IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoser/v39y2019ics2212041618305102.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nature’s clean-up crew: Quantifying ecosystem services offered by a migratory avian scavenger on a continental scale

Author

Listed:
  • Grilli, Maricel Graña
  • Bildstein, Keith L.
  • Lambertucci, Sergio A.

Abstract

Despite its importance for ecosystem and human health, the cleaning service provided by scavenging birds is frequently disregarded. We evaluated this ecosystem service provided by a migratory species at a continental scale, estimating the amount of annual organic material removal, and the cost of artificially replacing the service. Road surveys conducted between 2005 and 2011, indicated an abundance of Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) of nearly 9,000 birds along 27,658 km (22,127 km2), suggesting that the total global population could approximate 13 million birds. The calculated individual food intake (252 g/day) suggests that the surveyed population remove 1,000 tons of organic material per year –a monetized service of more than 500,000 USD, that could reach 700 million USD per year for the global population. Movement data from 22 tagged birds showed that the ecosystem service is maximized at the breeding and wintering areas, where Turkey Vultures spend most of the year (74–92% of time). The huge amount of organic material removed by Turkey Vultures at a continental scale, and the economic relevance of their service, highlight the importance of widespread and abundant populations of scavenging birds and their significant role in protecting the health of the environment and human wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Grilli, Maricel Graña & Bildstein, Keith L. & Lambertucci, Sergio A., 2019. "Nature’s clean-up crew: Quantifying ecosystem services offered by a migratory avian scavenger on a continental scale," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:39:y:2019:i:c:s2212041618305102
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100990
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041618305102
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100990?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Markandya, Anil & Taylor, Tim & Longo, Alberto & Murty, M.N. & Murty, S. & Dhavala, K., 2008. "Counting the cost of vulture decline--An appraisal of the human health and other benefits of vultures in India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 194-204, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Plaza, Pablo Ignacio & Lambertucci, Sergio Agustín, 2022. "Mitigating GHG emissions: A global ecosystem service provided by obligate scavenging birds," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    2. Carucci, Tomaso & Whitehouse-Tedd, Katherine & Yarnell, Richard W. & Collins, Alan & Fitzpatrick, Fran & Botha, Andre & Santangeli, Andrea, 2022. "Ecosystem services and disservices associated with vultures: A systematic review and evidence assessment," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Plaza, Pablo Ignacio & Lambertucci, Sergio Agustín, 2022. "Mitigating GHG emissions: A global ecosystem service provided by obligate scavenging birds," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    2. Pahl, Cameron C. & Ruedas, Luis A., 2021. "Carnosaurs as Apex Scavengers: Agent-based simulations reveal possible vulture analogues in late Jurassic Dinosaurs," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 458(C).
    3. Farley, Joshua, 2012. "Ecosystem services: The economics debate," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 40-49.
    4. Nicolas Treich, 2021. "Cultured Meat: Promises and Challenges," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 79(1), pages 33-61, May.
    5. Cody S. Clements & Zoe A. Pratte & Frank J. Stewart & Mark E. Hay, 2024. "Removal of detritivore sea cucumbers from reefs increases coral disease," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Gupta, Urvi & Qureshi, Qamar & Kumar, Nishant, 2020. "Folk perceptions for avian scavengers in a tropical megacity: implications for biocultural conservation," SocArXiv tmdv4, Center for Open Science.
    7. Carucci, Tomaso & Whitehouse-Tedd, Katherine & Yarnell, Richard W. & Collins, Alan & Fitzpatrick, Fran & Botha, Andre & Santangeli, Andrea, 2022. "Ecosystem services and disservices associated with vultures: A systematic review and evidence assessment," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    8. Dupont, H. & Mihoub, J.B. & Becu, N. & Sarrazin, F., 2011. "Modelling interactions between scavenger behaviour and farming practices: Impacts on scavenger population and ecosystem service efficiency," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(4), pages 982-992.
    9. García-Jiménez, Ruth & Morales-Reyes, Zebensui & Pérez-García, Juan M. & Margalida, Antoni, 2021. "Economic valuation of non-material contributions to people provided by avian scavengers: Harmonizing conservation and wildlife-based tourism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    10. Frank, Eyal G. & Sudarshan, Anant, 2022. "The Social Costs of Keystone Species Collapse : Evidence From The Decline of Vultures in India," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1433, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:39:y:2019:i:c:s2212041618305102. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecosystem-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.