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Power-law frequency distributions characterize a wide array of natural phenomena. In ecology, biology, and many physical and social sciences, the exponents of these power laws are estimated to draw inference about the processes underlying the phenomenon, to test theoretical models, and to scale up from local observations to global patterns. Therefore, it is essential that these exponents be estimated accurately. Unfortunately, the binning-based methods traditionally used in ecology and other disciplines perform quite poorly. Here we discuss more sophisticated methods for fitting these exponents based on cumulative distribution functions and maximum likelihood estimation. We illustrate their superior performance at estimating known exponents and provide details on how and when ecologists should use them. Our results confirm that maximum likelihood estimation outperforms other methods in both accuracy and precision. Because of the use of biased statistical methods for estimating the exponent, the conclusions of several recently published papers should be revisited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we tested whether the spatial distribution of a given species in more or less fragmented and disturbed landscapes depends on the species habitat specialization. We studied 891 spatial replicates from the French Breeding Bird Survey (FBBS) monitored at least two years during 2001–2005, and two independent landscape databases measuring respectively landscape fragmentation and recent landscape disturbance on each FBBS replicate. We used a continuous habitat specialization index for the 105 most common bird species monitored by the FBBS. We further modelled the spatial variation in abundance of each species according to fragmentation and disturbance across FBBS replicates, accounting for habitat differences and spatial trends. We then tested whether more or less specialized species responded to landscape fragmentation and disturbance. We found that the more specialist a species, the more negative its spatial response to landscape fragmentation and disturbance. Although there was a very high variation around these tendencies indicating that there are many other drivers of species distribution, our results suggest that measuring specialization may be helpful in predicting which species are likely to thrive in human degraded landscapes. We also emphasize the need to consider both positive and negative species responses when assessing consequences of habitat change in communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their haplo-diploid sex determination system and the resulting conflict over optimal sex allocation between queens and workers, social Hymenoptera have become important model species to study variation in sex allocation. While many studies indeed reported sex allocation to be affected by social factors such as colony kin structure or queen number, others, however, found that sex allocation was impacted by ecological factors such as food availability. In this paper, we present one of the rare studies that simultaneously investigated the effects of social and ecological factors on social insect nest reproductive parameters (sex and reproductive allocation, nest productivity) across several years. We found that the sex ratio was extremely male biased in a polygynous (multiple queens per nest) population of the ant Formica exsecta. Nest-level sex allocation followed the pattern predicted by the queen-replenishment hypothesis, which holds that gynes (new queens) should only be produced and recruited in nests with low queen number (i.e. reduced local resource competition) to ensure nest survival. Accordingly, queen number (social factor) was the main determinant on whether a nest produced gynes or males. However, ecological factors had a large impact on nest productivity and therefore on a nest's resource pool, which determines the degree of local resource competition among co-breeding queens and at what threshold in queen number nests should switch from male to gyne production. Additionally, our genetic data revealed that gynes are recruited back to their parental nests after mating. However, our genetic data are also consistent with some adult queens dispersing on foot from nests where they were produced to nests that never produced queens. As worker production is reduced in gyne-producing nests, queen migration might be offset by workers moving in the other direction, leading to a nest network characterized by reproductive division of labour. Altogether our study shows that both, social and ecological factors can influence long-term nest reproductive strategies in insect societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate modeling of geographic distributions of species is crucial to various applications in ecology and conservation. The best performing techniques often require some parameter tuning, which may be prohibitively time-consuming to do separately for each species, or unreliable for small or biased datasets. Additionally, even with the abundance of good quality data, users interested in the application of species models need not have the statistical knowledge required for detailed tuning. In such cases, it is desirable to use “default settings”, tuned and validated on diverse datasets. Maxent is a recently introduced modeling technique, achieving high predictive accuracy and enjoying several additional attractive properties. The performance of Maxent is influenced by a moderate number of parameters. The first contribution of this paper is the empirical tuning of these parameters. Since many datasets lack information about species absence, we present a tuning method that uses presence-only data. We evaluate our method on independently collected high-quality presence-absence data. In addition to tuning, we introduce several concepts that improve the predictive accuracy and running time of Maxent. We introduce “hinge features” that model more complex relationships in the training data; we describe a new logistic output format that gives an estimate of probability of presence; finally we explore “background sampling” strategies that cope with sample selection bias and decrease model-building time. Our evaluation, based on a diverse dataset of 226 species from 6 regions, shows: 1) default settings tuned on presence-only data achieve performance which is almost as good as if they had been tuned on the evaluation data itself; 2) hinge features substantially improve model performance; 3) logistic output improves model calibration, so that large differences in output values correspond better to large differences in suitability; 4) “target-group” background sampling can give much better predictive performance than random background sampling; 5) random background sampling results in a dramatic decrease in running time, with no decrease in model performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last several decades, there has been a growing appreciation of the importance of nonequilibrial phenomena and transient dynamics in explaining the structure of ecological communities. This paper provides an overview of theoretical themes related to resource pulses. Theoretical models suggest short-term responses to a single pulse can qualitatively differ from longer-term responses. Recurrent resource pulses can alter community structure, permitting coexistence that otherwise would not occur, or hamper coexistence mechanisms effective in stable environments. For a given resource input, system responses can be more dramatic with short pulses. Resource pulses can cause transitions between alternative states. Dispersal permits species to exploit locally sporadic-resource pulses and persist in environments that on average are unsuitable. All these issues are ripe for further theoretical explorations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scaling relationships between mean body masses and abundances of species in multitrophic communities continue to be a subject of intense research and debate. The top-down mechanism explored in this paper explains the frequently observed inverse linear relationship between body mass and abundance (i.e., constant biomass) in terms of a balancing of resource biomasses by behaviorally and evolutionarily adapting foragers, and the evolutionary response of resources to this foraging pressure. The mechanism is tested using an allometric, multitrophic community model with a complex food web structure. It is a statistical model describing the evolutionary and population dynamics of tens to hundreds of species in a uniform way. Particularities of the model are the detailed representation of the evolution and interaction of trophic traits to reproduce topological food web patterns, prey switching behavior modeled after experimental observations, and the evolutionary adaptation of attack rates. Model structure and design are discussed. For model states comparable to natural communities, we find that (I) the body-mass- abundance scaling does not depend on the allometric scaling exponent of physiological rates in the form expected from the energetic equivalence rule or other bottom-up theories; (2) the scaling exponent of abundance as a function of body mass is approximately -1, independent of the allometric exponent for physiological rates assumed; (3) removal of top-down control destroys this pattern, and energetic equivalence is recovered. We conclude that the top-down mechanism is active in the model, and that it is a viable alternative to bottom-up mechanisms for controlling body-mass-abundance relations in natural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. During recent decades, the ecological corridor has become a popular concept among ecologists, politicians and nature conservationists. However, it has been criticized from a scientific point of view. In this paper we question why this concept has been accepted so readily in policy and practice. 2. We present a conceptual framework to analyse the rise of the concept, especially in the Netherlands. We have studied the Dutch literature from the period 1980–2005, including the main ecological journal Landschap ( Landscape), policy documents and reports from the leading Dutch policy-orientated ecology research centre. 3. Many actors, including politicians, stakeholders and scientists, were involved in the development of the ecological corridor and the related National Ecological Network on the national and regional levels. The involvement of these actors changed the character of the concept into the multifunctional ‘robust corridor’. 4. The ecological corridor was probably so influential because its vague and flexible character facilitated the coming together of various stakeholders and scientists. It also functions as a metaphor, applicable to well-known entities such as construction and transport. Finally, scientists from the policy-orientated research centre were able to link the concept to fundamental science, policy and practice. In some stages of the policy-defining process, however, conflicts arose between the proponents of scientific soundness and those of social robustness that reduced the role of scientists. 5. Synthesis and applications. To make ecological concepts both scientifically sound and socially robust, several changes must take place in current interactions between ecology and society. First, during concept development it requires the existence of extensive, largely interactive peer groups with clearly defined relationships between scientists and non-scientists. Secondly, the concepts should be flexible and relatable to relevant knowledge, insights, values and practices. Thirdly, several feedback loops between science and non-science should be set up during the various stages of concept development and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been suggested that alien species with close indigenous relatives in the introduced range may have reduced chances of successful establishment and invasion (Darwin's naturalization hypothesis). Studies trying to test this have in fact been addressing four different hypotheses, and the same data can support some while rejecting others. In this paper, we argue that the phylogenetic pattern will change depending on the spatial and phylogenetic scales considered. Expectations and observations from invasion biology and the study of natural communities are that at the spatial scale relevant to competitive interactions, closely related species will be spatially separated, whereas at the regional scale, species in the same genera or families will tend to co-occur more often than by chance. We also argue that patterns in the relatedness of indigenous and naturalized plants are dependent on the continental/island setting, spatial occupancy levels, and on the group of organisms under scrutiny. Understanding how these factors create a phylogenetic pattern in invasions will help us predict which groups are more likely to invade where, and should contribute to general ecological theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim In response to a recent paper suggesting the failure of ecological niche models to predict between native and introduced distributional areas of fire ants ( Solenopsis invicta), we sought to assess methodological causes of this failure. Location Ecological niche models were developed on the species’ native distributional area in South America, and projected globally. Methods We developed ecological niche models based on six different environmental data sets, and compared their respective abilities to anticipate the North American invasive distributional area of the species. Results We show that models based on the ‘bioclimatic variables’ of the WorldClim data set indeed fail to predict the full invasive potential of the species, but that models based on four other data sets could predict this potential correctly. Main conclusions The difference in predictive abilities appears to centre on the complexity of the environmental variables involved. These results emphasize important influences of environmental data sets on the generality and ability of ecological niche models to anticipate novel phenomena, and offer a simpler explanation for the lack of predictive ability among native and invaded distributional areas than that of niche shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of critical load (CL) was defined to express the tolerance of natural and semi-natural habitats for anthropogenic air pollution. Correct evaluation of the exceedance of critical loads is fundamental for the long-term protection of ecosystems by limiting emissions of potential acidifying and eutrophying pollutants. For forest ecosystems, the exceedance of critical loads is often calculated using deposition data measured in the forest interior. However, several studies report forest edges acting as 'hotspots' of acidifying and nitrogen deposition, showing up to fourfold increases in atmospheric deposition compared to the forest interior. This paper estimates the relevance of considering the higher deposition load in forest edges for calculating exceedance of critical loads for nitrogen and potential acidifying deposition. If measures to control and reduce atmospheric deposition are based on mean deposition fluxes within forest stands, deposition reductions will not be enough for preventing adverse effects. In fact, emission reductions should be adjusted to deposition values at the forest edge, since these zones are most threatened. We thus conclude that there is an urgent need to reconsider the calculation of exceedance of critical loads, taking into account edge enhancement of deposition. This is an issue of high relevance, particularly in highly fragmented regions, such as Flanders (Belgium). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effect of spatial processes in a heterogeneous environment on the dynamics of a host-parasitoid interaction. The environment consists of a lattice of favourable (habitat) and hostile (matrix) hexagonal cells, whose spatial distribution is measured by habitat proportion and spatial autocorrelation (inverse of fragmentation). At each time step, a fixed fraction of both populations disperses to the adjacent cells where it reproduces following the Nicholson-Bailey model. Aspects of the dynamics analysed include extinction, stability, cycle period and amplitude, and the spatial patterns emerging from the dynamics. We find that, depending primarily on the fraction of the host population that disperses in each generation and on the landscape geometry, five classes of spatio-temporal dynamics can be objectively distinguished: spatial chaos, spirals, metapopulation, mainland-island and spiral fragments. The first two are commonly found in theoretical studies of homogeneous landscapes. The other three are direct consequences of the heterogeneity and have strong similarities to dynamic patterns observed in real systems (e.g. extinction-recolonisation, source-sink, outbreaks, spreading waves). We discuss the processes that generate these patterns and allow the system to persist. The importance of these results is threefold: first, our model merges into a same theoretical framework dynamics commonly observed in the field that are usually modelled independently. Second, these dynamics and patterns are explained by dispersal rate and common landscape statistics, thus linking in a practical way population ecology to landscape ecology. Third, we show that the landscape geometry has a qualitative effect on the length of the cycles and, in particular, we demonstrate how very long periods can be produced by spatial processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Human settlement establishment and reproduction of the baobab tree ( Adansonia digitata) appear spatially and temporally dependent because baobabs are abundant in many settlement sites in Africa. This paper tests the spatiotemporal relationship between baobab and settlement distribution. Location South-western Mali. Methods In an area of 183 km2, 1240 baobabs were located and mapped, their diameters measured, and habitat characteristics recorded for each individual. All occupied ( n = 9) and abandoned ( n = 84) settlements were located and mapped, and occupation dates were determined through interviews. Chi-squared analysis indicated baobab habitat preferences, and bivariate point-pattern analysis tested baobab–settlement spatiotemporal independence. Results Baobabs and human settlements are positively spatially associated at most distances and for all baobab size-class–settlement age-class pairs. However, positive spatial association is significant only at distances < 500 m, and young settlements and large baobabs are not significantly associated. Positive association between small and large baobabs is marginally significant at <300 m, but observed significance is less than that for baobab–settlement positive association. Baobab abundance is not evenly distributed across the range of habitats it occupies; recruitment is strongest in settlements and fields, and on cliffs, while mortality is highest on cliffs. Ethnographic observations suggest that human settlement practices and fruit use are the main human factors contributing to baobab–settlement positive spatial association. Main conclusions There are three main conclusions: (1) Human settlement and baobab recruitment are spatially dependant because settlement leads directly and indirectly to the development of baobab groves at settlement sites. (2) The lower than expected abundance of mature individuals in natural habitats, and the habitat preferences of the observed population, suggest that baobabs were introduced to south-western Mali, probably centuries ago. (3) Human mobility over decadal time-scales is necessary to maintain baobab population structure in landscapes dominated by shifting land use, where baobabs are not purposefully planted. Baobab population processes in such landscapes occur at the scale of human settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To investigate the human impact on eastern Mediterranean ecosystems in a subhumid to semi-arid region of the Near East. Location This paper considers data from Bereket (1410–1440 m a.s.l.), an intramontane basin surrounded by the Kokayanık Tepe (1830 m a.s.l.) and the Beşparmak Dağları (2280 m a.s.l.), in the western Taurus Mountains of south-west Turkey. Methods Late Holocene samples were collected along an 800-cm-deep sediment profile cored in the secondary valley of the Bereket basin. Descriptive vegetation data and modern pollen samples (moss polsters) were collected at elevational intervals of c. 15 m along an altitudinal transect from the Bereket basin (over Tepe Düzen, 1600 m a.s.l.) to Ağlasun Dağı (1700 m a.s.l.). Information about the spatial distribution of the present land cover was obtained from ASTER satellite imagery. Digital elevation-derived data and geological information were used to examine the relationship between actual land cover and other environmental variables. Results The well dated Bereket sequence provides a unique record of biennial-to-decadal landscape changes driven primarily by intensive human impact from 360 cal. yrbc to 650 cal. yrad. Since 360 cal. yrbc, over-exploitation of the land has led to altitudinal variation of tree lines, a destruction of the natural forest ecosystems ( Pinus– Quercus cerris mixed forest), and an extensive spread of forest-steppe in the highlands. The present-day distribution of vegetation in the basin area shows that human activities remain the major factor influencing the character of modern ecosystems. Main conclusions This research demonstrates the long-term local destructive effects of human impacts on the mountainous ecosystems in a small Anatolian intramontane basin since 360 cal. yrbc, and the capacity of these ecosystems to recover during periods of reduced human impact. The late Holocene history and modern vegetation characteristics show that the past and present-day distribution and composition of vegetation are influenced primarily by human activity, and that substrate, elevation, slope and orientation are of secondary significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The fungus-gardening ants and their fungi represent a highly co-evolved, vertically transmitted mutualism. Mutualisms such as these are thought to be reciprocal antagonisms, so that the ants and the fungus can be expected to have some conflicting interests. 2. This paper reports the results from a cultivar switch experiment that documented the effects of switching the native cultivar from the basal ‘higher-attine’ Trachymyrmex septentrionalis with a derived cultivar from the leaf-cutting ant, Atta texana. If the cultivars have been modified significantly during the adaptive radiation of this clade, then they should differ in their ability to produce ant and fungal biomass. If the ants can perceive differences in cultivar performance, then their food preference may also change as a result of the switch. Lastly, if conflict is present in this mutualism, then the sex ratio in the switched colonies should be male biased. 3. Our results showed that food preference was not altered by the new cultivar. The A. texana cultivar did not change the performance of T. septentrionalis colonies relative to colonies that were cultivating conspecific fungal cultivars. Foragers preferred insect faeces and oak staminate flowers over fresh leaves or flowers. Most variation in colony performance was attributable to substrate type. Sex ratio of offspring was not affected by fungal cultivar. With respect to fungal growth, the A. texana cultivar appeared to be more of a generalist, while the T. septentrionalis cultivar performed better on substrates preferred by the ants than those unpreferred. 4. The results of this study indicate that cooperation and not conflict has been more important in shaping the evolutionary ecology of this mutualism. Although the cultivars were certainly genetically and physiologically distinct, these differences did not account for variation in the production of ant biomass or ant behaviour. The emerging picture thus indicates that this mutualism should be viewed as a highly integrated superorganism that is more than the sum of its parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognition that predators play important roles in ecosystems has prompted research to resolve how combinations of predator species influence ecosystem functions. Interactions among predator species and their prey can lead to a host of linear and nonlinear effects. Understanding the conditions causing these effects is critical for assigning predator species to functional groups in ways that lead to predictive theory of predator diversity effects on trophic interactions. To this end, I provide a synthesis of experiments examining multiple-predator-species effects on mortality of single shared prey. I show how experimental design and experimental venue can determine the conclusion about the importance of predator diversity on trophic interactions. In addition, I link natural history insights on predator species habitat and hunting behavior with linear and nonlinear multiple-predator effects to derive a new concept of predator diversity effects on trophic interactions. This concept holds that the nature of predator diversity effects is contingent upon predator species hunting mode plus predator and prey species habitat domain (defined as the spatial extent to which a micro habitat is used by a species). This concept allows the classification of multiple-predator effects into four broad functional categories: substitutable, nonlinear due to predator species interference, nonlinear due to intra guild predation, and nonlinear due to predator species synergism. Experimental evidence so far provides ample and comparatively equal support for substitutable, interference, and intra guild effects, and equivocal support for nonlinear synergisms. The paper closes by discussing ways to further a research program aimed at using the building blocks presented here to understand predator functional diversity and trophic interactions in complex ecological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To demonstrate the role of space and time in social movements, the paper analyses the evolution and context of the environmental movement in the Czech and Slovak republics from 1948 to 1998. It shows that the movement's identity was formed under socialism and that political opportunity and resource availability changed markedly over time, as did its organisational and spatial structure. The movement played a significant part in the collapse of the socialist regime, but in the 1990s was marginalised in the interests of building a market economy and an independent Slovakia. Nevertheless a diverse and flexible range of groups existed by the late 1990s. The successive space-times allow analysis of the multiple and changing variables that influence the geography of social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological research sometimes entails animal suffering and even animal killing. The ethical appropriateness of animal suffering and killing in conservation research may entail considerations that differ from many other kinds of research. This is true, insomuch as conservation research is specifically motivated by an ethical premise: an appreciation for non-human life. In striking contrast with other academic fields (e.g. medicine), however, the ethical dimension of conservation research is only rarely discussed. When it is discussed, it tends to be characterized by logical errors. These errors are important because they are general (i.e. both common and with far-reaching implications), and they are easily made by intelligent people; especially those with no formal training in ethics or logic. Failure to recognize these errors could stymie efforts to increase the ethical quality of ecological research conducted in the name of conservation. We take advantage of a recently published dialogue concerning the ethical appropriateness of a specific field experiment that entailed killing black-throated blue warblers, Dendroica caerulescens. Both sides of this debate exemplify the kinds of errors to which we refer. In this paper we briefly review the arguments presented on each side of this debate, highlight their mistakes, and indicate necessary corrections. We argue that: (1) compliance with animal research regulations, while important, inadequately accommodates the ethical aspects of animal research, and (2) individual ecologists ought to understand themselves what does and does not represent sound and valid arguments for ethical decisions. Finally, we discuss how any ecological researcher might begin to apply our analysis to his or her own research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of fire in mediating the relative abundance of two of the world's major ecologically dominant ant genera, Iridomyrmex and Oecophylla, where they coexist across the tropical savanna landscapes of northern Australia. These taxa have contrasting biogeographical histories, which are predicted to lead to contrasting responses to fire. Iridomyrmex is an autochthonous Australian genus that has radiated primarily in the arid zone; as such, its abundance is predicted to be promoted by frequent fire because this maintains an open habitat. In contrast, Oecophylla is a genus of leaf-nesting ants occurring in the canopies of Old World tropical rainforest, and is a recent arrival to Australia in geological time; the abundance of these ants is predicted to decline under frequent fire. We test these predictions using results from a landscape-scale fire experiment, where three experimental fire regimes (including no fire) were applied to replicated subcatchments over a 5-year period. Using sweep nets, ants were sampled in the grass layer (the habitat layer of greatest overlap between Iridomyrmex and Oecophylla) in eucalypt woodland (canopy cover < 30%) and open eucalypt forest (canopy cover about 50%) habitats. A total of 27 species from 11 genera were collected during the study; eight were common enough for statistical analysis, and the abundances of four of these were significantly affected by fire treatment. As predicted, the abundance of Iridomyrmex was promoted by fire, whereas that of Oecophylla declined. These changes occurred only under late-season (relatively high intensity) fires, and for Oecophylla occurred only in open forest (not woodland) habitat. This fire-mediated relationship between Iridomyrmex and Oecophylla mirrors the much broader, ecosystem-wide dynamic between eucalypt-dominated savanna and rainforest in tropical Australia, with savannas dominated by fire-resistant sclerophyll elements of Australian origin, and rainforest dominated by fire-sensitive mesophyll elements of South-East Asian origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil microbial communities have the metabolic and genetic capability to adapt to changing environmental conditions on very short time scales. In this paper we combine biogeochemical and molecular approaches to reveal this potential, showing that microbial biomass can turn over on time scales of days to months in soil, resulting in a succession of microbial communities over the course of a year. This new understanding of the year-round turnover and succession of microbial communities allows us for the first time to propose a temporally explicit N cycle that provides mechanistic hypotheses to explain both the loss and retention of dissolved organic N (DON) and inorganic N (DIN) throughout the year in terrestrial ecosystems. In addition, our results strongly support the hypothesis that turnover of the microbial community is the largest source of DON and DIN for plant uptake during the plant growing season. While this model of microbial biogeochemistry is derived from observed dynamics in the alpine, we present several examples from other ecosystems to indicate that the general ideas of biogeochemical fluxes being linked to turnover and succession of microbial communities are applicable to a wide range of terrestrial ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistically distinguishing density-dependent from density-independent populations and selecting the best demographic model for a given population are problems of primary importance. Traditional approaches are PBLR (parametric bootstrapping of likelihood ratios) and Information criteria (IC), such as the Schwarz information criterion (SIC), the Akaike information criterion (AIC) or the Final prediction error (FPE). While PBLR is suitable for choosing from a couple of models, ICs select the best model from among a set of candidates. In this paper, we use the Structural risk minimization (SRM) approach. SRM is the model selection criterion developed within the Statistical learning theory (SLT), a theory of great generality for modelling and learning with finite samples. SRM is almost unknown in the ecological literature and has never been used to analyze time series. First, we compare SRM with PBLR in terms of their ability to discriminate between the Malthusian and the density-dependent Ricker model. We rigorously repeat the experiments described in a previous study and find out that SRM is equally powerful in detecting density-independence and much more powerful in detecting density-dependence. Then, we compare SRM against ICs in terms of their ability to select one of several candidate models; we generate, via stochastic simulation, a huge amount of artificial time series both density-independent and dependent, with and without exogenous covariates, using different dataset sizes, noise levels and parameter values. Our findings show that SRM outperforms traditional ICs, because generally a) it recognizes the model underlying the data with higher frequency, and b) it leads to lower errors in out-of-samples predictions. SRM superiority is specially apparent with short time series. We finally apply SRM to the population records of Alpine ibex Capra ibex living in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy), already investigated by other authors via traditional statistical methods; we both analyze their models and introduce some novel ones. We show that models that are best according to SRM show also the lowest leave-one-out cross-validation error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In arid and semiarid Australia fossorial vertebrates have been a major component of the soil biota mediating many fundamental landscape processes. However, many species such as the burrowing bettong ( Bettongia lesueur) have become seriously depleted following European pastoral settlement. As ‘landscape engineers’, they were responsible for creating and maintaining a high degree of surface heterogeneity that promoted a diverse and productive herbaceous understorey, particularly in ‘hard-red’ communities dominated by mulga ( Acacia aneura). While their regional extinction has had major impacts by contributing to desertification and loss of biodiversity, relict warrens ‘engineered’ by B. lesueur still remain in certain ecosystems and despite continual weathering, contribute significantly to herbage productivity and species diversity. This paper details the results obtained from a number of field studies aimed at determining the distribution of relict warrens at contrasting scales and their influence on landscape patch dynamics resulting from their impacts on soil nutrients, herbage composition and herbivory. Finally, the conservation implications following the continental extinction of this species and the resulting loss of fundamental ecosystem services, as well as cultural values, are discussed in the context of future re-introduction efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data rarely are available to address the level of predation risk faced by diving animals in different parts of the water column. Consequently, most published research on diving behaviour implicitly assumes – like the proverbial ostrich – that ‘unseen’ predators are functionally unimportant. We argue that failure to consider diving in a predation risk framework may have precluded many insights into the ecology of aquatic foragers that breathe air. Using existing literature and a simple model, we suggest that fear from submerged predators in several systems might be influencing patch residence time, and therefore the duration of other dive cycle components. These analyses, along with an earlier model of predation risk faced by diving animals at the surface, suggest that dive cycle organisation can be modified to increase safety from predators, but only at the cost of reduced energy gain. Theoretical arguments presented here can seed hypotheses on factors contributing to population declines of diving species. For instance, adjustments to the dive cycle that reduce predation risk might be unaffordable if resources are scarce. Thus, if animals are to avoid imminent starvation or substantial loss of reproductive potential, resource declines might indirectly increase predation rates by limiting the extent to which dive cycles can deviate from those that would maximize energy gain. We hope that ideas presented in this paper stimulate other researchers to further develop theory and test predictions on how predation risk might influence diving behaviour and its ecological consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a growing interest in species distribution modelling, relatively little attention has been paid to spatial autocorrelation and non-stationarity. Both spatial autocorrelation (the tendency for adjacent locations to be more similar than distant ones) and non-stationarity (the variation in modelled relationships over space) are likely to be common properties of ecological systems. This paper focuses on non-stationarity and uses two local techniques, geographically weighted regression (GWR) and varying coefficient modelling (VCM), to assess its impact on model predictions. We extend two published studies, one on the presence–absence of calandra larks in Spain and the other on bird species richness in Britain, to compare GWR and VCM with the more usual global generalized linear modelling (GLM) and generalized additive modelling (GAM). For the calandra lark data, GWR and VCM produced better-fitting models than GLM or GAM. VCM in particular gave significantly reduced spatial autocorrelation in the model residuals. GWR showed that individual predictors became stationary at different spatial scales, indicating that distributions are influenced by ecological processes operating over multiple scales. VCM was able to predict occurrence accurately on independent data from the same geographical area as the training data but not beyond, whereas the GAM produced good results on all areas. Individual predictions from the local methods often differed substantially from the global models. For the species richness data, VCM and GWR produced far better predictions than ordinary regression. Our analyses suggest that modellers interpolating data to produce maps for practical actions (e.g. conservation) should consider local methods, whereas they should not be used for extrapolation to new areas. We argue that local methods are complementary to global methods, revealing details of habitat associations and data properties which global methods average out and miss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevention is the best way to slow the escalation of problems associated with biological invasions. Screening of potential introductions is widely applied for assessing the risk of species becoming invasive. Despite advances in the understanding of the determinants of invasiveness, screening still relies heavily on assessments of the potential of species to ‘fit in’ to the broad environmental conditions of a target region. Most screening systems ask whether species are native to, or are known to be naturalized or invasive in, regions with ‘similar’ climatic/environmental conditions to the target region. The level of similarity required to make the species a high-risk introduction is generally not specified. This paper describes a protocol for making such assessments more objective, using South Africa as a test case. Using nonparametric niche-based modelling (generalized additive model; GAM) calibrated on the current distribution of each South African biome, we mapped regions of the world that are climatically similar to South African biomes. Lists were produced of countries with the largest areas climatically similar to South Africa overall, and to each biome separately. Validation of the usefulness of the approach was sought by evaluating whether the main invasive plant species in South African biomes occur naturally, or have adventive ranges, in regions mapped as analogous to South African biomes. A very large part of the world is climatically similar to South Africa, with eight countries having larger areas of land classified as climatically similar to South African biomes than the total area of South Africa. Almost all the most prominent invasive species in South African biomes occur naturally or are invasive outside their natural range in areas with similar climates to those that occur in parts of South Africa. This confirms the value of objective climate matching in screening protocols. We examined climatic conditions for a representative sample of major invasive plants from other parts of the world. The analysis identified several species that are already invasive in regions that have matched climates in South Africa but that are not yet introduced or, if already present, have not yet invaded large areas. For example, the following known invasive species should be considered high-risk species in South African grasslands: Alliaria petiolata, Cytisus scoparius, Gleditsia triacanthos, Heracleum mantegazzianum, Hieracium pilosella, Juniperus communis, Pinus contorta, P. monticola, P. ponderosa, P. sylvestris, Prunus laurcerasus, and P. serotina. Objectively matched climatic regions are also useful as a first-cut assessment when evaluating species with no invasive history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two oft-cited drawbacks of kernel density estimators (KDEs) of home range are their sensitivity to the choice of smoothing parameter(s) and their need for independent data. Several simulation studies have been conducted to compare the performance of objective, data-based methods of choosing optimal smoothing parameters in the context of home range and utilization distribution (UD) estimation. Lost in this discussion of choice of smoothing parameters is the general role of smoothing in data analysis, namely, that smoothing serves to increase precision at the cost of increased bias. A primary goal of this paper is to illustrate this bias-variance trade-off by applying KDEs to sampled locations from simulated movement paths. These simulations will also be used to explore the role of autocorrelation in estimating UDs. Autocorrelation can be reduced (1) by increasing study duration (for a fixed sample size) or (2) by decreasing the sampling rate. While the first option will often be reasonable, for a fixed study duration higher sampling rates should always result in improved estimates of space use. Further, KDEs with typical data-based methods of choosing smoothing parameters should provide competitive estimates of space use for fixed study periods unless autocorrelation substantially alters the optimal level of smoothing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After House Finches were introduced from the western to the eastern United States and rapidly increased in numbers, House Sparrows declined, leading to suggestions that the decline was caused by interspecific competition. However, other potential causes were not excluded. The rapid decline in House Finches following the emergence of a new disease (mycoplasmal conjunctivitis) caused by a novel strain of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) in 1994 has provided a natural experiment and an opportunity to revisit the hypothesis that interspecific competition from House Finches drives population changes in House Sparrows. If true, the recent decline in House Finches should lead to an increase in House Sparrows. In this paper we test the hypothesis that House Sparrow and House Finch numbers in the northeastern United States vary inversely by examining data from three independent volunteer programs that monitor bird species' abundance and distribution (Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch, and Breeding Bird Survey). In the first analysis we found that House Sparrow and House Finch numbers varied inversely during a time interval when House Finches were increasing and a time interval when House Finches were decreasing. In the second analysis, we found that the rates of geometric change in House Sparrow abundance (In[HOSPt+1/HOSPt]) were negatively correlated with initial House Finch (HOFIt) and sparrow (HOSPt) abundances at individual sites, irrespective of the time period. Given that finch range expansion and subsequent declines in abundance are the result of two very different phenomena, it would be very unlikely for apparent competition or spurious correlations to cause the observed concomitant changes in House Sparrow abundance. We conclude that interspecific competition exists between these two species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a great deal of interests in the estimation of grassland biophysical parameters such as percentage of vegetation cover (PVC), aboveground biomass, and leaf-area index with remote sensing data at the canopy scale. In this paper, the percentage of vegetation cover was estimated from vegetation indices using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and red-edge parameters through the first derivative spectrum from in situ hypserspectral reflectance data. Hyperspectral reflectance measurements were made on grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China, using an Analytical Spectral Devices spectroradiometer. Vegetation indices such as the difference, simple ratio, normalized difference, renormalized difference, soil-adjusted and modified soil-adjusted vegetation indices (DVI, RVI, NDVI, RDVI, SAVIL = 0.5 and MSAVI2) were calculated from the hyperspectral reflectance of various vegetation covers. The percentage of vegetation cover was estimated using an unsupervised spectral-contextual classifier automatically. Relationships between percentage of vegetation cover and various vegetation indices and red-edge parameters were compared using a linear and second-order polynomial regression. Our analysis indicated that MSAVI2 and RVI yielded more accurate estimations for a wide range of vegetation cover than other vegetation indices and red-edge parameters for the linear and second-order polynomial regression, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecologists have traditionally viewed β-diversity as the ratio between γ-diversity and average α-diversity. More recently, an alternative way of partitioning diversity has been proposed for which β-diversity is obtained as the difference between γ-diversity and average α-diversity. Although this additive model of diversity decomposition is generally considered superior to its multiplicative counterpart, in both models β-diversity is a formally derived quantity without any self-contained ecological meaning; it simply quantifies the diversity excess of γ-diversity with respect to average α-diversity. Taking this excess as an index of β-diversity is a questionable operation. In this paper, we show that a particular family of α-diversity measures, the most celebrated of which is Rao's quadratic entropy, can be adequately used for summarizing β-diversity. Our proposal naturally leads to a new additive model of diversity for which, given two or more sets of plots, overall plot-to-plot species variability can be additively partitioned into two non-negative components: average variability in species composition within each set of plots and the species variability between the set of plots. For conservation purposes, the suggested change of perspective in the summarization of β-diversity allows for a flexible analysis of spatial heterogeneity in ecological diversity so that different hierarchical levels of biotic relevance (i.e. from the genetic to the landscape level) can be expressed in a significant and consistent way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to tackle the problem that arises from asymmetrical data cubes formed by two crossed factors fixed by the experimenter (factor A and factor B, e.g., sites and dates) and a factor which is not controlled for (the species). The entries of this cube are densities in species. We approach this kind of data by the comparison of patterns, that is to say by analyzing first. the effect of factor B on the species-factor A pattern, and second the effect of factor A on the species-factor B pattern. The analysis of patterns instead of individual responses requires a correspondence analysis. We use a method we call Foucart's correspondence analysis to coordinate the correspondence analyses of several independent matrices of species × factor A (respectively B) type, corresponding to each modality of factor B (respectively A). Such coordination makes it possible to evaluate the effect of factor B (respectively A) on the species-factor A (respectively B) pattern. The results obtained by such a procedure are much more insightful than those resulting from a classical single correspondence analysis applied to the global matrix that is obtained by simply unrolling the data cube, juxtaposing for example the individual species × factor A matrices through modalities of factor B. This is because a single global correspondence analysis combines three effects of factors in a way that cannot be determined from factorial maps (factor A, factor B, and factor A × factor B interaction) whereas the applications of Foucart's correspondence analysis clearly discriminate two different issues. Using two data sets, we illustrate that this technique proves to be particularly powerful in the analyses of ecological convergence which include several distinct data sets and in the analyses of spatiotemporal variations of species distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The striking amount of variation in the mating systems of higher plants has stimulated fruitful research by both ecologists and population geneticists. Historically, these two schools of thought have developed independent theoretical treatments and empirical approaches to account for the evolution of such diversity. We highlight the approach adopted by each field. Population geneticists have developed an approach centred on gene properties of individuals and their role on the evolution of self-fertilisation (transmission rules and the deleterious role of mutations), while ecologists have mostly focused on demographic properties of self-fertilisation (seed production, colonisation ability of selfers). As a result, the two approaches sometimes use conflicting notions of fitness. The recent empirical advances on inbreeding depression, a topic typically motivated by population genetic questions, have emphasized the need to adopt a demographical perspective for fitness. In this paper, we suggest generalizing this approach in mating system evolution and we expect further improvements by integrating demographic and genetics perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing classification has the potential to provide important information, such as tree species distribution maps, to ecologists, at a range of spatial and temporal scales. However, standard classification procedures often fail to provide the high accuracies required for many ecological applications. Previously, a modified remote sensing classification technique was used to provide very high classification accuracies for one or two classes (e.g. species) of interest. The aim of this paper was to demonstrate that the output from the method can be suitable for spatial ecological analyses, and to provide a generic simulation framework for assessing the adequacy of any given remote sensing classification for such analyses. Marked point pattern analysis (MPPA) was applied to tree species distribution data obtained for sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus and ash Fraxinus excelsior from a 400 ha ancient semi-natural woodland in southern England using the modified remote sensing classification method to test several hypotheses of ecological interest relating to the spatial distribution and interaction of these species. Monte Carlo simulation methods were then used to evaluate the data and data quality requirements of the MPPA to check that the classified tree species maps for sycamore and ash were adequate. Using the combined method the spatial distributions for sycamore and ash were found to be aggregated and inter-dependent at a range of spatial scales. Together, the remote sensing classification and simulation approaches provide the basis for exploiting more fully the potential of remote sensing to provide information of value to ecologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assumption that the description of any system depends on spatial and temporal scale has moved researchers to incorporate scale as another factor in determining the mechanisms explaining species diversity and distribution. Although most researchers agree that processes that occur at different spatial and temporal scales affect ecological communities, empirical support is still scarce. In this paper, we seek to discern whether the relationship between abundance, biomass, and species diversity, on the one hand, and habitat heterogeneity, on the other, holds across temporal and spatial scales. Moreover, we analyse whether the pattern/variation found depends on the taxonomic level, and the diversity index used. To answer these questions, we sampled arthropod assemblages across three nested temporal and spatial scales. In general, we found variability in the responses to habitat heterogeneity across scales according to the assemblage descriptor, the taxonomic level selected, and the diversity index used. Our results suggest that generalization is difficult and extrapolation should be made with caution. Moreover, the use of more than one diversity index would provide additional and complementary information about species-distribution patterns and the mechanisms generating these patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports developments on the success of the "Journal of Ecology," the official publication of the British Ecological Society in Great Britain. The Impact Factor of the "Journal of Ecology" has increased by about 26 percent between 2004 and 2005. Jian-Ming Deng has awarded the 2006 John L. Harper Young Investigator's Prize for his paper about the relationship of plant mass-density and moisture gradient that was published in the journal. Meran Owen has been appointed as managing editor for the journal.

Species distributions often show an aggregated pattern, which can be due to a number of endo- and exogenous factors. While autologistic models have been used for modelling such data with statistical rigour, little emphasis has been put on disentangling potential causes of aggregation. In this paper we ask whether it is possible to infer sources of aggregation in species distributions from a single set of occurrence data by comparing the performance of various autologistic models. We create simulated data sets, which show similar occupancy patterns, but differ in the process that causes the aggregation. We model the distribution of these data with various autologistic models, and show how the relative performance of the models is sensitive to the factor causing aggregation in the data. This information can be used when modelling real species data, where causes of aggregation are typically unknown. To illustrate, we use our approach to assess the potential causes of aggregation in data of seven bird species with contrasting statistical patterns. Our findings have important implications for conservation, as understanding the mechanisms that drive population fluctuations in space and time is critical for the development of effective management actions for long-term conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a response on the paper "Plant Species Invasions Along the Latitudinal Gradient in the United States." The authors stress the two major findings of the research that include explanation about the variation of the latitudinal gradients in native species as well as the richness of the native plant species as the predictors of nonnative species richness. However, researchers emphasize that these criticisms are not applicable to the data and derive from the peremptory specification of the species area functional form, since the data set are the results of the spurious patterns of covaration. Researchers agreed on the survey that claims completeness to affect inferences from species-area data.

Understanding how organisms selectively use resources is essential for designing wildlife management strategies. The probability that an individual uses a given resource, as characterized by environmental factors, can be quantified in terms of the resource selection probability function (RSPF). The present literature on the topic has claimed that, except when both used and unused sites are known, the RSPF is non-estimable and that only a function proportional to RSPF, namely, the resource selection function (RSF) can be estimated. This paper describes a close connection between the estimation of the RSPF and the estimation of the weight function in the theory of weighted distributions. This connection can be used to obtain fully efficient, maximum likelihood estimators of the resource selection probability function under commonly used survey designs in wildlife management. The method is illustrated using GPS collar data for mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus de Blainville 1816) in northwest British Columbia, Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. In recent years the use of species distribution models by ecologists and conservation managers has increased considerably, along with an awareness of the need to provide accuracy assessment for predictions of such models. The kappa statistic is the most widely used measure for the performance of models generating presence–absence predictions, but several studies have criticized it for being inherently dependent on prevalence, and argued that this dependency introduces statistical artefacts to estimates of predictive accuracy. This criticism has been supported recently by computer simulations showing that kappa responds to the prevalence of the modelled species in a unimodal fashion. 2. In this paper we provide a theoretical explanation for the observed dependence of kappa on prevalence, and introduce into ecology an alternative measure of accuracy, the true skill statistic (TSS), which corrects for this dependence while still keeping all the advantages of kappa. We also compare the responses of kappa and TSS to prevalence using empirical data, by modelling distribution patterns of 128 species of woody plant in Israel. 3. The theoretical analysis shows that kappa responds in a unimodal fashion to variation in prevalence and that the level of prevalence that maximizes kappa depends on the ratio between sensitivity (the proportion of correctly predicted presences) and specificity (the proportion of correctly predicted absences). In contrast, TSS is independent of prevalence. 4. When the two measures of accuracy were compared using empirical data, kappa showed a unimodal response to prevalence, in agreement with the theoretical analysis. TSS showed a decreasing linear response to prevalence, a result we interpret as reflecting true ecological phenomena rather than a statistical artefact. This interpretation is supported by the fact that a similar pattern was found for the area under the ROC curve, a measure known to be independent of prevalence. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results provide theoretical and empirical evidence that kappa, one of the most widely used measures of model performance in ecology, has serious limitations that make it unsuitable for such applications. The alternative we suggest, TSS, compensates for the shortcomings of kappa while keeping all of its advantages. We therefore recommend the TSS as a simple and intuitive measure for the performance of species distribution models when predictions are expressed as presence–absence maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluations of the success of different conservation strategies are still in their infancy. We used four different measures of project outcomes—ecological, economic, attitudinal, and behavioral—to test hypotheses derived from the assumptions that underlie contemporary conservation solutions. Our hypotheses concerned the effects of natural resource utilization, market integration, decentralization, and community homogeneity on project success. We reviewed the conservation and development literature and used a specific protocol to extract and code the information in a sample of papers. Although our results are by no means conclusive and suffer from the paucity of high-quality data and independent monitoring (80% of the original sample of 124 projects provided inadequate information for use in this study), they show that permitted use of natural resources, market access, and greater community involvement in the conservation project are all important factors for a successful outcome. Without better monitoring schemes in place, it is still impossible to provide a systematic evaluation of how different strategies are best suited to different conservation challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question: This paper studies the establishment and performance of Cortaderia selloana (Pampas grass), an alien South American ornamental species that is invading many parts of the world. We asked whether (1) early successional stages were the most susceptible to C. selloana invasion; (2) soil microdisturbances increased invasion at any point of succession, and (3) C. selloana invasion of later successional stages was modulated by vegetation type Location: Delta del Llobregat (Catalonia, NE Spain). Methods: We monitored survival and growth of transplanted C. selloana seedlings in disturbed and non-disturbed plots throughout a successional gradient with an age range of< 1 to > 10 years in different vegetation types and within the area of influence of coexisting species with similar growth form. Results: Although seedling survival was extremely low in all treatments, our results revealed that early successional stages were not the most easily invaded since we found no significant differences in the percentage survival of C. selloana along the successional gradient. However, survival and seedling biomass were enhanced by soil disturbance at any seral stage. This result suggested that inhibition ruled C. selloana invasion. Invasibility neither depended on the invaded vegetation type nor on the co-existing species with similar growth form. Finally, C. selloana invasion was not enhanced by decreasing competition with Phragmites australis, a native coexisting species because survival rates after a year were not significantly different. However, Phragmites increased C. selloana leaf length probably due to shading. Conclusions: C. selloana recruitment appears to be positively affected by soil disturbance but it is independent of successional stage or vegetation type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of methods to analyze habitat selection when resources are defined by several categories (e.g., vegetation types) is a topical issue in radio-tracking studies. The White and Garrott statistic, an extension of the widely used test of Neu et al., can be used to determine whether habitat selection is significant. As well, Manly's selection ratio, a particularly useful measure of resource selectivity by resource users, allows detection of the most strongly selected habitat types. However, when both the number of animals and types of habitat are large, the biologist often has to deal with an excessively large number of measures. In this paper we present a new method, the eigenanalysis of selection ratios, that generalizes these two common methods within the framework of eigenanalyses. This method undertakes an additive linear partitioning of the White and Garrott statistic, so that the difference between habitat use and availability is maximized on the first factorial axes. The eigenanalysis of selection ratios is therefore optimal in habitat selection studies. Although we primarily consider the case where the habitat availability is the same for all animals (design II), we also extend this analysis to the case where the habitat availability varies from one animal to another (design III). An application of this method is provided using radio-tracking data collected on 17 squirrels in five habitat types. The results indicate variability in habitat selection, with two groups of animals displaying two patterns of preference. This difference between the two groups is explained by the patch structure of the study area. Because this method is mainly exploratory, and therefore does not rely on any distributional assumption, we recommend its use in studies of habitat selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poplar is one of the most economically important and intensively studied tree species owing to its wide application in the timber industry and as a model material for the study of woody plants. The natural resource of poplars in China is replete. Over the past 10 years, the application of molecular biological techniques to genetic improvements in poplar species has been widely studied in China. Recent advances in molecular genetic improvements of poplar, including cDNA library construction, gene cloning and identification, genetic engineering, gene expression, genetic linkage map construction, mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and molecular-assisted selection, are reviewed in the present paper. In addition, the application of modern biotechnology to molecular improvements in the genetic traits of the poplar and some unsolved problems are discussed. (Managing editor: Li-Hui Zhao) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation and land management decisions may be misguided by inaccurate or misinterpreted knowledge of biodiversity. Non-systematists often lack taxonomic expertise necessary for an accurate assessment of biodiversity. Additionally, there are far too few taxonomists to contribute significantly to the task of identifying species for specimens collected in biodiversity studies. While species level identification is desirable for making informed management decisions concerning biodiversity, little progress has been made to reduce this taxonomic deficiency. Involvement of non-systematists in the identification process could hasten species identification. Incorporation of DNA sequence data has been recognized as one way to enhance biodiversity assessment and species identification. DNA data are now technologically and economically feasible for most scientists to apply in biodiversity studies. However, its use is not widespread and means of its application has not been extensively addressed. This paper illustrates how such data can be used to hasten biodiversity assessment of species using a little-known group of edaphic beetles. Partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I was sequenced for 171 individuals of feather-wing beetles (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) from the Klamath ecoregion, which is part of a biodiversity hotspot, the California Floristic Province. A phylogram of these data was reconstructed via parsimony and the strict consensus of 28,000 equally parsimonious trees was well resolved except for peripheral nodes. Forty-two voucher specimens were selected for further identification from clades that were associated with many synonymous and non-synonymous nucleotide changes. A ptiliid taxonomic expert identified nine species that corresponded to monophyletic groups. These results allowed for a more accurate assessment of ptiliid species diversity in the Klamath ecoregion. In addition, we found that the number of amino acid changes or percentage nucleotide difference did not associate with species limits. This study demonstrates that the complementary use of taxonomic expertise and molecular data can improve both the speed and the accuracy of species-level biodiversity assessment. We believe this represents a means for non-systematists to collaborate directly with taxonomists in species identification and represents an improvement over methods that rely solely on parataxonomy or sequence data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Mechanistic models may be able to predict how changes in agricultural practice influence farmland bird populations. A key component of these models is the link between food and competitor densities and the rate at which birds consume food, i.e. the functional response. 2. This paper tests whether the functional response of a farmland bird, the rook Corvus frugilegus, can be predicted from three parameters: searching speed, food detection distance and handling time. It is often difficult to measure the functional response of farmland birds directly, but it may be possible to measure behavioural parameters more quickly. 3. We performed experiments in which rooks fed on a range of artificial food densities in two grass sward heights. Food detection distance was greater in the shorter sward, but sward height did not influence searching speed or handling time. The functional response could be accurately predicted in both sward heights. 4. We show that the functional response of a farmland bird can be predicted from parameters that can be measured more quickly than the alternative of measuring the functional response directly. This implies that the functional responses of other farmland birds may be predicted using a minimum of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provisioning of sustaining goods and services that we obtain from natural ecosystems is a strong economic justification for the conservation of biological diversity. Understanding the relationship between these goods and services and changes in the size, arrangement, and quality of natural habitats is a fundamental challenge of natural resource management. In this paper, we describe a new approach to assessing the implications of habitat loss for loss of ecosystem services by examining how the provision of different ecosystem services is dominated by species from different trophic levels. We then develop a mathematical model that illustrates how declines in habitat quality and quantity lead to sequential losses of trophic diversity. The model suggests that declines in the provisioning of services will initially be slow but will then accelerate as species from higher trophic levels are lost at faster rates. Comparison of these patterns with empirical examples of ecosystem collapse (and assembly) suggest similar patterns occur in natural systems impacted by anthropogenic change. In general, ecosystem goods and services provided by species in the upper trophic levels will be lost before those provided by species lower in the food chain. The decrease in terrestrial food chain length predicted by the model parallels that observed in the oceans following overexploitation. The large area requirements of higher trophic levels make them as susceptible to extinction as they are in marine systems where they are systematically exploited. Whereas the traditional species area curve suggests that 50% of species are driven extinct by an order-of-magnitude decline in habitat abundance, this magnitude of loss may represent the loss of an entire trophic level and all the ecosystem services performed by the species on this trophic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the implications of environmental contamination on the perceived health impacts, effects on daily life and coping mechanisms of residents living near the Tar Ponds in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The site contains over 700,000 tonnes of contaminated sediments and is considered one of the most contaminated commercial–industrial sites in Canada [Canadian British Consultants Limited (CBCL) and Conestoga Rovers and Associates (CRA) 1999 Phase 1 Site Assessment: Muggah Creek Watershed, Sydney, Nova Scotia]. Resident fears regarding perceived health risks, as well as other concerns related to property values and the viability of the local economy have been reinforced by distrust of government and of science. These concerns have been sustained by clean-up delays. In response, many residents have engaged in forms of activism as a prominent form of coping, while several residents have kept well-informed and sought social support. These findings indicate that the process of remediation and site clean-up must be sensitive to local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Araucaria Forest expansion over grassland takes place under wet climate conditions and low disturbance and it is hypothesized that isolated trees established on grassland facilitate the establishment of forest woody species beneath their canopies. Forest with Araucaria angustifolia is a particular type of Brazilian Atlantic Forest and the main forest type on the highland plateau in south Brazil, often forming mosaics with natural Campos grassland. The objectives of this paper were to evaluate the role of isolated shrubs and trees as colonization sites for seedlings of Araucaria Forest woody species on grassland, to determine which species function as preferential nurse plants in the process and the importance of vertebrate diaspore dispersal on the structure of seedling communities beneath nurse plants. The study was conducted in São Francisco de Paula, Rio Grande do Sul State, where we sampled isolated shrubs and trees in natural grassland near Araucaria Forest edges. Seedlings were counted and identified, and seedling diaspore dispersal syndromes, size and colour were registered. We detected 11 woody species with a potential role in nucleating grassland colonization by forest species. Beneath the canopies of nurse plants more forest species seedlings were found compared with open field grassland and the seedlings had diaspores mostly dispersed by vertebrates. Also, more seedlings were found under the canopy of A. angustifolia than beneath other nurse plant species. We conclude that A. angustifolia trees established on grassland act as nurse plants, by attracting disperser birds that promote colonization of the site by other forest species seedlings, and that under low level of grassland disturbance, conservation of frugivorous vertebrate assemblages may increase forest expansion over natural grassland and also facilitate the regeneration of degraded forest areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stage-based demographic data are now available on many species of plants and some animals, and they often display temporal and spatial variability. We provide exact formulas to compute age-specific life expectancy and survivorship from stage-based data for three models of temporal variability: cycles, serially independent random variation, and a Markov chain. These models provide a comprehensive description of patterns of temporal variation. Our formulas describe the effects of cohort (birth) environmental condition on mortality at all ages, and of the effects on survivorship of environmental variability experienced over the course of life. This paper complements existing methods for time-invariant stage-based data, and adds to the information on population growth and dynamics available from stochastic demography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife managers frequently use estimates of population densities to guide ungulate management Because it is nearly impossible to obtain accurate counts, these estimates are based on indices. Thus, managers continue to seek new index methods that could help them better monitor and manage ungulate populations. In this paper we examine the usefulness of hind foot length as an ecological indicator of density dependence for monitoring roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations. We used the hind feet of all roe deer shot over an entire province for 13 years that were collected by wildlife managers from the Tam Hunter Federation (France) to conduct this research. Information on the sex, date, and shooting locality were recorded by hunters, and animal age was determined by wildlife managers. We divided the province into 3 biogeographical regions and investigated the relationship between hind foot length of roe deer fawns, spring and summer climate (temperature and precipitation), and an index of deer density (number of shot roe deer per square kilometer) by region using linear models. Hind foot length differed between sexes and between regions. In 2 out of 3 regions, we observed a negative relationship between hind foot length and our index of roe deer density. Further, hind foot length was lower when springs (but not summers) were cold or wet. We interpreted these trends in relation to changes in population density and habitat structure. We concluded that hind foot length is a useful indicator for assessing the density-dependent relationship between roe deer populations and their environment and for monitoring population trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogeographical studies frequently reveal positive correlations between species richness and estimates of environmental water and/or energy. A popular interpretation of this relationship relates the supply of water and energy to productivity, and then, in turn, to richness. Productivity–diversity theories are now legion, yet none has proved sufficiently intuitive to gain broad acceptance. Like productivity, heterogeneity is known to influence diversity at fine spatial scales, yet the possibility that richness might relate to water–energy dynamics at coarse spatial scales via a heterogeneity-generating mechanism has received little attention. In this paper we outline such a conceptual model for plants that is internally consistent and testable. We believe it may help to explain the capacity of environments receiving different inputs of water and energy to support variable numbers of species at a range of spatial scales, the pervasive correlation between productivity and richness, some exceptions to the productivity–diversity relationship, the form of productivity–diversity curves and the link between richness and environmental ‘harshness’. The model may also provide an answer to one of the most venerable puzzles in the field of diversity studies: why high inputs of water and energy correspond to more species rather than simply more individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacteria and fungi often share a common substrate, and their spatial proximity in many environments has lead to either synergistic or antagonistic interactions. In this paper, the interaction of bacterial and fungal decomposers from an aquatic environment was studied. We found indications of a tradeoff between fungal growth and tolerance towards bacteria. Fungal strains growing best in absence of bacteria were most severely affected by bacterial presence, while those less suppressed during co-existence with bacteria had lower maximal growth rates in bacterial absence. Additionally, we show that the antagonism between bacteria and fungi is connected to competition for substrate, but that this competition can be drastically altered if fungi are given an opportunity to establish before inoculation of bacteria. Established fungi out-competed bacteria, and gained higher biomass than in simultaneously inoculated treatments with higher substrate concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]