Search results for "habit"
showing 10 items of 1816 documents
Atlas of Finnish bats
2019
This atlas is based on information in museum collections, literature, databases and unpublished data. In the last 150 years, the number of bat species in Finland increased from six to thirteen. Of these, five are common and regularly breeding (Eptesicus nilssonii, Myotis brandtii, Myotis daubentonii, Myotis mystacinus, Plecotus auritus), and eight rare (Eptesicus serotinus, Myotis dasycneme, Myotis nattereri, Nyctalus noctula, Pipistrellus nathusii, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Vespertilio murinus), of which breeding of two (M. nattereri, P. nathusii) have been confirmed. The total number of records in the study is 11 234, of which 9717 are identified to species. The re…
Ecological niche features override biological traits and taxonomic relatedness as predictors of occupancy and abundance in lake littoral macroinverte…
2018
The degree to which species ecological and biological traits determine their distribution and abundance has intrigued ecologists for a long time, and it has seen a revival in recent years. This topic is important because it provides information about the determinants of species rarity and their conservation implications. We examined the effects of niche breadth, niche position, biological traits and taxonomic relatedness on the interspecific occupancy–abundance relationship, as well as on occupancy and abundance, in lake littoral macroinvertebrates. We sampled 48 lakes in a boreal lake district, found altogether 155 species, and calculated regional occupancy (as the proportion of sites occu…
Habitat fragmentation and anthropogenic factors affect wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris occupancy and detectability on Mt Etna
2019
International audience; Knowledge of patterns of occupancy is crucial for planning sound biological management and for identifying areas which require paramount conservation attention. The European wildcat Felis silvestris is an elusive carnivore and is classified as ‘least concern' on the IUCN red list, but with a decreasing population trend in some areas. Sicily hosts a peculiar wildcat population, which deserves conservation and management actions, due to its isolation from the mainland. Patterns of occupancy for wildcats are unknown in Italy, and especially in Sicily. We aimed to identify which ecological drivers determined wildcat occurrence on Mt Etna and to provide conservation actio…
Understanding the coexistence of competing raptors by Markov chain analysis enhances conservation of vulnerable species.
2016
Understanding ecological interactions among protected species is crucial for correct management to avoid conflicting outcomes of conservation planning. The occurrence of a superior competitor may drive the exclusion of a subordinate contestant, as in Sicily where the largest European population of the lanner falcon is declining because of potentially competing with the peregrine falcon. We measured the coexistence of these two ecologically equivalent species through null models and randomization algorithms on body sizes and ecological niche traits. Lanners and peregrines are morphologically very similar (Hutchinson ratios <1.3) and show 99% diet overlap, and both of these results predict …
Temperature-associated habitat selection in a cold-water marine fish.
2015
1. Habitat selection is a complex process, which involves behavioural decisions guided by the multiple needs and constraints faced by individuals. Climate-induced changes in environmental conditions may alter those trade-offs and resulting habitat use patterns. 2. In this study, we investigated the effect of sea temperature on habitat selection and habitat use of acoustically tagged Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) at the Norwegian Skagerrak coast. 3. Significant relationships between ocean temperature and habitat selection and use were found. Under favourable sea temperature thresholds (<16 °C), cod selected vegetated habitats, such as eelgrass and macroalgae beds, available in shallow areas. S…
Colour gene allele frequencies correlated with altitude of habitat in Philaenus populations
2009
Colour morph frequencies were investigated in samples from 15 Philaenus spumarius populations in the western parts of Byelorussia and Ukraine. The three main results of the study are the following: (1) In many populations, breakdown of the barrier inhibiting penetrance of colour allele expression in the male sex, (2) unexpected absence of the allele ppra (for colour morph praeustus) in Ukraine, and (3) an apparent positive correlation between altitude of habitat and the frequency of the allele pO (for colour morphs quadrimaculatus, albomaculatus and leucophthalmus). Some indications of a similar positive correlation between altitude and pO frequency were noted in 1966 in populations living …
Agro-Morphological Characterization of Sicilian Chili Pepper Accessions for Ornamental Purposes
2020
The species belonging to the genus Capsicum have been widely used as decorative vegetables, however only a few genotypes are available for this purpose. The goal of the present work was the agro-morphological characterization of several chili pepper accessions cultivated into different pot sizes (10, 14, 18 or 20 cm diameters). The agro-morphological characterization of 19 accessions was performed following IPGR (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute) descriptors: plant height (PH), plant canopy width (PCW), PH/PCW ratio, plant growth habit, plant visual quality, first flower emission, fruiting start, end of harvest, fruit number, fruit length, fruit width, fruit color at mature s…
Exploring the presence of pollutants at sea: Monitoring heavy metals and pesticides in loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from the western Mediterr…
2017
Marine turtles are considered good sentinel species for environmental assessment because of their long lifespan, feeding ecology, habitat use and migratory nature. In the present study, we assessed presence of cadmium, lead and mercury, together with organic pollutants, both in fat and muscle tissue of 25 stranded loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) stranded along the Valencian Community coast (East Spain) (43.7±13.5cm). Mean concentrations of Cd, Pb and Hg were 0.04μg/g w.w., 0.09μg/g w.w. and 0.03μg/g w.w. in fat and 0.05μg/g, 0.08μg/g and 0.04μg/g in muscle, respectively. These measures indicate a relatively low mean heavy metal concentration, which may be explained by juvenile size and…
Fine-scale population dynamics in a marine fish species inferred from dynamic state-space models
2017
1. Identifying the spatial scale of population structuring is critical for the conservation of natural populations and for drawing accurate ecological inferences. However, population studies often use spatially aggregated data to draw inferences about population trends and drivers, potentially masking ecologically relevant population sub‐structure and dynamics. 2. The goals of this study were to investigate how population dynamics models with and without spatial structure affect inferences on population trends and the identification of intrinsic drivers of population dynamics (e.g. density dependence). 3. Specifically, we developed dynamic, age‐structured, state‐space models to test differe…
Interannual variation and long-term trends in proportions of resident individuals in partially migratory birds
2016
Partial migration - a part of a population migrates and another part stays resident year-round on the breeding site - is probably the most common type of migration in the animal kingdom, yet it has only lately garnered more attention. Theoretical studies indicate that in partially migratory populations, the proportion of resident individuals (PoR) should increase in high latitudes in response to the warming climate, but empirical evidence exists for few species. We provide the first comprehensive overview of the environmental factors affecting PoR and the long-term trends in PoR by studying 27 common partially migratory bird species in Finland. The annual PoR values were calculated by divid…