Human-scavenger relations: from conservation challenges to contributions to people

Abstract

Human activities are the main driver of global change in the Anthropo- cene, being responsible for the loss of biodiversity at a global scale. The loss of biodiversity alters the ecosystem functions, impacting on the contributions that nature provides to people, which condition human wellbeing. One of the most threatened functional groups are scavengers, which are related to important regulating functions in ecosystems. This thesis focuses on how human activities affect the conservation of scavenger species, whilst at the same time, delving into the multiple benefits derived from human-scavenger relations. In particular, this thesis aims to assess the following points: the response of scavenger birds to transhumant livestock activity (Chapter 1); the potential biases in the detection of poisoned wildlife (Chapter 2); the role of scavenger species in nature’s non-material contributions to people (Chapter 3); and the spatial patterns that determine the provision of non-material contributions (Chapter 4).