When does agriculture enter into conflict with wildlife? A global assessment of parrot-agriculture conflicts and their conservation effects

Aim No human activity has changed natural habitat availability and ecosystem functioning more than agriculture. As a consequence, species may be forced to use croplands as foraging habitat, resulting in potential conflicts with farmers. To assess the causes and consequences of wildlife-agriculture interactions, we investigated the underlying associations among species traits, climate and landscapes factors that determine parrot species to use croplands, and related them to their conservation status. Location Global. Methods We used parrots as a model due to their global distribution, high behavioural plasticity, high proportion of species using croplands (43%) and threatened species (26%). Within the distribution range of the 398 extant parrot species, we calculated annual averages and seasonality of ecosystem productivity, climate conditions and land-use patterns from satellite data. We then categorized species conservation status using information provided by IUCN. Results We found that habitat degradation, where biodiversity is low and primary productivity is low and intermittent, together with the plasticity of species to use different habitats, is key interrelated conditions that increase the likelihood of species to use croplands worldwide. The persecution of parrots as crop pests varied among regions, being higher for large-bodied species, those with small distributions, and in highly human-impacted areas. Moreover, persecution is contributing to the global population decline and extinction risk of parrots, especially in those species with small distribution ranges. Main conclusions Parrot-agriculture conflicts may affect both the conservation of parrot species and their key ecological functions. Our results highlight the importance of using multi-specific and multi-source information to understand and predict where and why human-wildlife conflicts may arise, as their main drivers interact and are heterogeneous at large spatial scales. Further studies should evaluate the actual extent and economic impact of crop losses caused by wild species to help solve agriculture-wildlife conflicts.