The little auk Alle alle polaris of Franz Josef Land: a comparison with Svalbard Alle a. alle populations

Breeding biology, nestling growth and development, and biometry of the little auk Alle alle polaris were studied in Franz Josef Land. A total of 103 adult birds were measured, 60 in the field and 43 in the St. Petersburg Museum. The development of 16 chicks was compared with that of Alle a. alle chicks from Spitsbergen. At particular stages of development, both adults and nestlings of A. a. polaris are larger than those of A. a. alle. In Franz Josef Land the breeding season is more extended and less synchronised than that of Svalbard. The majority of the little auks in the studied colonies in Franz Josef Land nested on steep rocky cliffs, possibly as an adaptation to the severe climatic conditions and heavy mammalian predation in subcolonies located on accessible mountain slopes. Glaucous gulls Larus hyperboreus exerted negligible predatory pressure. This study confirms the existence of morphologically distinguishable populations of the little auk on Franz Josef Land and Svalbard, supported by recent studies of climatic and oceanographic conditions in the two areas that parallel the morphological differentiation

Road condition as a very important factor of road safety

Autorzy przeanalizowali oddziaływanie czynników potencjalnie wpływających na liczbę zdarzeń drogowych na sieci dróg wojewódzkich w województwie warmińsko-mazurskim, obejmującej około 1 800 km dróg. Wzięli pod uwagę parametry związane z natężeniem ruchu, stanem technicznym nawierzchni jezdni, lokalizacją skrzyżowań, geometrycznym ukształtowaniem dróg, występowaniem alej drzew w przekroju drogi i w skrajni drogi, przechodzeniem drogi przez obszar ze zwartą zabudową. Do wyznaczenia odcinków potencjalnie niebezpiecznych skorzystali z modelu predykcji stopnia bezpieczeństwa ruchu drogowego opracowanego na Uniwersytecie Virginia Tech. Do weryfikacji modelu wykorzystali dane o zdarzeniach drogowych pochodzące z lat 2014–2016. Opracowali wzorce wizualizacji pozwalające w sposób wielostronny prezentować istotne dla zarządców informacje związane z zapewnieniem bezpieczeństwa na drogach.The authors analysed the impact of factors potentially influencing the number of road incidents on the regional road network in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship, covering about 1 800 km of roads. They took into account parameters related to traffic volume, technical condition of road surface, location of intersections, geometric shape of roads, presence of avenues of trees in the road cross-section and at the road gauge, crossing the road through an area with densely built-up areas. They used the road safety prediction model developed at Virginia Tech University to determine potentially dangerous sections. To verify the model, they used data on traffic incidents from 2014–2016. They developed visualization templates that allow to present in a multifaceted way the information important for managers related to ensuring road safety on the roads

Aeroecology meets aviation safety: early warning systems in Europe and the Middle East prevent collisions between birds and aircraft

The aerosphere is utilized by billions of birds, moving for different reasons and from short to great distances spanning tens of thousands of kilometres. The aerosphere, however, is also utilized by aviation which leads to increasing conflicts in and around airfields as well as en-route. Collisions between birds and aircraft cost billions of euros annually and, in some cases, result in the loss of human lives. Simultaneously, aviation has diverse negative impacts on wildlife. During avian migration, due to the sheer numbers of birds in the air, the risk of bird strikes becomes particularly acute for low-flying aircraft, especially during military training flights. Over the last few decades, air forces across Europe and the Middle East have been developing solutions that integrate ecological research and aviation policy to reduce mutual negative interactions between birds and aircraft. In this paper we 1) provide a brief overview of the systems currently used in military aviation to monitor bird migration movements in the aerosphere, 2) provide a brief overview of the impact of bird strikes on military low-level operations, and 3) estimate the effectiveness of migration monitoring systems in bird strike avoidance. We compare systems from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland and Israel, which are all areas that Palearctic migrants cross twice a year in huge numbers. We show that the en-route bird strikes have decreased considerably in countries where avoidance systems have been implemented, and that consequently bird strikes are on average 45% less frequent in countries with implemented avoidance systems in place. We conclude by showing the roles of operational weather radar networks, forecast models and international and interdisciplinary collaboration to create safer skies for aviation and birds