Human disturbance and conspecifics influence display site selection by Great Bustards Otis tarda

Robert J. Burnside, Zsolt S. Végvári, Richard James, Sandor Konyhás, Gabor Kovács, Tamas Szekely

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Understanding habitat selection and assessing habitat quality have an important role in habitat management and prioritisation of areas for protection. However, interpretations of habitat selection and habitat quality can be confounded by social effects such as conspecific attraction. Using 7 years’ data from a well monitored Great Bustard Otis tarda population in Central Europe, we investigated the roles of human disturbance and social cues in display site selection of male Great Bustards Otis tarda. The spatial distribution of displaying males was best predicted by human disturbance. In addition, the number of males attending display sites was strongly correlated to the number of females present and not with disturbance. This suggests that abundance could be a misleading metric for habitat quality in social species. Our results highlight the roles of disturbance and social cues in male habitat choice, and suggest that social factors need to be taken into consideration for management of endangered populations.
LanguageEnglish
Pages32-44
Number of pages13
JournalBird Conservation International
Volume24
Issue number1
Early online date28 Mar 2013
DOIs
StatusPublished - Mar 2014

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site selection
habitat quality
disturbance
habitat preferences
habitats
habitat selection
habitat management
prioritization
habitat conservation
Central European region
spatial distribution
Otis tarda
habitat

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Human disturbance and conspecifics influence display site selection by Great Bustards Otis tarda. / Burnside, Robert J.; Végvári, Zsolt S.; James, Richard; Konyhás, Sandor; Kovács, Gabor; Szekely, Tamas.

In: Bird Conservation International, Vol. 24, No. 1, 03.2014, p. 32-44.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Burnside, RJ, Végvári, ZS, James, R, Konyhás, S, Kovács, G & Szekely, T 2014, 'Human disturbance and conspecifics influence display site selection by Great Bustards Otis tarda', Bird Conservation International, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 32-44. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270913000142
Burnside RJ, Végvári ZS, James R, Konyhás S, Kovács G, Szekely T. Human disturbance and conspecifics influence display site selection by Great Bustards Otis tarda. Bird Conservation International. 2014 Mar;24(1):32-44. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270913000142
Burnside, Robert J. ; Végvári, Zsolt S. ; James, Richard ; Konyhás, Sandor ; Kovács, Gabor ; Szekely, Tamas. / Human disturbance and conspecifics influence display site selection by Great Bustards Otis tarda. In: Bird Conservation International. 2014 ; Vol. 24, No. 1. pp. 32-44.
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