Demographic data on the Little Owl (Athene noctua) in Upper-Kiskunság (Hungary)

AbstractThis study focused on the clutch size and age-specific apparent survival rate of the Little Owl(Athene noctua)population in Upper-Kiskunság, Hungary. Between May 2005 and April 2017, 640 individuals were captured and ringed in a total of 746 capture-recapture occasions. Artificial nest boxes were installed in the study area, breeding birds and pulli were captured for ringing/recaptured in these boxes (from March to May), or at the close neighbourhood of those (max. 168 m). Jolly-Seber’s open population method was applied to model the survival rate. The candidate model set included models incorporating age, year-effect, and the combination of those. AICc value was used to compare models in a selection approach. The final model was constructed via model averaging based on the models with significant explanatory power. The average number and SD of pullus/breeding pair was 3.78 ± 0.76. The average apparent annual survival rate (which does not differentiate between mortality and permanent emigration) for the period between pullus stage and the time of the first breeding was estimated as 9.47% ± 2.99% SE, whereas the annual survival rate of adults was 82.74% ± 8.46% SE. The effect of sex on the survival rate of adults was not investigated due to female-biased sample, as the probability of capturing females is significantly higher in late spring months. Our experience reveals that during February and March it is possible to capture both sexes in the nest boxes, and it does not influence negatively the breeding success. Based on our results, the population of the Little Owl is stable in Upper-Kiskunság. A slight increase in estimated population size is observable even if we make no difference between mortality and permanent emigration. The high occupancy rate of the installed nest boxes reveals that nest site availability is an important limiting factor in the studied population.</jats:p

Post‐restoration grassland management overrides the effects of restoration methods in propagule‐rich landscapes

Grassland restoration is gaining momentum worldwide to tackle the loss of bio-diversity and associated ecosystem services. Restoration methods and their effects on ecologi-cal community reassembly have been extensively studied across various grassland types, whilethe importance of post-restoration management has so far received less attention. Grasslandmanagement is an important surrogate for natural disturbances, with which most ancientgrasslands have coevolved. Thus, without the reintroduction of management-related distur-bance, restoration targets are unlikely to be achieved in restored grasslands. In this study, weaimed to explore how 20 yr of management by mowing once a year or light cattle grazingaffects restoration success in Palearctic meadow-steppe grasslands restored by either sowingnative grasses (sown sites), applyingMedicago sativaas a nurse plant (Medicagosites), orallowing spontaneous succession (spontaneous sites). We found that, following mowing, sownsites maintained long-lasting establishment limitation, whileMedicagosites experienced adelay in succession. These limitations resulted in low total and target species richness, lowfunctional redundancy, and distinct species and functional composition compared to referencedata from ancient grasslands. Spontaneous sites that were mowed reached a more advancedsuccessional stage, although they did not reach reference levels regarding most vegetationdescriptors. Sown andMedicagosites that were grazed had higher total and target species rich-ness than those that were mowed, and showed restoration success similar to that of sponta-neous sites, on which grazing had only moderate further positive effects. Grazed sites,irrespective of the restoration method, were uniformly species rich, functionally diverse, andfunctionally redundant, and thus became important biodiverse habitats with considerable resi-lience. We conclude that an optimally chosen post-restoration management may have animpact on long-term community reassembly comparable to the choice of restoration method.Restoration planners may, therefore, need to put more emphasis on future management thanon the initial restoration method. However, our findings also imply that if local constraints,such as potentially high invasive propagule pressure, necessitate the application of restorationmethods that could also hinder the establishment of target species, the long-term recovery ofthe grassland can still be ensured by wisely chosen post-restoration management

A Peszéri-erdő egyes ökológiai állapotjellemzőinek és ökoszisztéma-szolgáltatásainak megítélése a főbb érintett csoportok körében

Kutatásunkban a Peszéri-erdő egyes kompozicionális, strukturális és funkcionális ökológiai állapotjellemzőinek és ökoszisztéma-szolgáltatásainak megítélését vizsgáltuk a vizsgálati területtel közvetlen kapcsolatban álló érintett csoportok körében. A felméréshez interjúzást és kétkö- rös kérdőívezést alkalmaztunk. Kutatásunk eredményeképpen összeállt a Peszéri-erdő 220 elemből álló értékleltára (180 ökológiai állapotjellemző, valamint 40 ökoszisztéma-szolgáltatás). Emellett feltártuk az ismerethiányos, a minden érintett csoport számára fontosnak tartott, valamint az eltérően értékelt elemeket, amelyekből példákat hozunk. Az ismerethiányos elemek tekintetében a tudását- adás és képzés lehet célravezető, a minden csoport által fontosnak tartott elemekre együttműködés építhető, az eltérően értékelt elemeknél pedig a mögöttük meghúzódó okok felderítése és további diskurzus segítheti leginkább a megőrzést. Az érintett csoportok preferenciáinak feltárása a természetvédelmi projektek előkészítéséhez is hasznos információkkal szolgálhat, s növelheti a tervezett beavatkozások eredményességét

Reptile responses to vegetation structure in a grassland restored for an endangered snake

Grassland ecosystems are among the most threatened biomes, and their restoration has become common in nature con- servation. Yet restoration is rarely applied specifically for reptiles, which are among the most threatened vertebrates. The Meadow Viper (Vipera ursinii) has become extinct in most of lowland Europe, and an endangered subspecies (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis) has been a target of habitat restoration and captive breeding in Hungary since 2004. We quantified vegetation properties and the density of reptiles that either spontaneously colonised (three species) or were reintroduced (V. ursinii) in a grassland restored specifically for this purpose. We used a fine-scale survey to estimate the cover, and compositional and vertical diversity of the vegetation. We characterised sampling units along three habitat gradients: wetness, openness and grass tussock size. Model selection based on data from replicated counts showed that Green Lizards (Lacerta viridis) responded positively to vegetation cover and negatively to tussock area and height, and number of burrows. The Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis) responded positively to vegetation cover, vertical diversity and wetness, and negatively to openness. The Balkan Wall Lizard (Podarcis tauricus) responded positively to tussock height and negatively to vegetation cover. Finally, V. ursinii responded positively to vegetation cover and tussock height, and negatively to compositional diversity. Our results show the general importance of structural and compositional diversity of vegetation to reptiles. These results suggest that adaptive management should focus on increasing the total cover (for lizards) and the structural diversity of vegetation (for each species) to benefit reptiles in restored grasslands

Ethanol increases phosphate-mediated mineralization and osteoblastic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells

Vascular calcification is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Human vascular smooth muscle cells (HSMCs) undergo mineralization in response to elevated levels of inorganic phosphate (Pi) in an active and well-regulated process. This process involves increased activity of alkaline phosphatase and increased expression of core binding factor α-1 (CBF-α1), a bone-specific transcription factor, with the subsequent induction of osteocalcin. It has been shown that heavy alcohol consumption is associated with greater calcification in coronary arteries. The goal of our study was to examine whether ethanol alters mineralization of HSMCs provoked by high Pi. Exposure of HSMCs to ethanol increased extracellular matrix calcification in a dose responsive manner, providing a significant additional calcium deposition at concentrations of ≥60 mmol/l. HSMC calcification was accompanied by further enhancement in alkaline phosphatase activity. Ethanol also provoked a significant increase in the synthesis of osteocalcin. Moreover, in cells challenged with ethanol the expression of CBF-α1, a transcription factor involved in the regulation of osteoblastic transformation of HSMCs, was elevated. The observed effects of ethanol were not due to alterations of phosphate uptake by HSMCs. We conclude that ethanol enhances Pi-mediated human vascular smooth muscle calcification and transition of these cells into osteoblast-like cells

A Felső-kiskunsági záródó homokpusztagyepek (Festucetum wagneri) természetvédelmi szempontból kitüntetett jelentőségű növényfajainak termőhelyi jellemzése

A homoki termőhelyeken a növényzet fajösszetételének és abundanciaviszonyainak meghatározásában a termőhelyi jellemzők kiemelt jelentőséggel bírnak. A záródó homokpusztagyepek (Festucetum wagneri) finom léptékű mintázatainak megismeréshez jó alapot nyújthat, ha az ősgyepek fajkészletének termőhelyi igényeit meghatározzuk. Vizsgálataink során 208 db, egyenként 50x50 cm-es kvadrátban cönológiai felvételt készítettünk, majd a két legfelső talajszint megmintázásával összesen 416 talajmintát gyűjtöttünk. Meghatároztuk a talajminták mész- és humusztartalmát, szemcseméret összetételét és színmeghatározást is végeztünk. A statisztikai elemzések során varianciaanalízist és főkomponens analízist használtunk. A vizsgálatok eredményei egyrészt rámutatnak egy, az edafikus tényezők szerinti finom, de határozottan kirajzolódó niche szegregációra, másrészt lehetővé teszik a jövőbeli élőhely-rekonstrukciók során az edafikus viszonyoknak megfelelő termőhely-specifikus fajkészlet kiválasztását és alkalmazását