Protected areas enter a new era of uncertain challenges:extinction of a non-exigent falcon in Doñana National Park

Protected areas are supposed to maintain viable populations of plant and animaltaxa and shield them from anthropogenic threats, but this role is increasingly underscrutiny. Here, we document the alarming extinction of a small falcon, the Eurasianhobby Falco subbuteo,inDo~nana National Park, an iconic protected arearenowned for its rich predator community. Hobbies were originally abundant at50–60 pairs and acted as unique specialist hunters of swifts and dragonies. Thisdiet implies a unique niche within the raptor assemblage and frequent ranging overagricultural areas surrounding the park. The high density of other raptors likelyconstrained habitat availability. Predation was the main cause of breeding failure,and hatching and breeding success were always low, especially in drought years,and declined progressively through time. The extinction occurred rapidly after2000 with several clues suggesting the synergistic contribution of prey depletion,farmland intensication, chemical contamination, predation and climate warming.Lack of detailed monitoring prevented a clear assessment of the relative role ofthese factors, but most of them seemed traceable to farming practices and climatechange, i.e. large-scale drivers generated outside the Park. The documented extinc-tion is alarming because this species is not particularly exigent, it may imply wide-spread declines of other species, and because this loss adds to the imminent localextinction of another raptor with profoundly different requirements, suggestingmounting, broad-level pressures affecting the whole ecosystem. This unforseen,rapid extinction in a Park that dedicates much effort to raptor management offersbroad-scale reections. Climate change and growing anthropogenic pressures willmake unexpected species losses increasingly common in protected areas, whichwill face growing difculties in identifying decline-drivers and in performing theirprotective task. Increased knowledge, quality monitoring and rapid managementaction will be needed for protected areas to deliver their role, but this will requireincreased funding.Peer reviewe