Structure and heterogeneity of habitat determine diet of predators despite prey abundance:Similar response in Long-eared,Short-eared Owls and Common Kestrels

作     者：Tatyana Kovinka Alexander Sharikov Tatyana Massalskaya Sergey Volkov Tatyana Kovinka;Alexander Sharikov;Tatyana Massalskaya;Sergey Volkov

作者机构：Zoology and Ecology DepartmentMoscow State Pedagogical UniversityKibalchicha Str.6-3129164MoscowRussid Severtsov Institute of Ecology and EvolutionRussian Academy of SciencesMoscow119071Russia 

出 版 物：《Avian Research》 (鸟类学研究（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2023年第14卷第1期

页      面：54-61页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

主　　题：Birds of prey diet Boosted regresion tnee Habitat strnocture efiect Prey sbundance 

摘      要：According to one of the theses of optimal foraging theory,main prey species abundance in the hunting area is the main factor determining the diet and habitat choices of birds of *** other factors can also be *** habitat structure influences the predators’diets as *** this study we examined the influence of habitat structure on diet compositions of three species of birds:Long-eared Owl(Asio otus),Short-eared Owl(***)and Common Kestrel(Falco tinnunculus).The study was carried out from 2007 to 2019 in a 48 km2area of the Crane’s Homeland Reserve,Moscow Region,*** habitat structures of model species’hunting territories(ratio of different types of landscape elements)were classified in moduleSemi-Automatic Classification Pluginbased on the QGIS.A boosted regression tree analysis identified that the share of the main prey species in the diet is primarily determined by the landscape structure of hunting *** largest share of Common Vole(Microtus arvalis)in birds’diet was determined by the shrubs area(15%of hunting area),the meadow area(75%),the habitat heterogeneity(70%)and the arable land area(5%).The same predictors determined the largest share of Root Vole(Microtus oeconomus):the shrubs area 25%,the meadow area 70%,and the arable land area 3%.The annual mean abundance of prey species did not determine their importance in the diet of birds of ***,the main prey abundance in the hunting area is not a determining factor for the formation of diet composition of birds of prey.