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A study reveals that the disappearance of transhumant livestock implies changes in the use of space by large scavenger birds and warns about the urgency of assessing the decline of this traditional livestock practice on biodiversity.
Transhumance is a traditional extensive livestock practice consisting in the seasonal movement of herds between winter and summer pastures. It is a system, based on adjusting production cycles to the rhythms of nature, which has been associated with multiple environmental and social benefits for the territories in which it is developed.
However, the process of industrialization of livestock farming in recent decades has made stabling and supplementary feeding much more profitable and productive to the detriment of extensive livestock practices, which is leading to the disappearance of transhumance.
Consequently, large pastures have been abandoned and occupied by scrub and forests, implying changes in the configuration of landscapes that had been shaped over centuries and that can affect, positively or negatively, wildlife species and the ecosystems associated. As an example, a previous study has revealed that the natural revegetation derived from the abandonment of the rural environment and its traditional practices reduces the efficiency of carrion consumption by the guild of scavenger vertebrates and increases the persistence of carrion and the potential health risks derived.
The disappearance of transhumance implies a significant alteration in the availability of carrion for scavengers, which could have relevant effects on the use of space by vultures and their relationship with livestock. For this reason, scientists from the Universidad Miguel Hernández, the Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD – CSIC), the Universidad Nacional del Comahue-CONICET (Argentina), the Universidad de Sevilla, the Universidad de Lleida and the Research Group in Game Resources and Wildlife Management of the Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC – CSIC, UCLM, JCCM), have analyzed the relationship of vultures with transhumant livestock by studying the movements of specimens marked with GPS devices.
The study was carried out in two mountainous areas with transhumant tradition: the Pyrenees (Spain), where transhumance is in decline, using the Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) as a study model; and the Andes (Argentina), where transhumance is still a relevant livestock practice, using the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) as a scavenger bird species under investigation.
The disappearance of transhumant livestock implies changes in the use of space by large scavenger birds and warns about the urgency of assessing the decline of this traditional livestock practice on biodiversity (Photo: Pilar Oliva-Vidal).
The results of the study show that both griffon vultures and condors respond to transhumance by making greater use of summer pastures when these are occupied by herds, but condors individually made a more intense use of it than griffons. On the other hand, the use of space by these species of scavenger birds was greater in the area where transhumance continues to be relevant (Andes) than where this activity is declining (Pyrenees).
These differences could be explained by the fact that transhumance in the Andes is still important while in the Pyrenees is declining and the amount of carrion provided is lower. Given that the abandonment of traditional activities is a phenomenon underway, the authors of the study recommend an urgent evaluation of the effects that this abandonment will have on biodiversity conservation, especially on the guild of carrion birds due to their important ecosystem services.
The scientific publication of this research is available at:
- Arrondo, E., Guido, J., Oliva-Vidal, P., Margalida, A., Lambertucci, SA, Donázar, JA, Cortés-Avizanda, A., Anadón, JD, Sánchez-Zapata, JA 2023. From Pyrenees to Andes: The relationship between transhumant livestock and vultures. Biological Conservation 283, 110081.
