Search results for "field"

Individual-Based Tracking Systems in Ornithology: Welcome to the Era of Big Data

2016

Technological innovations have led to exciting fast-moving developments in science. Today, we are living in a technology-driven era of biological discovery. Consequently, tracking technologies have facilitated dramatic advances in the fundamental understanding of ecology and animal behaviour. Major technological improvements, such as the development of GPS dataloggers, geolocators and other bio-logging technologies, provide a volume of data that were hitherto unconceivable. Hence we can claim that ornithology has entered the era of big data. In this paper, which is particularly addressed to undergraduate students and starting researchers in the emerging field of movement ecology, I summaris…

Positive demographic effects of nest surveillance campaigns to counter illegal harvest of the Bonelli's eagle in Sicily (Italy)

2017

Illegal trade in wildlife has been identified as one of the main challenges to wildlife conservation. In 2010, an illegal trade-ring trafficking in birds of prey was uncovered in Sicily (southern Italy). This illegal trade targeted the three most endangered species in Italy: Bonelli's eagle Aquila fasciata, Lanner falcon Falco biarmicus and Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus, all of them long-lived territorial raptors threatened with extinction across their European distribution. Illegal harvest primarily involved young birds and eggs taken from nests. After the discovery of these activities, surveillance camps and camera traps connected to the mobile Global System for Mobile communicat…

Long-term changes in the breeding period diet of Bonelli

2019

Context Dietary analyses are essential to achieve a better understanding of animal ecology. In the case of endangered species, assessing dietary requirements is crucial to improve their management and conservation. The Bonelli’s eagle (Aquila fasciata) has experienced a severe decline throughout its breeding range in Europe and, in Italy, fewer than 50 pairs remain, and only in Sicily. This species is subject to major threats, including changes in landscape composition and, consequently, prey availability, which is further aggravated by the occurrence of viral diseases in the case of rabbits. Aims To provide current data on the diet of the Bonelli’s eagle in Sicily during the breeding peri…

Ecological insights from three decades of animal movement tracking across a changing Arctic

2020

Ecological “big data” Human activities are rapidly altering the natural world. Nowhere is this more evident, perhaps, than in the Arctic, yet this region remains one of the most remote and difficult to study. Researchers have increasingly relied on animal tracking data in these regions to understand individual species' responses, but if we want to understand larger-scale change, we need to integrate our understanding across species. Davidson et al. introduce an open-source data archive that currently hosts more than 15 million location data points across 96 species and use it to show distinct climate change responses across species. Such ecological “big data” can lead to a wider understandi…

Spring weed communities of rice agrocoenoses in central Nepal

2016

AbstractRice field weed communities occurring in central Nepal are presented in this study. The research was focussed on the classification of segetal plant communities occurring in paddy fields, which had been poorly investigated from a geobotanical standpoint. In all, 108 phytosociological relevés were sampled, using the Braun-Blanquet method. The analyses classified the vegetation into 9 communities, including 7 associations and one subassociation. Four new plant associations and one new subassociation were proposed: Elatinetum triandro-ambiguae, Mazo pumili-Lindernietum ciliatae, Mazo pumili-Lindernietum ciliatae caesulietosum axillaris, Rotaletum rotundifoliae and Ammanietum pygmeae. D…

2016

AbstractOcean acidification is predicted to have detrimental effects on many marine organisms and ecological processes. Despite growing evidence for direct impacts on specific species, few studies have simultaneously considered the effects of ocean acidification on individuals (e.g. consequences for energy budgets and resource partitioning) and population level demographic processes. Here we show that ocean acidification increases energetic demands on gastropods resulting in altered energy allocation, i.e. reduced shell size but increased body mass. When scaled up to the population level, long-term exposure to ocean acidification altered population demography, with evidence of a reduction i…

Collating science-based evidence to inform public opinion on the environmental effects of marine drilling platforms in the Mediterranean Sea.

2017

Abstract The use of rigorous methodologies to assess environmental, social and health impacts of specific interventions is crucial to disentangle the various components of environmental questions and to inform public opinion. The power of systematic maps relies on the capacity to summarise and organise the areas or relationships most studied, and to highlight key gaps in the evidence base. The recent Italian technical referendum (2016) – a public consultation inviting people to express their opinion by voting to change the rules on the length of licence duration and the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas platform drilling licences – inspired the creation of a systematic map of evidence…

Tergal glands of male and femaleCryptocercus punctulatus scudder (Dictyoptera: Cryptocercidae): Composition, sexual dimorphism, and geographic variat…

1991

International audience; Males and females of Cryptocercus punctulatus possess tergal glands, but they differ in position, size, morphology, and secretion chemistry. Compound A (linalyl acetate) is the most abundant of the 21 compounds found only in the secretion of these glands. Compound B, 4,6,8-trimethyl-7,9-undecadien-5-ol, is specific to the tergal secretion of females.C. punctulatus lives only in the United States; its distribution is disjunct. Compound A is found in samples from the eastern population but is absent in samples from the western population. The amount of compound B per gland in samples from the western population is at least twice as high as in the samples from the easte…

Genetic and phenotypic variation of the malaria vector Anopheles atroparvus in southern Europe

2011

Abstract Background There is a growing concern that global climate change will affect the potential for pathogen transmission by insect species that are vectors of human diseases. One of these species is the former European malaria vector, Anopheles atroparvus. Levels of population differentiation of An. atroparvus from southern Europe were characterized as a first attempt to elucidate patterns of population structure of this former malaria vector. Results are discussed in light of a hypothetical situation of re-establishment of malaria transmission. Methods Genetic and phenotypic variation was analysed in nine mosquito samples collected from five European countries, using eight microsatell…

Decoding Group Vocalizations: The Acoustic Energy Distribution of Chorus Howls Is Useful to Determine Wolf Reproduction

2016

Population monitoring is crucial for wildlife management and conservation. In the last few decades, wildlife researchers have increasingly applied bioacoustics tools to obtain information on several essential ecological parameters, such as distribution and abundance. One such application involves wolves (Canis lupus). These canids respond to simulated howls by emitting group vocalizations known as chorus howls. These responses to simulated howls reveal the presence of wolf litters during the breeding period and are therefore often used to determine the status of wolf populations. However, the acoustic structure of chorus howls is complex and discriminating the presence of pups in a chorus i…