2026-04-14T07:28:47Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request

oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/840312024-12-14T19:24:17Zcom_2072_3622col_2072_479130

Unraveling the real magnitude of illegal wildlife poisoning to halt cryptic biodiversity loss Olea, Pedro P. Fernández-García, María López-Bao, José Vicente Viñuela, Javier Valente e Santos, Joâo Pedro Rodríguez-Pérez, Jorge Sotelo, Lourdes Cortizo, Carlos Sazatornil, Víctor Planella Bosch, Anna Gutiérrez, Iván Pereira, Patrícia Luna Aguilera, Salvador J. Rivas, Óscar Suárez, Elías Lema, Francisco Javier Del Rey, Manuel G. Martínez-Delgado, Angélica Mateo-Tomás, Patricia Baits Detectability Illegal human activities Scavengers Poaching Wildlife crime Illegal wildlife poisoning is a global threat for biodiversity, yet the magnitude of its impact on ecosystems is largely underestimated as most of poisoning episodes remain undetected. Here, we conducted a large-scale field experiment to better understand the real dimension of the illegal wildlife poisoning in terms of composition and number of species and abundance of impacted individuals, as well as the ecological factors driving it. We used camera traps to monitor simulated poison baits placed in 25 study areas in SW Europe and applied Good–Turing theory to estimate the richness of species of the entire assemblage (observed plus undetected). We recorded 3095 individuals from 39 vertebrate species that consumed 94 % of the baits (N = 590). Yet, using sample completeness to estimate the entire species assemblage yielded a total of 47 species exposed to illegal poisoning. The observed assemblage included different trophic and functional groups (from lizards and snakes to apex species among birds and mammals), as well as a 38 % of threatened and near threatened species (according to Spanish and Portuguese vertebrate red list and UICN list). The size (weight) of the bait outstands as a reliable predictor of the number of species (0–8 species/bait, mean = 2) and individuals (0–99 individuals/bait, mean = 5) susceptible to poisoning. The habitat where the bait was placed modulated the abundance of individuals affected (greater in open than in closed habitats). Type of bait and habitat drove the compositional variation of species. Our approach enables uncover entire species assemblages prone to illegal poisoning and their ecological drivers associated, advancing the understanding of the impact of wildlife poisoning in ecosystems. This work was supported by the project TOXICO funding by “BBVA FOUNDATION GRANTS TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TEAMS, CALL 2018”. WWF Spain and SEO/BirdLife provided access to the ANTíDOTO database of wildlife poisoning in Spain. The Ohio Wesleyan University supported with logistical material (5 camera-traps). JVLB was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (RYC-2015-18932; CGL2017-87528-R AEI/FEDER EU). JVLB and PMT were supported by a GRUPIN research grant from the Regional Government of Asturias (AYUD/2021/51314). In Portugal, this study was financed through the Sentinelas project funded by Fundo Ambiental – Minist´erio do Ambiente e da Aç˜ ao Clim´ atica. We are grateful to Instituto da Conservaçao ˜ da Natureza e das Florestas (ICNF), Principado de Asturias, Junta de Castilla y Leon, ´ Xunta de Galicia, Gobierno de Cantabria, Comunidad de Madrid, Junta de Andalucía, Picos de Europa National Park, Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, Cabaneros ˜ National Park and Monfragüe National Park for granted permissions. 2022-10-31T12:47:26Z 2022-10-31T12:47:26Z 2022 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/CGL2017-87528-R/ES/MEJORANDO LA EFECTIVIDAD DE LOS PROGRAMAS DE COMPENSACION DE DAÑOS DE FAUNA SALVAJE/ Reproducció del document publicat a https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109702 Biological Conservation, 2022, v. 273, p. 109702 cc-by-nc-nd, (c) Olea et al., 2022 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Elsevier