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Being intertwined with economic development, urbanization determines the present and future development path of regions and countries. The intimate relationship between urban expansion and economic development is of particular interest in the case of large regions with complex (and mostly non-linear) socio-demographic dynamics and a relevant primacy in the metropolitan system of a given country. Typical examples of advanced economies with settlement systems characterized by a high degree of city primacy are peripheral and disadvantaged European countries such as Portugal and Greece. For instance, the administrative region of Attica—centered on Athens, the Greek capital city—represents the largest metropolitan area of the country, hosting almost 3.8 million inhabitants in 2021 (36.2% of the Greek population). In this context, this study investigates the internal redistribution of the resident population in metropolitan Athens and the progressive development of satellite cities over a relatively longtime interval, testing the assumptions of the Spatial Cycle Theory (SCT) between 1951 and 2021 and predicting future development paths up to 2051. To investigate past, present, and future intra-regional population trends, we used data released from decadal (1951–2021) censuses and demographic forecasts for the years 2031, 2041, and 2051. Being in line with the SCT, the empirical results of our study document how demographic dynamics of individual centers influence largely—and independently—the long-term development of metropolitan regions, both with policy/planning regulation and in conditions of non-intervention (spontaneous urban growth). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater macroinvertebrates are a diverse group and play key ecological roles, including accelerating nutrient cycling, filtering water, controlling primary producers, and providing food for predators. Their differences in tolerances and short generation times manifest in rapid community responses to change. Macroinvertebrate community composition is an indicator of water quality. In Europe, efforts to improve water quality following environmental legislation, primarily starting in the 1980s, may have driven a recovery of macroinvertebrate communities. Towards understanding temporal and spatial variation of these organisms, we compiled the TREAM dataset (Time seRies of European freshwAter Macroinvertebrates), consisting of macroinvertebrate community time series from 1,816 river and stream sites (mean length of 19.2 years and 14.9 sampling years) of 22 European countries sampled between 1968 and 2020. In total, the data include >93 million sampled individuals of 2,648 taxa from 959 genera and 212 families. These data can be used to test questions ranging from identifying drivers of the population dynamics of specific taxa to assessing the success of legislative and management restoration efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological invasions pose a rapidly expanding threat to the persistence, functioning and service provisioning of ecosystems globally, and to socio‐economic interests. The stages of successful invasions are driven by the same mechanism that underlies adaptive changes across species in general—via natural selection on intraspecific variation in traits that influence survival and reproductive performance (i.e., fitness). Surprisingly, however, the rapid progress in the field of invasion science has resulted in a predominance of species‐level approaches (such as deny lists), often irrespective of natural selection theory, local adaptation and other population‐level processes that govern successful invasions. To address these issues, we analyse non‐native species dynamics at the population level by employing a database of European freshwater macroinvertebrate time series, to investigate spreading speed, abundance dynamics and impact assessments among populations. Our findings reveal substantial variability in spreading speed and abundance trends within and between macroinvertebrate species across biogeographic regions, indicating that levels of invasiveness and impact differ markedly. Discrepancies and inconsistencies among species‐level risk screenings and real population‐level data were also identified, highlighting the inherent challenges in accurately assessing population‐level effects through species‐level assessments. In recognition of the importance of population‐level assessments, we urge a shift in invasive species management frameworks, which should account for the dynamics of different populations and their environmental context. Adopting an adaptive, region‐specific and population‐focused approach is imperative, considering the diverse ecological contexts and varying degrees of susceptibility. Such an approach could improve and refine risk assessments while promoting mechanistic understandings of risks and impacts, thereby enabling the development of more effective conservation and management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While our understanding of long-term trends in material wealth inequality in prehistoric societies has expanded in recent decades, we know little about long-term trends in other dimensions of wealth and about social developments within particular societal segments. This paper provides the first evidence of inequality in relational wealth within the upper societal segment of a supra-regional network of communities in prehistoric Central Europe over the first four millennia BCE. To this end, we compiled a novel dataset of 5000 single-funeral burial mounds and employed burial mound volume as a proxy for the buried individual's relational wealth. Our analysis reveals a consistently high level of inequality among the buried individuals, showing a wave-like pattern with an increasing trend over time. Additionally, our findings show temporal shifts in the size of the upper societal segment. Based on a review of archeological and paleo-environmental evidence, the temporal change in inequality may be explained by technological progress, climate and population dynamics, trade and social networks, and/or sociopolitical transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Rozwój Regionalny & Polityka Regionalna is the property of Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza (IH UAM) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The population abundance of birds is an important way to gauge the sustainability and health of the environment. However, several factors influence their distribution and density in different habitats. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive and updated outlook on bird population dynamics in Europe in the past 40 years. With the use of Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs), we analyzed the data available from the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS) on abundance indexes collected throughout Europe from 1980 to 2019 and explored the driving forces behind our observed changes for each habitat type. We also apply GAMMs to model the overall changes in abundance indices of eight bird species that showed the highest variations (i.e., Locustella fluviatilis, Locustella naevia, Alcedo atthis, Bombycilla garrulus, Tetrax tetrax, Tringa totanus, Anthus campestris and Larus ridibundus). It was noted that the general abundance of birds decreased, with farmland birds suffering the biggest decline. Forest bird species population abundance was found to be quite varied; specialist species decreased as compared to generalists, which generally increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental conditions can influence the individual development of organisms and their morphological variability at the population level. The dimensions and proportions of the skull and lower jaw of immature shrews (Sorex araneus, S. caecutiens, and S. minutus), which were captured in August in regenerating clearings in the middle taiga of northeastern Europe, depended on the stage of abundance dynamics ("peaks" or "depressions"). For all three species from the same taxocenosis, a statistically significant reduction in the skull and jaw was observed against the background of the high abundance in captures and the multidimensional morphological niches corresponding to different abundance stages were significantly separated. The parameters of morphological diversity (entropy and self-organization index) depended on the amplitude of fluctuations in species occurrence; however, they varied within the limits characteristic of mammals. Along with Dehnel's phenomenon, natural population fluctuations may be one of the main factors determining the pattern of dynamics of the individual development and spatiotemporal variability of the morphological diversity of shrews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Food availability plays a significant role in modulating populations, especially in species relying on human-generated food sources like landfills. Sudden changes in food access can negatively impact vital parameters such as survival. For long-lived scavenger species, understanding how different age groups respond to these changes is essential since landfills are condemned to be closed. We studied the response in terms of apparent survival of griffon vultures to a decline in landfill organic matter after a waste treatment center became operational. The proportion of transients increased in all age groups. Survival dropped in juveniles and adult residents but increased in immature residents. These findings suggest that vultures permanently emigrated at higher rates due to intensified competition after the reduction in food. Intriguingly, immature resident vultures showed resilience, indicating the presence of high-quality individuals despite the food scarcity. The reasons behind reduced survival in adult residents during the final four study years remain unclear but are potentially linked to non-natural mortality. This research highlights the challenges facing scavengers as European landfill sites close, thereby stressing the need for food scarcity studies and timely conservation measures. Food availability shapes demographic parameters and population dynamics. Certain species have adapted to predictable anthropogenic food resources like landfills. However, abrupt shifts in food availability can negatively impact such populations. While changes in survival are expected, the age-related effects remain poorly understood, particularly in long-lived scavenger species. We investigated the age-specific demographic response of a Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) population to a reduction in organic matter in a landfill and analyzed apparent survival and the probability of transience after initial capture using a Bayesian Cormack-Jolly-Seber model on data from 2012–2022. The proportion of transients among newly captured immatures and adults increased after the reduction in food. Juvenile apparent survival declined, increased in immature residents, and decreased in adult residents. These results suggest that there was a greater likelihood of permanent emigration due to intensified intraspecific competition following the reduction in food. Interestingly, resident immatures showed the opposite trend, suggesting the persistence of high-quality individuals despite the food scarcity. Although the reasons behind the reduced apparent survival of resident adults in the final four years of the study remain unclear, non-natural mortality potentially plays a part. In Europe landfill closure regulations are being implemented and pose a threat to avian scavenger populations, which underlines the need for research on food scarcity scenarios and proper conservation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional variability in the spatial distribution of resident population and across-country density divides have consolidated heterogeneous demographic patterns at the base of modern urban systems in Europe. Although economic, historical, institutional, and cultural factors have demonstrated to affect the spatial distribution of resident population, density-dependence and path-dependence are mechanisms persistently shaping demographic dynamics at both local and regional scale. Analysis of density-dependent patterns of population growth (and decline) over sufficiently long time intervals allows a refined comprehension of socioeconomic processes underlying demographic divides. Despite a long settlement history, empirical investigation of the role of density-dependence in the long-term evolution of human populations along urban–rural gradients is relatively scarce especially in Mediterranean countries. The present study performs a comparative analysis of population distribution in 1033 Greek municipalities identifying (and testing the significance of) density-dependent and path-dependent mechanisms of population growth between 1961 and 2011, using spatially implicit and explicit econometric approaches. Results highlight a positive impact of density on population growth where settlements are concentrated. Assuming goodness of fit of the tested models as a proxy of density-dependence, the empirical findings clarify how density-dependent mechanisms were not significant all over the study period, being instead associated with specific phases of the city life cycle—basically urbanization with population concentrating in central locations. Density-dependence was less intense with suburbanization and counter-urbanization—when population sprawled over larger areas at medium–low density. An improved understanding of density-dependent and path-dependent mechanisms of population growth contributes to rethink spatial planning, regional development strategies, and socio-demographic policies adapting to heterogeneous (and rapidly changing) local contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have extended previously published sets of simple sequence repeat markers for Synchytrium endobioticum, selected to be polymorphic for the German-standard isolates of pathotypes P1, P2, P6, P8, and P18. These markers also complement the extensive published information on DNA polymorphisms for the mitogenomes of Synchytrium endobioticum. This extended set of 35 markers representing 73 alleles differentiated 51 isolates from Europe and North America into three large, well-separated clusters and subclusters using dendrogram analysis, principal coordinates analysis (PCoA), and population substructure analysis using STRUCTURE 2.3.4 software. This suggests a limited number of introgressions of the wart disease pathogen into current potato growing areas, followed by recombination and admixture of populations through human activities. The new markers extend the published marker sets and are useful tools for future analyses of population structure and dynamics in Synchytrium endobioticum, which are necessary to understand the biology of the interaction between the pathogen and its potato host and to develop future control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering local population dynamics and dispersal is crucial to project species' range adaptations in changing environments. Dynamic models including these processes are highly computer intensive, with consequent restrictions on spatial extent and/or resolution.We present CATS, an open‐source, extensible modelling framework for simulating spatially and temporarily explicit population dynamics of plants. It can be used in conjunction with species distribution models, or via direct parametrisation of vital rates and allows for fine‐grained control over the demographic and dispersal processes' models.The performance and flexibility of CATS is exemplified (i) by modelling the range shift of four plant species under three future climate scenarios across Europe at a spatial resolution of 100 m., and (ii) by exploring consequences of demographic compensation for range expansion on artificial landscapes.The presented software attempts to leverage the availability of computational resources and lower the barrier of entry for large‐extent, fine‐resolution simulations of plant range shifts in changing environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genomic landscape of Stone Age Europe was shaped by multiple migratory waves and population replacements, but different regions do not all show similar patterns. To refine our understanding of the population dynamics before and after the dawn of the Neolithic, we generated and analyzed genomic sequence data from human remains of 56 individuals from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Eneolithic across Central and Eastern Europe. We found that Mesolithic European populations formed a geographically widespread isolation-by-distance zone ranging from Central Europe to Siberia, which was already established 10,000 years ago. We found contrasting patterns of population continuity during the Neolithic transition: people around the lower Dnipro Valley region, Ukraine, showed continuity over 4000 years, from the Mesolithic to the end of the Neolithic, in contrast to almost all other parts of Europe where population turnover drove this cultural change, including vast areas of Central Europe and around the Danube River. Genome-wide sequencing of 56 ancient hunter-gatherer and early farmer individuals from Stone Age Central and Eastern Europe reveals striking population continuity in the east in contrast to central Europe that displays extensive admixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights the results of an assessment of population dynamics in medium and small towns in Europe in the years 1875, 1880, 1890, and 1904. These data were presented by Alexander Georg Supan (1847-1920) in his "Lehrbuch der Geographie nach den Principien der neueren Wissenschaft für österreichische Mittelschulen und verwandte Lehranstalten sowie zum Selbstunterrichte" ("Textbook of Geography for Austrian Middle Schools and Related Institutions, as Well as Self-Instruction"), published in the second (1875), fourth (1880), seventh (1890), and eleventh (1904) editions. Particular emphasis is placed on the fact that over the last quarter of the 19th century, the number of medium-populated towns exceeded a fifth of all European cities while small towns comprised a tenth. The article presents the population dynamics of 131 medium-sized towns in Europe in 1875, 1880, 1890, and 1904. It also establishes that medium towns were more typical of Austria-Hungary and Germany than other European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological evidence suggests that the population dynamics of Mid-Holocene (Late Mesolithic to Initial Bronze Age, ca. 7000–3000 BCE) Europe are characterized by recurrent booms and busts of regional settlement and occupation density. These boom-bust patterns are documented in the temporal distribution of 14C dates and in archaeological settlement data from regional studies. We test two competing hypotheses attempting to explain these dynamics: climate forcing and social dynamics leading to inter-group conflict. Using the framework of spatially-explicit agent-based models, we translated these hypotheses into a suite of explicit computational models, derived quantitative predictions for population fluctuations, and compared these predictions to data. We demonstrate that climate variation during the European Mid-Holocene is unable to explain the quantitative features (average periodicities and amplitudes) of observed boom-bust dynamics. In contrast, scenarios with social dynamics encompassing density-dependent conflict produce population patterns with time scales and amplitudes similar to those observed in the data. These results suggest that social processes, including violent conflict, played a crucial role in the shaping of population dynamics of European Mid-Holocene societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of factors such as density dependence, food availability and weather are known to be important for predicting population change in a wide range of species. However, a challenge in ecology is understanding the contributory and interactive role of these drivers on populations. This is necessary to design effective conservation and management strategies. Using data from long‐term studies of five hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius populations in Europe, we tested the relationship between population density and weather and their impact on demographic rates. We used an integrated population modelling approach, estimating age‐specific overwinter survival, annual population growth and fecundity rates. We found strong negative effects of population density, precipitation and winter temperature on population growth rates. This suggests that warmer and wetter weather negatively affects dormouse survival for both adults and juveniles, but we found subtle differences in these effects between age classes. We also identified an interaction between weather measures and population density on age‐specific survival, possibly as a result of weather impacts during hibernation. Although we found low winter temperature was positively associated with population growth, we found evidence consistent with density dependence. We discuss our results in the context of woodland habitat conservation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populations of many common bird species are declining in Europe and effective conservation measures require an understanding of both the environmental and demographic causes of these changes. Capture–mark–recapture analysis of data from standardised ringing sites allows estimation of key demographic parameters, including productivity, survival and population age structure. Volunteers in countries across Europe undertake standardised mist-netting of passerines during the breeding season, from which estimates of these can be derived at large, national spatial scales. The Euring EuroCES programme collates these data in a common format to facilitate the continent-wide analysis of bird population dynamics. Here, I outline the broad characteristics of Constant Effort Site (CES) ringing, and introduce an R package cesr that provides tools to read in and manipulate these data and to produce annual indices of abundance, productivity and survival, for monitoring purposes. These data have been used to identify how climatic and environmental change can affect bird populations, particularly of migratory species, at national and continental scales. I then provide some suggestions for how the programme might further be expanded and integrated with other data sets to provide evidence for the drivers of bird population change and hence benefit informed conservation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Declines in European bird populations are reported for decades but the direct effect of major anthropogenic pressures on such declines remains unquantified. Causal relationships between pressures and bird population responses are difficult to identify as pressures interact at different spatial scales and responses vary among species. Here, we uncover direct relationships between population time-series of 170 common bird species, monitored at more than 20,000 sites in 28 European countries, over 37 y, and four widespread anthropogenic pressures: agricultural intensification, change in forest cover, urbanisation and temperature change over the last decades. We quantify the influence of each pressure on population time-series and its importance relative to other pressures, and we identify traits of most affected species. We find that agricultural intensification, in particular pesticides and fertiliser use, is the main pressure for most bird population declines, especially for invertebrate feeders. Responses to changes in forest cover, urbanisation and temperature are more species-specific. Specifically, forest cover is associated with a positive effect and growing urbanisation with a negative effect on population dynamics, while temperature change has an effect on the dynamics of a large number of bird populations, the magnitude and direction of which depend on species' thermal preferences. Our results not only confirm the pervasive and strong effects of anthropogenic pressures on common breeding birds, but quantify the relative strength of these effects stressing the urgent need for transformative changes in the way of inhabiting the world in European countries, if bird populations shall have a chance of recovering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nothing puzzles sociologists of religion more than the reasons and the patterns behind religious change. In the literature on secularization processes, it is broadly accepted that ongoing modernization has undermined many of the pillars of institutional religions, leading to widespread religious decline. While a considerable body of research investigates the "why(s)" of this decline, the main focus of this paper is on the "how." Drawing on CARPE, a harmonized dataset concerning church attendance with almost 2 million observations spanning over 40 years in 39 European countries, this article disentangles the contributions of period change and cohort replacement to the general religious decline. It shows that this decline reflects a real population dynamic based on generational replacement. It is not historical events or developments affecting everyone that undermine religion: new and less religious cohorts are replacing old and more religious ones. Like many other population dynamics, this process is described by an S-shaped curve and applies—with different speeds and levels—to almost all the European countries considered herein. These findings suggest that the effects of the processes of modernization on the mechanisms of religious socialization should be scrutinized more carefully when studying the reasons behind religious decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although wild ungulate populations are heavily monitored throughout Europe, we understand little of how parasites affect population dynamics, and there is no systematic, long-term monitoring of parasite diversity and parasite loads. Such monitoring is in part hampered by a lack of time- and cost-effective assay methodologies with high sensitivity and good taxonomic resolution. DNA metabarcoding has been successfully used to characterize the parasitic nemabiome with high taxonomic resolution in a variety of wild and domestic hosts. However, in order to implement this technique in large-scale, potentially non-invasive monitoring of gastrointestinal parasitic nematodes (GIN), protocol optimization is required to maximize biodiversity detection, whilst maintaining time- and cost-effectiveness. Methods: Faecal samples were collected from a wild moose population and GIN communities were characterized and quantified using both parasitological techniques (egg and larva counting) and DNA metabarcoding of the ITS2 region of rDNA. Three different isolation methods were compared that differed in the volume of starting material and cell lysis method. Results: Similar nematode faunas were recovered from all samples using both parasitological and metabarcoding methods, and the approaches were largely congruent. However, metabarcoding assays showed better taxonomic resolution and slightly higher sensitivity than egg and larvae counts. The metabarcoding was not strictly quantitative, but the proportion of target nematode sequences recovered was correlated with the parasitologically determined parasite load. Species detection rates in the metabarcoding assays were maximized using a DNA isolation method that included mechanical cell disruption and maximized the starting material volume. Conclusions: DNA metabarcoding is a promising technique for the non-invasive, large-scale monitoring of parasitic GINs in wild ungulate populations, owing to its high taxonomic resolution, increased assay sensitivity, and time- and cost-effectiveness. Although metabarcoding is not a strictly quantitative method, it may nonetheless be possible to create a management- and conservation-relevant index for the host parasite load from this data. To optimize the detection rates and time- and cost-effectiveness of metabarcoding assays, we recommend choosing a DNA isolation method that involves mechanical cell disruption and maximizes the starting material volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Many species experienced population turnover and local extinction during the Late Pleistocene. In the case of megafauna, it remains challenging to disentangle climate change and the activities of Palaeolithic hunter‐gatherers as the main cause. In contrast, the impact of humans on rodent populations is likely to be negligible. This study investigated which climatic and/or environmental factors affect the population dynamics of the common vole. This temperate rodent is widespread across Europe and was one of the most abundant small mammal species throughout the Late Pleistocene. Location: Europe. Taxon: Common vole (Microtus arvalis). Methods: We generated a dataset comprised of 4.2 kb long fragment of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 148 ancient and 51 modern specimens sampled from multiple localities across Europe and covering the last 60 thousand years (ka). We used Bayesian inference to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and to estimate the age of the specimens that were not directly dated. Results: We estimated the time to the most recent common ancestor of all last glacial and extant common vole lineages to be 90 ka ago and the divergence of the main mtDNA lineages present in extant populations to between 55 and 40 ka ago, which is earlier than most previous estimates. We detected several lineage turnovers in Europe during the period of high climate variability at the end of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; 57–29 ka ago) in addition to those found previously around the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. In contrast, data from the Western Carpathians suggest continuity throughout the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) even at high latitudes. Main Conclusions: The main factor affecting the common vole populations during the last glacial period was the decrease in open habitat during the interstadials, whereas climate deterioration during the LGM had little impact on population dynamics. This suggests that the rapid environmental change rather than other factors was the major force shaping the histories of the Late Pleistocene faunas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The loss of biodiversity is shaping today's environment. Bird ringing is a citizen science research tool that can determine species population dynamics and trends over a large geographic area. We used a 17-year time series to assess population trends of 74 passerine species based on ringing data from autumn migration in Slovenia (south-central Europe). We defined seven guilds of species according to geographic location, ecological, migratory, breeding, and life-history traits. Almost all guilds showed declining trends, except for the group of species of northeastern European origin, which showed a stable trend. The greatest decline was in low-productivity wetland specialists. Forest birds, seed-eaters, and high-productivity species experienced the smallest declines. The general declines in avifauna across a range of life-history and behavioural traits, and across a range of spatial and ecological scales, suggest widespread environmental change in Europe. Our data indicates that recent trends are toward ecosystem homogeneity, with an impoverished avifauna, including a few species that are increasing in abundance. These are the species with higher productivity and flexible behaviour, such as short-distance migrants, that have the greatest chance of prevailing in the recently rapidly changing environment because of their ability to adapt to changes in a timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population dynamics set the framework for human genetic and cultural evolution. For foragers, demographic and environmental changes correlate strongly, although the causal relations between different environmental variables and human responses through time and space likely varied. Building on the notion of limiting factors, namely that at any one time, the scarcest resource caps population size, we present a statistical approach to identify the dominant climatic constraints for hunter-gatherer population densities and then hindcast their changing dynamics in Europe for the period between 21,000 to 8000 years ago. Limiting factors shifted from temperature-related variables (effective temperature) during the Pleistocene to a regional mosaic of limiting factors in the Holocene dominated by temperature seasonality and annual precipitation. This spatiotemporal variation suggests that hunter-gatherers needed to overcome very different adaptive challenges in different parts of Europe and that these challenges varied over time. The signatures of these changing adaptations may be visible archaeologically. In addition, the spatial disaggregation of limiting factors from the Pleistocene to the Holocene coincided with and may partly explain the diversification of the cultural geography at this time. Here, the authors use climate and resource availability, to statistically model the limiting factors in the dynamics of hunter-gatherer population densities in Europe between 21,000 and 8,000 years ago. They find that limiting factors varied spatiotemporally and the effects of these may be visible in the archaeological record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the 1970s and the 1990s, cities in Southern Europe experienced a progressive delocalisation of population, settlements and activities over larger regions. Economic downturns have increasingly influenced more recent waves of metropolitan growth, shaping differentiated patterns of urban change. While some cities evolved towards accelerated population dynamics in central districts responding to re-urbanisation impulses, other agglomerations were intrinsically bounded in a sort of 'late suburbanisation', with demographic shrinkage of both inner districts and rural areas, and uneven expansion of suburban population. By providing a comprehensive interpretation of the socioeconomic mechanisms underlying recent urban expansion, this study illustrates a diachronic analysis of population dynamics over multiple spatial scales and time frames in a metropolitan region of Southern Europe (Athens, Greece) between 1999 and 2019. Natural population balance was investigated vis à vis selected territorial indicators using descriptive, inferential and multivariate statistics. Results of the analysis identify different social forces underlying suburban population growth during economic expansion (2000s) and recession (2010s), evidencing a distinctive response of local communities to economic downturns that depends mostly on the background context (affluent versus disadvantaged neighbourhoods). Given the multiplicity of territorial dimensions involved in urban growth, our findings highlight how economic downturns distinctively shape metropolitan development based on locally differentiated demographic dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) is the most important hantavirus species in Europe, causing the majority of human hantavirus disease cases. In central and western Europe, the occurrence of human infections is mainly driven by bank vole population dynamics influenced by beech mast. In Germany, hantavirus epidemic years are observed in 2‐ to 5‐year intervals. Many of the human infections are recorded in summer and early autumn, coinciding with peaks in bank vole populations. Here, we describe a molecular epidemiological investigation in a small company with eight employees of whom five contracted hantavirus infections in late 2017. Standardized interviews with employees were conducted to assess the circumstances under which the disease cluster occurred, how the employees were exposed and which counteractive measures were taken. Initially, two employees were admitted to hospital and serologically diagnosed with hantavirus infection. Subsequently, further investigations were conducted. By means of a self‐administered questionnaire, three additional symptomatic cases could be identified. The hospital patients' sera were investigated and revealed in one patient a partial PUUV L segment sequence, which was identical to PUUV sequences from several bank voles collected in close proximity to company buildings. This investigation highlights the importance of a One Health approach that combines efforts from human and veterinary medicine, ecology and public health to reveal the origin of hantavirus disease clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two sibling and syntopic odonate species Sympetrum striolatum and Sympetrum vulgatum are common and widespread in Central Europe. While S. striolatum has strong positive population trends, declines of S. vulgatum are observed. The aim of this study was to identify possible drivers of these diverging trends. We presumed that differences in egg development may lead to differences in survival until hatching. First, eggs laid in non-permanent or shrinking waterbodies may suffer of increasing drought periods. Second, differences in developement may cause increased size-mediated intraguild predation, a common cause of reduced survival in odonate larvae. Egg development time and hatching rates were recorded of eleven egg clutches of S. vulgatum and ten clutches of S. striolatum under simulated drought vs. water and direct vs. delayed development treatments. Hatching rates were reduced under drought conditions, and particularly so in S. vulgatum. We did not observe obligate winter diapause in any of the egg clutches. But, S. vulgatum varied widely in development between clutches, while the eggs of S. striolatum developed much faster and hatched highly synchronously. This would provide S. striolatum with a temporal advantage that may lead to a size-advantage over most S. vulgatum. We also found that S. vulgatum grew faster. Faster larval growth would only compensate for those S. vulgatum with fast egg development. The current population trends may be partly attributed to lowered survival of S. vulgatum under drought and by phenological and, thus, size benefits of S. striolatum. Implications for insect conservation: Our results show that population dynamics of two closely related dragonfly species can be explained by climatically induced changes in their interactions. Understanding the causes and processes of behavioural changes resulting in differing population trends is fundamental for the protection of species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aurignacian is the first techno-complex related with certainty to Anatomically Modern Humans in Europe. Studies show that they appeared around 43-42 kyr cal BP and dispersed rapidly in Europe during the Upper Palaeolithic. However, human dispersal is a highly convoluted process which is until today not well understood. Here, we provide a reconstruction of the human dispersal during the Aurignacian on the pan-European scale using a human dispersal model, the Our Way Model, which combines archaeological with paleoclimate data and uses the human existence potential as a unifying driver of human population dynamics. Based on the reconstruction, we identify the different stages of the human dispersal and analyse how human demographic processes are influenced by climate change and topography. A chronology of the Aurignacian human groups in Europe is provided, which is verified for locations where archaeological dating records are available. Insights into highly debated hypotheses, such as human dispersal routes, are provided., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Despite extensive archaeological research, our knowledge of the human population history of Upper Paleolithic Europe remains limited, primarily due to the scarce availability and poor molecular preservation of fossil remains. As teeth dominate the fossil record and preserve genetic signatures in their morphology, we compiled a large dataset of 450 dentitions dating between ~47 and 7 thousand years ago (ka), outnumbering existing skeletal and paleogenetic datasets. We tested a range of competing demographic scenarios using a coalescent-based machine learning Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) framework that we modified for use with phenotypic data. Mostly in agreement with but also challenging some of the hitherto available evidence, we identified a population turnover in western Europe at ~28 ka, isolates in western and eastern refugia between ~28 and 14.7 ka, and bottlenecks during the Last Glacial Maximum. Methodologically, this study marks the pioneering application of ABC to skeletal phenotypes, paving the way for exciting future research avenues.

The impact of inter-group conflict on population dynamics has long been debated, especially for prehistoric and non-state societies. In this work, we consider that beyond direct battle casualties, conflicts can also create a 'landscape of fear' in which many non-combatants near theatres of conflict abandon their homes and migrate away. This process causes population decline in the abandoned regions and increased stress on local resources in better-protected areas that are targeted by refugees. By applying analytical and computational modelling, we demonstrate that these indirect effects of conflict are sufficient to produce substantial, long-term population boom-and-bust patterns in non-state societies, such as the case of Mid-Holocene Europe. We also demonstrate that greater availability of defensible locations act to protect and maintain the supply of combatants, increasing the permanence of the landscape of fear and the likelihood of endemic warfare.

Many mammalian species use photoperiod as a predictive cue to time seasonal reproduction. In addition, metabolic effects on the reproductive axis may also influence seasonal timing, especially in female small, short‐lived mammals. To get a better understanding of how annual cycling environmental cues impact reproductive function and plasticity in small, short‐lived herbivores with different geographic origins, we investigated the mechanisms underlying integration of temperature in the photoperiodic‐axis regulating female reproduction in a Northern vole species (tundra vole, Microtus oeconomus) and in a Southern vole species (common vole, Microtus arvalis). We show that photoperiod and temperature interact to determine appropriate physiological responses; there is species‐dependent annual variation in the sensitivity to temperature for reproductive organ development. In common voles, temperature can overrule photoperiodical spring‐programmed responses, with reproductive organ mass being higher at 10°C than at 21°C, whereas in autumn they are less sensitive to temperature. These findings are in line with our census data, showing an earlier onset of spring reproduction in cold springs, while reproductive offset in autumn is synchronized to photoperiod. The reproductive organs of tundra voles were relatively insensitive to temperature, whereas hypothalamic gene expression was generally upregulated at 10°C. Thus, both vole species use photoperiod, whereas only common voles use temperature as a cue to control spring reproduction, which indicates species‐specific reproductive strategies. Due to global warming, spring reproduction in common voles will be delayed, perhaps resulting in shorter breeding seasons and thus declining populations, as observed throughout Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The productivity of raptors is affected by different factors such as habitat, food supply, disturbance, weather conditions, and competition. Of the studied breeding parameters, success rate and breeding success significantly decreased over the years, while fledgling success and breeding density showed no trend. This study shed light on the main factors influencing the breeding success of a medium-sized raptor expanding in Europe from Asia. Modeling the factors determining the breeding success, we found that grassland availability, mean temperature during fledgling period and rainfall during nestling period influenced Long-legged buzzard reproduction (ΔAIC = 0.00, wi = 0.42, p = 0.03). The second significant model was described by weather factors excluding presence of grasslands (ΔAIC = 1.03, wi = 0.25, p = 0.05). Examining the explanatory factors, only presence of grassland in the territories demonstrated some effect on buzzard productivity. The assumption that other factors such as human disturbance, Souslik density, habitat diversity, and presence of competitors shaped buzzard's productivity did not find support in this study. This study supports the prediction of the future of Long-legged buzzard as it explored the effects of habitat and weather on its reproduction in the southern part of its distribution range. The conditions of a large-scale habitat alteration on one hand and, on the other hand, global climate change, manifested in increased rainfall during spring in Europe, draw an uncertain future for this species. Therefore, restoration of grasslands and proper habitat management, ensuring sufficient and diverse prey, is crucial for conservation of the Long-legged buzzard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Recent declines of many European bird species have been linked with various environmental changes, especially land-use change and climate change. Since the intensity of these environmental changes varies among different countries, we can expect geographic variation in bird population trends. Here, we compared the population trends of bird species among neighbouring countries within central Europe (Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland) between 1990 and 2016 and examined trait-associations with population trends at both national and international scales. We found that Denmark had the highest proportion of declining species while Switzerland had the lowest. Species associated with farmland had negative trends, but the effect size tended to differ among countries. A preference for higher temperature was positively associated with population trends and its effect size was similar among countries. Species that were increasing across all four countries were associated with forest; while species that were decreasing across all countries were long-distance migrants or farmland birds. Our results suggest that land-use change tends to be a more regionally variable driver of common bird population trends than climate change in central Europe. For species declining across all countries, international action plans could provide a framework for more efficient conservation. However, farmland birds likely need both, coordinated international action (e.g. through a green agricultural policy) to tackle their widespread declines as well as regionally different approaches to address varying national effect trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hansen's disease (leprosy), widespread in medieval Europe, is today mainly prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions with around 200,000 new cases reported annually. Despite its long history and appearance in historical records, its origins and past dissemination patterns are still widely unknown. Applying ancient DNA approaches to its major causative agent, Mycobacterium leprae, can significantly improve our understanding of the disease's complex history. Previous studies have identified a high genetic continuity of the pathogen over the last 1500 years and the existence of at least four M. leprae lineages in some parts of Europe since the Early Medieval period. Results: Here, we reconstructed 19 ancient M. leprae genomes to further investigate M. leprae's genetic variation in Europe, with a dedicated focus on bacterial genomes from previously unstudied regions (Belarus, Iberia, Russia, Scotland), from multiple sites in a single region (Cambridgeshire, England), and from two Iberian leprosaria. Overall, our data confirm the existence of similar phylogeographic patterns across Europe, including high diversity in leprosaria. Further, we identified a new genotype in Belarus. By doubling the number of complete ancient M. leprae genomes, our results improve our knowledge of the past phylogeography of M. leprae and reveal a particularly high M. leprae diversity in European medieval leprosaria. Conclusions: Our findings allow us to detect similar patterns of strain diversity across Europe with branch 3 as the most common branch and the leprosaria as centers for high diversity. The higher resolution of our phylogeny tree also refined our understanding of the interspecies transfer between red squirrels and humans pointing to a late antique/early medieval transmission. Furthermore, with our new estimates on the past population diversity of M. leprae, we gained first insights into the disease's global history in relation to major historic events such as the Roman expansion or the beginning of the regular transatlantic long distance trade. In summary, our findings highlight how studying ancient M. leprae genomes worldwide improves our understanding of leprosy's global history and can contribute to current models of M. leprae's worldwide dissemination, including interspecies transmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study quantifies the processes involved in regulating the European eel population of Lough Neagh, a lake in Northern Ireland. The relationship between glass eel input and silver eel output for the 1923–1997 cohorts was best described by a Beverton–Holt stock recruitment model. Glass eel input time series was not complete and was thus derived from the relationship between catches elsewhere in Europe and Lough Neagh, together with the addition of stocked glass eel. Silver eel output was the sum of silver eel escapement, catch and yellow eel catch converted to silver eel equivalents. Natural mortality increased with glass eel density, ranging from 0.017 to 0.142 year−1. The mean carrying capacity increased from ≈3.25 M silver eels (≈26 kg ha−1) for the 1923–1943 cohorts to ≈5.0 M (≈40 kg ha−1) for the 1948–1971 cohorts before regressing back to ≈3.25 M. The total silver eel output was highest during the late 1970s/early 1980s at 35–45 kg ha−1 year−1 and lowest during the early years of the 20th century and is currently at 10–15 kg ha−1 year−1. The findings are discussed in relation to (a) the ecological changes that have occurred within the lough, associated with eutrophication and the introduction of roach (Rutilus rutilus L.), and (b) the decline of the wider European eel stock across its distribution range. The findings from this study have relevance for the wider management of the European eel stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a class of spatially heterogeneous reaction diffusion rabies model which was used to describe population dynamics of the rabies epidemic disease observed in Europe. The dynamics of both the original non-degenerate reaction-diffusion system and its corresponding shadow system are investigated in great details. Firstly, we prove that under certain conditions, the in-time solutions of both the original non-degenerate reaction-diffusion system and its shadow system exist globally and remain uniformly bounded. Secondly, we are capable of showing that the shadow system is the nice approximations for the original non-degenerate reaction-diffusion system when the diffusion rate of the infectious rabid individuals (R) is sufficiently large. This implies that the dynamics of the shadow system can say as much as possible about the dynamics of the original system when is sufficiently large. Finally, we characterize the basic reproduction number for the shadow system, and study the stability/instability of the disease-free steady state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The third millennium BCE was a pivotal period of profound cultural and genomic transformations in Europe associated with migrations from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, which shaped the ancestry patterns in the present-day European genome. We performed a high-resolution whole-genome analysis including haplotype phasing of seven individuals of a collective burial from ~2500 cal BCE and of a Bell Beaker individual from ~2300 cal BCE in the Paris Basin in France. The collective burial revealed the arrival in real time of steppe ancestry in France. We reconstructed the genome of an unsampled individual through its relatives' genomes, enabling us to shed light on the early-stage admixture patterns, dynamics, and propagation of steppe ancestry in Late Neolithic Europe. We identified two major Neolithic/steppe-related ancestry admixture pulses around 3000/2900 BCE and 2600 BCE. These pulses suggest different population expansion dynamics with striking links to the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker cultural complexes.

Plant diversity is shaped by trade-offs between traits related to competitive ability, propagule dispersal, and stress resistance. However, we still lack a clear understanding of how these trade-offs influence species distribution and population dynamics. In Arabidopsis thaliana, recent genetic analyses revealed a group of cosmopolitan genotypes that successfully recolonized Europe from its center after the last glaciation, excluding older (relict) lineages from the distribution except for their north and south margins. Here, we tested the hypothesis that cosmopolitans expanded due to higher colonization ability, while relicts persisted at the margins due to higher tolerance to competition and/or stress. We compared the phenotypic and genetic differentiation between 71 European genotypes originating from the center, and the south and north margins. We showed that a trade-off between plant fecundity and seed mass shapes the differentiation of A. thaliana in Europe, suggesting that the success of the cosmopolitan groups could be explained by their high dispersal ability. However, at both north and south margins, we found evidence of selection for alleles conferring low dispersal but highly competitive and stress-resistance abilities. This study sheds light on the role of ecological trade-offs as evolutionary drivers of the distribution and dynamics of plant populations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Migratory insects may move in large numbers, even surpassing migratory vertebrates in biomass. Long-distance migratory insects complete annual cycles through multiple generations, with each generation's reproductive success linked to the resources available at different breeding grounds. Climatic anomalies in these grounds are presumed to trigger rapid population outbreaks. Here, we infer the origin and track the multigenerational path of a remarkable outbreak of painted lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies that took place at an intercontinental scale in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from March 2019 to November 2019. Using metabarcoding, we identified pollen transported by 264 butterflies captured in 10 countries over 7 months and modeled the distribution of the 398 plants detected. The analysis showed that swarms collected in Eastern Europe in early spring originated in Arabia and the Middle East, coinciding with a positive anomaly in vegetation growth in the region from November 2018 to April 2019. From there, the swarms advanced to Northern Europe during late spring, followed by an early reversal toward southwestern Europe in summer. The pollen-based evidence matched spatiotemporal abundance peaks revealed by citizen science, which also suggested an echo effect of the outbreak in West Africa during September-November. Our results show that population outbreaks in a part of species' migratory ranges may disseminate demographic effects across multiple generations in a wide geographic area. This study represents an unprecedented effort to track a continuous multigenerational insect migration on an intercontinental scale., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The low survival rate of leverets may significantly contribute to steep population declines and slow recovery of European hares ( Lepus europaeus ). However, the leveret survival rate in farmlands with different landscape structures is poorly understood, and the existing evidence comes mainly from Western Europe. In this study, we explored the survival of leveret hare dummies along linear semi-natural habitats in homogeneous Central European arable farmland during the main part of the European hare reproduction period (March-April) in 2019 and 2020. The survival rate of hare leverets during the 14-day period was only 22.2%, and all predation events were recorded during the first six days of the experiment. Mammalian predators were responsible for 53.1% of predation events, avian predators for 40.8%, and agricultural operations for 6.1%. The red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) was the dominant predator in our study area and was the primary cause of leveret dummy mortality (32.7%), but it also had the highest use-intensity and visit frequency of all of the study plots. Predation by avian predators was associated with patches of lower vegetation height and cover (such as plowed fields) and during daylight hours, whereas the opposite was true for mammalian predators. We propose that improving the habitat quality of arable landscapes by increasing the proportion and quality of extensively used non-farmed habitats ( e.g. , set-asides, wildflower areas, extensive meadows, fallow land, and semi-natural habitats on arable land) providing cover and shelter for leverets could be an effective management measure for reducing predation risk on leverets., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests., (©2024 Cukor et al.)

Migration scholars have long regarded the trajectory of the third generation as a critical test of assimilation; however, scholarship to date has been limited and largely focused on socioeconomic attainment. In this article, we rely on a large dataset of adolescent respondents in England, Germany, and the Netherlands to compare the second and third generations in terms of their social networks and cultural identities. The third generation shows stronger ties to the native fourth-plus generation alongside weaker ties to coethnics. We document comparable, albeit more moderate, dynamics of assimilation over generations in regard to national and ethnic identification, along with substantial variation by country of destination and ethnic origin group. Our results point to a dominant trend of assimilation at the third generation and suggest future challenges to provide a more durable assessment of postwar migration waves two generations after settlement., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors.)

Insects have a pivotal role in ecosystem function, thus the decline of more than 75% in insect biomass in protected areas over recent decades in Central Europe 1 and elsewhere 2,3 has alarmed the public, pushed decision-makers 4 and stimulated research on insect population trends. However, the drivers of this decline are still not well understood. Here, we reanalysed 27 years of insect biomass data from Hallmann et al. 1 , using sample-specific information on weather conditions during sampling and weather anomalies during the insect life cycle. This model explained variation in temporal decline in insect biomass, including an observed increase in biomass in recent years, solely on the basis of these weather variables. Our finding that terrestrial insect biomass is largely driven by complex weather conditions challenges previous assumptions that climate change is more critical in the tropics 5,6 or that negative consequences in the temperate zone might only occur in the future 7 . Despite the recent observed increase in biomass, new combinations of unfavourable multi-annual weather conditions might be expected to further threaten insect populations under continuing climate change. Our findings also highlight the need for more climate change research on physiological mechanisms affected by annual weather conditions and anomalies., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

• Birds' performance in urban environments can be linked to time when they urbanized. • Earlier urbanized birds have more negative long-term population trends. • Rapid environmental changes in cities can explain these negative trends. • Population trends of urban birds also covary with their habitat niche and nest site. • More positive trends in species breeding in more open areas and closer to ground. The population dynamics of urban animals has been so far remarkably understudied. At the same time, urban species' population trends can provide important information on the consequences of environmental changes in cities. We modelled long-term population trends of 93 bird species breeding in urban areas in 16 European countries as a function of species' traits, characterising variability in their urbanization and ecology. We found that: (i) earlier colonisers have more negative population trends than recent colonisers; (ii) more urbanized open habitat species had more positive population trends than less urbanized open habitat species; (iii) highly urbanized birds breeding above the ground had more negative trends than highly urbanized ground breeders. These patterns can be explained by several processes occurring in cities as well as outside city borders. Namely, (i) pre-industrial colonisers might struggle to persist in rapidly changing urban areas, limiting their foraging and breeding opportunities of the birds. (ii) Open habitats are under pressure of intensive agricultural exploitation in rural areas, which may negatively affect populations of less urbanized birds. In contrast, urban areas do not experience such pressure keeping the trends of urbanized open habitat species more positive. (iii) Differences in population trends between highly urbanized ground and above-ground breeders suggest that the latter may lose their breeding opportunities in modern buildings that do not provide suitable breeding sites. Our results indicate that even once successful, city dwellers may not keep pace with changes in urban areas, but these areas may also provide suitable habitats for biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and reversing biodiversity decline in the Anthropocene requires robust data on species taxonomic identity, distribution, ecology, and population trends. Data deficits hinder biodiversity assessments and conservation, and despite major advances over the past few decades, our understanding of bee diversity, decline and distribution in Europe is still hampered by such data shortfalls. Using a unique digital dataset of wild bee occurrence and ecology, we identify seven critical shortfalls which are an absence of knowledge on geographic distributions, (functional) trait variation, population dynamics, evolutionary relationships, biotic interactions, species identity, and tolerance to abiotic conditions. We describe "BeeFall," an interactive online Shiny app tool, which visualizes these shortfalls and highlights missing data. We also define a new impediment, the Keartonian Impediment, which addresses an absence of high-quality in situ photos and illustrations with diagnostic characteristics and directly affects the outlined shortfalls. Shortfalls are highly correlated at both the provincial and national scales, identifying key areas in Europe where knowledge gaps can be filled. This work provides an important first step towards the long-term goal to mobilize and aggregate European wild bee data into a multi-scale, easy access, shareable, and updatable database which can inform research, practice, and policy actions for the conservation of wild bees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanisms governing the relationship between genetic and cultural evolution are the subject of debate, data analysis and modelling efforts. Here we present a new georeferenced dataset of personal ornaments worn by European hunter-gatherers during the so-called Gravettian technocomplex (34,000-24,000 years ago), analyse it with multivariate and geospatial statistics, model the impact of distance on cultural diversity and contrast the outcome of our analyses with up-to-date palaeogenetic data. We demonstrate that Gravettian ornament variability cannot be explained solely by isolation-by-distance. Analysis of Gravettian ornaments identified nine geographically discrete cultural entities across Europe. While broadly in agreement with palaeogenetic data, our results highlight a more complex pattern, with cultural entities located in areas not yet sampled by palaeogenetics and distinctive entities in regions inhabited by populations of similar genetic ancestry. Integrating personal ornament and biological data from other Palaeolithic cultures will elucidate the complex narrative of population dynamics of Upper Palaeolithic Europe., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Anthropogenic factors have impacted the diversity and evolutionary trajectory of various species. This can be through factors such as pressure on population size or range, habitat fragmentation, or extensive manipulation and translocation. Here we use time-calibrated data to better understand the pattern and processes of evolution in the heavily manipulated European fallow deer (Dama dama). During the Pleistocene, fallow deer had a broad distribution across Europe and were found as far north as Britain during the Eemian interglacial. The last glacial period saw fallow deer retreat to southern refugia and they did not disperse north afterwards. Their recolonisation was mediated by people and, from northern Europe and the British Isles, fallow deer were transported around the world. We use ancient and modern mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and mitogenomic data from Eemian Britain to assess the pattern of change in distribution and lineage structure across Europe over time. We find founder effects and mixed lineages in the northern populations, and stability over time for populations in southern Europe. The Eemian sample was most similar to a lineage currently in Italy, suggesting an early establishment of the relevant refuge. We consider the implications for the integration of anthropogenic and natural processes towards a better understanding of the evolution of fallow deer in Europe., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Mast seeding is the episodic, massive production of plant seeds synchronized over large areas. The resulting superabundance of seeds represents a resource pulse that can profoundly affect animal populations across trophic levels. Following years of high seed production, the abundance of both seed consumers and their predators increase. Higher predator abundance leads to increased predation pressure across the trophic web, impacting nonseed consumers such as the wood warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix through increased nest predation after tree mast years. Over the past 30 years, the frequency of tree seed masts has increased, while wood warbler populations have declined in several regions of Europe. We hypothesized that increasing mast frequencies may have contributed to the observed population declines by creating suboptimal breeding conditions in years after masting. We measured reproductive output in four study areas in central Europe, which was between 0.61 and 1.24 fledglings lower in the years following masting than nonmasting. For each study area, we used matrix population models to predict population trends based on the estimated reproductive output and the local mast frequencies. We then compared the predicted with the observed population trends to assess if the frequency of mast years had contributed to the population dynamics. In Wielkopolska National Park (PL) and Hessen (DE), masting occurred on average only every 4 years and populations were stable or nearly so, whereas in Jura (CH) and Białowieża National Park (PL), masting occurred every 2 and 2.5 years, respectively, and populations were declining. The simple matrix population models predicted the relative difference among local population trends over the past 10-20 years well, suggesting that the masting frequency may partly explain regional variation in population trends. Simulations suggest that further increases in mast frequency will lead to further declines in wood warbler populations. We show that changes in a natural process, such as mast seeding, may contribute to the decline in animal populations through cascading effects., (© 2023 The Authors. Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America.)

Ancient DNA research in the past decade has revealed that European population structure changed dramatically in the prehistoric period (14,000-3000 years before present, YBP), reflecting the widespread introduction of Neolithic farmer and Bronze Age Steppe ancestries. However, little is known about how population structure changed from the historical period onward (3000 YBP - present). To address this, we collected whole genomes from 204 individuals from Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which are the first historical period genomes from their region (e.g. Armenia and France). We found that most regions show remarkable inter-individual heterogeneity. At least 7% of historical individuals carry ancestry uncommon in the region where they were sampled, some indicating cross-Mediterranean contacts. Despite this high level of mobility, overall population structure across western Eurasia is relatively stable through the historical period up to the present, mirroring geography. We show that, under standard population genetics models with local panmixia, the observed level of dispersal would lead to a collapse of population structure. Persistent population structure thus suggests a lower effective migration rate than indicated by the observed dispersal. We hypothesize that this phenomenon can be explained by extensive transient dispersal arising from drastically improved transportation networks and the Roman Empire's mobilization of people for trade, labor, and military. This work highlights the utility of ancient DNA in elucidating finer scale human population dynamics in recent history., Competing Interests: MA, CW, SS, VO, HM, JS, OC, BZ, EP, KÖ, LD, PG, DF, ML, TA, SA, PA, CB, ŽB, AB, LB, PB, EB, DB, FC, MC, DD, ID, KE, MF, AG, GG, FG, SG, ZH, RJ, KV, GJ, IK, KK, HK, AK, SK, MK, VK, MK, DK, FL, ML, SL, TL, TL, WL, AS, VM, YC, NM, IM, NM, BM, LN, MN, AN, CN, JN, AO, JP, LP, DP, KP, SP, MR, MS, AS, AS, TS, MT, IT, DT, JT, DV, TW, DW, MŽ, MF, MČ, MŠ, DB, MN, AC, RP, JP No competing interests declared, ZG Reviewing editor, eLife, MB Affiliated with Palisada Ltd. The author has no financial interests to declare, JB, DL Affiliated with Kaducej Ltd. The author has no financial interests to declare, RM Affiliated with Skupina STIK. The author has no financial interests to declare, (© 2024, Antonio, Weiß, Gao et al.)

Cyathostoma lari is a parasite of the nasal and orbital sinuses of gulls and other hosts in Europe and Canada. Here, we provide an overview of previously published data on the prevalence and infection intensity of C. lari in gulls. Furthermore, based on our data, we analyze the spatiotemporal trends in the prevalence and intensity of infection by C. lari in Chroicocephalus ridibundus in Czechia (central Europe; data from 1964 to 2014) and compare them with those obtained from five species of gulls in Karelia (Northwest Russia; data from 2012-2020). Based on our preliminary observations, we hypothesized that C. lari is subject to a decline in certain regions, but this decline is not necessarily applicable throughout its distribution range. We found that the C. lari population crashed in specific parts of its distribution range. The reasons are unknown, but the observed population changes correspond with the diet switch of their core host in Czechia, C. ridibundus. We previously observed a diet switch in Czech C. ridibundus from earthworms (intermediate hosts of C. lari ) to other types of food. This diet switch affected both young and adult birds. Nevertheless, it may not necessarily affect populations in other regions, where they depend less on earthworms collected from agrocenoses affected by agrochemicals and trampling. Correspondingly, we found that these changes were limited only to regions where the gulls feed (or fed) on arable fields. In Karelia, where arable fields are scarce, gulls likely continue to feed on earthworms and still display high infection rates by C. lari. Therefore, C. lari , a parasite of the nasal and orbital sinuses of gulls, nearly disappeared from their central European nesting grounds but is still present in better-preserved parts of its distribution range.

Almost eight million Ukrainians have fled their country to escape the Russian full-scale invasion. To provide empirical evidence on how beneficiaries of temporary protection who reside in the immediate proximity of Ukraine differ from those who went further and reside in Western European countries, two large-scale rapid-response surveys were conducted in Kraków, Poland, and Vienna, Austria, in spring 2022. Data include information on socio-demographic characteristics, human capital, and return intentions of 472 and 1,094 adult Ukrainian refugees in Poland and Austria, respectively. Contributing to the growing empirical evidence on consistent assortative patterns in refugee inflows into Europe, our findings show that regularities in patterns of self-selection also occur in forced migration contexts where legal routes to safety apply. According to the analysed convenience sample, a tentative conclusion is that the further Ukrainian refugees moved to the West, the more self-selected they tend to be in the key dimensions of formal educational attainment, previous employment, language skills, and urbanity. Results indicate that willingness to stay in Kraków is significantly lower than willingness to remain in Vienna. This suggests that public financial support and living conditions, rather than diaspora networks, are decisive factors in shaping the decision to stay, move to another location or return to Ukraine. The aim to start a new life elsewhere may drive the motivation to choose a more distant destination instead of a neighboring country that allows to return rather quickly. Host countries should be aware of these specific characteristics of their refugee populations and adapt their integration policies accordingly., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Kohlenberger et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)