Influence Of Climate Variability Research Articles

Influence of Climatic Variables on the Number of Cases of Visceral Leishmaniasis in an Endemic Urban Area

Influence of Climatic Variables on the Number of Cases of Visceral Leishmaniasis in an Endemic Urban Area

Fator de condição relativo e modelo preditivo para a presença do caracol invasor Achatina (Lissachatina) fulica em Sergipe, Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract: Achatina fulica is among the world’s 100 most impactive invasive species, and is now found in almost all Brazilian states, including Sergipe. This exotic snail is known to have negative impacts, not only on the environment, due primarily to the rapid growth of its populations, but also on public health, given that it is an intermediate host of nematodes that cause zoonotic diseases. However, relatively little is known of the development of this snail, including its relative condition factor. We investigated the occurrence of A. fulica in 24 municipalities distributed in the eight subregions of the state of Sergipe in the dry and rainy season. Furthermore, we present here a predictive model for the occurrence of A. fulica based on the variation in climate and soil chemistry. This snail was more frequent on soils with a pH of 6.5-7.5. A negative correlation was found between the growth of A. fulica and the soil pH, then, the more acidic the soil, the more allometric the growth of A. fulica. The relative condition factor indicated differences in the development pattern of A. fulica among the eight subregions. The influence of rain in increasing the frequency of A. fulica showed a significant correlation. As well, higher temperatures influenced the resting behavior of A. fulica. The mathematical model used to identify the potential presence of A. fulica presented a high degree of agreement. This is the first ecological study of A. fulica to verify the association between the body mass-length relationship and the relative condition factor, and the results indicate that the development of this exotic land snail in Sergipe is influenced by climatic factors and principally, the soil pH. The predictive mathematical model provides valuable insights into the biotic and abiotic factors associated with the presence of A. fulica, and the influence of climatic variables and the chemical parameters of the soil on the occurrence of this species. These findings provide important guidelines for the development of measures for the control of A. fulica populations, which will contribute to both public and environment health.

Influence of Climate Variability on the Dynamics of Malaria Transmission among Children in Bangui, Health Challenges in Central African Republic

Background: Malaria was the deadliest worldwide vector-borne disease in 2017. The objective of this study was to determine the eco-epidemiology of malaria at the reduced scale of a Health Region in children less than 5 years old. Objectives: To assess the relationship between climate and malaria epidemiology in children less than 5 years old in Bangui. Methodology: Health data were collected from the Health Region Nº7 database. Climatic data were collected from the database of the Bangui M’poko station and the Bangui national meteorological delegation. Demographic data were collected from the United Nations Population Fund and the Central African Institute of Statistics, Economic and Social Studies. Ethical clearance was obtained from the local ethics committee, which allowed us to access the data from each institution. The independent variables were collected in the districts. Several statistical methods were used to analyze confidentially the data. Results: During the survey, for 1160 mm of water in 2004, 317 children died versus 56 for 1516 mm of water in 2013, i.e., a correlation coefficient between rainfall and malaria is 0.51. There was a statistically significant association between rainfall and malaria in Bangui as well as a correlation between malaria-related death and the level of humidity, i.e., for 51.99ºC, the number of death increased from 294 cases in 2004 to 216 cases for 49.74ºC in 2013 with a correlation coefficient between humidity and malaria morbidity of 0.46 and the coefficient of determination r2 of 21.31%. Malaria was influenced by humidity. Malaria transmission was higher during the rainy season (May to October) with an incidence of 61.11% (n = 44,193) versus 38.89% (n = 28,125) for the dry season (November to April). The 8th borough of Bangui with a very high level of vulnerability recorded the highest incidence of malaria (64,748 cases). Finally, the first borough with 11,502 cases of malaria had a very low level of vulnerability. Conclusion: Climatic trends have a negative impact on the outcome of malaria in Bangui. The consequences are the number of deaths of children under 5 years old.

Climate-driven variations in productivity reveal adaptive strategies in Iberian cork oak agroforestry systems

Cork oak agroforestry systems (AFS) have been managed for centuries by humans to produce cork and other goods and services and have recently been recognised as an important reservoir for biodiversity improvement and conservation. However, despite having recently been included as a natural habitat of community-wide interest within the EU Habitats Directive, these systems are in a critical situation of decline. Among other factors, they are strongly threatened by climate change, the effects of which are also expected to be particularly severe in the Mediterranean region. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the influence of climate variability by examining primary production indicators and also to analyse whether the geographical location may have a role in the incidence of the adverse effects of climate.

Quantifying the Influence of Climate Variability on Vegetation Variation from the Perspective of Vegetation Resilience in China

Quantifying the Influence of Climate Variability on Vegetation Variation from the Perspective of Vegetation Resilience in China

Influence of seasonal and climatic variables on coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei Ferrari) flight activity in Hawaii

Coffee berry borer (CBB, Hypothenemus hampei Ferrari) is the most serious insect pest of coffee worldwide, yet little is known about the effect that weather variables have on CBB flight activity. We sampled flying female CBB adults bi-weekly over a three-year period using red funnel traps baited with an alcohol lure at 14 commercial coffee farms on Hawaii Island to characterize seasonal phenology and the relationship between flight activity and five weather variables. We captured almost 5 million scolytid beetles during the sampling period, with 81–93% of the trap catch comprised of CBB. Of the captured non-target beetles, the majority were tropical nut borer, black twig borer and a species of Cryphalus. Two major flight events were consistent across all three years: an initial emergence from January-April that coincided with early fruit development and a second flight during the harvest season from September-December. A generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) revealed that mean daily air temperature had a highly significant positive correlation with CBB flight; most flight events occurred between 20–26°C. Mean daily solar radiation also had a significant positive relationship with flight. Flight was positively correlated with maximum daily relative humidity at values below ~94%, and cumulative rainfall up to 100 mm; flight was also positively correlated with maximum daily wind speeds up to ~2.5 m/s, after which activity declined. Our findings provide important insight into CBB flight patterns across a highly variable landscape and can serve as a starting point for the development of flight prediction models.

Observing the influences of climatic and environmental variability over soil salinity changes in the Noakhali Coastal Regions of Bangladesh using geospatial and statistical techniques

Climate change is an intensive threat to the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Low-lying coastal areas suffer from salinity intrusion, especially in the geomorphologically active central coastal areas of Bangladesh (CAB). The intrusion of soil salinity has been particularly evident from studies on the CAB, which exhibits the effects of climate change and salinity changes along the coast. On a local scale, studies like these are essential, but current, when dealing with climate-driven changes considering the field of study, it is rarely observed and recorded in the literature. Therefore, this present study focuses on observing the influence of climate and environmental variability over soil salinity changes trend in the Noakhali coastal regions (NCR) of Bangladesh using geospatial and statistical techniques. To achieve this goal, the present study analyzed the historical climatic data of Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) from 1987 to 2018, which showed that there were irregularities with deviation from normal distribution of temperature and rainfall data in the region. The study also shows maximum temperature raise of about 3°C and 1500 mm annual rainfall in the area. In addition, amplification of tides have been observed in the east and decreases in the west coast. On the other hand, the study suggested a significant reduction of about 22 dS/m in soil salinity data analysis from 1996 to 2019, which was a maximum of 2.27 dS/m in 2019 compared to 25 dS/m in 1996. However, in-depth observations of temperature and rainfall data revealed strong seasonal control over soil salinity levels. Abundance of rainfall is negatively correlated where tidal level is positively correlated with soil salinity level of the study area. There is a positive correlation between the soil salinity level and a minimum level of temperature change. The present study systematically focuses on the change in soil salinity of the NCR on climate and environmental changes, which provides information on historical influence. Finally, the study confirms that rainfall and tides are the main and temperature as the secondary soil salinity controlling factors of the CAB. The results of this study might be used scientifically to attain the sustainable agricultural practices, coastal development and regional planning of the country.

Disentangling the effect of climatic and hydrological predictor variables on benthic macroinvertebrate distributions from predictive models

Lotic freshwater macroinvertebrate species distribution models (SDMs) have been shown to improve when hydrological variables are included. However, most studies to date only include data describing climate or stream flow-related surrogates. We assessed the relative influence of climatic and hydrological predictor variables on the modelled distribution of macroinvertebrates, expecting model performance to improve when hydrological variables are included. We calibrated five SDMs using combinations of bioclimatic (bC), hydrological (H) and hydroclimatic (hC) predictor datasets and compared model performance as well as variance partition of all combinations. We investigated the difference in trait composition of communities that responded better to either bC or H configurations. The dataset bC had the most influence in terms of proportional variance, however model performance was increased with the addition of hC or H. Trait composition demonstrated distinct patterns between associated model configurations, where species that prefer intermediate to slow-flowing current conditions in regions further downstream performed better with bC–H. Including hydrological variables in SDMs contributes to improved performance, it is however, species-specific and future studies would benefit from hydrology-related variables to link environmental conditions and diverse communities. Consequently, SDMs that include climatic and hydrological variables could more accurately guide sustainable river ecosystem management.

Hedgerows as a habitat for forest plant species in the agricultural landscape of Europe

Hedgerows are semi-natural wooded habitats and an important element in agricultural landscapes across Western and North-Western Europe. They reduce erosion, function as carbon sinks and thus provide essential ecosystem services. Moreover, they form a structurally diverse ecosystem for numerous taxa and connect otherwise fragmented forest habitats. This study compiled data from the hedgerow-rich oceanic regions of Europe, covering a gradient from Southern Sweden to Northern France, to analyse the influence of management, landscape context and climate variables on the number of herbaceous forest specialists in hedgerows. The species frequencies in hedgerows were related to their functional traits to identify plant characteristics that are beneficial for species dispersal and persistence in hedgerows. Our results show that numerous forest plant species, but not all, can thrive in hedgerows. Those are likely thermophilic, tolerant against regular disturbance and able to disperse efficiently. Hedgerows in regions that are warm or that are impacted by heat and drought events contain fewer forest species. Intensive adjacent land-use had a negative impact on forest species richness, while the surrounding forest cover was not significantly important. In congruence with previous regional studies, wider hedgerows contain more forest species, which is most likely caused by a more effective buffering of the microclimate. Thus, hedgerow width gains in importance in times of climate change and increasing extreme weather events. It is a key factor for habitat quality also on a European scale that needs to be considered for future management strategies.

The role of climatic variability on Eucalyptus regeneration in southeastern Australia

In the forested landscapes of southeastern Australia, bushfires and timber harvesting are the primary catalysts for regeneration in Eucalyptus regnans , E. delegatensis , and high elevation mixed species (HEMS) forests. Quantifying the role of climate, topography and edaphic conditions on plant regeneration is important for understanding current and future risks of climate change. In this study, we investigated the post-disturbance regeneration dynamics in these forests. We sought to determine the direct impact of climate variability on regeneration and the interactive effects of climate, topography, and edaphic factors on the regeneration success of Eucalyptus . Data was collated from regeneration surveys conducted in 881 coupes, totaling ~55,000 ha of forest harvested and regenerated between 2004 and 2012. The time-period analyzed included the Millennium Drought, an intense and prolonged drought that lasted from 1996 to 2010. To test the influence of climatic, topographic, and edaphic variables on the occurrence and abundance of Eucalyptus regeneration, we used machine learning models. We found that regeneration success was closely tied to the timing of the Millennium Drought. Between 2004 and 2005 Eucalyptus seedlings occurred in less than 50% of survey plots across all three forest types. Declines in regeneration during the period of drought were greater in E. regnans and E. delegatensis than HEMS forests, suggesting that regeneration in the HEMS forests is more resistant to drought. We found that seasonal precipitation and temperature had the greatest influence on regeneration success of Eucalyptus . Responses varied by species, however autumn precipitation had the strongest influence on abundance of regeneration of E. regnans and E. delegatensis, while summer temperature was more important for HEMS species. Our findings highlight the importance of seasonal and annual climate variability on Eucalyptus regeneration and portend potential declines in regeneration success in a warmer and drier future for E. regnans and E. delegatensis .

Projecting Climate Dependent Coastal Flood Risk With a Hybrid Statistical Dynamical Model.

Numerical models for tides, storm surge, and wave runup have demonstrated ability to accurately define spatially varying flood surfaces. However these models are typically too computationally expensive to dynamically simulate the full parameter space of future oceanographic, atmospheric, and hydrologic conditions that will constructively compound in the nearshore to cause both extreme event and nuisance flooding during the 21st century. A surrogate modeling framework of waves, winds, and tides is developed in this study to efficiently predict spatially varying nearshore and estuarine water levels contingent on any combination of offshore forcing conditions. The surrogate models are coupled with a time‐dependent stochastic climate emulator that provides efficient downscaling for hypothetical iterations of offshore conditions. Together, the hybrid statistical‐dynamical framework can assess present day and future coastal flood risk, including the chronological characteristics of individual flood and wave‐induced dune overtopping events and their changes into the future. The framework is demonstrated at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, CA, utilizing the regional Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS; composed of Delft3D and XBeach) as the dynamic simulator and Gaussian process regression as the surrogate modeling tool. Validation of the framework uses both in‐situ tide gauge observations within San Diego Bay, and a nearshore cross‐shore array deployment of pressure sensors in the open beach surf zone. The framework reveals the relative influence of large‐scale climate variability on future coastal flood resilience metrics relevant to the management of an open coast artificial berm, as well as the stochastic nature of future total water levels.

Modeling small-pelagic fish biomass in the Indonesian seas: climate variability and climate change impacts

The present study uses the Community Earth System Model, version 1– Biogeochemistry [CESM1(BGC)] to examine the influence of climate variability and climate change on small pelagic fish biomass in the Indonesian seas. The fish biomass was calculated based on a fish production model according to primary production and energy transfer at the tropic level. The primary production data were obtained from results of CESM1(BGC) model from 1850 to 2015. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the calculated fish biomass identifies three regions in the Indonesian seas that are associated with coastal upwelling. These regions are located in (1) southern coast of Central Java Province until west-coast of West Sumatra Province, (2) southern coast of Central Java Province until the southern coast of Bali Province, and (3) Banda-Arafura Seas. Fish production variability in these regions exhibits semi-annual, annual, and IOD-ENSO related signals. Climate change impact for RCP 4.5 scenario produces ‘fish stock increase status’ in 2025 for the three regions, while the ‘fish stock current status’ will reoccur in 2050, except for the western part of Sumatra (part of region-1) which alters to ‘fish stock decrease status’.

Influences of climate variability on regional precipitation and temperature associations

ABSTRACT Joint variations of precipitation (P) and temperature (T) under the influence of climate variability are examined in this study. Individual and joint influences of Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on P and T variability in a tropical region (i.e. Florida) are investigated. A rank-based association measure, nonparametric hypothesis tests, and Latin hypercube bootstrap sampling are used for assessments of hydroclimatic data at 78 observation stations. Spatially non-uniform influences of these two oscillations on the P-T associations are evident. While P-T associations were stronger during La Niña compared to El Niño, relatively lower precipitation is observed during La Niña. Temperature range-specific variations in the frequency and magnitude of precipitation are noted in two phases of AMO and ENSO. Climate variability has a stronger influence than local meteorological conditions in generating higher precipitation. The changes in P-T associations due to climate variability are mostly elevation invariant.

Deciphering Main Climate and Edaphic Components Driving Oat Adaptation to Mediterranean Environments.

Oat, Avena sativa, is an important crop traditionally grown in cool-temperate regions. However, its cultivated area in the Mediterranean rim steadily increased during the last 20 years due to its good adaptation to a wide range of soils. Nevertheless, under Mediterranean cultivation conditions, oats have to face high temperatures and drought episodes that reduce its yield as compared with northern regions. Therefore, oat crop needs to be improved for adaptation to Mediterranean environments. In this work, we investigated the influence of climatic and edaphic variables on a collection of 709 Mediterranean landraces and cultivars growing under Mediterranean conditions. We performed genotype–environment interaction analysis using heritability-adjusted genotype plus genotype–environment biplot analyses to determine the best performing accessions. Further, their local adaptation to different environmental variables and the partial contribution of climate and edaphic factors to the different agronomic traits was determined through canonical correspondence, redundancy analysis, and variation partitioning. Here, we show that northern bred elite cultivars were not among the best performing accessions in Mediterranean environments, with several landraces outyielding these. While all the best performing cultivars had early flowering, this was not the case for all the best performing landraces, which showed different patterns of adaption to Mediterranean agroclimatic conditions. Thus, higher yielding landraces showed adaptation to moderate to low levels of rain during pre- and post-flowering periods and moderate to high temperature and radiation during post-flowering period. This analysis also highlights landraces adapted to more extreme environmental conditions. The study allowed the selection of oat genotypes adapted to different climate and edaphic factors, reducing undesired effect of environmental variables on agronomic traits and highlights the usefulness of variation partitioning for selecting genotypes adapted to specific climate and edaphic conditions.

Exploring the Influence of Industrial and Climatic Variables on Communities of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Collected in Streams and Lakes in Canada’s Oil Sands Region

Identifying and tracking the influence of industrial activities on streams and lakes is a priority for monitoring in Canada’s oil sands region (OSR). While differences in indicators are often found in waterbodies adjacent to mining facilities, the confounding influence of natural exposures to bitumen and other stressors can affect the identification of industrial effects. However, recent work suggests metrics of industrial activity at individual facilities, including production and fuel consumption, may be used in site-specific analyses to identify influence of the industry as a whole as well as individual operations. This study further examined the potential relationships between industrial and climatic variables on benthic communities from 13 streams and 4 lakes using publicly available data from the minable region and the Elastic Net (EN) variable selection technique. From the full set of possible industrial and climate variables, the EN commonly identified the negative influence of plant and fuel use of petroleum coke at the Suncor Basemine on benthic communities in streams and lakes. The fuel/plant use of petroleum coke at Suncor likely reflects the emission and regional deposition of delayed coke fly ash. Among the other industrial variables, crude bitumen production at Syncrude Mildred Lake and other facilities, steam injection rates, and petroleum coke stockpiling were also selected for some benthic invertebrate indices at some sites. Land disturbance metrics were also occasionally selected, but the analyses largely support the predominant influence of industrial facilities via (inferred) atmospheric pathways. While climate variables were also commonly selected by EN and follow-up work is needed, this study suggests that integrating industrial performance data into analyses of biota using a site-specific approach may have broad applicability in environmental monitoring in the OSR. More specifically, the approach used here may both resolve the long-standing challenge of natural confounding influences on monitoring the status of streams in the OSR and track the influence of industrial activities in biota below critical effect sizes.

Seasonal Vegetation Response to Climate Variability on Land use Land Cover Changes using In-Situ and Satellite Imagery Observation Data for Semi-Arid Maasai Mara National Reserve Rangeland Ecosystem, Kenya

Monitoring vegetation response through enhanced change detection by remote sensing and geographical information systems has tremendously improved real time information on surface features. Over the last few decades biomass monitoring at large scale has been made possible from information and metrics derived from satellite sensors. Maasai Mara National Reserve has been utilized in many decades as Kenyan natural grassland for wildlife grazing without periodic assessment of biomass production as affected by impact of climate variability yet it’s a tourism hub and one Kenyan economic contributor. This research evaluates the use of high spatial resolution satellite imagery such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer or the Project for On-Board Autonomy–Vegetation and latest SENTINEL-2 for deriving the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index values in relations to in-situ measurements of biomass production between 2009 and 2019 in Mara, Kenya. Area frame sampling of biomass per unit area in Kgha-1clipped from 50cm by 50cm quadrats were used in destructive sampling. The reserve grassland area coverage was estimated to be 717.203km2 (46.75%) where the in-situ total above ground grass biomass projected in dry season was 35.094 tonha-1. This was approximated as 2,516,952.208 tonnes per the season reserve cover while in wet season, 42.123 tonha-1 was approximated as 3,021,074.197 tonnes. The error matrices developed to assess the accuracies of the ecosystem classification indicated values that ranged between 80-100% and 87.5-100% for producer’s and user’s accuracy respectively. 3 out of 7 satellite imagery maps (2017, 2018, and 2019) were assessed for accuracy using reference data collected during fieldwork in 2018 and 2019 in ecosystem. The overall accuracy was 95.22% with Kappa index of 0.94 for 14 land cover classes shown in table 7. From the findings, potential factors influencing vegetation growth in different climatic regions are varied and complex. It can be noted that climate variability influence vegetation response in spatial scale to supply sustainable quality vegetation/pasture for wildlife feeds and ecosystem development. Vegetation mapping and monitoring of ecosystem behavior help stakeholders with information of vegetation characteristics Decision policy formulation and wildlife planning.

Impacts of Temperature Trends and SPEI on Yields of Major Cereal Crops in the Gambia

Variations in the climate constitute a significant threat to the productivity of food crops in the Gambia. A good understanding of the influence of climate variability on crop production is vital for climate resilience and improved food security. This study examined the trends, relationships, and the extent to which growing season temperatures and the SPEI (Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index) impacted sorghum, millet, maize, and rice yields in three agro-ecological regions of the Gambia during 1990–2019. Mean temperatures and the SPEI exhibited increasing trends while observed yields showed a decline across all regions. The SPEI had a significant positive relationship with yields, and temperatures were negatively associated with yields. Though yield response to climate variability differs among regions, 20% to 62% of variations in the four crop yields were due to climate trends. The combined effect of the SPEI and temperatures decreased yields from 3.6 kg ha−1 year−1 to 29.4 kg ha−1 year−1, with the most severe decline observed in rice and maize yields in the Sahelian zone. Although uncertainties might arise from not considering related extreme climate events, this study highlights how past climate trends affect cereal yields in the Gambia; thus, any unfavorable change in the local climate could have severe repercussions on the country’s food security. There is a need for concerted efforts to increase investments in adaptation strategies to lessen the effects of the climate for improved crop productivity.

Ecological Analysis of the Helminth Community of Microtus lusitanicus (Gerbe, 1879) (Rodentia) in Asturias (NW Spain).

Simple SummaryThe Lusitanian pine vole is an endemic rodent of the Iberian Peninsula, which has a burrowing behaviour and prefers to live underground. It feeds on bark and roots causing severe damage to trees. In Asturias (NW Spain), this species is considered a pest causing economic losses in apple orchards, damaging the tree, and sometimes even causing its death. With the aim to shed light on the helminth community of this rodent pest species and to elucidate which intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect its helminth species, a faunistic-ecological study was carried out. For this purpose, our own collection of 710 voles from several orchards of various locations in Asturias was used. The results of the ecological study revealed the influence of climate variables, the year and season of capture, as well as the host age, on the diversity of the helminth community and the infection parameters of helminth species, underlining the importance of their life cycles. Our findings on the helminth community of the Lusitanian pine vole in Asturias could be used to improve the biological methods applied to control the population of this rodent pest.The Lusitanian pine vole, Microtus lusitanicus, an endemic fossorial rodent of the Iberian Peninsula, has a burrowing behaviour and prefers to live underground. It feeds on bark and roots causing severe damage to trees. In Asturias (NW Spain), where M. lusitanicus is considered a pest in several orchards, a faunistic-ecological study was carried out to describe the helminth community of this species and the main factors that could influence its helminth component species. For this purpose, our own collection of 710 voles from several orchards of various locations in Asturias was used. Eight helminth species, four cestodes and four nematodes, were found. Statistical non-parametric tests were used to analyse the effects of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on the diversity of the helminth community and species prevalence and abundance. The results show the influence of climate variables, the year and season of capture, as well as host age, on the diversity of the helminth community and the infection parameters of some helminth species, underlining the importance of their life cycles. In addition to shedding light on the helminth community of this rodent in Asturias, the results obtained could be used to improve the biological methods applied to fight the M. lusitanicus pest.

Butterfly declines in protected areas of Illinois: Assessing the influence of two decades of climate and landscape change.

Despite increasing concern regarding broad-scale declines in insects, there are few published long-term, systematic butterfly surveys in North America, and fewer still that have incorporated the influence of changing climate and landscape variables. In this study, we analyzed 20 years of citizen science data at seven consistently monitored protected areas in Illinois, U.S.A. We used mixed models and PERMANOVA to evaluate trends in butterfly abundance, richness, and composition while also evaluating the effects of temperature and land use. Overall butterfly richness, but not abundance, increased in warmer years. Surprisingly, richness also was positively related to percent impervious surface (at the 2 km radius scale), highlighting the conservation value of protected areas in urban landscapes (or alternately, the potential negative aspects of agriculture). Precipitation had a significant and variable influence through time on overall butterfly abundance and abundance of resident species, larval host plant specialists, and univoltine species. Importantly, models incorporating the influence of changing temperature, precipitation, and impervious surface indicated a significant overall decline in both butterfly abundance and species richness, with an estimated abundance decrease of 3.8%/year and richness decrease of 1.6%/year (52.5% and 27.1% cumulatively from 1999 to 2018). Abundance and richness declines were also noted across all investigated functional groups except non-resident (migratory) species. Butterfly community composition changed through time, but we did not find evidence of systematic biotic homogenization, perhaps because declines were occurring in nearly all functional groups. Finally, at the site-level, declines in either richness or abundance occurred at five of seven locations, with only the two largest locations (>300 Ha) not exhibiting declines. Our results mirror those of other long-term butterfly studies predominantly in Europe and North America that have found associations of butterflies with climate variables and general declines in butterfly richness and abundance.

Ecological Analysis of the Helminth Community of the Wood Mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, along an 18-Year Post-Fire Regeneration Period in a Mediterranean Ecosystem.

Simple SummaryAfter a wildfire, especially in Mediterranean ecosystems, the vegetation starts to recover gradually but appears regenerated after a decade. However, the study of helminth parasites of the wood mouse, the most important post-fire recolonizer mammal in the western Mediterranean forests, allowed us to elucidate the reality of this process more accurately, mainly due to the, sometimes complex, life cycles of the helminths using other hosts (vertebrates and invertebrates) to complete them. Thus, the comparative analysis of various aspects (biodiversity and kinds of life cycles) of the helminth community of the wood mouse, as well as the influence of some external factors (related to the environment and its periodical post-fire regeneration) and internal factors (related to the population of the wood mouse), between the burned area and a non-burned area used as control, reveals the biological indicators (indicators of the situation/evolution of a process) of the post-fire regeneration process and its true state. The current study confirms the important role of the helminths of the wood mouse as biological indicators and the influence that climate variables exercise on the quality and evolution of the post-fire regeneration process in Mediterranean ecosystems.The role of helminths of the wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, as biological indicators of the post-fire regeneration process in Serra Calderona Natural Park, a Mediterranean forest ecosystem located between the provinces of València and Castelló (Valencian Country, Spain), has been analysed for almost twenty years. The helminth ecological analysis of 917 A. sylvaticus (675 originating from the burned area and 242 originating from the control area) has been carried out between the 2nd and 18th post-fire years. The influence of intrinsic (host population density, sex and age) and extrinsic (site, period and year of capture, climate variables) factors on the post-fire evolution of the helminth community of the wood mouse, and the biodiversity, species richness and life cycle of the helminth species was studied. Taking into account the most important results obtained, various aspects of the helminth community dynamics of the wood mouse are confirmed as biological indicators of the post-fire regeneration process in Mediterranean ecosystems. The still existing differences between the two areas are mainly related to the influence of climate variables on the post-fire regeneration process. Moreover, the important role that helminth parasites of the wood mouse play as biological indicators of this process in Mediterranean ecosystems is demonstrated.