Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

About: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is a nonprofit organization based out in Sandy, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Biodiversity. The organization has 670 authors who have published 1425 publications receiving 88006 citations. The organization is also known as: RSPB & Plumage League.

Metrics of progress in the understanding and management of threats to Australian birds

Abstract: Although evidence-based approaches have become commonplace for determining the success of conservation measures for the management of threatened taxa, there are no standard metrics for assessing progress in research or management. We developed 5 metrics to meet this need for threatened taxa and to quantify the need for further action and effective alleviation of threats. These metrics (research need, research achievement, management need, management achievement, and percent threat reduction) can be aggregated to examine trends for an individual taxon or for threats across multiple taxa. We tested the utility of these metrics by applying them to Australian threatened birds, which appears to be the first time that progress in research and management of threats has been assessed for all threatened taxa in a faunal group at a continental scale. Some research has been conducted on nearly three-quarters of known threats to taxa, and there is a clear understanding of how to alleviate nearly half of the threats with the highest impact. Some management has been attempted on nearly half the threats. Management outcomes ranged from successful trials to complete mitigation of the threat, including for one-third of high-impact threats. Progress in both research and management tended to be greater for taxa that were monitored or occurred on oceanic islands. Predation by cats had the highest potential threat score. However, there has been some success reducing the impact of cat predation, so climate change (particularly drought), now poses the greatest threat to Australian threatened birds. Our results demonstrate the potential for the proposed metrics to encapsulate the major trends in research and management of both threats and threatened taxa and provide a basis for international comparisons of evidence-based conservation science.

Microsatellite variation in the yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella: population structure of a declining farmland bird.

Abstract: In recent years, there has been much concern in the UK about population declines of widespread species in agricultural habitats. Conservation-orientated research on declining birds has focused on vital rates of survival and productivity. However, the environmental factors which may influence movements between populations of widespread species is poorly understood. Population genetic structure is an indirect description of dispersal between groups of individuals. To attempt to develop an understanding of genetic structuring in a widespread, but declining, farmland bird, we therefore investigated the yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, population in England and Wales using microsatellite data. Our first aim was to investigate whether there was genetic substructuring in the population. A second aim was to investigate if there was a relationship between genetic distances and various environmental variables. Finally, we analysed the microsatellite data for evidence of loss of genetic variation due to population decline. Our data showed a slight but significant structure within the yellowhammer population. This therefore cannot be considered a panmictic population. Our example from South Cumbria implies that high-altitude barriers may have a slight influence on population structure. However, on the whole, genetic distances between sample sites were not significantly correlated with geographical distances, degrees of population connectivity, high altitudes, or differences in precipitation between sites. Finally, we detected departures from mutation-drift equilibrium (excess heterozygosity), which is indicative of a loss of genetic variation through recent decline.

Habitat selection by Marsh Tits Poecile palustris in the UK

Abstract: The Marsh Tit Poecile palustris is a small, hole-nesting woodland passerine whose national population in the UK has declined by more than 50% in the last 25 years. To investigate possible causes for the species long-term decline, we examined habitat selection by Marsh Tits at three scales. For individual foraging birds, winter time budgets and foraging behaviour, recorded using instantaneous sampling, differed little between Marsh and Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus , but Marsh Tits spent more time in the understorey and more time lower down in both the woodland canopy and the understorey. At the scale of breeding territories, the characteristics (numbers by size class, vegetation density, species richness) of trees and shrubs were compared using 100 × 10-m sample transects of ten territories in each of four woods. The characteristics of the trees differed significantly between woods whilst those of the shrubs did not, suggesting that the characteristics of shrubs were more important in territory selection by Marsh Tits than were those of trees. Furthermore, in one of the four woods (Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire), Marsh Tits were largely absent from areas with dense tree canopy, but poor shrub cover. On a national scale, using data from 157 of the woodlands surveyed by the RSPB/BTO Repeat Woodland Bird Survey, Marsh Tit abundance in 2003/04 was found to be positively related to vegetation cover at heights corresponding to the shrub layer, especially at 2‐4 m. These relationships were not apparent in data for the same woods for the 1980s, but shrub cover had increased substantially by 2003/04 and Marsh Tit abundance had increased in woods with the most cover in 2003/04. Thus, factors damaging the shrub layer, such as overgrazing by deer, shading out by canopy closure and managed clearance of shrub cover, may reduce the suitability of woodland for Marsh Tits. Habitat use by a closely related species, Willow Tit Poecile montanus , is also discussed.

Long-term trends in abundance and breeding success of red grouse and hen harriers in relation to changing management of a Scottish grouse moor

Abstract: Large areas of heather moorland in the British uplands are managed for shooting red grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica. However, there has been a long-standing conflict between grouse moor management and the conservation of raptors, particularly the hen harrier Circus cyaneus. Langholm Moor, a grouse moor in southwest Scotland, has hosted studies aiming to resolve this conflict for 24 years. Between 1992 and 1997, whilst managed as a grouse moor, hen harrier numbers increased from two to 20 breeding females, and raptor predation removed large proportions of both adult grouse and chicks. As driven shooting was no longer viable, grouse moor management ceased in 1999, and was not restored until 2008. This paper considers how cessation and subsequent restoration of grouse moor management, which involved heather management and legal control of generalist predators, affected the abundance and breeding success of red grouse and hen harrier, as well as the abundance of their perceived key predators; red fox Vulpes vu...

Dispersal, ranging and settling behaviour of Marsh Tits Poecile palustris in a fragmented landscape in lowland England

Abstract: Capsule Natal dispersal was rapid and distances were short. Winter ranging and breeding dispersal were limited. Few birds undertook large movements. Aims To investigate the natal and breeding dispersal of Marsh Tits, including the timing of dispersal movements. Methods Nestlings, juveniles and adults were ringed and searched for over 4500 ha during summer, autumn–winter, and spring over six years. Dispersal distances were measured as metric distances and multiples of territory widths. Ranging distances were compared with dispersal distances. Results Median distances of natal dispersal were 2.6 territory widths for males (704.5 m) and 3.1 territory widths for females (1065.0 m). Median distances of breeding dispersal were 0.2 territory widths for males and females (58.6 and 53.1 m respectively). Most natal dispersal was completed soon after independence, with further movement in spring. Breeding dispersal was also detected during these periods. Median ranging distances were short, and some winter floaters ...