Dietary Shift in a Barn Owl (Tyto alba) Population Following Partial Abandonment of Cultivated Fields (Central Apennine Hills, Italy).

ABSTRACT: While most studies focused on the impact of intensive agriculture on the barn owl's diet, little is known about the effect of cropland abandonment. We compared the taxon composition/evenness and feeding guild structure of small mammal prey identified in pellets collected before (2004) and after (2012) the abandonment of 9% of cultivated fields within a cultural landscape. Data on prey abundance per pellet were analysed through non-metric multidimensional scaling and permutational, paired tests. Prey taxon evenness in 2012 was significantly lower than in 2004. That induced a shift in prey taxon composition as indicated by the significantly lower dietary similarity compared with the random expectation. The increasing and declining abundance of Murinae and Crocidurinae, respecti

SUBMITTER: Achille G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11394017 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature