Natural and human-induced predation on Cape Cormorants at Dyer Island

To develop conservation strategies for vulnerable seabird species that need attention, it is important to know which factors influence their breeding productivity. Predation of eggs and chicks can have large influences on seabird reproduction, especially when human disturbance facilitates predation. On Dyer Island, Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus prey on Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis eggs and chicks, whereas Cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus prey on Cape Cormorant fledglings in the waters surrounding the island. Kelp Gulls were estimated to predate 3.8% of the total number of Cape Cormorant eggs and 2.0% of the chicks on the island. These percentages can be expressed as a loss of 4.8% of Cape Cormorant fledglings, which is low compared to the estimated 24.3% mortality of Cape Cormorant fledglings by Cape fur seal predation. Human disturbance facilitated Kelp Gull egg and chick predation and increased the mobbing of cormorant fledglings by Kelp Gulls. Cormorant egg predation by gulls was more frequently reported in the late afternoon. Seal predation was more abundant at the northern side of the island compared to the southern side, was recorded more frequently in the morning, and increased through the breeding season. The altered abundance and distribution of prey, the availability of suitable breeding habitat and mortality from avian cholera, have also influenced the Cape Cormorant’s population size. Hence, the possibility that Cape Cormorants may be locked in a predator-pit, where seals and gulls prevent the population from increasing in size, needs further attention

Weak breeding seasonality of a songbird in a seasonally arid tropical environment arises from individual flexibility and strongly seasonal moult

Funding: C.J.N. was supported by a studentship funded by the Leventis Conservation Foundation through the University of St. Andrews UK and an Ubbo Emmius grant of the University of Groningen.In some tropical birds, breeding seasonality is weak at the population level, even where there are predictable seasonal peaks in environmental conditions. It therefore remains unclear whether individuals are adapted to breeding at specific times of the year or flexible to variable environmental conditions. We tested whether the relative year-round breeding activity of the Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus arises due to within-individual variability in breeding dates. We collected data from 827 birds via mist-netting over two years with corresponding local weather data. We used a combination of climate envelope and generalised linear mixed models to explore how the timing of breeding is influenced by time of year, individual variation, rainfall and temperature in a West African savannah where seasonal precipitation determines annual variation in environmental conditions. We also pooled 65 breeding records from 19 individuals recorded between 2006 and 2017 based on brood patch occurrence and behavioural observation to compare within individual and population variability in breeding dates. We show that the breeding dates of individuals may be as variable as the population as a whole. However, we observed a seasonal peak in juvenile occurrence that varies significantly between years. Models suggest no relationship between nesting and moult, and within-year variation in rainfall and temperature, and birds were unlikely to breed during moult but may do afterwards. Moult was very seasonal, correlating strongly with day length. We suggest that because environmental conditions permit year-round breeding, and because reproductive output is subject to high predation risk, there is probably a weak selection for individuals to match breeding with variable peak conditions in the environment. Instead moult, which always occurs annually and successfully, is probably under strong selection to match variable peak conditions in the environment so that long term survival ensures future reproduction.Peer reviewe

Effectiveness of the global protected area network in representing species diversity

The Fifth World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, announced in September 2003 that the global network of protected areas now covers 11.5% of the planet's land surface. This surpasses the 10% target proposed a decade earlier, at the Caracas Congress, for 9 out of 14 major terrestrial biomes. Such uniform targets based on percentage of area have become deeply embedded into national and international conservation planning. Although politically expedient, the scientific basis and conservation value of these targets have been questioned. In practice, however, little is known of how to set appropriate targets, or of the extent to which the current global protected area network fulfils its goal of protecting biodiversity. Here, we combine five global data sets on the distribution of species and protected areas to provide the first global gap analysis assessing the effectiveness of protected areas in representing species diversity. We show that the global network is far from complete, and demonstrate the inadequacy of uniform—that is, 'one size fits all'—conservation targets

Book Reviews

Book Review 1Book Title: Pheromones of Social BeesBook Author: John B. FreeChapman & Hall, 1987. 218 pp.Book Review 2Book Title: Insects - PlantsBook Authors: V. Labeyrie et alDr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague, 1987. 459 pp.Book Review 3Book Title: The Ecology of Woodland Rodents: Bank voles and wood miceBook Authors: Edited by J.R. Flowerdew, J. Gurnell & J.H.W GippsThe Zoological Society of London. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1985. 418 pp.Book Review 4Book Title: Visual behavior in salamandersBook Author: Gerhard RothSpringer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987. 301 pp.Book Review 5Book Title: Digestive Physiology and Nutrition of MarsupialsBook Author: Ian D. HumeMonographs on Marsupial Biology. Cambridge University Press, 1982. 256 pp.Book Review 6Book Title: Neurobiology and Behavior of HoneybeesBook Authors: Edited by Randolf Menzel & Alison MercerSpringer-Verlag, 1987.334 pp.Book Review 7Book Title: Ecology and Productivity of an African Wetland SystemBook Author: G.A. EllenbroekDr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, 1987. 267 pagesBook Review 8Book Title: Biological Surveys of Estuaries and Coasts Estuarine and Brackish Water Sciences Association HandbookBook Authors: Edited by J.M. Baker & W.J. WolffCambridge University Press, 1987. 449 pp.Book Review 9Book Title: Caste Differentiation in Social InsectsBook Authors: Edited by J.A.L. Watson, S.M. Okot-Kotber & C.H. NoirotPergamon Press, Oxford, 1985. 399 pp.Book Review 10Book Title: Sistematica, filogenia y biogeografia de la subfamilia Gibbiinae (Coleoptera, Ptinidae)Book Author: Xavier BellésTreballs del Museu de Zoologia, 1985, No.3, Barcelona. 94 pp.Book Review 11Book Title: A Biologist's Advanced MathematicsBook Author: D.R. CaustonAllen & Unwin, London 326 pp.Book Review 12 Book Title: Reproduction in Mammals: 5 Manipulating reproductionBook Authors: Edited by C.R. Austin & R.V. ShortCambridge University Press, London, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney. 235 pp.Book Review 13Book Title: Vertebrate Fetal MembranesBook Author: Harland W. MossmanMacmillan press, 1987. 383 pp.Book Review 14Book Title: Avian Physiology (Fourth edition)Book Author: Edited by P.O. SturkieSpringer-Verlag, New York, 1986. 516 pp

History of ESL Pronunciation Teaching

This chapter tells the story of over 150 years in the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) pronunciation. An analysis of historical resources may reveal a reliable history of pronunciation teaching. A consistent theme within the historical record is that prior to the second half of the nineteenth century pronunciation received little attention in L2 classrooms. Beginning in the 1850s and continuing for the next 30 years, early innovators such as Berlitz, Gouin, Marcel, and Predergast were rejecting and transitioning away from classical approaches. A change that resulted in pronunciation teaching\u27s considerably more consequential second wave was the formation in Paris during the period 1886-1889 of the International Phonetic Association. The 1950s-1970s coincide with a slow rise of attention to innovations in how to teach pronunciation. If we may speculate on the future of ESL pronunciation teaching, there is every reason to feel optimistic

Natural and human-induced predation on Cape Cormorants at Dyer Island

To develop conservation strategies for vulnerable seabird species that need attention, it is important to know which factors influence their breeding productivity. Predation of eggs and chicks can have large influences on seabird reproduction, especially when human disturbance facilitates predation. On Dyer Island, Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus prey on Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis eggs and chicks, whereas Cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus prey on Cape Cormorant fledglings in the waters surrounding the island. Kelp Gulls were estimated to predate 3.8% of the total number of Cape Cormorant eggs and 2.0% of the chicks on the island. These percentages can be expressed as a loss of 4.8% of Cape Cormorant fledglings, which is low compared to the estimated 24.3% mortality of Cape Cormorant fledglings by Cape fur seal predation. Human disturbance facilitated Kelp Gull egg and chick predation and increased the mobbing of cormorant fledglings by Kelp Gulls. Cormorant egg predation by gulls was more frequently reported in the late afternoon. Seal predation was more abundant at the northern side of the island compared to the southern side, was recorded more frequently in the morning, and increased through the breeding season. The altered abundance and distribution of prey, the availability of suitable breeding habitat and mortality from avian cholera, have also influenced the Cape Cormorant’s population size. Hence, the possibility that Cape Cormorants may be locked in a predator-pit, where seals and gulls prevent the population from increasing in size, needs further attention

Growth, behaviour of broods and weather-related variation in breeding productivity of curlew sandpipers Calidris ferruginea

Growth and survival of chicks and movements of broods were studied in Curlew Sandpipers in N.E. Taimyr, Siberia, in 1991. Breeding was synchronised, 73% of 30 clutches hatching during 10-15 July. Nests were distributed clumped in dry frost-heaved tundra. Broods were tended by females only and moved from the nest sites to low-lying wet areas up to 2.4 km away during the first week of life. Here, they often formed aggregations of 2-6 broods with females cooperating in predator defence. In 1991 (a lemming peak year), both clutch and chick survival were high, and breeding productivity was c. 2 fledglings per female. Chicks fledged in 14-16 days, and body mass growth was best described by a logistic curve. The growth rate constant K-L was 0.314, which ishigh compared to similar-sized waders studied elsewhere. Growth rate was reduced during cold weather, as was the availability of surface-active arthropods which form the main food source for chicks. Effects of weather on chick survival and breeding productivity were examined by correlating data on annual variation in the proportion of juveniles among wintering birds in South Africa with 18 years of summer weather records from the core of the Taimyr breeding area. After allowing for an effect of three-yearly cyclic variation in lemming abundance on predation of eggs and young by arctic foxes and skuas, breeding productivity was positively correlated with mean temperature in Taimyr during 11-20 July, the period when most young chicks are present in the tundra. Weather thus seems to have effects on chick survival both widespread and large enough to be detected in the wintering areas, and the combination of (inferred) predation pressure and weather conditions during the hedging period explains a large part of the variation in breeding productivity found in this species. We found no correlations between productivity and weather during the pre-laying period, in contrast to several studies on arctic-breeding geese. VA:IB