Spatial Overlap and Habitat Selection of Corvid Species in European Cities
Metadata
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MDPI
Materia
Corvidae Europe Coexistence Sympatry Urbanization Niche overlap Habitat overlap
Date
2023-03-29Referencia bibliográfica
Abou Zeid, F.; Morelli, F.; Ibáñez-Álamo, J.D.; Díaz, M.; Reif, J.; Jokimäki, J.; Suhonen, J.; Kaisanlahti- Jokimäki, M.-L.; Markó, G.; Bussière, R.; et al. Spatial Overlap and Habitat Selection of Corvid Species in European Cities. Animals 2023, 13, 1192. [https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13071192]
Sponsorship
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2019-107423GA-I00/SRA (State Research Agency/10.13039/501100011033))Abstract
Understanding habitat and spatial overlap in sympatric species of urban areas would aid
in predicting species and community modifications in response to global change. Habitat overlap has
been widely investigated for specialist species but neglected for generalists living in urban settings.
Many corvid species are generalists and are adapted to urban areas. This work aimed to determine
the urban habitat requirements and spatial overlap of five corvid species in sixteen European cities
during the breeding season. All five studied corvid species had high overlap in their habitat selection
while still having particular tendencies. We found three species, the Carrion/Hooded Crow, Rook,
and Eurasian Magpie, selected open habitats. TheWestern Jackdaw avoided areas with bare soil cover,
and the Eurasian Jay chose more forested areas. The species with similar habitat selection also had
congruent spatial distributions. Our results indicate that although the corvids had some tendencies
regarding habitat selection, as generalists, they still tolerated a wide range of urban habitats, which
resulted in high overlap in their habitat niches and spatial distributions.