Habitat-dependent provisioning patterns are modulated by weather conditions in a rapidly declining farmland raptor

Habitat-dependent provisioning patterns are modulated by weather conditions in a rapidly declining farmland raptor | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 9 November 2025 V1 Latest version Share on Habitat-dependent provisioning patterns are modulated by weather conditions in a rapidly declining farmland raptor Authors : S Sangeeth Sailas 0000-0003-3562-8079 , Matthias Tschumi 0000-0002-7991-7780 , Martin Grüebler 0000-0003-4468-8292 [email protected] , Filip Reipricht , Ronald van Harxen , Pascal Stroeken , and Martin Salek Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176272208.83846623/v1 Published Ecology and Evolution Version of record Peer review timeline 194 views 159 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Agricultural intensification and concomitant reduction in high-quality habitats represents one of the major threats to farmland biodiversity in Europe. The Little Owl Athene noctua is an avian farmland predator whose population rapidly declined across many European countries. Food limitation during the breeding season has been considered a key factor driving this decline. However, it remains unclear how the quality of agricultural habitats affect parental food provisioning across different Little Owl populations. In addition, little is known about how weather conditions may modulate provisioning patterns dependent on habitat quality. Using nestbox cameras, we monitored parental food provisioning of Little Owls in four European countries with contrasting farmland structure (Czechia, Slovakia, Germany, Netherlands), covering 40 nests and 58 broods during the period 2002-2022. In particular, we investigated the interacting effects of habitat quality within Little Owl territories and weather conditions on parental food provisioning and nestling diet. Across all countries, provisioning rate and biomass increased with the area of high-quality habitats, showed a quadratic relationship with temperature and decreased with wind speed. Additionally, high-quality habitats acted as a buffer against adverse weather, allowing parents to provision more biomass at low temperatures, and increase provisioning rates at high wind speeds. The changes in prey composition due to poor weather conditions differed considerably between habitats of high and low quality, suggesting that under poor conditions, Little Owls are able to access more insects and voles in high than low-quality habitats. Our findings highlight that increasing the area of high-quality habitats including high heterogeneity within Little Owl territories should represent the prime conservation activity to reduce the risk of food limitation across contrasting farmlands, particularly under poor weather conditions. Supplementary Material File (main text file little owl.pdf) Download 1.01 MB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 09 November 2025 Peer review timeline Published Ecology and Evolution Version of Record 19 Jan 2026 Published Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords agricultural intensification food limitation habitat composition little owl prey composition provisioning rate Authors Affiliations S Sangeeth Sailas 0000-0003-3562-8079 University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice Faculty of Science View all articles by this author Matthias Tschumi 0000-0002-7991-7780 Swiss Ornithological Institute View all articles by this author Martin Grüebler 0000-0003-4468-8292 [email protected] Swiss Ornithological Institute View all articles by this author Filip Reipricht Raptor Protection of Slovakia, Trhová 54, 841 01 View all articles by this author Ronald van Harxen STONE, Aladnaweg 15, 7122 RP View all articles by this author Pascal Stroeken STONE, Aladnaweg 15, 7122 RP View all articles by this author Martin Salek Institute of Vertebrate Biology CAS View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 194 views 159 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation S Sangeeth Sailas, Matthias Tschumi, Martin Grüebler, et al. Habitat-dependent provisioning patterns are modulated by weather conditions in a rapidly declining farmland raptor. Authorea . 09 November 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176272208.83846623/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . Format Please select one from the list RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks Direct import Tips for downloading citations document.getElementById('citMgrHelpLink').addEventListener('click', function() { popupHelp(this.href); return false; }); $(".js__slcInclude").on("change", function(e){ if ($(this).val() == 'refworks') $('#direct').prop("checked", false); $('#direct').prop("disabled", ($(this).val() == 'refworks')); }); Cited by S. Sangeeth Sailas, Matthias Tschumi, Martin U. Grüebler, Filip Reipricht, Pascal Stroeken, Ronald van Harxen, Martin Šálek, Habitat‐Dependent Provisioning Patterns Are Modulated by Weather Conditions in a Rapidly Declining Farmland Raptor, Ecology and Evolution, 16 , 1, (2026). https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72969 Crossref Loading... View Options View options PDF View PDF Figures Tables Media Share Share Share article link Copy Link Copied! Copying failed. 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