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FIRST RESULTS OF THE LIFE EUROKITE PROJECT: HUMAN-CAUSED MORTALITY OF THE RED KITE IN EUROPE ASSISTED BY HIGH-RESOLUTION GPS TELEMETRY TRACKING.
Abstract
The main goal of the LIFE EUROKITE project is to reduce anthropogenic causes of mortality of the red kite in Europe. The efficient protection of the red kite requires the detailed understanding of overall mortality reasons, especially focusing on those caused by legal and illegal human activities. The LIFE EUROKITE project focuses on a Europe-wide representative sample which is achieved by using high-resolution GPS telemetry tracking of 2,321 tagged red kites from 14 European countries, allowing fast and exact locating of dead birds. This considerable database is only possible through cooperation and data exchange with multiple international partners. By 25/04/2023 more than 975 red kites have already died (not including transmitter failures). Using a standardized protocol for the European-wide assessment of morbidity and mortality of raptors by performing necropsy procedures, it has been proven that 138 of 751 completely analysed tagged red kites have died from poisoning. In total, 355 tagged red kites have died from anthropogenic causes such as poisoning, collision, electrocution and shooting. We used the "integrated Step-Selection Function (iSSF)" to learn the behaviour of tagged red kites and predict the species-specific probability of anthropogenic mortality factors of red kites across countries and regions in Europe. Only by using such large and European-wide telemetry-assisted datasets unbiased results of human-caused mortality of red kites can be obtained. This is essential to take appropriate measures for the protection of the red kite.
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Transmission and distribution electricity grids are expanding rapidly worldwide, with significant negative impacts on biodiversity and, in particular, on birds. We performed a systematic review of the literature available on bird collisions with power lines to: (i) assess overall trends in scientific research in recent decades; (ii) review the existing knowledge of species-specific factors (e.g. vision, morphology), site-specific factors (e.g. topography, light and weather conditions, and anthropogenic disturbance), and power line-specific factors (e.g. number of wire levels, wire height and diameter) known to contribute to increased bird collision risk; and (iii) evaluate existing mitigation measures (e.g. power line routing, underground cabling, power line configuration, wire marking), as well as their effectiveness in reducing collision risk. Our literature review showed (i) there is comparatively little scientific evidence available for power line-specific factors, (ii) there is a scarcity of studies in Asia, Africa and South America, and (iii) several recommendations of good practice are still not supported by scientific evidence. Based on knowledge gaps identified through this review, we outline suggestions for future research and possible innovative approaches in three main areas: bird behaviour (e.g. further use of loggers and sensors), impact assessment (e.g. understanding the drivers of mortality hotspots, assess population-level impacts , develop methods for automatic detection of collisions) and mitigation measures (e.g. further need of BACI approaches to compare the effectiveness of different wire marking devices). The complex and region-specific interactions between collision drivers and bird ecology continue to limit our ability to predict impacts and the success of mitigation measures.
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