Precise roadkill environmental factors identification for sustainable planning and design through spatial and temporal modelling

Studies on riparian buffers have usually focused on the amount of land needed as habitat for the terrestrial life stages of semiaquatic species. Nevertheless, the landscape surrounding wetlands is also important for other key processes, such as dispersal and the dynamics of metapopulations. Multiple elements that influence these processes should therefore be considered in the delineation of buffers. We analyzed landscape elements (forest cover, density of roads, and hydrographic network) in concentric buffers to evaluate the scale at which they influence stream amphibians in 77 distinct landscapes. To evaluate whether our results could be generalized to other contexts, we determined whether they were consistent across the study areas. Amphibians required buffers of 100-400 m of suitable terrestrial habitat, but interspecific differences in the amount of habitat were large. The presence of amphibians was related to roads and the hydrographic network at larger spatial scales (300-1500 m), which suggests that wider buffers are needed with these elements. This pattern probably arose because these elements influence dispersal and metapopulation persistence, processes that occur at large spatial scales. Furthermore, in some cases, analyses performed on different sets of landscapes provided different results, which suggests caution should be used when conservation recommendations are applied to disparate areas. Establishment of riparian buffers should not be focused only on riparian habitat, but should take a landscape perspective because semiaquatic species use multiple elements for different functions. This approach can be complex because different landscape elements require different spatial extents. Nevertheless, a shift of attention toward the management of different elements at multiple spatial scales is necessary for the long-term persistence of populations.

While using precedent knowledge is critical especially for ecological planning to minimize permanent adverse effect on the natural environment, there have been only few cases that apply case-based design or decision support system to ecological designs. A possible reason might be because the design context varies dramatically for different sites with diverse variables to consider. Despite the difficulties, ecological wisdom – a relatively newly suggested ecological planning and design strategy – suggests using evidence-based precedents for new ecological designs to avoid ecologically harmful designs. For the past 5 years, there has been ongoing research on ecological wisdom by notable scholars; however, there remains a gap between the concept and its applicability as a planning or design methodology even though one of the goals of ecological wisdom is to be made practical. In this research, we propose a computational framework for the implementation of evidence-based Precautionary Ecological Planning Assistant and apply to a design case. To accomplish this goal, we found design patterns from vernacular garden designs in relation to environmental factors. By identifying statistically significant ecological design patterns, we generated a list of rules that were then incorporated into a decision support system alerting the users that the performed space planning strategy has never been observed before in previous ecological designs. From this research process, we were able to confirm that the proposed computational framework supports ecological design process to be more data-driven and precautionary providing second thoughts to planners when planning for unconfirmed ecological design.

Advances in herpetological research emanating from China.

69 road sections with amphibian mortality known from 2006 in Lviv Region (Western Ukraine) were repeatedly surveyed in 2017. 2078 dead individuals of nine amphibian species were detected and identified on the road surface (Triturus cristatus, Bombina bombina, Pelobates fuscus, Bufo bufo, Hyla orientalis, Rana temporaria, Rana arvalis, Pelophylax ridibundus and Pelophylax esculentus). The most numerous victims appeared to be B. bufo (72.8 %) and R. temporaria (22.6 %) which is almost the same as in 2006 (90.5 % together). However, the qualitative and quantitative composition has decreased in a decade (compare 3555 individuals of 13 amphibian species in 2006). As we suppose, the main reasons for amphibian population decline in the region are contamination, degradation and disappearance of the breeding ponds as well as the increased traffic intensity. According to the estimation of our research four B. bufo populations are under the excessive influence of roads and transportation, and need to be protected. One of these road sections was fenced up by temporary amphibian fences during the breeding migration (April 2018). Amphibian mortality on the fenced road section dropped down instantly: over thousand individuals of B. bufo and R. temporaria were caught alive into the bucket-traps and safely moved across the road.

Substantive theory deals with the content theory in ecological design and planning, or, put differently, the theoretical foundation on which ecological planning is grounded. The selected readings in this section have been influential in advancing the theoretical foundations of ecological design and planning. The six readings address well-known themes, including aesthetics, culture, design, ecology, fitness, and place.

Aerial photograph of the Pinkston mitigation site, Missouri Department of Transportation, showing the presence of six of our experimental mitigation wetlands. Inset are three species of frogs that were encountered during the course of our study (top, leopard frog; middle, gray tree frog; bottom; chorus frog). Photographs by R. Semlitsch. We examined the influences of within-wetland slope, vegetation, and stocked mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) on amphibian metamorph production and species richness during the first two years post-construction at 18 experimental wetlands in northeast Missouri grasslands. We measured total amphibian metamorph production, individual amphibian species metamorph production, and larval amphibian species richness. Total amphibian metamorph production was greatest at shallow-sloped, fishfree wetlands during the first year, but shallow-sloped wetlands with high vegetation cover were best the second year. Species richness was negatively associated with fish and positively associated with vegetation in both survey years. Leopard frog (Rana blairi/sphenocephala complex) metamorph quality, based on average metamorph size, was influenced by slope and the number of cohorts in the wetland. However, the tested variables had little influence on the size of American toads (Bufo americanus) or boreal chorus frogs (Pseudacris maculata). Our results indicate that wetlands designed to act as functional reproductive habitat for amphibians should incorporate shallows, high amounts of planted or naturally established vegetation cover, and should be fish free. These photographs illustrate the article “Testing wetland features to increase amphibian reproductive success and species richness for mitigation and restoration,” by Christopher D. Shulse, Raymond D. Semlitsch, Kathleen M. Trauth, and James E. Gardner, tentatively scheduled for publication in Ecological Applications 22(5), July 2012.

Modern urban ecological waterscape is essentially about planning waterfront construction as well as ecology solicitude in a rapidly changing environment in Chinese city. The primary goal of this research is attempting to reconnect the relationship between waterscape and environment, which has been broken up in the past urbanization. The method used in this study is known as the ecological planning and design, and the author suggests that the ecological waterscape planning should include the aspects of water environment restoring, old buildings reusing, different levels water purifying system and traditional culture exploring, etc. It is concluded that the correct judgment and optional operation of these factors will enhance the function of urban waterscape as well as improve city living environment in general.

A global review on hydrological responses to forest change across multiple spatial scales: Importance of scale, climate, forest type and hydrological regime

"The Ecological Design and Planning Reader, edited by Forster O. Ndubisi." Journal of the American Planning Association, 82(1), pp. 59–60

Helminths often demonstrate preferential site selection in which a parasite will only occur in 1 microhabitat or a restricted portion of its fundamental niche within its host. However, factors responsible for helminth site specificity are poorly understood, and very little is known about how these factors vary among multiple host species. Some helminths, such as Halipegus occidualis, have been reported from different habitats (stomach or under the tongue) within multiple anuran host species, suggesting that the site selected varies within anuran species. This study examined the site selection by H. occidualis in 7 definitive anuran host species using experimental infections. Then, the site fidelity of H. occidualis was further tested by transplanting worms from under the tongue to the stomach and vice versa in different anuran host combinations, and the movement of worms was recorded. Halipegus occidualis individuals occupied the habitat under the tongue in 6 of 7 anuran species. However, worms always occupied the stomach of American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) and were never found under the tongue or in the mouth of these hosts. More importantly, all worms remained in the original habitat when transplanted from the stomach to the stomach or the buccal cavity to the buccal cavity within another individual of the same amphibian species. However, when worms were transplanted from the stomach to the buccal cavity or vice versa in the same host species, the worms always migrated back to the original habitat. The main contribution of this study is that it experimentally documented the variability in the site fidelity of H. occidualis within multiple definitive host species and determined that site fidelity is not as strongly conserved in this genus as suggested previously. Additionally, this work suggests that the variation in site selection in different host species could lead to speciation of the parasites.

Determining the clinical efficacy of analgesic drugs in amphibians can be particularly challenging. The current study investigated whether a thermal nociceptive stimulus is useful for the evaluation of analgesic drugs in 2 amphibian species. The objectives of this study were 2-fold: 1) compare 2 models of nociception (thermal and mechanical) using 2 frog species; White's Tree Frogs (Litoria caerulea; WTF) and Northern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens; NLF) after administration of saline or morphine sulfate; and 2) evaluate antinociceptive efficacy of morphine sulfate at 2 doses in a common amphibian research species, the NLF, using a mechanical stimulus. Neither WTF nor NLF displayed consistent drug-dependent changes in withdrawal responses to a noxious thermal stimulus applied using the Hargreaves apparatus, but NLF exposed to the noxious mechanical stimulus demonstrated a significant dose-dependent antinociceptive response to morphine sulfate. These results indicate that morphine is not antinociceptive in WTF, supporting previously reported results, and demonstrate the importance of using an appropriate experimental antinociceptive test in amphibians. Our data suggest that nociception in amphibian species may be best evaluated by using mechanical nociceptive models, although species differences must also be considered.

Anuran species in urban landscapes: Relationships with biophysical, built environment and socio-economic factors

To investigate the distribution and incidence of chytridiomycosis in eastern Australian frogs and to examine the effects of temperature on this disease. A pathological survey and a transmission experiment were conducted. Diagnostic pathology examinations were performed on free-living and captive, ill and dead amphibians collected opportunistically from eastern Australia between October 1993 and December 2000. We conducted a transmission experiment in the laboratory to investigate the effects of temperature: eight great barred frogs (Mixophyes fasciolatus) exposed to zoospores of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and six unexposed frogs were housed individually in each of three rooms held at 17 degrees C, 23 degrees C and 27 degrees C. Chytridiomycosis was the cause of death or morbidity for 133 (55.2%) of 241 free-living amphibians and for 66 (58.4%) of 113 captive amphibians. This disease occurred in 34 amphibian species, was widespread around the eastern seaboard of Australia and affected amphibians in a variety of habitats at high and low altitudes on or between the Great Dividing Range and the coast. The incidence of chytridiomycosis was higher in winter, with 53% of wild frogs from Queensland and New South Wales dying in July and August. Other diseases were much less common and were detected mostly in spring and summer. In experimental infections, lower temperatures enhanced the pathogenicity of B. dendrobatidis in M. fasciolatus. All 16 frogs exposed to B. dendrobatidis at 17 degrees C and 23 degrees C died, whereas 4 of 8 frogs exposed at 27 degrees C survived. However, the time until death for the frogs that died at 27 degrees C was shorter than at the lower temperatures. Infections in survivors were eliminated by 98 days. Chytridiomycosis is a major cause of mortality in free-living and captive amphibians in Australia and mortality rate increases at lower temperatures.

Urbanization involves a cocktail of human-induced rapid environmental changes and is forecasted to gain further importance. Urban-heat-island effects result in increased metabolic costs expected to drive shifts towards smaller body sizes. However, urban environments are also characterized by strong habitat fragmentation, often selecting for dispersal phenotypes. Here, we investigate to what extent, and at which spatial scale(s), urbanization drives body size shifts in macro-moths-an insect group characterized by positive size-dispersal links-at both the community and intraspecific level. Using light and bait trapping as part of a replicated, spatially nested sampling design, we show that despite the observed urban warming of their woodland habitat, macro-moth communities display considerable increases in community-weighted mean body size because of stronger filtering against small species along urbanization gradients. Urbanization drives intraspecific shifts towards increased body size too, at least for a third of species analysed. These results indicate that urbanization drives shifts towards larger, and hence, more mobile species and individuals in order to mitigate low connectivity of ecological resources in urban settings. Macro-moths are a key group within terrestrial ecosystems, and since body size is central to species interactions, such urbanization-driven phenotypic change may impact urban ecosystem functioning, especially in terms of nocturnal pollination and food web dynamics. Although we show that urbanization's size-biased filtering happens simultaneously and coherently at both the inter- and intraspecific level, we demonstrate that the impact at the community level is most pronounced at the 800 m radius scale, whereas species-specific size increases happen at local and landscape scales (50-3,200m radius), depending on the species. Hence, measures-such as creating and improving urban green infrastructure-to mitigate the effects of urbanization on body size will have to be implemented at multiple spatial scales in order to be most effective.

Biodiversity maintenance in human-altered landscapes (HALs) depends on the species turnover among localities, but the patterns and determinants of β-diversity in HALs are poorly known. In fact, declines, increases and neutral shifts in β-diversity have all been documented, depending on the landscape, ecological group and spatial scale of analysis. We shed some light on this controversy by assessing the patterns and predictors of bird β-diversity across multiple spatial scales considering forest specialist and habitat generalist bird assemblages. We surveyed birds from 144 point counts in 36 different forest sites across two landscapes with different amount of forest cover in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. We analysed β-diversity among points, among sites and between landscapes with multiplicative diversity partitioning of Hill numbers. We tested whether β-diversity among points was related to within-site variations in vegetation structure, and whether β-diversity among sites was related to site location and/or to differences among sites in vegetation structure and landscape composition (i.e. per cent forest and pasture cover surrounding each site). β-diversity between landscapes was lower than among sites and among points in both bird assemblages. In forest specialist birds, the landscape with less forest cover showed the highest β-diversity among sites (bird differentiation among sites), but generalist birds showed the opposite pattern. At the local scale, however, the less forested landscape showed the lowest β-diversity among points (bird homogenization within sites), independently of the bird assemblage. β-diversity among points was weakly related to vegetation structure, but higher β-diversity values were recorded among sites that were more isolated from each other, and among sites with higher differences in landscape composition, particularly in the less forested landscape. Our findings indicate that patterns of bird β-diversity vary across scales and are strongly related to landscape composition. Bird assemblages are shaped by both environmental filtering and dispersal limitation, particularly in less forested landscapes. Conservation and management strategies should therefore prevent deforestation in this biodiversity hotspot.