COMPARISON OF SURVIVAL RATES BETWEEN POPULATIONS OF THE WHITE STORK CICONIA-CICONIA IN CENTRAL-EUROPE

Many studies have shown that the decline in numbers of the White Stork populations has been stronger in the western part of its European bre eding range than in the eastern. Using recent developments of capture- recapture methods to estimate survival rates, including in particular a study of relationships with environmental variables and a comparison between populations, this paper examines changes in survival rates of some European populations of the White Stork. Survival rates of all p opulations wintering in the Sahelian zone were positively linked to th e amount of rainfall in their wintering area. However, the survival ra te of the population wintering in East Africa was not significantly re lated to the amount of rainfall there. No significant effect of the am ount of rainfall in the breeding area on survival rate was observed. D ifferences in survival rates were observed within western populations and between the western and eastern populations. An effect of age was only significant in the Alsacian population. No significant difference in survival rates was found between male and female storks.