Landscape homogenization due to agricultural intensification disrupts the relationship between reproductive success and main prey abundance in an avian predator.
Petra SumasgutnerJulien TerraubeAurélie CoulonAlexandre VillersNayden ChakarovLuise KruckenhauserErkki KorpimäkiPublished in: Frontiers in zoology (2019)
We found a strong positive effect of landscape heterogeneity on nestling survival, but only when voles were relatively abundant, whereas a difference in the timing of breeding related to territory landscape heterogeneity was not evident. Therefore, landscape heterogeneity appeared as the main driver of high reproductive performance under favourable food conditions. Our results show that landscape homogenization linked to agricultural intensification disrupts the expected positive effect of vole abundance on reproductive success of kestrels.