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Context: Accurate baseline data for wildlife populations are important to track trends of these populations over time and to identify threats to their long-term persistence. Aims: We aimed to assess the status and distribution of the little studied megapode (Megapodius laperouse laperouse) across the Mariana Islands. Methods: Using passive and call playback facilitated surveys in 2008 through 2010, we employed point–transect distance sampling to assess island-level and archipelago-wide status of this megapode. To assess conservation needs, we defined human presence as the current, recent, or intermittent occurrence of humans on islands. Key results: We recorded 657 megapode detections and estimated an archipelago level abundance of 11,542 individuals (95% CI: 5456–17,623) from 699 sampling points across 10 islands. Three islands supported 86% of the megapode population, but cumulatively comprise only 2% of the archipelago's land area. Conclusions: Micronesian Megapodes preferred native forest. Human presence and the availability of native forest may limit their abundance and distribution in the Mariana Islands. Although the probability of detecting megapodes was significantly greater on islands without high human presence, significantly more detections were recorded in forests with dense or closed understory on those islands that supported greater human populations. Implications: Given their status and confined distribution in the Mariana Islands, additional studies investigating megapode incubation sites and movement within and between islands would provide fundamental information on megapode ecology and enhance conservation efforts. Continued and expanded ungulate removal, predator control, and habitat restoration would further enhance the likelihood of megapode persistence in the archipelago. We investigated the archipelago-wide status of Micronesian Megapodes (Megapodius laperouse) in the Mariana Islands. Findings indicate that megapode population and distribution in the Mariana Islands are limited by availability of native forest and human presence. We discuss studies of breeding and movement patterns, and removal of introduced ungulates and predators to benefit the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Human presence and land-use activities influence habitat use and activity of species. It is crucial to study the ecological and anthropogenic determinants that drive these relationships. Objectives: We investigated the effects of land-use change and human presence on the habitat use of seven mammalian species and on their activity patterns. Methods: We conducted a camera-trapping survey in Ballari district, India. We deployed camera-traps at 1457 sampling grid cells across Protected Areas (PAs), Reserved Forests (RFs), and adjoining fringe mosaic farmlands (FMFLs). We assessed the influence of 19 covariates related to habitat features, landscape-level human presence, climate, and local-level human presence on species habitat use. We examined the diel activity patterns and activity levels of mammals within different land-use types. Results: Four species exhibited a net negative response to increasing human presence, while three species exhibited positive responses. Respectively, proximity to farmlands, and settlements positively influenced habitat use by Panthera pardus, and Lepus nigricollis,. Increasing direct human presence negatively affected Sus scrofa habitat use. Large body-sized species exhibited higher diurnal activity in PA/RF compared to FMFL while smaller-sized (≤ 2.2 kg) species maintained similar activity patterns across land-use types. Generalist meso-predators exhibited more diurnal activity in RF/FMFL. Conclusions: Ecological and life history traits were strong predictors of species responses to increasing human presence which favoured smaller and generalist species. These insights into the complex mechanisms through which human activities shape mammal communities are important landscape level perspectives on conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-wideband radar technology (UWB) has demonstrated its vital role through various applications in surveillance, search and rescue, health monitoring, and the military. Unlike conventional radars, UWB radars use high-frequency, wide-bandwidth pulses, enabling long-range detection and penetrating obstacles. This work presents an in-depth review of UWB radar systems for recognizing human activities in a room and through-the-wall (TTW) with other diverse applications. After briefly discussing different UWB radar working principles and architectures, the study explores their role in various TTW applications in real-world scenarios. An extensive performance comparison of the legacy studies is presented, focusing on detection tools, signal processing, and imaging algorithms. The discussion includes an analysis of the integration of machine learning models. The primary focus is on the detection, movement, monitoring of vital signs, and nonhuman classifications in the context of Through-The-Wall (TTW) scenarios. This study contributes to a better understanding of evolving technology capabilities by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to automate and precisely locate the target in various scenarios. Furthermore, the discussion includes the impact of UWB technology on society, future industry trends, the commercial landscape, and ethical issues to understand and future research.

Urbanization of natural landscapes and increasing human populations have brought people and our companion animals into closer contact with wildlife, even within protected areas. To provide guidance for human–wildlife coexistence, it is therefore critical to understand the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and how well native wildlife species survive in human-dominated landscapes. We investigated the spatio-temporal responses of 10 vertebrate taxa, with an emphasis on the Endangered Eld's deer Rucervus eldii thamin, to anthropogenic disturbances in Shwesettaw Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar. We quantified anthropogenic disturbances as distance from human settlements, distance from a highway, and the presence of people and free-ranging dogs Canis familiaris. Anthropogenic disturbances had stronger negative impacts on the detection of native wildlife species than on occupancy. Eld's deer avoided areas close to human settlements and showed low diel activity overlap with both people and dogs, although we found a positive association with human presence at the camera-trap sites. Five species exhibited lower diel activity overlap with people in the rainy season when human activity is the highest in our study area. All studied wildlife species shifted to nocturnal activity or did not show any clear activity pattern during the cool-dry season when the presence of dogs increased. The ecological and conservation impacts of dogs are underestimated in South-east Asia, particularly in Myanmar, and this case study highlights the impacts of dogs on the temporal use of habitat by wildlife and the need for better practices in the management of dogs within protected areas.

Urbanization of natural landscapes and increasing human populations have brought people and our companion animals into closer contact with wildlife, even within protected areas. To provide guidance for human–wildlife coexistence, it is therefore critical to understand the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and how well native wildlife species survive in human-dominated landscapes. We investigated the spatio-temporal responses of 10 vertebrate taxa, with an emphasis on the Endangered Eld's deer Rucervus eldii thamin , to anthropogenic disturbances in Shwesettaw Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar. We quantified anthropogenic disturbances as distance from human settlements, distance from a highway, and the presence of people and free-ranging dogs Canis familiaris. Anthropogenic disturbances had stronger negative impacts on the detection of native wildlife species than on occupancy. Eld's deer avoided areas close to human settlements and showed low diel activity overlap with both people and dogs, although we found a positive association with human presence at the camera-trap sites. Five species exhibited lower diel activity overlap with people in the rainy season when human activity is the highest in our study area. All studied wildlife species shifted to nocturnal activity or did not show any clear activity pattern during the cool-dry season when the presence of dogs increased. The ecological and conservation impacts of dogs are underestimated in South-east Asia, particularly in Myanmar, and this case study highlights the impacts of dogs on the temporal use of habitat by wildlife and the need for better practices in the management of dogs within protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans are transforming natural habitats into managed urban green areas and impervious surfaces at an unprecedented pace. Yet the effects of human presence per se on animal life-history traits are rarely tested. This is particularly true in cities, where human presence is often indissociable from urbanisation itself. The onset of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, along with the resulting lockdown restrictions, offered a unique, "natural experiment" to investigate wildlife responses to a sudden reduction in human activity. We analysed four years of avian breeding data collected in a European capital city to test whether lockdown measures altered nestbox occupancy and life-history traits in terms of egg laying date, incubation duration and clutch size in two urban adapters: great tits (Parus major) and blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). Lockdown measures, which modulated human presence, did not influence any of the life-history traits investigated. In contrast, the interaction between year and tree cover, a distinct ecological attribute of the urban space, was positively associated with clutch size, a key avian life-history and reproductive trait. This highlights the importance of inter-year variation and habitat quality over human activity on urban wildlife reproduction. We discuss our results in the light of other urban wildlife studies carried out during the pandemic, inviting the scientific community to carefully interpret all lockdown—associated shifts in biological traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first results of analyses carried out using mobile phone data on human presence (residents, commuters, visitors) in the coastal territory of Lecce (Italy). The aim of the research, conducted in the framework of the DASTU Project ‘Department of Excellence on Fragile Territories’ in collaboration with the Municipality of Lecce, is to provide precise feedback on the actual use of a coastal territory which is mostly inhabited temporarily, marked by unauthorised building, and threatened by various environmental and climate risks. Starting with an acknowledgement of the limits that traditional census and registry data have in detecting the use of territories characterised by seasonal use and informality, the paper analyses the variations in anthropic presence over multiple years and the incidence of permanent residents. The analyses were carried out using mobile positioning data extracted from the TIM Data Visual Insight (DVI) platform and refer to the period between September 2019 and September 2020. The results show evident heterogeneity among the different coastal settlements. In particular, there are substantial differences between the southern marine (San Cataldo, Torre Veneri, Frigole, Montegrappa) and northern ones (Torre Chianca, Spiaggiabella, Torre Rinalda), where the former show a greater presence of stable residents and a less pronounced seasonal fluctuation. These differences are fundamental for urban planning policies to determine in which areas the retreat of the building from the coast could cause more difficulties and inconveniences.

This paper aims to present the presence and mobility data provided by TIM, highlighting the acquisition methodology, the levels of spatial and temporal disaggregation, as well as the additional information related to age groups, gender, and classification of behaviours, which are directly supplied by TIM. The construction of a baseline based on mobile phone data for the comparison of temporal trends in the presence of people is also discussed. At the same time, the supporting data obtained from traditional sources or ad hoc surveys will be presented to show how they can facilitate the interpretation of telephone data, its validation, and its use. Finally, a reference on the operational tools used for their processing and visualization will highlight the need to integrate skills, methodologies, and tools for the maximum exploitation of this wealth of information.

Due to the intangible nature of tourism products, successful destination marketing depends on whether visual materials can evoke tourists' vivid fantasies of their future travel experiences. Our research sheds light on an effective visual cue (i.e. human presence) that can be easily manipulated in destination photographs to facilitate such mental simulation processes. Across three experimental studies with cross-cultural subjects, we found that the presence of a person in photos significantly prompted tourists to imagine their future travel experiences in the depicted travel scenes, thereby enhancing the perceived destination attractiveness. However, this favorable effect is mitigated when the photo features an urban (vs. natural) landscape and when the person's face is clearly shown. These findings provide new insights into the theoretical understanding of tourist mental simulation activation and human presence perception, with critical implications for effective destination photo marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The loss of a sense of humanness that stems from increasing mechanization, automation, and digitization gives firms an impetus to develop effective ways to humanize products. On the basis of knowledge activation theory, this article systematically investigates a novel humanization approach: the use of typefaces that appear to be handwritten. Across several laboratory and field studies, the authors provide evidence of the positive effect of handwritten typefaces, reveal the mechanisms that lead to these outcomes, and outline some boundary conditions. Specifically, the results show that handwritten typefaces create perceptions of human presence, which lead to more favorable product evaluations (and behavior) by enhancing the emotional attachment between the consumer and the product. However, these effects are mitigated for brands to which consumers already feel a sense of attachment. Finally, the effects reverse when the products are functionally positioned or functional in nature. The present article thus extends understanding of humanization processes and provides guidelines for how and when brands should use handwritten typefaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first results of analyses carried out using mobile phone data on human presence (residents, commuters, visitors) in the coastal territory of Lecce (Italy). The aim of the research, conducted in the framework of the DAStU Project 'Department of Excellence on Fragile Territories' in collaboration with the Municipality of Lecce, is to provide precise feedback on the actual use of a coastal territory which is mostly inhabited temporarily, marked by unauthorised building, and threatened by various environmental and climate risks. Starting with an acknowledgement of the limits that traditional census and registry data have in detecting the use of territories characterised by seasonal use and informality, the paper analyses the variations in anthropic presence over multiple years and the incidence of permanent residents. The analyses were carried out using mobile positioning data extracted from the TIM Data Visual Insight (DVI) platform and refer to the period between September 2019 and September 2020. The results show evident heterogeneity among the different coastal settlements. In particular, there are substantial differences between the southern marine (San Cataldo, Torre Veneri, Frigole, Montegrappa) and northern ones (Torre Chianca, Spiaggiabella, Torre Rinalda), where the former show a greater presence of stable residents and a less pronounced seasonal fluctuation. These differences are fundamental for urban planning policies to determine in which areas the retreat of the building from the coast could cause more difficulties and inconveniences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Human disturbance has a strong impact on the movement of wild animals. The Reeves's Pheasant is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a nationally protected species in China. This study evaluated how the movement patterns of this species responded to human disturbance. We observed large differences in movement characteristics between sexes during the breeding season of Reeves's Pheasants, and found that reproduction had a significant effect on the movement of females. Males shifted their movement peaks to earlier times in the day to avoid the presence peaks of humans. The greater the distance to human-modified habitat, the higher the movement intensity of males, and the lower the movement intensity of females. This study suggested that the potential impacts of different forms of human disturbance on wildlife should be considered in future conservation planning. Human disturbance has a strong impact on the movement of wild animals. However, it remains unclear how the movement patterns of the Reeves's Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) respond to human disturbance in human-dominated landscapes. We tracked the movement of 40 adult individual Reeves's Pheasants during the breeding season, and used the dynamic Brownian bridge motion model and kernel density estimation to analyze the diurnal movement patterns of Reeves's Pheasants and their response to human presence. We analyzed the paths of Reeves's Pheasants based on a partial least squares path model, considering habitat conditions, body characteristics, and reproductive behaviors. We found that males had two clear diurnal movement peaks, whereas reproductive and non-reproductive females did not show such movement peaks. Males shifted their movement peaks to earlier times in the day to avoid the presence peaks of humans. The correlation between human-modified habitat and the movement intensity of Reeves's Pheasant differed between sexes. For males, the distance to forest paths had a positive correlation with their movement intensity through affecting body conditions. For females, the distance to forest paths and farmland had a negative correlation with their movement intensity through affecting habitat conditions and reproductive behaviors. Our study provides a scientific basis for the protection of the Reeves's Pheasant and other related terrestrial forest-dwelling birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Forestry Society of Croatia / Sumarski List Hrvatskoga Sumarskoga Drustva is the property of Forestry Society of Croatia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For mammalian mesopredators, human-dominated landscapes offer a mosaic of risk and reward. While the reward of anthropogenic food resources may attract mesopredators to human-dominated areas, increased mesopredator activity and abundance in these areas may cause interspecific conflict. For smaller-bodied mesopredators, the perceived risk of intraguild predation by larger mesopredators may be enough to drive spatial and temporal avoidance strategies to reduce risk while still benefiting from anthropogenic resources. We evaluated how the spatiotemporal activity of four non-canid mammalian mesopredators – raccoon (Procyon lotor), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), opossum (Didelphis virginiana), and domestic cat (Felis catus) – might change in the presence of an intraguild predator, the coyote (Canis latrans), and a “super predator,” humans. We quantified mesopredator activity by deploying camera traps at 110 sites across an urban gradient in the Sacramento Metropolitan Area in central California, USA. We hypothesized that mesopredators would likely change their spatiotemporal activity in response to urban intensity (H1), coyotes (H2), human presence (H3), and if urban intensity might mediate the response to humans and coyotes (H4). We used single-species occupancy models to test how mesopredators responded to different spatial scales of urbanization, as well as the temporal presence of coyotes and humans. Top single-species models then informed two-species conditional occupancy models to evaluate how mesopredators responded to “dominant” coyotes. Finally, we used temporal overlap analyzes to evaluate whether activity patterns of mesopredators changed in response to humans and coyotes across three levels of urban intensity. Mesopredators did not change their spatial or temporal activity across the urban gradient when coyotes were present. Additionally, coyotes did not influence mesopredator temporal activity at 1-3-day scales; however, raccoons and cats may avoid coyotes at finer scales. Humans influenced mesopredator detectability, as cats and coyotes avoided humans after 1 and 2 days respectively, and opossums avoided urban areas when humans were present within 3 days. Coyotes may play a limited role in altering smaller-bodied mesopredator activity, especially when humans are present. While the impacts of human presence and urban features are often linked, mesopredators may perceive the risk each poses differently, and adjust their activity accordingly.

Tropical farmlands experience dramatic seasonal variations in landscape conditions and have continuous human presence, providing potentially challenging settings for resident waterbirds. Behavior of the globally threatened Woolly-necked Stork (Ciconia episcopus) was studied for two seasons (monsoon and winter, 2018–2019) in lowland Nepal to assess how storks coped with changing conditions on farmlands. Activity budgets were prepared from 582 min of video, and recursive partitioning was used to identify variables that affected two critical activities: foraging and vigilance. Foraging was a dominant activity (32 ± 33%) with relatively little percent time spent being vigilant (10 ± 19%). Woolly-necked Storks reduced percent foraging time when they foraged closer (25.8 ± 36.3%) compared to farther (35.8 ± 31.8%) from wetlands. Percent foraging time was reduced during the winter (30.6 ± 35.2%) compared to monsoon (35.1 ± 32.2%), suggesting improved foraging conditions. Percent time spent foraging increased closer to humans, suggesting lower efficiency. Percent time being vigilant decreased closer to wetlands, suggesting reduced disturbance. Wetlands and drier cropfields with human presence were relatively high-value habitats. Woolly-necked Storks coped with changing seasonal conditions in lowland Nepal's farmlands by altering activity budgets in relatively minor ways identical to alterations made by similar species in wild habitats. This work adds to growing literature showcasing the multifunctional value of tropical agricultural landscapes and underscoring the need to move away from assuming that agriculture is uniformly detrimental for large waterbirds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some companies design processed foods to contain aesthetic imperfections such as non-uniformities in shape, color, or texture. Simultaneously, consumers annually discard millions of pounds of unprocessed, safe-to-eat fruits and vegetables owing to aesthetic imperfections. Why design processed foods with aesthetic imperfections when people discard unprocessed foods because of them? Seven studies, including a choice study at a grocery store and an incentive-compatible study, show that the effect of aesthetic imperfections on consumer preferences depends on whether foods are unprocessed or processed. While imperfections negatively influence preferences for unprocessed foods, they positively influence preferences for processed foods. We attribute this preference shift to consumers making opposing inferences about the human care involved in producing aesthetically imperfect processed and unprocessed foods. Building on research highlighting the positive effects of human presence in production, we thus show that perceived care drives food choice. We discuss implications for product design, retail promotion, and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions are available for achieving thermal comfort. They were either trained with limited datasets or using personalized training with limited field studies. This work assessed the model that used the ASHRAE multiple databases as the shallow supervised learning dataset for an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based controller suitable for the residential dwellings' node. The learning accuracy can be increased to 96.1%. This paper presented the field studies to show the model performances for the common UK dwellings: the prior 1970s, the new, modular, refurbished, and the use of new materials to improve indoor thermal performance. The result shows that the model was able to perform in different environments and able to acknowledge adaptive human comfort. This was shown by the ability to represent 98.90% of the ASHRAE Standard 55 data, 6.06% improvement from the previous research. As a result, the broader comfort zone acknowledgement can lead to energy saving whilst maintaining comfort by the possibility of lowering the temperature set point. This study also proves that further energy savings can be acquired from the occupants' presence, scheduling, and activities. These factors can increase the comfort probability to more than 10%. [Display omitted] • This paper addresses the gap between the physiology and the psychology thermal comfort approach, dominated by AI solutions. • The work shows a wider comfort zone which has been identified to become progressively narrower over the past several decades. • The field studies represent major UK-dwelling cases that weren't addressed in the previous Artificial Intelligence approach. • The occupant presence and scheduling can contribute to more than a 10% increase in comfort which impacts energy saving. • This work highlights the possibility of achieving indoor thermal comfort with less energy for more sustainable dwellings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans are a keystone species in urban ecosystems. Although the impact of human activities is increasingly reported in behavioral and evolutionary ecology, little is known about the effects of physical human presence per se. Of particular relevance is the extent to which human presence (sometimes referred to as human disturbance), is repeatable across the urban mosaic over time. We quantified human presence at fixed locations—here in a 15-m radius of great tit nestboxes—within six urban and suburban study sites. While overall human presence did not differ between urban sites, it was significantly higher than in the suburban village. Moreover, considerable variance between fixed locations was observed within each site. We reported overall high repeatability of human presence for all sites (0.57 < R < 0.88, mean: 0.76, median: 0.77). We further simulated datasets of human presence made of an increasing number of counts, and demonstrated that 10 counts of human presence (each 30 s long) made at each fixed location can generate a highly reliable indicator of human presence (R ≥ 0.6) for any urban site. We thus confirm that human presence is repeatable across the urban mosaic, thereby offering consistent cues to urban wildlife of human presence or absence in space and time. Importantly, our approach of human presence quantification allows for an effort-efficient approach to understand the effects of physical human presence at designated temporal timeframes, thereby allowing to reliably test the effects of human presence on the behavior and ecology of urban wildlife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transfer: Zeitschrift für Kommunikation & Markenmanagement is the property of Deutsche Werbewissenschaftliche Gesellschaft and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hydrogen is a ubiquitous but often neglected gas. In analytical measurements hydrogen—as a harmless gas—often is not considered so no studies on hydrogen in indoor air can be found. For metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensors that are increasingly pushed into the application as TVOC (total volatile organic compounds) sensors, hydrogen is a severe disturbance. On the other hand, hydrogen can be an intentional choice as indicator for human presence similar to carbon dioxide. We present a field-study on hydrogen in indoor air using selective MOS sensors accompanied by an analytical reference device for hydrogen with an accuracy of 10 ppb. Selectivity is achieved by siloxane treatment combined with temperature cycled operation and training with a complex lab calibration using randomized gas mixtures, yielding an uncertainty of 40–60 ppb. The feasibility is demonstrated by release tests with several gases inside a room and by comparison to the reference device. The results show that selective MOS sensors can function as cheap and available hydrogen detectors. Fluctuations in hydrogen concentration without human presence are measured over several days to gain insight in this highly relevant parameter for indoor air quality. The results indicate that the topic needs further attention and that the usage of hydrogen as indicator for human presence might be precluded by other sources and fluctuations.

Fragmentation threatens biodiversity and forest-dwelling animals can be especially vulnerable. Neotropical primates inhabit forests and play ecological roles in maintaining forest biodiversity. Currently, many primate communities are restricted to forest fragments. We (1) evaluated the influence of environmental, matrix, and site attributes on species richness and functional traits of primates in the Neotropics; and (2) evaluated the effect of the sub-region on the relationships between primates and environmental, matrix, and site attributes. We conducted literature searches to find published data on primate communities in forest fragments throughout the Neotropics. Each fragment was assigned to 1 of 11 sub-regions: Mesoamerica, Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena, Caribbean, Orinoco, Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Chaco, Andes, Caatinga, and Pampa. Based on actual and expected species occurrences, we calculated the proportion of primate species retained in the fragments, the mass retained, and dietary items retained considering reproductive and vegetative plant parts and prey. We used linear mixed models to correlate primate variables with environmental, matrix, and site attributes. Fragment area was more important for primate retention than environmental, matrix, and site attributes, with primate retention being higher in larger fragments. Fragment size was positively correlated with all primate variables, except for retention of prey consumption, whose retention decreased as water bodies and density of buildings in the matrix increased. Fragments within protected areas retained larger species than unprotected fragments. The proportion of extant mass retained and vegetative plant parts in the diet were highest in Mesoamerica and lowest in the Atlantic Forest. Conservation planning of Neotropical primates should consider both the differences among sub-regions, forest restoration to increase fragment size, and the creation of new protected areas, even in fragmented landscapes.

Fossil remains and the technological complexes recorded in archaeological sites suggest that the human presence in Europe late in the early and middle Pleistocene was discontinuous. Moreover, competition for meat with other secondary consumers could have delayed the human dispersal through Europe. However, evaluation of the extent competition intensity among secondary consumers suggests this influenced the discontinuity of the human settlement of Europe between 1.1 and 0.2 Ma. Using a mathematical model, we estimate the amount of biomass available in a community for secondary consumers. The amount of available biomass is subsequently distributed among the guild of secondary consumers according to their requirements and prey preferences. Indexes that quantify the competition intensity among secondary consumers to compare the conditions in different paleoecosystems show that the competition intensity late in the early Pleistocene, early in the middle Pleistocene, and late in the middle Pleistocene does not support the view that an increase in competition intensity constrained the expansion of human populations early in the middle Pleistocene. Somewhat paradoxically, the lowest competition intensity is estimated to have occurred early in the middle Pleistocene, most likely because of an increase in the number of large herbivore species and a decrease in the number of secondary consumers. The early Pleistocene paleoecosystems supported higher competition intensity than the middle Pleistocene ecosystems, likely because of the different configuration in the food webs of these two periods (the early and middle Pleistocene). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation of Anatidae in North Africa is hindered by lack of information concerning population size, population trends, and species-habitat relationships. In this work, we used a 2-year survey data in 25 wetlands distributed throughout Morocco to model duck spatial distribution and to assess the relevance of a set of environmental and anthropogenic factors in predicting site occupancy, by means of Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM). Mallards and Ferruginous ducks were the most commonly detected species, whereas White-Headed Ducks and Common Pochards were the least detected ones. An inter-annual variation in site occupancy was recorded for Ruddy Shelducks, Red-Crested Pochards and White-Headed Ducks. Geographical location (measured mainly as distance to the coastline and altitude) was the major predictor of the occurrence probability of Ruddy Shelducks, Marbled Teals and Red-Crested Pochards, while human presence and habitat features were the most relevant factors in shaping Mallard's distribution. However, none of the considered environmental and anthropogenic factors explained the distribution patterns of the Ferruginous Duck, Common Pochard and Gadwall. The results of this study clearly show that there are still gaps in our knowledge on factors driving wetland occupancy by breeding Anatidae in Morocco. The pursuit of the investigations, while considering other explanatory factors such as water quality (limnological data), diet, predation, and conservation status, is of great importance to more profoundly understand the dynamics of Moroccan duck populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]