Estado de arte del conocimiento de las aves rapaces de Chile: Situación actual y proyecciones futuras
Estado de arte del conocimiento de las aves rapaces de Chile: Situación actual y proyecciones futuras
Authors
Authors
Date
2015-07-29
Datos de publicación:
Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, Vol. 85, Nº4, 469-480, 2012
Keywords
Aves rapaces - Especies amenazadas - Conservación
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Abstract
El creciente interés a nivel mundial por el estudio de las aves rapaces ha generado la necesidad de identificar las prioridades de investigación para así enfocar los esfuerzos de conservación sobre ellas. En Chile, las primeras investigaciones se inician en 1891, y el número de publicaciones se ha incrementado considerablemente durante las últimas décadas. Basados en la información publicada entre los años 1970 y 2011 evaluamos el estado de conocimiento de las aves rapaces de Chile con el propósito de identificar aquellos tópicos donde todavía la información es deficiente o insuficiente para determinar qué tipo de información debe priorizarse. Analizamos la información de acuerdo a la especie, especies agrupadas (rapaces diurnas y nocturnas), temas de investigación y área geográfica donde se realizaron los estudios. Encontramos que el número de publicaciones aumentó linealmente con el tiempo, pero esta tendencia ha sido fuertemente sesgada hacia solo dos especies (Tyto alba y Geranoaetus polyosoma). La mayor cantidad de estudios realizados en Chile se centraron en el conocimiento de la dieta, con un interés más acentuado en las rapaces nocturnas que en las diurnas. Los temas de investigación restantes solo fueron mediana o escasamente considerados. Las aves rapaces menos estudiadas fueron las migratorias (Buteo swainsoni, Pandion haliaetus, Circus buffoni), las especialistas del bosque templado de Sudamérica austral (Strix rufipes, Accipiter bicolor, Buteo ventralis y B. albigula) y aquellas pertenecientes al género Phalcoboenus, la mayoría de las cuales se encuentran con problemas de conservación. Los estudios por áreas geográficas fueron similares entre rapaces diurnas y nocturnas. Cabe destacar que se observó una alta concentración de los estudios en las cercanías de Santiago, capital administrativa de Chile. Concluimos que las prioridades de investigación deben focalizarse sobre: (a) las especies escasamente estudiadas y con problemas de conservación, (b) temas de investigación tales como migración, densidad poblacional, taxonomía, manejo, parásitos y uso y selección de hábitat, y (c) las especies que habitan ambientes remotos, paisajes fragmentados y/o modificados por el hombre y áreas altamente pobladas.
Increasing global interest for studying birds of prey has lead to the need to identify research priorities to better focus conservation efforts. In Chile, studies on raptors date back to 1891, and the number of publications has considerably increased in the last decades. To our knowledge, however, analysis on information gaps and research priorities is lacking. Based on the published information from 1970 and 2011, we assessed the current state of knowledge for Chilean raptors to identify the topics where information is absent or is insufficient and to determine what information is a research priority. We analyzed the information according to species, species groups (diurnal and nocturnal), research topics and geographical area where the studies were conducted. We found that the number of papers increased linearly with time, but the tendency was strongly biased toward only two species (Tyto alba, Geranoaetus polyosoma). Most studies focused on diet and were with an interest more pronounced towards nocturnal than diurnal raptors. The remainder of topics was only moderately or poorly studied. The least studied raptors were migrant species (Buteo swainsoni, Pandion haliaetus, Circus buffoni), forest specialists (Strix rufipes, Accipiter bicolor, Buteo ventralis and B. albigula) and members of the genus Phalcoboenus, most of which have some conservation problem. The number of studies by geographical area was similar between diurnal and nocturnal raptors. Remarkably, a high proportion of studies concentrated in the Metropolitan Region of Chile. We conclude that research must be focused on (a) poorly studied and threatened species, (b) scarcely studied topics such as migration, population density, taxonomy, management, parasites and use and selection habitat, and (c) species inhabiting remote islands, fragmented or human-modified landscapes, and heavily populated areas.
Increasing global interest for studying birds of prey has lead to the need to identify research priorities to better focus conservation efforts. In Chile, studies on raptors date back to 1891, and the number of publications has considerably increased in the last decades. To our knowledge, however, analysis on information gaps and research priorities is lacking. Based on the published information from 1970 and 2011, we assessed the current state of knowledge for Chilean raptors to identify the topics where information is absent or is insufficient and to determine what information is a research priority. We analyzed the information according to species, species groups (diurnal and nocturnal), research topics and geographical area where the studies were conducted. We found that the number of papers increased linearly with time, but the tendency was strongly biased toward only two species (Tyto alba, Geranoaetus polyosoma). Most studies focused on diet and were with an interest more pronounced towards nocturnal than diurnal raptors. The remainder of topics was only moderately or poorly studied. The least studied raptors were migrant species (Buteo swainsoni, Pandion haliaetus, Circus buffoni), forest specialists (Strix rufipes, Accipiter bicolor, Buteo ventralis and B. albigula) and members of the genus Phalcoboenus, most of which have some conservation problem. The number of studies by geographical area was similar between diurnal and nocturnal raptors. Remarkably, a high proportion of studies concentrated in the Metropolitan Region of Chile. We conclude that research must be focused on (a) poorly studied and threatened species, (b) scarcely studied topics such as migration, population density, taxonomy, management, parasites and use and selection habitat, and (c) species inhabiting remote islands, fragmented or human-modified landscapes, and heavily populated areas.