Article
Ecology
Jose M. Fedriani, Thorsten Wiegand, Pedro J. Garrote, Maria J. Leiva, Daniel Ayllon
Summary: Landscape fragmentation and defaunation have significant impacts on plant dispersal, with the effects depending on the strength of fragmentation and the spatial scale considered. Severe fragmentation decreases short- and intermediate-distance seed dispersal effectiveness, while increasing long-distance seed dispersal effectiveness. Defaunation consistently has a negative effect on seed dispersal effectiveness, but the magnitude varies depending on species and spatial scale.
Review
Ecology
Robert Timmers, Marijke van Kuijk, Pita A. Verweij, Jaboury Ghazoul, Yann Hautier, William F. Laurance, Stefan L. Arriaga-Weiss, Robert A. Askins, Corrado Battisti, Ake Berg, Gretchen C. Daily, Cristian F. Estades, Beatrice Frank, Reiko Kurosawa, Rosamund A. Pojar, John C. Z. Woinarski, Merel B. Soons
Summary: For successful conservation of bird biodiversity, it is important to consider the size of protected areas and the level of protection, as larger forest fragments and stricter protection measures are associated with higher bird occurrence, especially for threatened species.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Hugo Robles, Carlos Ciudad, Zeno Porro, Julien Fattebert, Gilberto Pasinelli, Matthias Tschumi, Marta Vila, Martin U. Grueebler
Summary: The study investigates the influence of phenotypic and environmental factors on dispersal movements of juvenile woodpeckers in fragmented landscapes. The results show that larger and healthier individuals tend to emigrate earlier and have shorter transfer durations. Female woodpeckers disperse earlier, move shorter distances, and have longer transfer durations compared to males. Patch size, patch quality, and population density also affect emigration age, transfer duration, and distance. The study highlights the importance of early-life conditions and edge hardness in shaping dispersal behavior and reveals the previously overlooked effect of habitat isolation on sex-biased dispersal.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Topi K. Lehtonen, Natarsha L. Babic, Timo Piepponen, Otso Valkeeniemi, Anna-Maria Borshagovski, Arja Kaitala
Summary: In a human-modified landscape, the European common glow-worm larvae exhibit a strongly female-biased dispersal behavior, selecting to move through roads, but often perishing when run over by vehicles. This highlights roads as potential ecological traps for female glow-worm larvae in modern society.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Ellie Wolfe, Francesco Cerini, Marc Besson, Duncan O'Brien, Christopher F. Clements
Summary: Temperature is a crucial factor shaping species' vital rates, coexistence, extinctions and community composition. However, little research has considered the spatiotemporal dynamics of thermal variation in community-level investigations. In this microcosm experiment, we examined the effects of synchronously or asynchronously fluctuating temperatures on communities in two-patch landscapes connected by short or long corridors. Our results showed that corridor length influenced the trajectory of diversity change in communities, while the type of thermal variation significantly affected both the temporal dynamics of diversity change and final community composition.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Ana Morales-Gonzalez, Alberto Fernandez-Gil, Mario Quevedo, Eloy Revilla
Summary: Research on grey wolf dispersal patterns has shown high variability and is influenced by individual, social, and environmental factors, with human-caused mortality, population density, and interactions with humans impacting dispersal. Methodological issues have been identified that hinder obtaining robust estimates of dispersal parameters and patterns. Reporting results and potential factors affecting wolf dispersal more transparently could significantly benefit wolf biology and management understanding.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jorg Brunet, Per-Ola Hedwall, Jessica Lindgren, Sara A. O. Cousins
Summary: Research indicates that post-arable oak plantations have great potential for restoring forest herb vegetation. Plant traits related to dispersal play a key role in explaining interspecific differences among forest specialists. To facilitate forest herb immigration in agricultural landscapes, the creation of clusters of relatively small new forest patches near older forests with source populations is recommended.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Urs Kalbitzer, Colin A. Chapman
Summary: The study investigated the long-term patterns of female social relationships in a primate species with female-biased dispersal and rare affiliative and agonistic behaviors among females. Results showed that despite the absence of temporally stable social relationships and clusters within the group, female red colobus formed differentiated social relationships in about half of the analyzed time periods. Factors other than dispersal patterns and within-group contest competition contribute to the formation of ephemeral social relationships among female red colobus.
Article
Ecology
Remi Fay, Sebastien Ficheux, Arnaud Bechet, Aurelien Besnard, Pierre-Andre Crochet, Raphael Leblois, Alain Crivelli, Remi Wattier, Anthony Olivier
Summary: Dispersal has significant impacts on population dynamics and genetics, and this study provides estimates of dispersal in the European pond turtle. The results show that there is a flow of migrants between the study sites, with a higher dispersal rate in adult males and strong philopatry in juveniles and adult females. The findings highlight the importance of investigating dispersal in different taxonomic groups and provide useful information for the conservation of European pond turtle populations.
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Jelle Treep, Monique de Jager, Frederic Bartumeus, Merel B. Soons
Summary: By viewing plant seed dispersal as a strategic search for suitable habitat, a reference framework is provided for the analysis of plant dispersal data. The findings reveal that multi-scale seed dispersal strategies, including Levy-like dispersal, are optimal across a wide range of landscapes. The study highlights the tight link between optimal dispersal strategy and spatiotemporal habitat distribution.
Article
Ecology
Elizabeth A. Bowman, A. Elizabeth Arnold
Summary: Fungal communities associated with plants show distance decay, with ectomycorrhizal fungi primarily constrained by dispersal limitation and foliar endophytic fungi constrained by specific environmental conditions. This regional-scale perspective is important for estimating fungal diversity associated with forest trees and understanding the impacts of decreasing suitable habitat, increasing disturbance, and climate change on different fungal symbiont guilds.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Eva DeCock, Iris Moeneclaey, Stephanie Schelfhout, Wouter Dekoninck, An De Schrijver, Lander Baeten, Pallieter De Smedt
Summary: Semi-natural grasslands in Western Europe are degrading and declining, leading to a decrease in plant species diversity and associated fauna. Carabid beetles, as important ecosystem players, are good indicators of restoration success and provide important ecosystem services.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Jenni E. Pettay, Virpi Lummaa, Robert Lynch, John Loehr
Summary: This study analyzed how sex ratios are linked to marriages, reproductive histories, dispersal, and urbanization through a natural experiment during World War II. In female-dominated environments, young childless women tended to migrate towards urban centers with more job opportunities for women, and away from male-biased rural areas. Despite constraints on reproduction, women showed limited flexibility in mate choice.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Ecology
Murray G. Efford, Matthew R. Schofield
Summary: The article discusses the critical issues of survival rate and recruitment rate in population management, introduces the movement component and related issues in open population spatially explicit capture-recapture models, and provides detailed explanations through simulations and case studies. It shows that the flexible 2-parameter kernels, such as the bivariate t$$ t $$-distribution, are more suitable than the popular bivariate normal distribution, leading to higher estimates of survival; there may be problems in the movement models when dealing with data of different distances, calling for more complete and consistent reporting.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Andrea Romano, Andras Liker, Gaia Bazzi, Roberto Ambrosini, Anders P. Moller, Diego Rubolini
Summary: Among avian species, the differential cost entailed by either sex in competition for mates has been regarded as the main evolutionary influence on sex differences in mortality rates. Empirical evidence suggests that sex-biased adult mortality is mainly related to differential energy investment in gamete production, with greater annual mass devoted to egg production leading to higher female mortality. Mating system also plays a role, with species in which males are more involved in mating competition having more equal mortality rates between the sexes. However, these traits only explain a limited fraction of the interspecific variation in female-biased mortality.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Paula Ribeiro Prist, Leandro Reverberi Tambosi, Luis Filipe Mucci, Adriano Pinter, Renato Pereira de Souza, Renata de Lara Muylaert, Jonathan Roger Rhodes, Cesar Henrique Comin, Luciando da Fontoura Costa, Tatiana Lang D'Agostini, Juliana Telles de Deus, Monica Pavao, Marcio Port-Carvalho, Leila Del Castillo Saad, Maria Anice Mureb Sallum, Roberta Maria Fernandes Spinola, Jean Paul Metzger
Summary: Landscape connectivity is crucial for disease spread, with the yellow fever virus mainly dispersing through roads adjacent to forests and along forest edges. The spread speed varies by season, with most dispersals occurring within 1 km per day and within a week after arriving at the source node.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Celine Moreaux, Desiree A. L. Meireles, Jesper Sonne, Ernesto Badano, Alice Classen, Adrian Gonzalez-Chaves, Juliana Hipolito, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Pietro K. Maruyama, Jean Paul Metzger, Stacy M. Philpott, Carsten Rahbek, Fernanda T. Saturni, Tuanjit Sritongchuay, Teja Tscharntke, Shinsuke Uno, Carlos H. Vergara, Blandina F. Viana, Niels Strange, Bo Dalsgaard
Summary: Animal pollinators play a crucial role in enhancing coffee fruit set, increasing it by an average of approximately 18%. Dense forests in close proximity to coffee plantations can positively affect fruit set by providing high-quality habitats for bees, while forest cover and distance to open forest have minimal impact on bee richness and coffee fruit set. Further research is needed to better understand the biodiversity value of dense forest for pollinators and their pollination services.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
P. G. C. Ruggiero, A. Pfaff, P. Pereda, E. Nichols, J. P. Metzger
Summary: The ICMS-E policy in Brazil incentivizes the establishment of PAs by municipalities to receive financial rewards, but the impact decreases as more PAs are created. States use ICMS-E to encourage local implementation of conservation preferences, while municipal governments focus on low-cost actions to increase revenue.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Francisco d'Albertas, Patricia Ruggiero, Luis Fernando Guedes Pinto, Gerd Sparovek, Jean Paul Metzger
Summary: Agricultural sustainability standards play an important role in reducing the negative impact of commodity expansion on biodiversity. However, the actual conservation benefits derived from certification are not clear. In a study conducted in southern Brazil, it was found that certification had no significant effects on vegetation regeneration, deforestation rates, and vegetation cover deficit in certified farms.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biology
C. Guilherme Becker, Sasha E. E. Greenspan, Renato A. A. Martins, Mariana L. L. Lyra, Paula Prist, Jean Paul Metzger, Vinicius Sao Sao Pedro, Celio F. B. Haddad, Emily H. H. Le Sage, Douglas C. C. Woodhams, Anna E. E. Savage
Summary: Anthropogenic habitat disturbance is altering disease transmission and immunity patterns in vertebrate species. While previous studies have focused on habitat loss and fragmentation, equally important is the process of habitat split, which can lead to population declines and enhanced disease risk. This study links habitat split to disease risk in amphibians by exploring the forces shaping immunity and conducting a field study on tropical frogs. The study proposes a framework to investigate the mechanisms by which habitat split influences disease risk, highlighting the importance of symbiotic microbial communities, immunogenetic variation, and stress hormone levels. The findings suggest that habitat restoration strategies can enhance the vertebrate immune system and reduce disease through connecting multiple natural habitats.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Adrian David Gonzalez-Chaves, Luisa Gigante Carvalheiro, Pedro Ribero Piffer, Francisco d'Albertas, Tereza Cristina Giannini, Blandina Felipe Viana, Jean Paul Metzger
Summary: Restoring native tropical forests is important for protecting biodiversity and ecosystem functions, but the contribution of early stages of forest regeneration to crop productivity is not well understood. A study in Brazil found that young regenerating forests have a positive association with coffee yield when there is a sufficient amount of preserved forest nearby. These findings highlight the importance of both regenerating and mature forests in supporting pollination and pest control services that affect coffee yields. It emphasizes the need for public policies to promote ecosystem restoration and ensure the long-term permanence of these new forests.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Barbara Schroeter, Claudia Sattler, Jean Paul Metzger, Jonathan R. Rhodes, Marie-Josee Fortin, Camila Hohlenwerger, L. Roman Carrasco, Oerjan Bodin
Summary: Inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration in environmental studies face the challenge of effectively communicating across disciplines to address pressing environmental challenges. This research brief evaluates the use of a boundary work approach in a synthesis group on socio-ecological systems, and discusses how it can integrate the knowledge of natural and social scientists. The results show that strategic selection of members, inclusion of boundary spanners, and prior identification of boundary concepts and objects can enhance collaboration and problem-solving in multidisciplinary teams.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Julia Rodrigues Barreto, Renata Pardini, Jean Paul Metzger, Fernando Augusto Barbosa Silva, Elizabeth S. Nichols
Summary: Decades of research have shown that habitat loss does not always lead to biodiversity loss, as exemplified by the study on dung beetle responses to Atlantic Forest loss. While generalist species increased in abundance and distribution, specialist species did not change in overall abundance but exhibited dissimilar distribution. This suggests that habitat loss can lead to biodiversity gain and differentiation, influenced by regional dynamics and the resilience of forest biota. The study emphasizes the importance of sampling across multiple spatial scales to understand the effects of habitat loss on biodiversity.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Review
Ornithology
Leticia Soares, Kristina L. Cockle, Ernesto Ruelas Inzunza, Jose Tomas Ibarra, Carolina Isabel Mino, Santiago Zuluaga, Elisa Bonaccorso, Juan Camilo Rios-Orjuela, Flavia A. Montano-Centellas, Juan F. Freile, Maria A. Echeverry-Galvis, Eugenia Bianca Bonaparte, Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas, Karina Speziale, Sergio A. Cabrera-Cruz, Orlando Acevedo-Charry, Enriqueta Velarde, Cecilia Cuatianquiz Lima, Valeria S. Ojeda, Carla S. Fontana, Alejandra Echeverri, Sergio A. Lambertucci, Regina H. Macedo, Alberto Esquivel, Steven C. Latta, Irene Ruvalcaba-Ortega, Maria Alice S. Alves, Diego Santiago-Alarcon, Alejandro Bodrati, Fernando Gonzalez-Garcia, Nestor Farina, Juan Esteban Martinez-Gomez, Ruben Ortega-Alvarez, Maria Gabriela Nunez Montellano, Camila C. Ribas, Carlos Bosque, Adrian S. Di Giacomo, Juan Areta, Carine Emer, Lourdes Mugica Valdes, Clementina Gonzalez, Maria Emilia Rebollo, Giselle Mangini, Carlos Lara, Jose Cristobal Pizarro, Victor R. Cueto, Pablo Rafael Bolanos-Sittler, Juan Francisco Ornelas, Martin Acosta, Marcos Cenizo, Miguel Angelo Marini, Leopoldo D. Vazquez-Reyes, Jose Antonio Gonzalez-Oreja, Leandro Bugoni, Martin Quiroga, Valentina Ferretti, Lilian T. Manica, Juan M. Grande, Flor Rodriguez-Gomez, Soledad Diaz, Nicole Buettner, Lucia Mentesana, Marconi Campos-Cerqueira, Fernando Gabriel Lopez, Andre C. Guaraldo, Ian MacGregor-Fors, Francisca Helena Aguiar-Silva, Cristina Y. Miyaki, Silvina Ippi, Emilse Merida, Cecilia Kopuchian, Cintia Cornelius, Paula L. Enriquez, Natalia Ocampo-Penuela, Katherine Renton, Jhan C. Salazar, Luis Sandoval, Jorge Correa Sandoval, Pedro X. Astudillo, Ancilleno O. Davis, Nicolas Cantero, David Ocampo, Oscar Humberto Marin Gomez, Sergio Henrique Borges, Sergio Cordoba-Cordoba, Alejandro G. Pietrek, Carlos B. de Araujo, Guillermo Fernandez, Horacio de la Cueva, Joao Marcos Guimaraes Capurucho, Nicole A. Gutierrez-Ramos, Ariane Ferreira, Lilian Mariana Costa, Cecilia Soldatini, Hannah M. Madden, Miguel Angel Santillan, Gustavo Jimenez-Uzcategui, Emilio A. Jordan, Guilherme Henrique Silva Freitas, Paulo C. Pulgarin-R, Roberto Carlos Almazan-Nunez, Tomas Altamirano, Milka R. Gomez, Myriam C. Velazquez, Rebeca Irala, Facundo A. Gandoy, Andrea C. Trigueros, Carlos A. Ferreyra, Yuri Vladimir Albores-Barajas, Markus Tellkamp, Carine Dantas Oliveira, Andrea Weiler, Ma del Coro Arizmendi, Adrianne G. Tossas, Rebecca Zarza, Gabriel Serra, Rafael Villegas-Patraca, Facundo Gabriel Di Sallo, Cleiton Valentim, Jorge Ignacio Noriega, Giraldo Alayon Garcia, Martin R. de la Pena, Rosendo M. Fraga, Pedro Vitor Ribeiro Martins
Summary: To advance Neotropical ornithology, it is crucial to address systemic exclusion, improve research practices, and provide better funding and professional development opportunities. Collaborative leadership, investment in basic field biology research, and the promotion of anti-colonial agendas are key to progress.
ORNITHOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Ornithology
Ernesto Ruelas Inzunza, Kristina L. Cockle, Maria Gabriela Nunez Montellano, Carla S. Fontana, Cecilia Cuatianquiz Lima, Maria A. Echeverry-Galvis, Ronald A. Fernandez-Gomez, Flavia A. Montano-Centellas, Elisa Bonaccorso, Sergio A. Lambertucci, Cintia Cornelius, Carlos Bosque, Leandro Bugoni, Alejandro Salinas-Melgoza, Katherine Renton, Juan F. Freile, Fernando Angulo, Lourdes Mugica Valdes, Enriqueta Velarde, Sandra Cuadros, Carolina Isabel Mino
Summary: Global-scope scientific journals have upheld colonial inequities in ornithology and now have a role to play in increasing equity in publishing. Common barriers faced by Neotropical ornithologists include biased criteria, high publication costs, language hegemony, and lack of representation. Recommended actions include adjusting publication criteria, providing free or low-cost options, offering submission in Spanish, increasing representation, and introducing reflexivity statements.
ORNITHOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Joao Marcos Guimaraes Capurucho, Mary V. Ashley, Cintia Cornelius, Sergio H. Borges, Camila C. Ribas, John M. Bates
Summary: This study analyzed genetic data from seven bird species in the white-sand ecosystems of the Amazon rainforest and found that these species responded in similar ways to environmental and landscape changes. Population expansions were mainly driven by the formation of new white-sand patches and the return of wetter conditions. Pleistocene climatic cycles impacted the distribution and dynamics of open vegetation habitats in the Amazon, especially in the Northern region, driving genetic diversity and demographic patterns of associated biota.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Gisiane R. Lima, Sergio Henrique Borges, Marina Anciaes, Cintia Cornelius
Summary: This study examines the morphological and ecological characteristics of specialist and generalist bird species in the white-sand ecosystems of the Amazon. The results show that there is extensive overlap in ecomorphological space between specialist and generalist birds, but there is a slight difference in functional diversity.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Clarice Borges-Matos, Martine Maron, Jean Paul Metzger
Summary: Biodiversity offsets are often questioned in terms of their effectiveness. The review of existing condition metrics used in the offsetting context revealed differences in how ecological attributes from biodiversity, landscape, and ecosystem services were included. It is suggested that condition metrics should include the three dimensions of equivalence in a disaggregated way, and the use of modeling, expert opinion, and GIS could facilitate this.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Julia C. Assis, Camila Hohlenwerger, Jean Paul Metzger, Jonathan R. Rhodes, Gabriela T. Duarte, Rafaela A. da Silva, Andrea Larissa Boesing, Paula R. Prist, Milton Cezar Ribeiro
Summary: Despite progress in understanding the effects of landscape structure on ecosystem services, there are challenges in integrating landscape effects on different components of the service provision chain. This study proposes a theoretical framework to explore how the spatial flow of ecosystem services can vary based on landscape structure, emphasizing the role of supply, demand, and neutral areas, as well as individual characteristics of services. The model links landscape metrics with ratios of supply and demand areas to potential effects on spatial flows of ecosystem services.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Kaline de Mello, Alice Brites, Clarice Borges-Matos, Paulo Andre Tavares, Jean Paul Metzger, Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues, Zenilda Ledo dos Santos, Carlos Alfredo Joly, Gerd Sparovek
Summary: Natural ecosystems worldwide are facing severe threats, and environmental policies are crucial in protecting biodiversity, ecosystem services, and addressing climate change. The New Forest Act in Brazil is a key policy for conserving native vegetation on private lands, which account for 54% of the remaining Brazilian native vegetation. However, conflicts between environmental and agricultural concerns hinder the implementation of the Act, highlighting the need for balanced solutions based on scientific evidence.