caa a22 4500 606164847 CHVBK 20210128100650.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20151001xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10144-015-0506-1 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10144-015-0506-1 Evaluating the influence of diet-related variables on breeding performance and home range behaviour of a top predator [Elektronische Daten] [Rui Lourenço, Maria del Delgado, Letizia Campioni, Erkki Korpimäki, Vincenzo Penteriani] Diet composition is linked to reproductive performance directly or indirectly by other life-history traits, including home range behaviour. The relationships between prey abundance, diet and individual fitness have often been explored. However, these relationships are complex and difficult to disentangle, especially in vertebrate top predators. Here, we present the results of a long-term study using multi-model inference procedures to elucidate the influence of diet-related variables on breeding parameters and home range behaviour of a top predator, the eagle owl Bubo bubo. Superpredation, diet diversity, rat biomass and rabbit mean weight were the most important variables when analysing reproductive parameters, suggesting that less diverse diets with greater rabbit biomass percentage may benefit reproductive performance, whereas rat biomass percentage is apparently associated with greater variation of breeding success. Earlier laying dates seem to be associated with the consumption, on average, of smaller rabbits. On the other hand, edge density was the most relevant factor determining the variation in home range behaviour, with individual characteristics, such as age and sex, also being important. Although the relative importance of the diet-related variables was generally low, mean weight of alternative prey, diet diversity and rabbit biomass also helped to explain home range parameters. In an optimal foraging context, centred on the abundance of the main prey species, our results suggest that when rabbits are less available eagle owls may increase home range size in order to obtain alternative prey, increasing at the same time their dietary diversity, which may also require higher movement speed. The Society of Population Ecology and Springer Japan, 2015 Diet diversity nationallicence Foraging theory nationallicence Optimal diet nationallicence Predator-prey relationships nationallicence Prey size variation nationallicence Lourenço Rui Labor-Laboratory of Ornithology, Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas, Universidade de Évora-Núcleo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal aut Delgado Maria del Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, c/Americo Vespucio s/n, 41092, Seville, Spain aut Campioni Letizia MARE, Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA Instituto Universitário, Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041, Lisbon, Portugal aut Korpimäki Erkki Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland aut Penteriani Vincenzo Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, c/Americo Vespucio s/n, 41092, Seville, Spain aut Population Ecology Springer Japan 57/4(2015-10-01), 625-636 1438-3896 57:4<625 2015 57 10144 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-015-0506-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-015-0506-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Lourenço Rui Labor-Laboratory of Ornithology, Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas, Universidade de Évora-Núcleo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Delgado Maria del Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, c/Americo Vespucio s/n, 41092, Seville, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Campioni Letizia MARE, Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA Instituto Universitário, Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041, Lisbon, Portugal aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Korpimäki Erkki Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Penteriani Vincenzo Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, c/Americo Vespucio s/n, 41092, Seville, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Population Ecology Springer Japan 57/4(2015-10-01), 625-636 1438-3896 57:4<625 2015 57 10144