Small-scale land-use change effects on breeding success in a desert-living social bird.

This article investigates the breeding success of the cooperative breeding Arabian babbler (Argya squamiceps) in the Negev desert of Israel across habitats with varying levels of human disturbance, including villages, orchards, and semi-wild desert plateau. Despite higher resource availability near human villages, the study found no significant improvement in breeding success, provisioning rates, or nestling growth for babblers nesting closer to villages; in fact, nestlings gained less mass at higher temperatures regardless of habitat. Predation patterns differed by habitat, with non-native predators such as domestic cats and golden jackals responsible for nest failures in villages, while native predators like red foxes dominated in orchards and plateau areas. The findings suggest that human-altered desert habitats may not serve as ecological refuges for this desert specialist and highlight the potential conservation benefit of managing invasive predators, particularly domestic cats, to improve babbler fitness.