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• Roads are often used by agricultural pest species as dispersal corridors. • Rabbit damage to agricultural production has increased in Iberian Peninsula. • We assessed the distribution of rabbit warrens in motorway verges. • Rabbit warren presence correlated positively with the presence of olive groves. • Our modelling approach allows identifying high risk motorway stretches. Pest species cause significant ecological, social and economic impacts, and programs to control them usually target specific landscape features when pests use these to disperse. Roads or railways are often used by pest species as dispersal corridors, but little is known about the specific characteristics of these human infrastructures that facilitate pest species dispersal. This is particularly evident in the case of native agricultural vertebrate pests like the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculu s) in the Iberian Peninsula (IP). Rabbit damage to agricultural production in IP has increased notably in recent years. This study uses a 'favourability function' to model the extent to which macroecological favourable conditions for rabbits and different fine-scale variables, including environmental, anthropogenic and agricultural factors, favour the presence of rabbit warrens on the verges of a motorway network in southern IP. For this purpose, we collected rabbit warren locations during car transects using CyberTraker 3.0 installed in a pad along 787 km of motorways. Our results revealed that rabbit warren distribution was widespread along the verges. Rabbit warren presence correlated positively with the presence of olive groves and with macroecological favourable conditions for rabbits. Our results provide strong evidence that rabbits use motorway verges, which are likely to act as dispersal corridors across landscapes. Additionally, our innovative approach, based on a rabbit warren index, the favourability function and a combination of local and macroecological predictors, could be used in many other areas where rabbits cause crop damage to make fine-scale predictions of high risk stretches and, therefore, where to apply mitigation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Measuring hunting sustainability across West/Central African forests remains a challenge. Long-term assessment of trends is crucial. Via hunter-reported surveys we collected offtake data in three villages near the Dja Biosphere Reserve (southeast Cameroon). During four months (March–June) in 2003, 2009 and 2016, we gathered information on hunters, prey species and number of carcasses brought to the three settlements. Because it was not possible to record hunter effort i.e. the time a hunter spent pursuing animals or setting traps, to calculate catch per unit effort (CPUE), we used catch per hunter per day (CPHD) to document hunter returns. We then used the changes in the mean body mass indicator (MBMI) throughout the study period to test for defaunation in the three villages. Differences in CPHD and MBMI by month and year, between villages and hunting method, were investigated using Tweedie regression models. For all species pooled, we found that the mean CPHD remained relatively constant between 2003 and 2016. There was an observed shift from traps to firearms during the study period. CPHD for each of the seven most hunted species did not vary significantly during the entire study period, and a similar change from traps to firearms was observed. MBMI also remained stable for all species pooled, but significantly declined in the remotest village. Starting MBMI values for this village were higher than for the other two settlements perhaps because wildlife here is less depleted. Although hunter effort data may be difficult to obtain over long time periods, CPHD and MBMI may be useful tools as a measure of impact of hunters on prey populations. Highlights • Long-term monitoring of hunting offtake in tropical forests is fundamental to achieve sustainability. • Catch per hunter per day and mean body mass indicator of hunted prey can be used to document extraction patterns over time. • Notwithstanding some caveats, these measures can still be used as a good indication of changes in prey offtake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]