Geometric Metasurfaces for Ultrathin Optical Devices

Alces alces, Asia, distribution, Eurasian elk, Europe, GIS, harvest, moose, population densit

Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

Wildlife management systems face growing challenges to cope with increasingly complex interactions between wildlife populations, the environment and human activities. In this position statement, we address the most important issues characterising current ungulate conservation and management in Europe. We present some key points arising from ecological research that may be critical for a reassessment of ungulate management in the future. Ecosystem . Population sustainability . Science-basedmanagement .Wildlifemanagement .Adaptive managemen

Pan‐European phylogeography of the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

To provide the most comprehensive picture of species phylogeny and phylogeography of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), we analyzed mtDNA control region (610 bp) of 1469 samples of roe deer from Central and Eastern Europe and included into the analyses additional 1541 mtDNA sequences from GenBank from other regions of the continent. We detected two mtDNA lineages of the species: European and Siberian (an introgression of C. pygargus mtDNA into C. capreolus). The Siberian lineage was most frequent in the eastern part of the continent and declined toward Central Europe. The European lineage contained three clades (Central, Eastern, and Western) composed of several haplogroups, many of which were separated in space. The Western clade appeared to have a discontinuous range from Portugal to Russia. Most of the haplogroups in the Central and the Eastern clades were under expansion during the Weichselian glacial period before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), while the expansion time of the Western clade overlapped with the Eemian interglacial. The high genetic diversity of extant roe deer is the result of their survival during the LGM probably in a large, contiguous range spanning from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caucasus Mts and in two northern refugia.202

Talvise ilmastiku, populatsiooni asustustiheduse ja sigimisaja mõju põdra (Alces alces) elukäigutunnustele ning populatsioonidünaamikale Eestis

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Suurte taimtoiduliste imetajate elukäigutunnused ja populatsioonidünaamika sõltuvad suurel määral nii ilmastikutingimustest kui ka asustustihedusest. Laialdaselt on teada, et karmid talved mõjutavad negatiivselt arktilises ja parasvöötme ökosüsteemides elavate sõraliste ellujäämust ja konditsiooni. Tingituna globaalsest kliima soojenemisest, on viimase viieteistkümne aasta jooksul oluliselt kasvanud ka uuringute arv, kus kirjeldatakse tavapärasest soojemate talvede negatiivseid mõjusid. Käesolevas väitekirjas uuritakse talvise ilmastiku ja populatsiooni asutustiheduse mõju põdralehmade kehasuurusele, viljakusnäitajatele, viljastamisajale ning populatsiooni kasvukiirusele. Paralleelselt kasutatakse kahte erinevat ilmastikunäitajat - Läänemere talvise jäätumise maksimaalset ulatust (MIE) ja Põhja-Atlandi ostsillatsiooni indeksit (NAO). Kuna selgelt eristuvate aastaaegadega kliimas on isendite kohasus suurel määral mõjustatud viljastamise ja/või sünni ajastamisest, analüüsiti töös ka viljastamisaja seoseid põdralehmade erinevate kohasusekomponentidega nagu pesakonna suurus ja loodete sooline jaotus. Doktoritöö tulemused näitavad, et põdralehmade elukäigutunnused on tihedalt seotud nii vahetute kui ka hilinemisega avalduvate talvede mõjuga. Samuti selgus, et seosed erinevate elukäigutunnuste ja ilmastikunäitajate vahel ei ole alati lineaarsed ning tavapärasest külmemad ja soojemad talved võivad avaldada olulist negatiivset mõju põdra elukäigule. Erinevate ilmastikunäitajate võrdluses oli maksimaalse jäätumise ulatus (MIE) NAO indeksiga võrreldes oluliselt tugevamini seotud nii põtrade elukäigutunnuste kui ka populatsiooni kasvukiirusega. Põdrapopulatsiooni asustustihedus mõjutas põdralehmade kehasuurust ja viljakust marginaalselt, ent vastupidiselt eeldatule oli asustustiheduse tõus olulisel määral seotud emasloomade varasema viljastamisega. See mõneti üllatav seos tuleneb tõenäoliselt viimastel kümnenditel oluliselt intensiivistunud metsade majandamisest ja sellega kaasnenud sobilike elupaikade kvaliteedi tõusust. Lisaks keskkonnamõjudele leiti töös selge seos põdralehmade viljastamisaja ja pesakonnatüübi vahel. Jooksuaja alguses viljastatud põdralehmade pesakondades oli palju kõrgem isasloodete osakaal ja neis esines oluliselt sagedamini mitmiklooteid kui hiljem viljastatud pesakondades. Kui eeldada, et varasem viljastamiaeg peegeldab isendi paremat konditsiooni, siis on antud töö tulemused vastavuses Trivers-Willardi hüpoteesiga.Life-histories and population dynamics of large mammalian herbivores living in a variety of ecosystems have been found to be closely related to density-independent as well density-dependent processes. In ungulates, living in temperate and arctic environments, the negative effects of harsh winters on individual survival and condition are widely known. However, in parallel with the negative influence of severe winters, negative effects of warmer than average winters on ungulate populations have also been described. In this thesis, long-term data were used to explore the effects of weather and population density on body size, fecundity parameters, the timing of conception and on the population-growth rate in a wild moose (Alces alces) population in Estonia. In parallel, two different composite indices of winter weather were used - the maximal ice extent (MIE) of the Baltic Sea and the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation). Given that in the strongly seasonal environments, the timing of reproductive events like conception can also have profound impact on individual fitness, the associations between the timing of conception and various components of maternal fitness such as litter size and foetal sex ratio were also studied. The results of this thesis reveal significant direct as well as time-lagged effects of winter weather on several life history traits and population dynamics of moose in Estonia. The relationships between climate and life-history traits are not always linear, suggesting that both higher or lower than the long-term mean of winter weather conditions can have significant impact on ungulate performance. The results of this thesis also demonstrate that winter effects based on the MIE index were consistently stronger than those based on the NAO index. Increase in population density had only a marginal negative effect on moose body size and fertility parameters, while it was significantly related to the advancement of conception date of female moose. The latter finding is opposite to the expected and may indicate that the effect of population density on conception date is mediated by the increase in habitat quality due to intensified forestry concurrent with increasing moose population abundance. In addition to environmental effects, a clear relationship between conception date and litter characteristics was revealed. Earlier-conceived females produced larger litters with higher proportion of male embryos than those conceived late. These adjustments are in accordance with the Trivers-Willard hypothesis if females that conceive earlier are in better condition

Genetic diversity of wild boar in Baltic states

Biologijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Genetic analysis of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Lithuania

Biologijos katedraKauno miškų ir aplinkos inžinerijos kolegijaVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Genetic analysis of wild boar (Sus scrorfa) by using RAPD markers

Biologijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Генетический анализ кабана (sus scrofa) в Литве

Biologijos katedraKauno miškų ir aplinkos inžinerijos kolegijaVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

A review of circumpolar moose populations with emphasis on Eurasian moose distributions and densities

202

Data from: The contemporary genetic pattern of European moose is shaped by postglacial recolonization, bottlenecks, and the geographical barrier of the Baltic Sea

To investigate genetic diversity and the population structure of the European moose (Alces alces), we analyzed 14 microsatellite loci for 694 samples collected across 16 localities. The highest genetic diversity was detected in Belarus and Russia and the lowest was found in Scandinavia. Two major genetic clusters existed, Scandinavian and continental, and some further spatial structure was detected. There was high concordance between the spatial distribution of microsatellite clusters analyzed in the present study and previously recognized mitochondrial DNA clades of moose. The split of genetic lineages calculated using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) occurred at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum: approximately 29 000 and 28 000 years BP. A range-wide bottleneck detected by ABC took place 1800–1200 years BP, although a more recent decline in moose numbers was also documented in the 18th to early 20th Century. Genetic differentiation in European moose increased with geographical distance, and the Baltic Sea appeared to be a barrier to gene flow. We conclude that isolation in different glacial refugia, postglacial colonization, and declines of range and numbers in Holocene shaped the present pattern of genetic diversity of European moose. Based on genetic divergence and a lack of apparent gene flow, the contemporary Scandinavian and continental subpopulations should be treated as separate management units