Linking resource use with demography in a synanthropic population of common ravens

A thorough understanding of a population’s ecology requires knowledge of the relationship between habitat use, resource use and demographic parameters. We undertook an empirical investigation of habitat use, resource use and demography in a population of common ravens (Corvus corax), a species widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The abundance of ravens is increasing in many parts of western North America, which represents a conservation concern since predation by ravens is thought to contribute to the decline of several sensitive species. We defined resources as the suite of physical and biological components in the environment that led to occupancy of a particular place by ravens. The home ranges of breeding and nonbreeding ravens contained similar proportions of resources, but breeding ravens used more edges, roads, forest, clearcuts, and towns than nonbreeders. We detected no differences in survival between the sexes, but breeding ravens survived at higher rates than nonbreeders, due to exclusion by breeding ravens from those resources positively associated with survival. Raven use of mature forests and anthropogenic land use types was positively associated with survival. Breeding raven use of clearcuts and patchy areas contributed to increased reproduction, but the use of clearcuts along with the use of roads was negatively associated with survival due to illegal shooting. Greater insight into the demography of synanthropic species such as the common raven will enable managers to make informed decisions for protecting biodiversity. This study is the first to consider the demographic consequences of habitat use and resource use for both nonbreeding and breeding common ravens.

► We studied habitat use, resource use and demography in a synanthropic population of common ravens. ► Adult and nonbreeding ravens used resources differently, which influenced their demographic parameters. ► Raven use of mature forest and anthropogenic land use was associated with increased survival. ► Adult use of clearcuts was associated with increased reproduction but lower survival due to illegal shooting.