Shrub Habitats Research Articles

Resource selection of den sites for bobcats (Lynx rufus) in the Northern Great Plains, United States

Abstract Dens play a crucial role in the survival of young and can ultimately affect population dynamics for felid carnivores. However, little is known about Bobcat (Lynx rufus) den site selection. Therefore, this study aimed to identify environmental correlates of Bobcat den sites in the Black Hills, South Dakota, United States. Our objectives for this study were to compare environmental characteristics of Bobcat dens to random sites at coarse (3.14 ha) and local (0.05 ha) spatial scales. Female bobcats were radio-collared (n = 35) and dens (n = 27) were located using ground telemetry. Bobcats selected for high horizontal cover and terrain ruggedness at the coarse scale, as well as high horizontal cover at the local scale, which could provide concealment from predators. In less rugged areas land management practices that promote increased tree and shrub habitat as horizontal cover may provide habitat for Bobcat dens and ensure the survival of this ecologically and culturally important species.

Habitat and Body Condition of Small Mammals in a Country at Mid-Latitude

The relationship between the body condition of different small mammal species and the habitat they occupy is poorly analyzed. We analyzed the body condition index, BCI, of 18 small mammal species trapped in forest, shrub, wetland, meadow, riparian, mixed and fragmented, disturbed, agricultural, and commensal habitats of Lithuania during the span of 1980–2023. The composition of small mammal communities was habitat-dependent, being richest in meadows, with eighteen species, and poorest in riparian habitats, with nine species. A significant variation in the BCI with respect to habitat was observed in eight small mammal species (Sorex araneus, S. minutus, Apodemus agrarius, A. flavicollis, Clethrionomys glareolus, Alexandromys oeconomus, Microtus agrestis, and M. arvalis). The highest average BCI for most of these species was found in disturbed habitats, with S. minutus and M. arvalis showing the highest BCI in agricultural habitats. The lowest average BCI for most species was found in mixed habitats, while C. glareolus and M. arvalis exhibited the lowest BCI in shrub habitats. In general, species dominating certain habitats did not have the highest BCI. This is the first multi-species, multi-habitat study of body condition in small mammals at mid-latitudes.

Upland vegetation removal as a potential tool for facilitating landward salt marsh migration

To increase the resilience of salt marshes subject to sea‐level rise impacts, managers can focus on interventions within current marsh footprints or in adjacent uplands to facilitate landward marsh migration. The latter approach may be more appropriate when degradation is severe and in situ intervention options are limited. Strategies for facilitating marsh migration include removing artificial barriers, soil grading to reduce steep topography, and manipulating adjacent upland vegetation that can hinder migration, but experiments testing the effectiveness of these activities are limited. We therefore conducted a field experiment to determine if physically removing three upland vegetation types (forest, shrub, and Phragmites australis) adjacent to a Rhode Island salt marsh facilitates short‐term marsh migration. Upland vegetation removal led to increased ambient light in all habitats, significantly enhanced marsh plant cover, extent, and elevation in shrub habitat, and declines in total bird abundance in forest and shrub habitats. Enhanced migration did not occur in forest or Phragmites habitats, and in shrubs, marsh plants only colonized where Baccharis halimifolia, common in upper marsh borders, had been removed. Five years after removal, all upland habitats and associated vegetation were indistinguishable from initial conditions. Our study suggests that upland plant removal might provide a limited window for facilitating salt marsh migration and that more intensive methods may be needed for sustained, longer‐term benefits. It also demonstrates that there may be ecological trade‐offs to consider when altering upland habitats to enhance landward marsh migration.

Habitat preferences and phytocoenotic range of Reynoutria japonica Houtt. in Ukraine

Based on vegetation plots extracted from phytosociological databases and literature sources, the current distribution of Reynoutria japonica in Ukraine was assessed in terms of habitat preferences and phytocoenotic affiliation. It has been found that R. japonica in Ukraine is spread across four habitat types: anthropogenic areas, floodplain forests, shrublands, and gravel bars. The most frequent occurrences of the studied species were found in anthropogenic habitats covered by mesophilous nitrophilous tall herbs. Within the floodplain habitats, R. japonica was most frequently found in temperate riparian willow-poplar forests and temperate riparian hardwood forests. R. japonica is much less frequently related to shrub habitats and gravel bars. It occurs with different covers, reaching its maximum values on anthropogenic sites. The analysis of the phytocoenotic range of species showed that it is a component of the vegetation belonging to the classes Epilobietea angustifolii, Salicetea purpurea, Alno glutinosae-Populetea albae, and Thlaspietea rotundifolii. The analysis of habitat types and plant communities with the participation of R. japonica in Ukraine showed that the species occurs in ecological environments closely related to those that are characteristic of the species in its native range – mesophylous soils, rich in nutrients, which is a favorable factor in the process of species accelerated adaptation to new territories.

Dealing with imperfect data for invasive species detection using multispectral imagery

Detection and monitoring invasive species can provide valuable ecological information to guide management decisions. Multispectral imagery remote sensing may be an ideal tool to address this problem by providing accurate and affordable repeat imagery. However, developing training datasets for remote sensing imagery can be riddled with issues such as matching a training site to a single pixel in target imagery or mixed pixels caused by low invader densities. The multitarget multiple-instance spectral match filter (MTMI-SMF) algorithm accounts for such errors and has low computation costs. Here, we evaluated MTMI-SMF for invasive species detection with National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP), RapidEye, and Landsat imagery using Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolia) in the Everglades National Park as a case study. MTMI-SMF detected Brazilian peppertree with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.85 for Landsat, 0.82 for RapidEye, and 0.71 NAIP imagery. Invader classification was developed using a threshold calculated from MTMI-SMF image detection confidence values and compared to a random forest classification. MTMI-SMF and random forest classifications had similar overall accuracies with NAIP imagery performing the lowest (an average of 73.6% and 88.9%, respectively) and Landsat performing the highest (an average of 90.9% and 91.4%, respectively). However, due to the relatively rare nature of Brazilian peppertree across this landscape, the overall classification accuracy was not fully representative of detection capabilities. MTMI-SMF outperformed random forest for user accuracy and had comparable producer accuarcy across all three image sources. Classifications primarily relied on the brighter signature of Brazilian peppertree due to the limited number of spectral bands in the multispectral imagery. As a result, confusion was caused by heterogeneous vegetation communities or shrub habitats, which most likely could be resolved with the increased availability of satellite hyperspectral datasets. Our study indicates that MTMI-SMF, a machine-learning approach that allows flexibility in training data, can detect highly problematic invaders using multispectral imagery. This pipeline could be readily adapted to other invaders and ecosystems, as well as different remote sensing image sources, and has low computational requirements. Our study demonstrates that remote sensing technologies and multiple-instance learning algorithms can provide managers with critical tools for tackling the ever-growing, costly, and challenging problem of tracking invasive species' plant spread.

Human disturbance is the major driver of vegetation changes in the Caatinga dry forest region

Drastic changes in vegetation structure caused by exceeding ecological thresholds have fueled the interest in tropical forest responses to climate and land-use changes. Here, we examine the potential successional trajectories experienced by the largest dry tropical forest region in South America, driven by climate conditions and human disturbance. We built potential distribution models for vertebrate taxa associated with forest or shrub habitats to estimate natural vegetation cover. Distribution patterns were compared to current vegetation across the entire region to identify distinct forest degradation levels. Our results indicate the region has climatic and soil conditions suitable for more forest cover than is currently found, even in some areas with limited precipitation. However, 11.04% of natural cover persists across such an immense region, with only 4.34% consisting of forest cover. Forest degradation is characterized by the dramatic expansion of shrubland (390%), farming, and non-vegetation cover due to changes in land-use, rather than climatic conditions. Although different climate conditions have been the principal drivers for natural forest distribution in the region, the forest seems unable to resist the consequences of land-use changes, particularly in lower precipitation areas. Therefore, land-use change has exceeded the ecological thresholds for the persistence of forests, while climate change may exacerbate vegetation-type transitions.

Mapping Fractional Vegetation Cover Using Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle Imagery to Guide Conservation of a Rare Riparian Shrub Ecosystem in Southern California

The use of unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) for vegetation monitoring is widespread in agriculture and forestry but far less so in ecological restoration where it has tremendous unrealized potential. We tested the ability of multispectral data and a derived vegetation index to classify shrub, herbaceous vegetation, and bare soil cover in a rare alluvial floodplain vegetation community in semiarid Southern California, where shrub cover is manipulated in restoration efforts aimed to provide open habitats required by several threatened and endangered species. Three classifiers and three levels of spatial aggregation were compared for their ability to provide accurate shrub cover estimates at a scale commensurate with the needs of conservation managers. We used object-based image analysis (OBIA) and compared maximum likelihood (ML), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF) classifiers applied to high-spatial resolution (0.14 m) data from a four-band Parrot Sequoia+ multispectral sensor. The SVM and RF classifiers yielded similarly high classification accuracy evaluated using the training data (overall accuracy of 96.4% and 97.6%, respectively), much higher than ML (88%). Aggregating shrub cover data to 25 and 50 m resolutions yielded more accurate and well-calibrated cover estimates (mean absolute error 12% and 11%, respectively, for RF) than 10 m aggregation (MAE 19% for RF). Shrub cover estimated using RF and SVM was able to meet the restoration monitoring needs to distinguish the three phases of shrub habitat characterized by their cover (10–30%, 30–75%, >75%) that differ in habitat quality and restoration prescriptions.

Effects of deterministic assembly of communities caused by global warming on coexistence patterns and ecosystem functions

Seasonal rhythms in biological and ecological dynamics are fundamental in regulating the structuring of microbial communities. Evaluating the seasonal rhythms of microorganisms in response to climate change could provide information on their variability and stability over longer timescales (>20-year). However, information on temporal variability in microorganism responses to medium- and long-term global warming is limited. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the temporal dynamics of microbial communities in response to global warming; to this end, we integrated data on the maintenance of species diversity, community composition, temporal turnover rates (v), and community assembly process in two typical ecosystems (meadows and shrub habitat) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our results showed that 21 years of global warming would increase the importance of the deterministic process for microorganisms in both ecosystems across all seasons (R2 of grassland (GL) control: 0.524, R2 of GL warming: 0.467; R2 of shrubland (SL) control: 0.556, R2 of SL warming: 0.543), reducing species diversity and altering community composition. Due to environmental filtration pressure from 21 years of warming, the low turnover rate (v of warming: −3.13/-2.00, v of control: −2.44/−1.48) of soil microorganisms reduces the resistance and resilience of ecological communities, which could lead to higher community similarity and more clustered taxonomic assemblages occurring across years. Changes to temperature might increase selection pressure on specialist taxa, which directly causes dominant species (v of warming: −1.63, v of control: −2.49) primarily comprising these taxa to be more strongly impacted by changing temperature than conditionally (v of warming: −1.47, v of control: −1.75) or always rare taxa (v of warming: −0.57, v of control: −1.33). Evaluation of the seasonal rhythms of microorganisms in response to global warming revealed that the variability and stability of different microbial communities in different habitats had dissimilar biological and ecological performances when challenged with an external disturbance. The balance of competition and cooperation, because of environmental selection, also influenced ecosystem function in complex terrestrial ecosystems. Overall, our study enriches the limited information on the temporal variability in microorganism responses to 21 years of global warming, and provides a scientific basis for evaluating the impact of climate warming on the temporal stability of soil ecosystems.

Leveraging hunters as citizen scientists for monitoring non‐target species

Abstract Hunter populations can provide a tremendous workforce of citizen scientists afield when queried for data. Soliciting incidental observations of non‐target species from hunters may be a relatively important but untapped population monitoring resource in systems where hunter effort is common and widespread. During 2012–2016, we queried hunters of deer and elk for observations of a non‐target species, moose, across their statewide distribution in Montana. We analysed data in an abundance‐detection framework with n‐mixture models and evaluated the effects of covariates such as hunter effort, survey response totals, weekly session and forest cover on detection probability before using models to predict moose abundance. We collected an average of 3409 moose observations per year and our best n‐mixture model included effects of week, year (number of responses), site (proportionate forest cover) and site‐year (hunter effort) on detection probability, as well as an effect of site (area of forest and shrub habitat) on abundance. Density estimates averaged 0.099 (range 0.002–0.439) moose/km2 across sites or 0.200 (range 0.017–0.799) moose/km2 when limited to density within shrub and forest cover specifically. Statewide abundance totals across the 5‐year study period averaged 10,755 (range 9925–11,620). Goodness‐of‐fit tests showed that models were identifiable and overdispersion of the data was low, yet some caution is still warranted when extrapolating these data to abundance estimates. Querying a sample of deer‐elk hunters for observations of a non‐target species yielded thousands of spatially georeferenced detections per year and analysis in a temporally structured framework yielded estimates of both detection probability and abundance. Abundance estimates at this scale are unprecedented for moose in Montana and are encouraging for long‐term monitoring over space and time.

Woody species diversity and regeneration status of Sub-Alpine forest of Mount Adama exclosure site, Northwestern highlands of Ethiopia

Forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Despite these facts, the expansion of agriculture and settlement at the expense of forest resources has threatened the forest resources and results in biodiversity loss. To halt this problem, various conservation practices that believed to restore the degraded lands and biodiversity of the country have been implemented. Area exclosure is among the conservation strategies that have been used to restore the degraded lands in Mount Adama forest. However, its role in woody species regeneration in Mount Adama was not investigated. Thus, the objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of area exclosure on woody plant species composition, regeneration status, structure and diversity in Mount Adama. A systematic transect sampling method was used to collect vegetation data. Hence, 53 plots with 400 m2 area were laid along 11 transects. Then, within the main plots, five subplots with 1 m2 were laid to determine the abundance and frequency of seedlings. The results showed that about 31 woody species that belong to 30 genera and 19 families including four endemic species were identified. The majority (67.74%) of the species were categorized under shrub habitat, while the remaining 19.35% and 12.90% were trees and lianas or climbers, respectively. Asteraceae family was dominant by contributing 4 species followed by Rosaceae and Solanaceae each contributed 3 species. Hypericum revolutum was the dominant species with 53.38 important value index followed by Erica arborea and Hagenia abyssinica with 49.12 and 40.05, respectively. The overall Shannon- Wiener diversity index and Shannon evenness in the exclosure site were 2.6 and 0.73, respectively. Furthermore, the number of seedlings and saplings were higher in the exclosure than the untreated site. The results of the study evidently showed that area exclosure that implemented in Mount Adam successfully contributed to the biodiversity restoration. Therefore, further conservation efforts targeting species with low IVI values are needed for sustainable management and ecological recovery of the area.

The use of boreal relict shrub habitats of willow-leaf meadow sweet (Spiraea salicifolia) and shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) in Western Rhodope Mts. by mammal species

Plant communities of two peat-shrub species – Spiraea salicifolia and Potentilla fruticosa were studied in the Rhodope Mts., with emphasis on their use as a resource for the mammals associated with them. These shrubs are boreal relicts among the dominant coniferous forests. The field surveys were conducted in the spring-autumn period of 2021–2022. In both study areas, the species composition of the mammals was studied by camera traps for medium and large mammals, and by Sherman live traps for small mammals. The species registered were roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), wild boar (Sus scrofa), pine marten (Martes martes), European hare (Lepus europaeus), red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), bank vole (Myodes glareolus) and yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis). Having in mind that small mammals are vital prey base for avian and mammalian predators, it is not surprising that M. glareolus and A. flavicollis individuals were captured in the habitats that they probably use as shelters. The pine marten inhabits the forests by which the community of P. fruticosa is surrounded, but probably feeds on the rodents in the shrub. In this way, it probably provides it with an alternative to the forest food base and hunting ground. From the presented results, it seems that the L. europaeus uses P. fruticosa shrubs as food. Therefore, the plant communities of the two relict peat-shrub species studied probably provide shelter and food for the mammals. Their importance is established for at least one species of mammal with conservation significance at national and European level – M. martes. Therefore, it is necessary to continue and expand the future monitoring on mammal diversity of these relict communities.

Arboreal Spiders of Native Shrubs in Shortgrass Steppe Ecosystems of Eastern Colorado

Biological diversity is a key descriptor to evaluate ecological systems and is often used to identify specific components of local habitat that can be quantified. Heterogeneous habitats provide increased environmental variation in habitat type and might support increase in biological diversity. Spiders (Araneae) are a diverse taxonomic group that fills numerous niches in a grassland landscape. I hypothesized that plant type (shrub species) affects habitat availability of arboreal spiders and expected differences in spider diversity patterns (Shannon index, abundance) to be observed locally. This research was done at Comanche and Pawnee National Grasslands in Colorado and studied how spiders occupy native shrubs in the grassland steppe ecoregion. Araneae taxa are reported for both Comanche and Pawnee National Grassland locations. For Comanche National Grassland, significant differences in spider diversity existed between specific shrub species, especially the spider families Salticidae, Philodromidae, Oxyopidae, and Dictynidae. Fewer shrub species were at Pawnee National Grassland, but Salticidae, Dictynidae, and Oxyopidae were abundant. Twenty-seven genera and thirty-one species were at CNG, and seven genera and sixteen species were at PNG. Analyses provide support that spiders prioritize certain shrubs that provide more resources. Results suggested that changes in available shrub habitat might significantly impact spider diversity in the grassland ecosystems.

Response of moth communities (Lepidoptera) to forest management strategies after disturbance

Spruce forests face many threats such as climate change and bark beetle outbreaks. Yet, bark beetle dynamics have a long co-evolutionary history strongly linked to spruce forest structural dynamics. Disturbed spruce forest sites resulting from bark beetle outbreaks therefore should not be regarded as degraded land, but as early successional stages following natural forest dynamics. Three post-bark-beetle disturbance sites and one closed-canopy site in the Bavarian Forest and Ĺ umava National Parks were investigated with the focus on moth communities. The three disturbed sites had undergone different post-disturbance management regimes, with one being treated by salvage logging, while at the other two forest sites deadwood was kept in the forest. To avoid the spread of bark beetles, however, the bark of dead trees was either gouged or removed. The aim was to determine how many moths can be found at the undisturbed and disturbed forest sites and if differences in community composition can be explained by different management regimes. The results highlight that natural forest disturbance can increase moth diversity, especially by favouring species that are associated with open and shrub habitats. Many rare and endangered species benefit from bark beetle outbreaks, indicating that accepting natural forest dynamics is an important part of conservation management. Post-bark beetle management seems to have a minor effect on moth communities.

Temperature-habitat interactions constrain seasonal activity in a continental array of pitfall traps.

Activity density (AD), the rate at which animals collectively move through their environment, emerges as the product of a taxon's local abundance and its velocity. We analyze drivers of seasonal AD using 47 localities from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) both to better understand variation in ecosystem rates like pollination and seed dispersal as well as the constraints of using AD to monitor invertebrate populations. AD was measured as volume from biweekly pitfall trap arrays (mltrap-1 14days-1 ). Pooled samples from 2017 to 2018 revealed AD extrema at most temperatures but with a strongly positive overall slope. However, habitat types varied widely in AD's seasonal temperature sensitivity, from negative in wetlands to positive in mixed forest, grassland, and shrub habitats. The temperature of maximum AD varied threefold across the 47 localities; it tracked the threefold geographic variation in maximum growing season temperature with a consistent gap of ca. 3°C across habitats, a novel macroecological result. AD holds potential as an effective proxy for investigating ecosystem rates driven by activity. However, our results suggest that its use for monitoring insect abundance is complicated by the many ways that both abundance and velocity are constrained by a locality's temperature and plant physiognomy.

Quantifying Recent Storm-Induced Change on a Small Fetch-Limited Barrier Island along North Carolina’s Crystal Coast Using Aerial Imagery and LiDAR

Barrier islands within sheltered environments are an important natural defense from severe storm impacts for coastal communities worldwide. Despite their importance, these fetch-limited barrier islands remain understudied and their ability to withstand and recover from storms is not well-understood. Here, we present a case study of Sugarloaf Island in North Carolina that demonstrates the operational use of openly accessible LiDAR and aerial imagery data to quantify synoptic habitat, shoreline, and volumetric change between 2014 and 2020, a period that encompasses four hurricanes and a winter storm event. During this time period, our results show: (1) an 11–13% decrease in marsh and shrub habitat, (2) an average landward shoreline migration of 2.9 m yr−1 and up to 5.2 m yr−1 in extreme areas, and (3) a net volume loss of approximately 9800 m3. The results of this study highlight the importance of storms as a driver of morphologic change on Sugarloaf Island and have implications for better understanding the resiliency of fetch-limited barrier islands to storms. This work helps to enhance prerestoration data availability and supports knowledge-based decision-making regarding habitat change, erosional issues, and the efficacy of nature-based solutions to increase the resiliency of a coastal community in North Carolina.

Species Composition, Relative Abundance and Habitat Association of Avifauna in Zegie Peninsula Forest Patches and Associated Wetlands, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

The study about species composition, relative abundance and habitat association of avian fauna in Zegie Peninsula forest patches and associated wetlands was carried out from August 2018 to March 2019, covering both the wet and dry seasons. Forest, shrub, lakeshore and wetland were habitats. Data were collected using point count and line transect methods, for 24 days. A total of 96 species of birds were identified. Out of the total, 40 species were observed during the wet season; 13 during dry and 43 species in both seasons. There was statistically significance variation of species distribution among habitats (χ2=11.89, df=3, p=0.008). During the wet season, the highest species diversity was recorded in the wetland habitat (H’=3.3) followed by forest habitat (H’= 2.9). During the dry season, avian diversity was highest in lakeshore (H’=2.58) followed by wetland (H’=2.51). Highest evenness was observed in the shrub land (E=0.87) and (E=0.84) during the wet and dry seasons, respectively .During the wet season, the highest species similarity was recorded between wetland and lakeshore habitat (SI=0.39) and during the dry season the highest species similarity was recorded between forest and shrub habitats (SI= 0.6). 64(66.66%) of the avian species were uncommon. Currently, however, the species diversity in the area decreases. This might be due to various anthropogenic activities such as deforestation of trees for timber and cutting tree for fire wood. Therefore, awareness creation should be given to the local community to reduce habitat destruction. Keywords/Phrases: Bird diversity, relative abundance, wetlands, Zegie Peninsula, DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/12-11-01 Publication date: June 30 th 2022

What Influences Shifts in Urban Nature Site Visitation During COVID-19? A Case Study in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

Urban nature sites are crucial places for the promotion of human health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are few interdisciplinary studies that simultaneously investigate the impact of a range of social and environmental factors on potential shifts in urban nature site visitation. We sought to do this by analyzing both geospatial data of the amenities and environmental features of urban nature sites with a web-based survey of urban nature site visitation in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. We found that 53% of surveyed participants decreased visitation during the pandemic, while 26% increased visitation, 21% had no change, and only 1.7% were first-time visitors of urban nature sites. We developed a multiple linear regression model for shifts in visitation frequency during the pandemic, and found that a relative increase in visitation was positively associated with higher ratings of the physical and mental health contribution of the urban nature sites, higher nature maintenance and accessibility ratings, and visiting with a spouse, but negatively associated with variables such as car transportation, visit length, shrub habitat, age, and visiting alone or for romantic dates. Our results suggest that the perceived health benefits and accessibility of urban nature sites could be key in motivating visitation during the pandemic more than the specific environmental features or amenities of these sites. Given the on-going threats of the pandemic and other environmental crises, it is imperative to continue supporting the creation, maintenance, and monitoring of urban nature sites for not only urban ecosystems and biodiversity, but also so that they can contribute to the health of all urban residents.

STUDY ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF TREMATODE ALARIA ALATA (GOEZE, 1782) IN THE RED FOX (VULPES VULPES) IN YAKUTIA

The results are presented for the study on the distribution of the trematode Alaria alata in the red fox Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) in Yakutia. Sexually mature forms of the trematode Alaria alata were found in the small intestine of the fox, and the prevalence of invasion was 31.6% with an invasion intensity of 52±0.2 specimens. In the last decade, the number of foxes in Yakutia has increased. According to the Republican Department of Hunting Economy, the number of these animals totaled up to 23 thousand specimens in 2020. Sharp fluctuations in the number of foxes in Central Yakutia are associated with a decrease in the number of the Arctic hare (Lepus timidus) and the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus). The number of foxes is greater in the Republic’s "hare" regions of Verkhoyansky, Eveno-Bytantaisky and Kobyaysky uluses, where the dynamics of the number of foxes repeats the "hare" regions with a lag of 2–3 years. Foxes live throughout the territory of Yakutia, usually closer to taiga-lake lowlands with an abundance of meadow-lake, bottomland and shrub habitats where the meadow mouse and the muskrat can be found. The authors find remains of the muskrat, squirrel, chipmunk, pikas, mouse-like rodents and ungulates in the diet of the fox. Additionally, insects, mollusks, berries and herbaceous plants are found among food objects. Red foxes are of significant importance in the epizootology of alariosis as the main source of the trematode spreading in nature.

Phylogeny of the South American genus

The genus Baripus Dejean is a carabid beetle endemic to southern South America, inhabiting grassland and shrub habitats in mountain and lowland areas. In this work, the phylogeny of the genus is updated and new species restricted to isolated mountains from the Patagonia Biogeographic Province are described. The cladistic analysis showed that the new mountain species comprise a monophyletic clade with five other species. Within this group, the species are arranged in two internal clades. Each clade contains one or two lowland species with a wide distribution range and the remaining species with microendemic distribution on each mountain system. Their distribution pattern suggests that mountain species of Baripus could have originated since (by) the end of the Cenozoic when the mountains uplifted and acted as a refuge for populations of lowland species that remained isolated and later became differentiated from one another. Based on morphological and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I molecular data, Baripus (Cardiophthalmus) palauco, sp. nov., Baripus (Cardiophthalmus) tromen, sp. nov., Baripus (Cardiophthalmus) aucamahuida, sp. nov. and Baripus (Cardiophthalmus) payun, sp. nov. are described and a key to all currently known species of Baripus (Cardiophthalmus) is provided.

Nonbreeding season ecology and behavior of Eastern Towhees (Pipilo erythropthalmus)

Eastern Towhees (Pipilo erythropthalmus) are partial migrants that inhabit dense thickets of shrubs in both breeding and nonbreeding seasons and have declined range-wide by approximately 50% since the mid-1960s. Few studies have addressed the nonbreeding season natural history of Eastern Towhees. The objectives of our study were to (1) describe and quantify nonbreeding habitat use and social interactions, and (2) relate these metrics to winter weather conditions. We captured and radio-tagged 9 Eastern Towhees and tracked them using homing and triangulation for a total of 528 locations from late November 2015 to March 2016, plus 3 Eastern Towhees tracked in 2014–2015. The mean (± SE) home range size (80% kernel isopleth) was 7.31 ± 0.22 ha, and the mean (± SE) core area (30% kernel isopleth) was 1.52 ± 0.94 ha. The mean overlap of home ranges between neighbors was 36%, and 24% between neighboring core areas. The study area was classified into 4 habitats: mowed, blackberry scrub, woody shrub, and wooded. Habitat use did not directly correspond with availability: Eastern Towhees occupied woody shrub habitat most (48% of locations vs. 35% of available habitat), suggesting that of our 4 habitat types, woody shrub was preferred. For weather, wind speed did not significantly affect habitat use, foraging method, vocalizations, or flock size. Although temperature did not significantly affect any of the behaviors, there were trends for less ground foraging and more use of wooded habitat in freezing temperatures. Snow cover influenced habitat use (odds ratio = 0.60), vocalizations (odds ratio = 1.77), and flock size (odds ratio = 1.97), but not foraging. These results contribute to understanding the nonbreeding natural history of Eastern Towhees and demonstrate that inclement weather in the nonbreeding season may influence habitat use and behaviors in ways that could affect nonbreeding season survival.