Responses of Great Bustard (Otis tarda) subpopulations to land-use changes in southwestern Iberia

Land-use change is the single most important cause of global biodiversity loss. Over millennia, European grassland birds concentrated in low-intensity agro-steppe habitats that are now experiencing intensification largely in line with European market forces. Great Bustard (Otis tarda, GB) is a globally threatened species and a symbol of the Iberian agro-steppes. In Extremadura (Spain) and Alentejo (Portugal) the conservation status of GB and other agro-steppe species is unclear. GB subpopulations were monitored in these two regions between 1985 and 2015, and their trends were related to land-use changes using open-access databases. There was regional variation in trends, and I report here a sharp decline in numbers across the study area since 2010. Trends were not related to moderate reduction of agro-steppe habitats, but were negatively related to changes in livestock densities, implying that livestock management of habitats is crucial for conservation. Using field counts in spring 2017 across a network of EU Special Protected Areas (SPAs) designated to protect GB, I found that GB is not a good indicator for other agro-steppe species of conservation concern. Selection of further indicator species is recommended for better conservation of agro-steppe bird assemblage. In an SPA in Extremadura, GB productivity rates decreased dramatically between 2005 and 2016. If current productivity rates continue, population modelling predicts a steep decline in numbers at this site. Results of this study raise concerns over the function of the SPA network in Extremadura and Alentejo to protect GB and their agro-steppe habitat. To sustain numbers of GB and other agro-steppe species, their habitats need to be better protected from further intensification, including control of livestock densities, preferably using agro-environmental schemes in PAs

The taxonomic position and breeding range of Golden Nightjar Caprimulgus eximius (Caprimulgidae)

Acknowledgements YL performed this research as part of her MSc (Genetics) at the University of Aberdeen, whose support is acknowledged. We thank the reviewers whose helpful comments substantially improved the paper.Peer reviewedPostprin

Geographic patterns of mtDNA and Z-linked sequence variation in the Common Chiffchaff and the ‘chiffchaff complex’

We are grateful to the University of Washington Burke Museum (UWBM), US National Museum of Natural History (USNM), National History Museum Belgrade (NHMBEO), State Darwin Museum (SDM), Zoological Museum of Moscow State University (MSUZM), Yale Peabody Museum (YPM), University of Minnesota Bell Museum (MMNH), Texas A&M University Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections (TCWC), Staffan Bensch, Stephen Menzie and Nigel Odin for sample loans. This is publication number 1585 of the Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections at Texas A&M University. Funding: This work was supported by FEDER funds through the COMPETE programme, POPH/QREN/FSE funds to S.V.D. and NORTE2020/PORTUGAL funds (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-AGRIGEN) to R.J.L., by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/MEC to S.V.D. (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-008941; PTDC/BIA- BEC/103435/2008) and R.J.L (SFRH/BPD/84141/2012), by the National Geographic Society to S.V.D, by Torino University Grant ex 60% 2017 and 2018 to M. P. and by Ministarstvo Kulture I Informisanja Republike Srbije (Project: Ptice zapadnog palearktika) to M.R. The Russian Science Foundation grant No. 14-50-00029 'Scientific basis of the national biobank – depository of living systems' (to E.A.K). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The Russian Science Foundation grant No. 14-50-00029 'Scientific basis of the national biobank – depository of living systems' (to E.A.K).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

DICER1 mutations in childhood cystic nephroma and its relationship to DICER1-renal sarcoma

The pathogenesis of cystic nephroma of the kidney has interested pathologists for over 50 years. Emerging from its initial designation as a type of unilateral multilocular cyst, cystic nephroma has been considered as either a developmental abnormality or a neoplasm or both. Many have viewed cystic nephroma as the benign end of the pathologic spectrum with cystic partially differentiated nephroblastoma and Wilms tumor, whereas others have considered it a mixed epithelial and stromal tumor. We hypothesize that cystic nephroma, like the pleuropulmonary blastoma in the lung, represents a spectrum of abnormal renal organogenesis with risk for malignant transformation. Here we studied DICER1 mutations in a cohort of 20 cystic nephromas and 6 cystic partially differentiated nephroblastomas, selected independently of a familial association with pleuropulmonary blastoma and describe four cases of sarcoma arising in cystic nephroma, which have a similarity to the solid areas of type II or III pleuropulmonary blastoma. The genetic analyses presented here confirm that DICER1 mutations are the major genetic event in the development of cystic nephroma. Further, cystic nephroma and pleuropulmonary blastoma have similar DICER1 loss of function and ‘hotspot' missense mutation rates, which involve specific amino acids in the RNase IIIb domain. We propose an alternative pathway with the genetic pathogenesis of cystic nephroma and DICER1-renal sarcoma paralleling that of type I to type II/III malignant progression of pleuropulmonary blastoma

Blyth\u27s pipit Anthus godlewskii: a new species for Thailand

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How Fast Does the Steppe Eagle Population Decline? Survey Results from Eilat, Israel

The world Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) population is considered Endangered and is rapidly declining across most of it range. Eilat, in southernIsrael, is a bottleneck for this species on its migration route fromAfrica in spring. We conducted a series of surveys, counting the passing Steppe Eagles in springs 2015 to 2018 and collecting data about the age of the passing birds. We then compared our data with the Steppe Eagle data collected during four springs between 1977 and 1988. We did not find a significant decline in Steppe Eagle numbers passing Eilat on their spring migration between the two data sets. This implies that the overwintering sites in Africa and the migration flyway to and fromAfrica are relatively safe for the Steppe Eagles. We furthermore found that 75% of the eagles passing are adults and that their main passage is during the third week of February. This information helps to adjust conservation efforts

The taxonomic position and breeding range of Golden Nightjar <i>Caprimulgus eximius</i> (Caprimulgidae)

<p>Golden Nightjar <i>Caprimulgus eximius</i> is an apparently sedentary sub-Saharan species with a breeding range extending from Senegal and Mauritania to Sudan. Although genetic studies of nightjars and related Caprimulgiformes have been published previously, none has included Golden Nightjar. In this study, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of a Golden Nightjar found dead in Western Sahara in April 2016 was sequenced and compared with other species in the genus <i>Caprimulgus</i>. It was concluded with strong support that Golden Nightjar is closely related to Egyptian Nightjar <i>C. aegyptius</i>. It is hypothesised that Golden and Egyptian Nightjars may have arisen by splitting of a single ancestral species into migratory and sedentary populations.</p