Search results for "Nature"
showing 10 items of 1564 documents
Patterns of movement of released female brown bears in the Cantabrian Mountains, northwestern Spain
2017
Between 2008 and 2013, 3 female brown bears (Ursus arctos; 2 cubs-of-the-year and 1 2-yr-old) were rescued, rehabilitated in captivity, radiotagged, and released back to the Cantabrian Mountains, northwestern Spain. We characterized their daily and seasonal movements post-release to gain insights into their movement strategies and the viability of bears released in human-dominated environments. The bears exhibited marked diurnal activity and were active throughout winter. Two bears demonstrated behaviors similar to those reported for wild bears, whereas one cub-of-the-year was recaptured after 21 days because she developed signs of habituation to humans.
Inter-specific nest re-use by Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica
2017
ABSTRACTCapsule: Reports of inter-specific nest re-use by Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica in Europe and North America are reviewed. Inter-specific nest re-use was rare but appeared opportunistic, possibly functioning as a time-saving mechanism or as a result of limited nest sites.
First cases of polygyny for the Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus in the central Pyrenees
2017
ABSTRACTWe report the first cases of polygyny for the Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus in the central Pyrenees, Spain. Although polyandry is frequent in the study area (31.8% of all reproductive units in 2016), we only observed the occurrence of three cases of polygyny over the period 1994–2017. Polygyny in Bearded Vultures is possibly a consequence of habitat saturation.
Effects of Natura 2000 on nontarget bird and butterfly species based on citizen science data
2020
The European Union's Natura 2000 (N2000) is among the largest international networks of protected areas. One of its aims is to secure the status of a predetermined set of (targeted) bird and butterfly species. However, nontarget species may also benefit from N2000. We evaluated how the terrestrial component of this network affects the abundance of nontargeted, more common bird and butterfly species based on data from long-term volunteer-based monitoring programs in 9602 sites for birds and 2001 sites for butterflies. In almost half of the 155 bird species assessed, and particularly among woodland specialists, abundance increased (slope estimates ranged from 0.101 [SD 0.042] to 3.51 [SD 1.30…
Plant communities of the Czerwona Woda River Valley (Stołowe Mountains National Park)
2018
Abstract The Czerwona Woda River is the main watercourse in the Stołowe Mountains National Park and drains the major part of the Stołowe Mts. It was regulated in the past, but its channel has been spontaneously naturalised. Now, managed spruce forests grow along almost the entire length of this small mountain stream. The aims of the present study were to investigate diversity of plant communities connected with the Czerwona Woda stream and to prepare detailed vegetation maps. The results obtained can potentially be a reference for future restoration projects implemented in the Stołowe Mountains National Park. As a result of vegetation mapping, there were distinguished 20 plant communities r…
Contrasting Patterns in Chironomid (Chironomidae) Communities of Shallow and Deep Boreal Lakes Since the 1960s
2016
Chironomids have been widely used as indicators of trophic conditions of lakes due to their species-specific environmental requirements. In order to understand resilience and deterioration of aquatic ecosystems due to increases and/or decreases in external loading, recent chironomid community and water chemistry data of seven southern Finnish lakes with varying anthropogenic pressures and bathymetric properties were compared with similar data from the 1960s. Altogether 64 taxa were found. At present, the most numerous taxa are Procladius spp., Chironomus f.l. plumosus, Chironomus f.l. salinarius, Stictochironomus f.l. psammophilus, Benthalia spp., Tanytarsus spp. and Cladotanytarsus. In fou…
Cost-efficient strategies to preserve dead wood-dependent species in a managed forest landscape
2016
Negative consequences of intensive forest management on biodiversity are often mitigated by setting aside old forest, but alternative strategies have been suggested. We have compared using simulations the consequences of two of these alternatives setting aside young forests or extending rotation periods - to that of current practice in managed boreal forest In all scenarios we applied a constant conservation budget and predicted forest development and harvesting over 200 years. As a proxy for biodiversity conservation, we projected the extinction risk of a dead wood-dependent beetle, Diacanthous undulatus, in a 50 km(2) landscape in central Sweden, using a colonization-extinction model. Dur…
The cost-effectiveness of using raptor nest sites to identify areas with high species richness of other taxa
2016
Abstract Given the limited resources available for conservation, it is important that the areas to preserve are selected in a cost effective manner. However, the cost effectiveness of the surrogate species strategy (the use of information on one or more species to identify areas of value for other species for which there is no, or more limited, available information) has seldom been evaluated. In this study, we investigate the opportunity cost of setting aside breeding sites of two forest raptor species (the surrogate species) by evaluating their individual and combined contribution to preserve diversity of polypores (wood-decaying fungi) and birds against the contributions of previously es…
Community structure affects trophic ontogeny in a predatory fish.
2016
While most studies have focused on the timing and nature of ontogenetic niche shifts, information is scarce about the effects of community structure on trophic ontogeny of top predators. We investigated how community structure affects ontogenetic niche shifts (i.e., relationships between body length, trophic position, and individual dietary specialization) of a predatory fish, brown trout (Salmo trutta). We used stable isotope and stomach content analyses to test how functional characteristics of lake fish community compositions (competition and prey availability) modulate niche shifts in terms of (i) piscivorous behavior, (ii) trophic position, and (iii) individual dietary specialization. …
Can the problem of hybridization in threatened species be evaluated using a fieldwork research? A case study in snapdragons
2019
Abstract Hybridization, natural or artificial, is considered disadvantageous for species biodiversity when it threatens the population integrity of endangered species. Frequently, studies investigating whether hybridization poses a legitimate risk to rare species are based on genetic data obtained in molecular biology laboratories. In this study, we used field research to approach the problem that hybridization could cause for the viability of a population of a rare species and to be able to propose the most appropriate initial conservation strategy. Specifically, using the model genus Antirrhinum, the reproductive barriers between the rare A. pulverulentum and its common congener A. litigi…