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Robotised propaganda has become a new stage in the dissemination of manipulative content online, exploited for its low entry costs and high effectiveness. State actors, non-state actors, and politically and business-focused actors can spread ideas, share thoughts or sow half-truths and lies with the help of hundreds of automatised accounts and contribute to the manipulation of people's minds. In a short time, robotised propaganda gained the attention of academics as well as international organisations. Especially, Russian influence operations utilising the newest advantages of technological development stand at the epicentre of research interests in the Central and Eastern European region. In our research, we aim to test the hypothesis that information from media which are presented as pro-Russian were connected to a higher percentage of accounts classified as bots. The research sample covers all the media categories in the Czech Republic, as stated by the Political Capital study 'The Weaponization of Culture: Kremlin's traditional agenda and the export of values to Central Europe'. For robotised accounts activity analysis, we use a script based on a tweetbotornot R package by Kearney. As the results show, pro-Russian positive media have a statistically significant higher probability for bot account activity than media expressing neutral opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cavity nesting birds depend on the availability of tree cavities for breeding, but the structure of the surrounding environment may also impact cavity occupancy. Here we investigated the effects of forest structure on occupancy rates of excavated cavities and similar-size nest boxes by cavity nesters in managed southern boreal forests in Finland. We recorded the occupancy over five breeding seasons (2017–2021) and derived forest structure parameters from high-resolution thematic raster maps. We found a high occupancy rate in nest boxes (81%), but lower rates in natural cavities excavated in forest interior, forest edges and retention trees (42-46%). The analyzes focusing on Paridae only revealed that the occupancy rates in nest boxes were decreasing with increasing amounts of Norway spruce and deciduous tree foliage biomass, and tree height, but increasing with the proportion of Scots pine. In forest interior cavities, we found a negative effect of stand age but a positive effect of the proportion of spruce. We conclude that the benefits of nest boxes can be maximized by considering specific forest parameters when deploying them. In excavated cavities the occupancy rates are likely more dependent on the varying internal quality than on the forest structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To describe changes in arable land-use intensity and land use in lowlands and at higher altitudes from 1982 to 2000 focusing on changes around 1990 when agricultural intensity declined and to test how these changes affected farmland bird populations. Methods: Population trends for 24 species in lowlands (areas up to 300 m a.s.l.) and at higher altitudes (300-600 m a.s.l.) were calculated for time periods 1982-1990 and 1990-2000. Per hectare cereal yield represented a measure of arable land-use intensity and Corine Land Cover together with harvested area of cereals indicated land-use changes. Annual population growth rate of particular bird species was related to agricultural indicators. Results: In lowlands, arable land-use intensity declined after 1990, but this did not result in a lower decline of birds. At higher altitudes, arable land-use intensity did not change, but considerable areas of arable land were converted into pastures. This change was related to population improvement for two species and deterioration for three species. Conclusion: Trends in farmland bird populations in the Czech Republic were more likely driven by the arable land conversion to pastures rather than by changes in the arable land-use intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]