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Background: Invasive alien species (IAS) are recognised as pervasive drivers of global environmental change and pose significant threats to socio‐ecosystems worldwide. Although much attention is focused on prevalent IAS, the oversight of species that are still contained and approaching critical invasion thresholds raises concern. In this context, scientific support to implement effective and spatially informed management strategies is critically needed. Aims: Our study focuses on the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, a concerning IAS projected to undergo a substantial expansion in Europe. Materials & Methods: Using a comprehensive analysis of three distinct datasets, our study aimed to document newly colonised sites and provide an up‐to‐date overview of the current distribution and invasion dynamics of X. laevis in France. Results: Our results revealed recent colonisation of new sites within the established range of the species and the continuous progression of the invasion front at a rate of 1.2 km per year. This annual progression currently translates to an expansion of approximately 400 km2 per year in the predicted distribution range of the species. Discussion: Emphasising the urgent need for proactive management, we recommend measures encompassing prevention, early detection and rapid responses to invasion, delineated across three strategic zoning levels. Conclusion: Immediate and coordinated efforts are imperative to anticipate and mitigate the considerable socio‐environmental impacts associated with this species in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing invasive alien species (IAS) is a critical issue for many countries to preserve native biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. In western France, we analyzed data of captures of aquatic invasive alien rodents (AIARs), the coypu and muskrat, by the local permanent control program from 2007 to 2022 across 26 municipalities encompassing 631 km2. We found that control activities removed up to 10.3 AIARs per km2 annually. The number of coypus removed per trapper per year increased by 220%, whereas it decreased by 85% for muskrats. The number of trappers increased from 2007 to 2014, peaking at 70, and then decreased by 50% in 2022. The number of AIARs captured per trapper per year increased with the density of ponds. The number of coypus captured per year decreased with an increasing amount of woodland per municipality, whereas it increased with road density. Finally, other tested landscape variables did not affect the number of AIARs removed per trapper per year. Our results are discussed in the context of control activities implemented against IAS in other countries. We advocate for stakeholders to assess whether control activities against AIARs effectively mitigate the impacts on social-ecological systems in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive alien species (IAS), including aquatic invasive alien rodents (AIAR), cause extensive damage to ecosystems with significant economic, human health, and environmental concerns. In France, AIAR populations are well established, and a permanent control programme has been set up in several areas to reduce their impact. While some studies have reported the results of AIAR control activities, detailed information on current management strategies and how control activities are implemented in the field is lacking. This study evaluates the implementation of the management plan and control activities of AIAR in France regarding (i) problem definition, feasibility and objectives, (ii) planning from action plan, organization, funding and methods, (iii) field implementation from spatial prioritisation and personnel and (iv) monitoring and evaluation. Our study reveals that in France, (i) local and regional institutions mainly manage control activities primarily through volunteers and (ii) national and regional management plans on AIAR controls are missing. We elaborate on several actions that can help local and regional entities in improving their control programme, including zonation for priority actions, development of performance indicators of control activities, engagement of volunteers, and scientific monitoring of AIAR populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While harboring the bulk of the planet's biodiversity, tropical ecosystems have experienced intense land conversion for agriculture. Studies examining the impacts of land‐use change on tropical biodiversity have primarily focused on forest cover loss but have overlooked the ecological potential of habitats surrounding forest fragments to modulate biodiversity loss. We examined whether small‐mammal communities changed with the land cover surrounding forest fragments, and how functional traits affected responses to land cover. Small mammals were sampled in the Brazilian Cerrado using live‐trap transects. Three landscape types were identified according to the surroundings of the transects (within 750‐m‐radius buffers): forest‐ (≥50% forest cover), pasture‐, and crop‐dominated landscapes (<50% forest cover, with predominance of pastures or crops, respectively). We examined the composition of functional traits across landscape types and used abundance models to analyze the response of small‐mammal communities to land cover. From forest‐dominated to pasture‐ and crop‐dominated landscapes, the abundances and/or species richness of the largest, forest‐specialist, frugivorous/granivorous, and terrestrial species decreased. In forest‐dominated landscapes, abundances and species richness were slightly affected by land cover surrounding forest fragments. In pasture‐ and crop‐dominated landscapes which represent the less‐preserved landscapes, increased proportions of native forests, open formations, and, to some extent, pastures, supported the increased abundance of small mammals. Land cover surrounding forest fragments is critical for maintaining the diversity of species and functional traits within small‐mammal communities. Our results emphasize the need to maintain native vegetation in human‐modified landscapes to maintain biodiversity and ecological functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In human-dominated landscapes, human disturbances may contrast (spatially and/or temporally) with risk imposed by non-human predators. However, how prey adjust behaviour to minimize risk from multiple threats remains unclear. In Central-Western France, we investigated patterns of activity, space and habitat use, and causes of variations during the diel cycle of the grey partridge (captive-reared, released), a farmland bird facing multiple risks (nocturnal predation, diurnal hunting pressure). We also investigated influence of individual space use, relative to risk-related features on the fate of birds. Birds adjusted their behaviours in ways consistent with the reduction of risk from nocturnal carnivores at night and hunters during daytime. We recorded bimodal crepuscular activity, likely explained by commuting movements between spatially-separated diurnal and nocturnal sites composed of different habitats: selection of open terrains and avoidance of predator reservoirs at night vs. use of high-vegetation cover during daytime. We observed space use differences between surviving, hunted and predated birds. Predation and hunting activities act as contrasting pressures, selecting birds based on their spatial behaviour, which has likely shaped diel adjustments at the population level. An improved consideration of temporal variation in environmental pressures would help to reliably address factors constraining populations, so increasing wildlife management efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]