Biodiversity and Conservation最新文献

Despite the pernicious impacts that invasive black rats Rattus rattus have on island ecosystems, little is known about their effect upon insular reptiles, which are a highly vulnerable but pivotal element of island biota. To bring to light these effects, we evaluated the threat posed by R. rattus on the critically endangered Canarian spotted lizard Gallotia intermedia by analyzing its frequency of occurrence on rat feces, estimating rat abundance and density, and correlating these parameters with previous lizard censuses. We genetically detected that 14.96% of all rat feces contained G. intermedia, with 27.27% of individual R. rattus consuming this lizard. Rat density varied from 0.740 ± 0.474 to 2.183 ± 1.137 rats/ha and was correlated with larger declines of G. intermedia between past censuses and those of 2019. These results confirm for the first time that R. rattus consumes and impacts this endemic and endangered lizard species. From a broader perspective, this is one of the first studies detecting rat impact on a large-sized reptile, which calls for further attention to the interaction between invasive rats and a highly vulnerable but essential component of island ecosystems.

Sacred groves are natural forests that are managed by local communities to support their cultural and religious practices. These forests are often refugia to threatened species and crucial nodes of biodiversity in an increasingly human-dominated landscape. In Asia, conservation evidence of sacred groves is often geographically limited to a few overrepresented countries. Here, we present the first empirical study on the tree communities in sacred groves in Bali, Indonesia, and compare them to formally gazetted protected forests without a sacred status. Specifically, we measured the diversity, basal area and density of tree species from three ontogenetic stages (adults, saplings, and seedlings) in sacred groves and protected forests that contain Dipterocarpus hasseltii, a globally Endangered dominant canopy tree species of local cultural significance. Our results showed that sacred groves and protected forests with D. hasseltii populations had similar levels of tree species richness, diversity, and density of saplings and seedlings. The density of D. hasseltii individuals and the basal area of all species of adult trees was higher in sacred groves than in protected forests, potentially due to culturally-driven active protection of D. hasseltii and large, old trees in the sacred groves. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that local community’s involvement in forest governance had a positive impact on biodiversity conservation that was comparable to protected forests. Despite sacred groves being invaluable localities for in-situ conservation of threatened tree species, incorporation into existing protected area network could diminish the autonomy and traditions of the local communities. Therefore, our study provides crucial evidence of the circumstances under which customary forests balanced both natural resource use and biodiversity conservation. This lends support to Indonesia’s forest decentralization policies through which local communities can maintain stewardship over biodiversity-rich customary forests.

Harbor seals, Phoca vitulina, play a critical role in regulating the biodiversity of coastal ecosystems in the North Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. We conducted a preliminary ecological study of harbor seals in Casco Bay, Maine using SealNet, a newly developed facial recognition software. We captured images of seals on nine haul-out sites to create a database of 768 seals in Middle Bay. We used photo ID techniques with facial recognition technology to record the location of individuals at each haul-out site. We calculated a range of 9% site fidelity to the Middle Bay inlet across years and 25% and 36% seasonal site fidelity to haul-out sites within 2020 and 2021, respectively. Preliminary estimates of the local seal abundance within Middle Bay ranged from 1562 (single haul-out site) to 2533 seals (across sites and years). In addition, our results suggest that the number of seals at haul-out sites is greatest from two hours before low tide to two hours after low tide and during high cloud cover conditions. We found no significant impacts of water or air temperature, level of boat traffic, or wind speed on haul-out site abundance. Our study supports the use of facial recognition technology as an effective method to monitor dynamic coastal species. The aim of future research will focus on a more systematic, longitudinal study design to monitor specific haul-out sites with the aim of providing more extensive connectivity data between sites and more refined estimates of site fidelity, turnover, and population size.

Understanding the effects of long-term habitat fragmentation on functional diversity and trait distributions is fundamental for effective conservation plans. In this study, we investigated the functional diversity and trait-environment relationships of phyllostomid bats in an Amazonian forest-savannah mosaic. Bats were captured across ten forest fragments, 11 savannahs, and five continuous forest sampling sites. We assessed the effect of habitat type using taxonomic and functional α-diversity and functional uniqueness at the community-level. We evaluated the relationships between functional traits, environmental characteristics, and species distribution using RLQ and fourth-corner analyses. Furthermore, we estimated the contribution of “richness change” and “replacement” components among habitats using functional β-diversity. Forested habitats (forest fragments and continuous forest) retained more diverse functional assemblages compared to savannahs, with a greater abundance of species with unique traits, such as the gleaning insectivorous bats (e.g., Gardnerycteris crenulatum, Lophostoma silvicola, Tonatia maresi). Functional β-diversity between forest fragments and savannah was driven significantly by the replacement of traits, indicating the substitution of species that perform different ecological functions in these habitats. Our study highlights the importance of the forest-savannah mosaic for maintaining bat assemblage functional diversity and their associated ecosystem services.

No other group of animals typifies the uniqueness of Antarctic life more than Pycnogonida (sea spiders), with 20% of all known species found in the Southern Ocean, and 64% of these endemic to the Antarctic. Despite nearly 200 years of research into pycnogonids and other benthic phyla in Antarctica, the parameters which drive the distribution and diversity of benthic fauna are still poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the diversity and connectivity of pycnogonid communities on either side of the Antarctic Polar Front, with an emphasis on the role of water depth, using an occurrence dataset containing 254 pycnogonid species from 2187 sampling locations. At depths shallower than 1000 m, communities to the north and south of the Antarctic Polar Front were distinct, while below this depth this geographic structure disintegrated. The Polar Front, or the expanse of deep ocean it bisects, seemingly acts as a semipermeable barrier to species exchange between well-sampled shallow communities. The less sampled and less understood deep sea appears to be better connected, with high levels of shared species following the northward flow of Antarctic Bottom Water. The exceptionally high diversity and endemism of Antarctic pycnogonids may reflect an apparent competitive advantage in cold waters which leaves them vulnerable to ongoing ocean warming, with increased competition and predation pressures.

More than half of Brazil’s Cerrado has been converted to agricultural land use, threatening its rich biodiversity that includes > 200 anuran species, most of which have aquatic larvae and are thus doubly susceptible to the environmental impacts of agriculture. Past research has largely focused on how land-use change affects adult anurans, which ignores potential impacts on the critical larval stage. We therefore investigated how agricultural land use (250–1000 m scale) and the local pond environment affect the diversity and distribution of tadpole assemblages across the central Cerrado. Tadpole richness declined significantly with increasing cropland within 250 m of ponds and with increasing water pH in permanent ponds. Permanent ponds are more prevalent in agricultural areas where streams are impounded to provide water for irrigation and livestock, and water pH increases with increasing agriculture, likely due to the widespread use of agricultural lime in the Cerrado. Tadpole communities exhibited high beta diversity (81–86% dissimilarity), with species replacement rather than nestedness accounting for 90–97% of species differences between ponds, which was largely driven by hydroperiod. Six species accounted for 70% of the dissimilarity, with most species either more abundant or found only in temporary ponds. Increased lentification, a corollary of agricultural land use, is profoundly altering tadpole assemblages, which has consequences for overall anuran diversity in the Cerrado given that permanent ponds support a different and less-diverse larval assemblage than ephemeral wetlands. Anuran conservation in the Cerrado should therefore additionally consider maintaining or restoring wetland hydrology and native-vegetation buffers around wetlands.

Bats are often considered to be objects of biophobia, i.e., the tendency to respond with a negative emotion, such as fear or disgust, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, existing studies have rarely compared both positive and negative emotions towards bats, leading to a potential negativity bias. This is crucial given the importance of emotions to bat-related human behaviours, such as in bat conservation-related actions. Via two online surveys conducted among German residents, we aimed to (i) assess positive and negative emotions towards bats, (ii) examine emotional shifts during the pandemic and (iii) explore how emotions, along with socio-demographics, predict the intent to perform bat-conservation actions. The first survey was undertaken ten months after the official declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2020 - January 2021), when bats gained societal attention due to speculation about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the second one ran twelve months later (January 2022). Overall, respondents held higher positive emotions than negative ones towards bats in both surveys, with no significant emotional shift observed. Positive emotions positively correlated with intentions to perform bat-conservation actions, while negative emotions showed no such relationship. Although our findings might be context-specific to populations in Germany or Europe, given European-Union legislation protecting bats and their habitats, they highlight the nuanced and complicated emotions that can be associated with certain species. Understanding these emotions can guide targeted conservation strategies and public outreach. Our results caution against overly generalising discussions of biophobia in conservation.

Human emotions had a significant impact on the survival of our ancestors throughout our evolutionary history. Nowadays, it is possible that our emotions still influence our attitudes in favor or against wildlife conservation. To analyze this hypothesis, we designed a study using eight iconic vertebrate species (two birds, five mammals, and a snake) with different ecological roles, some of which are threatened. The study was directed to 238 inhabitants of communities within El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico. We built a Conservation Effort factor (CE) based on questions related to participants’ attitudes toward the focal species. We analyzed the influence of variables (predictors) through a Sequential Canonical Analysis (SEQCA) using the next sequence: (1) participants’ experiences with animals; (2) negative emotions; (3) positive emotions; and (4) CE. The model also considered the influence of sociodemographic variables (age, gender, participation in conservation activity, religion, and region). The model was significant and explained 25% of the variance. Although sociodemographic predictors had an influence on the participants’ experiences with the focal species, these variables did not have an effect on the CE. The CE was significantly influenced by positive (happiness) and negative (fear) emotions. Our study revealed the importance of human emotions in conservation management strategies, especially with species such as large carnivores and snakes. We conclude that personality predictors could explain the remaining variance in the model. We propose further studies to examine the role of emotions and other personal predictors in human-wildlife interactions.

Monitoring of environmental impacts of mining activities typically focuses on the main operation footprint, neglecting exploration infrastructure like tracks, roads, and drill pads. These areas are cleared of native vegetation and impacts on the surrounding environment can be both cumulative and enigmatic. Here, we study the impacts of mining exploration infrastructure on habitat characteristics and ground-dwelling arthropod communities in the Midwest region of Western Australia. The study was conducted at three mine sites, each with three infrastructure types: maintained tracks, unmaintained tracks, and drill pads along transects extending 100 m away from the disturbance into remnant vegetation. Habitat characteristics were measured, and arthropods collected from pitfall traps along these transects and identified using COI metabarcoding. The overall arthropod community and two indicator groups, ants (Formicidae) and springtails (Collembola) - were used to measure arthropod responses to changes in response to habitat disturbance. Whilst changes in habitat were only visible to 10 m from the disturbance, impacts on arthropod communities could be detected up to 100 m into the remnant vegetation, and these responses were more complex. In general, we found similar patterns expressed in the compositional changes for arthropods overall and between our chosen indicator groups, but they were not the same across all sites and infrastructure types. Our results demonstrate the utility of bulk arthropod metabarcoding and different arthropod indicator groups for documenting the effects of fine-scale habitat destruction, degradation, or disturbance. They also highlight the need to monitor the negative impacts of mineral exploration on the environment.

Changing environmental conditions and land use are threatening biodiversity on a large scale, making successful conservation and restoration essential for maintaining biodiversity. Planning of such efforts profits from information about where conditions are suitable for biotopes, to evaluate how likely successful conservation or restoration is at these sites. This study uses the distribution model Maxent to identify varying levels of conservation and restoration potential for 29 different biotopes in the central European region of Bavaria, Germany, by comparing the environmentally suitable areas identified by models with the current distribution of each biotope. We identified a conservation potential when a biotope occurred under suitable environmental conditions and a restoration potential when suitable environmental conditions were present at a site where the biotope was not observed. We found that 69.57% of biotope observations occurred under suitable environmental conditions representing a large conservation potential. Also, 22 biotopes showed more restoration potential than their current distribution and both conservation and restoration potential showed a similar geographical distribution. The approach used in this study can provide valuable insights for conservation and restoration decision-making by suggesting priority areas for the conservation and restoration of multiple biotopes. Further, it could be applied in other regions globally and by incorporating future climate projections it could identify particularly resilient locations for biotope conservation or restoration.