MODELLING NESTING HABITAT PREFERENCES OF EURASIAN GRIFFON VULTURE GYPS FULVUS IN EASTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA

SUMMARY.—Modelling nesting habitat preferences of Eurasian Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus in eastern Iberian Peninsula. Aims: To apply modern habitat modelling techniques using generalized linear models approach to generate not only explicative but also predictive habitat suitability models. Ecological factors that could affect the species’ nesting habitat preferences at two spatial scales, one referred to the colony as a sampling unit and another trying to reflect the landscape level, had been underlined. Location: Castellon province, eastern Iberian Peninsula. Methods: Occupied and unoccupied cliffs and 10x10Km U.T.M. squares were compared using univariate tests. A generalized linear model, employing logistic regression, was applied to explain and predict the occurrence of Griffon Vultures at two spatial scales. In order to select the most parsimonious model amongst