Electric crows: Powerlines, climate change and the emergence of a native invader

Diversity and Distributions

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 17-29

  Cunningham, S J ^a   Madden, C F ^a   Barnard, P ^a,b   Amar, A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN   (South Africa)

^b SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY INSTITUTE   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Corvus albus; Climate change; Karoo; Native invader; Powerlines; Range change

Indexed keywords

ABUNDANCE; ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECT; CLIMATE CHANGE; DATA SET; GENERALIST; HABITAT AVAILABILITY; HUMAN ACTIVITY; INVASIVE SPECIES; NATIVE SPECIES; PASSERINE; POPULATION DENSITY; POPULATION GROWTH; POWER LINE; PREDATOR; RANGE EXPANSION; SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION;

KAROO; SOUTH AFRICA;

AVES; CORVIDAE; CORVUS ALBUS;

EID: 84955216563     PISSN: 13669516     EISSN: 14724642     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12381     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Amar, A. & Redpath, S.M. (2002) Determining the cause of the hen harrier decline on the Orkney Islands: an experimental test of two hypotheses. Animal Conservation, 5, 21-28.
2. Amar, A., Hewson, C., Thewlis, R., Smith, K., Fuller, R., Lindsell, J., Conway, G., Butler, S. & MacDonald, M. (2006) What's happening to our woodland birds? Long term changes in the populations of woodland birds. RSPB Research Report No. 19 and BTO Research Report No. 169. Sandy and Thetford, www.forestry.gov.uk/woodlandbirdsurvey.
3. Amar, A., Redpath, S., Sim, I. & Buchanan, G. (2010) Spatial and temporal associations between recovering populations of common raven Corvus corax and British upland wader populations. Journal of Applied Ecology, 47, 253-262.
4. Amar, A., Grant, M., Buchanan, G., Sim, I., Wilson, J., Pearce-Higgins, J.W. & Redpath, S. (2011) Exploring the relationships between wader declines and current land-use in the British uplands. Bird Study, 58, 13-26.
5. Amar, A., Cloete, D. & Whittington, M. (in press) Using independent nest survey data to validate changes in reporting rates of Martial Eagles between the Southern African Bird Atlas Project 1 and 2. Ostrich, 87, doi: 10.2989/00306525.2015.1089333.
6. Ambrosini, R., Rubolini, D., Møller, A., Bani, L., Clark, J., Karcza, Z., Vangeluwe, D., du Feu, C., Spina, F. & Saino, N. (2011) Climate change and the long-term northward shift in the African wintering range of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica. Climate Research, 49, 131-141.
7. Anderson, M. (2013) Nothing to crow about. African Birdlife, 2, 2.
8. Angert, A.L., Sheth, S.N. & Paul, J.R. (2011) Incorporating population-level variation in thermal performance into predictions of geographic range shifts. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 51, 733-750.
9. Anon (2013) Looking at pied crows. Promerops, 294, 11-12.
10. Bennett, J.M., Clarke, R.H., Thomson, J.R. & MacNally, R. (2015) Fragmentation, vegetation change and irruptive competitors affect recruitment of woodland birds. Ecography, 38, 163-171.
11. BGIS (2011) National Spatial Biodiversity Spatial Assessment Terrestrial. National Landcover 2009. SANBI, Cape Town.
12. BirdLife South Africa (2012) Position statement on the potential impact of an increased abundance of Pied Crows Corvus albus on South African biodiversity. Available at: http://birdlife.org.za/about-us/our-organisation/position-statements. (accessed 19 February 2015)
13. Bled, F., Nichols, J. & Altwegg, R. (2013) Dynamic occupancy models for analyzing species' range dynamics across large geographic scales. Ecology and Evolution, 3, 4896-4909.
14. Bonnevie, B.T. (2011) Some considerations when comparing SABAP 1 with SABAP 2 data. Ostrich, 82, 161-162.
15. Broennimann, O., Treier, U.A., Müller-Schärer, H., Thuiller, W., Peterson, A.T. & Guisan, A. (2007) Evidence of climatic niche shift during biological invasion. Ecology Letters, 10, 701-709.
16. Brook, B.W. (2008) Synergies between climate change, extinctions and invasive vertebrates. Wildlife Research, 35, 249-252.
17. Butt, N., Seabrook, L., Maron, M., Law, B.S., Dawson, T.P., Syktus, J. & McAlpine, C.A. (2015) Cascading effects of climate extremes on vertebrate fauna through changes to low-latitude tree flowering and fruiting phenology. Global Change Biology, 21, 3267-3277.
18. Carey, M.P., Sanderson, B.L., Barnas, K.A. & Olden, J.D. (2012) Native invaders - challenges for science, management, policy, and society. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, 373-381.
19. Chace, J.F. & Walsh, J.J. (2006) Urban effects on native avifauna: a review. Landscape and Urban Planning, 74, 46-69.
20. Chamberlain-Auger, J.A., Auger, P.J. & Strauss, E.G. (1990) Breeding biology of American crows. The Wilson Bulletin, 102, 615-622.
21. Chen, I.-C., Hill, J.K., Ohlemüller, R., Roy, D.B. & Thomas, C.D. (2011) Rapid range shifts of species associated with high levels of climate warming. Science, 333, 1024-1026.
22. Cunningham, S.J., Kruger, A.C., Nxumalo, M.P. & Hockey, P.A.R. (2013) Identifying biologically meaningful hot-weather events using threshold temperatures that affect life-history. PLoS One, 8, e82492.
23. Da Mata, R.A., Tidon, R., Côrtes, L.G., De Marco, P. & Diniz-Filho, J.A.F. (2009) Invasive and flexible: niche shift in the drosophilid Zaprionus indianus (Insecta, Diptera). Biological Invasions, 12, 1231-1241.
24. Dean, W. (2005) Pied crow Corvus albus. Roberts Birds of Southern Africa (ed. by P.A.R. Hockey, W.R. J Dean and P.G. Ryan ), pp. 723-724. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
25. Dean, W.R.J. & Milton, S.J. (2003) The importance of roads and road verges for raptors and crows in the Succulent and Nama-Karoo, South Africa. Ostrich, 74, 181-186.
26. Dean, W.R.J., Milton, S.J. & Anderson, M.D. (2006) Use of road kills and roadside vegetation by pied and Cape crows in semi-arid South Africa. Ostrich, 77, 102-104.
27. Donald, P.F., Gedeon, K., Collar, N.J., Spottiswoode, C.N., Wondafrash, M. & Buchanan, G. M. (2012) The restricted range of the Ethiopian Bush-crow Zavattariornis stresemanni is a consequence of high reliance on modified habitats within narrow climatic limits. Journal of Ornithology, 153, 1031-1044.
28. Dormann, C.F., McPherson, J.M.M., Araújo, M.B., Bivand, R., Bolliger, J., Carl, G., Davies, R.G., Hirzel, A., Jetz, W., Kissling, D., Kühn, I., Ohlemüller, R., Peres-Neto, P.R., Reineking, B., Schröder, B., Schurr, F.M. & Wilson, R. (2007) Methods to account for spatial autocorrelation in the analysis of species distributional data: a review. Ecography, 30, 609-628.
29. Dos Anjos, L. (2009) Family: Corvidae (corvids). Handbook of Birds of the World. Vol 14, Bush-Shrikes to Old World Sparrows (ed. by J. del Hoyo, A. Elliot and D.A. Christie ), pp. 499-640. Lynx Editions, Barcelona.
30. Erasmus, B.F.N., van Jaarsveld, A.S., Chown, S.L., Kshatriya, M. & Wessels, K.J. (2002) Vulnerability of South African animal taxa to climate change. Global Change Biology, 8, 679-693.
31. Eskom (2011) Eskom Electric Network (Shapefiles). Eskom, Johannesburg.
32. ESRI (2011) ArcGIS Desktop: version 9.3. Environmental Systems Research Institute. Redlands, CA.
33. Evans, K.L., Chamberlain, D.E., Hatchwell, B.J., Gregory, R.D. & Gaston, K.J. (2011) What makes an urban bird? Global Change Biology, 17, 32-44.
34. Fennell, M., Murphy, J.E., Gallagher, T. & Osborne, B. (2013) Simulating the effects of climate change on the distribution of an invasive plant, using a high resolution, local scale, mechanistic approach: challenges and insights. Global Change Biology, 19, 1262-1274.
35. Fincham, J. & Lambrechts, N. (2014) How many tortoises do a pair of pied crows Corvus alba need to kill to feed their chicks? Ornithological Observations, 5, 135-138.
36. Fraixedas, S., Lehikoinen, A. & Lindén, A. (2015) Impacts of climate and land-use change on wintering bird populations in Finland. Journal of Avian Biology, 46, 63-72.
37. Gaston, K.J. & Fuller, R.A. (2008) Commonness, population depletion and conservation biology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 23, 14-19.
38. Gilman, S., Urban, M., Tewksbury, J., Gilchrist, G. & Holt, R. (2010) A framework for community interactions under climate change. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25, 325-331.
39. Grenouillet, G. & Comte, L. (2014) Illuminating geographical patterns in species' range shifts. Global Change Biology, 20, 3080-3091.
40. Harrison, J.A., Allen, D.G., Underhill, L.G., Herremans, M., Tree, A.J., Parker, V. & Brown, C.J. (1997) The Atlas of Southern African Birds, Volume 2: Passerines. BirdLife South Africa, Johannesburg.
41. Hawkins, S., Moore, P., Burrows, M., Poloczanska, E., Mieszkowska, N., Herbert, R., Jenkins, S., Thompson, R., Genner, M. & Southward, A. (2008) Complex interactions in a rapidly changing world: responses of rocky shore communities to recent climate change. Climate Research, 37, 123-133.
42. Herzog, S.K., Maillard, Z.O., Embert, D., Caballero, P. & Quiroga, D. (2012) Range size estimates of Bolivian endemic bird species revisited: the importance of environmental data and national expert knowledge. Journal of Ornithology, 153, 1189-1202.
43. Hickling, R., Roy, D.B., Hill, J.K., Fox, R. & Thomas, C.D. (2006) The distributions of a wide range of taxonomic groups are expanding polewards. Global Change Biology, 12, 450-455.
44. Hobbs, R.J., Higgs, E. & Harris, J.A. (2009) Novel ecosystems: implications for conservation and restoration. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 24, 599-605.
45. Hockey, P.A.R., Sirami, C., Ridley, A.R., Midgley, G.F. & Babiker, H.A. (2011) Interrogating recent range changes in from land use and climate change present a challenge for attribution. Diversity and Distributions, 17, 254-261.
46. Hof, C., Levinsky, I., Araújo, M.B. & Rahbek, C. (2011) Rethinking species' ability to cope with rapid climate change. Global Change Biology, 17, 2987-2990.
47. Hofmeyr, S.D. (2012) Impacts of environmental change on large terrestrial bird species in South Africa?: insights from citizen science data. Thesis presented for the degree Doctor of Philosophy, University of Cape Town. Available at: http://www.adu.org.za/pdf/Hofmeyr_S_2012_PhD_thesis.pdf.
48. Hofmeyr, S.D., Symes, C.T. & Underhill, L.G. (2014) Secretarybird Sagittarius serpentarius population trends and ecology: insights from South African citicen science data. PLoS One, 9, e96772.
49. Howe, K.B., Coates, P.S. & Delehanty, D.J. (2014) Selection of anthropogenic features and vegetation characteristics by nesting common ravens in the sagebrush ecosystem. Condor, 116, 35-49.
50. Hulme, P.E. (2009) Trade, transport and trouble: managing invasive species pathways in an era of globalization. Journal of Applied Ecology, 46, 10-18.
51. Jetz, W., Wilcove, D.S. & Dobson, A.P. (2007) Projected impacts of climate and land-use change on the global diversity of birds. PLoS Biology, 5, e157.
52. Jokimäki, J. & Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, M.-L. (2012) Residential areas support overwintering possibilities of most bird species. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 49, 240-256.
53. Kale, M., Dudhe, N. & Kasambe, R. (2012) Impact of urbanization on avian population and its status in Maharashtra State, India. International Journal of Applied Environmental Sciences, 7, 59-76.
54. Kampichler, C., van Turnhout, C.A.M., Devictor, V. & van der Jeugd, H.P. (2012) Large-scale changes in community composition: determining land use and climate change signals. PLoS One, 7, e35272.
55. Kristan, W.B. & Boarman, W.I. (2003) Spatial pattern of risk of common raven predation on desert tortoises. Ecology, 84, 2432-2443.
56. Kruger, A.C. & Sekele, S.S. (2012) Trends in extreme temperature indices in South Africa: 1962-2009. International Journal of Climatology, 33, 661-676.
57. Le Roux, P.C. & McGeoch, M.A. (2007) Changes in climate extremes, variability and signature on sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Climatic Change, 86, 309-329.
58. Le Roux, P.C. & McGeoch, M.A. (2008) Rapid range expansion and community reorganization in response to warming. Global Change Biology, 14, 2950-2962.
59. Lesinki, G. (2009) Breeding ecology and population decline of the crested lark Galerida cristata in Warsaw, Poland. Ornis Hungarica, 17, 1-11.
60. Loftie-Eaton, M. (2014) Geographic Range Dynamics of South Africa's Bird Species. University of Cape Town. Available at: http://adu.org.za/pdf/Loftie-Eaton_M_2014_MSc_thesis.pdf.
61. Luniak, M. (2004) Synurbization - adaptation of animal wildlife to urban development. Proceedings 4th International Urban Wildlife Symposium, Tucson, Arizona, 1-5 May 1999. (ed. by W.W. Shaw, K.L. Harris and L. Van Druff ), pp. 50-55. School of Natural Resources, Colledge of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson.
62. Maclean, G.L. (1993) Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
63. Madden, C.F., Arroyo, B. & Amar, A. (2015) A review of the impacts of corvids on bird productivity and abundance. Ibis, 157, 1-16.
64. Mantyka-Pringle, C.S., Martin, T.G. & Rhodes, J.R. (2012) Interactions between climate and habitat loss effects on biodiversity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Global Change Biology, 18, 1239-1252.
65. Marzluff, J.M. & Angell, T. (2005) In the Company of Crows and Ravens. Yale Univeristy Press, New Haven.
66. Marzluff, J.M., Mcgowan, K.J., Donnelly, R. & Richard, L. (2001) Causes and consequences of expanding American crow populations. Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanising World (ed. by J.M. Marzluff, R. Bowman & R. Donnelly ), pp. 332-363. Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York.
67. Matsuura, K. & Wilmott, C. (2012) 1900-2010 Gridded Monthly Time Series, Version 3.01. Available at: climate.geog.udel.edu/~climate/html_pages/Global2011/README.GlobalTsP2011.html
68. Medley, K.A. (2010) Niche shifts during the global invasion of the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus Skuse (Culicidae), revealed by reciprocal distribution models. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 19, 122-133.
69. Midgley, G.F., Hannah, L., Millar, D., Rutherford, M.C. & Powrie, L.W. (2002) Assessing the vulnerability of species richness to anthropogenic climate change in a biodiversity hotspot. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 11, 445-451.
70. Mills, G.S., Dunning, J.B. & Bates, J.M. (1989) Effects of urbanisation on breeding bird community structure in southwestern desert habitats. Condor, 91, 416-428.
71. Mora, C., Metzger, R., Rollo, A. & Myers, R.A. (2007) Experimental simulations about the effects of overexploitation and habitat fragmentation on populations facing environmental warming. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274, 1023-1028.
72. Mucina, L. & Rutherford, M.C. (2006) The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
73. Mwinyi, A. & Said, T. (2009) Crows eradication programme: survey on population, distribution and socio-economic impacts of crows in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Department of Commercial Crops, Fruits and Forestry Programme Report 44. Available at: http://www.dlist-asclme.org/sites/default/files/doclib/FINAL%20REPORT%20KUNGURU%20MACEMP%202009%20..pdf.
74. Nalwanga, D., Lloyd, P., du Plessis, M.A. & Martin, T.E. (2004) The influence of nest-site characteristics on the nesting success of the Karoo prinia (Prinia maculosa). Ostrich, 75, 269-274.
75. Parmesan, C. (2006) Ecological and evolutionary responses to recent climate change. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 37, 637-669.
76. Parmesan, C. & Yohe, G. (2003) A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature, 421, 37-42.
77. Peery, M.Z. & Henry, R.W. (2010) Recovering marbled murrelets via corvid management: a population viability analysis approach. Biological Conservation, 143, 2414-2424.
78. Pienaar, C. (2013) The Problem with Pied Crows. Available at: karoospace.co.za/the-problem-with-pied-crows
79. R Core Development Team. (2009) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Available at: http://www.r-project.org.
80. Root, T.L., Price, J.T., Hall, K.R. & Schneider, S.H. (2003) Fingerprints of global warming on wild animals and plants. Nature, 421, 57-60.
81. Salmona, J., Salamolard, M., Fouillot, D., Ghestemme, T., Larose, J., Centon, J.-F., Sousa, V., Dawson, D.A., Thebaud, C. & Chikhi, L. (2012) Signature of a pre-human population decline in the critically endangered Reunion Island endemic forest bird Coracina newtoni. PLoS One, 7, e43524.
82. Simmons, R. & Barnard, P. (2011) Pied pirates: crow threat to raptors? African Birds & Birding, 16, 51-54.
83. Simmons, R.E., Barnard, P., Dean, W.R.J., Midgley, G.F., Thuiller, W. & Hughes, G. (2004) Climate change and birds: perspectives and prospects from southern Africa. Ostrich, 75, 295-308.
84. Sol, D., Timmermans, S. & Lefebvre, L. (2002) Behavioural flexibility and invasion success in birds. Animal Behaviour, 63, 495-502.
85. 2-induced climate change: simulation modeling experiments in eastern North America. Oecologia, 68, 567-579.
86. Stevenson, C.A. (2011) Ecological Impacts of Australian Ravens on Bush Bird Communities on Rottnest Island. Thesis presented for the degree Bachelor of Science with Honours, Murdoch University. Available at: http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/7492/.
87. Tingley, M.W., Koo, M.S., Moritz, C., Rush, A.C. & Beissinger, S.R. (2012) The push and pull of climate change causes heterogeneous shifts in avian elevational ranges. Global Change Biology, 18, 3279-3290.
88. Van den Berg, E.C., Plarre, C., van den Berg, H.M. & Thompson, M.W. (2000) The South African National Land Cover (NLC) final report. Project No. GW 51/037, Report No. GW/A/2008/86. Agricultural Research Council-Institute for Soil, Climate and Water, Pretoria.
89. Vuorisalo, T., Andersson, H., Hugg, T., Lahtinen, R., Laaksonen, H. & Lehikoinen, E. (2003) Urban development from an avian perspective: causes of hooded crow (Corvus corone cornix) urbanisation in two Finnish cities. Landscape and Urban Planning, 62, 69-87.
90. Walther, G., Post, E., Convey, P., Menzel, A., Parmesan, C., Beebee, T.J.C., Fromentin, J., Hoegh-Guldberg, O. & Bairlein, F. (2002) Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature, 416, 389-395.
91. Whittingham, M.J., Stephens, P.A., Bradbury, R.B. & Freckleton, R.P. (2006) Why do we still use stepwise modelling in ecology and behaviour? Journal of Applied Ecology, 75, 1182-1189.
92. Winder, M. & Schindler, D. (2004) Climate change uncouples trophic interactions in an aquatic system. Ecology, 85, 2100-2106.
93. Zuckerberg, B., Woods, A.M. & Porter, W.F. (2009) Poleward shifts in breeding bird distributions in New York State. Global Change Biology, 15, 1866-1883.