Effect of Weekend Road Traffic on the Use of Space by Raptors |
| |
Authors: | LUIS M. BAUTISTA&dagger &dagger ,JESÚ S T. GARCÍ A&dagger ,RICARDO G. CALMAESTRA,CARLOS PALACÍ N,CARLOS A. MARTÍ N,MANUEL B. MORALES&Dagger ,RAÚ L BONAL§ , JAVIER VIÑ UELA |
| |
Affiliation: | Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, JoséGutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Biología Animal I (Vertebrados), Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; Departamento Interuniversitario de Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Campus Tecnológico, 45071 Toledo, Spain; Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad de Castilla La Mancha-Junta de Comunidades de Castilla La Mancha, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain |
| |
Abstract: | Abstract: The traffic load near large cities may show dramatic cyclical changes induced by weekend tourism, and this could induce cyclical changes in the activity patterns of wildlife. We studied a 19-km-long section of a road that crossed a high-use raptor area near a large city in Spain. We observed 18 raptor species along this segment of the road, including some threatened species, such as the Spanish Imperial Eagle ( Aquila adalberti ). The number of cars increased dramatically on Saturdays and Sundays, so we assessed the effect of varying traffic loads on raptor behavior by recording all birds of prey as close or distant to the road during working days and weekend days. On weekends, the occurrence of Spanish Imperial Eagles and vultures decreased near the road. The occurrence of other species did not change between working days and weekend days. The activity decrease on weekends by Imperial Eagles and other large raptors suggests that there are weekly cycles in raptor activity. Weekly cycles in wildlife caused by human activity are a source of concern in conservation biology. |
| |
Keywords: | noise raptors roads Spanish Imperial Eagle weekly cycles |
|
|