Donana Area Research Articles

Settlement and Successful Breeding of Reintroduced Spanish Imperial EaglesAquila adalbertiin the Province of Cadiz (Spain)

Summary. A project to reintroduce the Spanish imperial eagle in the province of Cadiz (Andalusia, Spain) began in 2002. The aim was to restore the former breeding nucleus, to encourage subpopulation interconnection and to ensure the long-term persistence of the southern metapopulation of this endemic Iberian species. A population reinforcement programme also began in 2005 at a location in the Donana area (Andalusia, Spain) to improve the viability of this endangered subpopulation. Between 2002 and 2010, a total of 73 young Spanish imperial eagles were released at four locations by means of hacking. As a result, in 2010 a released male bred successfully with a non-reintroduced female and two young were reared. This was the first successful breeding event recorded in Cadiz province since 1960. An additional territorial pair also settled in the release area in 2010 and four more translocated individuals have made breeding attempts within nearby breeding subpopulations since 2006. The settlement and breeding ...

Species Richness and Distribution of Copepods and Cladocerans and their Relation to Hydroperiod and Other Environmental Variables in Doñana, South-west Spain

Twenty-five sites located in five wetland zones within Donana, south-west Spain were studied for copepod and cladoceran species richness and composition in relation to habitat characteristics from January to March 2004. The γ-diversity of copepods and cladocerans combined varied between wetland zones, which differed significantly in conductivity, surface area and abundance of vegetation. However, there were no significant differences between zones in local species richness of either copepods or cladocerans or the two combined. Species richness was significantly higher in sites with intermediate hydroperiods (duration between 3 and 5 months) than in sites with shorter or longer hydroperiods. CCA analyses performed separately for copepods and cladocerans extracted conductivity, surface area, and vegetation cover as the main factors structuring species composition of both groups. Ours is one of the first studies of zooplankton in the natural marshes of the Donana World Heritage Site, and we recorded five species new to the Donana area.

A 4 year follow-up analysis of genotoxic damage in birds of the Doñana area (south west Spain) in the wake of the 1998 mining waste spill.

A total of 330 white storks (Ciconia ciconia) and 138 black kites (Milvus migrans) were blood sampled during four consecutive years in an area heavily contaminated as a consequence of a massive spillage of toxic acid mining waste rich in heavy metals that impacted on the Doñana National Park (south western Spain), in April 1998. The alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assay was performed as a genotoxicity test, in order to assess whether the high level of DNA damage first detected by us 1 year after the disaster was still present in birds in each of the successive 3 years. Our results clearly show that, when compared with control individuals from non-polluted areas, white storks and black kites born in the contaminated area for a period of up to 4 years after the toxic accident have suffered an increase of at least 2- to 10-fold in the level of their genetic damage through the study period. Taken as a whole, these observations seem to indicate that the toxic spill still appears to be affecting the wildlife 4 years after the mining disaster and that attempts at cleaning up the waste have proved ineffective based on DNA damage detection.

Spatial Relationships Between Iberian Lynx and Other Carnivores in an Area of South-Western Spain

1. Spatial relationships between Iberian lynx and other carnivores were studied by radio-tracking and/or track censusing in two adjacent areas of Donana (south-western Spain). 2. Both radio-tracking and track censusing showed that lynx were restricted to an undisturbed area of Pistacia lentiscus shrubs called Matasgordas. Minimum and maximum lynx density in Matasgordas were estimated as 0.55 and 0.75 ind. km -2 . 3. Egyptian mongoose tracks were mainly detected outside Matasgordas (83% of tracks), European badger tracks were detected most often inside Matasgordas (76% of tracks), and red fox tracks were frequently detected both outside (54%) and inside (46%) Matasgordas. Surveys of tracks and faeces undertaken in other 14 areas where P. lentiscus shrubs also dominated corroborated the census data obtained inside and outside Matasgordas. 4. Trapping and radio-tracking of mongooses and common genets indicated that both species avoided use of Matasgordas. They were almost exclusively trapped (24 out of 25 mongooses and all of 11 genets) and mainly radio-located (94.5% and 95.4% of times, for mongooses and genets, respectively) in the areas of P. lentiscus shrubs situated outside Matasgordas. Their densities were estimated as 0.2 and 0.03 ind. km -2 inside, and as 2.0 and 0.7 ind. km -2 outside Matasgordas for mongooses and genets, respectively. 5. Lynx may kill mongooses, genets, and foxes ; thus, the avoidance of Matasgordas by smaller carnivores (mongooses and genets) could be related to the risk of lynx predation. It is suggested that the decline of the lynx in the Donana area may have caused the increase in the population size of smaller, previously rarer carnivores. 6. The true relationship between lynx and foxes remains unclear, and badgers were apparently indifferent to lynx presence or absence.