Search Results (20)

Sicklefin (Macrhybopsis meeki) and sturgeon chub (M. gelida) historically occurred throughout the Missouri River (MR), in some tributaries, and Mississippi River downstream of the MR. They have been species of U.S. state-level conservation concern and U.S. Endangered Species Act listing candidates since the 1990s. We applied analytical approaches from occupancy modeling to correlation to monitoring data spanning 23 years to assess relationships between occupancy and time, space, environmental factors, habitat, and other species. Sicklefin chub occupancy appeared higher in the early to mid-2000s and mid-to-late 2010s. A potential decline in occupancy occurred for sturgeon chub in the mid-to-late 2010s. Spatially, chub occupancy was depressed for 159 to 438 km downstream of MR dams. Among macrohabitats, inside bends had relatively high occupancy for both species; secondary connected channels had relatively high values for sturgeon chub. Co-occurrence was likely between sicklefin and sturgeon chub and between chubs and shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhybchus platorybchus) and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). The observed co-occurrence of chubs and pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus; PS) was potentially higher than expected for adult PS. For juvenile PS, co-occurrence was lower than expected in the Lower MR and potentially higher than expected in the Upper MR, warranting future research. Results from this research suggest management for the improvement of sicklefin and sturgeon chub populations may benefit other MR fish populations. Full article

Small undisturbed patches in urban environments serve as important refuges for wildlife, e.g., hedgehogs. However, the effects of urbanization on certain biological aspects, like nesting behavior, remain unknown. We captured and tracked the movement of 30 male hedgehogs of two co-existing species: Algerian and European hedgehogs. The study was carried out in Valencia (eastern Spain). We distinguished six macrohabitats and five subhabitats. We analyzed the proportions of the macro and subhabitats where nests were found to calculate a resource selection function and fit GLMs. Hedgehog nests tended to concentrate in areas with little human disturbance and were built in hedges or under bush-like vegetation. We did not find any significant differences between species or other considered groups. We noted that nests were distributed around hard-to-find suitable habitat patches. We even recorded a case of two males from both species simultaneously using one nest. Our results suggest that hedgehog conservation in urban environments can be improved by the correct management of forest patches by conserving bush-like vegetation and improving the connectivity between suitable patches with ecological corridors. Full article

Natural habitats in South America have been intensively used and modified, including their conversion to exotic tree plantations, impacting the terrestrial fauna communities. Carnivores play an important role in the functioning of ecosystems as apex predators. Landscape characteristics and resource availability determine the composition and abundance of co-occurring carnivores. We hypothesized that the diversity and relative abundance of native carnivores varied in relation to the different vegetation macrohabitats. We predicted that native forests support a higher diversity and abundance of native carnivores compared to exotic plantations. Between 1 March 2021 and 31 March 2022, we estimated the species’ richness, composition, and relative abundance of terrestrial native carnivores in three different landscapes of the Coast Range in central Chile: (a) monoculture plantation of the exotic Pinus radiata (MP); (b) Mediterranean coastal thorn forest (TF); and (c) Mediterranean coastal sclerophyllous forest (SF). We monitored an area of 1000 ha in each landscape, installing 10 camera traps (total of 30 camera traps). We used a monitoring transect with unbaited camera traps separated by 1 km, with a total photo-trapping effort of 10,046 camera days. The classification, organization, and analysis of camera trap data were conducted using CameraSweet software. The total number of independent native carnivore species events (photos separated > 60 min) recorded in each landscape were 1564 in SF, 1412 in TF, and 775 in MP. Carnivore richness and composition were not significantly different in all three landscapes. We detected five native carnivore species. Relative abundance by species was significantly higher in SF compared to MP for Leopardus guigna, Conepatus chinga, and Galictis cuja and also significantly higher in TF compared to MP for L. guigna. Our results suggest that the native vegetation cover must be preserved to maintain viable and abundant native carnivore populations, crucially relevant in the highly impacted and human-dominated global biodiversity hotspot of Central Chile. This study contributes to informing evidence-based decision-making and conservation strategies at the landscape level to mitigate biodiversity loss. Full article

The controlled use of fires to reduce combustible materials in prescribed burning helps to prevent the occurrence of forest fires. In recent decades, these fires have mainly been caused by anthropogenic activities. The study area is located in the Pantanal biome. In 2020, the greatest drought in 60 years happened in the Pantanal. The fire affected almost one third of the biome. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of prescribed burnings carried out in 2021 on three macrohabitats (M1: natural grassland flooded with a proliferation of Combretum spp., M2: natural grassland of seasonal swamps, and M3: natural grassland flooded with a proliferation of Vochysia divergens) inside the SESC Pantanal Private Natural Heritage Reserve. Multispectral and thermal data analyses were conducted with remotely piloted aircraft systems in 1 ha plots in three periods of the dry season with early, mid, and late burning. The land use and land cover classification indicate that the predominant vegetation type in these areas is seasonally flooded grassland, with percentages above 73%, except in zone three, which has a more diverse composition and structure, with the presence of arboreal specimens of V. divergem Pohl. The pattern of the thermal range showed differentiation pre- and post-burning. The burned area index indicated that fire was more efficient in the first two macrohabitats because they are natural grasslands, reducing the grass species in the burnings. Early and mid prescribed burnings are a good option to reduce the continuous accumulation of dry forest biomass fuel material and help to promote landscape heterogeneity. The use of multispectral sensor data with high spatial/spectral resolution can show the effects of fires, using highly detailed scales for technical decision making. Full article

This article investigates the occurrence and distribution of parasitic protozoa of Iranian freshwater fishes (both farmed and wild). Our search shows 26 known parasitic protozoan species were recorded from 52 freshwater fish species across different ecoregions of Iran. Most of these fish are edible. While none of the identified protozoan parasites are of zoonotic importance, our study does not exclude presence of zoonotic species in Iranian fishes. Present data suggest the northern and western regions of the country are the main macrohabitat of protozoa (35 parasitic records reported), with the greatest concentration of parasitic protozoa occurring in the Urmia basin in Iran’s northwest. The clustered distribution pattern of protozoa among freshwater fish was also more evident in the northern and western parts of the country. The gills and skin were the most infected microhabitats for parasitic protozoa. The highest number of parasites was observed in the fish family Cyprinidae with nine species found in the native fish, Capoeta capoeta. The most diverse host range was observed in the holotrich ciliate, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis isolated from 46 cyprinid species in 39 different locations. However, due to the great richness of fish and extreme habitat diversity, parts of the parasite fauna of Iranian freshwater fish are still poorly understood. Furthermore, current and future changes in climate and environmental parameters, and anthropogenic interventions are likely to affect fish hosts and their parasites. Full article

Habitat ecology of lichens (lichen-forming fungi) involves diverse adaptations to stressful environments where lichens use specific habitat conditions. Field observations confirm that such habitat ‘preferences’ can vary significantly across species’ distribution ranges, sometimes revealing abrupt changes over short distances. We critically review and generalize such empirical evidence as broad ecological patterns, link these with the likely physiological mechanisms and evolutionary processes involved, and outline the implications for lichen conservation. Non-replicated correlative studies remain only suggestive because the data are frequently compromised by sampling bias and pervasive random errors; further noise is related to unrecognized cryptic species. Replicated evidence exists for three macroecological patterns: (a) regional limiting factors excluding a species from a part of its microhabitat range in suboptimal areas; (b) microhabitat shifts to buffer regionally adverse macroclimates; (c) substrate suitability changed by the chemical environment, notably air pollution. All these appear to be primarily buffering physiological challenges of the adverse conditions at the macrohabitat scale or, in favorable environments, coping with competition or predation. The roles of plasticity, adaptation, dispersal, and population-level stochasticity remain to be studied. Although lichens can inhabit various novel microhabitats, there is no evidence for a related adaptive change. A precautionary approach to lichen conservation is to maintain long-term structural heterogeneity in lichen habitats, and consider lichen ecotypes as potential evolutionarily significant units and a bet-hedging strategy for addressing the climate change-related challenges to biodiversity. Full article

The threespine stickleback is a freshwater fish listed as endangered in Portugal, near the southern limit of the species global distribution. However, few measures have been proposed aiming at the conservation of this species in suboptimal environments. From existing databases and specific sampling campaigns, we obtained occurrence data of threespine stickleback for a total of 646 sites. The occurrence data, together with 15 environmental macrohabitat predictors, were used to model the potential distribution of the species using an ensemble of species distribution models. Through the results of our final ensemble, we project that the threespine stickleback occurs predominantly at lower stretches of river systems, where sandy substrate is dominant and flow is higher. Within this region, sticklebacks are also more likely to occur in sites with high levels of rainfall in the driest month, thus avoiding locations with high potential for drying during summer. The species also tends to avoid steep slope areas with high levels of annual precipitation. Based on our results, a map of the species probability of occurrence was generated and river sections were categorized into levels according to their importance for the species’ conservation. Full article

Wetlands are periodically flooded terrestrial and aquatic environments, which provide benefits to a community known as ecosystem services (ESs). This research identified, classified, and spatialized the level of relevance of ecosystem services provided by wetlands in the Galinhos-Guamaré semi-arid estuarine system, State of Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Brazil. ESs were analyzed using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES), v.4.3, and geographic information system (GIS) using a mosaic of Sentinel-2A images. The services provided by wetlands were classified into provision, regulation and maintenance, and cultural sections, with six divisions, 12 groups, and 22 classes being identified. The capacity of a number of wetlands to provide services was identified in 34 mangrove forests, 32 estuaries, 30 tidal flats, 26 solar saltworks, 23 apicum (tidal flats), and seven in shrimp ponds. However, it is noteworthy that these habitats are associated with ecosystems with great ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural importance, where the general approach presented here requires more detailed research in each macrohabitat, which should be considered as a priority for conservation. Full article

Stream ecosystems provide invaluable ecosystem services but are highly impacted ecosystems in need of water quality monitoring for habitat change impacts. Freshwater macroinvertebrate (FWI) assemblages have been shown to be good indicators of water quality and are known to be vulnerable to land-use land cover (LULC) and other habitat changes. The goal of this case study was to use an existing dominant LULC analysis in the Neponset River watershed, Massachusetts, USA, as LULC sampling treatment groups to deliberately capture the influence of these LULC effects on meso-scale habitat quality, FWI assemblages, and FWI water quality indices at eight sampling reaches. To achieve this goal, we collected physical habitat measurements and FWI samples in the summers of 2010 and 2012 at eight reach-scale stations spread across four previously determined LULC sub-watershed types (forest, residential, industrial, and golf) in the watershed. We expected that LULC change would influence the habitat quality, which would influence the FWI assemblage water quality scores and composition. We also expected that the water quality at these LULC sub-watershed types would be reflected in the FWI assemblage composition. We identified five major findings from our study. Our first finding was that the habitat quality in the Neponset River watershed was somewhat degraded relative to pristine conditions. Our second finding was that our habitat characterization analysis reflected some separation of our reach-scale macrohabitat types at land-use land-cover treatment stations with some correlations with microhabitat variables. Our third finding was that the water quality base on FWI assemblages was generally degraded in reference to pristine conditions. Our fourth finding was that, contrary to our expectations, there was no significant correlation between our reach-scale EPA habitat quality scores and FWI water quality scores. Our fifth finding was that our FWI assemblage NMS showed separation of land-use land-cover sampling stations and that that low pollution-tolerant taxa dominated some of our LULC sampling treatment stations and influenced NMS groupings. Full article

The conservation of fish biodiversity requires reliable information on their distribution and habitat use, especially of endemic species that generally occur in restricted geographic areas and specific habitats. This is the case of threespine stickleback (G. aculeatus L.), that is a small freshwater fish listed as Endangered (EN) in Portugal, which represents the southern limit of the species global distribution. The monitoring and conservation of populations placed near to the species distribution limits is very important because in these places, small environmental changes can lead to the significant decline of local populations. However, due to the lack of knowledge about its regional distribution, ecology, and macrohabitat preferences, few measures have been proposed aiming the conservation of this species. This project aimed to identify which macro-scale environmental factors determine regional distribution of G. aculeatus, to predict their potential distribution and, therefore, define the most important areas for their protection and conservation. The occurrence data, from existing databases and specific sampling campaigns, together with 15 environmental macrohabitat predictors, were used to model the potential distribution of sticklebacks in Portugal, through an ensemble of species distributions models (SDM). Through the results of our ensemble model, we found that threespine stickleback may occur predominantly at lower stretches of river systems, where sandy substrate is dominant, and flow is higher. Sticklebacks are also more likely to occur in sites with high levels of rainfall in the driest month, thus avoiding locations with high potential for drying during summer, which tend to be common in the Iberian Peninsula. The species also tends to avoid steep slope areas, with high levels of annual precipitation. Based on our results, a probability map of occurrence was generated; from this, some river stretches were categorized into levels according to their importance for the conservation of the species. With the results obtained, it was also possible to identify some atypical populations, occurring in areas with low or null habitat suitability, which need to be further studied, because they must have developed physiological characteristics that allow them to subsist in places that are not conducive to their survival. Full article

Most of our knowledge on the processes structuring parasite communities in amphibians originate from temperate-zone taxa, whereas Afrotropical communities have been neglected so far. We found evidence that ecological fitting of the hosts and, probably, differential immune response may influence the variation in parasite species richness, prevalence, and infestation intensity of East African frogs Hyperolius kivuensis and H. viridiflavus. The most closely related host species share the same macrohabitat (that implies the same pool of potential parasites), but differ in microhabitat preference, so that a comparative analyses of syntopic and allopatric populations is expedient to reveal ecological fitting. We detected 11 parasite species (one annelid, four nematodes, five trematodes, one cestode) and two endocommensal species (protozoans). The component parasite communities included 4–5 helminth species in H. kivuensis and 6–8 in the more aquatic H. viridiflavus, supporting the hypothesis that trematode diversity increases with the amount of time spent in water. Five parasite species (Orneoascaris chrysanthemoides, Clinostomum chabaudi, an undetermined echinostomatid) and two protozoans (Nyctotheroides sp., and Protoopalina sp.) are shared among the syntopic amphibian populations. This finding indicates a similar susceptibility of these amphibians to infestation from the local parasite pool. Yet, the low prevalence of single- and multi-species infestations in H. kivuensis indicates that parasite clearing by its immune response is probably more effective and prominent than in H. viridiflavus. Therefore, H. viridiflavus suffered from significantly reduced short-term survival due to the infection. Thus, we conclude that the processes structuring component parasite communities in amphibians do not differ generally between temperate-zone and Afrotropical host species, but they do in the magnitude of ecological fitting. Full article

Cryptobenthic fishes were often overlooked in the past due to their cryptic lifestyle, so knowledge of their ecology is still incomplete. One of the most poorly studied taxa of fishes in the Mediterranean Sea is clingfish. In this paper we examine the habitat preferences of three clingfish species (Lepadogaster lepadogaster, L. candolii, and Apletodon incognitus) occurring in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic). The results show that all three species have a cryptic lifestyle and are well-segregated based on their depth distribution and macro- and microhabitat preferences. L. lepadogaster inhabits shallow waters of the lower mediolittoral and upper infralittoral, where it occurs on rocky bottoms under stones. L. candolii similarly occurs in the rocky infralittoral under stones, but below the lower distribution limit of L. lepadogaster, and in seagrass meadows, where it occupies empty seashells. Such hiding places in seagrass meadows are also occupied by A. incognitus, which mostly occurs below the lower distribution limit of L. candolii. Despite the overlap of depth and macrohabitat, the probability of individuals of two species encountering each other or competing in the same habitat is low when the depth range is combined with the microhabitat preferences of these species. Full article

Land use changes remain one of the leading global change drivers leading to biodiversity loss in terrestrial and aquatic systems. Restoration aims to counteract the development of “natural” (i.e., forested, grassland, or wetland) spaces that alter and fragment the landscape and reduce local biodiversity through direct impacts to the water column and indirect impacts which inhibit adult dispersal of aquatic insects. This case study seeks to determine if a large-scale restoration of a former cranberry bog in Plymouth, MA has resulted in near-term measurable changes to the composition, structure, and function of local-scale in-stream habitat diversity. A three-year observational field study beginning one year prior to reconstruction was conducted at the restored cranberry bog and at two control treatment sites: an active cranberry bog reference and a least impacted reference (i.e., has never been used for modern agriculture). Seasonal inventories of in-stream habitat features including depth, substrate, macrohabitat, and in-stream cover were taken from 2015 to 2017. We found that 2 years post-restoration, there was no significant evidence of compositional or functional change, while there was a significant increase in structural diversity. There is reason to suspect the system is still in flux and longer-term monitoring may detect future habitat heterogeneity alterations. Full article

The American red flat bark beetle, Cucujus clavipes, is a wide distributed saproxylic species divided into two subspecies: ssp. clavipes restricted to eastern regions of North America and ssp. puniceus occurring only in western regions of this continent. Unique morphological features, including body shape and body coloration, make this species easy to recognize even for amateurs. Surprisingly, except some studies focused on physiological adaptations of the species, the ecology of C. clavipes was almost unstudied. Based on over 500 records collected by citizen scientists and deposited in the iNaturalist data base, we studied phenological activity of adult beetles, habitat preferences and impact of future climate change for both subspecies separately. The results clearly show that spp. clavipes and ssp. puniceus can be characterized by differences in phenology and macrohabitat preferences, and their ranges do not overlap at any point. Spp. clavipes is found as more opportunistic taxon occurring in different forests as well as in urban and agricultural areas with tree vegetation always in elevations below 500 m, while elevational distribution of ssp. puniceus covers areas up to 2300 m, and the beetle was observed mainly in forested areas. Moreover, we expect that climate warming will have negative influence on both subspecies with the possible loss of proper niches at level even up to 47–70% of their actual ranges during next few decades. As the species is actually recognized as unthreatened and always co-occurs with many other species, we suggest, because of its expected future habitat loss, to pay more attention to conservationists for possible negative changes in saproxylic insects and/or forest fauna in North America. In addition, as our results clearly show that both subspecies of C. clavipes differ ecologically, which strongly supports earlier significant morphological and physiological differences noted between them, we suggest that their taxonomical status should be verified by molecular data, because very probably they represent separate species. Full article

The two subfamilies Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae, also known as aquatic dance flies, are a group of small predatory insects occurring mainly in mountainous areas and the northern temperate. However, very little is known about distribution patterns for most of the species. Habitat preferences for 40 aquatic empidid species were analysed in the Pieniny Mts., Poland. Forty-six sampling sites from a major part of this relatively low mountain massif (400–770 m) were chosen, for which 17 micro and macrohabitat environmental variables were measured including both abiotic (altitude, stream mean width and depth, and shading) and biotic factors (13 dominant plant communities). Here we show that numerous studied aquatic Empididae were characterized by unique habitat preferences and were restricted to the foothills or the lower montane zone with only a few species characterized by wider elevational distribution. Chelifera pectinicauda, C. flavella, C. subangusta and Phyllodromia melanocephala (Hemerodromiinae), and Clinocera appendiculata, C. fontinalis, C. wesmaeli, Dolichocephala guttata, D. oblongoguttata, Kowarzia plectrum, Wiedemannia jazdzewskii, and W. thienemanni (Clinocerinae) were clearly associated with the highest altitudes and shaded areas while W. bistigma, W. lamellata, W. phantasma, and W. tricuspidata (Clinocerinae) were clearly associated with the lower elevated, wider stream valleys overgrown by willow brakes. Species richness and diversity decreased along elevational gradient with the hump-shaped diversity pattern noted for the subfamily Clinocerinae. The altitude, size of river/stream as well as the type of plant community were found as the most important factors in the distribution of the studied aquatic empidid species. The present study is the first one focused on elevational diversity gradient and habitat preferences of Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae of central Europe, and one of only a few in the world. Full article