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Introduction
Current institution
Additional affiliations
January 2011 - December 2016
May 2011 - present
May 2003 - December 2009
Position
- Filed Ornithologist, Filed Researcher, Environmental Research Coordinator
Publications
Publications (79)
Wind farm development can combat climate change but may also threaten bird populations’ persistence through collision with wind turbine blades if such development is improperly planned strategically and cumulatively. Such improper planning may often occur. Numerous wind farms are planned in a region hosting the only cinereous vulture population in...
Harnessing wind energy is seen as an environmentally friendly strategy to combat climate change. However, adverse environmental impacts have come to light for species that are prone to collision with wind turbine blades, such as vultures, leading to a conflict between wind energy industry and conservation. Our study area epitomized such a conflict,...
Primary goal of this study was to facilitate the management and conservation of Eurasian black vulture (Aegypius monachus) population on a larger scale than the Dadia‐Lefkimi‐Soufli National Park (Dadia NP). Range use pattern of this population was studied using an integrated radio‐tracking methodology. Various home range (HR) parameters were estim...
The forest management in nature protection areas can be compatible with and further serve the
purpose of their creation. Our study area is breeding and foraging habitat for numerous birds of
prey. The partial management of the area in the last 36 years and the decline in livestock has
affected horizontal and vertical forest stand structure, has inc...
Natal dispersal is a crucial period for raptors with serious implications for individuals’ survival and population demography. In this study we analyzed data from 18 GPS-tracked golden eagles in order to describe their dispersal ecology in northern Greece, where the species feeds mostly on tortoises. Young eagles in our population dispersed at 176...
Wind harnessing is a fast-developing and cost-effective Renewable Energy Source, but the land impacts of wind power stations are often overlooked or underestimated. We digitized land take, i.e., the generation of artificial land, derived from 90 wind power stations in Greece constructed between 2002 and 2020 (1.2 GW). We found substantial land take...
Wind harnessing is a fast-developing and cost-effective Renewable Energy Source, but the land impacts of wind power stations are often overlooked or underestimated. We digitized land take, i.e., the generation of artificial land, derived from 90 wind power stations in Greece constructed between 2002 and 2020 (1.2 GW). We found substantial land take...
Highways are directly linked to the progress and well-being of societies, but they are at odds with biodiversity conservation. This conflict becomes particularly pronounced when highways crosses biodiversity hotspot areas. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) are caused when no measures are taken for sensitive siting and design of highways or mitigat...
Golden Eagles are resident in Greece and known to feed mainly on tortoises when breeding. However, information on alternative prey is scarce, especially during the tortoise brumation, that roughly coincides with the eagles’ non-breeding season. We analyzed 827 prey items collected from 12 territories over five territory years and 84 records of eagl...
This international meeting took place in the Holy City of Messolonghi (NW Greece) in December 2018 aiming to set up the baseline for the beginning of constructive network cooperation and in particular:
1) Close cooperation of all experts on vulture conservation in the Balkans.
2) Exchange of experience and know-how between scientists on vultures’ e...
The abandonment of vulture colonies in Western Greece the last two decades (Valtos & Paramythia Mountains-Kalamas canyon) and repeated founds of dead vultures (more than 30 the last 5 years, some from Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria), revealed that the area could act as an "ecological trap" for the Balkan population. In 2018, an international confere...
Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) is a protected species with an Inadequate-Bad (U2) conservation status in Greece and its hunting is prohibited since 1969. We investigated the seasonal range use pattern, demography and habitat selection of the species in Timfi Mountain (Natura 2000 site). We used 1168 observations obtained from six se...
Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) is a protected species with an Inadequate-Bad (U2) conservation status in Greece. Our study explores its seasonal range use pattern, demography and habitat selection in a site of the Natura 2000 network, Timfi Mountain. To this aim, we examined 1168 observations obtained from six seasonal surveys (2002...
An immature male marsh harrier (Circus aeuginosus) was trapped in late January, 2019 in the vicinity of the Evros Delta and fitted with GPS/GSM transmitter. Its home range encompassed an area of 146.2 km2 (95% MCP), and 50% 5.6 km2. MCP estimates showed a high monthly contraction of the home range (for 95% February=153.1 km2, March=44.7km2, April=2...
Α. ΠΕΡΙΓΡΑΦΗ ΧΑΡΤΗ
Είναι ένας χάρτης εννέα ζωνών προσβάσιμος μέσω του ελεύθερου προγράμματος Google Earth, ως οδηγός για παροχή θετικής γνωμοδότησης αποκλειστικά για τις δύο εξωτερικές ζώνες του. Ο φάκελος «wind farms allowed» του χάρτη ορίζει με πράσινη γραμμή τις ζώνες θετικής γνωμοδότησης, ήτοι την περιφερειακή ζώνη και τη ζώνη 1 της μη βασικής...
Lesser Spotted Eagle is a medium sized raptor with a stable population within its breeding range. Nonetheless, its favourable habitats (a mosaic of forest and low-vegetation forest-openings, often with water elements such as small ponds and flowing streams), are suffering from land abandonment as a result of abrupt socioeconomic changes related to...
Η υψηλή ετερογένεια του τοπίου στο Εθνικό Πάρκο Δαδιάς-Λευκίμμης-Σουφλίου (ΕΠ) αποτελεί σημαντική οικολογική αξία και οφείλεται σε μεγάλο βαθμό στη διαχρονική άσκηση συστημάτων εκτροφής που στηρίζονται στη βόσκηση αλλά και άλλων παραδοσιακών ανθρώπινων δραστηριοτήτων στην περιοχή αυτή. Ωστόσο, τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες τεκμηριώνεται μείωση ετερογένε...
The biodiversity of cultural landscapes is a new scientific topic, as different species are closely linked to preindustrial land uses. We monitored a juvenile Griffon vulture with a GPS/GSM to study crucial areas for vulture conservation in the Balkans. In this work we present data for one year. The bird spent the first 2 months on Pindos mountain...
The biodiversity of cultural landscapes is a new scientific topic, as different species are closely linked to preindustrial land uses. We monitored a juvenile Griffon vulture with a GPS/GSM to study crucial areas for vulture conservation in the Balkans. In this work we present data for one year. The bird spent the first 2 months on Pindos mountain...
Más recursos gratuitos sobre ciencias ambientales en: www.ScienceJournalForKids.org
Imagínate qué sentirías al volar por el cielo con unas alas tan anchas que, cuando coges un poco de aire caliente que se eleva, remontas el vuelo durante kilómetros. Así es como vuelan los buitres cuando buscan su próxima comida. Por desgracia, los mejores lugares...
Imagine how it would feel to fly through the sky on wings so
wide, when you catch some rising warm air you soar for miles!
This is how vultures fly as they look out for their next meal.
Unfortunately, places that are best for vultures can also be
good locations for wind farms because there’s lots of wind
to turn their turbines and make electricity....
Vulture telemetry locations used in the analysis.
(DOCX)
Predicted cumulative annual collision mortality under different avoidance rates for operating and proposed wind farms per conservation zones.
(DOCX)
Technical characteristics and coordinates of the operating and proposed wind farms in the study area.
(DOCX)
Average values per conservation zone of the technical and biological parameters feeding the Collision Risk Model.
(DOCX)
Thrace, in northeastern Greece, is a crucial habitat of European value for the survival of the continent’s birds of prey, and it is also designated as a priority area for the development of wind farms. Consequently, it is a valuable case study for identifying the conditions under which common ground can be found. A proactive planning system grounde...
First shot at looking at the potential impact of WFs on the Golden Eagles in N Greece.
Η διαδικασία του Εθνικού Διαλόγου για το Κυνήγι, που ξεκίνησε στις 10 Μαρτίου με πρωτοβουλία του Αν. Υπουργού Περιβάλλοντος & Ενέργειας Γιάννη Τσιρώνη, ολοκληρώθηκε στις 22 Μαΐου 2016, με την υποβολή προτάσεων. Στην ατζέντα του διαλόγου τέθηκαν από τον Αν. Υπουργό, οι τέσσερις άξονες: I. Το θεσμικό πλαίσιο που διέπει το κυνήγι (όπως άδειες θήρας, ε...
We studied the diet of the Black Vulture in the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest in relation to the long operation of a “vulture restaurant”, a management tool contributing to the conservation of necrophagous birds but affecting their behavioral parameters. We analyzed pellets and food remains collected from nesting trees to estimate th...
Harnessing wind energy is often considered as an environmentally friendly strategy able to combat climate change on one hand, but even small-scale wind farms threaten on the other hand the persistence of local raptor populations prone to collision with turbine blades. This paper attempts to explore the interrelation between predicted wind farm coll...
Wind industry is among fastest evolving green sectors of
renewable energy production, contributing on one hand to
gas emission reduction, but negatively a#ecting on the other
hand species that are prone to collision with wind turbine
blades. This paper attempts to resolve the con"ict between
wind energy investments and conservation .We used telemet...
The annual range of Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) in Giona
mountain was found to be 5502 ha, with a low population density (2 individuals/
100 ha). Seasonal range patterns varied significantly, with a minimum extent in
summer and a maximum in winter (30% and 79% of the annual range, respectively).
Summer stress and the rutting peri...
The aim of this study was to record the Schirmer tear test I (STT I) measurements in free-living vultures in order to estimate normal values. The Eurasian black vulture (Aegypius monachus), which breeds in the Mediterranean region and Asia, is listed as near threatened; it is also classified as vulnerable at the European level and endangered in Gre...
Several recent impact studies reveal that in some localities industrial wind farms are associated with high numbers of bat fatalities.
In Europe, most published studies have been conducted in the northwest, while bat diversity generally is much higher in the south
of the continent. Here we provide evidence from a post-construction monitoring study...
Large-scale plans for wind farm development (960MW) in Thrace (NE-Greece) threaten the last black vulture population of the Balkans. We obtained location data from six GPS-tagged vultures collected each 10, 45 or 60 minutes over 6-12 months, and used Brownian bridge movement model to estimate probability densities for the vultures' daily foraging f...
As habitat degradation and fragmentation increase across vulture ranges in Thrace (NE Greece) due to large scale wind farm development plans, characterizing Eurasian black vulture's flight movement corridors for conservation finds new urgency. In this paper we use high accuracy time-specific location data and a continuous-time stochastic movement m...
The article presents the results of the first tagging of a young Eastern Imperial Eagle(Аquila heliaca
sa vigNy1809) with a GPS/ GSM transmitter in Bulgaria. The device was a prototype of the Spanish
company EagleEye®. The transmitter was fitted on a young Imperial Eagle successfully treated in the
Wildlife Rescue Centre of Green Balkans. The bi...
Environmental Impact Assessments aim to evaluate the effects of offshore wind turbines on
migrating birds. Addressing open questions on migratory processes in relation to weather
conditions, the risk of collision when flying in the reach of the turbine‟s rotor blades poses a
serious threat to birds and is, thus, of paramount importance. Visual a...
There is currently an urgent need for climate change mitigation measures. Renewable energy
sources, such as wind farms, are important components of such mitigation measures. The Greek
Government has set targets for generation of renewable energy. Within this framework, a large
part of Thrace (northeastern Greece) has been selected as a Wind Prio...
This study evaluates the impact on birds of prey ofnine wind farms in Thrace, where a
large scale wind farm development project of at least 960 MW is under development.
The study area is located in the prefectures of Evros and Rhodope in Thrace,
northeastern Greece and it is widely known for its high ornithological value. The “Near
threatened”...
In the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest (Dadia NP, Greece), seven "target" PCBs and 16 organochlorine pesticides (OCs) were analysed in blood samples of cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) and Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). PCB congeners 138, 153 and 180 predominated in both species' blood samples. In both species, no diffe...
The cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus)colony in the Dadia – Lefkimi – Soufli Forest National Park (DNP) in Thrace, northeastern Greece, has been the only breeding population in the Balkans for the last 20 years. Since 1987, a systematic monitoring of the breeding activity of the species has been carried out, being one of the longest monitoring p...
Ο Ασπροπάρης (Neophron percnopterus) αποτελούσε το κοινότερο είδος γύπα της χώρας, όπου μέχρι την δεκαετία του 1980 αριθμούσε τοπικά πάνω από 180 άτομα (π.χ. Μετέωρα). Τις δύο τελευταίες δεκαετίες παρουσιάζει δραματική μείωση σε όλες τις Βαλκανικές χώρες (Αλβανία, FYROM, Βουλγαρία), με συνολικό πληθυσμό σήμερα μικρότερο των 100 ζευγαριών. Στην εθνι...
The main threats to DNP’s principal assets are habitat and landscape homogenization, large-scale fires, the over-development and unwise location of wind-farms around the park, poisoned baits and the aesthetic degradation of landscapes. Impediments to effective management are not only local, but most stem from problems relating to the general system...
Short description of the Golden Eagle Population in Evros as it stood in 2010
The prefectures of Rodopi and Evros in NE Greece are internationally acknowledged as of high ornithological interest, hosting habitats of European importance for large birds of prey and populations of a unique assemblage of raptors (Poirazidis et al. 2009), containing the only remaining Black Vulture breeding colony in the Balkan Peninsula (Poirazi...
A supplementary feeding program has been implemented in the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli
National Park for more than 20 years as a management measure for the conservation
of the Black Vulture population, which is the unique breeding population in Greece
and the Balkans. Age–specific variation on the use of the feeding site was studied in
order to investiga...
One of the most crucial attributes of natural grassland functions is their ability to sustain
avifauna.This is especially important for protected wildbird species. The Eurasian black
vulture (Aegypius monachus L.) breeds across southern Europe and Asia, but is endangered throughout its European range.One of its southern-eastern limits of expansio...
Vultures are thought to fly at high elevations, prospecting large
areas during their movements. The objective of the present
study was to make practical use of aspects of Black Vulture’s
(BV) Utilization Distribution Maps (UDM) for its management
in relation to a number of proposed wind farm sites. We used
high accuracy data from GPS transmitt...
Vultures are thought to fly at high elevations, prospecting large areas during their movements. The objective of the present study was to apply Black Vulture’s Utilization Distribution Maps (UDM) obtained in Thrace for wildlife management in relation to a number of proposed wind farm sites. Therefore, we used X, Y and Z high accuracy data from GPS...
The Eurasian black vulture (Aegypius monachus) has experienced a severe decline during the last two centuries and is globally classified as near-threatened. This has led to the extinction of many traditional breeding areas in Europe and resulted in the present patchy distribution (Iberian and Balkan peninsulas) in the Western Palearctic. In the pre...
The population of the Eurasian black vulture in the Dadia National Park was nearly extinct in 1979 (26 individuals and 4–5 pairs) and since 1988 it has been the only breeding population in Greece and the Balkans. During the period 1987–2005, the number of breeding pairs increased from 6 to 22. The protection of the nesting sites and the establishme...
population trend, monitoring, Egyptian vulture
Conservation of Avian Scavenger: A Challenge for Trans-border Collaboration
A first draft of a monitoring plan for the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) was formulated in early spring 2003. It was implemented during one entire breeding period and the accumulated experience from its implementation was incorporated in an improved version of the monitoring plan that is presented in this paper. The main objective of the...
Telemetry is commonly used to study animals, but rarely its precision is considered. We evaluated the accuracy of a VHF telemetry system applied for Eurasian Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus) in the Dadia National Park, Greece. The system was without directional bias, the bearing standard deviation was 9.7°, and the most accurate location estimator...
In the framework of a sophisticated study for the Black Vulture Aegypius monachus, radio-track-
ing was employed to reveal range use patterns, identify areas of high risk and causes of mortal-
ity. Three immature and three adults were tracked during the breeding season in 2004. Six water-
sheds were distinguished covering the breeding colony and th...
Three vultures’ species occur in the Dadia National Park, the Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus) and the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) as breeding species and the Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) as visitor. 3-4 pairs of Griffon Vulture nest in South part of Evros prefecture. The first efforts for the protection of vultures started in 1980 w...
An annual scientific monitoring plan for the Dadia national park (Dadia NP) has been implemented by the WWF Greece since 2000 and it includes the monitoring of ecological status of the forest, raptor population, and human and natural factors. Particular emphasis has been given to the Black Vulture, a priority species for conservation according to t...
The distribution and the population density of the Golden Jackal was estimated
in the eastern section of the Nestos Delta, using howling playbacks. The spatial
analysis of the data reveal that 15-16 packs with established territories were existed in
the study area. The population of the species in the area was constituted of at least 53
individuals...
