Contrasting occurrence patterns in the European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) in managed and unmanaged hunting forest estates: does human presence matter?

Assessing the importance of managed hunting estates is a focal step in knowing whether they affect game and non-game species. Microhabitat and human presence were measured in managed and unmanaged hunting estates in the Mamora forest to identify the best predictors of the vulnerable European turtle dove (TD) occurrence (presence/absence) by means of generalized linear mixed models (GLMM). The results reveal that TD occurrence increases significantly close to paved roads and to houses of shepherds with enclosures and far away from rural agglomerations in managed hunting estates, whereas, in unmanaged hunting estates, it increases far from paved roads and close to rural agglomerations and houses of shepherds with enclosures. Furthermore, whatever the type of hunting forest estate, the TD occurrence increases with an increasing cover of trees and remoteness from cereal crops. In the Mamora forest, the effect of hunting estate type on TD occurrence is not that strong to be noticeable in the managed hunting estates (apparent positive effect on TD occurrence). However, human presence turns out to be beneficial for TD in unmanaged hunting estates. It is recommended to test the geographical generality of our results using the same analytical approach in other managed and unmanaged hunting estates for both game and non-game species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]