Selecting indicator species of infrastructure impacts using network analysis and biological traits: Bird electrocution and power lines

Autor(es)

Perez-Garcia, Juan M. ^[1] ; Sebastian-Gonzalez, Esther ^[2] ; Botella, Francisco ^[1] ; Sanchez-Zapata, Jose A. ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Miguel Hernandez, Dept Appl Biol, Alicante 03202 - Spain

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Ecol, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS; v. 60, p. 428-433, JAN 2016.
• Citações Web of Science: 11

Resumo

The use of indicator species may save a considerable amount of resources when the attributes of other species or of the ecological process of interest are difficult or costly to measure directly. However, identifying indicator species is not easy and there is a need for rigorous criteria and methods for their selection. In this study, we test a new approach to select indicator species of high mortality-risk of electrocution in power pylons comparing methods based on biological criteria and network analysis. For this purpose, we studied 335 mortality records of 19 bird species electrocuted between 1996 and 2013 in a Special Protected Area located in South-eastern Spain. Our results showed that both species-biology based methods and network analyses provided similar results, indicating that the eagle owl can be considered the best mortality indicator of the bird community on power pylons for the study area. The use of network analysis to select indicator species can be very useful to optimize the monitoring of infrastructure impacts, especially on complex or understudied communities because it does not require detailed information on the biology of the species. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 13/02819-7 - Características biológicas e padrões de interação em uma rede de dispersão de sementes: inferindo as consequências de defaunação
• Beneficiário: Esther Sebastián González
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Pós-Doutorado