How does urbanisation affect the breeding performance of African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus)?
| dc.contributor.advisor | Amar, Arjun | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Sumasgutner, Petra | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | McPherson, Shane | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Downs, Colleen | |
| dc.contributor.author | Muller, Rebecca | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-02-06T13:14:24Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-02-06T13:14:24Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2020-02-03T12:08:59Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Birds face many challenges from the process of urbanisation. Those species that are able to occupy urban areas offer opportunities to understand processes of acclimatisation to urban life and may help in the development of urban spaces for the benefit of wildlife. In many bird species, individuals that occupy territories in more urban areas show lower productivity and lower body condition of nestlings, which is thought to be mediated by food availability. Most of the studies exploring this issue were done on passerines and carried out in the global north, with very few studies exploring this topic on non-passerines, and even fewer in Africa. Studies addressing urban productivity in apex predators with slow life histories that are often of conservation concern are largely missing. Here, we explore the breeding performance of the African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus) across an urbanisation gradient in KwaZuluNatal, South Africa. Specifically, we explored the hypothesis that living in an urban environment allows this species, which is typically a biennial breeder, to breed annually more often (i.e. increased breeding rate), and whether this might increase the productivity of this species. We also explore whether there may be any hidden costs of such a breeding strategy by examining the condition of chicks for pairs which had successfully bred in the previous year. We found that Crowned Eagles breeding in more urban areas attempted to breed more often (i.e., higher breeding rate), but that these birds also suffered from lower breeding success. These two contrasting responses counteracted each other and meant that overall productivity (number of young produced per occupied territory) was not influenced by urbanisation. Breeding annually did not appear to have a negative cost on the chick condition, as offspring in the year following a successful breeding attempt did not have lowered body condition. This species appears to be well adjusted to breeding in an urban environment. Crowned Eagles are currently considered vulnerable in South Africa, and ensuring that an urban population of this species is able to persist can help secure the conservation status of this charismatic species. | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Muller, R. (2019). <i>How does urbanisation affect the breeding performance of African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus)?</i>. (). ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30892 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Muller, Rebecca. <i>"How does urbanisation affect the breeding performance of African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus)?."</i> ., ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30892 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Muller, R. 2019. How does urbanisation affect the breeding performance of African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus)?. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Muller, Rebecca AB - Birds face many challenges from the process of urbanisation. Those species that are able to occupy urban areas offer opportunities to understand processes of acclimatisation to urban life and may help in the development of urban spaces for the benefit of wildlife. In many bird species, individuals that occupy territories in more urban areas show lower productivity and lower body condition of nestlings, which is thought to be mediated by food availability. Most of the studies exploring this issue were done on passerines and carried out in the global north, with very few studies exploring this topic on non-passerines, and even fewer in Africa. Studies addressing urban productivity in apex predators with slow life histories that are often of conservation concern are largely missing. Here, we explore the breeding performance of the African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus) across an urbanisation gradient in KwaZuluNatal, South Africa. Specifically, we explored the hypothesis that living in an urban environment allows this species, which is typically a biennial breeder, to breed annually more often (i.e. increased breeding rate), and whether this might increase the productivity of this species. We also explore whether there may be any hidden costs of such a breeding strategy by examining the condition of chicks for pairs which had successfully bred in the previous year. We found that Crowned Eagles breeding in more urban areas attempted to breed more often (i.e., higher breeding rate), but that these birds also suffered from lower breeding success. These two contrasting responses counteracted each other and meant that overall productivity (number of young produced per occupied territory) was not influenced by urbanisation. Breeding annually did not appear to have a negative cost on the chick condition, as offspring in the year following a successful breeding attempt did not have lowered body condition. This species appears to be well adjusted to breeding in an urban environment. Crowned Eagles are currently considered vulnerable in South Africa, and ensuring that an urban population of this species is able to persist can help secure the conservation status of this charismatic species. DA - 2019 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - apex predator KW - urban green space KW - Africa KW - breeding frequency KW - breeding success KW - body condition KW - urba LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2019 T1 - How does urbanisation affect the breeding performance of African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus)? TI - How does urbanisation affect the breeding performance of African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus)? UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30892 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30892 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Muller R. How does urbanisation affect the breeding performance of African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus)?. []. ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2019 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30892 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | Department of Biological Sciences | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Science | |
| dc.subject | apex predator | |
| dc.subject | urban green space | |
| dc.subject | Africa | |
| dc.subject | breeding frequency | |
| dc.subject | breeding success | |
| dc.subject | body condition | |
| dc.subject | urba | |
| dc.title | How does urbanisation affect the breeding performance of African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus)? | |
| dc.type | Master Thesis | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters | |
| dc.type.qualificationname | MSc |