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Harpy eagle
\"Introduces facts about harpy eagles, including physical features, habitat, life cycle, food, and threats to these rainforest creatures. Photos, captions, and keywords supplement the narrative of this informational text.\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Prey resources are equally important as climatic conditions for predicting the distribution of a broad-ranged apex predator
Aim
A current biogeographic paradigm states that climate regulates species distributions at continental scales and that biotic interactions are undetectable at coarse‐grain extents. However, advances in spatial modelling show that incorporating food resource distributions are important for improving model predictions at large distribution scales. This is particularly relevant to understand the factors limiting the distribution of widespread apex predators whose diets are likely to vary across their range.
Location
Neotropical Central and South America.
Methods
The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a large raptor, whose diet is largely comprised of arboreal mammals, all with broad distributions across Neotropical lowland forest. Here, we used a hierarchical modelling approach to determine the relative importance of abiotic factors and prey resource distribution on harpy eagle range limits. Our hierarchical approach consisted of the following modelling sequence of explanatory variables: (a) abiotic covariates, (b) prey resource distributions predicted by an equivalent modelling for each prey, (c) the combination of (a) and (b), and (d) as in (c) but with prey resources considered as a single prediction equivalent to prey species richness.
Results
Incorporating prey distributions improved model predictions but using solely biotic covariates still resulted in a high‐performing model. In the Abiotic model, Climatic Moisture Index (CMI) was the most important predictor, contributing 76% to model prediction. Three‐toed sloth (Bradypus spp.) was the most important prey resource, contributing 64% in a combined Abiotic‐Biotic model, followed by CMI contributing 30%. Harpy eagle distribution had high environmental overlap across all individual prey distributions, with highest coincidence through Central America, eastern Colombia, and across the Guiana Shield into northern Amazonia.
Main Conclusions
With strong reliance on prey distributions across its range, harpy eagle conservation programmes must therefore consider its most important food resources as a key element in the protection of this threatened raptor.
Journal Article
Species distribution modeling reveals strongholds and potential reintroduction areas for the world’s largest eagle
The highly interactive nature of predator-prey relationship is essential for ecosystem conservation; predators have been extirpated, however, from entire ecosystems all over the Earth. Reintroductions comprise a management technique to reverse this trend. Species Distribution Models (SDM) are preemptive tools for release-site selection, and can define levels of habitat quality over the species distribution. The Atlantic Forest of South America has lost most of its apex predators, and Harpy Eagles Harpia harpyja-Earth's largest eagle-are now limited to few forest pockets in this domain. Harpy Eagles are supposedly widespread in the Amazon Forest, however, where habitat loss and degradation is advancing at a rapid pace. We aim to describe the suitability of threatened Amazonian landscapes for this eagle. We also aim to assess the suitability of remaining Atlantic Forest sites for Harpy Eagle reintroductions. Here we show that that considerable eagle habitat has already been lost in Amazonia due to the expansion of the \"Arc of Deforestation\", and that Amazonian forests currently represent 93% of the current distribution of the species. We also show that the Serra do Mar protected areas in southeastern Brazil is the most promising region for Harpy Eagle reintroductions in the Atlantic Forest. Reintroduction and captive breeding programs have been undertaken for Harpy Eagles, building the technical and biological basis for a successful restoration framework. Our distribution range for this species represents a 41% reduction of what is currently proposed by IUCN. Furthermore, habitat loss in Amazonia, combined with industrial logging and hunting suggest that the conservation status of this species should be reassessed. We suggest researchers and conservation practitioners can use this work to help expand efforts to conserve Harpy Eagles and their natural habitats.
Journal Article
Geographic range estimates and environmental requirements for the harpy eagle derived from spatial models of current and past distribution
Understanding species–environment relationships is key to defining the spatial structure of species distributions and develop effective conservation plans. However, for many species, this baseline information does not exist. With reliable presence data, spatial models that predict geographic ranges and identify environmental processes regulating distribution are a cost‐effective and rapid method to achieve this. Yet these spatial models are lacking for many rare and threatened species, particularly in tropical regions. The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a Neotropical forest raptor of conservation concern with a continental distribution across lowland tropical forests in Central and South America. Currently, the harpy eagle faces threats from habitat loss and persecution and is categorized as Near‐Threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Within a point process modeling (PPM) framework, we use presence‐only occurrences with climatic and topographical predictors to estimate current and past distributions and define environmental requirements using Ecological Niche Factor Analysis. The current PPM prediction had high calibration accuracy (Continuous Boyce Index = 0.838) and was robust to null expectations (pROC ratio = 1.407). Three predictors contributed 96% to the PPM prediction, with Climatic Moisture Index the most important (72.1%), followed by minimum temperature of the warmest month (15.6%) and Terrain Roughness Index (8.3%). Assessing distribution in environmental space confirmed the same predictors explaining distribution, along with precipitation in the wettest month. Our reclassified binary model estimated a current range size 11% smaller than the current IUCN range polygon. Paleoclimatic projections combined with the current model predicted stable climatic refugia in the central Amazon, Guyana, eastern Colombia, and Panama. We propose a data‐driven geographic range to complement the current IUCN range estimate and that despite its continental distribution, this tropical forest raptor is highly specialized to specific environmental requirements.
Understanding species–environment relationships is key to defining the spatial structure of species distributions and develop effective conservation plans. The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a large raptor with a continental distribution across the Neotropics, categorized as Near‐Threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). We propose a data‐driven geographical range to complement the current IUCN range estimate and that despite its continental distribution, this tropical forest raptor is highly specialized to specific environmental requirements.
Journal Article
Reduction of Genetic Diversity of the Harpy Eagle in Brazilian Tropical Forests
Habitat loss and fragmentation intensify the effects of genetic drift and endogamy, reducing genetic variability of populations with serious consequences for wildlife conservation. The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a forest dwelling species that is considered near threatened and suffers from habitat loss in the forests of the Neotropical region. In this study, 72 historical and current samples were assessed using eight autosomal microsatellite markers to investigate the distribution of genetic diversity of the Harpy Eagle of the Amazonian and Atlantic forests in Brazil. The results showed that the genetic diversity of Harpy Eagle decreased in the regions where deforestation is intense in the southern Amazon and Atlantic Forest.
Journal Article
Harpy Eagle-Primate Interactions in the Central Amazon
We describe the successful predation of a black-bearded saki monkey (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes) by a Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) in the Brazilian Amazon and briefly recap two past Harpy Eagle-primate predation interactions. The physiological limitations that raptor anatomy places on individuals during predation attempts are considered along with escape behaviors used by primates to exploit these limitations to increase their chances of survival. In particular, we focus on primate flight paths and startle vocalizations.
Journal Article
First Record of a Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) Nest in Belize
We present the first description of a breeding record of the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) in Belize, and describe the subsequent fledging of the juvenile. We discovered the nest on 27 November 2010 with a single 4–5 week-old chick, and began focal observations. The juvenile spent 56.3% of 71 observation days feeding, and the parents delivered food to the nest at a rate of one item every 2.04–3.33 days from late January to April. The most frequent food items were the common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), white-nosed coatimundi (Nasua narica), and Yucatan black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra). We placed a satellite GPS-PPT transmitter on the juvenile Harpy Eagle on 14 April 2011 to track its movement patterns after fledging. Soon after, the parents stopped returning to the nest, the juvenile fledged, and for 28 days we delivered food to the young eagle in place of its parents. The abandonment of the juvenile by the parents may have been caused by low food abundance caused by drought conditions and/or placement of the transmitter may have had a role. The male subsequently returned to feed the juvenile. We believe these eagles represent one of the northernmost known extant breeding pairs of Harpy Eagles in the Americas.
Journal Article
Development of microsatellite markers for the near threatened eagles Harpia harpyja and Morphnus guianensis using next-generation sequencing
We isolated and characterized 11 microsatellite loci for Harpia harpyja using the IonTorrent PGM. The loci were validated in 22 Harpia harpyja and 16 Morphnus guianensis individuals. Ten of the loci were variable in H. harpyja, ranging from two to six alleles per locus. Seven of the loci were variable in M. guianensis ranging from two to six alleles per locus. Genotypes did not deviate from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium expectation, and no linkage disequilibrium was observed. These markers have a promise to provide an important resource for genetic population studies, conservation and monitoring of these two near threatened accipitrid species.
Journal Article