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Significance Current extinction rates are caused by human activities, including habitat destruction. Here we analyze the global patterns of raptor distribution to determine priority areas for conservation. Raptors are top predators that can be used as umbrella species to help the conservation of other species. Our results provide insights into global strategies for conservation of different proportions of the geographic range of raptor species, minimizing socioeconomic conflict. These findings are fundamental to guide conservation actions that may help avert the massive current extinction crises., Globally, human-caused environmental impacts, such as habitat loss, have seriously impacted raptor species, with some 50% of species having decreasing populations. We analyzed global patterns of distribution of all 557 raptor species, focusing on richness, endemism, geographic range, conservation status, and population trends. Highest species diversity, endemism, species at risk, or restricted species were concentrated in different regions. Patterns of species distribution greatly differed between nocturnal and diurnal species. To test the efficiency of the global protected areas in conserving raptors, we simulated and compared global reserve systems created with strategies aiming at: 1) constraining the existing system into the final solution; and 2) minimizing the socioeconomic cost of reserve selection. We analyzed three targets of species distribution to be protected (10, 20, 30%). The first strategy was more efficient in meeting targets and less efficient in cost and compactness of reserves. Focusing on actions in the existing protected areas is fundamental to consolidate conservation, and politically and economically more viable than creating new reserves. However, creating new reserves is essential to protect more populations throughout the species’ geographic range. Our findings provide a fundamental understanding of reserves to maintain raptor diversity and reduce the global population and species extinction crisis.

Understanding changes over time in the distribution of interacting native and invasive species that may be symptomatic of competitive exclusion is critical to identify the need for and effectiveness of management interventions. Occupancy models greatly increase the robustness of inference that can be made from presence/absence data when species are imperfectly detected, and recent novel developments allow for the quantification of the strength of interaction between pairs of species. We used a two-species multi-season occupancy model to quantify the impact of the invasive American mink on the native European mink in Spain through the analysis of their co-occurrence pattern over twelve years (2000–2011) in the entire Spanish range of European mink distribution, where both species were detected by live trapping but American mink were culled. We detected a negative temporal trend in the rate of occupancy of European mink and a simultaneous positive trend in the occupancy of American mink. The species co-occurred less often than expected and the native mink was more likely to become extinct from sites occupied by the invasive species. Removal of American mink resulted in a high probability of local extinction where it co-occurred with the endemic mink, but the overall increase in the probability of occupancy over the last decade indicates that the ongoing management is failing to halt its spread. More intensive culling effort where both species co-exist as well as in adjacent areas where the invasive American mink is found at high densities is required in order to stop the decline of European mink.

The Pyrenean desman is considered a flagship species for biodiversity and evolution. However, its scientific knowledge is still under development and currently on debate, particularly in relation to its behavioural ecology and social organization. Based on the previous hypothesis of individual desmans being solitary and territorial, activity and space patterns were considered to be arranged to avoid conspecifics. However, recent insights into the species’ social behaviour revealed non-interspecific avoidance. With this study, we provide novel insights into the activity and space patterns of the desman, and their relation to its social behaviour. A total of 30 individuals were trapped, 18 of which provided informative radiotracking data to study (1) activity behaviour, (2) the proportion of the home range utilized and the distances travelled, and (3) the dominant movement directionality. Activity and space use patterns were affected by daylight and seasonality, but not by sex, age or number of other conspecifics sharing the home range. In contrast to the previous observations, individuals did not show a pattern of directionality in their movements. Noticeably, we observed encounters between individuals without evidence of aggressive behaviour. Our results suggest that desmans do not alter their activity or their spatial behaviour to avoid encounters with conspecifics, as previously suggested. These novel findings provide more evidence of a social structure and organization with social interactions and non-aggressive behaviour. This is of relevance for management actions and for the conservation of this endemic mammal.

We studied the morphology of American mink Neovison vison in five out of the six introduced populations in Spain. The spatial and temporal variation of body weight (BW), body length (BL), tail length, hind-foot length and ear length were analysed. Temporal trends in BW and BL in relation to years since mink introduction were also analyzed. In addition, we tested the effect of sex, age (juvenile, subadult and adult) and age–sex interaction, on each parameter. Morphological parameters differed between populations, illustrating the high variability of body size of American mink in different environments, and the phenotypic plasticity of the species. Annual variations were synchronized between populations, suggesting a large-scale effect on all of them. BW and BL showed a decreasing trend in both males and females in relation to years since introduction. This decrease may be related to mink's diet. Differences in sex and age were found, pointing to sexual dimorphism in adults, subadults and juveniles. The dimorphism in non-adult individuals suggests that subadult males may have a competitive advantage from subadult females in feeding and/or hunting on bigger prey from an early age (resource partitioning hypothesis).

Loss of biodiversity due to biological invasions is one of the most critical issues our society is facing. American mink is one of the most nefarious invasive non-native species and has major consequences for diversity, ecosystems and economics. A project to evaluate the impact of American mink has been carried out in Catalonia since 2000 under the aegis of regional and national government and a European LIFE programme. In this study, we tested whether temporal variations in the relative abundance of native species were related to American mink. In addition, we compared the abundance of natives before and after mink arrival. Among the competitors spotted genet and European polecat, mink abundance and arrival had a significant negative effect on their populations. However, among black rat and fish prey only three native fish species had a negative temporal relation with the abundance of mink and three fish species showed a significant difference in their abundance before and after mink arrival. The effect of mink was significant among species with a higher niche overlap (polecat and genet versus mink). The persistence and coexistence of the alien and native species seems to depend on heterogeneity, in terms of the based on niche segregation among these species.

Mediterranean mountain ranges harbour highly endemic biota in islandlike habitats. Their topographic diversity offered the opportunity for mountain species to persist in refugial areas during episodes of major climatic change. We investigate the role of Quaternary climatic oscillations in shaping the demographic history and distribution ranges in the spider Harpactocrates ravastellus, endemic to the Pyrenees. Gene trees and multispecies coalescent analyses on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences unveiled two distinct lineages with a hybrid zone around the northwestern area of the Catalan Pyrenees. The lineages were further supported by morphological differences. Climatic niche-based species distribution models (SDMs) identified two lowland refugia at the western and eastern extremes of the mountain range, which would suggest secondary contact following postglacial expansion of populations from both refugia. Neutrality test and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) analyses indicated that several local populations underwent severe bottlenecks followed by population expansions, which in combination with the deep population differentiation provided evidence for population survival during glacial periods in microrefugia across the mountain range, in addition to the main Atlantic and Mediterranean (western and eastern) refugia. This study sheds light on the complexities of Quaternary climatic oscillations in building up genetic diversity and local endemicity in the southern Europe mountain ranges.

This report (in Spanish) analyses the population viability (PVA) of the endangered European mink (Mustela lutreola) in Spain using the SW vortex.&nbsp

Detailed large-scale information on mammal distribution has often been lacking, hindering conservation efforts. We used the information from the 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as a baseline for developing habitat suitability models for 5027 out of 5330 known terrestrial mammal species, based on their habitat relationships. We focused on the following environmental variables: land cover, elevation and hydrological features. Models were developed at 300 m resolution and limited to within species' known geographical ranges. A subset of the models was validated using points of known species occurrence. We conducted a global, fine-scale analysis of patterns of species richness. The richness of mammal species estimated by the overlap of their suitable habitat is on average one-third less than that estimated by the overlap of their geographical ranges. The highest absolute difference is found in tropical and subtropical regions in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia that are not covered by dense forest. The proportion of suitable habitat within mammal geographical ranges correlates with the IUCN Red List category to which they have been assigned, decreasing monotonically from Least Concern to Endangered. These results demonstrate the importance of fine-resolution distribution data for the development of global conservation strategies for mammals. Fil: Rondini, Carlo. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia Fil: Di Marco, Moreno. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia Fil: Chiozza, Federica. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia Fil: Santulli, Giulia. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia Fil: Baisero, Daniele. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia Fil: Visconti, Piero. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia. James Cook University; Australia Fil: Hoffmann, Michael. United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Reino Unido. International Union for Conservation of Nature; Suiza. Conservation International; Estados Unidos Fil: Schipper, Jan. Big Island Invasive Species Committee; Estados Unidos Fil: Stuart, Simon N.. International Union for Conservation of Nature; Suiza. United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Reino Unido Fil: Tognelli, Marcelo Fabio. Conservation International; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; Argentina Fil: Amori, Giovanni. Institute for Ecosystem Studies; Italia Fil: Falcucci, Alessandra. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia Fil: Maiorano, Luigi. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia. University of Lausanne. Department of Ecology and Evolution; Suiza Fil: Boitani, Luigi. Sapienza Universita di Roma. Department of Biology and Biotechnologies; Italia

The use of surrogate species in conservation planning has been applied with disappointing results on relatively large sets of species. It could still prove useful for optimizing conservation efforts when considering a small set of species with similar ecological requirements, however few field tests of this nature have been carried out. The aim of this research is to compare the response of three arboreal rodent species—the fat dormouse (Glis glis), the hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) and the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)—to habitat loss and fragmentation, with the aim of identifying priorities for conservation and evaluating possible optimization of conservation efforts under different scenarios: habitat restoration and selection of focal patches. We studied the distribution of the three species in a sample of patches in a highly fragmented landscape in central Italy, using a patch-landscape scale approach. The distribution was studied by using hair tubes, nestboxes and nocturnal surveys. The three species showed analogous responses to increasing isolation and decreasing size of habitat patches; what differed however, was the magnitude of responses. Our results show possible application of surrogacy within this restricted group of species, however several caveats arise depending on the conservation strategy and available funding. If habitat restoration is the objective, then the fat dormouse should be the target species for guiding size and isolation of patches. On the other hand, the magnitude of the differences and patch requirements for this species, question the feasibility of these conservation actions. If selection of focal patches for conservation is the objective then selecting the fat dormouse as a focal/umbrella species would overlook areas suitable for the other two species. Feasible optimisation of conservation efforts may be possible only between the red squirrel and the hazel dormouse.

Department of Animal Biology (Vertebrates), University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Biodiversity and Animal Protection Service, General Direction of Environment and Biodiversity, Catalonia Government, Doctor Roux, 80, 08017 Barcelona, Spain Tragsatec, Division of Environmental Servicies, Julian Camarillo, 6B-4 D, 28037 Madrid, Spain Aranzadi Society of Sciences, Department of Vertebrates, Zorroagagaina kalea, 11, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain