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Long‐term relationship between diet breadth and breeding success in a declining population of Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus |
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| Authors: | ANTONI MARGALIDA JOSÉ R. BENÍTEZ JOSÉ A. SÁNCHEZ‐ZAPATA ENRIQUE ÁVILA RAFAEL ARENAS JOSÉ A. DONÁZAR |
| Affiliation: | 1. Bearded Vulture Study and Protection Group, Apdo. 43, E‐25520, El Pont de Suert, Lleida, Spain;2. Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland;3. Línea de Geodiversidad y Biodiversidad, Agencia de Medioambiente y Agua, Junta de Andalucía, Avda. Johan Gutemberg 1, E‐41092 Seville, Spain;4. Universidad Miguel Hernández, área de Ecología, Departamento de Biología Aplicada, Ctra Beniel Km 3.2, Orihuela, Alicante, Spain;5. Gestión del Medio Natural, Dirección Provincial de Córdoba, Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía, C/Tomás de Aquino s/n, E‐14071, Córdoba, Spain;6. Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Do?ana, CSIC, Avda de Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, E‐41092, Seville, Spain |
| Abstract: | Between 2000 and 2009 we studied the diet and breeding success of Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus in southern Spain. Wild species accounted for 74.9% of prey items (n = 1071) with a predominance of mammals (62.3%), followed by birds (20.8%) and reptiles (13.1%). Spatially, the diet was highly varied and not restricted to carcasses of livestock; wild Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus accounted for 54% of the overall remains. The spatial variability may reflect regional and local disparity in the availability of main prey. The temporal relationship between variation in trophic diversity and Vulture nesting productivity (both values showing a long‐term decrease) might suggest a causal link between variation in diet and reproductive output. We hypothesize that high turnover rates could explain productivity variation as a consequence of the recruitment of less experienced individuals to the breeding population. This could in turn generate covariation between diet and reproductive output. |
| Keywords: | breeding output dietary breadth foraging efficiency population dynamics Spain |