Article
Forestry
Matthew Lefoe, Anthony R. Rendall, Freya McKinnon, Desley A. Whisson
Summary: Habitat loss and degradation pose significant threats to biodiversity globally, with logging and wildfire in Australia contributing to reduced species diversity and abundance. The study focused on assessing the impact of these disturbances on the site occupancy of the Yellow-bellied Glider in Mountain Ash forests, finding that habitat disturbance limits their occupancy and likely impacts conservation status. Therefore, appropriate management is crucial to protect old-growth forests and connectivity between forest patches.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Rachel S. K. Lee, Calebe P. P. Mendes, Stacey S. Q. Liang, Vera W. X. Yang, Delaney K. L. Eng, Wei Bin Ong, Yen Kheng Chua, Greg Byrnes, Norman T. -L. Lim
Summary: Researchers developed a vector-based model and applied a genetic algorithm to determine optimal glide pole locations, improving connectivity for arboreal gliding mammals and mitigating negative impacts of road widening. By using the model, the number of installed glide poles increased by 10 times and filled connectivity gaps created by road widening. This model fills a knowledge gap in connectivity modelling for arboreal gliding mammals and is important for their conservation efforts.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Sabine J. Cudney-Valenzuela, Victor Arroyo-Rodriguez, Jose C. Morante-Filho, Tarin Toledo-Aceves, Ellen Andresen
Summary: Landscape-scale deforestation poses a major threat to global biodiversity. The study found that forest loss has negative indirect effects on arboreal mammal richness through increased tree canopy openness, while tree basal area has a positive relationship with the abundance and richness of arboreal mammals. Forest loss directly and positively affects the abundance and richness of mammals, and rare mammals are the ones most affected by these changes.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Damber Bista, Sonam Tashi Lama, Janno Weerman, Ang Phuri Sherpa, Purushotam Pandey, Madhuri Karki Thapa, Haribhadra Acharya, Nicholas J. Hudson, Greg S. Baxter, Peter John Murray
Summary: Capturing and handling wild animals is crucial for studying their ecological and biological characteristics. Red pandas, being arboreal and cryptic, present a challenge when it comes to capture in the wild, but researchers have successfully developed a protocol for this purpose, yielding new morphometric data.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Monica L. L. Knipler, Ana Gracanin, Katarina M. M. Mikac
Summary: The impacts of climate change on species, populations, and ecosystems are significant. However, many understudied endangered species like the greater glider lack genetic information. This study collected genetic samples of greater gliders after a catastrophic bushfire in Australia and found low genetic diversity and potential adaptation to temperature changes in certain populations. It highlights the importance of baseline genetic data for conservation management and identifying species at risk.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Nicholas B. Moore, Ryan B. Stephens, Rebecca J. Rowe
Summary: Rodents' seed selection is influenced by seed quality, availability, and digestive capacity. They prefer large-sized and high-lipid content beech seeds, but secondary choices differ when beech seeds are less available. Red maple seeds contain compounds that hinder digestion, but one rodent species has a better ability to process these compounds.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nathan Ranc, Paul R. Moorcroft, Federico Ossi, Francesca Cagnacci
Summary: Many animals rely on memory rather than perception to track the spatiotemporal dynamics of resources within their home range, allowing them to adapt to changes in resource availability. Detailed analysis of animal spatial behavior in the wild can quantify cognitive processes and accurately predict their responses to resource use.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Lucas A. Wauters, Maria Vittoria Mazzamuto, Francesca Santicchia, Adriano Martinoli, Damiano G. Preatoni, Peter W. W. Lurz, Sandro Bertolino, Claudia Romeo
Summary: The study found that there is a correlation between individual space use behavior and personality traits in the same species, which may be influenced by factors such as gender and food availability. Male and female individuals show different spatial utilization strategies, with bolder individuals tending to use larger territories to access more food or partners.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Desley A. Whisson, Freya McKinnon, Matthew Lefoe, Anthony R. Rendall
Summary: Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) plays a vital role in detecting Yellow-bellied Gliders, requiring at least six consecutive nights of audio data recording after sunset, with attention to factors such as background noise and rainfall that affect detection.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Oscar M. Chaves, Vanessa B. Fortes, Gabriela P. Hass, Renata B. Azevedo, Kathryn E. Stoner, Julio Cesar Bicca-Marques
Summary: In southern Brazil, brown howler monkeys primarily utilize streams, treeholes, and bromeliads in the canopy for water sources. Their drinking behavior is evenly distributed throughout the year but unevenly distributed during the day, being influenced by factors such as temperature.
Article
Ecology
Alyson M. Stobo-Wilson, Brett P. Murphy, Teigan Cremona, Susan M. Carthew, Shaun R. Levick
Summary: Arboreal mammals in northern Australia, especially in low rainfall regions of tropical savannas, have seen a significant decline. Research focused on how habitat structure influences den-tree selection of the savanna glider found that canopy height, total canopy cover, and tree size were positively correlated with rainfall. Traditional habitat surveys and terrestrial LiDAR technology were used to analyze and compare habitat structure and den-tree selection.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Clare Stawski, Emily G. Simmonds
Summary: Animals adjust physiological and behavioral mechanisms to cope with climate and habitat changes, such as increasing torpor to save energy. Different levels of vegetation in habitats affect animal responses, with some species decreasing torpor use in dense vegetation while others employing more torpor to store fat reserves.
Review
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Giulia Siena, Chiara Milani
Summary: Various parameters and formulas are listed in scientific literature for predicting the parturition date in dogs, with accuracy affected by factors like pregnancy phase, litter, and maternal size. The selection of appropriate parameters for ultrasound assessment is crucial for accurate prediction, but the many influencing factors pose challenges in their interpretation. This review analyzes parameters for predicting parturition date in dogs, emphasizing the importance of considering fetal maturity as a factor and evaluating its readiness for parturition alongside other parameters.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Elise N. Erickson, Neta Gotlieb, Leonardo M. Pereira, Leslie Myatt, Clara Mosquera-Lopez, Peter G. Jacobs
Summary: This study investigates the relationship between maternal physiological metrics and labor. It found that sleep, activity, pain, fatigue, and labor symptom metrics are correlated with gestational age. Additionally, a random forest model based on these metrics can predict whether a pregnant woman will go into labor before the estimated delivery date (EDD). This research provides new possibilities for improving the prediction of labor time using maternal physiological data.
NPJ DIGITAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Katherine Best, Angie Haslem, Alex C. Maisey, Kristin Semmens, Stephen R. Griffiths
Summary: The study found that attributes such as volume and orientation of mechanically carved tree cavities influenced the occupancy of Krefft's Gliders, while tree-scale attributes did not. Krefft's Gliders were more likely to occupy cavities further from reserve edges, with higher densities of important food resources like Black Wattles and low vegetation cover. The findings highlight the importance of considering both the physical characteristics of the cavity and the surrounding habitat in conservation management programs to enhance the use of supplementary shelters by target species.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Review
Physiology
Sylvain Giroud, Caroline Habold, Roberto F. Nespolo, Carlos Mejias, Jeremy Terrien, Samantha M. Logan, Robert H. Henning, Kenneth B. Storey
Summary: This review discusses the importance of torpor and hibernation in enabling animals to survive periods of low resource availability, highlighting characteristics such as metabolic adaptations and protective mechanisms associated with these states. Different species utilize torpor strategies to reduce energy needs in varying ways, with adaptations and protective mechanisms showing variations, warranting comparisons between monotremes and marsupials for understanding the origin and evolution of mammalian torpor.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Thomas Ruf, Sebastian G. Vetter, Johanna Painer, Gabrielle Stalder, Claudia Bieber
Summary: Female wild boars have high reproductive costs early in the year, adapting to cold temperatures by adjusting body temperature and gaining solar energy passively; their broad diet and omnivorous lifestyle contribute to high energy metabolism.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Magdalena Spiessberger, Franz Hoelzl, Steve Smith, Sebastian Vetter, Thomas Ruf, Julia Nowack
Summary: The study found that under conditions of high food availability, wild boar piglets with heavier birth weights may have shorter telomeres at birth, but this does not affect later body weight or postnatal growth rate. An increase in telomere length during postnatal development was observed during the study period, potentially due to alternative mechanisms or short pulses of telomerase activity that were missed.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Thomas Ruf, Kristina Gasch, Gabrielle Stalder, Hanno Gerritsmann, Sylvain Giroud
Summary: The duration of torpor in hibernating mammals is highly influenced by oxygen consumption and body temperature, while the oxygen consumption during arousal is correlated with the previous torpor body temperature. This suggests the presence of an "hourglass" mechanism for correcting metabolic imbalance during arousal, without the need for non-temperature-compensated circadian rhythms.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Editorial Material
Biology
Oivind Toien, Brian M. Barnes, Thomas Ruf
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Zoology
Thomas Ruf, Claudia Bieber
Summary: This article examines the ultimate selective advantages of hibernation, focusing on the edible dormouse. The study finds that predator avoidance is one of the primary reasons for hibernation in this species.
Article
Physiology
Thomas Ruf, M. Michel, F. Frey-Roos, S. Flatz, F. Tataruch
Summary: Organ mass in alpine marmots is significantly correlated with basal metabolic rate (BMR), suggesting that the digestive system and organs involved in digestion are metabolically expensive. The mass of abdominal white adipose tissue (WAT) and the remaining carcass are also correlated with BMR, indicating that even low metabolic rate tissues such as WAT can be costly to maintain. The uptake of fat by marmots prior to hibernation enables them to hibernate without food intake and reproduce in spring but at the expense of an elevated BMR.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Sylvain Giroud, Marie-Therese Ragger, Amelie Baille, Franz Hoelzl, Steve Smith, Julia Nowack, Thomas Ruf
Summary: Garden dormice hibernating in warmer temperatures have increased food intake, reduced hibernation time, and decreased body mass loss, resulting in better survival.
FRONTIERS IN ZOOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Birgitta Strandvik, Abdul Rashid Qureshi, Johanna Painer, Carolina Backman-Johansson, Martin Engvall, Ole Froebert, Jonas Kindberg, Peter Stenvinkel, Sylvain Giroud
Summary: Factors for initiating hibernation are still unknown but it is related to consciousness/sleep and n-3 fatty acids in humans. This study examined the fatty acid profiles in the plasma of brown bears and garden dormice during hibernation and summer. The results showed consistent differences in fatty acid composition between hibernation and summer in both species, suggesting a potential link between hibernation phenotype and metabolism.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Ortal Mizrahy-Rewald, Natalie Winkler, Frederik Amann, Katharina Neugebauer, Bernhard Voelkl, Herwig A. Grogger, Thomas Ruf, Johannes Fritz
Summary: The position and shape of biologging devices significantly influence flight distance, heart rate, and energy expenditure of birds. Unfavorable shape and positioning increase the effort required during flapping flight and impair the ability to glide or soar. The position of the devices also affects the length of flight stages. Optimizing the shape and position of the devices can reduce detrimental effects on bird performance and behavior.
ANIMAL BIOTELEMETRY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elena Haugg, Janus Borner, Gabrielle Stalder, Anna Kuebber-Heiss, Sylvain Giroud, Annika Herwig
Summary: This study investigates gene expression within the hypothalamus of hibernating garden dormice and provides valuable information on the differential gene expression involved in torpor. The results suggest that there are specific gene pathways related to hemostasis, extracellular matrix organization, and small molecule signaling that play a role in torpor. The study also found species-specific and overarching torpor mechanisms that may be explored in future comparisons of different species.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Alexandra Thiel, Anne G. Hertel, Sylvain Giroud, Andrea Friebe, Boris Fuchs, Jonas Kindberg, Anne Randi Graesli, Jon M. Arnemo, Alina L. Evans
Summary: Animal models are important in translational medicine, but the effects of capture and surgery on animal physiology and behavior need to be evaluated. This study found that captured and surgically treated brown bears showed changes in behavior and physiology for days to months.
