Dodatki in izbris vrst s seznama muh trepetavk (Diptera: Syrphidae) Slovenije

The changes in the checklist of hoverflies of Slovenia are presented. Fifteen species are recorded as new for the fauna of Slovenia: Brachyopa panzeri, Brachypalpus laphriformis, Callicera aenea, Chamaesyrphus scaevoides, Chalcosyrphus valgus, Melangyna lasiophthalma, Meligramma guttata, Merodon aberrans, Parhelophilus frutetorum, Orthonevra intermedia, Platycheirus occultus, Rhingia borealis, Spazigaster ambulans, Sphaerophoria chongjini and Sphaerophoria fatarum. From the species complex of Merodon aeneus, both M. aeneus species A/B and M. aeneus C were recorded. One species, Xylota caeruliventris, was omitted from the checklist because of misidentification. Information on habitat characteristics, range and conservation status is givenfor every new species.Predstavljene so spremembe v seznamu muh trepetavk Slovenije. Petnajst vrst jeprvič zabeleženih v slovenski favni: Brachyopa panzeri, Brachypalpus laphriformis, Callicera aenea, Chamaesyrphus scaevoides, Chalcosyrphus valgus,Melangyna lasiophthalma, Meligramma guttata, Merodon aberrans, Parhelophilus frutetorum, Orthonevra intermedia, Platycheirus occultus, Rhingia borealis, Spazigaster ambulans, Sphaerophoria chongjini in Sphaerophoria fatarum. Iz kompleksa vrst Merodon aeneus sta bili najdeni tako M. aeneus vrsta A/B kot tudi M. aeneus C. Ena vrsta, Xylota caeruliventris, jeumaknjena s seznama zaradi napačne določitve. Podani so podatki o značilnostih habitata, razširjenosti in varovalnem statusu vseh novih vrst

Spatially explicit modeling of superpopulation density

Eden od načinov ocenjevanja velikosti populacij je z uporabo metod lova-ponovnega ulova. Metoda predpostavlja, da je populacija zaprta (ni rojstev, smrti, priseljevanja in odseljevanja) in da imajo vsi osebki enako verjetnost ulovljivosti. Ker populacij pogosto ne moremo vzorčiti v celoti, zaradi prehoda roba območja vzorčenja prihaja do kršenja teh dveh predpostavk, kar imenujemo učinek roba. Klasični Hugginsov model za zaprte populacije za oceno parametrov sam po sebi ne omogoča uporabe prostorskih statistik, omogoča pa vključevanje individualne spremenljivke. V tem delu s pomočjo simulacij testiramo učinkovitost vključevanja individualne spremenljivke v model z namenom odpravljanja posledic učinka roba. Ugotovili smo, da je model, ki vključuje prostorsko informacijo, boljši od modela, ki te informacije ne nosi. Razlika v ocenjenem parametru verjetnosti ulovljivosti ($hat{p}$) je s praktičnega vidika zelo majhna. Pristranskost ocene parametra $hat{p}$ je najmanjša za tiste simulacije, kjer je velikost domačega okoliša znatno manjša od velikosti območja vzorčenja, za ostale pa je močno pristranska. Pristranskost ocene parametra $hat{p}$ se pozna tudi pri oceni gostote, ki je zelo pristranska za primere, kjer je domač okoliš velik v primerjavi z velikostjo območja vzorčenja. Na podlagi porazdelitve za izračun individualne spremenljivke smo povečali območje vzorčenja in uspeli do neke mere popraviti gostoto, a le ob predpostavki, da imamo na voljo reprezentativno obliko in velikost domačega okoliša.Among methods for estimating population sizes, mark-recapture is a popular choice. It assumes population closure (void of deaths, births, immigration and emigration) and equal probability of capture. Since populations often cannot be encompassed entirely, some individuals cross in and out of the sampling area in violation of aforementioned assumptions, which is termed edge effect. The time-tested Huggins model does not in itself use spatial information to estimate parametershowever, it does enable use of an individual covariate. In this thesis, we use simulations to test whether including spatial information through an individual covariate helps alleviate edge effect. Our findings suggest that including spatial information does improve the model. For practical purposes, the difference in estimates of probability of capture ($hat{p}$) between models is negligible. Bias of $hat{p}$ is smallest in cases where home range size is small relative to sampling area size and large for cases where home range is comparatively large. This is also evident in density estimates, which are highly biased in cases where home range is relatively large compared to sampling area. We increased the sampling area radius based on distributions used to calculate the individual covariate and managed to somewhat alleviate the bias, provided that the calculated home range shape and size are representative

Additions and omissions to the list of hoverfly fauna (Diptera: Syrphidae) of Slovenia

The changes in the checklist of hoverflies of Slovenia are presented. Fifteen species are recorded as new for the fauna of Slovenia: Brachyopa panzeri, Brachypalpus laphriformis, Callicera aenea, Chamaesyrphus scaevoides, Chalcosyrphus valgus, Melangyna lasiophthalma, Meligramma guttata, Merodon aberrans, Parhelophilus frutetorum, Orthonevra intermedia, Platycheirus occultus, Rhingia borealis, Spazigaster ambulans, Sphaerophoria chongjini and Sphaerophoria fatarum. From the species complex of Merodon aeneus, both M. aeneus species A/B and M. aeneus C were recorded. One species, Xylota caeruliventris, was omitted from the checklist because of misidentification. Information on habitat characteristics, range and conservation status is givenfor every new species

Species diversity and composition of small mammal communities in Goteniška gora (S Slovenia)

Although a considerable improvement in knowledge about small mammal fauna in Slovenia has been noted over the past 30 years, the group is still understudied. Here we present results of the nine-year trapping and information on abundance and community assemblage of small mammals of Goteniška gora, a mountain in southern Slovenia. Trappings were conducted every September from 2002 to 2010. Traps were set in different habitats, ranging from open-space meadows and stony karst areas to dense fir-beech forests (Abieti-Fagetum dinaricum). At least 12 different species constituted local communities, mostly resembling central European deciduous and mixed forest communities. Some representatives of Alpine small mammal communities and a Pleistocene relict were also present

Data from: Niches within a niche: ecological differentiation of subterranean amphipods across Europe’s interstitial waters

Species that successfully colonized subterranean environments are subject to two opposing selection processes. Stringent abiotic factors select for convergent adaptations, such as loss of eyes and pigments, while interspecific competition drives between-species divergence. Subterranean species can resolve opposing selection by adaptation to physically different microhabitats. Yet, species frequently co-occur in physically homogeneous subterranean habitats, like interstitial. These co-occurrences in such a narrow ecological context can be explained either by equalizing mechanisms, in which neither of the co-occurring species has a competitive advantage, or by more complex niche models that include species’ differentiation along a trophic niche axis. We tested these hypotheses using the amphipod genus Niphargus. We analysed Europe-wide co-occurrence records of Niphargus species from interstitial habitats, split into six independent large-scale regions. Firstly, we addressed whether species’ pairwise co-occurrences are random using a probabilistic model. Secondly, we tested whether species cluster into distinct functional-morphological groups and whether ecologically or phylogenetically distinct species are more likely to co-occur. We found that 68 % of species co-occurrences were not different from random expectation, indicating that most species had access to most sites within each region. The remaining 32 % co-occurred either significantly more or less often than expected by chance. Cluster analysis of functional morphological characters showed that interstitial species belong to two feeding types, micro- and macrofeeders, likely representing two peaks of the interstitial adaptive landscape, and hinting that niche divergence, as a mechanism allowing coexistence, is favoured. Finally, we found that the number of co-occurrences increases with increasing differentiation of functional morphology, but not phylogenetic differences. We conclude that ecological differentiation may be important in shaping such interstitial communities

SupplementaryMaterial_DataMatrices

The file contains list of communities with coordinates, a table of species occurrences, morphometric data, list of species used in phylogenetic analysis, details of molecular analyses, a table of species co-occurrence records, a table of pairwise Euclidean distances and a table of pairwise Patristic distances

Morphological Evolution of Coexisting Amphipod Species Pairs from Sulfidic Caves Suggests Competitive Interactions and Character Displacement, but No Environmental Filtering and Convergence

Phenotypically similar species coexisting in extreme environments like sulfidic water are subject to two opposing eco-evolutionary processes: those favoring similarity of environment-specific traits, and those promoting differences of traits related to resource use. The former group of processes includes ecological filtering and convergent or parallel evolution, the latter competitive exclusion, character displacement and divergent evolution. We used a unique eco-evolutionary study system composed of two independent pairs of coexisting amphipod species (genus Niphargus) from the sulfidic caves Movile in Romania and Frasassi in Italy to study the relative contribution and interaction of both processes. We looked at the shape of the multifunctional ventral channel as a trait ostensibly related to oxygenation and sulfide detoxification, and at body size as a resource-related trait. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the sulfidic caves were colonized separately by ancestors of each species. Species within pairs were more dissimilar in their morphology than expected according to a null model based on regional species pool. This might indicate competitive interactions shaping the morphology of these amphipod species. Moreover, our results suggest that the shape of the ventral channel is not subject to long-term convergent selection or to the process of environmental filtering, and as such probably does not play a role in sulfide tolerance. Nevertheless, the ancestral conditions reconstructed using the comparative method tended to be more similar than null-model expectations. This shift in patterns may reflect a temporal hierarchy of eco-evolutionary processes, in which initial environmental filtering became later on superseded by character displacement or other competition-driven divergent evolutionary processes

Citizen science contribution to national wolf population monitoring

Evidence-based management of large carnivores is a crucial step towards their effective conservation. However, monitoring of these populations is demanding and generally requires substantial fieldwork effort. Lately, citizen science has become an increasingly important part of wildlife monitoring, but can that endanger studied species? In this paper, we describe our experiences with recruiting and involving volunteers in annual howling surveys of grey wolf (Canis lupus) population in Slovenia and present the framework about the use of citizens for collecting data. Huge effort of participants in a 7-year-long monitoring at a national scale has yielded a total of 116 wolf vocal responses, including 53 confirmed litters. Annually, between 5 and 12 reproductive packs were detected and an increasing trend in wolf population throughout the study period was observed. Volunteer-based howling surveys proved to be a cost-effective method for detection of reproductive packs on a large spatial scale, offering an insight into wolf population trends across a longer time period and we provide some recommendations for organisation and coordination of surveys. We also discuss ethical issues raised from our experience in using citizen science for this purpose