Conserving threatened populations and ecological processes through the management of game species: wild ungulates and large scavengers in Andalusia
Conservando poblaciones amenazadas y procesos ecológicos a través de la gestión de especies cinegéticas: ungulados silvestres y grandes carroñeros en Andalucía
Principal investigator
José Antonio Donázar
Financial institution
JA Cons Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa
Fecha de inicio
Fecha de fin
Code
P12-RNM-1925
Department
Conservation Biology and Global Change
Brief description
Los ungulados silvestres han protagonizado un espectacular proceso de recuperación en Europa a lo largo de las últimas décadas. Este proceso ha supuesto un incremento tanto en el tamaño de sus poblaciones como en la extensión de su área de distribución. De este modo vuelven a ser una pieza fundamental en el funcionamiento de los ecosistemas y también un importante recurso socioeconómico. Andalucía acoge importantes poblaciones de ungulados silvestres autóctonos e introducidos y su gestión cinegética es un elemento dinamizador de las economías rurales y una fuente de recursos tróficos para las comunidades de vertebrados carroñeros buena parte de los cuales son especies amenazadas. De hecho, el binomio ungulados-carroñeros proporciona un importante servicio ecosistémico que apenas ha sido objeto de estudio. El presente proyecto pretende abordar las interacciones entre la biología de la conservación y la gestión cinegética. Con este objetivo general se pretenden analiza los factores que determinan la estructura y el funcionamiento de las redes tróficas de carroñeros asociadas a la caza mayor, los patrones de movimiento de los consumidores de recursos que presentan distintos grados de predictibilidad espacial y temporal, la capacidad del sistema para mantener poblaciones viables de aves carroñeras y, por último, evaluar algunos de los riesgos emergentes asociados al consumo de carroñas de caza mayor como es el caso de la intoxicación por plomo.
Wild ungulates have staged a spectacular recovery process in Europe over the last decades. This process has led to an increase in both the population size and the extent of its range. Thus again they become a key role in the functioning of ecosystems being also an important socioeconomic resource. Andalusia hosts important populations of native and introduced wild ungulates and game management is a dynamic element of rural economies and a source of food resources for communities of vertebrate scavengers many of which are endangered species. In fact, the binomial ungulates-scavengers provide an important ecosystem service that has hardly been studied. This project aims to address the interactions between conservation biology and game management. With this overall objective is intended to analyze the factors that determine the structure and functioning of food webs associated scavengers to the big game, the movement patterns of resource consumers that have different spatial and temporal predictability, the capacity of the system to maintain viable populations of carrion birds and, finally, to evaluate some of the emerging risks associated with consumption of carcasses of large game such as lead poisoning.
Wild ungulates have staged a spectacular recovery process in Europe over the last decades. This process has led to an increase in both the population size and the extent of its range. Thus again they become a key role in the functioning of ecosystems being also an important socioeconomic resource. Andalusia hosts important populations of native and introduced wild ungulates and game management is a dynamic element of rural economies and a source of food resources for communities of vertebrate scavengers many of which are endangered species. In fact, the binomial ungulates-scavengers provide an important ecosystem service that has hardly been studied. This project aims to address the interactions between conservation biology and game management. With this overall objective is intended to analyze the factors that determine the structure and functioning of food webs associated scavengers to the big game, the movement patterns of resource consumers that have different spatial and temporal predictability, the capacity of the system to maintain viable populations of carrion birds and, finally, to evaluate some of the emerging risks associated with consumption of carcasses of large game such as lead poisoning.