Josiah Kyrone K, Downs Colleen T
Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209 South Africa.
Urban Ecosyst. 2022;25(6):1631-1641. doi: 10.1007/s11252-022-01254-3. Epub 2022 Jun 20.
Urbanisation has increasingly encroached on numerous bird species' natural habitats, generally negatively affecting their persistence. Furthermore, increased human-wildlife interactions may benefit or be detrimental to the long term persistence of these species. The Spotted Thick-knee (), a ground-nesting species, persists in some mosaic urban landscapes in South Africa. We, therefore, assessed the presence of Spotted Thick-knees and their interactions with humans in the fragmented natural and human-modified landscape of Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. We conducted presence-only surveys at 52 locations between July 2019 and December 2020. 'Presence' locations for Spotted Thick-knee were identified via active surveying and public participation. Newspaper articles were distributed in June 2019, requesting information on Spotted Thick-knee sightings. Questionnaires were also sent to respondents to collect qualitative information regarding their perceptions and observations of this species in Pietermaritzburg. We established that the presence of Spotted Thick-knee's at known locations was not random. They were present at 30 out of 52 sites for 75% of this study's duration. Fewer sites had Spotted Thick-knees present during non-breeding months than breeding months. Respondents' feedback highlighted the pressures associated with Spotted Thick-knees persistence in human-modified mosaic landscapes, particularly predation and disturbance by domestic pets. Our study highlights that some ground-nesting birds, such as Spotted Thick-knees, persist in mosaic urban landscapes, despite the anthropogenic pressures. This study highlights the need to address the paucity of studies on ground-nesting birds in mosaic urban landscapes to determine general trends.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11252-022-01254-3.
城市化日益侵蚀众多鸟类的自然栖息地，通常对它们的生存产生负面影响。此外，人与野生动物互动的增加可能对这些物种的长期生存有益或有害。斑鸨（学名：Burhinus capensis）是一种地面筑巢的物种，在南非的一些城市镶嵌景观中生存下来。因此，我们评估了斑鸨在夸祖鲁 - 纳塔尔省彼得马里茨堡破碎的自然和人类改造景观中的存在情况以及它们与人类的互动。我们在2019年7月至2020年12月期间于52个地点进行了仅关于物种存在情况的调查。通过主动调查和公众参与确定了斑鸨的“存在”地点。2019年6月分发了报纸文章，请求提供斑鸨目击信息。还向受访者发送了问卷，以收集他们对彼得马里茨堡该物种的看法和观察的定性信息。我们确定斑鸨在已知地点的出现并非随机。在本研究75%的时间里，它们出现在52个地点中的30个。与繁殖月份相比，非繁殖月份有斑鸨出现的地点较少。受访者的反馈突出了与斑鸨在人类改造的镶嵌景观中生存相关的压力，特别是来自家养宠物的捕食和干扰。我们的研究强调，尽管存在人为压力，一些地面筑巢鸟类，如斑鸨，仍能在城市镶嵌景观中生存。这项研究强调需要解决关于城市镶嵌景观中地面筑巢鸟类研究匮乏的问题，以确定总体趋势。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s11252 - 022 - 01254 - 3获取的补充材料。
