130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Threat Description Impact
Transportation Accidental mortality by electrocution by overhead Critical
and service
corridors
cables and pylons.
Infrastructure development causes habitat
fragmentation.
Critical
Invasive and
other problematic
species and
diseases
Unintentional
effects of hunting
and collecting
Wood and pulp
plantations
Agricultural
intensification
Pollution from
agriculture
Table 2.
Major threats that
drove Spanish
imperial eagle
decline and may
still constrain the
population [1] .
Table 3.
Conservation actions
in place for Spanish
imperial eagle.
Action
Monitoring and
planning
Site/Area
protection and
management
Habitat and
natural process
restoration
Species
management
Legislation
Shortage of key prey species due to myxomatosis
and viral haemorrhagic disease in rabbits.
Illegal poisoned baits for predator control.
Unintentional effects of lead poisoning from
ingested ammunition.
Disturbance during nesting.
Ecosystem conversion and degradation.
Ecosystem conversion and degradation
through secondary poisoning from pesticides
and pollutants, especially heavy metals and
organochlorines, causing impaired reproduction,
e.g. in Doñana.
and some protected private land areas in the
plains [1] .
Critical
Critical
Low
Medium
Unknown
Low
In spite of the spectacular increase in Spanish
imperial eagle population size, the species’ range
has not greatly increased, except in Cádiz, where
a reintroduction programme is ongoing. However,
the breeding distribution has expanded in most
areas since the mid-1970s, with the exception
of the extreme south-western part of the range
(Doñana) [7] , and many territories in plains and
river valleys have been recolonised [1] .
Description
International Species Action Plan [1] .
National and regional Species Action Plans for Spain [1] .
Systematic monitoring schemes in place across the species’ range,
including annual census and tracking [34] .
There are 53 IBAs identified for Spanish imperial eagle in Europe, of
which 17% are fully designated as SPAs or other protected areas and
4% are not protected.
Correction of dangerous power lines [1, 19, 30] .
Strategies for prevention of poisoning in place, including increased
surveillance [34] .
Habitat management to increase rabbit populations [1] .
Restocking of rabbits [1] .
Regional Rural Development Programmes in Castilla-La Mancha and
Extremadura include specific measures for Spanish imperial eagle [34] .
Land stewardship programme established under ‘Alzando el vuelo’
programme (SEO/BirdLife) and Fundación de Amigos del Aguila
Imperial (FAAI) [35] .
Supplementary feeding in territories with shortage of food during
the nestling period [36, 37] .
Reintroduction programme in Cádiz province, Spain [26] .
Release of individuals to strengthen Doñana population [33] .
Restricting human activities during nesting [23, 34] .
Reinforcement or replacement of collapsed nests [34] .
Listed under a number of international conventions and agreements
(see ‘Legal protection and conservation status’).
Full legal protection in Spain and Portugal [34] .
Education Public awareness campaigns in place [34] .
Major threats
The greatest population decline, which took place
at the end of the 19 th century, was probably due to
the use of poison, shooting for predator control
and the demand for museum specimens [1, 7] . Persecution
continued until Spanish imperial eagle
became legally protected in 1973, but some evidence
suggests that its breeding range contracted as a
result of habitat loss through land-use change
and deforestation [1, 7] . However, the importance of
habitat degradation as a cause of decline may have
been low, as habitat availability today remains
greater than the area occupied by Spanish imperial
eagles [22] .
Ongoing fragmentation of Spanish imperial
eagle habitat, resulting from infrastructure
development, not only increases human disturbance,
which has been shown to negatively affect
breeding success [23] , but also impacts on dispersal,
potentially limiting recolonisation of the species’
historic range [1, 24] . Recolonisation is limited by
the philopatric tendencies of the species and its
attraction to conspecifics [25, 26] , despite good availability
of habitat in unoccupied areas [24] .
The crash in rabbit populations due to myxomatosis
in the 1950s and viral haemorrhagic disease
in the 1990s greatly contributed to the decline of
Spanish imperial eagle, as the diminished prey
base had a negative impact on breeding success,
particularly in habitats where alternative prey
species were not available [1, 7, 27] . The large scale
rabbit decline across Spain resulted in a reduction
in the proportion of high quality territories with
abundant prey [27] .
Electrocution on power lines is the main
cause of non-natural mortality for the Spanish
imperial eagle, affecting dispersing juveniles
especially [2, 28–30] , closely followed by poisoning [1, 28, 31] .
The decline in the rate of increase of the Spanish
imperial eagle population between 1994 and 1999
(Figure 1) coincided with and was probably caused
by an increase in illegal use of poison for predator
control in game breeding areas [28, 32] . The Doñana
population of Spanish imperial eagles was most
affected, and severe declines took place during
1991–2002, when food shortages due to viral
haemorrhagic disease in rabbits caused eagles
to forage outside protected areas and come into
contact with poisoned baits [33] .
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