Demographic data on the Little Owl (Athene noctua) in Upper-Kiskunság (Hungary)

AbstractThis study focused on the clutch size and age-specific apparent survival rate of the Little Owl(Athene noctua)population in Upper-Kiskunság, Hungary. Between May 2005 and April 2017, 640 individuals were captured and ringed in a total of 746 capture-recapture occasions. Artificial nest boxes were installed in the study area, breeding birds and pulli were captured for ringing/recaptured in these boxes (from March to May), or at the close neighbourhood of those (max. 168 m). Jolly-Seber’s open population method was applied to model the survival rate. The candidate model set included models incorporating age, year-effect, and the combination of those. AICc value was used to compare models in a selection approach. The final model was constructed via model averaging based on the models with significant explanatory power. The average number and SD of pullus/breeding pair was 3.78 ± 0.76. The average apparent annual survival rate (which does not differentiate between mortality and permanent emigration) for the period between pullus stage and the time of the first breeding was estimated as 9.47% ± 2.99% SE, whereas the annual survival rate of adults was 82.74% ± 8.46% SE. The effect of sex on the survival rate of adults was not investigated due to female-biased sample, as the probability of capturing females is significantly higher in late spring months. Our experience reveals that during February and March it is possible to capture both sexes in the nest boxes, and it does not influence negatively the breeding success. Based on our results, the population of the Little Owl is stable in Upper-Kiskunság. A slight increase in estimated population size is observable even if we make no difference between mortality and permanent emigration. The high occupancy rate of the installed nest boxes reveals that nest site availability is an important limiting factor in the studied population.</jats:p

Effects of Afforestation with Pines on Collembola Diversity in the Limestone hills of Szárhalom (West Hungary)

We investigated the responses of collembolan communities to pine afforestation in an area formerly characterized by a mosaic of autochthonous downy oak woodland and steppe meadows. Study sites were selected in mixed stands of black pine and Scots pine and control samples were taken from downy oak stands and open steppe meadows. A total of 1884 Collembola specimens belonging to 66 species were collected. Three species, namely Protaphorura pannonica (Onychiuridae), Tomocerus mixtus (Tomoceridae) and Isotoma caerulea (Isotomidae) proved to be new to the Hungarian fauna. There are typical Collembola communities which are specific to different habitat types where species of a given composition can only or predominantly be found in that habitat, as well as some basic common species which occur in every habitat. The highest species richness (41) was found in steppe meadows, considerably lower (34) in downy oak forests, reaching the lowest value (25) in pine plantations. Although several forest species present in the oak woodland were completely missing from the pine forests, there was no significant difference between the Collembola diversities of the two forest habitats. The difference became more prominent in collembolan abundance which resulted in less than half of individuals/m2 in pine plantations compared to the soils of downy oak forests, most likely due to the changed soil conditions, especially of humus characteristics, caused by the pine needle litter. Jaccard similarity measure indicated approximately equal similarity (0.24–0.28) for paired comparison, suggesting that a relatively constant 'basic Collembola community' determined by the soil type typical for the area is present; while dissimilarity in communities between sites are partly provided by spatial heterogeneity of open and forest habitats and by the difference of the vegetation type

Waterfowl population survey of the Marcali reservoir (2007–2008).

This study has shown that the Marcali reservoir is an important waterbird wetland habitat espe- cially during the migration period. Based on our findings early springtime season proved to be the most important season concerning bird activities on the reservoir. The reservoir and its surroundings are not spe- cifically important as breeding areas; although, some strictly protected species can be found among the breed- ing species. It is noteworthy to mention the strong disturbance (waterfolw hunting, intensive fishing, poaching) in the area that can have a negative impact on the breeding success of bird species. The results of similarity measures showed remarkable differences between the bird communities of different seasons. Waterbird com- munities of the spring season and summer season showed the highest similarity, since part of the species observed during the spring surveys were most probably breeding species that remained in the reservoir area for the summer. Comparison based on bird species diversity showed significant differences between communi - ties of the different seasons. Diversity was higher both in the breeding and the migration season compared with the winter period characterized by the lowest species richness and number of individuals. Water level has proved to be an important determining factor of waterbird species richness

A kárókatona fészekalj és tojásméret vizsgálata a Kis-Balatonon és a Nagyberekben

Study on some breeding parameters of the Great Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis ) was carried out in 2005 on Kis-Balaton and in 2009 in the Nagyberek Fehérvíz Nature Conservation Area. Mean (±SE) of clutch size was 3.51±0.15 (N=41) on Kis-Balaton and 3.27±0.19 (N=11) on Nagyberek while ranges of clutch size were 1–6 and 3–5, respectively, that didn’t show significant differences (F= 0.38, p= 0.68) com- pared with earlier Hungarian data. Mean of egg sizes (length±SE x width±SE), shape index and egg volume were 62.0±0.2 x 39.1±0.1 mm, 1.59±0.01 and 48.38±0.34 cm 3 on Kis-Balaton (N=137), while their values were respectively 61.6±0.5 x 38.2±0.2 mm, 1.61±0.02 and 45.94±0.69 cm 3 on Nagyberek (N=29). Egg weight was measured only on Kis-Balaton (53.0±0.4 g, N=135). Comparing the results of the two areas, significant differences were found on egg width (t=3.15, p=0.002) and volume (t=3.02, p=0.003), while no statistical dif- ferences were found when comparing the other egg parameters measured