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Tragic Destiny: Present and Future Diversity of Scavenging Birds

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Tragic Destiny: Present and Future Diversity of Scavenging Birds DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES TRAGIC DESTINY: PRESENT AND FUTURE DIVERSITY OF SCAVENGING BIRDS Tala Mohimani Degree project for Master of Science (30 hec) with a major in Biology BIO705, Biodiversity and systematics Second cycle Semester/year: Spring/Autumn 2020 Supervisor: Søren Faurby, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Examiner: Bengt Oxelman, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Co-Supervisor: Robert Cooke Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Photo by: Stefan Hirsch Contents Abstracts: .................................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract (in English) ............................................................................................................... 2 Abstrakt (in Swedish) .............................................................................................................. 2 Introduction: ............................................................................................................................... 3 General role of scavenging birds ........................................................................................... 3 Scavenger types ...................................................................................................................... 3 Extraordinary food source: Carcasses and Carrions ............................................................ 4 Scavenging birds and humans ................................................................................................ 5 Aim ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Material and Methods ................................................................................................................. 6 Input data for birds ................................................................................................................. 6 Calculating “Effective scavenging richness value” ............................................................... 7 Other predictors ..................................................................................................................... 7 Results ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 14 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 15 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 15 References: ............................................................................................................................... 16 Tragic destiny for scavenging birds ......................................................................................... 20 1 Abstracts: Abstract (in English) Scavenging birds have a large role in controlling and regulating services by evacuating and consuming carcasses of dead animals. Their populations have been through many dangers. Large mammal extinction is one of the biggest threats for different scavenging species. Predictors such as human footprint, temperature, precipitation, elevation, and large mammals’ extinction rate can cause steep decline in scavengers’ diversification and scavenging rate all around the world. “Effective scavenging richness value” is the metric to report the level of scavenging each one of the birds does. Also, large mammals are going down the lane of extinction very quickly. I calculated the current and future distribution for both large mammals and necrophagous bird species. The current situation of birds shows that in Africa and the Indian subcontinent there are higher value for effective scavenging richness. Both scavenging birds and large mammals’ extinction rate have been calculated before. Here I used those predictions to create range maps to see if in the future some large mammals go to extinction, what will happen to scavenging birds. Creating range maps and conducting multiple regression analyses supported the hypothesis; by the extinction of some species of large mammals, the surviving scavenging birds will be threatened by starvation. So, if 20 large mammals are lost, and less than one bird goes extinct in one environment, then all birds face potential extinction threat from starvation above any additional threats. Abstrakt (in Swedish) Asätande fåglar har en stor roll när det gäller att kontrollera och reglera tjänster genom att evakuera och äta kadaver av döda djur. Deras populationer har genomgått många faror. Utrotning av stora däggdjur är ett av de största hoten för olika asätande arter. Förutsägelser som mänskligt fotavtryck, nederbörd, höjd över havet och stora däggdjurs utrotningsgrad kan orsaka skarp nedgång i asätares mångfald och rensningsgrad över hela världen. " Effective scavenging richness value (ESRV)" är mätvärdet för att rapportera nivån på asätande för var och en av fåglarna. Dessutom går stora däggdjur mycket snabbt ut i utrotningskurva. Jag beräknade den nuvarande och framtida fördelningen för både stora däggdjur och asätande fågelarter. Den nuvarande situationen för fåglar visar att det finns högre värden för ESRV i Afrika och den i Indiska subkontinenten. Både asätande fåglars och stora däggdjurs utrotningsgrad har beräknats tidigare. Här använde jag dessa förutsägelser för att skapa räckviddskartor för att se om några stora däggdjur går till utrotning i framtiden och vad som kommer att hända med asätande fåglar? Genom att skapa intervallkartor och genomföra flera regressionsanalyser stöddes hypotesen; genom utrotning av vissa arter av stora däggdjur kommer de överlevande asätande fåglarna att hotas av svält. Om 20 stora däggdjur går förlorade och mindre än en fågel utrotas i en miljö, så utgör svält ytterligare ett hot, tillsammans med de övriga hoten. 2 Introduction: Bird species, through time, have had many threats to their existence, including major extinctions. The aim of the project is to predict the patterns of extinction of scavenging birds and hopefully inform ongoing conservation efforts to avoid this fate. This research will analyze the relationship of future scavenger populations and the potential factors, such as the distribution and declining of populations in large mammals, human footprint, etc., that influence their survival. General role of scavenging birds Scavenging birds have a large role in controlling and regulating services by evacuating and consuming carcasses of dead animals. Athwart the common belief, vertebrate scavengers do the highest level of scavenging and microorganism and invertebrates are in the second place1. This consumption can reduce and control human disease. scavengers die for many reasons, such as old age, disease, natural disasters (e.g., storms), accidents, and malnutrition. The current “human footprint” has an enormous role in this matter as well. In the absence of scavenging, the number of non-predatory deaths can increase and after that, their carcasses will amass 2.Carcasses serve as a great source of nutrients and energy, and many bird species have shown the adaptation to utilize this source. Some species are specialized specifically in scavenging like vultures (such as: old world vultures Gypinae and Gypaetinae and new world vultures Cathartidae), but other families like Corvidae (Crow family) also do lots of scavenging 3. Scavenger types Two types of scavenging occur in nature: Obligate scavengers, which get vast majority of their food from scavenging carrion and carcasses 4; and facultative scavengers, which gain most of their needed nourishment through ways other than scavenging, such as predation. 5. Obligate scavengers developed some specific adaptations to be able to use carcasses as food sources. Primarily, they must have adequate mobility. 6, 7. Proper navigation lets obligate scavengers expand their search range, so they opt for the more abundant food source availability in wider ranges than possibly going without a meal by staying closer to their home area1,6. Secondly, a good vision or a good sense of smell is necessary to detect and identify target carcasses from immense distances 1. A good example is the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), which can follow the scent of carrion and detect them from great distance 8. Lastly, obligate scavengers have important physiological adaptations as well. For instance, they have extremely acidic stomachs (pH=1) which helps to reduce the risk of microbial infections and disease 9. Figure1: Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), Photo by: Mary Ballard-Johansson 3 Figure 2: Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) eating a young Rockhopper (Eudyptes) Photo by: Jan-Michael Breider Figure 3: A Juvenile Common Raven (Corvus Corax). An example of facultative scavenger. Photo by:David Turgeon On the other hand, we have facultative scavengers. This category is more diverse and it includes many species that scavenge when they find the opportunity, but they don’t specifically rely on scavenging to survive and reproduce10. Extraordinary food source: Carcasses and Carrions Carrion is different from live prey in several ways. Typically, in many areas, live preys are more abundant and easier to find, because carrion is normally subsumed short after
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