Our new PhD student, Kryštof Korejs who joined our laboratory in February, just got a paper about European turtle dove accepted. He worked on the topic as on a side project during his Master thesis. Congratulation to a nice piece.

The European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) is an endangered IUCN Red List species impacted by agricultural intensification. Despite its dire conservation status, its habitat preferences are poorly understood particularly in its eastern breeding range. To address this gap, we conducted a study in the Czech Republic in order to investigate the environmental factors that affect this species´ distribution. Turtle dove showed preference of forest and agricultural land cover particularly in lower altitudes, while avoiding urban and wetland areas. Within these general land cover types, turtle dove preferred coniferous tree plantations and semi-natural beech and riparian forests, but oak forests, broadleaf, and mixed tree plantations were strongly avoided. In agricultural areas, turtle doves strongly preferred semi-natural grasslands and vineyards but avoided intensive agriculture. Overall, our study provides important insights into the habitat preferences of the endangered turtle dove in the Czech Republic, which can better inform conservation efforts for the species.

Kryštof Korejs, Jan Riegert, Ivan Mikuláš, Jan Vrba, Jan Havlíček “Habitat preferences of European turtle dove Streptopelia turtur in the Czech Republic: implications for conservation of a rapidly declining farmland species,” Journal of Vertebrate Biology, 73(24004), 24004.1-14, (26 April 2024) https://doi.org/10.25225/jvb.24004