Comparing methods to detect Garden Dormice (Eliomys quercinus) in mountainous forest habitats

Garden Dormouse populations show a severe and ongoing decline all over Europe. The drivers for this process are still unknown, as well as the exact distribution of the remaining populations. An evaluation of the occupied habitats could give information on important habitat parameters. Therefore, it is essential to improve detection methods and to evaluate the efficiency of available techniques. In this study, three different methods were tested on ten transects in the Fichtel Mountains, Germany. On each transect we installed two camera traps (CT), one autonomous sound recording unit (AudioMoth, AM) and 25 footprint tunnels (FT), which were checked weekly from the beginning of June until the end of October. AMs did not record a single call, FT detected Garden Dormice in seven and CT detected them in all ten transects. FT worked best during July, when they provided evidence of Garden Dormouse on six transects. CT worked best in August and September, confirming Garden Dormice in all ten transects. In every month, CT outperformed FT in the number of positive findings, and in the time interval until initial detection. CT worked most efficiently in this type of habitat, whereas FT produced false absence data. As Garden Dormice inhabit a variety of different habitats, this study should be repeated to see if the results are transferable

New rules or old concepts?:The golden jackal (Canis aureus) and its legal status in Central Europe

Conflicts have emerged due to range expansions of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) across Europe, characterized by their international conservation status and perceived impacts on livestock and native prey species. Most countries in Central Europe do not yet include the golden jackal in their national list of occurring, native species. Nevertheless, legal obligations arise as soon as golden jackals colonize a particular country. Legal implications of this range expansion were described in past studies from an international perspective. However, they left out specifics on the legal status within any particular country. Therefore, we examine the actual legal status within Central European countries, exemplifying the diverse federal and provincial laws. In particular, we assess the current conservation and hunting laws in Austria's provinces and discuss them in the context of neighbouring countries to analyse implications for relevant authorities. We found substantial contrasts not only among provinces but also between direct neighbouring countries, impeding efforts for transboundary species conservation and leading to complications regarding the management of this species. Improved procedures for collecting records and hunting-bag data appear necessary for future species assessment on a European level and management on a local level. We recommend a more unified legal system but adjusted to actual golden jackal presence on the regional and cross-border level, combined assessment, or similar management strategies to minimize conflicts, reduce persecution, and clarify legal obligations

Data from: Infanticide as a male reproductive strategy has a nutritive risk effect in brown bears

Behavioral strategies to reduce predation can incur costs (i.e. risk effects). A common strategy to avoid predation is spatiotemporal avoidance of predators, in which prey typically trade optimal resources for safety. Analogous with predator-prey theory, risk effects should also arise in species with sexually selected infanticide (SSI), in which females with dependent offspring avoid infanticidal males. In brown bears (Ursus arctos), SSI is common and explains spatiotemporal segregation among reproductive classes. Here, we show that females with cubs-of-the-year had lower quality diets than conspecifics during the SSI high-risk period, the mating season. After the mating season, their diets were of similar quality to diets of their conspecifics. Our results suggest a nutritive risk effect of SSI, in which females with cubs-of-the-year alter their resource selection and trade optimal resources for offspring safety. We suggest that risk effects can be widespread among species with SSI, and that these risk effects can add to the female costs of reproduction

Mills_data_final_2018

This is the data used to build models predicting the probability of winter white for each species across their range. It is needed to run the R script. See README file for column descriptions and more information

global_phenology_final_script

This is the R script associated with the analyses from this publication. Note in order to make species maps you need to download and read into R their range maps from the IUCN red list website: http://www.iucnredlist.org

Data from: Winter coat color polymorphisms identify global hotspots for evolutionary rescue from climate change

Maintenance of biodiversity in a rapidly changing climate will depend on the efficacy of evolutionary rescue, whereby population declines due to abrupt environmental change are reversed by shifts in genetically-driven adaptive traits. However, a lack of traits known to be under direct selection by anthropogenic climate change has limited the incorporation of evolutionary processes into global conservation efforts. In 22 vertebrate species, some individuals undergo a seasonal color molt from summer brown to winter white as camouflage against snow, while other individuals remain brown. Seasonal snow duration is decreasing globally, and fitness is lower for winter white animals on snowless backgrounds. Based on 2,713 georeferenced samples of known winter coat color – from 8 species across trophic levels – we identify environmentally driven clinal gradients in winter coat color, including polymorphic zones where winter brown and white morphs co-occur. These polymorphic zones, underrepresented by existing global protected area networks, indicate hotspots for evolutionary rescue in a changing climate