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.

Numbers and breeding success of Capercaillies Tetrao urogallus and Black Grouse T. tetrix at Abernethy Forest, Scotland

Abstract: Capsule In most years, changes in numbers are associated with variations in breeding success. Aims To describe the annual variation in numbers and breeding success of Capercaillies Tetrao urogallus and Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix at Abernethy Forest, and their inter‐relationships. Methods Numbers and breeding success of Capercaillies and Black Grouse were recorded annually at Abernethy Forest (a Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris forest comprising ancient native, or semi‐natural, pinewood and plantations) during 1989–2009. Indices of abundance and densities of Capercaillies were obtained along transects, while counts of males at leks were obtained for both species. Breeding success (number of chicks per female) was obtained using dogs to locate females and chicks. Results Capercaillie: the index of abundance increased to a peak in winter 1996/97 (2.7 times greater than in 1992/93) and then declined. There was no long‐term trend. In winters 2003/04 and 2004/05, the mean density was 4.2 per km2 (95% CLs 3.1–5.7). T...

The importance of native trees for forest bird conservation in tropical farmland

Abstract: Trees in farmland provide valuable ecosystem services that enhance agricultural productivity and income, as well as supporting biodiversity such as birds. A better understanding of the benefits of farmland trees for birds, specifically the relative value of native and exotic trees, is essential in developing effective management options, particularly within tropical regions with intense cultivation pressure. In farmland in central Uganda, neither total bird species richness nor richness of forest visitors (non-forest dependent) were related to any measures of tree cover, whereas richness of forest-dependent bird species showed a positive relationship with the number of native tree species. The density of 10 out of 17 forest-dependent bird species within farmland showed at least one significant relationship with measures of tree cover; variables relating to native trees typically had more, and stronger, positive effects on bird density than exotic trees. The combined density of 17 forest-dependent bird species on farmland was positively related to both the total number of native trees and number of large native trees. Increasing the density of forest-dependent bird species by 1 bird ha−1 within a farmland site is predicted to require c. one to two large native trees, or c. 30 native trees of all sizes, per ha. Despite comprising c. 40% of all trees, exotics exerted little positive influence on forest birds, possibly because these offer poorer resources in terms of foraging, nesting and shelter. While numerous previous studies in the tropics have considered the value, for birds, of tree cover in farmland, few have focused on tree size or species composition. This study suggests that the retention or planting of native trees is an important tool for conserving forest birds within farmland, will provide additional ecosystem services, and should be encouraged through, for example, agricultural development schemes, extension advice and demonstration farms.

Factors affecting the distribution of landbirds on the Falkland Islands

Abstract: A high proportion of island birds are threatened with extinction as a result of their vulnerability to introduced predators, habitat destruction, and fragmentation/isolation effects. In order to conserve island species effectively, it is necessary to disentangle these effects on distribution and abundance. We attempt to do this for the nine native passerines in the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands, using a database of presence/absence on 59 offshore islands in the archipelago, linked to data for each island on mammal presence, habitat modification, and isolation. Falklands native passerines are of considerable conservation importance, comprising one endemic globally threatened species, several endemic subspecies, and several restricted range species. Presence of rats on islands was by far the most important predictor of passerine presence, overriding the effect of habitat modifications. The globally threatened endemic Cobb's Wren Troglodytes cobbi was absent from all islands containing rats. Some species were more likely, and others less likely to occur on islands where tussac Poa flabellata grassland had been destroyed by grazing. The former species were primarily those adapted to dwarf-heath vegetation, and/or that thrive around human settlements. Island size and isolation were important predictors of occurrence for several bird species. The analyses show that, if vegetation restoration in the Falklands is to meet conservation aims, then it should be accompanied by introduced mammal control. Secondly, they indicate that biogeographical effects on bird distribution among islands in the Falklands are important, and need to be considered when assessing the conservation status of species, and when considering conservation action.

Characteristics of Positive Deviants in Western Chimpanzee Populations

Abstract: With continued expansion of anthropogenically modified landscapes, the proximity between humans and wildlife is continuing to increase, frequently resulting in species decline. Occasionally however, species are able to persist and there is an increased interest in understanding such positive outliers and underlying mechanisms. Eventually, such insights can inform the design of effective conservation interventions by mimicking aspects of the social-ecological conditions found in areas of species persistence. Recently, frameworks have been developed to study the heterogeneity of species persistence across populations with a focus on positive outliers. Applications are still rare, and to our knowledge this is one of the first studies using this approach for terrestrial species conservation. We applied the positive deviance concept to the western chimpanzee, which occurs in a variety of social-ecological landscapes. It is now categorized as Critically Endangered due to hunting and habitat loss and resulting excessive decline of most of its populations. Here we are interested in understanding why some of the populations did not decline. We compiled a dataset of 17,109 chimpanzee survey transects (10,929 km) across nine countries and linked them to a range of social and ecological variables. We found that chimpanzees seemed to persist within three social-ecological configurations: first, rainforest habitats with a low degree of human impact, second, steep areas, and third, areas with high prevalence of hunting taboos and low degree of human impact. The largest chimpanzee populations are nowadays found under the third social-ecological configuration, even though most of these areas are not officially protected. Most commonly chimpanzee conservation has been based on exclusion of threats by creation of protected areas and law enforcement. Our findings suggest, however, that this approach should be complemented by an additional focus on threat reduction, i.e., interventions that directly target individual human behavior that is most threatening to chimpanzees, which is hunting. Although changing human behavior is difficult, stakeholder co-designed behavioral change approaches developed in the social sciences have been used successfully to promote pro-environmental behavior. With only a fraction of chimpanzees and primates living inside protected areas, such new approaches might be a way forward to improve primate conservation.