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January 1992 - June 1996
Publications
Publications (80)
Organisms do not only use personal but also social information for habitat selection. However, the use and relative importance of these two sources of information for settlement decisions remain unclear for many species. Conservation tools that attract target species to available or restored habitat rely on social information, while additional or i...
Wiesen und Weiden in höheren Lagen gelten als letzte Refugien für gefährdete bodenbrütende Vögel in der Schweiz. Die Schweizerische Vogelwarte hat hochaufgelöste Karten entwickelt, die Vorkommens-und Potenzialgebiete von fünf schutzrelevanten Vogelarten im Grünland der Bergzonen I-IV und im Sömmerungsgebiet zeigen. Diese Karten unterstützen den Nat...
Les prairies et pâturages d’altitude sont considérés comme les ultimes refuges actuels des oiseaux des prairies en Suisse. La Station ornithologique suisse a développé des cartes nationales à haute résolution qui indiquent les zones de présence avérée et potentielle de cinq espèces d’oiseaux vulnérables ou potentiellement menacées nichant au sol da...
The combined effects of anthropogenic pressures and climate change are primary causes of land degradation. In the Sahel region, livestock grazing and deforestation threatens ecosystems and the livelihoods of rural communities dependent upon them. Urgent restoration efforts are needed, often structured in large-scale top-down initiatives, while loca...
Dans le cadre d’un emploi temporaire à la Station ornithologique suisse, Boris Droz a développé une adaptation d’un modèle d’habitat du rougequeue à front blanc à La Chaux-de-Fonds, en milieux urbanisés. Le projet a été réalisé en collaboration avec le Groupe Rougequeue à front blanc de La Chaux-de-Fonds et les Parcs Jura Vaudois et Gruyère – Pays...
We use species distribution models (SDMs, hereafter called Redstart model) to address urban green space recommendations by predicting the suitable habitat of the Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) with a 2×2m grid cell resolution. A method and a tutorial are here presented to apply the Redstart model calibrated for the city of La Chaux-de-Fo...
In Projekten zur Förderung lichter Wälder sollen die Bedürfnisse von Zielarten und deren Lebensraumansprüche vermehrt berücksichtigt werden. Mit dieser Zielsetzung wurde der «Aktionsplan zur Zielartenförderung im lichten Wald» erarbeitet und im Jahr 2020 publiziert. Der Plan empfiehlt ein standardisiertes Vorgehen für die Erhaltung oder Wiederherst...
The Lower Engadine is an inner-Alpine valley and a stronghold for the Whinchat in Switzerland. Nevertheless, a clear population decline has been visible for years. Here we document the population trends of Whinchats in 75 patches in the Lower Engadine between 2003 and 2018, and examine the reasons for these changes. The number of occupied territori...
Lichte Wälder sind als Lebensraum für licht- und wärmeliebende Tiere und Pflanzen von grosser Bedeutung. Sie sind jedoch aus verschiedenen Gründen selten geworden. Die Bestände heliophiler, einst weit verbreiteter Waldarten sind in vielen Regionen verschwunden oder ausgedünnt. Der Handlungsbedarf zur Förderung der Restpopulationen ist somit gross....
Les forêts claires sont très importantes pour les animaux et les plantes héliophiles et thermophiles. Les structures forestières claires sont devenues rares pour diverses raisons. Les populations d’espèces forestières héliophiles autrefois largement répandues sont aujourd’hui éteintes ou très réduites dans beaucoup de régions. Cela indique une fort...
As part of the «Swiss species recovery program for birds», we studied the literature about threats to the Little Ringed Plover and the Common Sandpiper and the effectiveness of protective measures. We focused on anthropogenic disturbances and how to reduce them. Disturbances can prevent both species from settling and can lead directly or indirectly...
We compared habitat characteristics between territories of paired and unpaired males of the long-distance migratory Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus. Nesting possibilities and reachable sparse vegetation were more abundant in territories of paired males, clearly highlighting the importance of both parameters when implementing habitat enhance...
A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: Future land-use change Niche-based predictive models Phoenicurus phoenicurus Switzerland Urban green spaces A B S T R A C T Urban sprawl has increased in Western Europe principally due to conversion of farmland areas, which has constrained remaining farmland to more intensive use. Urban densification aims to countera...
The Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocops medius is one of 50 priority
species of the conservation program «Swiss species recovery program for
birds». In 2008, an action plan was published defining the goals, strategies and
measures to ensure the survival of the species in Switzerland. The Swiss population
was estimated 479 to 618 territories at tha...
Die Mehlschwalbe lebt mitten in unseren Dörfern und Städten, wo sie ihr Nest aus Lehm an die Aussenfassade von Gebäuden baut. Vielerorts ist sie als Frühlingsbotin und Glücksbringern willkommen, doch da ihr Kot Hausfassade und Boden verschmutzen kann, wird sie als Mitbewohnerin oft nicht mehr geduldet. Die Mehlschwalbe ist gemäss eidgenössischem Ja...
Die Mehlschwalbe war früher fester Bestandteil jedes Dorf- und Stadtbildes. Die kleine Flugkünstlerin gilt auch heute noch als Frühlingsbotin und soll jenen Glück bringen, unter deren Dach sie wohnt. Als typische Gebäudebrüterin sollte die Mehlschwalbe eigentlich von der steten Ausdehnung der Siedlungsfläche profitieren, doch sie hat heute Probleme...
Les pâturages extensifs du Jura font partie des habitats les plus riches en espèces de Suisse. De nombreuses espèces menacées qui ne trouvent plus les milieux adaptés en plaine en dépendent, notamment l’Alouette lulu Lullula arborea. Toutefois, depuis une vingtaine d’années, l’intensification des pratiques agricoles s’est répandue jusque dans la mo...
Seit 2002 läuft das koordinierte Artenförderungsprojekt und integrierte Populationsmonitoring der bei-den Arten Turmfalke und Schleiereule. In zahlreichen Einzelprojekten in der ganzen Schweiz betreuen ehrenamtlichen Mitarbeitende mittlerweile über 3‘472 Nistkästen für die beiden Arten, führen jährliche Kontrollen der Nistkastenbesetzung und des Br...
C’est en 2002 qu’ont été lancés le projet coordonné de conservation et le monitoring intégré des po-pulations pour le faucon crécerelle et l’effraie des clochers. Depuis, ce sont plus de 3’472 nichoirs qui sont pris en charge par des bénévoles dans le cadre de nombreux projets dans toute la Suisse. Ces bénévoles effectuent des contrôles annuels de...
Im Rahmen des Artenförderungsprojekts für die Mehlschwalbe führte die Schweizerische Vogelwarte Sempach von 2012–2014 mit Hilfe von zahlreichen freiwilligen Teilnehmern eine Mehlschwalben-volkszählung durch. Das Ziel dieses Projekts war einerseits, das Wissen über noch grosse Mehl-schwalbenvorkommen in der Schweiz zu verbessern und die Koloniestand...
Dans le cadre du programme de conservation de l’hirondelle de fenêtre, la Station ornithologique suisse a mené entre 2012 et 2014 un recensement de cette espèce avec le concours de nombreux volontaires. Le but du projet était double : d’une part, approfondir nos connaissances sur une popula-tion d’hirondelles encore bien présente en Suisse et établ...
Modern, intensive grassland management has led to strong declines in ground-nesting grassland birds, and is now increasingly threatening the last remaining strongholds of the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra in the Central European uplands. In this study, we assess key threats to Whinchat populations in these uplands in order to suggest appropriate conser...
Die Feldlerche ist auf ein vielfältiges Angebot an Kulturen mit ausreichend lückiger Vegetation angewiesen. Hier findet die Bodenbrüterin genügend Nahrung, kann zu Fuss auf Nahrungssuche gehen und ihr Nest unbemerkt erreichen.
In der modernen Landwirtschaft werden solche Flächen selten: Getreidefelder und Wiesen wachsen schnell und dicht auf. Zude...
The Corn Bunting is classified as Vulnerable according to the Swiss Red List and a priority species for recovery programmes. Its population in Switzerland has been estimated at 400 to 600 pairs in the years 1993-1996. The objective of the present study was to establish an updated population estimate for the period 2009-2011 and to identify the core...
The European Alps harbour a unique and species-rich biodiversity, which is increasingly impacted by habitat fragmentation through land-use changes, urbanization and expanding transport infrastructure. In this study, we identified the 50 most important questions relating to the maintenance and restoration of an ecological continuum – the connectedne...
Habitat selection of the Common Whitethroat Sylvia communis in the western part of Switzerland: implications for species conservation. - The decline of Common Whitethroat populations in Switzerland between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s has been mainly attributed to habitat loss and degradation of habitat quality. To improve farmland biodiversity,...
The decline of Common Whitethroat populations in Switzerland between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s has been mainly attributed to habitat loss and degradation of habitat quality. To improve farmland biodiversity, agri-environment schemes (AES) were introduced in the 1990s. Here, we show optimizations of the AES-types «hedgerow» and «wildflower str...
Ongoing monitoring in the Swiss Alps has shown that Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta helvetica) has suffered a significant population decrease over the last decade and climate change has been proposed as a potential cause. In this study, we investigate the response of this high alpine grouse species to rapid climate change. We address a problem often n...
We present here a multiscale modelling approach to predict the current and future spatial distribution of Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) and Blackbird (T. merula) in Switzerland. Species distribution models (SDMs) are applied on three different scales in order to analyse the scale-dependency
of predictors that describe the species’ realised niche. W...
Revision 2010 of the Red List of breeding birds and the species of national conservation concern in Switzerland. In 2010, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) mandated the Swiss Ornithological Institute with the revision of the Red List of threatened breeding birds, following the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Natu...
Based on the revised national Red List of threatened birds the lists of species of national conservation concern and of priority species for specific recovery programmes were revised, following the concepts published in 2001 and 2002. 118 out of the 399 bird species recorded in Switzerland by the end of 2009 were classified as species of national c...
Species of national conservation concern in Switzerland: revision 2010. - Based on the revised national Red List of threatened birds the lists of species of national conservation concern and of priority species for specific recovery programmes were revised, following the concepts published in 2001 and 2002. 118 out of the 399 bird species recorded...
Conservation of Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus in Switzerland: a short review of current knowledge and prospects for the future. – The population of Northern Lapwings in Europe decreased by about 40 % during the last decades. In Switzerland, the decrease was with about 90 % even more massive, and the last survey revealed only about 100 breeding...
The population of Northern Lapwings in Europe decreased by about 40 % during the last decades. In Switzerland, the decrease was with about 90 % even more massive, and the last survey revealed only about 100 breeding pairs, compared to over 1000 in the mid 1970s. The main causes of this decline are (1) habitat loss due to the destruction of wetlands...
Meadow breeding birds such as the whinchat Saxicola rubetra have been declining due to increased farming intensity. In modern grassland management, the first mowing and the bird’s breeding cycle coincide, causing high nest destruction rates and low productivity of grassland bird populations. However, it is virtually unknown whether the mowing proce...
In Switzerland, the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra is a threatened meadow-breeder, which has declined rapidly since around 1930. Apart from a few remnant populations, it has disappeared from the lowland Plateau and is now restricted to low-intensity grassland in the montane and subalpine regions. Whinchat populations are declining in most regions in Swi...
Der Zürichbergwald ist eine 350 ha große, bewaldete Kuppe auf 480–680 m ü.M. am Rande der Stadt Zürich. Hier untersuchten wir von 1989 bis 1995 die jahreszeitliche Gesangsaktivität der Singdrossel mit zwei verschiedenen Ansätzen. 1989 und 1991–1995 zählte JH an 123 Tagen auf zwei festgelegten Strecken von 6,1 und 7,1 km die Sänger jeweils in der St...
The Swiss Action Plan for the Western Capercaillie describes the national strategy for the protection and conservation of this grouse species in Switzerland. The goals, the main measures, organisation and financial framework are defined. The focus on priority areas for conservation, the protection of areas with current local populations and the imp...
We studied the development of vegetation of different crops and its effect on nest site section and territorial behaviour of Skylarks Alauda arvensis in an area of northern Switzerland during the breeding season 2002. The suitability of the different crops for nesting showed a seasonal pattern according to vegetation development: At the time of egg...
The decline of insectivorous farmland passerines has been attributed mostly to global decrease in arthropod availability, as a result of intensification of agricultural practices. The diminution of the Alpine Whinchat, once a widespread insectivorous passerine, has been ascribed to nest losses due to earlier and more frequent mowings. However, pote...
Distribution of the Wood Lark Lullula arborea in the Swiss Jura : Current situation and trends since the late 1970ies. - All the kilometer squares in the Swiss Jura mountains which had at least once since 1976 hold territories of the Wood Lark were again controlled in 2004 and 2005. Thus, the presence or absence of the species was evaluated. In 116...
In den 1970er Jahren umfasste der Brutbestand des Kiebitzes in der Schweiz ca. 1000 Paare. Heute sind es schätzungsweise nur noch ca. 200. Für diesen dramatischen Rückgang dürfte in erster Linie der viel zu geringe Reproduktionserfolg verantwortlich sein (0.2-0.4 flügge Junge pro Brutpaar und Jahr). Um den Bruterfolg auf ein populationserhaltendes...
Suitable crops and microhabitat structures for breeding Skylarks Alauda arvensis in an intensively farmed area. - We studied the development of vegetation of different crops and its effect on nest site se- lection and territorial behaviour of Skylarks Alauda arvensis in an area of northern Switzerland during the breeding season 2002. The suitabilit...
Numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain variation in reproductive performance and local recruitment of animals. While most studies have examined the influence of one or a few social and ecological factors on fitness traits, comprehensive analyses jointly testing the relative importance of each of many factors are rare. We investigated how...
The increasing intensity of farming of meadows is supposed to be the major cause for strong declines of many meadow breeding birds. The whinchat, Saxicola rubetra, a Palaearctic migratory bird, is an indicator species of open grassland farmed at a low intensity. Originally widespread throughout Switzerland, it is now restricted to mountain and suba...
Throughout central Europe, populations of the White Stork have decreased heavily during the 20th century, in Switzerland earlier than in other countries. Following its extinction in 1950, the White Stork was reintroduced to Switzerland. By 1989, the breeding population exceeded the size it had in 1900 and has now levelled off at around 180 pairs. D...
Using radar, we studied the migratory flight behaviour of harriers Circus spp. and falcons Falco spp. at the edge of a large water barrier. Arriving at the southern coast of Spain during autumn migration, raptors have to decide whether to cross the Mediterranean Sea by flapping flight (distance at least 150 km) or to fly a detour along the coast of...
Causes of death of White Storks Ciconia ciconia ringed in Switzerland (1947-1997). - 1381 recoveries of White Storks ringed in Switzerland from 1947 to 1997 were analysed. 512 are from wild born, free-ranging storks and 856 from storks that were kept in captivity for a part of their life for reintroduction purposes (“project storks“). Causes of dea...
Following its extinction in 1950, the White Stork Ciconia ciconia was reintroduced to Switzerland. We analysed time budget, habitat use and breeding success of 28 breeding pairs at five sites in 1994. At two sites the adults were given extra food daily (SF), at the others no supplementary food was provided (NSF). During the first 20 days of life of...
This study was carried out at the Zürichbergwald, a forest east of Zurich (47°20′N/08°30′E). The study site is a wooded hill of 350 ha between 480 to 680 m asl, characterised by a BeechFagus silvatica forest with patches of SprucePicea abies on 25 % of its surface. The Zürichbergwald is a popular recreational area with moderate forestry exploitatio...
We studied the flight behaviour of migrating raptors confronted with the Mediterranean sea at an average coast site near Malaga (Spain) in autumn by means of a tracking radar. Behavioural reactions to the water barrier were species-speciic, but modied by environmental conditions. Honey buzzards Pernis apivorus and black kites Milvus migrans were re...
An environmental impact study on behalf of the Israel Ministry of Communication provided the possibility for intense studies on spring and autumn migration at two sites in the semi-deserts of southern Israel (1991 and 1992). The present review summarizes the results of these studies and provides access to the corresponding publications. A brief des...
Diurnal and nocturnal flight paths of 364 Levant sparrowhawks,Accipiter brevipes, were recorded by radar and used to analyse migratory strategies. Soaring-gliding was the predominant flight strategy during the day when thermals were available. Also during the day, and at night, flapping-gliding flight was used. Levant sparrowhawks flew at similar a...
Vertical and horizontal air movements are two major environmental factors affecting flight behaviour. How do migratory raptors react to these factors? Tracking radar provided exact data on flight parameters of migrating raptors in southern Israel. In soaring-gliding flight, many species maximised crosscountry speeds by adopting thermal dependent gl...
The comparison of flight styles and flight parameters of migrating raptors in Israel revealed the following. (1) Climbing rate in thermal circling did not differ between species, indicating that chiefly the strength of thermal updrafts determined the climbing rate and that morphological features were less relevant. (2) In interthermal gliding, air...
Migratory flights of Marsh Harriers (Circus aeruginosus), Montagu' s Harriers (Circus pygargus) and Pallid Harriers (Circus macrourus) in southern Israel were used to test flight theory predictions. The body sizes of these closely related species are between those of the typical large soaring migrants, such as eagles and storks, and the typical fla...
This article presents tests of the theoretical predictions on optimal soaring and gliding flight of large, diurnal migrants using Pennycuick's program 2 for “bird flight performance.” Predictions were compared with 141 observed flight paths of migrating steppe buzzards, Buteo buteo vulpinus. Calculations of cross-country speed relative to the air i...
Raptor migration was studied at two locations in southern Israel in spring 1992. Tracking radars provided exact data on individual flight paths throughout the day, whereby emphasis was on recording entire 'inter-thermal gliding' and 'thermal circling' phases. Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis adjusted their flight tactics to the actual wind and therm...
In spring 1992, steppe buzzard migration was studied by tracking radar in the Arava Valley near Hazeva (150 m below sea level) and in the Negev Highlands near Sede Boqer (470 m above sea level). Entire gliding and soaring phases were recorded. The flight altitude of the steppe buzzards depended on the time of day. Migration was slightly higher abov...
