Ciclo anual do Priôlo Açoreano Pyrrhula murina Goldman, 1866 (Aves: Passeriformes)

Descreve-se o ciclo anual do Priôlo, Pyrrhula murina. Esta ave nidifica de Junho a Agosto, quando a abundância de alimento é elevada, e começa a muda de penas em Setembro. O peso e o Índice de gordura apresentaram variações sazonais reduzidas. A mortalidade anual é provavelmente menos de 60%. O grupo de aves observadas em cada mês apresentou sempre uma mediana de um ou dois. De um modo geral, o Priôlo apresenta um padrão sazonal semelhante ao de outros Pyrrhula da Europa Ocidental, embora com ligeiras variações. Tal facto deverá estar relacionado com o clima temperado oceânico de S. Miguel.ABSTRACT: The annual cycle of the Azores bullfinch or Priôlo, Pyrrhula murina, is described. This bird breeds from June to August, when food abundance is high, and starts moulting in September. Seasonal variations in body weight and fat scores were small. The annual mortality is probably less than 60%. The median monthly group size was always one or two. Overall, it presents a strong seasonal pattern similar to that of western European Pyrrhula, but with slight variations. These should be an environmental correlate of the oceanic temperate climate of S. Miguel Island

Selección de nido y biología reproductiva del Chorlitejo Patinegro Charadrius alexandrinus en playas de la costa oeste de Portugal

Aims: The nest-site selection and breeding biology of Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus were studied on sandy beaches of the Portuguese West coast. Methods: Nest-site characteristics were compared with those of random points and between successful and unsuccessful nests. Breeding parameters (timing of laying, nesting success and egg size) were examined on sandy beaches and these data combined with a literature review to provide a comparison of Kentish Plovers’ breeding parameters between natural (sandy beaches, saline lakes) and man-made coastal habitats (salinas and fish-farms). Results and Conclusions: Three temporal peaks of breeding activity were distinguished: end of April, mid May and end of June. Most nests were located less than 100 meters from the nearest active nest. The dimen- sions (breadth and volume) of the eggs from late clutches were significantly smaller than those from eggs of early and intermediate clutches. Nesting success was 32% (12.3% using the Mayfield method). There were significant differences in nesting success between the four studied beaches (56% of all clutches produced chicks in Gala while only 18% of all clutches produced chicks in Costinha). Despite the lower success of in- termediate clutches no significant difference in nesting success was found between early, intermediate and late clutches. There was a higher probability of finding nest-sites near objects and in areas with a higher cover of sparse vegetation and objects than were random points. Successful nests were placed farther from the nearest mammal footprint, were closer to the nearest vehicle sandmark and had a lower cover of shells and pebbles than did unsuccessful nests. Nesting success was highly variable for both natural and man-made coastal ha- bitats and affected mainly by predation and flooding. In terms of conservation it seems important to maintain habitat diversity for Kentish PloversObjetivos: Se estudia la selección de nido y la biología reproductiva del Chorlitejo Patinegro en playas de la costa oeste de Portugal. Métodos: Las características del emplazamiento de nidos tanto exitosos como fracasados se comparan con las características de puntos tomados al azar. Se analizaron variables descriptoras de la reproducción tales como, fecha de puesta, éxito y tamaño de los huevos. Así mismo, se utilizaron los datos obtenidos además de datos procedentes de la bibliografía para realizar una comparación de la reproducción en hábitats naturales (playas y lagos salinos) y en hábitats artificiales (salinas y piscifactorías). Resultados y conclusiones: Se distinguieron tres máximos temporales durante la reproducción: finales de abril, mediados de mayo y finales de junio. La mayor parte de los nidos se situaron a menos de 100 metros de otro nido ocupado. Los huevos de las puestas tardías fueron significativamente más pequeños (anchura y vo- lumen) que los huevos procedentes de puestas tempranas o intermedias. El éxito reproductivo fue del 32% (12,3% utilizando el método de Mayfield). Se encontraron diferencias significativas en el éxito de los nidos en- tre las cuatro playas estudiadas (el 56% de las puestas produjeron pollos en Gala mientras que solo el 18% de las puestas produjeron pollos en Costinha). A pesar del bajo éxito de las puestas intermedias no se encontraron diferencias significativas entre las puestas tempranas, intermedias o tardías. Los nidos se situaron con una ma- yor probabilidad en la proximidad de objetos o en zonas con una menor cobertura de vegetación en compara- ción con los puntos tomados al azar. Los nidos exitosos se situaron en los lugares más alejados de huellas de mamíferos, estuvieron más cerca de lugares donde se encontraron huellas de vehículos y tuvieron una menor cobertura de piedras y/o conchas que los nidos fracasados. El éxito reproductor fue muy variable tanto en los hábitats naturales como en los artificiales, y fueron afectados fundamentalmente por depredación e inundación. En relación a la conservación del Chorlitejo Patinegro, parece importante conservar hábitats diverso

Movements, at-sea distribution and behaviour of a tropical pelagic seabird: the wedge-tailed shearwater in the western Indian Ocean

This is the first study using geolocators (global location sensing, GLS) to track the movements of a pelagic tropical seabird. We used GLS to describe at-sea distribution and activity patterns of wedge-tailed shearwaters Puffinus pacificus breeding on Aride Island, Seychelles, in the late chick-rearing, non-breeding and pre-breeding periods. During late chick-rearing and pre-breeding periods, shearwaters foraged relatively close to the colony. In the non-breeding period, shearwaters; were found on a west-east gradient along the equator, between 5 degrees N and 10 degrees S. Some of the tracked individuals showed little dispersion, staying as close as 1000 km to Aride Island, while others travelled 3500 km to the Central Indian Ocean Basin. Individual core areas of activity showed little overlap. Overall, wedge-tailed shearwaters showed short-distance movements and exploited relatively unproductive oceanic waters. At-sea distribution largely matched that of yellowfin and skipjack tunas, emphasising the importance of the association with subsurface predators rather than associations with physical oceanographic features that enhance primary productivity. During the non-breeding period, the feeding activity of, shearwaters was mainly concentrated in the daylight period, when tunas also forage. A different behaviour, characterised by a much lower proportion of the night sitting on the sea surface, was recorded in the pre-laying exodus of 1 female to more productive waters, suggesting a different feeding strategy and/or targeting of different prey. Knowledge of the at-sea distribution of wedge-tailed shearwaters allows quantification of the overlap with industrial fisheries, which will be crucial to devise fisheries policies for the Indian Ocean with important implications for the conservation of this species

High Resilience of Seed Dispersal Webs Highlighted by the Experimental Removal of the Dominant Disperser

The pressing need to conserve and restore habitats in the face of ongoing species loss [1, 2] requires a better understanding of what happens to communities when species are lost or reinstated [3, 4]. Theoretical models show that communities are relatively insensitive to species loss [5, 6]; however, they disagree with field manipulations showing a cascade of extinctions [7, 8] and have seldom been tested under field conditions (e.g., [9]). We experimentally removed the most abundant seed-dispersing ant species from seed dispersal networks in a Mediterranean landscape, replicating the experiment in three types of habitat, and then compared these communities to un-manipulated control communities. Removal did not result in large-scale changes in network structure. It revealed extensive structural plasticity of the remaining community, which rearranged itself through rewiring, while maintaining its functionality. The remaining ant species widened their diet breadth in a way that maintained seed dispersal, despite the identity of many interactions changing. The species interaction strength decreased; thus, the importance of each ant species for seed dispersal became more homogeneous, thereby reducing the dependence of seed species on one dominant ant species. Compared to the experimental results, a simulation model that included rewiring considerably overestimated the effect of species loss on network robustness. If community-level species loss models are to be of practical use in ecology or conservation, they need to include behavioral and population responses, and they need to be routinely tested under field conditions; doing this would be to the advantage of both empiricists and theoreticians

Centennial-scale vegetation and North Atlantic Oscillation changes during the Late Holocene in the southern Iberia

High-reso CE to lution pollen analysis, charcoal, non-pollen palynomorphs and magnetic susceptibility have been analyzed in the sediment record of a peat bog in Sierra Nevada in southern Iberia. The study of these proxies provided the reconstruction of vegetation, climate, fire and human activity of the last ∼4500 cal yr BP. A progressive trend towards aridification during the late Holocene is observed in this record. This trend is interrupted by millennial- and centennial-scale variability of relatively more humid and arid periods. Arid conditions are recorded between ∼4000 and 3100 cal yr BP, being characterized by a decline in arboreal pollen and with a spike in magnetic susceptibility. This is followed by a relatively humid period from ∼3100 to 1600 cal yr BP, coinciding partially with the Iberian-Roman Humid Period, and is indicated by the increase of Pinus and the decrease in xerophytic taxa. The last 1500 cal yr BP are characterized by several centennial-scale climatic oscillations. Generally arid conditions from ∼450 to 1300 CE, depicted by a decrease in Pinus and an increase in Artemisia, comprise the Dark Ages and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Since ∼ 1300 to 1850 CE pronounced oscillations occur between relatively humid and arid conditions. Four periods depicted by relatively higher Pinus coinciding with the beginning and end of the Little Ice Age are interrupted by three arid events characterized by an increase in Artemisia. These alternating arid and humid shifts could be explained by centennial-scale changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation and solar activity

Selection of trees for rubbing by red and roe deer in forest plantations

Antler rubbing is a form of behaviour by which deer may damage and ultimately induce mortality of trees. Understanding factors affecting selection of trees for rubbing may contribute to mitigation of negative effects of such behaviour in plantations or woodlands. We analysed characteristics of trees rubbed by red and roe deer along transects established in plantations of Pinus pinaster (Aiton), Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco, Betula alba L. and Quercus robur L. in Northeast Portugal. Transects were walked during five sampling periods covering mating seasons of red and roe deer. Red deer preferentially rubbed trees adjacent to the edge of plantations and large clearings whilst roe deer selected those inside plantations within small clearings. There was seasonal segregation in the number of trees rubbed by each deer species with red deer rubbing trees mainly between September and February and roe deer mainly between December and June. Both red and roe deer selected trees with smaller diameter than those of available trees although trees selected by red deer had larger diameters than those selected by roe deer. Roe, but not red deer, tended to avoid trees protected by shrubs. Overall, the selection of trees for rubbing was site-dependent suggesting that generalizations across sites should be made with caution. Mitigating measures, such as deer control, tree protection or provision of alternative rubbing posts should target stands of particular tree species, location of trees in relation to stand clearings and tree size classes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6T6X-4HGM78R-2/1/29fe58190c40581f0716e977b7847d3

Characterization of MHC class I in a long distance migratory wader, the Icelandic black-tailed godwit

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encodes proteins that are central for antigen presentation and pathogen elimination. MHC class I (MHC-I) genes have attracted a great deal of interest among researchers in ecology and evolution and have been partly characterized in a wide range of bird species. So far, the main focus has been on species within the bird orders Galliformes and Passeriformes, while Charadriiformes remain vastly underrepresented with only two species studied to date. These two Charadriiformes species exhibit striking differences in MHC-I characteristics and MHC-I diversity. We therefore set out to study a third species within Charadriiformes, the Icelandic subspecies of black-tailed godwits (Limosa limosa islandica). This subspecies is normally confined to parasite-poor environments, and we hence expected low MHC diversity. MHC-I was partially characterized first using Sanger sequencing and then using high-throughput sequencing (MiSeq) in 84 individuals. We verified 47 nucleotide alleles in open reading frame with classical MHC-I characteristics, and each individual godwit had two to seven putatively classical MHC alleles. However, in contrast to previous MHC-I data within Charadriiformes, we did not find any evidence of alleles with low sequence diversity, believed to represent non-classical MHC genes. The diversity and divergence of the godwits MHC-I genes to a large extent fell between the previous estimates within Charadriiformes. However, the MHC genes of the migratory godwits had few sites subject to positive selection, and one possible explanation could be a low exposure to pathogens.Financial support to SP was provided by PhD grant SFRH/BD/84629/2012 from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT); to JAA by FCT grant SFRH/BPD/91527/2012. This study benefited from funding by RANNIS - Icelandic Research Council (130412-051), the strategic project (UID/MAR/04292/2013) granted to MARE and H. Westerdahl financed through Swedish Research Council (621-2011-3674 and 2015-05149) and provided the laboratory facilities for molecular analysis.Peer Reviewe

Songbirds promote connectivity between riparian galleries and adjacent habitats

Riparian galleries are among the most vulnerable habitats in the world and are well known for their importance to the most specialized riparian bird species. In this study, we analyzed songbird composition, songbird diet, trophic ecology and seed dispersal in riparian galleries and adjacent Montado matrices in southern Portugal to address the importance of birds in promoting the connectivity between riparian galleries and adjacent habitats. We used fecal samples to compare diet, and blood samples to compare nitrogen stable isotopes from birds in these two habitats. The seasonal variation in the abundance of arthropods and fruits was evaluated in both habitats and seed movement between both habitats was assessed from fruits marked with fluorescence. Abundance of food resources for birds (arthropods and fruits) declined throughout the season in a similar way for both habitats, and there were strong similarities in the diet and trophic ecology of songbirds in the riparian gallery and adjacent habitat. In both habitats, birds preyed heavily on Hymenoptera and Coleoptera but birds more abundant in the Montado fed more on Araneae and Hymenoptera. Seeds were moved significantly more frequently from the riparian gallery into the adjacent Montado than vice-versa. Our results suggest that birds from the adjacent habitat move frequently to the riparian gallery to forage and disperse seeds into the adjacent habitat as they depart. This study shows that birds play an important role in promoting connectivity between riparian galleries and adjacent habitats