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Habitat loss represent a major threat to biodiversity, however, the modulation of their effects by the non-habitat matrix surrounding habitat patches is still undervalued. The landscape matrix might change community assembly in different ways. For example, low-quality matrices can accentuate environmental filtering by reducing resource availability and/or deteriorating abiotic conditions but they may also over limit dispersal of organisms and make communities more prone to ecological drift. To understand how matrix quality modulates the effects of habitat loss, we quantified the relative importance of environmental filter and ecological drift in bird occurrences across more local (400 m buffer around sampling sites) and broader (2 km focal landscapes) gradients of habitat loss embedded in low- and high-quality matrices. We used a trait-based approach to understand habitat loss filtering effects on forest specialist and habitat generalist bird occurrences. We found that low-quality matrices, composed mainly of low-productive pasturelands, increased the severity of habitat loss filtering effects for forest specialist birds, but only at the landscape scale. Bird occurrence was in general higher in high-quality matrices, i.e., more heterogeneous and with low-contrasting edges, indicating the role of the matrix quality on attenuating species extinction risks at the landscape scale probably due to mass effect. Moreover, forest specialists presented a strong negative response to habitat loss filtering across different functional traits, while generalists presented a high variability in traits response to habitat loss. We raised evidence in supporting that landscape habitat loss filtering may be relaxed or reinforced depending on the quality of the matrix, evidencing that matrix quality has a strong impact in modulating community assembly processes in fragmented landscapes. In practical terms, it means that improving matrix quality may help in maintaining the high diversity of birds even without any increase in native forest cover.

To mitigate the shortage of natural breeding sites in cities, nest-boxes are provided for cavity-nesters. However, these are not the breeding sites these animals originally evolved in and optimised their breeding performance to. It thus remains inconclusive if nest-boxes can provide adequate substitutes, ensuring equivalent fitness returns for breeding animals. Additionally, the majority of knowledge on the ecology of urban birds comes from nest-box populations, but no study to date directly compared fitness consequences of breeding inside nest-boxes in relation to natural-cavities in an urban context. This limits our understanding of the urban ecology of cavity-nesters and addressing its functional meaning. We investigate fitness consequences and life-history trait variation according to the nesting site type to provide a comprehensive understanding of conservation potential of nest-boxes in cities and to support/question generalisations stemming from nest-box studies on urbanization. We directly compare the reproductive performance of two small passerines, blue tits and great tits, breeding in nest-boxes as opposed to natural-cavities in a seminatural forest of a capital city using a quasi-experimental setting. We show that the effects of nest type vary between species: in blue tits, fitness proxies were negatively affected by nest-boxes (lower fledging success and fledgling numbers, longer time spent in nest and later fledging date in comparison to natural-cavities), while great tit performance appeared to be unaffected by nest type. We detected that both species breeding in nest-boxes accelerated incubation onset, but since there were no major differences in pre-hatching traits (lay date, clutch size, hatching rates) between the nest types, we attribute the fitness deterioration to post-hatching effects. Interestingly, overall breeding density of tits in urban natural-cavities was higher than observed in a primeval habitat. Nest-boxes may become an ecological trap for some species and the unaffected species can consequently outcompete them, decreasing overall biodiversity in cities. We highlight the ecological importance of old-growth tree stands, providing natural tree cavities for city-breeding animals. Due to the detected nest type-dependent variation in reproductive performance, we support the criticism regarding the unconditional extrapolation of evolutionary and ecological interpretations of nest-box studies to general populations.

Many chemically-defended/aposematic species rely on diet for sequestering the toxins with which they defend themselves. This dietary acquisition can lead to variable chemical defenses across space, as the community composition of chemical sources is likely to vary across the range of (an aposematic) species. We characterized the alkaloid content of two populations of the Dyeing Poison Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius) in northeastern French Guiana. Additionally, we conducted unpalatability experiments with naive predators, Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), using whole-skin secretion cocktails to assess how a model predator would respond to the defense of individuals from each population. While there was some overlap between the two D. tinctorius populations in terms of alkaloid content, our analysis revealed that these two populations are markedly distinct in terms of overall alkaloid profiles. Predator responses to skin secretions differed between the populations. We identified 15 candidate alkaloids (including three previously undescribed) in seven classes that are correlated with predator response in one frog population. We describe alkaloid profile differences between populations for D. tinctorius and provide a novel method for assessing unpalatability of skin secretions and identifying which toxins may contribute to the predator response. In one population, our results suggest 15 alkaloids that are implicated in predator aversive response. This method is the first step in identifying the causal link between alkaloids and behavioral response of predators, and thus makes sense of how varying alkaloid combinations are capable of eliciting consistent behavioral responses, and eventually driving evolutionary change in aposematic characters (or characteristics).

Advice from Avian Influenza experts suggests that there is a high risk that Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza will arrive in the Southern Ocean 2022/23-2024/25 austral summers. Since the beginning of 2022, the increasing intensity of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreaks has resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of seabirds in the Northern Hemisphere, around the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and southern Africa. The SCAR Antarctic Wildlife Health Working Group (AWHWG) is highly concerned about the likely arrival and subsequent impact HPAI H5N1 might have on Southern Ocean wildlife. Due to the heightened risk of HPAI being introduced to Antarctica during the the 2022/23 Austral summer by migrating seabirds, the AWHWG recommends that: People working with or close to wildlife should assume that HPAI will arrive in the sub-Antarctic and Antarctica and take precautions to protect themselves when working around wildlife (including appropriate PPE) and maintain the highest biosecurity to prevent transmission between wildlife aggregations. All National Programmes (NPs) and tourism operators should monitor colonies for signs of H5N1 before approaching, especially in migratory species such as skuas, gulls and giant petrels. Tourists should not enter colonies and high wildlife density areas with suspected HPAI and NPs should conduct risk analysis as to which activities need to continue. A more detailed protocol on how to assess wildlife aggregations for HPAI prior to a visit and what to do if HPAI is detected should be provided to all stakeholders physically present in Antarctica this season. If you detect signs of HPAI, you should report this to your permit issuer. Videos of affected animals are very helpful for experts to help determine whether or not this is HPAI. Operators should refresh themselves with and review all biosecurity and any response guidelines to unusual/mass mortality events. This document aims to: Outline the likely risk to Southern Ocean taxa (a more technical assessment will follow in a separate document). Suggest which risks can be mitigated in light of human activity, transmission into and out of Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic regions through all operators as well as movements between sites within the Southern Ocean (primarily for science and tourism), Start discussion with National Programmes about ongoing monitoring for disease and consequences.

As the most threatened vertebrate class on earth, amphibians are at the forefront of the biodiversity crisis, with the start of global amphibian declines and extinctions dating back several decades now. The Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP), the first taxonomic class-level plan of its kind, was first published in 2007 and then updated as a digital resource in 2015, with the goal of acting as a unified global strategy to save amphibians. However, although there have been resources allocated to amphibian conservation since the first ACAP, these have not been of the order of magnitude needed to adequately address the global amphibian crisis. In an effort to help improve this situation the current ACAP is adopting a different strategy: the development of two complementary documents that work to 1) synthesise developments in major themes of amphibian conservation over the last 15 years (an academic status review – this document), and 2) summarise the key take-home messages and recommendations to a broader audience in a user-friendly way (a practitioner document that will follow the status review). The purpose is thus to provide the most up-to-date evidence on threats and approaches to amphibian conservation, and from there identify gaps and priorities that can then be disseminated and adopted by stakeholders across the globe. Each chapter of this status review was developed by the matching Amphibian Specialist Group’s (ASG) thematic working groups. Led by 1-3 working group chairs and supported by working group members, chapters have also had the input of professionals outside of ASG with expertise in given themes. This document consists of two introductory chapters and twelve thematic chapters divided into three sections: • Threats - Chapters 3-7 on climate change; ecotoxicology; habitat loss; infectious diseases; and trade and sustainable use • Informing decision-making - Chapters 8-10 on communications and education; conservation planning; and surveys and monitoring • Species management - Chapters 11-14 on conservation breeding; assisted reproductive technologies and biobanking; genomics; and translocations In broad terms, each chapter covers the most important knowledge, technological and conceptual developments in a particular theme over the last decade and a half, highlighting knowledge gaps, challenges, needs and opportunities for future conservation action. Key messages 1. As a whole there is an enormous deficit in information for most amphibian species, which hampers decision-making and evidence-based, conservation action. Increased collaborations both within and outside the amphibian conservation community are urgently needed to begin to bridge some of these information gaps. Integrating different approaches can help augment information and leverage additional support to amphibian conservation. 2. While this document is global in scope it is informed by local and regional realities. Not everything that is in this document will be transferable to every region. However, those aspects that are relevant to a region can be addressed accordingly, and these results can then feedback again into a global strategy, and be readapted in other regions to benefit from the shared experience. Translation from local to global and back to local is crucial to ensure that regional experiences feed into a global framework and that this framework accurately reflects shared patterns and realities so that it can inform international conventions and organisations, especially in view of global environmental change. 3. Relative to the scope of amphibian declines and extinctions, adequate financial and human resources and necessary policy measures have largely lagged behind this decades-long crisis. Should this pattern persist, we can expect to continue losing amphibian populations and species in increasingly large numbers. It is therefore critical that amphibian conservation becomes both an integral and a conspicuous part of the biodiversity conservation agenda of international and national conservation organisations of all sizes, of national and subnational levels of government, of the various institutions that focus on biodiversity education and research, of funding entities, and of organised communities and media.

Halmahera walking shark (Hemiscyllium halmahera) was first discovered by Allen in 2013 and studies regarding this species are still limited. This species distribution includes Halmahera Island and surrounding islands in North Maluku, such as Ternate, Tidore, Bacan and Morotai. Records in Morotai, one of Indonesias most well-known marine tourism sites for shark diving, are discussed in this study, including a new record in Dehegila, South Morotai. One individual recorded opportunistically during SCUBA Diving activity on April 2022 in Southern Morotai. The species distribution, habitat and behaviour are highly important for conservation, especially for endemic shark species with a limited habitat range

Until recently, bat phylogeny separated megabats (laryngeally non-echolocators) and microbats (all laryngeal echolocators) into two distinct clades. This segregation was consistent with the assumption that laryngeal echolocation was acquired by a common ancestor and inherited by all microchiropterans. Thus, laryngeal echolocation was regarded to have evolved once. Recent advances in bat genome sequencing have added insights regarding the origin of bats and their phylogenetic relationships. The megabats previously thought to be phylogenetically isolated are now sharing a common ancestor with the superfamily Rhinolophoidea, which is constituted of laryngeal echolocators. This new relationship brings a counterpoint regarding the hypothesis of single origin of echolocation, which could have appeared several times independently. Concomitantly, recent studies in bat evolutionary developmental biology have illuminated the importance of characters from embryonic development to discussions of how and when echolocation evolved. Here, we describe how comparative chiropteran laryngeal morphology is a novel area of research that could improve the understanding of echolocation and may help resolve the evolutionary history of bats. This review provides morphological descriptions and comparisons of the larynx, bioacoustics interpretations, and newly developed visualisation approaches (i.e., contrast-enhanced computed tomography). We discuss the importance of understanding (1) laryngeal sound production so it may be linked with the evolution of the Chiropteran auditory system and (2) the evolution of laryngeal morphology to understand the ecological and behavioural aspects of bat biology.

Since the dawn of life, transfers of metabolized material between individuals have led to great innovations of evolution. When metabolized material is transferred from one individual’s body to another (as with sperm, eggs, milk, symbionts), secondary manipulative molecules that induce a physiological response in the receiver are often transferred along with the primary cargo. The bioactive and transfer-supporting components in these socially transferred materials have evolved convergently to the point where they can be used in applications across taxa and type of transfer. Because these materials’ composition is typically highly dynamic and context-dependent, their focused study will allow deeper understanding of their transformative evolutionary and physiological role. We synthesize a conceptual framework for their study, and discuss future directions.

Bark-stripping and browsing by mammals in woodlands can cause widespread damage to trees, inhibiting tree growth and leading to whole tree or canopy death. Sciurid species worldwide are known to incorporate inner bark or cambium tissue into their diets, and outer bark can additionally be used as nesting material. The drivers and causes of bark-stripping behaviour have been investigated and determined for some species; for others this remains largely unexplained, including the eastern grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis. For all squirrel species there is good understanding of tree susceptibility to damage as well as impacts of damage on tree health. However, much less is known about the drivers and modifiers of bark-stripping behaviour, which hinders the development of effective mitigation and management efforts. To address this knowledge gap, we aim to produce a systematic map, by collating, organising and categorising knowledge clusters and gaps on motivators of bark-stripping behaviour in squirrels, and the consequences of bark damage by squirrels in woodlands globally. Literature searches will be conducted in English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese using relevant scientific databases (ISI Web of Science, Scopus, SciELO, Wanfang, NDLTD and NCLTPL). The relevant search terms are defined by a primary question: what are the correlates and consequences of bark-damaging behaviour caused by squirrel species in woodlands, and what are the recommended management strategies? Papers will be screened for inclusion criteria at two stages: (1) abstracts and titles, and (2) full-texts. Information extracted from the studies will include study location, publication date, publication type, length of study, regional scope of study, data type, sampling strategy, study design, and intervention methods. Further coding variables will be used to extract relevant data, recording the modifiers and consequences of bark-stripping behaviour at different spatial scales. Results will be presented visually and narratively, summarising key characteristics of the systematic map database and identifying areas for new evidence syntheses and primary research.

Determining how variation in brain morphology affects cognitive abilities is important to understand inter-individual variation in cognition and, ultimately, cognitive evolution. Yet, despite many decades of research in this area, there is surprisingly little experimental data available from assays that quantify cognitive abilities and brain morphology in the same individuals. Here, we tested female guppies ( Poecilia reticulata ) in two tasks, colour discrimination and reversal learning, to evaluate their learning abilities and cognitive flexibility. We then estimated the size of five brain regions (telencephalon, optic tectum, hypothalamus, cerebellum and dorsal medulla), in addition to relative brain size. We found that optic tectum relative size, in relation to the rest of the brain, correlated positively with discrimination learning performance, while relative telencephalon size correlated positively with reversal learning performance. The other brain measures were not associated with performance in either task. By evaluating how fast learning occurs and how fast an animal adjusts its learning rules to changing conditions, we find support for that different brain regions have distinct functional correlations at the individual level. Importantly, telencephalon size emerges as an important neural correlate of higher executive functions such as cognitive flexibility. This is rare evidence supporting the theory that more neural tissue in key brain regions confers cognitive benefits.

A major barrier to advancing ornithology is the systemic exclusion of professionals from the Global South. A recent special feature, Advances in Neotropical Ornithology, and a shortfalls analysis therein, unintentionally followed a long-standing pattern of highlighting individuals, knowledge, and views from the Global North, while largely omitting the perspectives of people based within the Neotropics. Here, we review current strengths and opportunities in the practice of Neotropical ornithology. Further, we discuss problems with assessing the state of Neotropical ornithology through a northern lens, including discovery narratives, incomplete (and biased) understanding of history and advances, and the promotion of agendas that, while currently popular in the north, may not fit the needs and realities of Neotropical research. We argue that future advances in Neotropical ornithology will critically depend on identifying and addressing the systemic barriers that hold back ornithologists who live and work in the Neotropics: unreliable and limited funding, exclusion from international research leadership, restricted dissemination of knowledge (e.g., through language hegemony and citation bias), and logistical barriers. Moving forward, we must examine and acknowledge the colonial roots of our discipline, and explicitly promote anti-colonial agendas for research, training, and conservation. We invite our colleagues within and beyond the Neotropics to join us in creating new models of governance that establish research priorities with vigorous participation of ornithologists and communities within the Neotropical region. To include a diversity of perspectives, we must systemically address discrimination and bias rooted in the socioeconomic class system, anti-Blackness, anti-Brownness, anti-Indigeneity, misogyny, homophobia, tokenism, and ableism. Instead of seeking individual excellence and rewarding top-down leadership, institutions in the North and South can promote collective leadership. In adopting these approaches, we, ornithologists, will join a community of researchers across academia building new paradigms that can reconcile our relationships and transform science. Spanish and Portuguese translations are available in the Supplementary Material.

Character dependency is a major conceptual and methodological problem in phylogenetic inference of morphological datasets, as it violates the assumption of characters independency that is common to all phylogenetic methods. It is more frequently observed in higher-level phylogenies or in datasets characterizing major evolutionary transitions, as these represent parts of the tree of life where (primary) anatomical characters either originate or disappear entirely. As a result, secondary traits related to these primary characters become “inapplicable” across all sampled taxa in which that character is absent. Various solutions have been explored over the last three decades to handle character dependency, such as alternative character coding schemes and, more recently, new algorithmic implementations. However, the accuracy of the proposed solutions, or the impact of character dependency across distinct optimality criteria, has never been directly tested using standard performance measures. Here, we utilize simple and complex simulated morphological datasets analyzed under different maximum parsimony optimization procedures and Bayesian inference to test the accuracy of various coding and algorithmic solutions to character dependency. We find that in small simulated datasets, absent coding performs better than other popular coding strategies available (contingent and multistate), whereas in more complex simulations (larger datasets controlled for different tree structure and character distribution models) contingent coding is favored more frequently. Under contingent coding, a recently proposed weighting algorithm produces the most accurate results for maximum parsimony. However, Bayesian inference outperforms all parsimony-based solutions to handle character dependency due to fundamental differences in their optimization procedures—a simple alternative that has been long overlooked. Yet, we show that the more primary characters bearing secondary (dependent) traits there are in a dataset, the harder it is to estimate the true phylogenetic tree, regardless of the optimality criterion. owing to a considerable expansion of the tree parameter space.

Heatwave frequency and intensity will increase as climate change progresses. Intertidal sessile invertebrates, which often form thermally benign microhabitats for associated species, are vulnerable to thermal stress because they have minimal ability to behaviourally thermoregulate. Understanding what factors influence the mortality of biogenic species and how heatwaves might impact their ability to provide habitat is critical. Here, we characterize the community associated with the thatched barnacle, Semibalanus cariosus (Pallass 1788), in British Columbia, Canada and attempt to determine what environmental factors — air temperature, time of low tide, shoreline orientation, algal cover, and the angle of solar incidence — explain variations in S. cariosus mortality induced by an unprecedented regional heatwave, the 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome. Further, we used a manipulative shading experiment deployed prior to the heat dome to examine the effect of thermal stress on barnacle survival and recruitment and the barnacle-associated community. We identified 50 taxa inhabiting S. cariosus beds, with variations in species diversity and community composition between sites. Site-scale variables and algal canopy cover did not predict S. cariosus mortality, but patch-scale variation in substratum orientation did, with more direct solar irradiance corresponding with higher barnacle mortality. The shading experiment demonstrated that S. cariosus survival, barnacle recruitment, and invertebrate community diversity were higher under shades, where substratum temperatures were lower. Associated community composition also differed between shaded and non-shaded plots, suggesting S. cariosus was not able to fully buffer acute thermal stress for its associated community . While habitat provisioning by intertidal foundation species is an important source of biodiversity, these species alone may not be enough to prevent substantial community shifts following extreme heatwaves. As heatwaves become more frequent and severe, they may further reduce diversity via the loss of biogenic habitat, and spatial variation in these impacts may be substantial.

Zooplankton provide critical food for threatened and endangered fish species in the San Francisco Estuary (estuary). Reduced food supply has been implicated in the Pelagic Organism Decline of the early 2000s and further changes in zooplankton abundance, seasonality, and distribution may continue to threaten declining fishes. While we have a wealth of monitoring data, we know little about the abundance trends of many estuary zooplankton species. To fill these gaps., we reviewed past research and then examined trends in seasonality and abundance from 1972 to present of three key but understudied zooplankton species (Bosmina longirostris, Acanthocyclops spp., and Acartiella sinensis) that play important roles in the estuary food web. All three species were found in the stomach contents of important estuarine fishes. We fit Bayesian generalized additive mixed models of each species’ relationships with salinity, seasonality, year, and geography on an integrated database of zooplankton monitoring in the upper estuary. We found marked changes in the seasonality and overall abundance of each study species. B. longirostris no longer peaks in abundance in the fall months, Acanthocyclops spp. dramatically declined in all months and lost its strong relationship with salinity, and A. sinensis adult abundance has become increasingly driven by salinity while juveniles have developed wider seasonal abundance peaks. In this process, we have documented the relationship of each species with salinity and seasonality since the beginning of monitoring or their introduction, thus increasing our understanding of their ecology and importance in the estuary. These results can inform food web models, be paired with fish data to model the contributions of these species toward fish abundance trends, and be mirrored to elucidate other species’ trends in future studies.

Animal care is a critical component underlying successful behavioral and cognition research. Technological solutions for documentation and verification of care can aid in monitoring that activities are completed according to standard operating procedures and ensure that no individuals are overlooked. Here, I summarize a low-cost, flexible, and easy to use system that I developed to document and monitor care of animals for our research group. The system enables real-time and remote-enabled verification that critical daily tasks have been completed for every cage and helps us monitor our longer-term tasks to make sure that our care team is adhering to our set schedule. The main materials and components needed to implement this system are QR codes, a thermal laminator, a QR scanner, a computer to manage data input, and a database into which the data are scanned and summarized. There are six steps to setting up our system: (1) purchase a QR scanner, (2) generate and print QR codes, (3) set up the central hub for data input, (4) input data from QR scans, (5) filter and collate the raw data, and (6) summarize filtered data to verify and track care. Paired with simple scripts in a cloud-based spreadsheet, scanned QR code data can then be easily summarized in real time to provide verification of care. The flexibility of the system allows it to be customized to a large range of species.

Human impacts on the Earth’s biosphere are driving the global biodiversity crisis. Governments are preparing to agree on a set of actions intended to halt the loss of biodiversity and put it on a path to recovery by 2050. We provide evidence that the proposed actions can bend the curve for biodiversity, but only if these actions are implemented urgently and in an integrated manner.

Water quality and the environment greatly influence the existence and proliferation of parasites in the water and consequently, fish. This can have profound implications on aquaculture within the water bodies. Few studies have been conducted on parasite aggregations about the water quality in small water bodies in Kenya. This study assessed the suitability of selected Small Water Bodies (SWBs) for aquaculture as regards fish parasites by assessing the relationship between the occurrence and prevalence of parasites to water quality, water depth, land use, and shoreline habitat type. Standard protocols and procedures were used in the collection, analysis of water quality, and assessment of fish specimens for parasitology. White spot disease, (a parasite with economic significance) was in 4 of the 6 SWBs studied and had varying prevalence rates ranging between 10% to 20%. Clinostomum, a zoonotic parasite was also recorded in one of the SWBs sampled in this study. Additionally, the study realised some significant differences in the water quality from the various selected SWBs (p˂0.05), which could be a pointer to the noted diversities in the parasite communities. The findings of this study indicated that there was a strong positive correlation (r2 > 0.8) between some parasites (Ichthyopthirius multifiliis, Clinostomum spp., Procamallanus, and Camallanus) and some water quality parameters (temperature, turbidity, Soluble Reactive Phosphorous, Total Phosphorous, and Silicates). In light of the increase in focus on fisheries and aquaculture as key drivers of the blue economy and food and nutrition security, and as the country explores new frontiers for investment in aquaculture in SWBs, the water quality and consequent habitat features such as depth and land use, need to be addressed before investment.

Biofluorescent animals have become a recent trend in natural history publishing. While the functions and origins of biofluorescence in fauna remains somewhat controversial, trends in biofluorescence throughout published literature may elucidate these concepts. Here we review 101 years of biofluorescent studies encompassing 108 published papers and 977 unique species records. Our results provide insights into areas of improvement that should be made moving forward in biofluorescent studies and hypotheses to be tested. Collated records of biofluorescent indicate that fluorescence is strongly associated with nocturnal and arboreal lifestyles. Our reconstruction of ancestral lineages based on biofluorescent species records indicate a potential origins and trends in evolution of biofluorescence around the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum (MMCO) where fluorescent color diversity proliferates with declining global temperatures and could possibly be indicative of a widespread climate relict among modern taxa; we therefore term this new concept the Biofluorescent Climate Relict Hypothesis (BCRH).

Animals breeding in anthropogenic shelters such as nest-boxes experience nesting environment in which they did not originally evolve. Over the past decades, they are additionally challenged by climate change – a major environmental force influencing their reproductive ecology. Despite the central importance of nesting microclimate for offspring development and fitness, very little is known about the thermal properties of human-provided nests compared to natural ones. While it has been demonstrated that artificial nests provide poorer thermal insulation in comparison to natural breeding sites, there is no evidence on how these shifts are shaped along the reproductive stages. In particular, comparisons focusing on the time when offspring are in the nest are lacking. Here, we compare the microclimatic conditions (temperature and absolute humidity) along the nesting cycle (from nest-site choice in early spring until post-fledging) in natural cavities and nest-boxes used by several species of hollow-nesting passerines in a temperate deciduous forest. We confirm that across all nesting stages, nest-boxes are thermally unstable when compared to natural cavities, with higher temperature maximums, larger amplitudes and worse insulation from maximum ambient temperatures relative to natural cavities. Importantly, in the presence of young, and after they start to thermoregulate on their own, nest-boxes are also more humid than natural cavities. Artificial nest microclimate is likely to amplify the adverse effects of projected temperature increases modelled under climate change scenarios, specifically by compromising thermoregulation and increasing water requirements of developing animals. In contrast, internal microclimatic shifts were mitigated in natural cavities 3.0 times more effectively than in nest-boxes when offspring were in the nest (in terms of mean daily differences from ambient temperature). We stress that conservation efforts should focus on the protection of habitats offering natural breeding-hollows to reduce climate change impacts on breeding animals.

The high intertidal zone is home to an incredible variety of marine animals, as it offers an escape from low intertidal/subtidal predation and competition, among other advantages. However, this area of the shore also comes with many tide-driven and emersion-associated environmental stressors, such as desiccation, high temperatures and freezing stress, hypoxia, salinity fluctuations, nitrogenous waste accumulation, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, wave and ice disturbance, and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) toxicity. This review explores the diversity of evolutionary adaptations and plastic phenotypic responses that high intertidal animals use to cope with these challenges. Examples are provided of behavioural, morphological, physiological and biochemical adaptations/responses, along with some of the underlying molecular mechanisms that have been elucidated to date. Adaptations of many different worms, anemones, molluscs, crustaceans and fishes are highlighted. Many adaptations and mechanisms of plasticity are universal among animal phyla, and some are multifunctional (serve more than one function) or provide tolerance to multiple stressors (i.e., ‘cross-tolerance’). High intertidal animals have received considerable attention by scientists, given their accessibility and that they can provide valuable insights in the transition from a marine to a terrestrial lifestyle. Nevertheless, further research is needed to understand the adaptations/responses of these animals more thoroughly, and the future holds great promise for accomplishing this with recent advances in epigenetics, transcriptomics, protein biochemistry and other molecular tools.

Macrophysiological research is vital to our understanding of mechanisms underpinning global life history variation and adaptation to diverse environments. Here, we examined latitudinal and elevational variation in a key substrate of energy metabolism and an emerging physiological component of pace-of-life syndromes, blood glucose concentration. Our data, collected from 61 European temperate and 99 Afrotropical passerine species, revealed that baseline blood glucose increases with both latitude and elevation, whereas blood glucose stress response shows divergent directions, being stronger at low latitudes and high elevations. Low baseline glucose in tropical birds, compared to their temperate counterparts, was mainly explained by their low fecundity, consistent with the slow pace-of-life syndrome in the tropics. In contrast, elevational variation in this trait was decoupled from fecundity, implying a unique montane pace-of-life syndrome combining slow-paced life histories with fast-paced physiology. The observed patterns suggest that pace-of-life syndromes do not evolve along the single fast-slow axis.

The complexity of primates’ singing behavior has long gathered the attention of researchers interested in understanding the selective pressures underpinning the evolution of language. Among these pressures, a link between territoriality, pair-living, and singing displays has been suggested. Historically, singing primates have been found in a few taxa that are not closely related to each other, and, in the last years, their phylogeny has dramatically changed. Hence, we aimed at understanding if the dogmatic association between territorial behavior and a monogamous social structure still holds in the light of current research. Moreover, singing behavior has often been considered a whole, but animals can perform different singing forms depending on how many individuals call simultaneously. Currently, it is unclear to which extent these singing forms are widespread among these primate groups. Given that there is no unique definition for a song, solo, duet, and chorus, we envisioned some of the most used descriptions. We then formulated some new definitions that we followed in our review of the presence/absence of these different forms of song organization among singing primates’ taxa. In particular, we suggested that tarsier species that are typically considered non-singers may indeed sing, and we pointed out that non-duetting gibbons may perform duet interactions. We found that, besides duets, chorusing behavior and solo songs are essential features of primates’ communication, but their study is still in a descriptive phase. Moreover, while territorial behavior seems to be conserved in these singing taxa, we highlighted that the monogamous social structure is not the rule. Pair-living plus multi- females groups displaying singing behavior are common too. We suggest that ending to consider these taxa as uniform in their sociality and vocal behavior might be a significant turning point to unravel the different selective pressures that influenced the emergence and organization of such peculiar vocal behavior.

In most vertebrates, males are larger than females. For raptors, sexual size dimorphism is reversed, with females being larger. Reversed sexual dimorphism (RSD) in raptors is strongly linked to diet, with species feeding on the most agile prey, for example bird-eating raptors, showing the greatest size differences between the sexes. Hypotheses for reversed sexual dimorphism (RSD) include the ‘intersexual competition’ hypothesis, which proposes that RSD evolved to enable pairs to expand their dietary niche (taking a wider range of prey sizes) during the nestling period when both sexes occupy and hunt within the same territory, and thereby reduce competition between the sexes. If intersexual competition is responsible for the evolution of RSD, we predict that sex-related differences in prey size and dietary niche breadth will be particularly pronounced during the nestling period (cf. the non-nestling period). We explore this prediction in the highly dimorphic Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), which displays the largest degree of RSD of all raptors, using web-sourced photographs to identify diet throughout the entire year. We analysed 666 photographs of sparrowhawks on their prey over time. In contrast to our predictions, sex-specific prey sizes were most similar during the nestling period compared to any other time of the year. Both males and females reduced the size of their prey during the nestling period which may be a result of the ‘ingestion rate’ hypothesis, or a strategy employed to prevent hunting-related injuries during this critical period of the year.

Funder: Arcadia Fund; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100012088, Funder: MAVA Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100013324, Funder: The David and Claudia Harding Foundation, Funder: University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000735, Making the reasoning and evidence behind conservation management decisions clear and transparent is a key challenge for the conservation community. Similarly, combining evidence from diverse sources (e.g., scientific and local knowledge) into decision-making is also difficult. Our group of conservation researchers and practitioners has co-produced an intuitive tool and template (Evidence-to-Decision [E2D] tool: www.evidence2decisiontool.com) to guide practitioners through a structured process to transparently document and report the evidence and reasoning behind decisions. The tool has three major steps: (1). Define the Decision Context; (2). Gather Evidence; and (3). Make an Evidence-Based Decision. In each step, practitioners enter information (e.g., from the scientific literature, practitioner knowledge and experience, and costs) to inform their decision-making and document their reasoning. The tool packages this information into a customized downloadable report (or is documented if using the offline template), which we hope can stimulate the exchange of information on decisions within and between organizations. By enabling practitioners to revisit how and why past decisions were made, and integrate diverse forms of evidence, we believe our open-access tool's template can help increase the transparency and quality of decision-making in conservation.

Spearfishing is practiced by a small fraction of younger recreational fishers and has received considerably less scientific attention than angling. This knowledge gap may negatively affect the ability for developing sustainable marine recreational fisheries. We address this through a global systematic review of the literature pertaining to marine spearfishing (both recreational and otherwise) and providing an integrative overview of key research topics of ecological, social, and economic dimensions. The systematic review indicated an increasing number of papers related to marine recreational spearfishing, with the majority exclusively focused on ecological impacts of spearfishing. The integrative review identifies the most relevant ecological impacts and possible strategies to minimize them to develop sustainable marine recreational spearfishing. Marine recreational spearfishing fosters connection with the underwater environment, but more research on the social aspects is needed. Results also show a growing research interest in assessing the economic contribution of marine recreational spearfishing. Finally, we argue that recreational spearfishers represent a widespread network of underwater observers whose extensive knowledge may help to identify and track changes in marine ecosystems. Overall, we highlight key points to consider when conducting multi- and interdisciplinary research regarding marine recreational spearfishing.

As individual animals are exposed to varying environmental conditions, phenotypic plasticity will occur in a vast array of physiological traits. For example, shifts in factors such as temperature and oxygen availability can affect the energy demand, cardiovascular system, and neuromuscular function of animals that in turn impact individual behavior. Here, we argue that nonlinear changes in the physiological traits and performance of animals across environmental gradients—known as physiological performance curves—may have wide-ranging effects on the behavior of individual social group members and the functioning of animal social groups as a whole. Previous work has demonstrated how variation between individuals can have profound implications for socially living animals, as well as how environmental conditions affect social behavior. However, the importance of variation between individuals in how they respond to changing environmental conditions has so far been largely overlooked in the context of animal social behavior. First, we consider the broad effects that individual variation in performance curves may have on the behavior of socially living animals, including: (1) changes in the rank order of performance capacity among group mates across environments; (2) environment-dependent changes in the amount of among- and within-individual variation, and (3) differences among group members in terms of the environmental optima, the critical environmental limits, and the peak capacity and breadth of performance. We then consider the ecological implications of these effects for a range of socially mediated phenomena, including within-group conflict, within- and among group assortment, collective movement, social foraging, predator-prey interactions and disease and parasite transfer. We end by outlining the type of empirical work required to test the implications for physiological performance curves in social behavior.

Definitely the fact, is an undeniable impact of habitat change and fragmentation in the urban ecosystem take effect to species loss causes population decline into local extinction. The results that emerged from habitat selection in ecology in this case study may suggest possible opportunistic of population turnover are caused by behaviour adaptive in the life-history of predators. And provides functional responses proportion aim for response to available exploit habitat. Though data imperfectly create approach sufficient of N assumes initial of each predator for testing and experiment theory empirical [y = 2.4444, Pr (>F) = 0.002466]. Moreover, consequences interspecific competition were determine nonhierarchical pattern by supposing Golden Jackal (species B) is dominant species in the community, show when encounter 1) Leopard Cat (species A) have dNAj/dt = 1.821292 [Pr (>F) = 0.2261] and competitive coefficient = 0.96797 [Pr (>F) = 0.3961] and 2) Common Palm Civet (species A) have dNAj/dt = 4.777457 [Pr (>F) = 0.2261] and competitive coefficient = 0.93647 [Pr (>F) = 0.3961]. That demonstrates plausible Golden Jackal discriminated occasion predominant obviously from the functional responses the robust. However, these results expect the one essence for estimating the population growth rate, especially from individual metabolic rate causes behaviour adaptive in template phase of spatial-temporal dynamics and predict carrying capacity free-bias improving. Effort understanding to mechanism complex before into broadly practical aims enhance the wildlife management and conservation probabilities.

Primate vision is thought to have evolved in connection with life in the trees. However, several inter-related origins theories—those addressing possible co-evolution with size, predation, diet, daylight, locomotion, and groups—also provide reasonable explanations of their distinct cranial-visual morphology. We hypothesized that demand for high-speed landings in arboreal environments facilitated predation avoidance, thereby reducing the need for lateral facing orbits. To test this proposed influence, in the context of a multi-causal adaptive landscape, we consolidated published data on extant primate species including body mass, daily path length, arboreality, insectivory, frugivory, activity period, leaping, swinging, and group size. Phylogenetically controlled regressions, on three different taxonomic subsets of the primate order, highlight size and environmental influences as the most compelling factors explaining higher orbital convergence [OC]. Moreover, activity period and group size (in anthropoids) as well as arboreality and body mass (in non-anthropoids) associated convincingly with higher OC. After considering size and path length, suspensory (and to a lesser extent leaping-based) grasp-landed locomotion co-varied with OC, primarily in anthropoids. Nocturnality had negative, and leaping mixed, associations with OC—thus, with the exception of those relating to nocturnal-locomotion, all adaptive origins theories considered were at least partially corroborated. The conflicting associations of OC with leaping is largely attributable to the exceptionally small (and more taxonomically contentious) members of the order. These analyses support grasp-swing, in anthropoids, and rear attack risk reduction [RARR], more generally, as they provide compelling alternatives to strictly sized based models (e.g. predation deterrence and allometric scaling) in explaining deep divisions in the primate order.

Mobbing is an important anti-predator behavior where prey harass and attack a predator to lower the immediate and long-term risk posed by predators, warn others, and communicate about the predator’s threat. While this behavior has been of interest to humans since antiquity, and aspects of it have been well researched for the past 50 years, we still know little about its ecology and the evolutionary pressures that gave rise to this ubiquitous anti-predator behavior. In this review, we explore what mobbing is, how it is used, what its functions are thought to be, its use as a proxy for cognition, before providing suggestions for specific future avenues of research necessary to improve our understanding of mobbing in its ecological and evolutionary context.

1. Environmental conditions during early-life development can have lasting effects on individual quality and fitness. Telomere length (TL) may correlate with early-life conditions and may be an important mediator or biomarker of individual quality or pace-of-life, as periods of increased energy demands can increase telomere attrition due to oxidative stress. Thus, knowledge of the mechanisms that generate variation in TL, and the relation between TL and fitness, is important in understanding the role of telomeres in ecology and life-history evolution. 2. Here, we investigate how environmental conditions and morphological traits are associated with early-life TL and if TL predicts natal dispersal probability or components of fitness in two populations of wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus). 3. We measured morphological traits and blood TL in 2746 nestlings from 20 cohorts (1994-2013) and retrieved data on weather conditions. We monitored population fluctuations, and individual survival and reproductive output using field observations and genetic pedigrees. We then used generalized linear mixed-effects models to test which factors affected TL in early-life, and if TL predicted dispersal propensity, or was associated with recruitment probability, mortality risk, or reproductive success. 4. We found a negative effect of population density on TL, but only in one of the populations. There was a curvilinear association between TL and the maximum daily North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index during incubation, suggesting that there are optimal weather conditions that result in the longest TL. Dispersers tended to have shorter telomeres than non-dispersers. TL did not predict survival, but we found a tendency for individuals with short telomeres to have higher annual reproductive success. 5. Our study showed how early-life TL is shaped by effects of growth, weather conditions and population density, supporting that environmental stressors negatively affect TL in wild populations. In addition, TL may be a mediator or biomarker of individual pace-of-life, with higher dispersal rates and annual reproduction tending to be associated with shorter early-life TL in this study. However, clear associations between early-life TL and individual fitness seems difficult to establish and may differ between different populations in the wild.

Survivorship under predation exerts strong selection on reproductive traits as well as on brain anatomy of prey. However, how exactly predation and brain evolution are linked has not been resolved as current empirical evidence is inconclusive. This may be due to predation pressure having different effects across life stages and/or due to confounding factors in ecological comparisons of predation pressure. Here, we used adult guppies (Poecilia reticulata) to experimentally test the impact of a period of strong predation on brain anatomy and reproduction of surviving individuals. We compared the survivors to control fish, which were exposed to visual and olfactory predator cues but could not be predated on, and found that predation impacted the relative size of female brains. This effect was dependent on body size as larger female survivors showed relatively larger brains, while smaller survivors showed relatively smaller brains when compared to control animals. There were no differences in male relative brain size between the treatments, nor for any specific relative brain region sizes for either sex. Moreover, survivors produced more offspring, but did not show shorter interbrood intervals than controls. Our results corroborate the important, yet complex, role of predation as an important factor behind variation in brain anatomy.

Predicting how populations respond to selection is a key goal of evolutionary biology. The field of quantitative genetics provides predictions for the response to directional selection through the breeder’s equation. However, differences between the observed responses to selection and those predicted by the breeder’s equation occur. The sources of these errors include omission of traits under selection, inaccurate estimates of genetic variance, and nonlinearities in the relationship between genetic and phenotypic variation. A key insight from previous research is that the expected value of these prediction errors is often not zero, in which case the predictions are systematically biased. Here, we propose that this prediction bias, rather than being a nuisance, can be used to improve the predictions. We use this to develop a novel method to predict the response to selection, which is built on three key innovations. First, the method predicts change as the breeder’s equation plus a bias term. Second, the method combines information from the breeder’s equation and from the record of past changes in the mean, to estimate the bias and predict change using a Kalman filter. Third, the parameters of the filter are fitted in each generation using a machine-learning algorithm on the record of past changes. We apply the method to data of an artificial selection experiment of the wing of the fruit fly, as well as to an in silico evolution experiment for teeth. We find that the method outperforms the breeder’s equation, and notably provides good predictions even when traits under selection are omitted from the analysis and when additive genetic variance is estimated inaccurately. The proposed method is easy to apply since it only requires recording the mean of the traits over past generations.

Caño Palma Biological Station herpetofauna and Cerro Mountain lists revised 2011, Tortuguero area herpetofauna list, revised 2008.

Five millennia ago, the North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) was extirpated from the Southern High Plains by droughts. Beaver were found to be largely absent from the Llano Estacado, despite exhaustive search efforts. Here we report the first definitive evidence of an extant C. canadensis population recolonizing the Llano Estacado. We further provide some spatiotemporal background information about beaver colonization along the North Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River.

Until recently, it was assumed that insects lack immune memory since they do not have vertebrate-like specialized memory cells. Therefore, their most well studied evolutionary response against pathogens was increased basal immunity. However, growing evidence suggests that many insects also exhibit a form of immune memory (immune priming), where prior exposure to a low dose of infection confers protection against subsequent infection by the same pathogen that acts both within and across generations. Most strikingly, they can rapidly evolve as a highly parallel and mutually exclusive strategy from basal immunity, under different selective conditions and with divergent evolutionary trade-offs. However, the relative importance of priming as an optimal immune strategy also has contradictions, primarily because supporting mechanisms are still unclear. In this review, we adopt a comparative approach to highlight several emerging evolutionary, ecological and mechanistic features of priming vs basal immune responses that warrant immediate attention for future research.

Resources that are embedded in social relationships, such as shared knowledge, access to food, services, social support or cooperation, are all examples of social capital. Social capital is recognized as an important age-related mediator of health in humans and of fitness-related traits in animals. A rich social capital in humans can slow senescence and reverse age-related deficits. Animals have been shown to adjust their social capital at different life stages (i.e., early, reproductive and post-reproductive life), which may promote individual fitness. However, the underlying biological mechanisms remain unknown. We suggest future research avenues to focus on social capital as a modifiable dimension to gain a better understanding of variations in senescence, and thereby provide new approaches to promote healthy ageing.

Plastic are emerging pollutants requiring urgent intervention for its management. In African countries like Nigeria, the evidence to inform plastic pollution management is scanty. This rapid review aimed to systematically evaluate evidence on the distribution, sources, biological effects, research gaps and policy needs of plastic pollution in various environmental matrices in Nigeria. Peer-reviewed journal articles on nano-, micro-, meso- and macroplastics contamination of water, sediment, air, soil and biota were accessed from PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct. They were screened, comprehensively revised and critically appraised for inclusion, data extraction and evidence synthesis. A total of 358,974 articles were accessed from any publication date up till May 30, 2021. Only 34 articles met the inclusion criteria and critical appraisal. Only 26 of the included studies reported the distribution, levels and/or effects of microplastics (MPs) (n = 12), macroplastics (n = 12) or both (n = 2) in water, sediment, biota, food and/or land. Only 15 of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory had any data on micro- and/or macroplastics. Macroplastics from land-based sources were mainly reported from educational institutions, residential areas and markets. Plastic sources reported were tire wear, cigarette butts, fishing ropes and gears, plastic bags, water sachets and e-wastes. Biological effects (oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, reduced plant root biomass) of virgin MPs were reported in crab, African catfish and lime tree only in laboratory experiments. Microplastic data in biota were limited to selected fish species, aquatic insects and gastropods. Only one (1) study on plastics in waterbodies in Northern Nigeria (Kogi State) was found. Research gaps on plastic distribution in terrestrial biota, other aquatic biota, soil, air, ground and potable water sources as well as biological effects were identified. Policy needs for plastic pollution management identified include stakeholder education, polymer replacement, recycling, tax and incentives to support the sustainability of life below water and on land (UN SDGs 14 and 15).

Human population expansion into wildlife habitats has increased interest in the behavioral ecology of human-wildlife interactions. To date, however, the socio-ecological factors that determine whether, when or where wild animals take risks by interacting with humans and anthropogenic factors still remains unclear. We adopt a comparative approach to address this gap, using social network analysis (SNA). SNA, increasingly implemented to determine human impact on wildlife ecology, can be a powerful tool to understand how animal socioecology influences the spatiotemporal distribution of human-wildlife interactions. For 10 groups of rhesus, long-tailed, and bonnet macaques (Macaca spp.) living in anthropogenically-impacted environments in Asia, we collected data on human-macaque interactions, animal demographics, and macaque-macaque agonistic and affiliative social interactions. We constructed ‘human co-interaction networks’ based on associations between macaques that interacted with humans within the same time and spatial locations, and social networks based on macaque-macaque allogrooming behavior, affiliative behaviors of short duration (agonistic support, lip-smacking, silent bare-teeth displays, and non-sexual mounting), and proximity. Pre-network permutation tests revealed that, within all macaque groups, specific individuals jointly took risks by repeatedly, consistently co-interacting with humans within and across time and space. GLMMs revealed that macaques’ tendencies to co-interact with humans was positively predicted by their tendencies to engage in short-duration affiliative interactions and tolerance of conspecifics, although the latter varied across species (bonnets>rhesus>long-tailed). Male macaques were more likely to co-interact with humans than females. Neither macaques’ grooming relationships nor their dominance ranks predicted their tendencies to co-interact with humans. Our findings suggest that, in challenging anthropogenic environments, less (compared to more) time-consuming forms of affiliation, and additionally greater social tolerance in less ecologically flexible species with a shorter history of exposure to humans, may be key to animals’ joint propensities to take risks to gain access to resources. For males, greater exploratory tendencies and less energetically demanding long-term life-history strategies (compared to females), may also influence such joint risk-taking. From conservation and public health perspectives, wildlife connectedness within such co-interaction networks may inform interventions to mitigate zoonosis, and move human-wildlife interactions from conflict towards co-existence.

Acoustic sensors are increasingly being used in ecological and conservation research, but the choice of sensor can be fraught with trade-offs. In this work we assess the performance of the Raspberry Shake and Boom (RS&B) sensor package for detecting and monitoring African elephants (Loxodonta africana). This is the first documented test of this particular unit for recording animal behavior; the unit was originally designed for detecting tectonic earthquakes and low frequency (

Ecological restoration should be regarded as a public health service. Unfortunately, the lack of quantitative linkages between environmental and human health has limited recognition of these principle. Advent of COVID-19 pandemic provides the impetus for the further discussion. We propose ecological countermeasures as highly targeted, landscape-based interventions to arrest the drivers of land use-induced zoonotic spillover. We provide examples of ecological restoration activities that reduce zoonotic disease risk and a five-point action plan at the human-ecosystem health nexus. In conclusion, we make the case that ecological countermeasures are a tenent of restoration ecology with human health goals.

Morphological variation among individuals has the potential to influence multiple life history characteristics such as dispersal, migration, reproductive success, and survival (Wilder et al. 2016). Individuals that are in better “condition” can disperse or migrate further or more successfully, have greater reproductive success, and survive longer (Heidinger et al. 2010; Liao et al. 2011; Wilder et al. 2016), particularly in years where environmental conditions are harsh (Milenkaya et al. 2015). Body condition is defined in various ways, but is most often measured using an individual’s energetic or immune state (Milenkaya et al. 2015). These traits are difficult to measure directly, therefore a variety of morphological proxies to quantify condition are used instead, including fat score (Kaiser 1993), weight, ratio of weight to tarsus length (Labocha et al. 2014), a scaled mass index (Peig and Green 2009), as well as hematological indices for immune system function (Fleskes et al. 2017; Kraft et al. 2019). However, there is mixed support regarding whether these condition indices relate to life history characteristics (Labocha et al. 2014; Wilder et al. 2016), and whether the relationship is linear (McNamara et al. 2005; Milenkaya et al. 2015). Additionally, although some investigations use multiple morphological proxies for condition (e.g. Warnock and Bishop 1998), rarely have there been direct comparisons among proxies to validate that they measure the same trait. In this investigation, we define condition as an energetic state and we attempt to measure it by comparing two indices (fat score and the scaled mass index) to validate whether they measure the same trait and whether they correlate with measures of reproductive success in our study system, the great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus). We found that the morphological proxies did not correlate with each other, indicating that they do not measure the same trait. Further, neither proxy correlated with reproductive success in males, measured as whether a male held a territory containing nests or not. We found that females with a high scaled mass index had a significantly lower probability that their nest would survive on any given day. However, there was no relationship between female fat score and nest survival. These results indicate that measures of condition should be validated before relying on their use as a condition proxy in grackles and birds in general. Future research should further investigate our unexpected result that higher scaled mass index correlated with lower nest survival to better understand the importance of energetic condition for reproductive success - a necessary component for selection to act.

Depredation hotspots are the main source of conflict between humans and large carnivores. When locating depredation hotspots, previous studies have not adjusted for livestock availability, making it impossible for managers to discriminate hotspots resulting from underlying livestock clustering from those due to other factors such as environmental factors. We studied hotspots of wolf depredation on sheep in France from the beginning of wolf recolonisation in 1994, up to 2018. For each year, we used spatial statistical analyses to determine the general depredation spatial pattern, then to locate depredation hotspots. We quantified the discrepancies between the analyses accounting or not for livestock availability. We showed that ignoring livestock availability led to flawed inference about the depredation pattern, and resulted in a substantial number of unidentified hotspots, generally encompassing pastoral surfaces with small sheep availability. Our results indicated that some large hotspots persisted in space and time whereas the distribution of depredations elsewhere in the study area tended to randomness and produced sporadic hotspots. Synthesis and applications. Our methodology provides reliable information for managers to grasp the depredation pattern, to allocate resources and to evaluate management efficiency. In areas where depredations significantly persist, investigation on vulnerability is recommended.

Anthropogenic land use change is the major driver of zoonotic pathogen spillover from wildlife to humans. In response to the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the agent of COVID-19 disease), there have been renewed calls for landscape conservation as a disease preventive measure. While protected areas are a vital conservation tool for wildlands, more than 50% of habitable land is now human-modified and thus requires strategic, site-based measures to prevent land use-induced spillover, especially by managing landscape immunity and the dynamics of animal-human proximity. Crisis is a conversation starter for reimagining and recommitting ourselves to what is most vital and generative. Here we provide a brief overview of zoonotic spillover concepts and dynamics from a conservation practitioner perspective and outline a landscape-oriented policy agenda to minimize the risk of future large-scale zoonoses outbreaks. Among other things, we need to recognize human health as a vital ecological service, ensure ecological resilience, and facilitate public investment in biosecurity to sustain economic viability and human well-being. Landscape management approaches to spillover risk reduction are part of a toolkit that includes ecological, veterinary, and medical interventions, disease surveillance, and wildlife trade policy measures.

When selecting a breeding site, individuals can use social information to reduce the uncertainty regarding habitat quality. In particular, individuals from several bird species tend to reuse nests previously occupied by competitors. Re-occupying nests previously used by conspecifics or heterospecifics could result from exploiting social information by copying competitors’ choice (the ‘social information’ hypothesis). Alternatively, it could allow fulfilling the needs for a comfortable nest substrate (e.g. by improving thermal insulation or reducing egg breakage risks) at low costs, regardless of previous occupancy (the ‘comfort’ hypothesis). Here, we aimed to determine which of these two mechanisms triggered the preference for old conspecific nest material in a secondary cavity-nesting raptor which does not add lining materials to its nest, the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni). Using an experimental design forcing settling lesser kestrels to choose between two adjacent nestboxes containing different substrates, we detected a strong preference for comfortable substrates (peat moss, or conspecific or European roller old nest material) over uncomfortable mineral substrate, especially when the comfortable substrate also provided social information about previous nest use by a competitor. Despite the apparent absence of preference when directly comparing settlement patterns in comfortable substrates with and without social information, early-settling individuals favoured the substrate with social information, while late-settling ones favoured the substrate without social information. This could reflect intraspecific competition avoidance by late arriving individuals that may be competitively inferior compared to early arriving ones. This hypothesis is supported by a later laying date of young (up to two years old) breeders compared to older ones in our population. Our findings suggest that both comfort seeking and social information use explain preference for previously used nest cavities, and that nest site choices may depend on individual competitive abilities and experience.

Ecosystems are open systems connected through spatial flows of energy, matter, and nutrients. Predicting and managing ecosystem interdependence requires a rigorous quantitative understanding of the drivers and vectors that connect ecosystems across spatio-temporal scales. Animals act as such vectors when they transport nutrients across landscapes in the form of excreta, egesta, and their own bodies. Here, we introduce a methodological roadmap that combines movement, foraging, and ecosystem ecology to study the effects of animal-vectored nutrient transport on meta-ecosystems. The meta-ecosystem concept — the notion that ecosystems are connected in space and time by flows of energy, matter, and organisms across boundaries — provides a theoretical framework on which to base our understanding of animal-vectored nutrient transport. However, partly due to its high level of abstraction, there are few empirical tests of meta-ecosystem theory, and while we may label animals as important mediators of ecosystem services, we lack predictive inference of their relative roles and impacts on diverse ecosystems. Recently developed technologies and methods — tracking devices, mechanistic movement models, diet reconstruction techniques and remote sensing — have the potential to facilitate the quantification of animal-vectored nutrient flows and increase the predictive power of meta-ecosystem theory. Understanding the mechanisms by which animals shape ecosystem dynamics may be important for ongoing conservation, rewilding, and restoration initiatives around the world, and for more accurate models of ecosystem nutrient budgets. We provide conceptual examples that show how our proposed integration of methodologies could help investigate ecosystem impacts of animal movement. We conclude by describing practical applications to understanding cross-ecosystem contributions of animals on the move.

The fragmentation of habitat has occurred throughout the history of life on Earth, but has been accelerated and magnified in scale over the past few centuries as a result of human industrial development. Habitat fragmentation affects the welfare of some wild animals directly, through the often violent processes that bring about fragmentation and by reducing the distance between them and the stressful environment outside of their ideal habitat. However, habitat fragmentation may also influence wild animal welfare through its indirect effects on population dynamics and the evolution of welfare-relevant phenotypic traits and behavioural strategies. It is plausible that these indirect effects of habitat change dominate the direct effects because they occur over many generations, potentially affecting a far greater number of individuals than were present when their habitat was fragmented. Here, we review prior research on habitat fragmentation to identify tentative lessons and promising areas for future research as it relates to wild animal welfare.

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of supplementations with 3.5 or 7.5 mg dihydroquercetin (experimental groups D1 and D2) or with 0.255 or 0.545 g dry distilled rose petals (experimental groups R1 and R2)/kg/d added as to pig's combined feed on the parameters of lipolysis expressed by acid value; lipid hydroperoxides expressed by peroxide value, lipid oxidation secondary products expressed by 2-tiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), pH and L*, a*, b* colour characteristics in m. Longissimus lumborum et thoracis, m. Semimembranosus, backfat and leaf fat stored 24 h and 7d at 2±1°C, or 315 d at -18±1°C. A total of 120 pigs were randomly divided to five groups - a control (C) and four experimental (D1, D2, R1 and R2) each fed 45 d prior to harvest with shown above levels of phytonutrients enriched diets. More pronounced effects were determined (P ≤ 0.05) at frozen storage compared to chilled storage. The oxidative and colour stabilities of chilled (2±1°C) and frozen (-18°C) pork are comparatively higher when pig's diet was supplemented with 3.5 mg dihydroquercetin or 0.255 g dry distilled rose petals/kg/d. The conclusion was made can the supplementation of pig's combined feed (finisher) with 3.5 mg dihydroquercetin or 0.255 g dry distilled rose petals/kg/d is a promising strategy to increase the oxidative stability of lean pork or fat and stabilized pork meat colour without deleterious changes of meat acidity.

Wind direction, often used in forecasting locust migration, indicates a non-zero probability of desert locust invasion in eastern Indian states. Apart from present controlling measures, we are additionally suggesting to be cautious about the eggs of locust as the rainfall associated with Super Cyclone Amphan has created a favorable breeding ground for the gregarious locust. Also reverse migration of these locusts might affect the Indian states for the second time. Long-term controlling policy (till Kharif season; June to October) is required to minimize the damage. Also, increasing the farmers awareness and sensitized local ecology groups might be helpful in desert locust reporting.

In this commentary, we discuss three replicability issues that are specifically relevant to research regarding farm animal welfare: (1) Legislative action, and its potential economic consequences, should derive from robust and replicable research to benefit animals kept in an industrial setting. (2) From an ethical perspective, the use of relatively few additional animals in replication studies in farm animal welfare science can be justified in comparison with the high numbers of animals of the same species that are routinely kept in millions for production purposes. (3) Conceptually, studies in farm animal welfare science can take advantage of heterogeneous farm settings that can serve as the population for sampling and, accordingly, follow a framework that improves external validity and thus increases replicability. In light of these issues, animal welfare scientists should more strongly embrace measures to increase replicability in their research.

Industrial pollution is a significant global threat to biodiversity, but its consequences on rainforest ecosystems remains poorly understood. Amphibians are especially susceptible to pollutants released on natural environments due to their aquatic-terrestrial life cycle. Here, we explored the effects of severe historical air, water and soil industrial pollution of Cubatão Industrial Complex (São Paulo state, Brazil) on the physiological condition of Rhinella ornate individuals, an endemic toad species of Atlantic Forest, a world biodiversity hotspot. We hypothesized that individuals sampled at localities closer to the pollution source will present worse indicators of physiological health. As predicted, toads at decreasing distances from the pollution source presented enlargement of organs related with detoxification function (liver and kidneys) and with compensatory immunological function (spleen). Contrary to our predictions, however, we found only a weak negative effect of proximity to the pollution source on individuals’ body condition index, and no effects on fertility (testicles masses) or macroparasite infection (eosinophil counts). Surprisingly, proximity to the pollution source was associated with lower chronical stress levels (neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio) on individuals. We discuss which physiological process could promote the alterations found on the toads. We also discuss the possible evolution of a local resistance to contamination on toads from populations closer from pollution source, giving the more than 60 years of exposure to chemical contaminants in the area.