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Citizen science has a long history in the ecological sciences and has made substantial contributions to science, education, and society. Developments in information technology during the last few decades have created new opportunities for citizen science to engage ever larger audiences of volunteers to help address some of ecology’s most pressing issues, such as global environmental change. Using online tools, volunteers can find projects that match their interests and learn the skills and protocols required to develop questions, collect data, submit data, and help process and analyze data online. Citizen science has become increasingly important for its ability to engage large numbers of volunteers to generate observations at scales or resolutions unattainable by individual researchers. As a coupled natural and human approach, citizen science can also help researchers access local knowledge and implement conservation projects that might be impossible otherwise. In Japan, however, the value of citizen science to science and society is still underappreciated. Here we present case studies of citizen science in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and describe how citizen science is used to tackle key questions in ecology and conservation, including spatial and macro-ecology, management of threatened and invasive species, and monitoring of biodiversity. We also discuss the importance of data quality, volunteer recruitment, program evaluation, and the integration of science and human systems in citizen science projects. Finally, we outline some of the primary challenges facing citizen science and its future.

International audience; Climate change has significant implications for biodiversity and ecosystems. With slow progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, climate engineering (or ‘geoengineering’) is receiving increasing attention for its potential to limit anthropogenic climate change and its damaging effects. Proposed techniques, such as ocean fertilization for carbon dioxide removal or stratospheric sulfate injections to reduce incoming solar radiation, would significantly alter atmospheric, terrestrial and marine environments, yet potential side-effects of their implementation for ecosystems and biodiversity have received little attention. A literature review was carried out to identify details of the potential ecological effects of climate engineering techniques. A group of biodiversity and environmental change researchers then employed a modified Delphi expert consultation technique to evaluate this evidence and prioritize the effects based on the relative importance of, and scientific understanding about, their biodiversity and ecosystem consequences. The key issues and knowledge gaps are used to shape a discussion of the biodiversity and ecosystem implications of climate engineering, including novel climatic conditions, alterations to marine systems and substantial terrestrial habitat change. This review highlights several current research priorities in which the climate engineering context is crucial to consider, as well as identifying some novel topics for ecological investigation.

We review the conservation issues facing migratory shorebird populations that breed in temperate regions and use wetlands in the non-breeding season. Shorebirds are excellent model organisms for understanding ecological, behavioural and evolutionary processes and are often used as indicators of wetland health. A global team of experienced shorebird researchers identified 45 issues facing these shorebird populations, and divided them into three categories (natural, current anthropogenic and future issues). The natural issues included megatsunamis, volcanoes and regional climate changes, while current anthropogenic threats encompassed agricultural intensification, conversion of tidal flats and coastal wetlands by human infrastructure developments and eutrophication of coastal systems. Possible future threats to shorebirds include microplastics, new means of recreation and infectious diseases. We suggest that this review process be broadened to other taxa to aid the identification and ranking of current and future conservation actions.

Overdispersed count data are very common in ecology. The negative binomial model has been used widely to represent such data. Ecological data often vary considerably, and traditional approaches are likely to be inefficient or incorrect due to underestimation of uncertainty and poor predictive power. We propose a new statistical model to account for excessive overdisperson. It is the combination of two negative binomial models, where the first determines the number of clusters and the second the number of individuals in each cluster. Simulations show that this model often performs better than the negative binomial model. This model also fitted catch and effort data for southern bluefin tuna better than other models according to AIC. A model that explicitly and properly accounts for overdispersion should contribute to robust management and conservation for wildlife and plants.

Understanding and predicting the dynamics of organisms is a central objective in ecology and conservation biology, and modelling provides a solution to tackling this problem. However, the complex nature of ecological systems means that for a thorough understanding of ecological dynamics at hierarchical scales, a set of modeling approaches need to be adopted. This review illustrates how modelling approaches can be used to understand the dynamics of organisms in applied ecological problems, focussing on mechanistic models at a local scale and statistical models at a broad scale. Mechanistic models incorporate ecological processes explicitly and thus are likely to be robust under novel conditions. Models based on behavioural decisions by individuals represent a typical example of the successful application of mechanistic models to applied problems. Considering the data-hungry nature of such mechanistic models, model complexity and parameterisation need to be explored further for a quick and widespread implementation of this model type. For broad-scale phenomena, statistical models play an important role in dealing with problems that are often inherent in data. Examples include models for quantifying population trends from long-term, large-scale data and those for comparative methods of extinction risk. Novel statistical approaches also allow mechanistic models to be parameterised using readily obtained data at a macro scale. In conclusion, the complementary use and improvement of multiple model types, the increased use of novel model parameterisation, the examination of model transferability and the achievement of wider biodiversity information availability are key challenges for the effective use of modelling in applied ecological problems.

Food webs are comprised of a network of trophic interactions and are essential to elucidating ecosystem processes and functions. However, the presence of unknown, but critical networks hampers understanding of complex and dynamic food webs in nature. Here, we empirically demonstrate a missing link, both critical and variable, by revealing that direct predator-prey relationships between shorebirds and biofilm are widespread and mediated by multiple ecological and evolutionary determinants. Food source mixing models and energy budget estimates indicate that the strength of the missing linkage is dependent on predator traits (body mass and foraging action rate) and the environment that determines food density. Morphological analyses, showing that smaller bodied species possess more developed feeding apparatus to consume biofilm, suggest that the linkage is also phylogenetically dependent and affords a compelling re-interpretation of niche differentiation. We contend that exploring missing links is a necessity for revealing true network structure and dynamics.

Biodiversity Division, National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, 3-1-3, Kannondai, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK Biodiversity Lab, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK d Japan Bird Research Association, Sumiyoshi-cho 1-29-9, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo 183-0034, Japan e Lake Biwa Museum, Oroshimo-cho 1091, Kusatsu-shi, Shiga 525-0001, Japan Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Hirano 2-509-3, Otsu-shi, Shiga 520-2113, Japan

1. European agriculture is facing dramatic changes that are likely to have marked impacts on farmland biodiversity. There is an urgent need to develop land management strategies compatible with the conservation of biodiversity.2. We applied a spatially explicit behaviour-based model to assess how farmland management and the pattern of events across the annual farming calendar influences the foraging decisions of lesser kestrels Falco naumanni in a cereal steppe landscape. Moreover, we simulated the most likely scenarios of future agricultural changes to predict its impacts on lesser kestrel breeding success. Lesser kestrels have been the subject of serious conservation concern and constitute a good model species to judge impacts on farmland species more widely.3. Our results show that the location of cereal and fallow patches within a 2-km radius of a kestrel colony influences the total food supply delivered to the nestlings, explaining the differences in breeding success between years and colonies. Furthermore, the particular sequence in which patches are harvested by farmers is also predicted to influence offspring survival.4. Agricultural intensification, simulated by increasing the proportion of cereal fields, is predicted to negatively influence breeding success. However, the field harvesting sequence can play an important role in alleviating the effects of the increased percentage of cereal, as demonstrated by the higher breeding success obtained when harvesting starts from patches farthest from the colonies. The replacement of cereal cultivation by low-intensity grazed fallows would not be detrimental for kestrels.5. Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight the effectiveness of behaviour-based models to evaluate the interacting effect of spatial and temporal dynamics of agricultural landscapes and predict the response of populations to environmental change. To optimize food availability for lesser kestrels, land managers should implement long rotational schemes with < 60% of the area under extensive cereal cultivation in a 2-km radius around colonies. Harvesting should start in the cereal patches farthest from colonies. Ideally, the predominant land use around colonies should be fallows. These outcomes illustrate how behaviour-based models can be applied to identify specific management recommendations that would improve the effectiveness of agri-environmental schemes, the most accepted tool for maintaining farmland landscapes.

Organic farming has the potential to reverse biodiversity loss in farmland and benefit agriculture by enhancing ecosystem services. Although the mixed success of organic farming in enhancing biodiversity has been attributed to differences in taxa and landscape context, no studies have focused on the effect of macro-scale factors such as climate and topography. This study provides the first assessment of the impact of macro-scale factors on the effectiveness of within-farm management on biodiversity, using spiders in Japan as an example. A multilevel modelling approach revealed that reducing pesticide applications increases spider abundance, particularly in areas with high precipitation, which were also associated with high potential spider abundance. Using the model we identified areas throughout Japan that can potentially benefit from organic farming. The alteration of local habitat-abundance relations by macro-scale factors could explain the reported low spatial generality in the effects of organic farming and patterns of habitat association.

1. Although rice fields support many aquatic species, recent agricultural intensification in Asia has led to loss of biodiversity, such as freshwater fish, in exchange for increased agricultural productivity. In Japan, modern drainage systems have been introduced in recent decades. 2. This study investigated the effects of several aspects of modern drainage systems on the spatial distribution of dojo loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, a dominant fish species in Japanese rice fields. 3. Multimodel inference approaches and hierarchical partitioning were used to estimate the direction and degree of the effect of each system on the spatial distribution of dojo loach. 4. Three variables related to modern drainage systems (gaps between fields and ditches, the type of drainage ditch, and the presence of underground drainage pipes), flooding dates, and spatial autocovariates showed significant influence on the abundance of loach. In particular, gaps had the largest impact among all the variables on loach in the later part of the survey (June). 5. Based on the results, the effectiveness of several conservation methods implemented for paddy-dwelling fish in Japan was discussed. The knowledge will be a guide to the appropriate conservation of freshwater fish in Asia and other countries.

The dynamics of bird populations are often governed by a range of ecological processes at different spatial and temporal scales. The quantity and quality of information available from ecological surveys also depend on the scale. Thus, for a thorough understanding of the dynamics of bird populations and their effective conservation, it is necessary to establish a set of approaches suited to ecological processes at hierarchical spatial and temporal scales. This paper focuses on three ecological approaches based on behavioural ecology, landscape ecology, and macroecology, and shows how these approaches can be used effectively to understand the dynamics of bird populations in a complementary manner. Behavioural ecology is helpful in understanding processes that produce patterns in spatial and temporal population dynamics at a local scale, by revealing decision-making in individual birds. This approach also makes it possible to develop behaviour-based models to predict spatial distribution and population dynamics under novel conditions. Landscape ecology focuses on the effect of landscape structures on biodiversity dynamics at the landscape level. At a larger spatial scale (macro-scale), climate, topography, and human activities are known to influence greatly population dynamics and spatial distribution of birds, but information available at this scale is usually limited because of the difficulty in conducting intensive field surveys. Macroecological approaches thus aim to understand such relationships by first quantifying spatial and temporal dynamics of bird populations and then generalizing the revealed dynamics based on species ecological traits. This review also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the three approaches and suggests future tasks for promoting the understanding of the dynamics of bird populations at hierarchical spatial and temporal scales.

Literature is reviewed to determine the effects of landscape features on waterbird use of fields in regions where rice (Oryza sativa) is grown. Rice-growing landscapes often consist of diverse land uses and land cover, including rice fields, irrigation ditches, other agricultural fields, grasslands, forests and natural wetlands. Numerous studies indicate that local management practices, such as water depth and timing of flooding and drawdown, can strongly influence waterbird use of a given rice field. However, the effects of size and distribution of rice fields and associated habitats at a landscape scale have received less attention. Even fewer studies have focused on local and landscape effects simultaneously. Habitat connectivity, area of rice, distance to natural wetlands, and presence and distance to unsuitable habitat can be important parameters influencing bird use of rice fields. However, responses to a given landscape vary with landscape structure, scale of analysis, among taxa and with...

Drivers of biodiversity at macroscales have long been of interest in ecology, and climate and topography are now considered to be major drivers. Because humans have transformed most of the Earth's land surface, land use may play a significant role as a driver of biodiversity at a macroscale. Here we disentangle the relationships among climate, topography, land use, available energy (measured by the normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]), and species richness of Japanese forest birds. Species richness was better explained at 40- and 80-km resolutions than at 5-, 10- and 20-km resolutions; it was explained by climate, topography, and land use, and the effects of land use were fully incorporated into those of climate and topography. As temperature increased and elevation decreased, natural forest area decreased, and this decrease intensified in warm lowland areas. With the loss of natural forest, species richness decreased below a certain threshold. As temperature increased and elevation decreased, species richness and NDVI increased slightly or were unchanged in cool highland areas and decreased in warm lowland areas. Species richness increased linearly with the increase in NDVI. Most effects of climate/topography on species richness in warm lowland areas were shared by those of land use, suggesting that the decrease in species richness in warm lowland areas has been caused by loss of natural forest. Therefore, it is suggested that climate and topography determined land use intensity, which in turn, drove species richness through the depletion of available energy. Increasing temperature and decreasing elevation leads to both benefits (increase in potential available energy) and costs (depletion of energy by human land-use change) for forest birds. These costs seem to override benefits in warm lowland areas.

Many indicators/indices provide information on whether the 2010 biodiversity target of reducing declines in biodiversity have been achieved. The strengths and limitations of the various measures used to assess the success of such measures are now being discussed. Biodiversity dynamics are often evaluated by a single biological population metric, such as the abundance of each species. Here we examined tree population dynamics of 52 families (192 species) at 11 research sites (three vegetation zones) of Japanese old-growth forests using two population metrics: number of stems and basal area. We calculated indices that track the rate of change in all species of tree by taking the geometric mean of changes in population metrics between the 1990s and the 2000s at the national level and at the levels of the vegetation zone and family. We specifically focused on whether indices based on these two metrics behaved similarly. The indices showed that (1) the number of stems declined, whereas basal area did not change at the national level and (2) the degree of change in the indices varied by vegetation zone and family. These results suggest that Japanese old-growth forests have not degraded and may even be developing in some vegetation zones, and indicate that the use of a single population metric (or indicator/index) may be insufficient to precisely understand the state of biodiversity. It is therefore important to incorporate more metrics into monitoring schemes to overcome the risk of misunderstanding or misrepresenting biodiversity dynamics.

The loss of biodiversity is an ongoing problem and it is essential that a framework is established for revealing the status, identifying threats and monitoring future changes of populations. This study focuses on wader populations in the East Asian–Australasian flyway, and aims to develop a three-step framework for monitoring the status of populations. First, population changes of waders are quantified by estimating population indices from nationwide survey data in Japan between 1975 and 2008. Second, species characteristics shared by declining waders are identified using a phylogenetic comparative method. Finally, based on the revealed characteristics of declining species, composite indices are created for monitoring changes in wader communities in the East Asian–Australasian flyway. The estimated population indices revealed that 12 species out of 41, and 16 out of 42 have declined significantly during spring and autumn migration, respectively, in at least one of the past 10, 20 or 30 year-periods. Phylogenetic comparative analysis revealed that both the use of rice fields and dependence on the Yellow Sea negatively affected the population trends of waders. These results are consistent with the hypothesized negative impact of agricultural intensification caused by land consolidation in Japanese rice fields, and habitat loss and/or degradation in the Yellow Sea caused by the rapid growth of populations and economies in China and South Korea. The framework developed in this study can be applied to a wide range of species, and should play an important role in monitoring population trends and identifying threats to those species in future.

We investigated fat deposition and the timing of departure of Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons at Lake Miyajimanuma, Hokkaido, which is the largest stopover site in northern Japan, focusing on the differences between seasons and between sexes. We assessed the fat mass of neck-banded geese by observing their abdominal profiles. In spring, the variation in departure dates among individuals was smaller than that in arrival dates, and there was a positive correlation between arrival dates and departure dates in the fall. The factors affecting decision-making relating to the timing of departure are assumed to be the time constraints of migration before breeding in the spring and on the duration of stay in the fall. The spring fat increase in females was larger than in the fall, and had a tendency to be larger than in males in the spring, The seasonal and sexual difference in fat mass increase seems to be explained by the requirement of fat for breeding after departing from the stopover site...

Anthropogenic modification of natural habitat is resulting in a widespread loss of biodiversity. One of the primary responses of human societies to biodiversity loss has been the creation of protected areas. Two of the most important questions in conservation biology are: (1) whether protected areas are playing their intended role as reservoirs of biodiversity; and (2) whether habitat outside protected areas, particularly in agricultural landscapes, plays a significant role in maintaining biodiversity and the ecosystem services that it provides. Even though empirical evidence is still lacking on the exact mapping from functional group richness to specific ecosystem services, functional groups are good indicators of ecosystem functioning and thus service provision. We classified the South African avifauna into nine functional groups and tested at a coarse grain for differences in functional group composition between landscapes containing predominantly agricultural vs. protected areas. We used a matched pair sampling design to control for confounding variance. We found that avian functional groups respond in quantitatively and qualitatively distinct ways to agriculturally dominated landscapes. Raptors and scavengers displayed the most consistent losses, while nutrient dispersers and grazers tended to increase. Spatial detrending and randomisation tests suggested that only raptors and scavengers are negatively affected by agricultural landscapes independently of spatial autocorrelation. Thus, protected area landscapes are serving as important reservoirs of functionally important upper trophic populations while agricultural landscapes facilitate the presence of species that link aquatic and terrestrial systems. These results demonstrate the potential for complementary facets of functional diversity to exist on landscapes containing vastly different land-uses.

A high proportion of threatened and near-threatened species in the world now inhabit farmland. Although much data regarding the impact of agriculture on farmland biodiversity have been accumulated in Western countries, such information, particularly on the impact of rice cultivation, is fragmentary in other parts of the world and has rarely been disseminated internationally. Therefore, this paper aims to clarify what information has become available through earlier studies in Japan, where farmland mainly consists of rice paddy areas, and give directions for future studies about the impact of agriculture on farmland birds in Japan. This study made three notable observations. First, a review of earlier studies of farmland bird species in Japan uncovered some evidence of both increases (e.g., wildfowl and cranes) and declines (e.g., waders) in population size. Second, this paper closely examined case studies of two types of typical farmland birds: (1) geese and cranes foraging on crops and/or harvested remains of crops and (2) waders and egrets foraging on small organisms in farmland, not agricultural crops. This portion of the study identified some potential routes through which human activities in farmland affect bird species in Japan, and offered practical implications for conservation and management of these species supported by scientific data. Finally, based on the results of this review, three key tasks for future conservation studies and practices in Japanese farmland were suggested: (1) establishing quantitative indices based on monitoring surveys in farmland to track the population status, (2) collecting further evidence of the impact of agriculture, particularly on population-level responses by birds, and in a food-web context, and (3) applying evidence-based conservation to practice.

Because the effects of land-use change on biodiversity have primarily been examined at or below the regional scale, it remains unclear whether such effects scale up to the macroecological scale (i.e. nationwide or continental scale). In Japan, forests have become more mature since the cessation of most forestry efforts in the 1970s. At a nationwide scale, this forest maturation may lead to reductions in the abundance of species that depend on early successional forests (early successional species) and increases in the abundance of species that depend on mature forests (mature forest species). Japan has met its high demand for wood through imports from South-east Asia, resulting in deforestation there. Therefore, the abundance of mature forest species that migrate long distances to overwinter in South-east Asia may decrease. We examined changes in the range sizes of birds in Japan over the past 20 years using the living planet index (LPI). The LPI indicated that the range sizes of early successional species decreased. For mature forest species, the range sizes of long-distance migrants decreased, whereas those of short-distance migrants and residents increased. Our predictions were generally supported. Our results indicate that the effects of land-use change extend to the macroecological scale and that such changes in one country can affect the biodiversity dynamics in other countries. Forest maturation in Japan and concomitant deforestation in South-east Asia have been caused by internationally coupled socioeconomic processes. Therefore, biodiversity conservation at the macroecological scale must consider the role of land use, and such efforts will require both international and socioeconomic perspectives.

Accurately predicting occurrence of wildlife damage is crucial for effective management of problematic wildlife species, because accurate predication allows deterrence efforts to be focused at sites or times where damage is most likely. We explored methods to predict occurrence of white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) grazing in wheat fields around Lake Miyajimanuma, Japan. Depletion of waste rice grains caused geese to forage on wheat leaves in spring, reducing wheat harvest in grazed fields. The cumulative number of goose-days per hectare of rice-planted area from the beginning of the staging period explained the variation in the proportion of geese foraging in wheat fields. A logistic regression model on the location of vulnerable fields showed that goose grazing was likely to occur in wheat fields far from roads and windbreaks and those close to (within 1,000–2,000 m of) previously grazed fields. Although probability of occurrence of goose grazing was initially low in wheat fields with scarin...

Agricultural landscapes with spatial and temporal variations interact with each other to affect the existing biodiversity. Though rice fields provide important habitats for birds all over the world, studies so far have rarely explored the effects of landscape heterogeneity on bird species in rice paddy areas. This study investigated the effects of habitat cover and landscape variables on the species richness and the abundance of birds in rice paddy areas in Japan. Data on bird occurrence and the environment were collected at 32 grid squares (1 × 1 km) in the Tone River basin. The richness and the abundance of agricultural wetland species were particularly high in landscapes with large areas of rice fields in summer, when rice fields were irrigated, but in those with large areas of open water in winter, when rice fields were drained. It is important to maintain a combination of rice fields and open water to satisfy multiple habitat requirements by agricultural wetland species throughout the year. Grassland species were positively associated with a rich diversity of land cover including fallow fields and open water, indicating the importance of a simultaneous existence of multiple landscape elements. Forest cover in landscapes positively affected edge species and woodland species. Since forest cover had a relatively strong correlation with edge density, the responses of bird species to changes in forest cover and edge density need to be explored further. This study illustrates the importance of spatial and temporal landscape complementation for bird species in rice paddy areas.

Extinction risk is not evenly distributed among all species. Therefore, identifying shared characteristics of species that have shown serious population declines and range contractions can help to predict which types of species are likely to be vulnerable to extinction. The present study investigates ecological and life-history traits related to range contractions among breeding birds in Japan. Recent changes in nationwide distribution of each species were estimated using data from distributional surveys of breeding area in Japanese birds (1978 and 1998–2002). The Phylogenetic generalised least squares model revealed that the species with the following five traits have experienced particularly severe range contractions: medium body size, low annual productivity, solitary breeding, occurrence on farmland, and long-distance migration. Earlier theoretical studies have revealed that species with medium body sizes and low annual productivities are vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation. Thus, results from the present study, which showed a decline in species with those two traits, may be indicating that habitat loss and fragmentation play an important role in range contractions in Japanese birds too. Whether, and through which mechanisms, coloniality reduces extinction risks of populations remains to be investigated. A large number of studies, mainly in Europe, have revealed the mechanisms behind the declines in farmland birds and long-distance migrants. In Japan, however, few studies have explored the processes through which such species decline. Direct causes of population declines in species sharing traits associated with range contractions need to be investigated urgently so that appropriate conservation measures can be taken.

Although the affinity to the matrix habitat (matrix affinity) determines the fate of species in dynamic landscapes where habitat replacement occurs, only a few studies have examined which ecological traits are associated with matrix affinity. Here, we examined the associations of five ecological traits (i.e., fertility, body weight, migratory behavior, foraging height, and nesting height) with affinity for forest birds to a novel larch plantation matrix habitat. We surveyed the occurrence of birds in larch plantations (matrix habitat) and original deciduous forests (original habitat) in the winter and the breeding season, in a montane region of Nagano prefecture, central Japan. We treated occurrences in the matrix habitat relative to the original habitat as the matrix affinity of each species and examined the associations of ecological traits with matrix affinity, controlling for the relatedness of species. Fertile, resident, and low-nesting species showed high matrix affinity, while an association with body weight was not supported. The associations of foraging groups with matrix affinity were complex. While early successional species showed high matrix affinity, flycatchers had low matrix affinity. The matrix affinity of some foraging groups was greater in the winter than in the breeding season. Based on the results, we predicted that low fertility and migratory, high-nesting species would be sensitive to habitat replacement due to matrix hostility. These predictions may be applicable to other matrix type, region, and taxa.

1. One of the most common human-wildlife conflicts is damage by wildlife to agricultural crops. In order to propose cost-effective measures to address wildlife damage and also to manage pest animals that are of conservation interest, both the effects of wildlife on agricultural crop yield and the effects of mitigation measures on wildlife must be evaluated. 2. In this study, we applied a behaviour-based model to the conflict between agricultural production and white-fronted geese Anser albifrons causing damage to wheat crops around Lake Miyajimanuma in northern Japan. The model is spatially explicit, individual- and physiology based, and therefore tracks the day-to-day spatial distribution of geese and the physiological dynamics of fat deposition by each goose throughout the staging period. 3. In our simulations, the establishment of alternative feeding areas (AFAs) for the geese was predicted to be cost-effective for alleviating wheat damage if the number of AFAs and the amount of alternative food supplied was balanced carefully. However, even with the most cost-effective combination, a reduction of up to 23% in heavily damaged areas was the best outcome that could be achieved. 4. Alternatively, locating wheat fields further away from the roost site and also encouraging farmers to leave rice grain remains, the main food resource for the geese, could greatly reduce wheat damage without a detrimental impact on the geese (measured in terms of fat deposition) over a wide range of simulated population sizes. 5. Synthesis and applications. The suggested combination of mitigation measures (relocation of wheat fields and inhibition of rice-reducing agricultural practices) should qualify to be tested in practice for alleviating agriculture-geese conflicts in the study area. This study demonstrates that behaviour-based models can be applied successfully to agriculture-wildlife conflicts, allowing us to evaluate the effects of mitigation measures by quantitative predictions. Behaviour-based models can be applied to most cases of agriculture-wildlife conflicts involving adaptive foraging behaviour of animals.

Changes in animal body size have been widely reported as a correlate of contemporary climate change. Body size affects metabolism and fitness, so changing size has implications for resilience, yet the climatic factors that drive size variation remain poorly understood. We test the role of mean and extreme temperature, rainfall, and remotely sensed primary productivity (NDVI) as drivers of body size in a sedentary, semi-arid Australian passerine, Ptilotula (Lichenostomus) penicillatus, over 23 years. To distinguish effects due to differential growth from changes in population composition, we analysed first-year birds and adults separately and considered climatic variation at three temporal scales (current, previous, and preceding 5 years). The strongest effects related to temperature: in both age classes, larger size was associated with warmer mean temperatures in the previous year, contrary to Bergmann's Rule. Moreover, adults were larger in warmer breeding seasons, while first years was larger after heatwaves; these effects are more likely to be mediated through size-dependent mortality, highlighting the role of body size in determining vulnerability to extinction. In addition to temperature, larger adult size was associated with lower primary productivity, which may reflect a trade-off between vegetative growth and nectar production, on which adults rely. Finally, lower rainfall was associated with decreasing size in first year and adults, most likely related to decreased food availability. Overall, body size increased over 23 years, strongly in first-year birds (2.7%) compared with adults (1%), with size outcomes a balance between competing drivers. As rainfall declined over time and productivity remained fairly stable, the temporal increase in body size appears largely driven by rising mean temperature and temperature extremes. Body size responses to environmental change are thus complex and dynamic, driven by effects on growth as well as mortality.

Abdominal profile index (API) is often used as an index of body condition in studies of anatids. However, few studies have statistically tested the relationship between API and body condition. In this study, we investigated the relationship between API and body condition of Greater White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons, taking into account the structural size effect on body condition. It was found that body mass, excluding the structural size effect, has a positive relationship with API. As API explained only 26% of the variance in body condition, we discuss the limitations of the method and the situations in which it can be used effectively.

Animals often face great uncertainty as to the quality of foraging patches. There have been a number of theoretical studies investigating how non-omniscient predators, i.e. predators that are unable to assess foraging patch quality prior to patch exploitation, should forage in a heterogeneous environment, but empirical studies, especially in the field, are scarce. This paper describes the way in which white-fronted geese Anser albifrons forage on harvest remains of rice, focusing on the processes of patch selection and departure. Not only in autumn, but also in spring when rice depletion has progressed, patch rice density showed no positive effect on patch selection by geese, indicating the incapability of geese to select the most profitable patch. Instead, the geese tended to select patches with a large proportion of rice fields that were near the roost and a previously visited patch and bordered by a small number of windbreaks only. The rice consumption volume by geese increased with increasing initial rice density, while giving-up density was independent of initial rice density and was positively correlated to the mean rice density of the habitat. This suggests that the geese could compensate their lack of information on patch quality at the moment of patch selection by leaving less profitable patches earlier. We discuss the necessity of predictive models based on random patch selection and an appropriate departure rule to explain the distribution of individuals of species with limited information on patch quality.

1. Agricultural damage by wildlife is a serious constraint on the coexistence of humans and wildlife. Understanding the behavioural processes involved in such agricultural damage will inform management actions. In this study, a linear programming model based on optimal foraging theory was used to formulate management strategies designed to reduce wheat damage caused by white-fronted geese Anser albifrons around Lake Miyajimanuma in Japan.2. Geese feed on rice grains or wheat leaves. Their choice of food is constrained by their daily energy requirement, daily nitrogen requirement, digestive capacity and daily maximum foraging time. With these constraints, we predicted the proportion of geese that should forage on wheat leaves under energy-maximizing, nitrogen-maximizing and time-minimizing strategies, and compared the results with the observed proportion.3. Our predictions for the energy-maximizing strategy successfully explained the variation in the observed proportion of geese foraging on wheat leaves. It appeared that nitrogen constraints drove the geese to forage on wheat in autumn, but energy considerations drove the geese to forage on wheat plus rice in late spring.4. Based on these results, we predicted that by increasing the harvest remains of rice by 30%, a large reduction in wheat damage could be achieved both in autumn and in spring. Damage could be reduced further by supplying protein-rich food, such as grass on fallow fields and on ridges of rice fields in autumn, and by leaving geese foraging in rice fields undisturbed.5. Synthesis and applications. Optimal foraging models that consider foraging goals and constraints have considerable potential for identifying measures for minimizing agricultural damage problems caused by grazing bird species. Specifically, for geese grazing on wheat fields in Japan, we advocate increasing the availability of alternative protein-rich foods, such as rice harvest remains and grass, and minimizing disturbance to geese foraging on rice fields.

Lake Miyajimanuma, in central Hokkaido, is an important stopover site for white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) wintering in Japan. In this area, increasing numbers of the geese are causing damage to wheat crops. The effects of several factors on the unconsumed density of food resources in rice fields, their main foraging site, were investigated with a view to propose a method for reducing damage. It is shown that unconsumed rice grain density increased with decreasing distance from houses, roads and windbreaks, which seemed to act as disturbance factors. Unconsumed rice density was also affected by the type of harvester used, probably because of the difference in net intake rate between the sites where different types of harvester operated. It is recommended that rice fields be harvested using the current machinery, and located further from houses, roads and windbreaks, wheat fields being located nearer to houses, roads and windbreaks.

To generate realistic projections of species’ responses to climate change, we need to understand the factors that limit their ability to respond. Although climatic niche conservatism, the maintenance of a species’s climatic niche over time, is a critical assumption in niche-based species distribution models, little is known about how universal it is and how it operates. In particular, few studies have tested the role of climatic niche conservatism via phenological changes in explaining the reported wide variance in the extent of range shifts among species. Using historical records of the phenology and spatial distribution of British plants under a warming climate, we revealed that: (i) perennial species, as well as those with weaker or lagged phenological responses to temperature, experienced a greater increase in temperature during flowering (i.e. failed to maintain climatic niche via phenological changes); (ii) species that failed to maintain climatic niche via phenological changes showed greater northward range shifts; and (iii) there was a complementary relationship between the levels of climatic niche conservatism via phenological changes and range shifts. These results indicate that even species with high climatic niche conservatism might not show range shifts as instead they track warming temperatures during flowering by advancing their phenology.

Biodiversity has a hierarchical structure, consisting of genetic, species, and ecosystem levels. Although the importance of genetic and species diversities is well recognized from both basic and applied perspectives, there has been virtually no conceptualization of how and why ecosystem diversity matters from an ecological or socioecological perspective. Here, we describe the role of ecosystem diversity with respect to three different properties, namely, species diversity, ecosystem functioning, and ecosystem services. Ecosystem diversity increases species diversity by additive and nonadditive, or emergent, processes. The additive process is self-evident, but the emergent process is not well recognized. Habitat complementation and supplementation are examples of the emergent effect; both these paths facilitate population persistence and enhance species richness under composite ecosystems or in heterogeneous landscapes. Here not only compositional heterogeneity but also configuration heterogeneity matters. Linkage and interactions of different ecosystems are also important for ecosystem resilience and services. Empirical studies show that movement of organisms or nutrients between ecosystems sustains and/or stabilizes ecosystem dynamics, and theoretical food web studies show that the presence of a weak trophic linkage between ecosystems stabilizes the dynamics of the system as a whole. Also, heterogeneous landscapes consisting of multiple landscape elements are buffered against disturbances caused by cyclones, fire, and eutrophication. Maintaining spatial resilience across landscapes is the key to increasing the robustness and sustainability of socioecological systems in a changing world.

Many of the world's languages face serious risk of extinction. Efforts to prevent this cultural loss are severely constrained by a poor understanding of the geographical patterns and drivers of extinction risk. We quantify the global distribution of language extinction risk—represented by small range and speaker population sizes and rapid declines in the number of speakers—and identify the underlying environmental and socioeconomic drivers. We show that both small range and speaker population sizes are associated with rapid declines in speaker numbers, causing 25% of existing languages to be threatened based on criteria used for species. Language range and population sizes are small in tropical and arctic regions, particularly in areas with high rainfall, high topographic heterogeneity and/or rapidly growing human populations. By contrast, recent speaker declines have mainly occurred at high latitudes and are strongly linked to high economic growth. Threatened languages are numerous in the tropics, the Himalayas and northwestern North America. These results indicate that small-population languages remaining in economically developed regions are seriously threatened by continued speaker declines. However, risks of future language losses are especially high in the tropics and in the Himalayas, as these regions harbour many small-population languages and are undergoing rapid economic growth.

Global biodiversity conservation is seriously challenged by gaps and heterogeneity in the geographical coverage of existing information. Nevertheless, the key barriers to the collection and compilation of biodiversity information at a global scale have yet to be identified. We show that wealth, language, geographical location and security each play an important role in explaining spatial variations in data availability in four different types of biodiversity databases. The number of records per square kilometre is high in countries with high per capita gross domestic product (GDP), high proportion of English speakers and high security levels, and those located close to the country hosting the database; but these are not necessarily countries with high biodiversity. These factors are considered to affect data availability by impeding either the activities of scientific research or active international communications. Our results demonstrate that efforts to solve environmental problems at a global scale will gain significantly by focusing scientific education, communication, research and collaboration in low-GDP countries with fewer English speakers and located far from Western countries that host the global databases; countries that have experienced conflict may also benefit. Findings of this study may be broadly applicable to other fields that require the compilation of scientific knowledge at a global level.

A novel method for the evaluating the transpiration rate (TR) has been proposed. Miniature temperature/humidity loggers were attached onto the leaf surface of a mangrove plant, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, via a spacer. TR values were calculated using the mass-balance equation; the results showed good agreement with those measured using a conventional porometer when the plant root was surrounded by water. In a saline environment, on the other hand, the correlation became poor. The method was shown to require not only minimal invasion, but also a very short time for attaching leaves.

Widespread concerns about global biodiversity loss have led to a growing demand for indices of biodiversity status. Today, climate change is among the most serious threats to global biodiversity. Although many studies have revealed phenological responses to climate change, no long-term community-level indices have been developed. We derived a 250-year index of first flowering dates for 405 plant species in the UK for assessing the impact of climate change on plant communities. The estimated community-level index in the most recent 25 years was 2.2–12.7 days earlier than any other consecutive 25-year period since 1760. The index was closely correlated with February–April mean Central England Temperature, with flowering 5.0 days earlier for every 1°C increase in temperature. The index was relatively sensitive to the number of species, not records per species, included in the model. Our results demonstrate how multi-species, multiple-site phenological events can be integrated to obtain indices showing trends for each species and across species. This index should play an important role in monitoring the impact of climate change on biodiversity. Furthermore, this approach can be extended to incorporate data from other taxa and countries for evaluating cross-taxa and cross-country phenological responses to climate change.

Raising public interest in nature through conserving species of high social interest is crucial in achieving effective conservation of biodiversity. In Japan, the Genji-firefly Luciola cruciata (Coleoptera Lampyridae) in biodiversity rich agricultural landscapes called the satoyama has always attracted exceptional public interest. This study provides rare information on environmental factors associated with the abundance of the Genji-firefly. Stepwise backward multiple regression revealed that firefly abundance increased with increasing pH, DO and prey abundance while decreasing with water depth and the proportion of artificially modified ditch length. These factors are thought to be influential mainly to the larval and pre-pupal periods of the firefly. The implications of the results for the conservation of the Genji-firefly are discussed, with reference to the relationship between Genji-firefly conservation and extensive biodiversity conservation in the satoyama.

The importance of landscape heterogeneity to biodiversity may depend on the size of the geographic range of species, which in turn can reflect species traits (such as habitat generalization) and the effects of historical and contemporary land covers. We used nationwide bird survey data from Japan, where heterogeneous landscapes predominate, to test the hypothesis that wide-ranging species are positively associated with landscape heterogeneity in terms of species richness and abundance, whereas narrow-ranging species are positively associated with landscape homogeneity in the form of either open or forest habitats. We used simultaneous autoregressive models to explore the effects of climate, evapotranspiration, and landscape heterogeneity on the richness and abundance of breeding land-bird species. The richness of wide-ranging species and the total species richness were highest in heterogeneous landscapes, where many wide-ranging species showed the highest abundance. In contrast, the richness of narrow-ranging species was not highest in heterogeneous landscapes; most of those species were abundant in either open or forest landscapes. Moreover, in open landscapes, narrow-ranging species increased their species richness with decreasing temperature. These results indicate that heterogeneous landscapes are associated with rich bird diversity but that most narrow-ranging species prefer homogeneous landscapes--particularly open habitats in colder regions, where grasslands have historically predominated. There is a need to reassess the generality of the heterogeneity-biodiversity relationship, with attention to the characteristics of species assemblages determined by environments at large spatiotemporal scales.

Experimental investigations were carried out on RF plasma within a ceramic tube placed on an insulating plate in dense NaCl solution (1.7–24.5 S m-1). RF power was applied between two electrodes, and the insulating plate was placed between them. Upon performing spectroscopic measurements, we observed H and OH lines as well as strong Na lines in the emission spectra of RF plasma. Colored solution containing methylene blue was exposed to the plasma. The absorbance spectra of the colored solution before and after exposure to RF plasma clearly show that obvious degradation of methylene blue was realized.

Conservationists often find it difficult to assess long-term population change in a species when the only data available are from disparate sources. This is especially the case when a range of survey methodologies and reporting units have been utilised and the results have been published in the grey literature. Although the production of a cohesive assessment of change may be a daunting task, in such circumstances, a sound assessment of change is often possible. We illustrate this by considering the decline of the Twite Carduelis flavirostris in England. Whilst there is evidence of decline, it is widely dispersed and the losses have yet to be formally documented. To assess longer-term change, we reviewed information available in county avifaunas and historical accounts of the status of the species throughout its former English range. Twite now only breed regularly in six of their 12 historical range counties, and in all of these six, the birds have declined markedly in abundance. We collated and analysed data drawn from a diverse range of surveys and county bird reports to assess more recent change and assessed contemporary distribution and abundance during our own surveys of breeding colonies in the South Pennines, an area supporting the last known nesting colonies in England. Combined, the data clearly indicate that the range and numbers of breeding Twite have declined considerably since the 1970s. Recent re-surveys in the South Pennines indicate a significant range contraction, with a loss of Twite from 83% of 1-km grid squares found occupied during a 1990 survey. A detailed resurvey of historical breeding sites in east Lancashire revealed a similar pattern, with 77% of sites having lost their colonies over the last four decades. We also constructed an index of change in numbers on the east and south-east coastal wintering grounds used by English breeding birds and this shows that numbers have severely declined since the 1970s, mirroring change on the breeding grounds.