Migratory behaviour and non-breeding movements of the lesser kestrel revealed through GPS technology

Programa de Doctorado en Medio Ambiente y SociedadLínea de Investigación: Biodiversidad y Biología de la ConservaciónClave Programa: DAMCódigo Línea: 125Multitud de especies de animales se ven obligadas a desplazarse miles de kilómetros cada año en respuesta a cambios en las condiciones ambientales, para así sobrevivir y reproducirse. De entre los distintos grupos que migran, las aves llevan a cabo los desplazamientos más complejos y sus rutas migratorias abarcan la práctica totalidad de la superficie terrestre. Este fenómeno está presente en miles de especies de aves y alrededor de 200 son aves rapaces. Hasta el momento, el 70% de los trabajos relacionados con aves se han enfocado en el periodo reproductor y menos del 15% se centra en el período no reproductor, que comprende la migración e invernada. Esta falta de conocimiento es especialmente importante, teniendo en cuenta que ciertas especies migradoras, por ejemplo, de larga distancia, pueden llegar a pasar hasta el 80% del ciclo anual en sus áreas de invernada. Los avances tecnológicos recientes en el seguimiento a distancia de animales, tales como la miniaturización de dispositivos de GPS (Global Positioning System), han permitido seguir en detalle a números representativos de aves de pequeño a mediano tamaño durante todo su ciclo anual. De este modo, se ha incrementado el conocimiento sobre el comportamiento de las aves y sus movimientos migratorios. Además, dichos avances tecnológicos, junto con la mayor disponibilidad de datos de teledetección, han permitido estudiar la ecología de especies migratorias que se desplazan hasta latitudes tropicales y los peligros potenciales a los que se enfrentan en estos lugares, a veces remotos y de difícil acceso En esta tesis hemos utilizado dispositivos GPS solares que descargan sus datos vía radio UHF (ultra alta frecuencia) y datos ambientales para profundizar en el conocimiento del período no reproductor de un halcón insectívoro de pequeño tamaño. Utilizamos un migrador Afro-Paleártico – el cernícalo primilla Falco naumanni – como especie modelo. Sus movimientos migratorios y de invernada han sido estudiados previamente mediante lecturas de anillas, el trabajo de campo in situ y el marcaje con geolocalizadores y emisores vía satélite (PTT). Dichos estudios han aportado información valiosa como la identificación de sus áreas de invernada en África y descrito sus rutas migratorias. Gracias a la colaboración entre distintos grupos de investigación de España e Italia, el presente estudio cuenta con información de 73 cernícalos primilla adultos marcados en distintas colonias entre 2014 y 2021. En el capítulo 1, analizamos los factores que modulan los itinerarios de viaje y las velocidades de migración de una especie de vuelo generalista. Utilizamos datos de GPS de 70 adultos provenientes de 33 colonias diferentes de cría de España e Italia. En primer lugar, corroboramos los resultados de trabajos anteriores en relación a una migración pos-nupcial más rápida que la pre-nupcial. En segundo lugar, y contrario a nuestras expectativas, los vientos de cola a lo largo de las rutas migratorias resultaron en mayores distancias diarias recorridas y mayores velocidades de viaje durante la migración post-nupcial respecto a la pre-nupcial. No encontramos evidencias para apoyar la hipótesis de que los cernícalos migren con más urgencia durante el viaje pre-nupcial. Además, los factores geográficos modularon los itinerarios de viaje y se observó una tendencia de los primillas a hacer sprints, tanto de día como de noche, mientras atravesaban barreras geográficas como el Desierto del Sahara y el Mar Mediterráneo. Por el resto de zonas migraron más despacio y particularmente de día. En conclusión, mostramos que los factores externos (los vientos y factores geográficos) son más importantes que los internos (sexo) y la motivación estacional a la hora de explicar la variación en el comportamiento migratorio de este pequeño halcón de vuelo generalista, a pesar de su capacidad para alternar entre distintos modos de vuelo. En el capítulo 2 analizamos los factores que influencian la secuencia temporal de la migración pre-nupcial en el cernícalo primilla de diferentes colonias de cría ubicadas en un gradiente de latitud y longitud. Nuestros resultados demuestran que existe una gran variación interindividual, con una ventana de migración que se extiende a lo largo de tres meses. La ubicación de la colonia de cría es la principal fuente de variación que afecta al momento de la migración pre-nupcial, y no existen diferencias significativas entre sexos. Los cernícalos primilla procedentes de colonias ubicadas más hacia el suroeste salen antes de sus áreas de invernada en África y llegan antes a sus colonias de cría en el Mediterráneo en comparación con los individuos que se reproducen en colonias más hacia el noreste. Así mismo, la temperatura de la colonia de cría en primavera es un factor determinante de la fecha de llegada, con los primillas llegando antes a las colonias en zonas más cálidas. También demostramos que la fecha de salida de los sitios de invernada en África es más importante que la velocidad de viaje o la duración de las paradas a la hora de explicar la variación interindividual en las fechas de llegada. Finalmente, los cernícalos primilla tienden a realizar un mayor número de paradas cuando los vientos en ruta son desfavorables o cruzan zonas con mayor productividad de vegetación, especialmente tras superar el Desierto del Sahara. En el capítulo 3 nos trasladamos al periodo de invernada en África Occidental para estudiar en detalle la estrategia de movimiento y las diferencias entre sexos. Además, investigamos el uso de hábitat a escala regional. Para ello, analizamos datos de movimiento de 61 cernícalos procedentes de España. Los resultados muestran que la mayoría de individuos, tanto machos como hembras, realizan movimientos itinerantes entre dos o tres áreas durante el período invernal. Observamos que los cernícalos llegan dispersos al interior de África Occidental –desde la frontera de Senegal hasta la parte más al este de la frontera entre Mauritania y Mali. Sin embargo, en contra de nuestra hipótesis de partida y de otras especies insectívoras, no se desplazan a lo largo de un eje norte-sur en el Sahel. Por el contrario, realizan movimientos longitudinales hacia el oeste o el este utilizando zonas intermedias para congregarse finalmente en áreas cercanas a humedales en las costas de Senegal o al este de Mauritania en la frontera con Mali. Aunque las causas de estos patrones espaciales están pendientes de estudiar, una posible hipótesis es que estas zonas húmedas tengan una mayor disponibilidad de alimento.Universidad Pablo de Olavide de Sevilla. Escuela de Doctorad

Impacts of oil palm expansion on avian biodiversity in a Neotropical natural savanna

The consequences of converting tropical rainforest to oil palm are well-documented, but the impacts of oil palm conversion on natural savanna landscapes remain little-known. Natural savannas in South America have been identified as fertile grounds for future oil palm expansion, partly due to perceived low biodiversity impacts relative to forest systems. We quantify the impacts of oil palm conversion for bird communities inhabiting natural savannas in the Colombian Llanos. Bird species richness and abundance were significantly reduced at sampling points in oil palm relative to adjacent natural savannas, with marked concomitant shifts in community composition. Aquatic, forest and grassland specialists all showed significantly lower abundances in oil palm habitat relative to savanna, as did migratory species and carnivorous/insectivorous dietary guilds. In both habitats, point-level species richness and total bird abundance increased with proximity to remnant forest patches. Within savanna, total bird abundance also decreased with proximity to adjacent oil palm, though species richness was not significantly affected. Within oil palm, point-level abundance increased with proximity to savanna, suggesting that communities in both habitats may be impacted by reciprocal edge or spill-over effects. Point-level abundance in oil palm also increased significantly with the presence of an invasive vine ‘kudzu’, a species introduced in some plantations as a soil protection measure, although species richness was not affected. Our work underlines the need for careful monitoring of further large-scale agro-industrial conversion in the Llanos. In particular, we suggest greater efforts to direct oil palm expansion towards already degraded lands (e.g. improved grassland areas currently used for intensive cattle grazing) to ensure remaining natural savannas are spared

Barrier crossings and winds shape daily travel schedules and speeds of a flight generalist

External factors such as geography and weather strongly affect bird migration influencing daily travel schedules and flight speeds. For strictly thermal-soaring migrants, weather explains most seasonal and regional differences in speed. Flight generalists, which alternate between soaring and flapping flight, are expected to be less dependent on weather, and daily travel schedules are likely to be strongly influenced by geography and internal factors such as sex. We GPS-tracked the migration of 70 lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) to estimate the relative importance of external factors (wind, geography), internal factors (sex) and season, and the extent to which they explain variation in travel speed, distance, and duration. Our results show that geography and tailwind are important factors in explaining variation in daily travel schedules and speeds. We found that wind explained most of the seasonal differences in travel speed. In both seasons, lesser kestrels sprinted across ecological barriers and frequently migrated during the day and night. Conversely, they travelled at a slower pace and mainly during the day over non-barriers. Our results highlighted that external factors far outweighed internal factors and season in explaining variation in migratory behaviour of a flight generalist, despite its ability to switch between flight modes.Peer reviewe

Impacts of oil palm expansion on avian biodiversity in a Neotropical natural savanna

Abstract: The consequences of converting tropical rainforest to oil palm are well-documented, but the impacts of oil palm conversion on natural savanna landscapes remain little-known. Natural savannas in South America have been identified as fertile grounds for future oil palm expansion, partly due to perceived low biodiversity impacts relative to forest systems. We quantify the impacts of oil palm conversion for bird communities inhabiting natural savannas in the Colombian Llanos. Bird species richness and abundance were significantly reduced at sampling points in oil palm relative to adjacent natural savannas, with marked concomitant shifts in community composition. Aquatic, forest and grassland specialists all showed significantly lower abundances in oil palm habitat relative to savanna, as did migratory species and carnivorous/insectivorous dietary guilds. In both habitats, point-level species richness and total bird abundance increased with proximity to remnant forest patches. Within savanna, total bird abundance also decreased with proximity to adjacent oil palm, though species richness was not significantly affected. Within oil palm, point-level abundance increased with proximity to savanna, suggesting that communities in both habitats may be impacted by reciprocal edge or spill-over effects. Point-level abundance in oil palm also increased significantly with the presence of an invasive vine ‘kudzu’, a species introduced in some plantations as a soil protection measure, although species richness was not affected. Our work underlines the need for careful monitoring of further large-scale agro-industrial conversion in the Llanos. In particular, we suggest greater efforts to direct oil palm expansion towards already degraded lands (e.g. improved grassland areas currently used for intensive cattle grazing) to ensure remaining natural savannas are spared

Lesser kestrels of the same colony do not overwinter together

Migratory connectivity describes the linkage between breeding and non-breeding sites, having major ecological implications in birds: one season influence the success of an individual or a population in the following season. Most studies on migratory connectivity have used large-scale approaches, often considering regional populations, but fine-scale studies are also necessary to understand colony connectivity. The lesser kestrel Falco naumanni, an insectivorous migratory raptor which form colonies during the breeding period, was considered to have strong connectivity based on regional populations. However, no small scale studies on migratory connectivity have been conducted. Therefore, we GPS-tracked 40 adult lesser kestrels from 15 different Spanish breeding colonies, estimating the overlap index between home ranges and the distance between their centroids. It was found that lesser kestrels from the same breeding colony placed their non-breeding areas at 347 ± 281 km (mean ± standard deviation) away from each other (range = 23-990), and their home ranges overlapped by 38.4 ± 23.6%. No differences between intra-colony and inter-colony metrics were found, which suggests that lesser kestrels from the same breeding cluster do not overwinter together, but they spread out and mixed independently of the colony belonging throughout the non-breeding range of the species. Ultimately, this study highlights the importance of performing connectivity studies using fine-scale approaches.Funding for lesser kestrels tagging was provided by Iberdrola España Foundation (MIGRA program of SEO/BirdLife), GREFA (supported by Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y Reto Demográfico, Junta de Castilla-La Mancha and SEITT, s.a.), Córdoba Zoo, Alcalá de Henares Municipality, and Global Nature Foundation within the LIFE Project “Steppe Farming” (LIFE15417NAT/ES/000734). Lina Lopez-Ricaurte has received financial support through the “La Caixa” INPhINIT Fellowship Grant for Doctoral studies at Spanish Research Centres of Excellence, “La Caixa” Banking Foundation, Barcelona, Spain. In Andalucia tags were funded by “KESTRELS MOVE” project (ref: CGL2016 79249 P) (AEI/FEDER, UE). At the time of analyses and writing, this study was supported by projects MERCURIO (ref: PID2020-421115793GB) (AEI/FEDER,UE) and SUMHAL (European Regional Development Fund4 (ref: LIFEWATCH-2019-09-CSIC-13) (MICINN, POPE 2014-2020). Logistic and technical support was provided by ICTS-RBD

GPS migratory tracking data from 70 adults lesser kestrels from Spain and Italy

This GPS tracking data set includes migratory trajectories of 70 adults lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) (40 females and 30 males). These birds provided 75 post-breeding and 66 pre-breeding migratory trips. We re-sampled all data to 1-hourly intervals (with deviations of 20 minutes). After re-sampling, we analysed 31,012 hourly segments. Birds were captured on 33 breeding sites across Spain (n= 58) and Italy (n=12) between 2014 and 2019 by different teams: SEO/BirdLife Spain, GREFA, LIFE ZEPA-URBAN, KESTRELS-MOVE, LIFE+Natura project “Un falco per amico”. The data were used for the first PhD thesis chapter of Lina López Ricaurte Y-5977410-T, framed under the KESTRELS-MOVE project directed by Dr Javier Bustamante. This chapter was entitled “Barrier crossings and winds shape daily travel schedules and speeds of a flight generalist” and was published in Scientific Reports, June 8 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91378-x. It is recommended to use R software to read the data (also available on Movebank under the study name: (SP-IT) Lesser Kestrel migration). The data matrix contains the following fields: "LON"← longitude "LAT" ← latitude "ID” ← device code (6 characters) "HEIGHT" ← altitude (when available) "POP” ← country of origin, it/sp "sex" ← m/f "date” ← YYYY-MM-DD "season" ← spring/autumn "year" "cycle"← combination of “season” and “year” "daynight" ← day/night "desert" ← criterion for selectin positions over the desert, 1/NA "sea" ← criterion for selectin positions over the sea, 1/NA "date_time” ← YYYY-MM-DD HH-MIN-SEC "Vwind" ← v-component of the wind vector (positive values towards east, negative towards west) “BLH” ← proxy for the availability and strength of thermal uplifts "Uwind" ← u-component of the wind vector (positive values towards east, negative towards west) "trip” ← combination of “ID”, “year” and “season” (s1 = spring, s2 = autumn) "w" ← wind strength "alfa" ← wind direction (in degrees relative to north) "sidewind" ← km/h "tailwind" ← km/h "dis" ← the distance between point i and i-1 "duration" "speed" ← the speed between point i and i-1 "day2" ← bird-day from sunrise to sunset "migrate” ← classify travel days (> 5 km/h) and rest days (< 5 km/h) "barrier" ← classify barrier=1 vs non-barrier= 0 "cov.type" ← categorical variable with three levels to classify among Desert, Land, Sea.External factors such as geography and weather strongly affect bird migration influencing daily travel schedules and flight speeds. For strictly thermal‑soaring migrants, weather explains most seasonal and regional differences in speed. Flight generalists, which alternate between soaring and flapping flight, are expected to be less dependent on weather, and daily travel schedules are likely to be strongly influenced by geography and internal factors such as sex. We GPS‑tracked the migration of 70 lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) to estimate the relative importance of external factors (wind, geography), internal factors (sex) and season, and the extent to which they explain variation in travel speed, distance, and duration. Our results show that geography and tailwind are important factors in explaining variation in daily travel schedules and speeds. We found that wind explained most of the seasonal differences in travel speed. In both seasons, lesser kestrels sprinted across ecological barriers and frequently migrated during the day and night. Conversely, they travelled at a slower pace and mainly during the day over non‑barriers. Our results highlighted that external factors far outweighed internal factors and season in explaining variation in migratory behaviour of a flight generalist, despite its ability to switch between flight modes.Peer reviewe

Broad‐front migration leads to strong migratory connectivity in the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni)

Aim: Migratory animals regularly move between often distant breeding and non‐breeding ranges. Knowledge about how these ranges are linked by movements of individuals from different populations is crucial for unravelling temporal variability in population spatial structuring and for identifying environmental drivers of population dynamics acting at different spatio‐temporal scales. We performed a large‐scale individual‐based migration tracking study of an Afro‐Palaearctic migratory raptor, to determine the patterns of migratory connectivity of European breeding populations. Location: Europe, Africa. Methods: Migration data were recorded using different devices (geolocators, satellite transmitters, Global Positioning System dataloggers) from 87 individuals breeding in the three core European populations, located in the Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas. We estimated connectivity by the Mantel correlation coefficient (rM), and computed both the degree of separation between the non‐breeding areas of individuals from the same population (i.e. the population spread) and the relative size of the non‐breeding range (i.e. the non‐breeding range spread). Results: European lesser kestrels migrated on a broad front across the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert, with different populations using different routes. Iberian birds migrated to western Sahel (Senegal, Mauritania, western Mali), Balkan birds migrated chiefly to central‐eastern Sahel (Niger, Nigeria, Chad), whereas Italian ones spread from eastern Mali to Nigeria. Spatial differentiation of non‐breeding areas led to a strong migratory connectivity (rM = .58), associated with a relatively high population (637 km) and non‐breeding range (1,149 km) spread. Main conclusions: Our comprehensive analysis of the non‐breeding distribution of European lesser kestrel populations revealed a strong migratory connectivity, a rare occurrence in long‐distance avian migrants. The geographical conformation of the species’ breeding and non‐breeding ranges, together with broad‐front migration across ecological barriers, promoted the differentiation of migratory routes and non‐breeding areas. Strong connectivity could then arise because of both high population spread and broad non‐breeding range.CLH; FCC Energía/Enerstar Villena S.A.; Alcalá de Henares Municipality; EDF Énergies Nouvelles S.A.; EuroNatur; Fundación Iberdrola España, Grant/Award Number: Project Migra; MAVA Foundation; French Ministry of Ecology, Grant/Award Number: Lesser Kestrel National Action Plan; Greek Green Fund; European Commission, Grant/Award Number: LIFE11 NAT/IT/000068, LIFE11 NAT/BG/000360 and NAT/GR/001011; Córdoba Zoo; Seiit‐R‐4; Consejería de Agricultura, Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural de Castilla‐La Mancha; MIUR, Grant/Award Number: PRIN 2010‐2011/20180‐TZKHC

ENGIU: Encuentro Nacional de Grupos de Investigación de UNIMINUTO.

El desarrollo del prototipo para el sistema de detección de Mina Antipersona (MAP), inicia desde el semillero ADSSOF perteneciente al programa de Administración en Seguridad y Salud en el trabajo de la UNIMINUTO, se realiza a partir de un detector de metales que emite una señal audible, que el usuario puede interpretar como aviso de presencia de un objeto metálico, en este caso una MAP. La señal audible se interpreta como un dato, como ese dato no es perceptible a 5 metros de distancia, se implementa el transmisor de Frecuencia Modulada FM por la facilidad de modulación y la escogencia de frecuencia de transmisión de acuerdo con las normas y resolución del Ministerio de Comunicaciones; de manera que esta sea la plataforma base para enviar los datos obtenidos a una frecuencia establecida. La idea es que el ser humano no explore zonas peligrosas y buscar la forma de crear un sistema que permita eliminar ese riesgo, por otro lado, buscar la facilidad de uso de elementos ya disponibles en el mercado

The risk of COVID-19 death is much greater and age dependent with type I IFN autoantibodies

International audienceSignificance There is growing evidence that preexisting autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) are strong determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia. It is important to estimate their quantitative impact on COVID-19 mortality upon SARS-CoV-2 infection, by age and sex, as both the prevalence of these autoantibodies and the risk of COVID-19 death increase with age and are higher in men. Using an unvaccinated sample of 1,261 deceased patients and 34,159 individuals from the general population, we found that autoantibodies against type I IFNs strongly increased the SARS-CoV-2 infection fatality rate at all ages, in both men and women. Autoantibodies against type I IFNs are strong and common predictors of life-threatening COVID-19. Testing for these autoantibodies should be considered in the general population