Owls in Floodplain Forests in Eastern Austria: Habitat Use and Population Density

    Publications: Contribution to journalMeeting abstract/Conference paper

    Abstract

    Due to their trophic position owls represent important indicator species for an intact environment. However, little is known about the population density and habitat preferences of owls in European floodplain forest ecosystems. Therefore, we mapped owl territories and analyzed the habitat use of the Tawny Owl in the largest remaining floodplain forests in Central Europe, located along Danube River and Morava River in Eastern Austria. The studied floodplain forests are embedded in an agricultural landscape matrix and are characterized by different flood dynamics, forest structure and forest management measures. Using a point-count methodology, owls were surveyed in March-May 2012 in an area covering approximately 100 km2 along the Danube River east of Vienna (the largest part of this area belongs to the Donau-Auen National Park) and in an area of approx. 10 km2 along Morava River, Lower Austria. The 188 observation points were located at a distance of >0.5 km from each other and covered the entire study area. Three owl species, Tawny Owl (Strix aluco), Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) and Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), were recorded in the surveyed floodplain forests with at total of 99, 7 and 5 identified territories, respectively. In regard to the Tawny Owl, the likelihood of occurrence at census points increased significantly with the increase of deciduous forest coverage (within a 200 m radius around census points). Apparently, the occurrence of Tawny Owl was not affected by flooding regime and the proximity of Eagle Owl territories. The high territory densities of Tawny Owl in the Nature Reserve March floodplain (1.6 territories/km2) and the Donau-Auen National Park (1.0 territories/km2) indicate a high habitat quality of the studied floodplain forests for owls.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)531
    Number of pages536
    JournalNationalpark Hohe Tauern - Conference Volume
    Volume5
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

    Austrian Fields of Science 2012

    • 106003 Biodiversity research
    • 106026 Ecosystem research

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