Improving conservation strategies of raptors through landscape ecology analysis. the case of the endemic Cuban black hawk

1. Raptor species conservation should consider a landscape perspective in order to include habitat requirements associated to large home ranges around nesting sites. Landscape analysis can help to better understand raptor habitat requirements and the degree of tolerance to habitat changes at different scales.

2. We used a landscape ecology perspective to determine the nesting habitat selection of endemic and endangered Cuban Black Hawk, and using ecological niche modelling we obtained the potential distribution of nests to evaluate the effectiveness of protected areas (PAs) for raptor conservation.

3. Nesting habitat selection was related to breeding success at a landscape scale using data from 27 different nesting sites during 2012-2013 breeding seasons. The potential nesting areas distribution was compared with current officially PAs design in the central region of Cuba.

4. All nests were located in mangrove swamp. Pairs chose nesting sites with low soil-vegetation moisture ...