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Agricultural ponds as alternative habitat for waterbirds: spatial and temporal patterns of abundance and management strategies

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Abstract

The progressive lost of natural wetlands as a consequence of human activities has lead to the use of new habitats by the species linked to water presence. In Southeast Spain, thousands of irrigation ponds have been lately constructed to store water for agriculture and are used by waterbirds as an alternative habitat. For this study, breeding and wintering waterbirds were counted in a subset of irrigation ponds between 2002 and 2007. Breeding communities were more abundant than wintering communities, but they presented a similar richness and diversity. The ponds were selected by waterbirds according to their characteristics, and breeding communities were more selective than wintering communities. Our results enhance the importance of pond size (area), connectivity (distance to the nearest wetland) and habitat quality (resource offer and construction material) in the pond selection process. The presence and design of these impoundments could be playing a crucial role for some waterbirds species. Therefore, the long-term information provided here can be useful for establishing management strategies for these artificial wetlands.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Generalitat Valenciana through the I+D project CTIDIB/2002/142 and by the Conselleria de Territori i Habitatge. Raúl A. Sempere, José Daniel Anadón, Martina Carrete, Carlos Villacorta, Carolina Diaz, Joan Navarro, Miguel Ángel Richarte, Miguel Blázquez, Maria Dolores Antón, Isabel González, Jordi Aliaga, Rubén Ballestar and Sara Bordonado helped with the field work. Juan Manuel Pérez prepared Fig. 1. The Natural Park of the Salinas de La Mata y Torrevieja and its Director, Concepción Torres, provided important field information. Esther Sebastián González benefited from a FPU grant from the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain. We are indebted with Fernando Hiraldo for his contribution. One anonymous referee kindly revised the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, Américo Vespucio s/n, 41092, Sevilla, Spain

    Esther Sebastián-González

  2. Área de Ecología, Departamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Cra. Beniel Km 3.2, 03312, Orihuela, Alicante, Spain

    Esther Sebastián-González, José Antonio Sánchez-Zapata & Francisco Botella

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  1. Esther Sebastián-González
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  2. José Antonio Sánchez-Zapata
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  3. Francisco Botella
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Correspondence to Esther Sebastián-González.

Additional information

Communicated by W. Lutz

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 5 Wintering censuses
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Appendix 2

Table 6 Breeding census
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Sebastián-González, E., Sánchez-Zapata, J.A. & Botella, F. Agricultural ponds as alternative habitat for waterbirds: spatial and temporal patterns of abundance and management strategies. Eur J Wildl Res 56, 11–20 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0288-x

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