The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme

The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media was previously poorly known. Three tracks in 2010 suggested a remarkable migratory behaviour including long and fast overland non-stop flights (Klaassen et al. 2011). Here we present the migration pattern of Swedish male great snipes, based on 19 individuals tracked by light-level geolocators in four different years. About half of the birds made stopover(s) in northern Europe in early autumn. They left the breeding area 15 days earlier than those which flew directly to sub-Sahara, suggesting two distinct autumn migration strategies. The autumn trans-Sahara flights were on average 5500 km long, lasted 64 h, and were flown at ground speeds of 25 m s-1 (90 km h-1). The arrival in the Sahel zone of West Africa coincided with the wet season there, and the birds stayed for on average three weeks. The birds arrived at their wintering grounds around the lower stretches of the Congo River in late September and stayed for seven months. In spring the great snipes made trans-Sahara flights of similar length and speed as in autumn, but the remaining migration through eastern Europe was notably slow. All birds returned to the breeding grounds within one week around mid-May. The annual cycle was characterized by relaxed temporal synchronization between individuals during the autumn-winter period, with maximum variation at the arrival in the wintering area. Synchronization increased in spring, with minimum time variation at arrival in the breeding area. This suggests that arrival date in the breeding area is under strong stabilizing selection, while there is room for more flexibility in autumn and arrival to the wintering area. The details of the fast non-stop flights remain to be elucidated, but the identification of the main stopover and wintering areas is important for future conservation work on this red-listed bird species

Surviving in Europe : geopolitics of biodiversity conservation illustrated by a proxy species Viola uliginosa

Building strategies for continental-scale conservation is challenging due to evolutionary and geopolitical problems. How do policy choices arise from this setting? In this study, we integrate ecological research with policy analysis to examine the problem field with a case study research. We use a violet species endemic to Europe, Viola uliginosa, as a proxy for a significant European Union (EU)-Russian biodiversity pattern and its conservation. The violet's core populations locate in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia, and all populations in the EU are peripheral. The species is endangered in 12 EU member states and in decline in many places elsewhere. To analyze the choices of conservation, we gathered data on its ecology, distribution, and conservation mechanisms across Europe, putting additional emphasis on the EU enlargement and long-term site histories in Finland. We found that the survival of the species in the EU depends on the enlargement negotiations, conflicts between the EU biodiversity and agricultural policies, selection of the species to national Red Lists and the Habitats Directive, and contingent site histories depending on the conservation activities by civic actors and the member states. While the evolutionary aspect emphasizes the genetic differentiation potential of peripheral populations, the geopolitical aspect characterizes the EU as simultaneous spaces of a monotopia, borderlands, and polycentric development. We conclude that intersections between these geopolitical spaces can be used with evolutionary perspectives to identify local, European, and network-driven policy choices of conservation.Peer reviewe

Screening potential pests of Nordic coniferous forests associated with trade in ornamental plants

Plant pests moved along with the trade in ornamental plants could pose a threat to forests. In this study plant pests potentially associated with this pathway were screened to identify pests that could pose a high risk to the coniferous forests of Finland, Sweden and Norway. Specifically, the aim was to find pests that potentially could fulfil the criteria to become regulated as quarantine pests. EPPO’s commodity study approach, which includes several screening steps, was used to identify the pests that are most likely to become significant pests of Picea abies or Pinus sylvestris. From an initial list of 1062 pests, 65 pests were identified and ranked using the FinnPRIO model, resulting in a top list of 14 pests, namely Chionaspis pinifoliae, Coleosporium asterum s.l., Cytospora kunzei, Dactylonectria macrodidyma, Gnathotrichus retusus, Heterobasidion irregulare, Lambdina fiscellaria, Orgyia leucostigma, Orthotomicus erosus, Pseudocoremia suavis, Tetropium gracilicorne, Toumeyella parvicornis, Truncatella hartigii and Xylosandrus germanus. The rankings of the pests, together with the collected information, can be used to prioritize pests and pathways for further assessment

Ecosystem service multifunctionality of low-productivity forests and implications for conservation and management

Low-productivity forests are often the last remaining pristine forests in managed forest landscapes and typically overrepresented among protected forests. However, the provisioning of individual and multiple ecosystem services (ES-multifunctionality) by these forests remains poorly assessed, making it difficult to evaluate their importance in forest conservation and management.Here, using nationwide data on ES from over 2,000 forest plots, we test whether levels of ES-multifunctionality and individual ES differ between low-productivity forested mires and rocky outcrops in relation to the levels of productive forests, and as a function of forest age, tree species richness and climate. We defined ES-multifunctionality using different threshold values of the maximum levels (low, medium and high) and weighted these according to land-use objectives (equal weight of all services, greater weight to cultural and supporting ES or greater weight to production).We show that the ES-multifunctionality of forested mires is consistently lower than those of productive forests. However, the ES-multifunctionality increased with forest age in forested mires but not in productive forests. The ES-multifunctionality of forested rocky outcrops, on the other hand, was higher or equivalent to that of productive forests under equal weight and supporting land-use objectives, respectively. Our findings highlight that forested rocky outcrops can supply multiple ES, especially older forested stands with mixtures of coniferous and deciduous trees. Generally, we found no evidence for strong trade-offs between the ES studied and our results highlight the importance of forest age for increasing the ES-multifunctionality of low-productivity forests.Synthesis and applications. Low-productivity forests should not be exempt of forestry or protected purely based on low productivity or low land-use conflict if the goal is to conserve multiple ecosystem services (ES). Inclusion grounds for protecting low-productivity forests should instead carefully consider the site type (dry vs. wet), forest age and tree species richness. To maintain higher ES-multifunctionality in low-productivity forests, older or deciduous trees should also not be harvested. This will require changes in current conservation or management policies of low-productivity forests of some countries

Thermal performance under constant temperatures can accurately predict insect development times across naturally variable microclimates

External conditions can drive biological rates in ectotherms by directly influencing body temperatures. While estimating the temperature dependence of performance traits such as growth and development rate is feasible under controlled laboratory settings, predictions in nature are difficult. One major challenge lies in translating performance under constant conditions to fluctuating environments. Using the butterfly Pieris napi as model system, we show that development rate, an important fitness trait, can be accurately predicted in the field using models parameterized under constant laboratory temperatures. Additionally, using a factorial design, we show that accurate predictions can be made across microhabitats but critically hinge on adequate consideration of non-linearity in reaction norms, spatial heterogeneity in microclimate and temporal variation in temperature. Our empirical results are also supported by a comparison of published and simulated data. Conclusively, our combined results suggest that, discounting direct effects of temperature, insect development rates are generally unaffected by thermal fluctuations

Remotely sensed forest understory density and nest predator occurrence interact to predict suitable breeding habitat and the occurrence of a resident boreal bird species

Habitat suitability models (HSM) based on remotely sensed data are useful tools in conservation work. However, they typically use species occurrence data rather than robust demographic variables, and their predictive power is rarely evaluated. These shortcomings can result in misleading guidance for conservation. Here, we develop and evaluate a HSM based on correlates of long-term breeding success of an open nest building boreal forest bird, the Siberian jay. In our study site in northern Sweden, nest failure of this permanent resident species is driven mainly by visually hunting corvids that are associated with human settlements. Parents rely on understory nesting cover as protection against these predators. Accordingly, our HSM includes a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) based metric of understory density around the nest and the distance of the nest to the closest human settlement to predict breeding success. It reveals that a high understory density 15-80 m around nests is associated with increased breeding success in territories close to settlements (<1.5 km). Farther away from human settlements breeding success is highest at nest sites with a more open understory providing a favorable warmer microclimate. We validated this HSM by comparing the predicted breeding success with landscape-wide census data on Siberian jay occurrence. The correlation between breeding success and occurrence was strong up to 40 km around the study site. However, the HSM appears to overestimate breeding success in regions with a milder climate and therefore higher corvid numbers. Our findings suggest that maintaining patches of small diameter trees may provide a cost-effective way to restore the breeding habitat for Siberian jays up to 1.5 km from human settlements. This distance is expected to increase in the warmer, southern, and coastal range of the Siberian jay where the presence of other corvids is to a lesser extent restricted to settlements