Spatial patterns of bat diversity overlap with woodpecker abundance

Woodpecker diversity is usually higher in natural forests rich in dead wood and old trees than in managed ones, thus this group of birds is regarded as an indicator of forest biodiversity. Woodpeckers excavate cavities which can be subsequently used by several bird species. As a consequence, their abundance indicates high avian abundance and diversity in forests. However, woodpecker-made holes may be also important for other animals, for example, mammals but it has seldom been investigated so far. Here, we examine how well one species, the Great Spotted Woodpecker, predicts species richness, occurrence and acoustic activity of bats in Polish pine forests. In 2011 we conducted woodpecker and bat surveys at 63 point-count sites in forests that varied in terms of stand age, structure and amount of dead wood. From zero to five Great Spotted Woodpeckers at a point-count site were recorded. The total duration of the echolocation calls during a 10-min visit varied from 0 to 542 s and the number of bat species/species groups recorded during a visit ranged between zero to five. The local abundance of the woodpecker was positively correlated with bat species richness (on the verge of significance), bat occurrence and pooled bat activity. The occurrence of Eptesicus and Vespertilio bats and Nyctalus species was positively related with the abundance of the Great Spotted Woodpecker. The activity of Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Eptesicus and Vespertilio bats and a group of Myotis species was not associated with the woodpecker abundance, but echolocation calls of Nyctalus species, P. nathusii and P. pipistrellus were more often at sites with many Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Moreover, the probability of bat presence and the activity of bats was generally higher shortly after dusk and in middle of the summer than in late spring. We suggest that the observed correlations can be driven by similar roosting habitats (e.g., woodpeckers can provide breeding cavities for bats) or possibly by associated invertebrate food resources of woodpeckers and bats. The abundance of Great Spotted Woodpecker seems to be a good positive indicator of bat species richness, occurrence and activity, thus adding a group of relatively cryptic forest species that are indicated by the presence of the Great Spotted Woodpecker

Elucidating human-nature connectedness in three EU countries: A pro-environmental behaviour perspective

1. Strengthening positive human-nature relationships is seen as a way to more pro-environmental behaviour and leads to a greater environmental sustainability. Therefore, understanding human-nature relationships has attracted increasing attention among researchers. Nature connectedness is a concept developed to measure such relationships. Since nature connectedness is complex and context dependent phenomenon, more research comparing sociocultural and environmental factors within societies in different countries is needed to understand its determinants.2. In this study, we explored how sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics and value orientation of respondents and environmental variables affected nature connectedness across different contexts in the European Union. We used 11 sociodemographic, socioeconomic and personal value factors from the computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) and six environmental variables characterizing the local environments of 1054 respondents as independent variables to explain the nature connectedness of the respondents in Greece, Poland and Sweden. The individual level of nature connectedness (response variable) was expressed by an additive index (NC-index) based on a 5-item scale originating from CAWI. The general additive model was applied to link NC-index to sociodemographic, value orientation and selected environmental variables.3. We found that the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents and their value orientation were substantially more important in explaining the individual level of nature connectedness than environmental variables. The NC-index was positively correlated with the frequency of visits to the natural environment and biospheric values of the respondents, and was higher for women and the most prosperous respondents. Moreover, we observed several country-wise differences in associations between explanatory variables and NC-index. For example, altruistic orientation was positively related to the level of nature connectedness only in Greece, but not in two other countries, and residence during childhood was important to nature connectedness only in Sweden.4. Our findings that some sociodemographic, socioeconomic and value orientation variables affect the level of individual nature connectedness across studied countries are encouraging. They indicate that some universally applied educational actions may elevate the level of nature connectedness. We argue that exploration of nature connectedness from a cross-country perspective may provide significant insights into the environmental debate in national and international contexts

Environmental DNA metabarcoding elucidates patterns of fish colonisation and co-occurrences with amphibians in temperate wetlands created for biodiversity

Wetlands are biodiversity hotspots that provide several essential ecosystem services. On a global scale, wetlands have greatly declined due to human activities. To counteract wetland loss, created wetlands are used as a conservation tool to facilitate biodiversity and provide habitats mainly for birds and amphibians. Fishes are likely to colonise the created wetlands and potentially affect the diversity and occurrence of amphibians. Still, species occurrence data for fish in created wetlands are largely lacking. Using eDNA metabarcoding, we investigated occurrence and co-occurrence patterns of fish and amphibian communities in 52 wetlands (some of which are ponds) created to benefit mainly bird and amphibian communities in south-central Sweden. Altogether, 17 fish and five amphibian species were detected in the created wetlands out of the 32 fish and six amphibian species found in the regional species pool. Amphibians were less common in wetlands physically connected to other wetlands. Connected wetlands were more fish-rich than isolated ones, suggesting potential fish avoidance. Additionally, the amphibian community occupied a narrower environmental niche compared to the fish community. Nevertheless, we observed only five statistically significant negative fish-amphibian species co-occurrences (out of 14 species considered). Even though our results suggest amphibian avoidance/exclusion from the created biodiversity wetlands, they also show that fish and amphibians frequently co-exist. Increased habitat heterogeneity in terms of water vegetation, size, shape, and structure of the wetland could be possible factors enabling the co-existence of these two taxa. With this study, we contribute to the general knowledge of fish occurrence patterns in created biodiversity wetlands. By comparing the frequencies of fish occurrence in natural and created wetlands, we have shown that there was some mismatch in what is common in natural compared to created wetlands. This mismatch probably comes from species-specific habitat requirements, stocking, and differences in detectability when using eDNA metabarcoding (small species detected) versus conventional multi-mesh gill-net methods (small species missed). Therefore, our results obtained using eDNA metabarcoding can complement the pre-existing knowledge of amphibian and fish associations and increase our understanding of how to create wetlands to facilitate biodiversity of several taxa

Puszcza Białowieska : miniprzewodnik naukowy

"Dzisiejsza roślinność Puszczy jest wynikiem procesów ekologicznych, które kształtowały ją od schyłku ostatniego zlodowacenia, kiedy ocieplenie klimatu umożliwiło rozwój ekosystemów leśnych na tym terenie. Około 12 tysięcy lat temu rozprzestrzeniły się tu lasy sosnowo-brzozowe, a następnie kolejno przybywały inne gatunki drzew, które wędrowały z cieplejszych rejonów Europy, gdzie przetrwały okres zlodowacenia. Stopniowo wzbogacały one tutejsze lasy i powodowały ich zróżnicowanie w zależności od warunków siedliskowych. Do pierwszych przybyszów, po sośnie i brzozie, należały wiąz i leszczyna, a między ok. 9300 a 3800 lat temu miał miejsce najbujniejszy rozwój wielogatunkowych, mieszanych lasów liściastych." (fragm.

Ultraviolet film reduces bird–glass collision risk

It is estimated that millions of birds globally die due to collisions with glass surfaces. In order to reduce this mortality, it is essential to provide an objective assessment of the effectiveness of bird-friendly preventive methods. Several types of opaque films and stickers are available nowadays and can be highly effective in protecting birds from fatal collisions. However, by being visible to the human eye, they can affect the users’ quality of view from within protected spaces. Products that take advantage of the birds' ability to see ultraviolet light seem to offset these impediments. This study determines if UV-reflective BirdShades film prevents birds from collisions with glass in natural environmental conditions. We monitored eight glass bus stops, where we had previously recorded high numbers of birds collisions. On four of them, we applied UV film, and the other four bus stops were used as control. A generalized additive mixed model showed a significant interaction between time (before vs. after) and film UV treatment (control vs. treated). Before the treatment, the number of collisions tended to be higher at treated bus shelters than control. However, this significantly changed after the treatment, suggesting that UV film reduces bird glass collision rate over 5-fold. Our study is the first worldwide that tested UV film on glass shelters and supports a conclusion that the UV film efficiently reduces the risk of bird collision