Data from: Satellite tracking a wide‐ranging endangered vulture species to target conservation actions in the Middle East and East Africa

Vultures comprise the most endangered avian foraging guild (obligate scavengers) and their loss from ecosystems can trigger trophic cascades, mesopredator release, and human rabies epidemics, indicating their keystone species status. Vultures’ extremely large home ranges, which often cross international borders of countries that have differing laws and capacity for wildlife conservation, makes conserving them challenging. However, satellite-tracking data can be used to identify habitat preferences and critical sites to target conservation actions. We tracked 16 Egyptian Vultures, Neophron percnopterus, in the Middle East and East Africa. We used dynamic Brownian bridge movement models to calculate home ranges and core-use areas, and we analyzed habitat use in a resource selection framework. Combined summer and winter ranges (99% utilization distributions) of all birds covered 209,800 and 274,300 km2, respectively. However, the core-use areas (50% utilization distributions) in the summer and winter ranges, accounted for only 0.4–1.1% of this area (900 and 3100 km2, respectively). These core-use areas are where the home ranges of multiple individuals overlapped and/or where individuals spent a lot of time, such as feeding and roosting sites, and are places where conservation actions could focus. Resource selection models predicted Egyptian Vulture occurrence throughout little-studied parts of the species’ range in the Middle East and East Africa, and revealed strong selection for proximity to highways, power distribution lines, and towns. While providing roosts (e.g. power pylons) and food (e.g. garbage dumps), anthropogenic features may also function as ecological traps by increasing exposure to electrocution and dietary toxins.

秃鹫类是最为濒危的鸟类觅食类群，即专性食腐动物（obligate scavengers），其从生态系统中消失可能引发营养级联效应（trophic cascades）、中捕食者释放效应（mesopredator release）与人类狂犬病流行，这彰显了其关键物种（keystone species）的生态地位。秃鹫拥有极大的家域（home ranges）范围，活动范围时常跨越各国国境，而不同国家的野生动物保护法规与管护能力存在差异，这使得秃鹫的保护工作极具挑战性。不过，卫星追踪数据（satellite-tracking data）可用于识别秃鹫的栖息地偏好与关键保护位点，为靶向保护行动提供支撑。本研究在中东与东非地区追踪了16只白兀鹫（Neophron percnopterus），采用动态布朗桥运动模型（dynamic Brownian bridge movement models）估算其家域与核心活动区（core-use areas），并通过资源选择框架（resource selection framework）开展栖息地利用分析。所有个体的夏、冬季综合家域（99%利用分布（utilization distributions）区）面积分别为209800与274300平方千米；但夏、冬季家域内的核心活动区（50%利用分布区）面积仅占总家域的0.4%~1.1%，分别为900与3100平方千米。这些核心活动区既是多只个体家域重叠的区域，也是个体大量停留的觅食与夜栖地（roosting sites），正是保护行动的重点靶向区域。资源选择模型（Resource selection models）预测了该物种在中东与东非地区此前鲜有研究的分布区内的白兀鹫出现概率，结果显示其强烈偏好靠近公路、配电线路与城镇的区域。尽管人工设施可为秃鹫提供夜栖位点，如输电塔（power pylons）与食物来源，如垃圾场，但这类人为活动衍生的生境也可能通过增加个体遭遇电击与摄入饮食毒素（dietary toxins）的风险，成为生态陷阱（ecological traps）。