2025/06/23 by Beatriz Rumeu, Juan Carlos Illera, Manuel Nogales +4 · 1 voice
Environmental Science · #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Species Distribution and Climate Change
paper · doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03704
Knowledge on the movement ecology of frugivorous animals with unique or dominant roles in ecosystems is essential to understand the spatial extent of their seed dispersal services and to inform conservation actions. In El Teide National Park (Canary Islands), remnants of a past woodland dominated by Canary junipers ( Juniperus cedrus ) persist nowadays in craggy areas where they escaped human impact until the ecosystem was legally protected in the mid-20 th century. Remarkably, seed dispersal of this relict woodland largely depends on a small wintering population of ring ouzels ( Turdus torquatus ). We combined GPS satellite tracking of individual ring ouzels with high-resolution habitat data to investigate their movement patterns and habitat selection, thereby informing actions for the conservation of this endangered plant-frugivore system. We show that ring ouzels remain in the National Park during the winter, exhibiting a range-resident behaviour within a few hundred hectares. Most relevant movements for seed dispersal (95%) were under 1176 m, and only 1% reached distances between 1905–2742 m. Importantly, space use was strongly linked to juniper cover and proximity to permanent water sources, while unvegetated flat areas were avoided. Our findings indicate that ring ouzels can play a crucial role dispersing seeds at substantial distances within juniper remnants but, in contrast, their dispersal contribution beyond or between remnants appears to be very rare or negligible. Finally, our results suggest that, in addition to active restoration of the juniper woodland, the provision of water sources is an essential management action to support ring ouzels’ activity and, potentially, to direct their seed-dispersal services.