The magpie and the grapes: increasing ozone exposure impacts fruit consumption by a common corvid in a suburban environment

Andrea Viviano; Emiliano Mori; Jacopo Manzini; Elena Paoletti; Yasutomo Hoshika; Lorenzo Cotrozzi; Claudia Pisuttu; Samuele Risoli; Alessandro Materassi; Barbara Baesso Moura

doi:10.1002/ps.7819

The magpie and the grapes: increasing ozone exposure impacts fruit consumption by a common corvid in a suburban environment

Pest Manag Sci. 2023 Oct 6. doi: 10.1002/ps.7819. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Andrea Viviano^{1

2}, Emiliano Mori^{1

3}, Jacopo Manzini^{1

2}, Elena Paoletti^{1

3}, Yasutomo Hoshika^{1

3}, Lorenzo Cotrozzi⁴, Claudia Pisuttu⁴, Samuele Risoli^{4

5}, Alessandro Materassi⁶, Barbara Baesso Moura^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ CNR-IRET, Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy.
² DAGRI, Department of Agronomy, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy.
³ National Future Biodiversity Center, Palermo, Italy.
⁴ Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
⁵ University School for Advanced Studies IUSS Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
⁶ Institute of BioEconomy, National Research Council of Italy (CNR-IBE), Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy.

PMID: 37801469
DOI: 10.1002/ps.7819

Abstract

Background: The Eurasian magpie Pica pica is a resident bird species able to colonize farmlands and anthropized environments. This corvid shows a wide trophic spectrum by including fruits, invertebrates, small vertebrates and carcasses in its diet. A camera-trap experiment was carried out to test the effect of different ozone (O₃ ) concentrations on potted Vitis vinifera plants, which resulted in different grape consumption rates by suburban birds. The test was performed at an Ozone-Free Air Controlled Exposure (FACE) facility, consisting of nine plots with three ozone (O₃ ) levels: AA (ambient O₃ concentration); and two elevated O₃ levels, 1.5× AA (ambient air with a 50% increase in O₃ concentration) and 2.0× AA (ambient air with a 100% increase in O₃ concentration). Camera-traps were located in front of each treatment area and kept active for 24 h day^-1 and for 5 days at a time over a period of 3 months to monitor grape consumption by birds.

Results: We collected a total of 38 videos. Eurasian magpies were the only grape consumers, with a total of 6.7 ± 3.3 passages per hour (mean ± SD) and no differences across the different O₃ treatments. Grapes in the AA treatment were consumed significantly more quickly than those in the 1.5× AA treatment, which in turn, were consumed faster than those in the 2.0× AA treatment. At 3 days from the start of treatment, 94%, 53% and 22% berries from the AA, 1.5× AA and 2.0× AA treatments had been eaten, respectively. When the O₃ was turned off, berries were consumed at the same rate among treatments.

Conclusion: Increasing O₃ concentrations limited grape consumption by magpies probably because O₃ acted as a deterrent for magpies, although the lower sugar content recorded in the 2.0× AA berries did not affect the consumption when O₃ was turned off. Our results provided valuable insights to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts in suburban environments. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Keywords: Pica pica; corvids; crop pests; ozone-FACE; suburban environment.