Search

Human activities provide food resources for animals that are predictable in space and/or time. These resources, sometimes referred to as predictable anthropogenic food subsidies ( PAFS), can be either the result of human-generated waste or provided intentionally, sometimes as a conservation measure. Some PAFS, including landfills, are used by common species. However, little information exists about the effects that these feeding points have on rarer species that feed there, some of which are of conservation concern. This study focuses on the influence of PAFS and their spatial location on the distribution of territories of the endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus. We analysed a population in the NE Iberian Peninsula that has in recent decades expanded its range. We used both null model and linear model analyses to ascertain the effect of PAFS and other covariates on the occupancy of territories by the study species. PAFS appeared to play an important role in territory selection by Egyptian Vultures, as occupied territories were nearer landfills than expected by chance. Furthermore, the distance from PAFS (landfills and vulture feeding stations, or 'restaurants') played an important role in the probability of territory occupancy by Egyptian Vultures, in addition to other environmental variables such as surface areas of rocky south-facing slopes, human settlement and the proximity of conspecifics. However, recent EU legislation aims to phase out open-air landfills to reduce the negative environmental effects of these facilities. This could have an undesired impact on the endangered species that use these feeding points. We recommend management measures that can control abundant pest species but, in the long term, other measures as supplementary feeding should be considered to counteract the probable negative effect of the disappearance of landfills on endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the scale dependency of insect assemblages in response to landscape pattern. Approaches to deal with the problem of the scale of observation; Relationship between entomological data and landscape descriptors; Importance of scale in ecological processes.

Thirty years after its first finding and description, the marine cave stenopodid shrimp Odontozona addaia is here reported for the second time. The new localities, particular marine caves of southern France, are more than 300 km apart from the type locality in the Balearic Islands. First live in situ photographs are provided, and the morphological intraspecific variability is detailed by comparing the new specimens to the types. DNA sequences were also obtained for comparison with other Odontozona species. Based on both morphology and molecular analysis, closest relatives of O. addaia appear to be the western Atlantic Odontozona meloi and the eastern Mediterranean Odontozona minoica, although their detailed relationships remain unresolved.