Land-use preferences of two Argentinian Caracaras

AGUILERA-ALCALÁ, N.; SEOANE, J.; SARASOLA, J.H.

Albuquerque

Congreso; 2023 Raptor Research Foundation Annual Conference; 2023

Raptor Research Foundation

Land use changes related to agricultural intensification and habitat homogenization rank high among the causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. The ability of species to adapt to living in humanized environments will determine their success in the current scenario of global change. Caracara species are generalist raptors that have been loosely identified as winning species in the face of agricultural intensification. However, their habitat preferences and the extent to which they might benefit from human activities are not well known. We conducted 891 point-count surveys in Pampa and Espinal ecoregions of central Argentina to describe the habitat use of the Argentinian caracaras, Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus) and Chimango Caracara (Phalcoboenus chimango). We found that Chimango Caracara was the most ubiquitous (82.15% occurrence) and abundant species (mean=4.03 individuals [SD=6.92]) by point count, versus Southern Caracara (21.89% and 0.46 individuals [SD=1.81], respectively). Both species showed a low dependence on the type of land use, although they showed opposite preferences. Chimango Caracara were more abundant in crops different from soybean, and in exotic tree plantations, whereas Southern Caracara were more abundant in pastures, soybean crops and areas with native forest. Our findings suggest that the response to agricultural intensification has been species-specific, potentially affecting both the spatial distribution and long-term population dynamics of these species.