Article
Forestry
Lorelle Sherman, Joan Hagar
Summary: The western purple martin requires nesting habitat with moderately decayed snags in open areas away from closed-canopy forest. Suitable habitat is rare within the study region.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Anna M. Forsman, Brandon D. Hoenig, Stephanie A. Gaspar, Jason D. Fischer, Joe Siegrist, Kevin Fraser
Summary: DNA metabarcoding is commonly used to study insectivorous bird diets, with the ZBJ primer set being widely utilized. However, recent studies have shown biases in prey classification with ZBJ, prompting the evaluation of a new primer set called ANML. Through comparing the two primer sets, it was found that ANML outperformed ZBJ in terms of PCR efficacy, taxonomic coverage, and specificity of classification, but using both together provided the most comprehensive results. This study is the first to use ANML primers for avian diet metabarcoding, and the first to directly compare results with ZBJ.
Article
Ornithology
Evelien de Greef, Wesley Brashear, Kira E. Delmore, Kevin C. Fraser
Summary: Genetic variation is crucial for biodiversity, and studying population structure and historical genetic patterns can guide conservation strategies. This study focused on the purple martin and revealed geographical differentiation, gene flow patterns, and the origins of different subspecies. Conserving populations is important for maximizing genetic diversity and adaptive potential.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ornithology
Esther F. Kettel, Ian D. Woodward, Dawn E. Balmer, David G. Noble
Summary: Many hirundine species, including the Common House Martin, are experiencing declines in their populations. A citizen science survey in the UK found that breeding performance of House Martins is influenced by nest-specific, landscape, and weather factors. Birds in the eastern part of the UK breed earlier and have higher breeding performance compared to the west. Conservation measures should focus on discouraging removal of old nests and installing artificial nests, particularly on buildings with plastic soffits.
Article
Ecology
Eve Courtois, Dany Garant, Fanie Pelletier, Marc Belisle
Summary: Animals are expected to choose breeding habitats based on various environmental and social factors, but human-induced changes can lead to maladaptive habitat choices. Tree swallows were found to prefer open habitats with high densities of competitors, such as house sparrows. This study highlights the complexity of habitat selection behavior and the potential for ecological traps in farmlands.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Elly C. Knight, Autumn-Lynn Harrison, Amy L. Scarpignato, Steven L. Van Wilgenburg, Erin M. Bayne, Janet W. Ng, Emily Angell, R. Bowman, R. Mark Brigham, Bruno Drolet, Wendy E. Easton, Timothy R. Forrester, Jeffrey T. Foster, Samuel Hache, Kevin C. Hannah, Kristina G. Hick, Jacques Ibarzabal, Tara L. Imlay, Stuart A. Mackenzie, Alan Marsh, Liam P. McGuire, Gretchen N. Newberry, David Newstead, Andrea Sidler, Pam H. Sinclair, Jaime L. Stephens, David L. Swanson, Junior A. Tremblay, Peter P. Marra
Summary: Migratory connectivity refers to the degree of linkages between populations in space and time across the annual cycle. High migratory connectivity was observed during migration through North America for common nighthawks, while lower connectivity was found in Central and South America. Simulation estimations demonstrated the reliability of the tracking method even with sparse location data.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Qing Zhao, Greg W. Mitchell, Michael D. Cadman, Jackson W. Kusack, Dean R. Evans, Kaelyn Bumelis, Keith A. Hobson, Mitch D. Weegman, Antonio Salvadori, Scott Wilson
Summary: Understanding demographic processes is crucial for studying population dynamics and developing conservation strategies. However, collecting population and demographic data is often challenging. Integrated population modeling allows for combining data from different sources to gain insights. In this study, we used IPM to analyze 15 years of data on a barn swallow population in Ontario, Canada. We found that the population declined by about 2% annually, mainly due to changes in immigration and adult survival. Additionally, warmer temperatures in April had a positive effect on adult survival, while warmer temperatures during the breeding period had a negative effect on productivity. Our results highlight the vulnerability of the species to inclement weather during the breeding season and suggest the importance of conservation strategies that mitigate climate threats. Furthermore, our IPM provides a foundation for future monitoring programs that aim to maximize the utility of population counts and demographic data.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yuting Deng, Maria Carolina T. D. Belotti, Wenlong Zhao, Zezhou Cheng, Gustavo Perez, Elske Tielens, Victoria F. Simons, Daniel R. Sheldon, Subhransu Maji, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Kyle G. Horton
Summary: This study used data from the US weather radar network to investigate the relationship between the timing of aerial insectivores' roosting behavior and phenology. The results showed that the phenology has advanced by 2.26 days per decade at the regional scale, and this advancement is associated with changes in air temperature.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ornithology
Conor C. Taff, Brianna A. Johnson, Allison T. Anker, Alyssa M. Rodriguez, Jennifer L. Houtz, Jennifer J. Uehling, Maren N. Vitousek
Summary: Life history theory provides a framework for understanding how trade-offs generate negative trait associations. Among nestling birds, time spent in the nest, risk of predation, and lifespan covary, showing the importance of understanding the allocation trade-offs between different traits in avian development.
Article
Ecology
Corrine S. V. Genier, Christopher G. G. Guglielmo, Keith A. A. Hobson
Summary: Aerial insectivorous songbirds such as swallows and martins have declined substantially in North America in recent decades. This study compared the diet quality of different species of aerial insectivores, purple martins, tree swallows, and barn swallows, through analyzing stable hydrogen isotope values and blood plasma fatty acids. The results showed that diet quality differed between inland and lakeshore nesting habitats, with purple martins and tree swallows having a more aquatic-emergent diet, while barn swallows primarily consumed terrestrial insects. The study highlights the impact of access to aquatic-emergent insects on the diet and nutritional needs of aerial insectivores.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Helen E. Chmura, Cassandra Duncan, Grace Burrell, Brian M. Barnes, C. Loren Buck, Cory T. Williams
Summary: In our 25-year study in the Alaskan Arctic, we found that climate change is affecting freeze-thaw cycles in permafrost soils and altering the physiology of arctic ground squirrels. Soil freeze has been delayed, causing the squirrels to delay heat production during torpor. The termination of hibernation in females has also advanced 4 days per decade. These changes can have significant impacts on energetics, prey availability, and intraspecific interactions.
Article
Ecology
Courtney E. le Roux, Joseph J. Nocera
Summary: The study used social network analysis (SNA) to identify and quantify critical habitat features for urban chimney swifts, revealing the impact of losing key roost sites on the network structure and connectivity.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Adam Haberski, Julie C. Hagelin, Christopher P. Barger, Derek S. Sikes, Kristin A. DuBour
Summary: The study aimed to determine the optimal combination of insect traps to collect specific taxonomic orders of prey consumed by Olive-sided Flycatchers in the boreal forest, while also monitoring the broadest possible changes in arthropod communities that may impact multiple species of migrating insectivores.
AVIAN CONSERVATION AND ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Christina M. Davy, Valerie von Zuben, Piia M. Kukka, Brian D. Gerber, Brian G. Slough, Thomas S. Jung
Summary: Nutritional stress affects mammalian aerial insectivores, resulting in reduced body size and weight. The study also found evidence that lactation provides some protection to the nursing young during periods of nutritional stress.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Wenjing Zhang, Yundan Liu, Kaiyang Zheng, Jinyan Xing, Qian Li, Chengxiang Gu, Ziyue Wang, Hongbing Shao, Cui Guo, Hui He, Hualong Wang, Yeong Yik Sung, Wen Jye Mok, Li Lian Wong, Yantao Liang, Andrew McMinn, Min Wang
Summary: The marine bacterial family Oceanospirillaceae is well-known for its hydrocarbon degradation ability and its association with algal blooms. This study reports on a novel Oceanospirillum phage, vB_OsaM_PD0307, which is the first myovirus infecting Oceanospirillaceae. Genomic analysis reveals that vB_OsaM_PD0307 is a variant of previously reported phage isolates but shares genomic features with uncultured viral genomes from marine metagenomes. Thus, vB_OsaM_PD0307 is proposed to be classified as a new genus of phages, Oceanospimyovirus. Additionally, metagenomic read mapping results indicate the widespread presence and distinct biogeographic distribution of Oceanospimyovirus species, particularly in polar regions.
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Letter
Biodiversity Conservation
R. Rocha, S. A. Aziz, C. E. Brook, W. D. Carvalho, R. Cooper-Bohannon, W. F. Frick, J. C. -C. Huang, T. Kingston, A. Lopez-Baucells, B. Maas, F. Mathews, R. A. Medellin, K. J. Olival, A. J. Peel, R. K. Plowright, O. Razgour, H. Rebelo, L. Rodrigues, S. J. Rossiter, D. Russo, T. M. Straka, E. C. Teeling, T. Treuer, C. C. Voigt, P. W. Webala
ANIMAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Virology
Julie Teresa Shapiro, Luis Viquez-R, Stefania Leopardi, Amanda Vicente-Santos, Ian H. Mendenhall, Winifred F. Frick, Rebekah C. Kading, Rodrigo A. Medellin, Paul Racey, Tigga Kingston
Summary: The article highlights the importance of interdisciplinary research in addressing global issues, but warns about the potential miscommunication that can arise due to differences in training, language, and understanding among audiences, which can hinder the development of effective public policies and wildlife conservation efforts.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jon Flanders, Winifred F. Frick, Julius Nziza, Olivier Nsengimana, Prince Kaleme, Marie Claire Dusabe, Innocent Ndikubwimana, Innocent Twizeyimana, Sospeter Kibiwot, Pierre Ntihemuka, Tina L. Cheng, Richard Muvunyi, Paul Webala
Summary: There has been uncertainty about the existence of Hill's horseshoe bat in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda for forty years. This data paper presents and describes bat species occurrence data collected as part of a long-term collaborative project to rediscover this critically endangered species. It emphasizes the importance of these data for conservation efforts.
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Virginia K. Heinen, Lauren M. Benedict, Benjamin R. Sonnenberg, Eli S. Bridge, Damien R. Farine, Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Summary: Our study reveals the influence of food distribution and availability on social structure and social information transfer in mountain chickadees. By experimentally manipulating the birds' access to food, we found that they quickly adjust their social associations and preferentially obtain social information from newly formed communities. This suggests that mountain chickadees are highly adaptable to changes in resource distribution and exhibit selective social learning during foraging.
Article
Ornithology
Benjamin R. Sonnenberg, Joseph F. Welklin, Carrie L. Branch, Angela M. Pitera, Lauren M. Benedict, Virginia K. Heinen, Dovid Y. Kozlovsky, Eli S. Bridge, Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Summary: The winter supplemental feeding prior to reproduction had no significant impact on the reproductive parameters of Mountain Chickadees, indicating that supplemental feeding alone may have little to no impact on the population dynamics of some avian taxa.
Letter
Biodiversity Conservation
Danni Parks, Nida Al-Fulaij, Clare Brook, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Jean-Gael Collomb, David Cope, Simon Dowell, Becky Falkingham, Winifred F. Frick, Douglas Gibbs, Emily E. Gray, Nicolas Heard, Anastasios (Tasso) Leventis, Kate Mastro, Helen Meredith, Simon Mickleburgh, Florence Miller, Matthew Muir, Rascha J. M. Nuijten, Nancy Ockendon, Nisha R. Owen, Jacob R. Owens, Jon Paul Rodriguez, Elizabeth Tully, Jean-Christophe Vie
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Lauren A. Stanton, Eli S. Bridge, Joost Huizinga, Sarah Benson-Amram
Summary: The study compared cognitive abilities of wild raccoons in natural and captive conditions, finding that juvenile raccoons were more likely to habituate to testing but performed worse in learning compared to adults, while docile raccoons were more likely to learn how to operate devices in natural conditions, indicating a relationship between emotional reactivity and cognitive ability. Raccoons in both conditions demonstrated rapid associative learning and flexibility, with those in captive conditions generally performing better due to heightened vigilance and social interference in natural conditions.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yuting Deng, Maria Carolina T. D. Belotti, Wenlong Zhao, Zezhou Cheng, Gustavo Perez, Elske Tielens, Victoria F. Simons, Daniel R. Sheldon, Subhransu Maji, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Kyle G. Horton
Summary: This study used data from the US weather radar network to investigate the relationship between the timing of aerial insectivores' roosting behavior and phenology. The results showed that the phenology has advanced by 2.26 days per decade at the regional scale, and this advancement is associated with changes in air temperature.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Maria Carolina T. D. Belotti, Yuting Deng, Wenlong Zhao, Victoria F. Simons, Zezhou Cheng, Gustavo Perez, Elske Tielens, Subhransu Maji, Daniel Sheldon, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Kyle G. Horton
Summary: In this study, a machine learning pipeline and human supervision were used to identify and label swallow and martin roost locations. The research found that roosts formed consistently in the same geographic area over two decades and that more persistent roosts also gathered more birds. These findings have important implications for ecosystem and conservation efforts.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Carrie L. Branch, Joseph F. Welklin, Benjamin R. Sonnenberg, Lauren M. Benedict, Virginia K. Heinen, Angela M. Pitera, Eli S. Bridge, Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Summary: This study compared the spatial cognitive performance and food caching propensity of mountain chickadees in different winter climates to understand how these measures contribute to social mate choice. The findings suggest that cognition and caching propensity may influence social mating decisions, but only in certain environments and for some aspects of cognition.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Christina L. Kolbmann, Carrie Leslie, Chris Anderson, Jeff F. Kelly, Jeremy D. Ross, Lori Jervis, Justin Reedy, Eli Samuel Bridge
Summary: With the increasing reliance on aerial infrastructure, understanding public perceptions of a crowded sky is important. A survey of 251 participants in the US revealed that participants preferred an open aesthetic with less aerial infrastructure in all landscape types. Demographic factors such as age, income levels, and political affiliations had minimal impact on tolerance scores, while gender and race/ethnicity showed some influence. This suggests that public opinion on aerial infrastructure has not solidified, presenting opportunities for consensus building on responsible development.
FRONTIERS IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Rebecca K. Smith, William H. Morgan, Nida Al-Fulaij, Tatsuya Amano, Andrew E. Bowkett, Alec Christie, Harriet Downey, Winifred F. Frick, David O'Brien, Nancy Ockendon, Steffen Oppel, Silviu O. Petrovan, David Righton, Paul Tinsley-Marshall, Thomas A. Worthington, William J. Sutherland
Summary: Researchers collaborated with practitioners, policymakers, and academics to develop tools and resources for improving conservation practice. The Conservation Evidence Programme emphasized the importance of engagement, role consensus, and flexibility in achieving effective conservation practices.
ECOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS AND EVIDENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Winifred F. Frick, Yvonne A. Dzal, Kristin A. Jonasson, Michael D. Whitby, Amanda M. Adams, Christen Long, John E. Depue, Christian M. Newman, Craig K. R. Willis, Tina L. Cheng
Summary: The study shows that enhancing foraging habitats near hibernacula can help improve the survival and recovery of bats threatened by white-nose syndrome. The experimental manipulation of insect density using UV light lures resulted in increased foraging and echolocation activity. These findings provide evidence for the importance of habitat protection in the conservation of bats.
ECOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS AND EVIDENCE
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Harriet Downey, Vincent Bretagnolle, Cameron Brick, Caroline R. Bulman, Steven J. Cooke, Mike Dean, Bob Edmonds, Winifred F. Frick, Kim Friedman, Catherine McNicol, Christopher Nichols, Saul Herbert, David O'Brien, Nancy Ockendon, Silviu Petrovan, David Stroud, Thomas B. White, Thomas A. Worthington, William J. Sutherland
Summary: Many guidance documents lack relevant and up-to-date evidence, leading to misguided and ineffective conservation practices and a waste of resources.
CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Alec P. Christie, Harriet Downey, Winifred F. Frick, Matthew Grainger, David O'Brien, Paul Tinsley-Marshall, Thomas B. White, Michael Winter, William J. Sutherland
Summary: Making the reasoning and evidence of conservation management decisions transparent is a challenge for the conservation community. Our group developed a tool to guide practitioners through documenting and reporting evidence and reasoning behind decisions. The tool has three steps: Define the Decision Context, Gather Evidence, and Make an Evidence-Based Decision, aiming to increase transparency and quality in conservation decision-making by enabling practitioners to integrate diverse forms of evidence.
CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
(2022)