing features describing formal aspects and content. We used bibliometric and keyword co-occurrence network analyses to assess the relationship between features and reveal the existence of additional topics. Most of the compiled documents (n = 388) were focused on terrestrial ecosystems and inland waters, whereas marine and urban ecosystems were under-represented. The literature was largely generic and not species-specific, focusing on raising awareness and proposing changes on current regulation as prominent approaches to prevent further introductions. The compiled authors exhibited many clear publishing preferences (e.g. language or document type), but less regarding target taxa. In addition, there was a strong association between species and the different features considered, especially between the methodological approach (e.g. review, field experiment) and the primary emphasis of study (i.e. basic/theoretical, applied or interdisciplinary). This indicates that research on IAS has had a strong species-specific focus. References about terrestrial species focused mainly on vascular plants, whereas references about inland waters were mostly on fishes and the giant reed (Arundo donax), which has been managed with partial success. Animal culling and plant removal were the most frequent eradication and small-scale control treatments, whereas the documents addressing wider spatial scales were largely theoretical. Consequently, the success of described treatments was largely uncertain. Spanish invasion science ...

Este artículo contiene 28 páginas, 7 figuras, 2 tablas. ; Scientific and grey literature on invasive alien species (IAS) is conditioned by social, economic and political priorities, editorial preferences and species and ecosystem characteristics. This leads to knowledge gaps and mismatches between scientific research interests and management needs. We reviewed the literature on IAS management in Spain found in Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Dialnet to identify key deficiencies and priority research areas. The collected literature was classified, employing features describing formal aspects and content. We used bibliometric and keyword co-occurrence network analyses to assess the relationship between features and reveal the existence of additional topics. Most of the compiled documents (n = 388) were focused on terrestrial ecosystems and inland waters, whereas marine and urban ecosystems were under-represented. The literature was largely generic and not species-specific, focusing on raising awareness and proposing changes on current regulation as prominent approaches to prevent further introductions. The compiled authors exhibited many clear publishing preferences (e.g. language or document type), but less regarding target taxa. In addition, there was a strong association between species and the different features considered, especially between the methodological approach (e.g. review, field experiment) and the primary emphasis of study (i.e. basic/theoretical, applied or interdisciplinary). This indicates that research on IAS has had a strong species-specific focus. References about terrestrial species focused mainly on vascular plants, whereas references about inland waters were mostly on fishes and the giant reed (Arundo donax), which has been managed with partial success. Animal culling and plant removal were the most frequent eradication and small-scale control treatments, whereas the documents addressing wider spatial scales were largely theoretical. Consequently, the success of described treatments was largely uncertain. Spanish invasion science research has been occasionally innovative, incorporating novel technologies (e.g. species distribution modelling) and engaging society with citizenscience approaches. However, the ratio between basic/theoretical and applied studies indicates that more applied research/management is needed, especially in inland waters and marine ecosystems. We call for increasing effort in the effective dissemination of experience in IAS management to enhance current practical knowledge, including that of schemes undertaken by public agencies. ; This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (InvaNET network, RED2018‐102571‐T). Additional financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, UE) (grants PID2020- 118550RB, PID2019-103936GB-C21, RTI2018-093504-B-I00) and the Government of Catalonia (ref. 2017 SGR 548). RMM benefitted from a postdoctoral Juan de la Cierva Fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (FJCI2016-30829). ; Peer reviewed

Scientific and grey literature on invasive alien species (IAS) is conditioned by social, economic and political priorities, editorial preferences and species and ecosystem characteristics. This leads to knowledge gaps and mismatches between scientific research interests and management needs. We reviewed the literature on IAS management in Spain found in Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Dialnet to identify key deficiencies and priority research areas. The collected literature was classified, employing features describing formal aspects and content. We used bibliometric and keyword co-occurrence network analyses to assess the relationship between features and reveal the existence of additional topics. Most of the compiled documents (n = 388) were focused on terrestrial ecosystems and inland waters, whereas marine and urban ecosystems were under-represented. The literature was largely generic and not species-specific, focusing on raising awareness and proposing changes on current regulation as prominent approaches to prevent further introductions. The compiled authors exhibited many clear publishing preferences (e.g. language or document type), but less regarding target taxa. In addition, there was a strong association between species and the different features considered, especially between the methodological approach (e.g. review, field experiment) and the primary emphasis of study (i.e. basic/theoretical, applied or interdisciplinary). This indicates that research on IAS has had a strong species-specific focus. References about terrestrial species focused mainly on vascular plants, whereas references about inland waters were mostly on fishes and the giant reed (Arundo donax), which has been managed with partial success. Animal culling and plant removal were the most frequent eradication and small-scale control treatments, whereas the documents addressing wider spatial scales were largely theoretical. Consequently, the success of described treatments was largely uncertain. Spanish invasion science research has been occasionally innovative, incorporating novel technologies (e.g. species distribution modelling) and engaging society with citizen-science approaches. However, the ratio between basic/theoretical and applied studies indicates that more applied research/management is needed, especially in inland waters and marine ecosystems. We call for increasing effort in the effective dissemination of experience in IAS management to enhance current practical knowledge, including that of schemes undertaken by public agencies. © 2021. Rafael Muñoz-Mas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. ; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation RED2018‐102571‐T ; Spanish State Research Agency, Spanish State Research Agency, European Regional Development Fund PID2020- 118550RB, PID2019-103936GB-C21, RTI2018-093504-B-I00 ; Government of Catalonia 2017 SGR 548 ; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation FJCI2016-30829 ; Peer reviewed

Scientific and grey literature on invasive alien species (IAS) is conditioned by social, economic and political priorities, editorial preferences and species and ecosystem characteristics. This leads to knowledge gaps and mismatches between scientific research interests and management needs. We reviewed the literature on IAS management in Spain found in Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Dialnet to identify key deficiencies and priority research areas. The collected literature was classified, employing features describing formal aspects and content. We used bibliometric and keyword co-occurrence network analyses to assess the relationship between features and reveal the existence of additional topics. Most of the compiled documents (n = 388) were focused on terrestrial ecosystems and inland waters, whereas marine and urban ecosystems were under-represented. The literature was largely generic and not species-specific, focusing on raising awareness and proposing changes on current regulation as prominent approaches to prevent further introductions. The compiled authors exhibited many clear publishing preferences (e.g. language or document type), but less regarding target taxa. In addition, there was a strong association between species and the different features considered, especially between the methodological approach (e.g. review, field experiment) and the primary emphasis of study (i.e. basic/theoretical, applied or interdisciplinary). This indicates that research on IAS has had a strong species-specific focus. References about terrestrial species focused mainly on vascular plants, whereas references about inland waters were mostly on fishes and the giant reed (Arundo donax), which has been managed with partial success. Animal culling and plant removal were the most frequent eradication and small-scale control treatments, whereas the documents addressing wider spatial scales were largely theoretical. Consequently, the success of described treatments was largely uncertain. Spanish invasion science research has been occasionally innovative, incorporating novel technologies (e.g. species distribution modelling) and engaging society with citizen-science approaches. However, the ratio between basic/theoretical and applied studies indicates that more applied research/management is needed, especially in inland waters and marine ecosystems. We call for increasing effort in the effective dissemination of experience in IAS management to enhance current practical knowledge, including that of schemes undertaken by public agencies.