Caught basking in the winter sun: Preliminary data on winter thermoregulation in the Ethiopian hedgehog, Paraechinus aethiopicus, in Qatar

Biologists focus on thermoregulation of desert mammals in terms of how they minimize heat gain, and put less effort on how they maximize heat gain during the cooler months. Heat gain may contribute to significant energy savings in desert mammals when the ambient temperature is substantially lower than body temperature. We investigated winter thermoregulation in free-ranging Ethiopian hedgehogs, Paraechinus aethiopicus, during winter using radio-telemetry in Qatar. Hedgehog temperatures (Animal Ta) were significantly higher than ambient temperatures (Ta) throughout the day, the difference was more extreme during the mid-day. We observed several hedgehogs basking with their radio-tags exposed to direct sunlight. We suggest that basking is beneficial for the hedgehog's thermoregulation in the desert where plenty of solar radiation is available with few predators. This is the first report of basking in the subfamily Erinaceinae.This report was made possible by a NPRP award (NPRP 5-083-1-019) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment of Qatar and the staff at Rawdat Al Faras Agricultural Research Center for providing access to the site and for logistical support. We also acknowledge the input from five anonymous reviewers that greatly improved the manuscript.Scopu

Continent-wide analysis of how urbanization affects bird-window collision mortality in North America

Characteristics of buildings and land cover surrounding buildings influence the number of bird-window collisions, yet little is known about whether bird-window collisions are associated with urbanization at large spatial scales. We initiated a continent-wide study in North America to assess how bird-window collision mortality is influenced by building characteristics, landscaping around buildings, and regional urbanization. In autumn 2014, researchers at 40 sites (N = 281 buildings) used standardized protocols to document collision mortality of birds, evaluate building characteristics, and measure local land cover and regional urbanization. Overall, 324 bird carcasses were observed (range = 0–34 per site) representing 71 species. Consistent with previous studies, we found that building size had a strong positive effect on bird-window collision mortality, but the strength of the effect on mortality depended on regional urbanization. The positive relationship between collision mortality and building size was greatest at large buildings in regions of low urbanization, locally extensive lawns, and low-density structures. Collision mortality was consistently low for small buildings, regardless of large-scale urbanization. The mechanisms shaping broad-scale variation in collision mortality during seasonal migration may be related to habitat selection at a hierarchy of scales and behavioral divergence between urban and rural bird populations. These results suggest that collision prevention measures should be prioritized at large buildings in regions of low urbanization throughout North America

Continent-wide analysis of how urbanization affects bird-window collision mortality in North America

Characteristics of buildings and land cover surrounding buildings influence the number of bird-window collisions, yet little is known about whether bird-window collisions are associated with urbanization at large spatial scales. We initiated a continent-wide study in North America to assess how bird-window collision mortality is influenced by building characteristics, landscaping around buildings, and regional urbanization. In autumn 2014, researchers at 40 sites (N = 281 buildings) used standardized protocols to document collision mortality of birds, evaluate building characteristics, and measure local land cover and regional urbanization. Overall, 324 bird carcasses were observed (range = 0–34 per site) representing 71 species. Consistent with previous studies, we found that building size had a strong positive effect on bird-window collision mortality, but the strength of the effect on mortality depended on regional urbanization. The positive relationship between collision mortality and building size was greatest at large buildings in regions of low urbanization, locally extensive lawns, and low-density structures. Collision mortality was consistently low for small buildings, regardless of large-scale urbanization. The mechanisms shaping broad-scale variation in collision mortality during seasonal migration may be related to habitat selection at a hierarchy of scales and behavioral divergence between urban and rural bird populations. These results suggest that collision prevention measures should be prioritized at large buildings in regions of low urbanization throughout North America