130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe
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dramatically by the 1950s, when breed<strong>in</strong>g spoonbills<br />
were found only <strong>in</strong> the Netherlands and southern<br />
Spa<strong>in</strong> (Figure 3). These two regions cont<strong>in</strong>ue to<br />
dom<strong>in</strong>ate the Atlantic population today [3] , but it is<br />
evident that substantial recovery has taken place<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ce. Recolonisation has taken place on the west<br />
coast of France <strong>in</strong> the early 1980s, <strong>in</strong> Germany and<br />
Denmark from the mid-1990s, and <strong>in</strong> Belgium from<br />
2000 [3, 14, 29] (Figure 3). In the UK the first breed<strong>in</strong>g<br />
colony of spoonbills <strong>in</strong> more than three centuries<br />
became established <strong>in</strong> 2010 [21] . The cont<strong>in</strong>ental<br />
population is also recover<strong>in</strong>g from historical<br />
decl<strong>in</strong>es [3] . The colonies <strong>in</strong> the Po Delta <strong>in</strong> Italy, for<br />
example, became established around 1990 [13] .<br />
No. of breed<strong>in</strong>g pairs<br />
7000<br />
6000<br />
5000<br />
4000<br />
3000<br />
2000<br />
1000<br />
0<br />
1954<br />
1957<br />
1960<br />
1963<br />
1966<br />
1969<br />
1972<br />
1975<br />
1978<br />
1981<br />
1984<br />
1987<br />
1990<br />
1993<br />
1996<br />
1999<br />
2002<br />
2005<br />
2008<br />
2011<br />
Major threats<br />
Loss of wetland habitat through water management<br />
was the ma<strong>in</strong> cause of the severe decl<strong>in</strong>es that<br />
Eurasian spoonbills suffered historically [3, 14, 16] .<br />
Wetlands were dra<strong>in</strong>ed for agricultural purposes or<br />
development, converted to fish farms, or became<br />
overgrown as a result of abandonment of graz<strong>in</strong>g [3] .<br />
Poach<strong>in</strong>g and collisions with overhead<br />
electricity cables are the ma<strong>in</strong> non-natural causes<br />
of death dur<strong>in</strong>g migration [3] . Illegal hunt<strong>in</strong>g is<br />
a particular problem for cont<strong>in</strong>ental Eurasian<br />
spoonbills, especially <strong>in</strong> stag<strong>in</strong>g areas between<br />
w<strong>in</strong>ter<strong>in</strong>g and breed<strong>in</strong>g sites [3] .<br />
Drivers of recovery<br />
All major breed<strong>in</strong>g sites for Eurasian spoonbills<br />
<strong>in</strong> the Atlantic and most <strong>in</strong> the cont<strong>in</strong>ental<br />
distributions have been given protected status [3] .<br />
Protection and management of wetland habitats<br />
is the major driver beh<strong>in</strong>d the recovery of the<br />
Atlantic Eurasian spoonbills [14] .<br />
Figure 2.<br />
Number of Eurasian<br />
spoonbill breed<strong>in</strong>g<br />
pairs <strong>in</strong> the Atlantic<br />
flyway population<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ce 1991 and <strong>in</strong> the<br />
Dutch population<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ce 1962 [16, 17] .<br />
Figure 3. Current distribution of Eurasian spoonbill colonies <strong>in</strong> Europe, show<strong>in</strong>g the area of breed<strong>in</strong>g distribution of the Atlantic flyway<br />
population <strong>in</strong> the 1800s and 1950s [14] . Current Atlantic flyway and Cont<strong>in</strong>ental flyway are also shown.<br />
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