Schneider Zoltán, Móczár Balázs, Klein Ákos, Laczi Miklós, Mátics Róbert
Doctoral School of Biology and Sport Biology, Faculty of Sciences University of Pécs Pécs Hungary.
The Barn Owl Foundation Orosztony Hungary.
Ecol Evol. 2025 May 8;15(5):e71409. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71409. eCollection 2025 May.
Human activities can highly impact species that rely on man-made structures for shelter or nesting, and building modifications for pest control or maintenance can have hidden ecological consequences. The breeding of the western barn owl (; hereafter barn owl) is especially associated with agricultural and church buildings. It is well known that the renovation of churches and their architectural protection against unwanted animals have significantly reduced the availability of barn owl nesting sites in recent decades. However, other potential direct consequences of church modifications have not been investigated sufficiently. We demonstrated how improperly modified church towers can act as traps, allowing the owls to enter the building but preventing them from leaving, which can lead to mass mortality, as we documented in two cases. This study highlights the need for deeper and more multifaceted investigations of building protection in light of such consequences that have been generally hidden until now in order to protect the barn owl more effectively.
人类活动会对依赖人造建筑作为庇护所或巢穴的物种产生重大影响，而出于害虫防治或维护目的对建筑进行的改造可能会产生潜在的生态后果。西方仓鸮（以下简称仓鸮）的繁殖尤其与农业建筑和教堂建筑相关。众所周知，近几十年来，教堂的翻新以及对不受欢迎动物的建筑防护措施，已大幅减少了仓鸮筑巢地点的数量。然而，教堂改造的其他潜在直接后果尚未得到充分调查。我们证明了，改造不当的教堂塔楼可能会成为陷阱，使猫头鹰能够进入建筑，但却无法离开，这可能导致大量死亡，我们记录了两起这样的案例。这项研究强调，鉴于此类后果迄今普遍被忽视，有必要对建筑保护进行更深入、更全面的调查，以便更有效地保护仓鸮。
