Insects visiting potted plants of <i>Centaurea jacea</i>.

<p>Flower-visiting insects were captured in 2004 during 48 hours of sample time. Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), hover flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Diurna) were identified to species level. For the classification of pollinators into large-sized and small-sized groups see “<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006751#s2" target="_blank">Materials and Methods</a>” section.</p

Covariables influencing effective pollen dispersal from source populations to single-plant isolates of <i>Centaurea jacea</i>.

<p>Summary of generalized linear model analyses using quasi-Poisson errors and F-tests to explore the effects of covariables (number of species and number of individuals of flower visitor groups visiting potted plants of <i>C. jacea</i> during 60 min and habitat variables) on mean seed set of single-plant isolates (main effect of covariable) and the slope of the decline of this seed set (interaction of covariable with log(distance) from source population). Source populations were restricted to restored meadows and single-plant isolates were set up in surrounding intensively managed meadows at 25, 50, 100 and 200 m distance from source populations. A plus (+) indicates a positive effect, a minus (–) a negative effect. A positive effect of a covariable on the mean seed set of single-plant isolates indicates that more pollen was effectively transferred from source populations to single-plant isolates. A negative covariable x log(distance) interaction indicates a less steep decline of effectively transferred pollen with distance from source populations. In all analyses, the mean seed set in 2004 was used as the dependent variable, since the covariables were sampled in 2004 only. Main effects of the covariables population size, species richness of flowering plants in restored meadows and flower abundance in restored meadows were tested at the site level, all other covariables were tested at the single-plant isolate level. The fitted models are described in the “Statistical analysis” section.</p

Relationship between covariables and seed set of <i>Centaurea jacea</i> isolates.

<p>Relationship between (a) the number of individuals of bees (filled circles) and flies (open circles) sampled during 60 min and seed set of single-plant isolates of <i>C. jacea</i> (square-root transformed) and (b) source population size and seed set of single-plant isolates (square-root transformed). Because covariables were sampled only in 2004, only the seed set data of 2004 was used for the analyses of covariance. Note that simple linear regressions are shown, while the results reported in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006751#pone-0006751-t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a> are obtained from a more complex model using quasi-Poisson errors (see “Statistical analysis” section).</p

SES for plant and bird functional traits based on 1000 randomizations

SES for plant and bird functional traits based on 1000 randomization

Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed

<div><p>Wind turbines represent a source of hazard for bats, especially through collision with rotor blades. With increasing technical development, tall turbines (rotor-swept zone 50–150 m above ground level) are becoming widespread, yet we lack quantitative information about species active at these heights, which impedes proposing targeted mitigation recommendations for bat-friendly turbine operation. We investigated vertical activity profiles of a bat assemblage, and their relationships to wind speed, within a major valley of the European Alps where tall wind turbines are being deployed. To monitor bat activity we installed automatic recorders at sequentially increasing heights from ground level up to 65 m, with the goal to determine species-specific vertical activity profiles and to link them to wind speed. Bat call sequences were analysed with an automatic algorithm, paying particular attention to mouse-eared bats (<i>Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii</i>) and the European free-tailed bat (<i>Tadarida teniotis</i>), three locally rare species. The most often recorded bats were the Common pipistrelle (<i>Pipistrellus pipistrellus</i>) and Savi’s pipistrelle (<i>Hypsugo savii</i>). Mouse-eared bats were rarely recorded, and mostly just above ground, appearing out of risk of collision. <i>T</i>. <i>teniotis</i> had a more evenly distributed vertical activity profile, often being active at rotor level, but its activity at that height ceased above 5 ms^-1 wind speed. Overall bat activity in the rotor-swept zone declined with increasing wind speed, dropping below 5% above 5.4 ms^-1. Collision risk could be drastically reduced if nocturnal operation of tall wind turbines would be restricted to wind speeds above 5 ms^-1. Such measure should be implemented year-round because <i>T</i>. <i>teniotis</i> remains active in winter. This operational restriction is likely to cause only small energy production losses at these tall wind turbines, although further analyses are needed to assess these losses precisely.</p></div

Cumulative number of bat passes per hour in relation to mean hourly wind speed at the truck-mounted crane.

<p>a) all species pooled, b) <i>Pipistrellus pipistrellus</i>, c) <i>Hypsugo savii</i>, d) <i>Myotis myotis/Myotis blythii</i> and e) <i>Tadarida teniotis</i>. The black line indicates 95% of the asymptote.</p

Probability of hourly bat activity occurrence in relation to mean hourly wind speed (mean ± 95% confidence intervals) at the truck-mounted crane for all species pooled.

<p>a) all heights; b) heights > 50 m a.g.l., i.e. in the dangerous rotor-swept zone. The black solid lines indicate the wind speed at which the probability of activity occurrence drops below 5%.</p

Observed (up to 65 m a.g.l.) and projected (>65 m a.g.l.) vertical bat activity profiles (nightly average + SE–the latter expressing between night variation–with 95% confidence intervals of projections shaded in grey) constructed from the hourly number of bat passes recorded at different heights.

<p>a) all species pooled, b) <i>Pipistrellus pipistrellus</i>, c) <i>Hypsugo savii</i>, d) <i>Myotis myotis/Myotis blythii</i> and e) <i>Tadarida teniotis</i>. For more realistic representation the response variable is on the X axis, height a.g.l. being the vertical (Y) axis. The red dashed line represents the lower limit (50 m) of the rotor-swept zone as depicted by the rotor icon (not represented in 1e for enhacing clarity).</p

Data from paper: "Land-use change in the past 40 years explains shifts in arthropod community traits"

Community weighted means and community means of four important traits of carabid and spider arthropods in Switzerland. These datasets were analyzed to support the findings in the paper "Land-use change in the past 40 years explains shifts in arthropod community traits". Please, read the ReadMe file and the Materials and Methods in the paper for more details about the variables used.</p