High Human Disturbance Research Articles

Does the protection status of wetlands safeguard diversity of macroinvertebrates and birds in southwestern Ethiopia?

Freshwater ecosystems are highly threatened due to increased population growth, thereby affecting biodiversity. The objective of designating an area as ‘protected’ is to reduce habitat degradation and biodiversity loss. However, most protected areas focus on the conservation of the terrestrial environment and its related biodiversity. Little attention is given to the protection of freshwater biodiversity and consequently far less is known on how freshwater biodiversity differs between wetlands with a different protection status. The objectives of this study was to investigate alpha and beta diversity of macroinvertebrates and wetland dependent birds in wetlands with a different protection status and thus a different level of human impact in southwestern Ethiopia. Data on macroinvertebrates, birds, physico-chemical water quality, human disturbance and vegetation cover were collected from 42 sampling sites during dry and wet season of 2015. Besides the calculation of alpha and beta diversity, multiple regression models were used to identify the main drivers of the variation in beta diversity of macroinvertebrates and birds in these wetlands. Our results revealed that the average alpha diversity of both macroinvertebrates and wetland dependent birds was significantly higher in protected wetlands (low overall human disturbance) compared to unprotected wetlands (high overall human disturbance), whereas beta diversity was higher in unprotected wetlands for wetland dependent birds. Turnover contributed more than nestedeness to total beta diversity for both macroinvertebrates and wetland birds in protected and unprotected areas. Human disturbance, water temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen were significantly related to beta diversity of macroinvertebrates, whereas beta diversity of wetland dependent birds was significantly related to vegetation cover, nutrients and chemical oxygen demand. Conservationists should give attention to both alpha and beta diversity of freshwater wetlands in order to conserve wetland biodiversity maximally.

Summer habitat selection of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) governs on the unprotected forest and human interface in China

Abstract The habitat selection by animals depends on different environmental and anthropogenic factors such as the season, climate, and the life cycle stage. Here, we have presented the summer habitat selection strategy of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in the unprotected forest area from the northern arctic region of China. In summer 2012, we investigated a total of 72 used and 162 non-used plots in the reindeer habitat to record habitat variables. We found that the reindeer used significantly higher altitude, arbour availability, and vegetation cover area as compared to the non-used habitat variables. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that six principal components (68.5%) were mainly responsible for the summer habitat selection of reindeer such as the slope position, concealment, anthropogenic dispersion, arbour species, distance from the anthropogenic disturbance area (> 1000 m) and water quality (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.12; P = 0.0001). The local people are largely dependent on forest product resource in these regions, such as bees herding, collecting wild vegetables, hunting, poaching, and grazing. These activities highly influenced the reindeer habitat and its behaviours. This study thus confirmed that reindeers are forced to choose poor habitat in unprotected forest area with high human disturbance or interference. These factors should be considered by the concerned authority or agency to manage reindeer population in the wild.

Personality-matching habitat choice, rather than behavioural plasticity, is a likely driver of a phenotype-environment covariance.

An emerging hypothesis of animal personality posits that animals choose the habitat that best fits their personality, and that the match between habitat and personality can facilitate population differentiation, and eventually speciation. However, behavioural plasticity and the adjustment of behaviours to new environments have been a classical explanation for such matching patterns. Using a population of dunnocks (Prunella modularis), we empirically tested whether personality or behavioural plasticity is responsible for the non-random distribution of shy and bold individuals in a heterogeneous environment. We found evidence for bold individuals settling in areas with high human disturbance, but also that birds became bolder with increasing age. Importantly, personality primarily determines the distribution of individuals, and behavioural adjustment over time contributes very little to the observed patterns. We cannot, however, exclude a possibility of very early behavioural plasticity (a type of developmental plasticity) shaping what we refer to as 'personality'. Nonetheless, our findings highlight the role personality plays in shaping population structure, lending support to the theory of personality-mediated speciation. Moreover, personality-matching habitat choice has important implications for population management and conservation.

The effects of urbanization and human disturbance on problem solving in juvenile house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Urbanization exposes wildlife to unfamiliar environments, including novel structures and food sources. Adapting to such anthropogenic conditions may require superior innovation and problem-solving skills (e.g., for navigating, foraging). Human presence in urban areas is a particular biotic challenge that may impact problem-solving capabilities in wildlife. Urban animals may be superior problem solvers in the face of human disturbance, due to familiarity with—and reduced fear of—humans. Alternately, rural animals may be better innovators if heightened fear responses from unfamiliar humans facilitate problem solving. Here, we studied the relationship between human disturbance, urbanization, and the ability to solve a novel foraging problem in wild-caught juvenile house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus). This songbird is a successful urban dweller and native of the American desert southwest. In captivity, juvenile finches from urban and rural populations were presented with a novel foraging task (sliding a lid covering their typical food dish) and then exposed to regular periods of high or low human disturbance over several weeks before again being presented with the task. We found that rural, high-disturbance birds showed reduced task performance compared to highly disturbed urban finches. This is consistent with the hypothesis that urban birds are less affected by human disturbance due to habituation or adaptation. Additionally, we found that the best behavioral predictor of solving success was related to visual inspection of the problem and that urban low-disturbance birds exhibited this behavior more than rural high-disturbance birds. Overall, these findings suggest that urbanization and habituation to humans predict avian response to novel problems. As Earth’s landscapes become more urbanized, wildlife is exposed to many new anthropogenic challenges. In particular, animals in cities may have to locate food in unique ways and/or cope with increased human presence. We tested the effects of urbanization and human disturbance on problem solving in juveniles of a common urban and rural songbird (the house finch, H. mexicanus). We found that, when subjected to high levels of human disturbance, urban birds outperformed rural conspecifics on a novel foraging task (sliding open a lid to uncover food). We also found that task focus (i.e., average bout length of inspecting the dish) was an important predictor of problem solving. Our results suggest that acclimation to humans may be important for the superior behavioral performance of urban house finches and ultimately their colonization of many North American cities.

A landscape of coexistence for a large predator in a human dominated landscape

Human related mortality is a major threat for large carnivores all over the world and there is increasing evidence that large predators respond to human related risks in a similar way as prey respond to predation risk. This insight recently led to the conceptual development of a landscape of coexistence that can be used to identify areas which can sustain large predator populations in human dominated landscapes. In this study we applied the landscape of coexistence concept to a large predator in Europe. We investigated to what extent Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx habitat selection is affected by human disturbance in a human dominated landscape. More specifically, we were interested in the existence of a tradeoff between the availability of roe deer, one of their main prey and avoidance of human disturbance and how this affects the spatio‐temporal space use patterns of lynx. We found that lynx face a tradeoff between high prey availability and avoidance of human disturbance and that they respond to this by using areas of high prey availability (but also high human disturbance) during the night when human activity is low. Furthermore our analysis showed that lynx increase their travelling speed and remain more in cover when they are close to areas of high human disturbance. Despite clear behavioral adjustments in response to human presence, prey availability still proved to be the most important predictor of lynx occurrence at small spatial scale, whereas human disturbance was considerably less important. The results of our study demonstrate how spatio‐temporal adaptations in habitat selection enable large carnivores to persist in human dominated landscapes and demonstrate the usefulness of the concept of a landscape of coexistence to develop adaptive management plans for endangered populations of large carnivores.

Shadow conservation and the persistence of sacred church forests in northern Ethiopia

AbstractLand‐use change threatens biodiversity and ecosystem function worldwide. These changes have impacts on weather patterns, carbon storage, biodiversity, and other ecosystem services from regional to local scales. Only 8 percent of tropical forests are formally recognized as conservation areas, however globally, there is a network of sites that are protected because they are sacred and as a result act as ‘shadow’ conservation for biodiversity. Unlike other types of protected sites (e.g., national parks), these sites are seats of religious ritual that anchor a community's cultural identity, while also conserving biological diversity and other ecosystem services. We studied the extent and status of sacred forests in northern Ethiopia, which are threatened because of their small size (~5 ha) and isolation, increasing their exposure to edge effects and human pressures. Using historical and modern imagery, we found that over the last 50 yr, sacred forests have increased in area, but decreased in crown closure. We also found that forest ecological status, via ground‐level investigation, had high mean human disturbance (e.g., trails, plantations, exotic planting; 37%); and that forests close to markets (e.g., cities) increased in area due to planting of Eucalyptus (exotic), indicating a potential threat to their persistence and value as shelters of the church.

Human Disturbance during Early Life Impairs Nestling Growth in Birds Inhabiting a Nature Recreation Area

Nature recreation conflicts with conservation, but its impacts on wildlife are not fully understood. Where recreation is not regulated, visitors to natural areas may gather in large numbers on weekends and holidays. This may increase variance in fitness in wild populations, if individuals whose critical life cycle stages coincide with periods of high human disturbance are at a disadvantage. We studied nestling development of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) in a natural area where recreation activities intensify during weekends and other public holidays at picnic and leisure facilities, but not in the surrounding woods. In nests located near recreation facilities, blue tit nestlings that hatched during holidays developed slowly, and fledged with low body mass and poor body condition. However, nestlings that hatched outside of holidays and weekends in these nest boxes developed normally, eventually attaining similar phenotypes as those hatching in the surrounding woods. Within-brood variance in body mass was also higher in broods that began growing during holidays in disturbed areas. Our results show that early disturbance events may have negative consequences for wild birds if they overlap with critical stages of development, unveiling otherwise cryptic impacts of human activities. These new findings may help managers better regulate nature recreation.

Contemporary patterns and temporal changes in alien plant species richness along an elevational gradient in central Japan

Background and aims – Interest in understanding the factors driving change in alien plant species richness along elevation has been increasing. This knowledge assists in understanding the risk of alien plant invasions and the general mechanisms determining species richness patterns in native flora. In addition, recent land use changes within mountainous regions are expected to affect the species richness of alien plants along elevation. However, few reliable datasets have revealed temporal changes in alien species distribution and richness along elevation. In this study, we evaluated regional species richness pattern of alien plants along an elevational gradient compared with that of native plants and assessed the temporal changes in alien plant species richness along elevation in central Japan.Methods – We evaluated the contemporary patterns and temporal changes in alien plant species richness using herbarium records and linked individual-based rarefaction and extrapolation curves.Key results – We showed that alien plant species richness peaks at lower elevations, whereas that of native plants peaks at higher elevation. The estimated alien plant species richness increased over the last approximately thirty years, particularly at the lower elevations. During 1985–2004, eleven of sixteen alien plant species invaded elevations > 2,000 m, whereas until 1976 only two species had colonised elevations > 2,000 m. Earlier invading alien plants have larger elevational ranges than more recent invaders and most alien plants first colonised elevation < 1,000 m.Conclusions – Artificial land use and road lengths are more important for alien plant species richness than total area. We conclude that high propagule pressure and human disturbance support the establishment of alien plant at lower elevation, and then they extend their range. This is reflected in the current patterns and temporal changes in alien plant species richness. Our results suggested that the risk of invasion by alien plants has been increasing in mountain environments.

A multispecies occupancy model for two or more interacting species

Summary Species occurrence is influenced by environmental conditions and the presence of other species. Current approaches for multispecies occupancy modelling are practically limited to two interacting species and often require the assumption of asymmetric interactions. We propose a multispecies occupancy model that can accommodate two or more interacting species. We generalize the single‐species occupancy model to two or more interacting species by assuming the latent occupancy state is a multivariate Bernoulli random variable. We propose modelling the probability of each potential latent occupancy state with both a multinomial logit and a multinomial probit model and present details of a Gibbs sampler for the latter. As an example, we model co‐occurrence probabilities of bobcat (Lynx rufus), coyote (Canis latrans), grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as a function of human disturbance variables throughout 6 Mid‐Atlantic states in the eastern United States. We found evidence for pairwise interactions among most species, and the probability of some pairs of species occupying the same site varied along environmental gradients; for example, occupancy probabilities of coyote and grey fox were independent at sites with little human disturbance, but these two species were more likely to occur together at sites with high human disturbance. Ecological communities are composed of multiple interacting species. Our proposed method improves our ability to draw inference from such communities by permitting modelling of detection/non‐detection data from an arbitrary number of species, without assuming asymmetric interactions. Additionally, our proposed method permits modelling the probability two or more species occur together as a function of environmental variables. These advancements represent an important improvement in our ability to draw community‐level inference from multiple interacting species that are subject to imperfect detection.

Crop wild relatives of the brinjal eggplant (Solanum melongena): Poorly represented in genebanks and many species at risk of extinction

Crop wild relatives (CWR) provide important traits for plant breeding, including pest, pathogen, and abiotic stress resistance. Therefore, their conservation and future availability are essential for food security. Despite this need, the world's genebanks are currently thought to conserve only a small fraction of the total diversity of CWR. We define the eggplant genepool using the results of recent taxonomic and phylogenetic studies. We identify the gaps in germplasm accessions for eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) CWR by comparing georeferenced herbarium records and germplasm accessions using a gap analysis methodology implementing species distribution models (SDM). Preliminary conservation assessments using IUCN criteria were done for all species and were combined with the gap analysis to pinpoint where under-collected and threatened CWR species coincide with high human disturbance and occur outside of protected areas. We show that many eggplant CWR are poorly represented in genebanks compared to their native ranges. Priority areas for future collecting are concentrated in Africa, especially along the Kenya-Tanzania border. Fourteen species of eggplant CWR are assessed as threatened or near-threatened; these are also concentrated in eastern Africa. The knowledge base upon which conservation of wild relative germplasm depends must take into account both taxonomic and phylogenetic advances. Beyond traditional research focus on close relatives of crops, we emphasize the benefits of defining a broad CWR genepool, and the importance of assessing threats to wild species when targeting localities for future collection of CWR to improve crop breeding in the face of environmental change.

Local and continental determinants of giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) abundance: Biome, human and jaguar roles in population regulation

The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is currently found in a wide variety of habitats from Honduras to Argentina. Across this wide range, researchers have postulated that anteater populations are negatively affected by several factors, including hunting, habitat loss and fragmentation, fire, vehicle collisions, and predation by jaguars. But no studies to date have evaluated the relative importance of these factors across sites, either at a regional or continental scale. We used camera traps to analyze variation in giant anteater abundance at two spatial scales. At a regional scale, we conducted camera trap surveys in the dry Chaco of Argentina and used occupancy models to explore the effect of protection status and human accessibility on giant anteaters’ relative abundance. At a continental scale, we used data from 40 camera trap studies (representing 42 different locations) and Generalized Linear Models (GLM) to assess the potential relation of biome, human disturbance and the presence of jaguars on giant anteater camera trap records. In the Argentine Chaco, protection and human disturbance do not significantly affect the proportion of area used by the species. The average anteater records/100 camera days and the proportion of sites used are very high across the study area. At a continental scale, anteaters are more frequently recorded in dry forests than in moist forests. Locations with very high human disturbance have camera trap rates that are 5–10 times lower compared to intermediate or low disturbance locations. Finally, giant anteater capture frequency increases up to 70% where jaguars are absent. Dry biomes and intermediate levels of human disturbance may favor anteaters by providing greater habitat heterogeneity coupled with a lower jaguar abundance. This may explain the relatively high abundance of giant anteaters in the Argentine Chaco. However, growing human populations, the advancing agriculture-livestock frontier, and an expanding road network may in time eliminate giant anteaters from most of this region.

Elaboração de Carta de Risco de Contaminação por Agrotóxicos para a Bacia do Riacho da Estiva, Brasil

RESUMO O objetivo com a realização deste trabalho foi determinar áreas com risco de contaminação por agrotóxicos utilizados na produção de monoculturas anuais na bacia do Riacho da Estiva, afluente do Rio Uruçuí-Preto, Piauí, por meio de álgebra de mapas, fazendo-se uso de planos de informação ambiental para determinar a tendência do comportamento da água, infiltração e escoamento, juntamente com o transporte de agrotóxicos. O cruzamento dessas informações foi utilizado para gerar um mapa com as áreas de risco de contaminação por agroquímicos utilizados. A bacia hidrográfica apresentou elevada antropização, com aumento de aproximadamente 55% do uso e ocupação do solo por culturas agrícolas em um período de 27 anos (1984 a 2011). Área de 269 Km2, que corresponde a 11% da área da bacia, apresenta alto potencial de risco de contaminação por agroquímicos, 45% apresentam médio risco de contaminação e 44% apresentam baixo risco de contaminação.

Elk resource selection at parturition sites, Black Hills, South Dakota

We studied elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) parturition sites at coarse (314-km2 and 7-km2) and fine (0.2-ha) scales in the Black Hills, South Dakota, 2011–2013, following a period of population decline and poor calf recruitment. Our objective was to test whether female elk selected parturition sites across spatial scales in association with forage, terrain ruggedness, road density, or hiding and security cover. At coarse scales in forests and grasslands, female elk selected sites in areas with greater proportions of vegetation communities that provided forage (56–74% of area) and more rugged topography (194–248 m) than found at random. At coarse scales in grasslands, elk selected sites in areas with lower road densities (≤1.24 km/plot). At the fine scale in forests and grasslands, female elk selected sites in areas with intermediate slope (19%), closer to water (355–610 m), and far from roads (541–791 m). Further, elk in forests and grasslands selected sites with intermediate security cover (50–88 m). We hypothesize elk selected for intermediate rugged terrain at larger scales for security from high road densities and human disturbance, but these areas may have placed elk in riskier environments for puma (Puma concolor) predation. Forest management that maintains open-canopied vegetation communities in less rugged areas and prevents ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) encroachment of meadows to provide forage may be beneficial for elk. Further, elk parturition sites occurred close to roads, particularly on public lands, and agencies should consider road-use restrictions and vegetation buffers beside roads in areas with less rugged terrain, which may provide favorable calving habitat. © 2015 The Wildlife Society.

Do squirrels in human disturbed areas become habituated to humans? A measure of flight initiation distance across disturbance gradients

Human population growth results in destruction of natural habitats, although some animals are adapting to living in areas with human disturbance. North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) may be one such species that is successfully adapting to living alongside humans. Flight initiation distance, the distance at which an animal flees from an approaching predator, may act as an indicator of habituation to humans. I predicted that if North American red squirrels were habituating to humans, their flight initiation distance would decrease along a gradient of increasing human disturbance. To examine this, I measured flight initiation distances of 39 North American red squirrels across eight sites, classified as low, medium or high human disturbance areas. No significant difference was found in mean flight initiation distances between disturbance levels, indicating that squirrel flight initiation distance may not be sensitive to small scales of human disturbance gradients.

Effects of land-use changes on woody species distribution and above-ground carbon storage of forest-coffee systems

As deforestation and fragmentation continue in tropical regions with high human use and disturbance of natural habitats, production landscapes such as agroforests and plantations may provide some forest-based services depending on tree selection, agroforest management and intensification. This is typical to southwest Ethiopia with strong human-dependence on forest biodiversity and ecosystem services. We examined the effects of land-use changes and fragmentation on woody species distribution and the relative importance of forest fragments and coffee farms in wood use and carbon storage. We sampled heartwood from 71 woody species in three land use types: natural forest fragments, smallholder semi-forest coffee farms and state-owned coffee plantations. We calculated wood density as an oven-dry biomass per fresh volume of heartwood core samples, and above-ground carbon biomass using allometric methods. We found that average wood density values were not correlated with fragment size. Mean wood density of species in forests was greater than in state-owned plantations. The two coffee systems can store 50–62% of the above-ground carbon biomass found in forests, indicating the need to incorporate coffee farms and forest remnants in carbon incentive, or climate mitigation and adaptation programs. To correlate species wood density with local wood preferences, we interviewed focus groups and households about the use-values of 51 farmer-appreciated species. There was a strong correlation between wood density and local wood-values signifying the concordance of species functional traits and ecosystem service values. Our results indicate the need to integrate functional traits and local ecosystem service uses in climate adaptation and mitigation by incorporating coffee agroforests with the conservation of natural forest remnants.

A Survey of Bats in a Karst Landscape in the Central Philippines

Karst landscapes are biologically diverse and unique ecosystems that are especially important to bats. As in other parts of Southeast Asia, cave roosting bats in the Philippines have suffered extensive human disturbance, and as a result, may be declining. Here we contributed to a region-wide effort to assess the status of cave bats by surveying bats in well-known caves and forest on limestone on Bohol Island in the central Philippines. We also assessed cave disturbance through physical signs and interviews. We observed and acoustically detected bats representing a total of 14 taxa in 23 of the 25 caves surveyed. Few species were present in most caves (median = 2 spp.) and only three caves had large numbers of bats (> 1,000). However, of the 29 bat species captured in forest, 19 are known to roost in caves, including the poorly known Philippine endemic, Hipposideros coronatus. Most surveyed caves experienced either current or historical human disturbance (88%), primarily by collectors of edible bird's nests, bats for food, and guano for use as fertilizer in rice fields. High species richness, signs of population decline, and high human disturbance all point to Bohol Island as an important conservation area for cave-roosting bats in the Philippines.

Impact of Human Recreational Disturbances on the Distribution of Avifauna in the Sinhararja Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s protected areas are increasingly becoming prime tourism destinations for bothinternational and domestic tourists. Ironically, most nature-based tourism activities areconcentrated on few well-known National Parks and Forest Reserves in the country. As aresult, these sites are continuously subjected to increased visitor pressure. Conservationistsfrequently cite human recreational disturbances of wildlife as one of the key issues inbiodiversity conservation, especially in protected areas open for public visitation. Behaviourof birds has been found to be often influenced by human recreational activities; yet scientificevidences to assess the degree of this threat are limited in literature, especially in the SriLankan context.This study investigated the effects of human recreational disturbances on the distribution of39 species of birds along a highly visited nature trail in Sinhararja World Heritage Forest, SriLanka, from May to November, 2013. The study employed eighteen 25 m fixed-radius pointcounts laid perpendicular to the nature trail (six counts along the nature trail, and six countseach100m and 200 m perpendicular to the trail). Each point count was visited at least 18times during the study period at different times of the day. Point counts recorded 37 breedingresident species of which 17 were endemic, while there were two migrant species. Humanrecreational disturbances were defined in terms of visitor group size (visual disturbance) andtheir relative noise level (noise disturbance). Accordingly, four disturbance levels (no humandisturbance, low human disturbance, medium human disturbance and high humandisturbance) were derived using a two-step clustering procedure. The relationship betweendisturbance levels and abundance of birds was statistically testedResults revealed a significant negative correlation between visitor numbers and abundance ofbirds in point counts on the trail (Spearman's rho = -0.20, p=0.045), and a significantpositive correlation between the same variables in plots 200m away from the trail at 0.05significance level (Spearman's rho = 0.19, p=0.049). This in general, suggests a possibleavoidance of edge habitats by birds at the human presence and flushing into the forest.Regardless of the disturbance type, mean number of birds recorded was highest in plots onthe trail (mean =14.20 ± SD or SE 1.98) followed by plots 200 m away from the trail (mean=10.11± SD or SE 2.00). Null hypothesis of “bird counts at various distances from the trailare independent of disturbance levels” was tested using Chi-square test for each species. Outof 22 species with sufficient data available for analysis, Ashy-headed laughing thrush(Garrulax cinereifrons) found to shift away from the trail as disturbance levels increased (χ2-=6.41, p=0.041). For the most species recorded in the study, non-significance for Chi-squaretest suggests that these species may have become habituated to low-intensity and predictablehuman recreational disturbances.

Conservation genetics of Australasian sailfin lizards: Flagship species threatened by coastal development and insufficient protected area coverage

Despite rampant coastal development throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific, studies of conservation genetics and ecology of vulnerable, coastal species are rare. Large bodied vertebrates with highly specialized habitat requirements may be at particular risk of extinction due to habitat degradation and fragmentation, especially if these habitats are naturally patchily distributed, marginal, otherwise geographically limited, or associated in space with high human population densities or heavy anthropogenic disturbance. Particularly telling examples of these conservation challenges are large Australasian reptiles with obligate habitat requirements for lowland, coastal and mangrove forests. Plagued by habitat destruction due to high human densities along coastlines, sprawling rural development, and rapidly developing estuarine fisheries industry, coastal forest reptiles are experiencing rapid declines. And yet studies of population biology, genetics, and habitat requirements of species depending on these environments are few. We undertook the present study in order to take a multifaceted approach to understanding a poignant conservation problem. We identify significant evolutionary units for conservation in large-bodied sailfin lizards (genus Hydrosaurus), model suitable habitat in the Philippines from extensive occurrence data and evaluate the efficacy of the current protected area network, and identify the source of hydrosaurs in the illegal pet trade. We determine that the extent of the species’ habitat coincident with protected areas is low. Our forensic evaluation of the illegal pet trade in the Philippines determines the existence of a natural population that is at risk of systematic exploitation by traders. Together, this integrative study characterizes a conservation urgency of particular significance: the genetically distinct sailfin lizards of the Bicol faunal region, with suitable habitat virtually unprotected, and clear evidence of heavy exploitation for illegal trade. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first conservation genetic study to evaluate the potential effectiveness of the protected landscape coverage in the Philippines, a Megadiverse nation and Biodiversity Hotspot.

Aktivitas Manusia dan Distribusi Banteng (Bos Javanicus D’alton 1832) di Taman Nasional Alas Purwo

Human Activities and Distribution of Banteng (Bos Javanicus D’alton 1832) in Alas Purwo National ParkThis study aims to comprehend whether human activities contribute to the presence of banteng (Bos sundaicus d’Alton 1836) in the Alas Purwo National Park (APNP). We laid continuous strip line transects from centre of human activities to the direction of core area of APNP. Three locations were selected: Sadengan grazing area, Giri Salaka Hinduism praying area, and Kutorejo village; representing low to high human disturbance respectively. We collected both direct and indirect presence of banteng as well as human activities within 20 metre strip lines with 10 metre width. Data were compiled each 100 metres and analyzed with means comparison to observe difference among locations. Correlation analyses were used to assess the relation between distance from centre of human activities, human activities and banteng presence. Regression analysis was used when significant correlations found.Our non parametric test showed that human disturbances are significantly different among sites (Kruskal Wallis Test; df 2 = 6.220, p< 0.05). In similar tendency but different manner, it is showed that the different levels of human disturbance conveyed significant difference in number of banteng’s tracks (Kruskal Wallis Test; df 2 = 18.888, p< 0.05). The distance from centre of human activities is negatively related to number of human tracks (Spearman rho; r2= -0.307 N= 64, p<0.05*) and also to number of banteng’s tracks (Spearman rho, r2= -0.728 N= 30, p<0.05**). The regression analysis showed that number of human tracks explained 18.6% of total variation on number of Banteng’s tracks, while distance from centre of human activities explained 59%.

利用红外照相技术分析野生白冠长尾雉活动节律及时间分配

The researches on activity rhythm and behavioral time budgets of vulnerable or endangered species were of great importance to form the effective conservation strategies,Reeves' s Pheasant(Syrmaticus reevesii) was a vulnerable species endemic to China,whereas little information on activity rhythm and behavioral time budgets of this species was available.Therefore,we used infrared camera technology,from March 2012 to March 2013,to survey the activity rhythm and behavioral time budgets of wild Reeves' s Pheasant(Syrmaticus reevesii) in Caihe Town,Guangshui City,Hubei province.We radio tracked and outlined 8 Reeves' s Pheasants in the study area at first,and then we determined 4—5 sites as candidate camera sites in each home range. We selected two camera sites with a distance apart from at least 200 m in a home range synchronously,and irregularly moved these cameras across the candidate camera sites in this home range. In consequence,we set 16 infrared cameras at 40 candidate camera sites. The daily work time of a camera was set from 4: 00 to22: 00 with the reference to some previous reports on this pheasant behavior,and we defined it as a camera day. We also divided the behavior of wild Reeves' s Pheasant into seven types,including feeding,moving,grooming,vigilance,resting,conflicting,and raising According to the available information on pheasant behavior. As a result,the total work time of these cameras in the field added up to 1774 d. We obtained totally 2242 videos in relation to Reeves' s Pheasants that were responsible for about 18% with a total of 538 individuals in relation to 396 behavior samples. The sex ratio between the female and male photoed is 1.43∶1. Two diurnal activity peaks were observed for the wild individuals,and the activity peak in the morning was around 9: 00 and that in the afternoon was around 17: 00. In particular,the activity peak of the males in the morning was much earlier about two hours than that of females,i.e. 7: 00—9: 00 for the males and 9: 00—11: 00 for the females. The behavior of moving and feeding dominated the diurnal behaviors of Reeves' s Pheasant,accounting for 40. 71%and 33.10%,respectively,and then followed in order by vigilance(9. 29%),grooming(7. 14%),resting(5. 00%),conflicting(2. 62%),raising(2. 14%). The frequency of vigilance of females was significantly higher than that of the males. The wild Reeves' s Pheasant also showed significant seasonal behavior variations,and the rate of feeding,moving,and conflicting varied among seasons. For example,the feeding frequency in winter was much higher than that in summer(P0.05),and the moving frequency in summer was higher than that in autumn(P0.05) and winter(P0. 05),whereas the frequency of conflicting,grooming,resting,and raising did not differ significantly. Given this study was conducted in an area with higher human disturbance,it was reasonable to recommend these results to that happened in an area with less human disturbance(e.g. nature reserves) in the future. The practice of this study also proved that infrared camera technology is very suitable for studying highly alert and rare terrestrial forest birds.