European Journal of Ecology最新文献

{"title":"The role of climate change and food supply on winter populations of seed-eating birds","authors":"Arthur O. Askeyev, O. Askeyev, Igor Askeyev, T. Sparks","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.18436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.18436","url":null,"abstract":"We studied the populations of four seed-eating bird species throughout the winter during a 30-year study in the forests of the Tatarstan Republic, Russia. Numbers of all species fluctuated from year-to-year by several orders of magnitude but with a significant underlying trend for increased numbers associated with rising temperatures and a greater food supply. We question whether the traditional view that such birds move further south only after exhausting the food supply is too simplistic. We believe that the severity of winter, or lack of it, is highly influential on the mortality and movements of these characteristic birds of the boreal forest zone.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48840406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Leaping on urban islands: further summer and winter range expansion of European bat species","authors":"A. Vlaschenko, V. Hukov, O. Timofieieva, M. Moiseienko, Anastasia Domanska, O. Zinenko, A. Prylutska","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.18664","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.18664","url":null,"abstract":"Cities or urban areas are the new types of landscapes that have rapidly developed in the Anthropocene and generally mimic mountains and rock habitats. Such areas attract different vertebrate species that naturally prefer rocky habitats, for example, bats, which are common animal inhabitants of the cities in the Northern Hemisphere. Here we review records of four bat species (Hypsugo savii, Plecotus austriacus, Pipistrellus nathusii and P. pygmaeus) inhabiting human settlements in Ukraine, encompassing the period from 2011 to 2022. Over the last 20 to 30 years, the winter range of P. nathusii has shifted 200-300 km north, and now covers all Black Sea coast steppe regions of continental Ukraine. The Pl. austiacus range most likely covers the whole territory of Ukraine. We documented the first factual records of H. savii in continental Ukraine and the first winter records of P. pygmaeus for the country. Our observations clearly demonstrate colonization of newly formed urban landscapes by bats species from different ecological groups. Therefore, bats, same as some other mammalian species, can be considered beneficiaries of urbanization and urban heat islands. ","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48647383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"DIVERSITY PATTERNS OF RODENT ASSEMBLAGES IN THE NORTH OF FAZAO-MALFAKASSA NATIONAL PARK (TOGO)","authors":"L. Luiselli, Amétépé Hounmavo, Délagnon Assou, Abré Sonhaye-Ouyé, Mawunya Komi Gbemou, Florence Afi Konko, Abdou-Rachad Ayewa, G. Segniagbeto, G. Ketoh, D. Dendi, G. Amori","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.17947","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.17947","url":null,"abstract":"The rodent assemblages were studied in different habitat types in the northern part of the Fazao-Malfakassa National Park located in central-western Togo, West Africa. A suite of different methods was applied, including face-by-face interviews with local hunters, live trapping along standardized transects and opportunistic observations. A total of 20 rodent species were recorded based on the surveys carried out in villages, including 6 families and 17 genera. There was a clear gradient pattern in the univariate diversity indices by habitat type: Dominance index was remarkably higher in Urban/plantation than in the other habitat types whereas Evenness index was remarkably higher in gallery forest than in the other habitat types. According to a Canonical Correspondence Analysis, three “ecological groups” (= guilds) of species were formed: a group from wooded habitats (savannahs and semiforests), a group from grassy savannah and a group from urban/plantation habitats. Null model analyses revealed that species tend to non-randomly congregate in some habitat types and/or localities. The ecological implications of these data were presented.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43110296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environment factors influencing abundance and growth of wild yam in broadleaved forest, Tsirang District, Bhutan","authors":"Hem Kumar Subba, Yogeeta Dahal, Bala Ram Mafchan, Sheto Kumar Ghalley, Bhakti Sharma Koirala","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.16537","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.16537","url":null,"abstract":"Yams (Dioscorea) consist of approximately 600 species in the world. Yams are considered a staple food in Asia, tropical and subtropical regions. Genetic erosion and unsustainable harvesting practices are among the main problems associated with wild yam plants. This study was conducted with the objectives to enumerate wild yam species composition and environmental parameters affecting its growth and abundance. Systematic sampling of the study site was carried out based on different land aspects. Line transects were laid out in selected land aspects within the elevation range of 825 – 1935 m. Five plots in each transect with a 100 m plot interval comprising seven transects were laid out in the study area. Each plot was divided into sub-plot of 20 x 20 m, 5 x 5 m, and 1 x 1 m to enumerate trees, shrubs, and herbs respectively. Seven species of yams were found from the broadleaved forest and spearman correlation showed negative association of yam abundance with tree counts and canopy closure. The areas with higher density of trees had low count of yam abundance. Yam grows well in open canopy in lower altitudes comparing to high altitudes. Yam abundance was positively related with shrubs, herbs, soil moisture, soil organic matter, soil organic carbon, and nitrogen content. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed significant difference of yam abundance in 7 different transects due to different ecological parameters influencing the abundance in different transects though transect being in a broadleaved forest.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43227980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Linking process to pattern in community assembly in dry evergreen Afromontane forest of Hararghe highland, Southeast Ethiopia","authors":"Z. Asfaw, Mengistu Teshome Wondimu, Muktar Mohammed Yusuf","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.16408","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v9i1.16408","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract \u0000  \u0000Many scholars have attempted to identify the role of deterministic and stochastic processes in community assembly, but there is no consensus on which processes dominate and at what spatial scales they occur. To shed light on this issue, we tested two non-exclusive processes, scale-dependent hypotheses: (i) that limiting similarity dominates on small spatial scales; and (ii) that environmental filtering does so on a large scale. To achieve this, we studied the functional patterns of dry evergreen Afromontane forest communities along elevation gradients in southeastern Ethiopia using floristic and functional trait data from fifty-four 0.04 ha plots. We found evidence of functional overdispersion on small spatial scales, and functional clustering on large spatial scales. The observed clustering pattern, consistent with an environmental filtering process, was most evident when environmental differences between a pair of plots were maximized. To strengthen the link between the observed community functioning pattern and the underlying process of environmental filtering, we demonstrated differences in the topographical factors of the most abundant species found at lower and higher elevations and examined whether their abundance varied over time or changed with time along the elevation. We found (i) that the largest functional differences in the community (observed between lower and upper dry evergreen Afromontane forest assemblages) were primarily the result of strong topographical influence; and (ii) that the abundance of such species varied along the elevation gradient. Variation in stand structure and tree species diversity within the DAF plots shows that topography is among the important drivers of local species distribution and hence the maintenance of tree diversity in dry Afromontane forest. \u0000Our results support the conclusion that environmental filtering at large spatial scales is the primary mechanism for community merging, since functional grouping pattern was associated with species similarities in topographic variation, ultimately leading to changes in species abundances along the gradient. There was also evidence of competitive exclusion at more homogeneous and smaller spatial scales, where plant species compete effectively for resources.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46903603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The major threats to the Endangered Barbary macaque Macaca sylvanus in North Africa","authors":"A. El Alami, Els van Lavieren, A. Chait","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v8i2.16246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v8i2.16246","url":null,"abstract":"The Barbary macaque is currently the only macaque species that occurs beyond Asia. It has been classified as an endangered species on the IUCN’s Red List and is listed in CITES Appendix I. This species is actually restricted to small and fragmented habitats in the Moroccan Rif, Middle and High Atlas, and in the Algerian areas of Chiffa, Grande Kabylie and the Petite Kabylie. A very large number of studies indicated that this primate is in decline and its population is estimated to have declined at a rate exceeding 50% over the last three generations. This article aims to review the major threats and challenges to the Barbary macaque conservation in North Africa. Data were gathered from research articles, scientific books, communications, thesis and PhD dissertations of the authors and of other researchers. Results showed that the major threats to the survival of Barbary macaques are habitat loss and degradation, population fragmentation, capture and trade of macaques, effects of human activities on Barbary macaques’ behavior and ecology, conflict with inhabitants due to crop raiding, the decrease in water availability to macaques, and infectious disease risks. Based on this review, we recommend several measures to reduce the likelihood of the Barbary macaque becoming extinct in many regions of North Africa.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48426693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AVIAN DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE IN RELATION TO SEASON, LIVESTOCK PRESENCE AND VEGETATION COVER IN A MEDITERRANEAN COASTAL WETLAND","authors":"Ioakim Vasiliadis, I. Karmiris, S. Kazantzidis, P. Platis, T. Papachristou","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v8i2.15462","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v8i2.15462","url":null,"abstract":"Coastal wetlands are considered as systems of high avian diversity and are usually used for livestock production throughout the world. In this study, the diversity and seasonal abundance of avian species were monitored for two years on a monthly basis in a coastal grazing land in Evros Delta (Greece). The effects of livestock (cattle) presence and different classes of vegetation cover on the number of bird species were also investigated. A total of 96 bird species belonging to 29 families were recorded. The most commonly encountered species was the Eurasian skylark Alauda arvensis. The cattle presence was not significantly correlated (p>0.05) with the abundance of recorded bird species. On the contrary, patches with vegetation cover 25.1 - 50.0% and 50.1 - 75.0 % were used by more bird species in relation to patches with cover ≤25.0% or >75.0%. We concluded that the use of livestock grazing to preserve the desired vegetation cover (25 – 75%) is a promising management tool.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41380758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness","authors":"J. Flux, P. Tryjanowski, Piotr Zduniak","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v8i2.18567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v8i2.18567","url":null,"abstract":"Road-kills were recorded at random throughout New Zealand, on 96359 km of roads, avoiding towns and busy motorways, from 1963-2018. Traffic increase from 1.04 m to 4.33 million vehicles during the study had little effect on mortality, even at the greater traffic density in the North Island. Seasonal changes measured on 8435 km (151 trips) between Lower Hutt and Otaki from 1985-2015 showed lowest mortality in winter. Major differences in species identification between two independent observers on the same route, from 2009-2014, resulted from one being red/green colourblind. Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) numbers dipped briefly in the 1970s, peaked in the 1990s, and have declined since then where there has been widespread poisoning to protect trees, birds, and limit bovine TB. Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) increased steadily after control was lifted in the 1980s and now dominate the road-kills; the effect of RHD, introduced in 1997, does not register, probably because it causes short-term local oscillations. Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) numbers show no clear trend and, unlike the other species, North and South Island patterns differ; the lower numbers in the South may reflect the cooler climate. Brown hares (Lepus europaeus) remain relatively stable, with a doubling in numbers since the 1980s in parallel with rabbits. The predators, cats (Felis catus) and mustelids (Mustela furo, M.erminea, M. nivalis), followed their prey increase until the 1990s when extensive predator control began; they then declined, although rabbit and rat (Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus) numbers continued to rise. In the 1950-60s, far more live mammals were being seen on and from roads, and adaptations to traffic have evolved. These historical records may be useful to assess future changes in road-kill following the adoption of silent electric cars, driverless vehicles, and public transport.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49368745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"VARIATION IN SHORELINE MACROPHYTES AND WATER QUALITY OF BEESHAZARI LAKE, CENTRAL NEPAL","authors":"N. Ghimire, Deepa Roka, Bishnu Dev Das, S. Rai","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v8i2.15669","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v8i2.15669","url":null,"abstract":"The research has been designed to examine the variation of macrophyte diversity with references to water parameters, which determines the ecological status of Beeshazari Lake (a Ramsar site). Field data were collected in two seasons (monsoon and winter) from 42 plots with 1 m x 1 m quadrat size, laid down at shoreline of the Beeshazari Lake, each plot being 30 m apart from adjacent plot along the lake perimeter for the quantitative analysis of the macrophytes. A total of 42 macrophytes (40 in monsoon and 31 in winter) were recorded during the sampling seasons. Poaceae was the dominant during both seasons, followed by Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae families during monsoon, whereas Asteraceae and Polygonaceae were found to be dominant during winter seasons. On the basis of growth form, emergent macrophytes were dominant during both seasons. The Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (SWI) value of macrophytes was higher during the winter (H = 0.98± 0.04) than monsoon (H = 0.97± 0.04). Lemna perpusilla (Importance Value Index, IVI = 22.8) was the dominant species during the monsoon and Azolla pinnata (IVI = 38.2) during the winter. Macrophytes species richness was positively correlated with temperature, pH, DO, and conductivity whereas negatively correlated with TDS during the monsoon season. Further, in the winter season, the richness was positively correlated with pH, DO, TDS, and electric conductivity, whereas negatively correlated with temperature.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43115654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dietary composition and prey preference of Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris, Linnaeus 1758) of Parsa National Park, Nepal.","authors":"Saneer Lamichhane, Prakash Pun, D. R. Thanet, P. Regmi, Amir Maharjan, B. Lamichhane","doi":"10.17161/eurojecol.v8i1.15466","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17161/eurojecol.v8i1.15466","url":null,"abstract":"Carnivore diet studies insight on the health of the forest. The diet and prey preference of tigers of Parsa National Park (PNP) was studied from Nov-2019 to Feb-2020. The ratio of scat sample analyzed per tiger was 3.5 scats per tiger. The scat analysis identified 10 prey species and 81 prey items in the tiger’s diet. Spotted deer was the frequently killed prey species followed by wild boar and barking deer. In terms of biomass consumption, large-sized sambar was on the top. The average weight of the prey killed was 138 kg. The tiger strongly selected sambar and weakly selected small-sized barking deer. Medium-sized prey species (spotted deer and wild boar) were neglected. The large-sized prey and their density were the keys to increasing the tiger population in PNP. The absence of livestock in PNP’s tiger diet suggests it to be a potential area for tiger conservation.","PeriodicalId":37280,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47017870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}