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Individual dietary variation has important ecological and evolutionary consequences. However, it has been overlooked in many taxa that are thought to have homogeneous diets. This is the case of vultures, considered merely as ‘carrion eaters’. Given their high degree of sociality, vultures are an excellent model to investigate how inter-individual transmissible behaviours drive individual dietary variation. Here, we combine GPS-tracking and accelerometers with an exhaustive fieldwork campaign to identify the individual diet of 55 griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) from two Spanish populations that partially overlap in their foraging areas. We found that individuals from the more humanized population consumed more anthropic resources (e.g. stabled livestock or rubbish), resulting in more homogeneous diets. By contrast, individuals from the wilder population consumed more wild ungulates, increasing their dietary variability. Between sexes, we found that males consumed anthropic resources more than females did. Interestingly, in the shared foraging area, vultures retained the dietary preference of their original population, highlighting a strong cultural component. Overall, these results expand the role of cultural traits in shaping key behaviours and call for the need of including cultural traits in Optimal Foraging models, especially in those species that strongly rely on social information while foraging. This research was funded by Comunidad de Bardenas Reales de Navarra, Projects CGL2012-32544, CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R, CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R2 and PID2021-128952NB-I00 (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU/FEDER); RNM-1925 and P18-RT-1321 (Junta de Andalucía); FEDER_2021.1524 and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and ERDF (Project RTI2018-099609-B-C21, TRASCAR). E.A. was supported by La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program 2015; Generalitat Valenciana and European Social Fund (grant no. APOSTD/2021), and Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities Contracts (grant no. FJC2021-047885-I). E.S.-G. and M.M. were funded by research contracts ‘Ramón y Cajal’ from the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in your future (RYC-2019-027216-I and RYC-2015-19231, respectively). Z.M.-R. was supported by postdoctoral contracts co-funded by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (grant no. APOSTD/2019/016) and funded by the Junta de Andalucía (grant no. POSTDOC_21_00353). A.C.-A. was supported by I + D + I Retos E-41-202_0456599 (grant no. 37741 PAIDI 2020) and EMERGIA Program 2021_1073, both from Junta de Andalucía.

Potential exposure of the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) to pharmaceuticals is of high conservation interest, as these compounds can produce catastrophic consequences for populations of avian scavengers. Due to the extensive livestock management in most of Patagonia, we expected Andean condors to be rarely exposed to veterinary pharmaceuticals through scavenging of free-ranging livestock. Unexpectedly, we found a high prevalence (78.6 %) of pharmaceuticals in the plasma of a small sample of randomly captured condors (n = 14), of all age classes and sexes. The antibiotic enrofloxacin was detected in all 11 drug-positive condors (78.6 %). Two antibiotics and two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were found simultaneously or in combinations of two or three different pharmaceuticals in 3 of the 14 (21.4 %) condors: marbofloxacin and phenylbutazone were found in a single adult female together with enrofloxacin, while flunixin meglumine was found in two adult males and also in the presence of enrofloxacin. Our study suggests that livestock grazing in the vast Patagonian region may be subject to more frequent medication than expected a priori. Today, it should not be assumed that livestock in remote, sparsely populated, or low-income areas are free of veterinary pharmaceuticals with a possible negative impact on wildlife and public health., Fieldwork was funded by Fundación Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria project BIOCON-08-126 and project CGL2009-12753-C02-01 from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Laboratory work was funded by Toxicology and Forensic Veterinary Service, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Murcia and by Fundación Séneca - Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia (20945/PI/18).

This study was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and “ERDF A way of making Europe” through project PID2021- 128952NB-I00. DRG was funded by a predoctoral grant from the Junta de Andalucía (PREDOC_00262). MM was partly sup- ported by a research contract Ramón y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231), Predation risk largely constrains prey behavior. However, whether predators may be scary also after death remains unexplored. Here, we describe the “fight-and-flight” responses of a prey, the wild boar (Sus scrofa), to carcasses of (a) its main predator, the gray wolf (Canis lupus) and (b) a carnivore that very rarely kills wild boars, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), in the western Alps (Italy). We recorded the behavior of wild boars at 10 wolf and 9 fox carcass sites. We found eight “fight-and-flight” responses toward wolf carcasses, and none toward fox carcasses. Our results suggest that car- nivore carcasses may indeed be scary; fear responses toward them are dependent on the species to which the carcass belongs; and animals approaching the carcasses are feared mainly when the latter are relatively fresh. This emphasizes the multiple and complex roles that carrion plays in the landscape of fear and opens exciting ecological, epidemiological, and evolutionary research avenues., Junta de Andalucia PREDOC_00262, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (MICINN) Instituto de Salud Carlos III Spanish Government PID2021-128952NB-I00, RYC-2015-19231

Carrion production is one of the most crucial yet neglected and understudied processes in food webs and ecosystems. In this study, we performed a large-scale estimation of the maximum potential production and spatial distribution of ungulate carrion biomass from five major sources in peninsular Spain, both anthropogenic (livestock, big game hunting, roadkills) and natural (predation, natural mortality). Using standardized ungulate carrion biomass (kg/year/100km2) estimates, we evaluated the relationship between ungulate carrion production and two ecosystem-level factors: global human modification (GHM) and primary productivity (NDVI). We found that anthropogenic carrion sources supplied about 60 times more ungulate carrion biomass than natural sources (mean = 90,172 vs. 1533 kg/year/100km2, respectively). Within anthropogenic carrion sources, livestock was by far the major carrion provider (91.1% of the annual production), followed by big game hunting (7.86%) and roadkills (0.05%). Within natural carrion sources, predation of ungulates provided more carrion (0.81%) than natural mortality (0.13%). Likewise, we found that the spatial distribution of carrion differed among carrion sources, with anthropogenic carrion being more aggregated in space than natural carrion. Our models showed that GHM was positively related to carrion production from livestock and roadkills, and that wild ungulate carrion supplied by natural sources and big game hunting was more frequently generated in more productive areas (higher NDVI). These findings indicate a disconnection between the main ungulate carrion source (livestock) and primary productivity. Ongoing socio-economic changes in developed countries (for example increase of intensive livestock husbandry and rewilding processes) could lead to additional alteration of carrion production processes, with potential negative impacts at the community and ecosystem levels. Overall, we highlight that carrion biomass quantification should be considered a crucial tool in evaluating ecosystem health and delineating efficient ecosystem management guidelines in the Anthropocene. JM was supported by a Basque Government predoctoral grant (PRE_2018_2_0112), ACA by a contract Juan de la Cierva Incorporación (IJCI-2014-20744; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain) and a Post Doc contract Programa Viçent Mut of Govern Balear (PD/039/2017, Spain), MM by a Ramón y Cajal research contract from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231), ZMR and LNA by contracts cofounded by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (APOSTD/2019/016 and ACIF/2019/056, respectively), and by a Ramón y Cajal research contract from the MINECO (RYC-2019-027216-I) and by the Generalitat Valenciana (SEJI/2018/024). This study was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and EU ERDF funds through the projects RTI2018-099609-B-C21, CIAGRO-UMH, and CGL2017-89905-R.

In recent years, meat production and consumption has become a topic of intense debate for environmental, animal welfare and health reasons. Research on more sustainable alternatives to meat production has increased. Our goal is to gain insight into the purchase of meat from transhumance livestock and to explore the main factors driving this process. This type of meat is more respectful towards the environment and animal welfare, provides financial stability for many rural families and helps preserve an activity that is part of the cultural heritage in rural areas. From a methodological point of view, we have adopted the theoretical alphabet theory model proposed by Zepeda and Deal in 2009 to explain sustainable purchase behavior. For this purpose, we created two different models, one for lamb meat and one for beef meat. The data come from an online survey of Spanish meat consumers. We applied a structural equation modeling technique to test the suggested model and hypothesis. The results allow us to conclude that the alphabet theory is a suitable theory for our data. The level of knowledge on transhumance and contextual factors, such as the content of fat or the type of meat, impact the creation of attitudes towards this type of livestock farming, but demographic variables do not. In both models, buying meat with a designation of origin and buying meat at specialty retailers are habits that positively influence purchase intention. Our results are highly relevant to help meat of transhumant origin reach the markets and to differentiate it from other products.

Social information, acquired through the observation of other individuals, is especially relevant among species belonging to the same guild. The unpredictable and ephemeral nature of carrion implies that social mechanisms may be selected among scavenger species to facilitate carcass location and consumption. Here, we apply a survival-modelling strategy to data obtained through the placement and monitoring of carcasses in the field to analyse possible information transmission cascades within a Neotropical scavenger community. Our study highlights how the use of different senses (smell and sight) within this guild facilitates carcass location through the transmission of social information between species with different carrion foraging efficiencies. Vultures with a highly developed sense of smell play a key role in this process, as they are the first to arrive at the carcasses and their presence seems to serve as a visual cue for other species to locate the resource. Our study supports the local enhancement hypothesis within scavengers, whereby individuals locate carcasses by following foraging heterospecifics, also suggesting the importance of the sense of smell in the maintenance of the community structure. L.N.A., Z.M.R. and E.S.G. were supported by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (grant nos. ACIF/2019/056, APOSTD/2019/016, SEJI/2018/024, respectively). Z.M.R. was also funded by the Junta de Andalucía (grant no. POSTDOC_21_00353). E.S.G. also received the grant RYC2019-027216-I funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in your future. O.O. was funded by Academy of Finland (grant no. 309581), Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence Funding Scheme (grant no. 223257), and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 856506; ERC-synergy project LIFEPLAN).

Transhumance is the traditional livestock practice consisting in the seasonal movement of herds between winter and summer pastures. Transhumance have important effects on the ecosystem functions from local to regional scales. Here, we 1) explored the relationship of vultures to transhumant herds, and 2) tested whether there is a shift on the use of space by vultures due to the decline of transhumance. For that, we first assessed whether vultures follow transhumant herds in two mountain areas with transhumant tradition, Pyrenees (Spain) and Andes (Argentina). Second, we compared both systems to determine whether the impact of transhumance on the use of space of vultures is greater in the area where transhumance is still relevant (Andes) than where this activity is in decline (Pyrenees). For this purpose, we analyzed the use of the summer pastures made by 50 griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) and 18 Andean condors (Vultur gryphus), as assessed by GPS tracking. Our findings showed that both species respond to transhumance by making greater use of summer pastures when herds are present. A higher proportion of condors made use of summer pastures than griffons, and condors individually made a more intense use of it than griffons. Differences could be explained by the fact that transhumance in the Andes is still important while in the Pyrenees is declining and the amount of carrion provided is lower. Given that the abandonment of traditional activities is a phenomenon underway, it is urgent to evaluate the effects it will have on biodiversity conservation, Comunidad de Madrid, La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program 2015, Generalitat Valenciana and European Social Fund (APOSTD/2021), Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities Contracts, Junta de Andalucia, Peregrin Fund, ANPCyT Spanish Government PICT 2021-I-A-00484 04/B227, Universidad Nacional del Comahue 04/B227 RTI2018-099609-B-C21-C22, IAATE Conservation Award, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Project TRASCAR P18-RT-1321, Junta de Andalucia TED2021-130005B-C21-C22, Spanish Government, European Commission, Project DIGITALPAST, Plan NextGenerationEU PICT 2014-0725

Scavenging is a key ecological process controlling energy flow in ecosystems and providing valuable ecosystem services worldwide. As long-lived species, the demographic dynamics of vultures can be disrupted by spatiotemporal fluctuations in food availability, with dramatic impacts on their population viability and the ecosystem services provided. In Europe, the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 2001 prompted a restrictive sanitary regulation banning the presence of livestock carcasses in the wild on a continental scale. In long-lived vertebrate species, the buffering hypothesis predicts that the demographic traits with the largest contribution to population growth rate should be less temporally variable. The BSE outbreak provides a unique opportunity to test for the impact of demographic buffering in a keystone scavenger suffering abrupt but transient food shortages. We studied the 42-year dynamics (1979¿2020) of one of the world's largest breeding colonies of Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). We fitted an inverse Bayesian state-space model with density-dependent demographic rates to the time series of stage-structured abundances to investigate shifts in vital rates and population dynamics before, during, and after the implementation of a restrictive sanitary regulation. Prior to the BSE outbreak the dynamics was mainly driven by adult survival: 83% of temporal variance in abundance was explained by variability in this rate. Moreover, during this period the regulation of population size operated through density-dependent fecundity and subadult survival. However, after the onset of the European ban, a 1-month delay in average laying date, a drop in fecundity, and a reduction in the number of fledglings induced a transient increase in the impact of fledgling and subadult recruitment on dynamics. Although adult survival rate remained constantly high, as predicted by the buffering hypothesis, its relative impact on the temporal variance in abundance dropped to 71% during the sanitary regulation and to 54% after the ban was lifted. A significant increase in the relative impact of environmental stochasticity on dynamics was modeled after the BSE outbreak. These results provide empirical evidence on how abrupt environmental deterioration may induce dramatic demographic and dynamic changes in the populations of keystone scavengers, with far-reaching impacts on ecosystem functioning worldwide. © 2022 The Ecological Society of America., Pablo Almaraz was supported by a predoctoral fellowship through the program Formacion del Profesorado Universitario FPU of the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU16/00626). ZMR was supported by two postdoctoral contracts cofunded by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (APOSTD/2019/016) and funded by the Junta de Andalucía (POSTDOC_21_00353). Funds were provided by the projects CGL2009-12753-C02-01/BOS, CGL2010-15726, and PID2019-109685GB-I00 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and EU ERDF funds through the projects CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R and CGL2017-89905-R. M.M. was supported by a research contract Ramon y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231) , and A.CA. by a contract Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion (IJCI-2014-20744; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain) and a PostDoc contract Programa Vicent Mut of Govern Balear, Spain (PD/039/2017) . NS was supported by the Bekker programme of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) . Acknowledgements of specific institutions and people sharing their valuable strandings database is in Table B3., Ecosystem services associated with cetacean strandings have been altered by humans through exploitation of wild populations during the whaling era and more recently by regulations on carcass management and disposal to abide by environmental health requirements. Here, we systematically review the scientific literature and gather data on cetacean strandings worldwide to: 1) identify the ecosystem services provided by stranded cetacean carcasses in the past and present; 2) estimate the density of cetacean strandings currently occurring in selected coastal areas around the globe, and analyse its association with human population density and regulations; and 3) identify and discuss the regulations and methods concerned with whale carcass disposal in specific regions of the world. Our literature review revealed that stranded cetacean carcasses have provided a rich and varied array of provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting ecosystem services to ancient and modern civilisations worldwide. Also, we found that the current density of stranded carcasses (mean: 0.090 strandings . year(-1). km(-1); range: 0.001-0.978) and the disposal methods widely varied across the studied regions and countries. In addition, neither human population density nor the existence of regulations were good predictors of stranding densities. Finally, we provide recommendations for the future management of stranded cetacean carcasses, by identifying those disposal methods that minimize costs and maximize ecosystem functions and services. In particular, we encourage natural decomposition in situ whenever possible; otherwise, the present coastal management strategies could be improved by including zoning, seasonal use limitation and educational outreach depending upon the local scenario. Overall, further socio-ecological research is strongly needed to guide stranded cetacean carcass management towards enhancing the net benefits that humans and ecosystems gain from carcasses, especially considering that coastal areas become more populated, new disposal regulations are approved, and cetacean populations are recovering - and thus strandings may become more frequent., Spanish Government EU ERDF funds CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R CGL2017-89905-R, research contract Ramon y Cajal from the MINECO RYC-2015-19231 contract Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain) IJCI-2014-20744, PostDoc contract Programa Vicent Mut of Govern Balear, Spain PD/039/2017, Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA)

There is broad consensus that increasing the use of renewable energies is effective to mitigate the global climate crisis. However, the development of renewables may carry environmental impacts, and their expansion could accelerate biodiversity loss (1). However, Dunnett et al. (2) have recently estimated a minimal overlap between renewable energy expansion and important conservation areas (ICAs;i.e., protected areas, key biodiversity areas, wilderness areas) (sensu ref. 2), suggesting that these infrastructures would not significantly affect biodiversity conservation if properly planned and regulated.

M.M. was supported by a research contract Ramon y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231) . This study was partly funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and EU ERDF funds through the project CGL2017-89905-R., The recent SARS-CoV-2 epidemic has highlighted the need to prevent emerging and re-emerging diseases, which means that we must approach the study of diseases from a One Health perspective. The study of pathogen transmission in wildlife is challenging, but it is unquestionably key to understand how epidemiological interactions occur at the wildlife-domestic-human interface. In this context, studying parasite avoidance behaviours may provide essential insights on parasite transmission, host-parasite coevolution, and energy flow through food-webs. However, the strategies of avoiding trophically transmitted parasites in mammalian carnivores have received little scientific attention. Here, we explore the behaviour of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and other mammalian carnivores at conspecific and heterospecific carnivore carcasses using videos recorded by camera traps. We aim to determine 1) the factors influencing the probability of foxes to practice cannibalism, and 2) whether the scavenging behaviour of foxes differ when facing conspecific vs. heterospecific carcasses. We found that red foxes were generally reluctant to consume mesocarnivore carrion, especially of conspecifics. When recorded, consumption by foxes was delayed several days (heterospecific carcasses) or weeks (conspecific carcasses) after carcass detection. Other mammalian scavengers showed a similar pattern. Also, meat-borne parasite transmission from wild carnivore carcasses to domestic dogs and cats was highly unlikely. Our findings challenge the widespread assumption that cannibalistic or intra-specific scavenging is a major transmission route for Trichinella spp. and other meat-borne parasites, especially for the red fox. Overall, our results suggest that the feeding decisions of scavengers are probably shaped by two main contrasting forces, namely the nutritional reward provided by carrion of phylogenetically similar species and the risk of acquiring meat-borne parasites shared with these species. This study illustrates how the detailed monitoring of carnivore behaviour is essential to assess the epidemiological role of these hosts in the maintenance and dispersion of parasites of public and animal health relevance., MINECO RYC-2015-19231, Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, European Commission CGL2017-89905-R

Habitat anthropization is a powerful stressor affecting the health and fitness of organisms, ultimately impacting their population dynamics. In vertebrates, stressful living conditions are usually associated with elevated glucocorticoids-based responses (GCs) as well as shorter telomeres, which are in turn associated with decreased overall body condition fitness and life expectancy. However, our understanding of how habitat anthropization per se and population processes synergistically, or independently, may affect GCs and telomere dynamics in natural populations is still very limited. Here, we assessed the physiological footprint of habitat anthropization and conspecific density in 65 GPS-tagged Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) from two populations of the Iberian Peninsula. We examined how extrinsic (human footprint values and conspecifics density within individual activity areas) and intrinsic (sex and home range size) factors determine GCs deposited in feathers (CORTf) and telomere length as proxies of overall individual condition and quality. We found strong differences in both physiological markers between populations, with higher CORTf levels and shorter telomeres in vultures living in the northern, more anthropized area. We also found sex-specific patterns of CORTf, with females having higher levels than males. In both sexes, telomere length decreased as the density of conspecifics increased. Previous studies in these populations have shown lower survival rates in individuals who exploit more anthropized areas, and here we show a potential physiological causal link. We highlight the existence of complex effects of chronic stress associated both with living in anthropized environments and with population-related processes likely associated to the spatial distribution of resources., This research was funded by the Projects RNM-1925 and P18-RT-1321 (Junta de Andalucía), the Comunidad de Bardenas Reales de Navarra, the Projects CGL2012-32544, CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R and CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R2 (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU/FEDER), and i-link 0564 (CSIC). ACA was supported by a Post-Doc contract Programa Viçent Mut of Govern Balear, Spain (PD/039/2017) and MM by the Ramón y Cajal Program (RYC-2015-19231).

In regions with a long-standing history of grazing pressure, vegetation has co-evolved with herbivores by developing intrinsic functional dynamics. Although this type of trophic interaction has been recognised as being important for shaping how vegetation responds to climate, better knowledge about how this process occurs on the landscape scale and over a long time range is necessary. Here, we evaluated the potential roles of herbivores in modulating the response of mountainous Mediterranean vegetation to seasonal and long-term climate oscillations. To understand the relations among climate, plants and animal population, we fitted a Bayesian model to a combination of long-term (1995–2014) climate datasets, satellite greenness maps (NASA Landsat NDVI) and exotic Barbary sheep census data (breeding success and abundance of Ammotragus lervia). We also used the intrinsic mode function and Hilbert spectrum transformations to decompose NDVI time series and to evaluate their periodic oscillations. We found remarkable dissimilarities as to how climate affects the temporal oscillation of vegetation greenness between landscapes both with and without ungulates, albeit their similarities under environmental conditions. Vegetation responses to climate are particularly attenuated in landscapes with ungulates, an effect that depends on ungulate population abundance. In a world where extreme climate events are becoming frequent and intense, our results indicate that ungulates can strongly modulate how grasslands and scrublands respond to climate change. Increasing our knowledge as to how this type of trophic interaction affects vegetation responses to climate variability is of much importance for managing ungulate rewilding strategies.

In Europe, vulture recovery has been an important conservation success story (1). This success may now be jeopardized by the use of diclofenac in Europe’s pastoral landscapes. Although diclofenac had already caused a rapid and catastrophic 95% decline in Asian vulture populations (2), the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug was approved for veterinary use in Spain in 2013 (3). Although measures for the safe disposal of carcasses of livestock treated with diclofenac are supposed to prevent avian scavengers from feeding on contaminated carrion (4), a Spanish cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) was found dead,poisoned with diclofenac (5), in September 2020. European regulatory authorities should permanently ban diclofenac use in livestock before the tragedy met by Asian vultures repeats itself in Europe.

Vultures and condors are among the most threatened avian species in the world due to the impacts of human activities. Negative perceptions can contribute to these threats as some vulture species have been historical ly blamed for killing livestock. This perception of confli ct has increased in recent years, associated with a viral spread of partial and biased information through social media and despite limited empirical support for these assertions. Here, we highlight that magnifying infrequent events of livestock being injured by vultures through publically shared videos or biased news items negatively impact efforts to conserve threatened populations of avian scavengers. We encourage environmental agencies, researchers, and practitioners to evaluate the reliability, frequency, and context of reports of vulture preda tion, weighing those results against the diverse and valuable contributions of vultures to environmental health and human well-being. We also encoura ge the development of awareness campaigns and improved livestock management practices, including commonly available nonlethal deterrence strategies, if needed. These actions are urgently required to allow the development of a more effective conservation strategy for vultures worldwide.

Scavenging is key to understanding ecosystem structure and functioning, both in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Here, we compare the structure and carrion consumption efficiency of the scavenger communities occurring in terrestrial and shallow marine habitats on and around a Mediterranean island. During July 2018, we monitored the consumption of 23 fish (Sparus aurata) and 34 bird (Larus michahellis) carcasses in Grosa Island (Murcia, SE Spain), which were placed both on land and below water. We recorded the vertebrate and invertebrate species occurring at carcass sites by means of visual inspection (vertebrates and invertebrates in marine habitats and invertebrates in terrestrial habitats) and motion-triggered cameras (vertebrates in terrestrial habitats). The vertebrate scavenger community was richer in the marine environment, whereas the total and invertebrate community were richer in the terrestrial one. The scavenger community was usually well-structured (i.e., nested), with the exception of the community associated with fish carcasses on land, which were very efficiently detected and consumed by yellow-legged gulls. In contrast, gulls left conspecific carcasses almost untouched, thus allowing longer persistence of gull carcasses on land and their exploitation by a diverse insect community. Our study shows important differences in the scavenging process associated with both the environment and carcass type.

Transhumance is an extensive livestock technique that consist on the seasonal movement of herds to take advantage of natural high-quality pastures. Extensive pastoralism modulates the landscape, provide ecosystem services as well as feeding opportunities for scavengers. However, transhumance is in decline mainly due to socio-economic changes, so the availability of food for scavengers may be changing. With the aim to evaluate the remaining effect of transhumance, we explored the changes that occur in a summer pasture ecosystem according to the presence or absence of livestock. The study was located in a high plateau of pastures in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, located in the Natural Park of Sierra de Cazorla, Segura y las Villas where about 35,000 units of livestock, mainly sheep, move there to graze in summer. We evaluated the changes in the abundance of obligate and facultative scavengers by field surveys, as well as the response of local wild ungulates in presence and absence of livestock. We also evaluated the individual foraging behavior of the main scavengers by GPS monitoring of 30 adult griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) for four years. Surveys shown a positive populational response of griffon vultures in presence of livestock and an increase of GPS locations, especially noteworthy in non-breeding individuals. However, facultative scavengers and wild ungulates abundances remain unaltered throughout the year. The combination of census sampling and GPS monitoring allowed us to better understand the ecosystem dynamics. Traditional extensive livestock farming has a functional ecological response in scavengers, so current changes in this practice may affect them in future scenarios.

Species assemblages often have a non-random nested organization, which in vertebrate scavenger (carrion-consuming) assemblages is thought to be driven by facilitation in competitive environments. However, not all scavenger species play the same role in maintaining assemblage structure, as some species are obligate scavengers (i.e., vultures) and others are facultative, scavenging opportunistically. We used a database with 177 vertebrate scavenger species from 53 assemblages in 22 countries across five continents to identify which functional traits of scavenger species are key to maintaining the scavenging network structure. We used network analyses to relate ten traits hypothesized to affect assemblage structure with the “role” of each species in the scavenging assemblage in which it appeared. We characterized the role of a species in terms of both the proportion of monitored carcasses on which that species scavenged, or scavenging breadth (i.e., the species “normalized degree”), and the role of that species in the nested structure of the assemblage (i.e., the species “paired nested degree”), therefore identifying possible facilitative interactions among species. We found that species with high olfactory acuity, social foragers, and obligate scavengers had the widest scavenging breadth. We also found that social foragers had a large paired nested degree in scavenger assemblages, probably because their presence is easier to detect by other species to signal carcass occurrence. Our study highlights differences in the functional roles of scavenger species and can be used to identify key species for targeted conservation to maintain the ecological function of scavenger assemblages., ESG, ZMR, JMB and LNA were supported by Generalitat Valenciana (SEJI/2018/024, APOSTD/2019/016, CIDEGENT/2020/030 and ACIF/2019/056, respectively), JMB, JMPG and CGC by Juan de la Cierva contracts (MEC; IJCI-2017-32149, FJCI-2015-25632 and IJC2018-036642-I, respectively), ACA by the Govern de les Illes Balears (PD/039/2017) and ESG and MM by Ramón y Cajal contracts (MEC; RYC-2019-027216-I, RYC-2015-19231). EA was supported by La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program 2015. NS was partly supported by the National Science Centre in Poland (2013/08/M/NZ9/00469 and 2016/22/Z/NZ8/00). MK and KJ were supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (P4-0059). Contributions of HG, KLT, EFA, OER, TLD, and JCB were partially supported through funding from U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy under (DE-EM0004391) to the University of Georgia Research Foundation. HG was also supported by the Institute of Environmental Radioactivity at Fukushima University. ALB and JDA were partially supported by Queens College and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. JDA is currently supported by a Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2017-22783). ERB and EF were supported by the USA National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (1256065). CK completed study with support from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, The Peregrine Fund, and via Pompeo M. Maresi Memorial Fund via Princeton University. JAS and CCW were supported by the USA National Science Foundation #1255913, the American Association for University Women, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. HUW acknowledges funding from the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (P0880013). PLP was supported by the Rufford Foundation and University of Wisconsin-Madison. JB and JdT thank the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund and Mr Rodney Fuhr. Several authors were funded by funds from the MEC (CGL2012-40013-C02-01/02, CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R, CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R2, CGL2017-89905-R, RTI2018-099609-B-C21 and RTI2018-099609-B-C22) and from the Junta de Andalucía (RNM-1925). POV was supported by a research contract by the University of Lleida. EES and TMN were funded and supported by Australian Geographic, Bush Heritage Australia, Australian Academy of Sciences, Ecological Society of Australia, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Emirates Wolgan Valley One and Only Resort. EP, YA, MS and UY completed study under research permit by The Republic of Turkey Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. SAL thanks PICT (BID) 0725/2014, and IAATE. ALB and JDA would like to thank the Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve, Lyme Adirondack Forest Company, and LandVest Timberland.

Intentional poisoning is a global wildlife problem and an overlooked risk factor for public health. Managing poisoning requires unbiased and high-quality data through wildlife monitoring protocols, which are largely lacking. We herein evaluated the biases associated with current monitoring programmes of wildlife poisoning in Spain. We compared the national poisoning database for the 1990–2015 period with information obtained from a field experiment during which we used camera-traps to detect the species that consumed non-poisoned baits. Our findings suggest that the detection rate of poisoned animals is species-dependent: Several animal groups (e.g., domestic mammalian carnivores and vultures) tended to be over-represented in the poisoning national database, while others (e.g., corvids and small mammals) were underrepresented. As revealed by the GLMM analyses, the probability of a given species being overrepresented was higher for heaviest, aerial, and cryptic species. In conclusion, we found that monitoring poisoned fauna based on heterogeneous sources may produce important biases in detection rates; thus, such information should be used with caution by managers and policy-makers. Our findings may guide to future search efforts aimed to reach a more comprehensive understanding of the intentional wildlife poisoning problem., Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) BES-2016-077351, European Social Fund (ESF), Ramon y Cajal research contract from MINECO RYC-2015-19231, Juan de la Cierva research contract from MINECO IJC2019-038968-I, Generalitat Valenciana European Commission, European Commission SEJI/2018/024 APOSTD/2019/016, MINECO, European Commission CGL2015-66966C2-1-2-R CGL2017-89905-R RTI2018-099609-B-C21-C22

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Lily Pereg (1965-2019), soil scientist., Soil microorganisms maintain soil functions, playing a key role in nutrient cycling. However, human activities may alter ecological processes through, for instance, wildlife management tools, which affect environment conditions. Some management tools, such as diversionary feeding, are a source of organic matter and promote high animal densities in small areas, which could affect soil properties and nutrient cycling. This study evaluated how diversionary food inputs that aim to manage an exotic wild ungulate (Ammotragus lervia) can affect the soil potential for microbial N cycling on a Mediterranean mountain in SE Spain. We quantified the functional genes involved in N cycling present in soil exposed to diversionary feeding and compared soil characteristics from three areas: feeding station soil, contour area soil (surrounding the feeding station) and a reference soil (not influenced by supplementary feeding). Our results showed that the amount of the amoA-arch gene (from ammonia-oxidising archaea), the nifH gene (associated with N-fixation), the nirK gene (associated with denitrification) and the ureC gene (associated with ureolysis) were smaller in the feeding stations than in other areas. However, the nirS and nosZ genes (associated with denitrification) were more abundant in soil from feeding stations than in the reference soil. Our results suggest that diversionary feeding modifies microbial abundance and alters nitrogen cycle dynamics because of nutrient inputs and biochemical changes in soil., We thank the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Environment of the Murcia Region. Pascual-Rico was supported by a pre-doctoral grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU13/05460). The study was partially supported by MINECO/MICINN and ERDF (Projects “SOMOPECAR” CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R and “TRASCAR” RTI2018-099609-B-C21).

Birds striking aircrafts cause substantial economic loss world-wide and, more worryingly, human and wildlife fatalities. Designing effective measures to mitigate fatal bird strikes requires an in-depth knowledge of the characteristics of this incident type and the flight behaviours of the bird species involved. The characteristics of bird strikes involving aircraft crashes or loss of human life in Spain were studied and compared to flight patterns of birds monitored by GPS. We tracked 210 individuals of the three species that cause the most crashes and human fatalities in Spain: griffon and cinereous vultures Gyps fulvus and Aegypius monachus and white storks Ciconia ciconia. All the crashes involved general aviation aircrafts, while none were recorded in commercial aviation. Most occurred outside airport boundaries, at midday, and in the warmest months, which all correspond with the maximum flight activity of the studied species. Bird flight altitudes overlapped the legal flight altitude limit set for general aviation. Policy implications. Mitigation of fatal bird strikes should especially address the conflict between general aviation and large soaring birds. Air transportation authorities should consider modifying the flight ceiling for general aviation flights above the studied species' maximum flight altitude. Moreover, policymakers should issue pilots with recommendations regarding the dates and times of peak activity of large soaring bird species to improve flight safety., This research was funded by Project RNM-1925 (Junta de Andalucía), Comunidad de Bardenas Reales de Navarra, Projects CGL2012-32544, CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R and CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R2 (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU/FEDER) and i-link 0564 (CSIC). E.A. was supported by La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program 2015. A.C.-A. was supported by a postdoc contract from Govern Balear, Spain (PD/039/2017). Contributions by T. L. DeVault were partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under award # DE-EM0004391 to the University of Georgia Research Foundation. MW was also funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) by Germany's Excellence Strategy – EXC 2117 – 422037984.

Scavenging is widespread among vertebrates, being very important for maintaining certain ecosystem functions. Despite this, the scavenger communities remain poorly known in some biomes, especially in the Neotropics. Our main objective was to describe for the first time the scavenger community and identify the factors affecting scavenging efficiency in the Brazilian Cerrado. We analyzed the effects of vegetation cover, time of carcass placement and carcass weight, on scavenger species richness, individual abundances, carcass detection and consumption times, and carcass consumption rate. We monitored 11 large and 45 small carcasses using automatic cameras. We documented a total of 19 vertebrate scavenging species, four species of vultures and 15 facultative scavengers. We found that carcass size was the most important factor affecting the scavenger assemblage and consumption patterns. Large carcasses were dominated by vultures, whereas small carcasses were consumed mainly by facultative scavengers. We also found differences between large and small carcasses in all carcass consumption variables except for detection time. However, we did not find an effect of vegetation cover or time of carcass placement on scavenging patterns. The negligible role of mammals and non-raptor birds in large carcasses is also noteworthy, probably due to the consumption and foraging efficiency of the vultures, and the more frugivorous habits of the mesocarnivores. Our results show a highly diverse and efficient scavenging vertebrate community in the Brazilian Cerrado, and the need to preserve them in the face of the significant habitat transformations suffered by this biodiversity hotspot. LNA, ZMR, and ESG were supported by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (ACIF/2019/056, APOSTD/2019/016, SEJI/2018/024, respectively) and JASZ by funds from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Fund (RTI2018-099609-B-C21). ESG was also funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC-2019-027216-I).

Identifying the most appropriate bait for a camera trap study is an important step in sampling design, as some baits may perform better than others in attracting different animal species. In this study, we compare the vertebrate communities detected using five different widely used baits (i.e., fruit, sardines, valerian extract, a mix of sweet fruits and peanut butter, and a combination of valerian extract and sardines). We assess their performance and characterize the species best detected by each bait in the diverse Cerrado biome. We identified a total of 46 species of vertebrates: 15 mammals, 4 reptiles, and 27 birds. The baits differed in their estimates of community composition, richness, and abundance. In general, valerian extract detected fewer individuals and species than any of the other baits. Fruits detected the largest number of bird species. Sardines detected the largest number of species overall and were the best bait for felines and reptiles. Baits of an animal origin performed similarly to those of a plant origin. Our study shows that baits should be selected based on the objective of the study.

Sexual segregation is widely reported among sexually dimorphic species and generally attributed to intraspecific competition. Prey diversity and human activities can reinforce niche segregation by increasing resource heterogeneity. Here, we explored trophic and spatial sexual segregation in the only avian scavenger that exhibits pronounced sexual size dimorphism (up to 50% difference in body mass) and a highly despotic social system, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus). We predicted that larger and dominant males would exclude smaller and subordinate females from high-quality resources, leading to sexual segregation particularly in human-dominated landscapes showing increased prey diversity. We compared resource use between females and males across six sites in Argentina featuring a range of prey diversity via stable isotopes analysis of molted feathers (n = 141 individuals). We then focused on two sites featuring contrasting levels of prey diversity and quantified assimilated diet via stable isotopes and space use via GPS monitoring (n = 23 and 12 tagged individuals). We found no clear differences in isotopic niche space, individual variation in isotopic signature, or assimilated diet between females and males. However, there were differences in foraging locations between sexes, with females apparently using areas of fewer food resources more frequently than males. Local conditions defined the dynamics of fine-scale sexual differences in foraging sites; yet, unpredictable and ephemeral carrion resources likely prevent segregation by sexes at the landscape scale. Our study highlights complex dynamics of sexual segregation in vultures and the relevancy of analyses under multiple spatial-temporal scales to explore segregation in social species.

Resultados En comparación con las cifras basales: a) en la muestra total los parámetros de tiempo PNN50 y RMSSD aumentaron sus valores de una manera significativa; respecto a las variables de frecuencia HF disminuyó de forma no significativa, LF y LF/HF presentaron un aumento no significativo; b) en el grupo A con predominio parasimpático las variables de tiempo PNN50 y RMSSD incrementaron sus valores de una manera constante pero no significativa; respecto a las variables de frecuencia, HF disminuyó, LF y LF/HF aumentaron todos de forma significativa; c) en el grupo B con predominio de actividad simpática las variables de tiempo PNN50 y RMSSD aumentaron sus valores de una manera constante, pero no significativa; respecto a las variables de frecuencia, HF aumentó, LF y LF/HF disminuyeron de forma no significativa. Conclusión La aplicación del tratamiento en GS2 y PS originó en el grupo total un aumento constante pero no significativo en los valores del dominio de tiempo. En el grupo A con predominio parasimpático los valores del dominio de frecuencia se modificaron en el sentido de disminuir dicho predominio. En el grupo B con predominio simpático los valores del dominio de frecuencia se modificaron en el sentido de disminuir dicho predominio simpático. Palabras clave: sistema nervioso autónomo, Glándula Salival 2, Plexo Solar, auriculopuntura, variabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca. El punto Glándula Salival 2 (GS2) se indica en trastornos de la salivación; el punto Plexo Solar (PS) se utiliza en trastornos gastrointestinales y como regulador neurovegetativo. La variabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca (VFC) en sus parámetros del dominio de tiempo y frecuencia se emplean para conocer el estado de equilibrio de la función simpática y parasimpática del SNA. Se ha informado que el efecto de la acupuntura sobre la fisiología y fisiopatología cardiovascular puede depender del estado basal de las variables cardiovasculares. Objetivo Observar los cambios de la VFC en sus parámetros de dominio de tiempo y frecuencia en sujetos sanos antes y después de la aplicación de auriculopuntura en los puntos GS2 y PS; comparando el efecto del tratamiento con auriculopuntura en una muestra global y una división de esta en dos grupos: uno (A) con predominio de actividad parasimpática y otro (B) con predominio de actividad simpática. Población y métodos Se aplicó auriculopuntura en los puntos GS2 y PS en 26 sujetos clínicamente sanos de cualquiera de los dos sexos. Antes e inmediatamente después de la auriculopuntura se hicieron registros electrocardiográficos y se obtuvieron los parámetros de dominio de frecuencia y tiempo de la VFC. Se compararon los valores pre y posterior al tratamiento con auriculopuntura entre la muestra total y dos grupos derivados de esta: grupo A con predominio de actividad parasimpática y grupo B con predominio de actividad simpática.

Understanding the distribution of biodiversity across the Earth is one of the most challenging questions in biology. Much research has been directed at explaining the species latitudinal pattern showing that communities are richer in tropical areas; however, despite decades of research, a general consensus has not yet emerged. In addition, global biodiversity patterns are being rapidly altered by human activities. Here, we aim to describe large-scale patterns of species richness and diversity in terrestrial vertebrate scavenger (carrion-consuming) assemblages, which provide key ecosystem functions and services. We used a worldwide dataset comprising 43 sites, where vertebrate scavenger assemblages were identified using 2,485 carcasses monitored between 1991 and 2018. First, we evaluated how scavenger richness (number of species) and diversity (Shannon diversity index) varied among seasons (cold vs. warm, wet vs. dry). Then, we studied the potential effects of human impact and a set of macroecological variables related to climatic conditions on the scavenger assemblages. Vertebrate scavenger richness ranged from species-poor to species rich assemblages (4–30 species). Both scavenger richness and diversity also showed some seasonal variation. However, in general, climatic variables did not drive latitudinal patterns, as scavenger richness and diversity were not affected by temperature or rainfall. Rainfall seasonality slightly increased the number of species in the community, but its effect was weak. Instead, the human impact index included in our study was the main predictor of scavenger richness. Scavenger assemblages in highly human-impacted areas sustained the smallest number of scavenger species, suggesting human activity may be overriding other macroecological processes in shaping scavenger communities. Our results highlight the effect of human impact at a global scale. As species-rich assemblages tend to be more functional, we warn about possible reductions in ecosystem functions and the services provided by scavengers in human-dominated landscapes in the Anthropocene., SG, JMPG, and ACA were supported by Juan de la Cierva contracts (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, MEC; IJCI‐2015‐24947, FJCI‐2015‐25632, and IJCI‐2014‐20744, respectively). ESG was also supported by Generalitat Valenciana (SEJI/2018/024), ACA by the Govern de les Illes Balears (PD/039/2017), and MM by a Ramón y Cajal contract (MEC; RYC‐2015‐19231). EA was supported by La Caixa‐Severo Ochoa International PhD Program 2015. NS was partly supported by the National Science Centre in Poland (2013/08/M/NZ9/00469). SAL thanks PICT (BID) 0725/2014. MK and KJ were supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (P4‐0059). Contributions of KT and JCB were partially supported through funding from U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy under (DE‐EM0004391) to the University of Georgia Research Foundation. EB and EF were supported by the USA National Science Foundation. CK completed study under research permit NCST/5/002/R/448 with support from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, The Peregrine Fund, and via Pompeo M. Maresi Memorial Fund via Princeton University. JAS and CCW were supported by the USA National Science Foundation #1255913 and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Several authors were funded by funds from the MEC (CGL2012‐40013‐C02‐01/02, CGL2015‐66966‐C2‐1‐R and CGL2017‐89905‐R) and from the Junta de Andalucía (RNM‐1925).

Mobile species face an array of human threats across political boundaries, and their protection relies on identifying and prioritizing areas for conservation. Large avian scavengers are one of the widest ranging and most threatened species globally, and efforts to preserve them have come to the forefront of wildlife management. Vultures require access to functionally distinct habitats for roosting, foraging and flying, yet behavior-specific habitat modelling has been overlooked in management planning. Herein, we developed a spatial prioritization model for the threatened Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) that integrates activity-specific habitat selection across heterogeneous landscapes. We tracked 35 individuals in two regions of Argentina and Chile differing in topography and vegetation composition, and analyzed how landscape covariates influence where condors roost, forage and fly, while accounting for individual differences. We found that individuals responded differently to environmental covariates during each behavior, and identified regional differences for some covariates dependent on behavioral state. We also found important individual differences in habitat selection between birds inhabiting each region. We combined these results into an ensemble spatial prioritization model, and found that most areas of high priority for Andean condor conservation are not under protection. The strategic implementation of conservation measures in these priority areas could have important implications for the recovery of this species. Our study illustrates the value of integrating behavioral- and individual-specific habitat analyses into spatial conservation planning, and points to opportunities for effective management of threatened vultures., Financial support was provided by the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology - University of Wisconsin-Madison, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, The Rufford Foundation, Mrs. Patricia Manigault, Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Técnica (PICT-BID 0725/2014, Argentina), The Eppley Foundation for Research and Fundación BBVA (project BIOCON-08-126).

Supplementary material (available online as Appendix ecog- 05083 at ). Appendix 1–2., All data necessary to reproduce the analyses presented in this study are included in the Supplementary material Appendix 1 and available from Figshare Digital Repository: (SebastiánGonzález et al. 2020)., The organization of ecological assemblages has important implications for ecosystem functioning, but little is known about how scavenger communities organize at the global scale. Here, we test four hypotheses on the factors affecting the network structure of terrestrial vertebrate scavenger assemblages and its implications on ecosystem functioning. We expect scavenger assemblages to be more nested (i.e. structured): 1) in species‐rich and productive regions, as nestedness has been linked to high competition for carrion resources, and 2) regions with low human impact, because the most efficient carrion consumers that promote nestedness are large vertebrate scavengers, which are especially sensitive to human persecution. 3) We also expect climatic conditions to affect assemblage structure, because some scavenger assemblages have been shown to be more nested in colder months. Finally, 4) we expect more organized assemblages to be more efficient in the consumption of the resource. We first analyzed the relationship between the nestedness of the scavenger assemblages and climatic variables (i.e. temperature, precipitation, temperature variability and precipitation variability), ecosystem productivity and biomass (i.e. NDVI) and degree of human impact (i.e. human footprint) using 53 study sites in 22 countries across five continents. Then, we related structure (i.e. nestedness) with its function (i.e. carrion consumption rate). We found a more nested structure for scavenger assemblages in regions with higher NDVI values and lower human footprint. Moreover, more organized assemblages were more efficient in the consumption of carrion. However, our results did not support the prediction that the structure of the scavenger assemblages is directly related to climate. Our findings suggest that the nested structure of vertebrate scavenger assemblages affects its functionality and is driven by anthropogenic disturbance and ecosystem productivity worldwide. Disarray of scavenger assemblage structure by anthropogenic disturbance may lead to decreases in functionality of the terrestrial ecosystems via loss of key species and trophic facilitation processes., Juan de la Cierva contracts (Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, MEC) IJCI-2015-24947 IJCI-2017-32149 FJCI-2015-25632, Generalitat Valenciana SEJI/2018/024 ACIF/2019/056, Govern de les Illes Balears PD/039/2017, Spanish Government RYC-2015-19231, La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program 2015, European Social Fund (ESF) APOSTD/2019/016, National Science Centre in Poland 2013/08/M/NZ9/00469 2016/22/Z/NZ8/00, ANPCyT (BID) 0725/2014, Slovenian Research Agency - Slovenia P4-0059, EU Life DinAlp Bear LIFE13 NAT/SI/000550, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) DE-EM0004391, United States Department of Energy (DOE) DE-EM0004391, Inst. of Environmental Radioactivity at Fukushima Univ., Queens College at the City Univ. of New York, Graduate Center at the City Univ. of New York, Ramón y Cajal contract - Spanish Ministry of Science RYC-2017-22783, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, European Social Fund (ESF), USA National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship 1256065, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, The Peregrine Fund, and via Pompeo M. Maresi Memorial Fund via Princeton Univ., National Science Foundation (NSF) 1255913, American Association for Univ. Women, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, California Dept of Fish and Wildlife P0880013, Rufford Foundation, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Percy Sladen Memorial Fund, Spanish Government CGL201240013-C02-01/02 CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R CGL2015-66966C2-1-R2 CGL2017-89905-R RTI2018-099609-B-C22, Junta de Andalucía RNM-1925, Univ. of Lleida, Australian Geographic, Bush Heritage Australia, Australian Academy of Sciences, Ecological Society of Australia, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Emirates Wolgan Valley One and Only Resort

[EN]: Vultures are one of the most threatened bird groups globally. Although many of the threats faced by vultures have been identified, the impact of human activities on the social life of vultures has received little attention. In this paper, we emphasize the need to integrate vulture sociality into conservation practice. First, we summarize current knowledge on vulture social behavior, and the evolutionary and ecological roots of their breeding systems. We describe the existence of contrasting gradients in social foraging strategies and hierarchical social structures among colonial and territorial breeders associated with species (and population) reliance on carrion differing in size and predictability. We also highlight the potential role of vulture gatherings in maintaining population-level social structures and for mate-finding given high mate-selectivity. Next, based on this social framework, we discuss the impact of human activities on social foraging, territory structures, resource partitioning processes, and mating dynamics. However, little is known about how disruptions of social habits may have contributed to vulture population declines and/or may impede their recovery. Lastly, we provide directions for future research on vulture socio-ecology that may improve current conservation efforts. We encourage researchers and wildlife managers to pay more attention to natural carrion diversity underlying vulture social system diversity, especially when implementing supplementary feeding programs, and to consider the complex mating and settlement dynamics in reintroduction programs. Overall, we stress that understanding the complex social life of vultures is critical to harmonize their conservation with anthropogenic activities., [ES]: Los buitres constituyen uno de los grupos de aves más amenazados a nivel global. Aunque muchas de las amenazas a las que se enfrentan han sido identificadas, el impacto de las actividades humanas en la vida social de los buitres ha recibido muy poca atención. En esta revisión, hacemos hincapié en la necesidad de integrar los aspectos sociales de los buitres en la práctica de la conservación. Primero, sintetizamos el conocimiento actual sobre el comportamiento social de los buitres, así como en las raíces evolutivas y ecológicas de sus sistemas reproductivos. Describimos los gradientes existentes en las estrategias de forrajeo social y las estructuras sociales jerárquicas entre reproductores coloniales y territoriales, los cuales se relacionan con la dependencia de las distintas especies (y poblaciones) hacia carroñas de distinto tamaño y predictibilidad. También resaltamos el papel potencial de los agrupamientos de buitres en el mantenimiento de las estructuras sociales a nivel de población, además de en el emparejamiento, dado el alto grado de selectividad a la hora de buscar pareja. Basándonos en este marco social, discutimos el impacto de las actividades humanas en la búsqueda social de alimento, las estructuras de los territorios, los procesos de segregación de los recursos y la dinámica de los emparejamientos, si bien se conoce muy poco sobre cómo las perturbaciones de los hábitos sociales pueden haber contribuido al declive de las poblaciones de buitres o impedir su recuperación. Finalmente, aportamos ideas para estudios futuros sobre la socioecología de los buitres que podrían ayudar maximizar el rendimiento de los actuales esfuerzos de conservación. Animamos a los investigadores y gestores del medio natural a prestar más atención a potenciar la diversidad del recurso carroña, sobre la que se asienta la diversidad de los sistemas sociales de los buitres, especialmente a la hora de implementar programas de alimentación suplementaria. Además, los programas de reintroducción deberían considerar las complejas dinámicas de emparejamiento y asentamiento. En general, nuestra revisión destaca la importancia de entender mejor la complejidad de la vida social de los buitres para así armonizar su conservación con las actividades humanas., T.V.O. received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. “SocForVul 659008”. M.M. was supported by a Ramón y Cajal research contract from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain) (MINECO, RYC-2015-19231).

12 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02265-x, Exploitative competition implies an indirect interaction in which a resource exploited by one species is not available for another; e.g., when species share diet or habitat. It plays a key role in community structure and dynamics. Here we evaluated the niche overlap between the exotic aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) and the native Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica) where the species coexist in the Iberian Peninsula, along two main dimensions, the trophic niche and the environmental niche. Then we assessed the spatial segregation of the species. We expected that if a niche overlap was high, competition could drive spatial segregation to allow co-existence. We analyzed their trophic niche overlap by using the content of stable isotopes δN and δC in the hair of both species. To establish environmental niche competition, we compared the similarity in their habitat, estimated by environmental niche models based on the fine-scale presence records of each species obtained from field surveys. To test if spatial segregation occurred, we analyzed both species’ co-occurrence. Our results indicated that both species shared a similar trophic niche measured by stable isotopes, both species showed a similar distribution of suitable areas, and that both species’ environmental niches were more similar than expected. Finally, a negative spatial association was found between the aoudad and Iberian ibex. These results reveal that both species are ecologically similar and suggest that fine-scale spatial segregation might have favoured their co-existence in semiarid Mediterranean mountains. Our results show that integrating information on trophic and environmental niche overlap with fine scale spatial distribution might improve the study of competitive interactions among wild ungulates, RPR was supported by a pre-doctoral grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU13/05460). JN was funded by the Spanish National Program Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2015-17809). The study was partially supported by MICINM and ERDF (project "TRASCAR” RTI2018-099609-B-C21), With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

Events of non-natural mortality in human-dominated landscapes are especially challenging for populations of large vertebrates with K strategies. Among birds, vultures are one of the most threatened groups experiencing sharp population declines due to non-natural mortality. Factors causing non-natural mortality are usually studied separately. However, the potential use of an integrated index able to predict large-scale mortality risks of avian scavengers could be especially useful for planning conservation strategies. Here, we used the Human Footprint index to examine the impact of landscape anthropization on the survival rates of 66 GPS-tagged adult Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) in two Spanish regions. Foraging in more anthropized areas resulted in a significantly higher individual mortality risk mainly due to collisions with vehicles, poisonings, electrocutions and fatalities with wind turbines. Mean yearly survival rates were estimated at 0.817 ± 0.043 SE and 0.968 ± 0.018 SE for individuals from the more and less anthropized regions, respectively. Additional research should investigate whether some vulture populations could be acting as sinks unnoticed due to metapopulation dynamics. From a broader point of view, our study shows that a straightforward Human Footprint was a useful index to predict the survival of top scavengers and can be highly applicable to planning large-scale conservation measures., This research was funded by the Project RNM-1925 (Junta de Andalucía), the Project CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU/ERDF) and the Project RTI2018-099609-B-C21 (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU/ERDF). “Roads Less Travelled” project (DiversEarth, Trashumancia y Naturaleza and Yolda Initiative) also contributed to this research. EA was supported by La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program 2015. ASA and ACA by a post-doctoral contract Viçent Mut (PD/003/2016 and PD/039/2017, respectiely) co-funded by the Govern Balear and European Social Funds. ASA was also supported by a Spanish Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2017-22796) funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, the Agencia Estatal de Investigación and the European Social Found. JMPG was supported by a Juan de la Cierva research contract (FJCI-2015-25632).

The Mediterranean biome has seen a great decline in its rural population. This trend has been followed by an abandonment of agricultural and livestock practices, which has provided an opportunity for rewilding to take place. Rewilding processes can modify the availability of carrion resources for avian obligate scavengers and reduce accessible open areas due to the increase of shrub and forest. We examined how changes in landscape configuration in the past five decades (1956–2011) mediate the foraging behaviour of griffon vultures. Particularly, we examined whether vultures use those areas under natural succession and with a high availability of wild ungulate carcasses. We used GPS information yielded by 30 adult griffon vultures exploiting large regions of southern Spain. We determined (a) habitat use considering land uses and food availability and (b) how tracked individuals responded to areas in different stages of rewilding. Our results showed that vultures preferentially used Mediterranean scrublands, woodlands and the agroforest Mediterranean ecosystem called dehesa, as well as areas with high food resources, namely wild ungulates in winter and a mixture of wild ungulates and livestock in summer. Due to a higher abundance of wild ungulates, vultures forage preferentially in areas with low levels of rewilding, either for being in the first stages of natural succession or for not having experienced further rewilding since the middle of the last century. Rewilding processes are expected to continue in the future affecting the scavenger guild structure and function deeply. Improved management will be essential to preserve ecological processes, ecosystem services and populations of endangered species

Protected areas are central to the conservation of biodiversity across the globe. However, their performance, especially in relation to highly mobile species, is largely dependent on the socio-ecological characteristics of the landscape that surrounds them. Here, we assess the patterns of avian scavenger distribution, including both obligate (i.e., vultures) and facultative (corvids and other raptors) scavenger species, inside and outside of protected areas. We contrast the situation between an African area, which has protected areas surrounded by mostly subsistence stockbreeding (KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa) and a European area, which has protected areas surrounded by commercial farming (Ebro Valley, Spain). We found large differences between the two areas. In the South African area, the richness and abundance of vultures, but not of facultative scavengers, were higher inside than outside of protected areas; as a result, the richness and abundance of vultures were negatively related to the distance to the nearest protected area in South Africa. In contrast, the richness and abundance of vultures in the Spanish area were similar inside and outside of protected areas. We obtained similar results when focusing solely on presence and abundance of Gyps vultures. The contrasting effects of protected areas in the distribution of avian scavengers, especially vultures, in the studied areas may be due to differences in agro-systems and socio-economical models that lead to differential availability of ungulate carcasses. We suggest that carrion shortage in the subsistence farming systems in the South African area, whereby domestic livestock carcasses are generally used by householders and thus rarely become available to vultures, should be considered alongside poisoning prevention to help conserve African vulture populations., MM was supported by postdoctoral grants from the Spanish Ministry of Education (Plan Nacional de I+D+i 2008–2011), the Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R+D+I (SEV-2012-0262) and the Ramón y Cajal Program (RYC-2015-19231). ACA was supported by a contract Juan de la Cierva Incorporación (IJCI-2014-20744) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and a postdoctoral contract Programa Viçent Mut of Govern Balear, Spain (PD/039/2017). The study was partly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through projects CGL2012-40013-C02-02, CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R and CGL2017-89905-R, and ERDF funds.

The abandonment of traditional livestock farming systems in Mediterranean countries is triggering a large-scale habitat transformation, which, in general, consists of the replacement of open grazing areas by woodlands through non-managed regeneration. As a consequence, wild ungulates are occupying rapidly the empty niche left by domestic ungulates. Both types of ungulates represent the main trophic resource for large vertebrate scavengers. However, a comparison of how vertebrate scavengers consume ungulate carcasses in different habitats with different ungulate species composition is lacking. This knowledge is essential to forecast the possible consequences of the current farmland abandonment on scavenger species. Here, we compared the scavenging patterns of 24 wild and 24 domestic ungulate carcasses in a mountainous region of southern Spain monitored through camera trapping. Our results show that carcasses of domestic ungulates, which concentrate in large numbers in open pasturelands, were detected and consumed earlier than those of wild ungulate carcasses, which frequently occur in much lower densities at more heterogenous habitats such as shrublands and forest. Richness and abundance of scavengers were also higher at domestic ungulate carcasses in open habitats. Vultures, mainly griffons (Gyps fulvus), consumed most of the carcasses, although mammalian facultative scavengers, mainly wild boar (Sus scrofa) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes), also contributed importantly to the consumption of wild ungulate carcasses in areas with higher vegetation cover. Our findings evidence that the abandonment of traditional grazing may entail consequences for the scavenger community, which should be considered by ecologists and wildlife managers., The research was funded by the Project RNM-1925 (Junta de Andalucía), Project CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R and project RTI2018-099609-B-C21 (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU/ERDF). EA was supported by La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program 2015, ZMR by a pre-doctoral grant from the MECD (FPU12/00823), MM by the Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R + D + I (SEV-2012-0262) and by a research contract Ramón y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231), and ACA by a Post-Doctoral Juan de la Cierva Incorporación IJCI-2014-20744 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and a Post-Doctoral contract (PD/039/2017) Vicepresidencia y Consejería de Innovación, Investigación y Turismo del Govern de les Illes Balears. “Roads Less Travelled” project (DiversEarth, Trashumancia y Naturaleza and Yolda Initiative) also contributed to this research.

Understanding the mechanisms that organize biodiversity is central in ecology and conservation. Beta diversity links local (alfa) and regional (gamma) diversity, giving insight into how communities organize spatially. Metacommunity ecology provides the framework to interpret regional and local processes interacting to shape communities. However, the lack of metacommunity studies for large vertebrates may limit the understanding and compromise the preservation of ecosystem functions and services. We aim to understand the mechanisms underlying differences in species composition among vertebrate scavenger communities ‒ which provide key ecosystem functions, e.g. carrion consumption ‒ within a metacommunity context. We obtained species richness and abundances at scavenger communities consuming ungulate carcasses monitored through motion‐triggered remote cameras in seven terrestrial ecosystems in Spain. We partitioned beta diversity to decompose incidence‐based (species presence/absence) and abundance‐based dissimilarities into their components (turnover/balanced variation and nestedness/abundance gradient, respectively). We identified the environmental factors explaining the observed patterns. The vertebrate scavenger metacommunity consisted of 3101 individuals from 30 species. Changes in composition among ecosystems were mostly (> 84%) due to species or individual replacement (i.e. turnover or balanced variation). Species or individual loss/gain (i.e. nestedness or abundance gradient) accounted for 13–16% of these changes. Mean carcass weight, elevation and habitat diversity were the main factors explaining species/individual replacement. Our findings suggest that local processes such as species‐sorting through habitat heterogeneity would dominate scavenger metacommunity dynamics together with stochastic forces (i.e. related to carrion unpredictability and scavenging being a widespread strategy among vertebrates). The presence of structured patterns (i.e. nestedness) in beta diversity could reflect a role of deterministic processes: mass‐effects through dispersal and defaunation. Vultures are long‐distance foragers and functionally dominant species, which would connect local assemblages within the metacommunity, supporting scavenger diversity and functions across space. These results highlight the importance of managing vertebrate scavenger assemblages within a metacommunity context., PMT was funded by Portuguese FCT (SFRH/BPD/112437/2015). The study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (projects CGL2012–40013‐bib2‐01/02, CGL2015–66966‐C2‐1‐2‐R) and EU FEDER funds. Data collection in Doñana was supported by the project 23/2007 ICTS‐RBD ‘Access to Unique Technological and Scientific Infrastructure Programme’. NS was partially supported by the National Science Center in Poland (DEC‐2013/08/M/NZ9/00469).

Wild medium-sized ungulate populations are recovering in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere due to abandonment of rural areas but also due to the translocation of native and exotic ungulates for game hunting. To assess the role of landscape connectivity, habitat suitability and interspecific interactions driving the simultaneous range expansion of two wild ungulates, one native (Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica) and one exotic species (Barbary sheep, Ammotragus lervia), in southeastern Spain. We reconstructed the expansion process of the Iberian ibex and the Barbary sheep in southeastern Spain for the period 1975–2009 by means of Local Ecological Knowledge and tested the role of habitat suitability, landscape connectivity and interspecific competition during the expansion process by means of GLMM. Habitat suitability was assessed by means of ecological niche modeling and landscape connectivity was represented by competing resistance surface dispersal models. Our results show that at the landscape scale both species are ecologically very similar, although the Iberian ibex is more specialized in less transformed landscapes. Landscape connectivity was the main driver of the colonization process, followed by habitat suitability. From a connectivity point of view, both species showed a coarse perception of the landscape, recognizing three main use types: natural, agricultural and human. Major linear infrastructures do not affect the colonization process. Our colonization models also suggest a negative interaction of the Iberian ibex on the Barbary sheep. The exotic Barbary sheep and the native Iberian ibex are two ungulate species very similar ecologically whose simultaneous expansion process in southeastern Spain are driven by landscape connectivity followed by habitat suitability. In addition, the Iberian ibex affects negatively the colonization ability of the Barbary sheep. Overall, our work deepens our understanding on two pressing issues simultaneously: (i) controls of the range expansion of ungulates at the landscape scale and (ii) how a native and an introduced species interact during their expansion process.

Lead is highly toxic for wildlife, with pernicious consequences especially in long-lived predators. The causes of lead ammunition ingestion in Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata) and its effects on breeding success were studied in one of the most important populations of this endangered species in Europe. Regurgitated pellets belonging to different pairs from 2004 to 2014 were analyzed, both in the breeding (1363 pellets from 12 territories) and non-breeding (172 pellets from 9 territories) seasons. From these territories, 57 molted feathers to study lead contamination were analyzed, and breeding success was monitored for 41 breeding attempts. The occurrence of lead shots in pellets was detected using X-ray photographs. Pellets were also used to describe eagle diet. Lead shots in pellets were present in 83.3% of the territories. The frequency of occurrence of lead shots in pellets (2.81% in spring and 1.31% in autumn) was primarily related to the consumption of red-legged partridge in the breeding season (when partridges are hunted from blinds using calling lures), and secondarily to rabbit consumption in the non-breeding season (coinciding with the main hunting season). Thus, our results indicate that injured small-game were the main source of lead contamination in the Bonelli's eagle. For the first time for a raptor species, a positive relationship between the frequency of occurrence of lead shots in pellets and lead concentration in eagles' feathers has been documented. Lead concentration in feathers (mean ± SD: 816 ± 426 μg kg− 1, with no sex-related differences) was high for a species that rarely eats carrion or aquatic birds (the main prey-related lead source for raptors). This had negative effects on breeding success, which could jeopardize Bonelli's eagles in other European populations that are sustained by juvenile dispersal from the study population. Our work shows that some game modalities pose a potential threat to endangered raptors.