Survey of the terrestrial and freshwater molluscan fauna of the Pilliga forest area in northern inland New South Wales,Australia

The Pilliga forest in northern inland New South Wales, Australia, is one of the largest surviving remnants of native forest on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range. The Pilliga landscape is a challenging environment for molluscs, dominated by dry sclerophyll forest and with limited and largely ephemeral aquatic habitats. A field survey of the area in 2006–2012 identified a surprisingly rich and relatively intact aquatic native molluscan fauna with five species of bivalves in three families and nine species of freshwater gastropods (four families), including some rare species and range extensions. The native land snail fauna comprised 18 species (six families), including an unusually rich pupillid fauna with nine species. Some range extensions are recorded and some species are narrow-range endemics. The distributions of many aquatic and terrestrial species were correlated with geology or soil type. Introduced molluscs were predominantly found in anthropogenic habitats and include two freshwater gastropods (two families) and nine terrestrial snails and slugs (eight families). This study provides insight into the original molluscan fauna of the western slopes prior to landscape-scale agricultural development and provides a benchmark for future reference.     

Attacks of domestic dogs on Common Long-Nosed Armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus and Southern Brown Howler Monkey Alouatta guariba in fragmented Atlantic Forest and implications in a region of high priority for biodiversity conservation

Domestic dogs can negatively impact natural systems, and understanding these dynamics is essential to mitigate their impact. We report two cases of attacks of domestic dogs on native mammals in a fragmented landscape of the Atlantic Forest, southern Brazil. Our records occurred in a region of high priority for the conservation of this biome. We observed two attacks, one on a Common Long-Nosed Armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus and another on a Southern Brown Howler Monkey Alouatta guariba clamitans. Our records highlight additional threats to the wild and native fauna reinforcing the importance of accounting for the presence of domestic fauna when delineating conservation strategies in highly fragmented environments.     

Vegetation, ungulate and grasshopper interactions inside vs. outside an African savanna game park

The human impact on the African savanna is parcelling large native mammals into game reserves, with cattle and other livestock replacing these native mammals in the matrix surrounding these reserves. Concordant with this are other landscape changes such as fire maintenance within the reserve but no longer outside. How does this composite landscape change affect biodiversity, as represented by small animals such as grasshoppers? This question was addressed against the premise that grasshoppers have evolved in the context of native mammal ecology. One of the most significant aspects of this ecology is grazing and trampling by the large number of ungulates congregating at waterholes. The results clearly show that the grasshopper fauna is only marginally impoverished outside the reserve, and that cattle trampling and grazing (along with less fire) is a simulation of these impacts by native ungulates. As greatest grasshopper diversity is encouraged by some trampling and grazing, the presence of cattle in place of native mammals is not entirely adverse to biodiversity, as represented by grasshoppers.     

Review of the ecology of Australian urban fauna: A focus on spatially explicit processes

Abstract Cities have a major impact on Australian landscapes, especially in coastal regions, to the detriment of native biodiversity. Areas suitable for urban development often coincide with those areas that support high levels of species diversity and endemism. However, there is a paucity of reliable information available to guide urban conservation planning and management, especially regarding the trade‐off between investing in protecting and restoring habitat at the landscape level, and investing in programmes to maintain the condition of remnant vegetation at the local (site) level. We review the literature on Australian urban ecology, focusing on urban terrestrial and aquatic vertebrate and invertebrate fauna. We identify four main factors limiting our knowledge of urban fauna: (i) a lack of studies focusing at multiple ecological levels; (ii) a lack of multispecies studies; (iii) an almost total absence of long‐term (temporal) studies; and (iv) a need for stronger integration of research outcomes into urban conservation planning and management. We present a set of key principles for the development of a spatially explicit, long‐term approach to urban fauna research. This requires an understanding of the importance of local‐level habitat quality and condition relative to the composition, configuration and connectivity of habitats within the larger urban landscape. These principles will ultimately strengthen urban fauna management and conservation planning by enabling us to prioritize and allocate limited financial resources to maximize the conservation return.     

Fauna community trends during early restoration of alluvial open forest/woodland ecosystems on former agricultural land

Vertebrate fauna was studied over 10 years following revegetation of a Eucalyptus tereticornis ecosystem on former agricultural land. We compared four vegetation types: remnant forest, plantings of a mix of native tree species on cleared land, natural regeneration of partially cleared land after livestock removal, and cleared pasture land with scattered paddock trees managed for livestock production. Pasture differed significantly from remnant in both bird and nonbird fauna. Although 10 years of ecosystem restoration is relatively short term in the restoration process, in this time bird assemblages in plantings and natural regeneration had diverged significantly from pasture, but still differed significantly from remnant. After 10 years, 70 and 66% of the total vertebrate species found in remnant had been recorded in plantings and natural regeneration, respectively. Although the fauna assemblages within plantings and natural regeneration were tracking toward those of remnant, significant differences in fauna between plantings and natural regeneration indicated community development along different restoration pathways. Because natural regeneration contained more mature trees (dbh > 30 cm), native shrub species, and coarse woody debris than plantings from the beginning of the study, these features possibly encouraged different fauna to the revegetation areas from the outset. The ability of plantings and natural regeneration to transition to the remnant state will be governed by a number of factors that were significant in the analyses, including shrub cover, herbaceous biomass, tree hollows, time since fire, and landscape condition. Both active and passive restoration produced significant change from the cleared state in the short term.     

BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH: Diversity and distribution of macroinvertebrates in lentic habitats in massively altered landscapes in south‐eastern Australia

Aim We investigated whether faunas of lentic macroinvertebrates differed among two landscape types: (1) those that are largely covered in forests (presumed to be in a more pre‐human‐impact condition) and (2) those that are completely cleared for agricultural exploitation (massively altered). Location Five pairs of landscapes (each pair referred to as a region) – one of each landscape type – across a 30,000 km² region of north‐central Victoria, Australia. Methods Each individual waterbody was surveyed three times (austral spring 2006, autumn 2007, and spring 2007) for invertebrates. Waterbodies were characterized by measurements of static (e.g. abutting vegetation cover) and labile (e.g. pH) variables. Data were analysed using hierarchical Bayesian models of species richness, α‐ and β‐diversities and functional feeding groups. Assemblage composition was related to landscape and in‐waterbody characteristics. Results Neither measured, nor asymptotic estimates of, species richness differed among landscape types, notwithstanding consistent differences in in‐waterbody habitat characteristics among waterbodies in the two landscape types. There were no discernible differences in patterns of α‐ and β‐diversities at landscape scales relating to landscape type. Habitat diversity of waterbodies at the landscape scale did not affect β‐diversity, although distinct waterbodies within landscapes tended to have more distinct faunas. Main conclusions The lentic macroinvertebrate faunas are relatively homogeneous over the entire region, with little differentiation between wooded and cleared landscapes. The regional fauna may be a homogenized subset of native species, possibly arising from the huge numerical predominance of lentic habitats in agricultural landscapes producing ‘spill‐over’ effects into forested landscapes. Of taxa more frequently found in one or other landscape type, trophic group diversity was greater in forested landscapes.     

Terrestrial fauna survey of Slipper Island (Whakahau)

We describe the history of Slipper Island (Whakahau) off northeastern New Zealand and report on a survey of the terrestrial fauna undertaken in December 2016. Results from this survey are compared with the last comprehensive survey in August 1973. The terrestrial habitat of the island is predominantly farmland and has changed little in extent over the past 50 years. As a result, the avifauna has remained remarkably consistent, although with some species turnover that reflects changes in the wider regional landscape, and some notable native species additions. Pacific rats were abundant across the island, and as a result reptiles are depauperate due to local extinctions. Bell frogs and Argentine ants are both recent arrivals on the island. On the nearby smaller native forested Penguin and Rabbit Islands the avifauna is predominantly native.     

The role of remnants of Amazon savanna for the conservation of Neotropical mammal communities in eucalyptus plantations

In this study, we investigated the effects of the partial conversion of native Amazon savanna into a eucalyptus plantation on the richness, composition, and abundance of medium and large mammals. Considering these plantations as an integral component of a patchwork savanna landscape, we verified how the negative effects of these plantations can be buffered by the conservation of remnants of native habitat within their area. We analyzed the contribution of each type of Amazonian savanna to the maintenance of the mammalian fauna and the potential of eucalyptus plantations to substitute these native habitats. A total of 23 mammal species were recorded in line-transect surveys conducted within the conserved savanna. By contrast, only eight species were recorded in the eucalyptus plantation and none of them were exclusive to this vegetation. However, the landscape patchwork formed by plantations and savanna was more diverse and contained 19 species of mammals, highlighting the potential importance of remnant savanna vegetation. The maintenance of remnants of savanna habitat may thus be essential for ensuring the conservation of mammals in the anthropogenic landscape of this region. It will also be important to include as many different subtypes of native savanna vegetation as possible and to consider the connectivity between habitats.     

Faunal differences between the invasive brown macroalga Sargassum muticum and competing native macroalgae

Interactions between macroalgae and their associated fauna are of great interest for marine invasions, because fauna may increase the biotic resistance of a system and macroalgal invasions may cause shifts in faunal composition. We tested for differences in faunal community structure between a macroalgal invader, Sargassum muticum, and several native macroalgae in intertidal pools on both the west and south coast of Portugal. On each coast, we compared the faunal diversity and composition associated with the invader with that of the competing native macroalga(e). On the west coast, the diversity of the fauna associated with S. muticum was equal to or lower than with the native competitor, Cystoseira humilis. Fauna composition differed between S. muticum and C. humilis at both locations, but within each species, no differences between locations were detected. In contrast, the fauna diversity on S. muticum of the south coast varied among locations. S. muticum fauna differed from the fauna of all native macroalgae at one location, but only from three out of seven native macroalgae at the other location. Discriminating fauna species did not show a consistent pattern towards higher or lower abundances in S. muticum compared to most native macroalgae, and species-specific contributions were small. Differences in fauna community also depended on the identity of the native macroalga. In conclusion, the fauna associated with S. muticum differs from many native brown macroalgae, but these differences were not consistent as they depend both on the native macroalgal species and on location. This invader does not seem to have a severe negative impact on local macroalgae-associated fauna.     

城市生物多样性分布格局研究进展

城市生物多样性分布格局由自然生态环境和城市化过程所决定;其动态和机理与自然生态系统迥然不同.城市生物多样性为城市生态系统提供了诸多生态系统功能和服务,对改善城市环境、维持城市可持续发展有着重要的意义和作用.城市化过程深刻改变了城市的生物多样性分布格局,导致了诸如本地物种多样性降低、外来物种多样性增加、物种同质化等一系列问题.近年来,城市生物多样性受到学界高度关注,大量研究结果既回答了一些关键性问题,又提出了诸多新的论题和挑战.分析了当前城市生物多样性分布格局研究的若干热点问题,总结了影响城市生物多样性格局的主要因素,探讨了城市生物多样性格局研究方法的关键问题,指出了未来城市生物多样性研究的发展方向,特别强调了城市生物多样性的生态系统功能研究在未来城市生物多样性研究中的重要地位.     

Forecasting the effect of land-use change on native and non-native mammalian predator distributions

Intensive land use can fragment continuous natural areas into smaller patches, which may be too small to support viable populations of native fauna and more susceptible to invasion by alien species. We demonstrate the utility of combining species occurrence models with land-use change models to identify areas where future development may differentially affect wildlife. Occurrence data for native (e.g., gray fox, coyote, bobcat, mountain lion, striped skunk, raccoon) and non-native (e.g., domestic dogs, domestic cats, opossums) mammalian predators were collected from 188 remotely triggered camera locations across an oak woodland and vineyard landscape in northern California. The occurrence data were used in combination with landscape variables extracted using a geographic information system to build explanatory models of predator occurrence. These statistical models were used to derive two surfaces showing relative probability of occurrence for non-native and native predators. Then, a spatially explicit land-use change model was used to examine potential future predator distributions given potential future vineyard expansion. The probability distribution models generated hypothesized low probabilities of occurrence for native predators within large vineyard blocks, but higher probabilities within isolated vineyards and also in oak woodlands. The models suggest the highest probabilities of non-native predator occurrence fell within large blocks of vineyard. Using one possible future vineyard development scenario, the distribution models illustrate areas where probability of native predator occurrence may be reduced and where non-native predators may expand due to vineyard development. This technique could be applied to prioritize acquisition of critical wildlife habitat and maintain habitat connectivity for wildlife populations.     

Facilitation of Native Stream Fauna by an Invading Species? Experimental Investigations of the Interaction of the Snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Hydrobiidae) with Native Benthic Fauna

Biological invasions are regarded as a major threat to native ecosystems, yet studies investigating the interactions of invaders with native biota under field conditions are rare. Whilst many invaders are present only in low densities, it is often the effects of high densities that are of particular concern. We manipulated densities of the invading New Zealand aquatic snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum within an Australian stream to test the relationships between relatively high and low densities of the invading snail and other benthic fauna. Two experiments were carried out: the first experiment investigated the relationship between P. antipodarum and benthic fauna colonising within a short period of six days, the second looked at the effects after six days of high P. antipodarum densities on resident benthic fauna. In both experiments, there was no evidence of a negative relationship between densities of P. antipodarum and native fauna. On the contrary, both experiments showed a positive relationship between P. antipodarum densities and those of some common native fauna. In the second experiment invader densities were positively correlated with total number of native taxa, as well as with total densities and the densities of common invertebrates. Coprophagy is suggested as a possible mechanism by which increase in P. antipodarum could facilitate increase in native fauna. The results of this work strongly suggest that the effects of an invader can include indirect effects on the trophic dynamics of an ecosystem.     

The Interacting Effects of Ungulate Hoofprints and Predatory Native Ants on Metamorph Cane Toads in Tropical Australia

Many invasive species exploit the disturbed habitats created by human activities. Understanding the effects of habitat disturbance on invasion success, and how disturbance interacts with other factors (such as biotic resistance to the invaders from the native fauna) may suggest new ways to reduce invader viability. In tropical Australia, commercial livestock production can facilitate invasion by the cane toad (Rhinella marina), because hoofprints left by cattle and horses around waterbody margins provide distinctive (cool, moist) microhabitats; nevertheless the same microhabitat can inhibit the success of cane toads by increasing the risks of predation or drowning. Metamorph cane toads actively select hoofprints as retreat-sites to escape dangerous thermal and hydric conditions in the surrounding landscape. However, hoofprint geometry is important: in hoofprints with steep sides the young toads are more likely to be attacked by predatory ants (Iridomyrmex reburrus) and are more likely to drown following heavy rain. Thus, anthropogenic changes to the landscape interact with predation by native taxa to affect the ability of cane toads in this vulnerable life-history stage to thrive in the harsh abiotic conditions of tropical Australia.     

Changes in fish assemblages in catchments in north‐eastern Spain: biodiversity,conservation status and introduced species

1. North‐eastern Spain is a hot spot for the introduction of alien fish species, and its native fish fauna is one of the most endangered worldwide. We used an extensive data set from 2002 to 2003 and historical information from the area to characterize fish diversity and establish conservation priorities in river catchments. 2. Diversity indices were used to characterize fish diversity at the basin scale. An index of conservation status was applied for each species, which considers the occurrence, abundance and endemicity of each taxon. We used indirect ordination methods to test the relationship among basin features and to identify those variables most correlated with each other. To identify physical, biotic and environmental characteristics that seem to make a basin particularly susceptible to invasion, we performed a step‐wise multiple regression to examine the relationship between the number of native, translocated and introduced fish species (including the original native species richness of each basin), and landscape variables. 3. Over a period of approximately 50 years, the mean range size of native fish species has decreased by 60%. The greatest decline occurred in Gasterosteus gymnurus, Anguilla anguilla and Salaria fluviatilis, for which species over 75% of the original distribution area has been lost. The species with the highest conservation index were Gasterosteus gymnurus and Salaria fluviatilis. 4. Basin area and the catchment type explained 70% of variation in native species richness, whereas the number of dams and basin area accounted for more than 80% of variation in the number of introduced species. 5. The original native species richness and the number of introduced species at basin scale were not related, and thus there was no evidence of “biotic resistance” to invasion. The restoration of natural hydrologic processes and the development of specific management tools to protect native species, such as the prioritization of areas for fish conservation and the eradication of local populations of exotic species, are required to restore native fish fauna in these catchments.     

The Californian urban butterfly fauna is dependent on alien plants

Abstract. Using the unusually well-documented butterfly fauna of Davis, Yolo County, California, it is shown that the mainly native species commonly observed in gardens breed mostly or entirely on alien plants, especially naturalized weeds. Over 40% of the fauna has no known native hosts in the urban–suburban environment. Were certain alien weeds to be eradicated or their abundance greatly reduced, the urban-suburban butterfly fauna would disappear. This might be regarded as an unfortunate, and perhaps intolerable, side-effect of such programs.     

BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF A HEATED EFFLUENT IN DOCKS AT SWANSEA, S. WALES

Observations on the fauna of a heated, fully saline dock have been made by diving and by using suspended test panels. The seasonal abundance and breeding of native and immigrant species are described. The effects of subsequent cooling of the dock and the appearance of additional native species in the fauna are described and discussed.     

Forest Restoration and Parasitoid Wasp Communities in Montane Hawai’i

Globally, most restoration efforts focus on re-creating the physical structure (flora or physical features) of a target ecosystem with the assumption that other ecosystem components will follow. Here we investigate that assumption by documenting biogeographical patterns in an important invertebrate taxon, the parasitoid wasp family Ichneumonidae, in a recently reforested Hawaiian landscape. Specifically, we test the influence of (1) planting configurations (corridors versus patches), (2) vegetation age, (3) distance from mature native forest, (4) surrounding tree cover, and (5) plant community composition on ichneumonid richness, abundance, and composition. We sampled over 7,000 wasps, 96.5% of which were not native to Hawai’i. We found greater relative richness and abundance of ichneumonids, and substantially different communities, in restored areas compared to mature forest and abandoned pasturelands. Non-native ichneumonids drive these differences; restored areas and native forest did not differ in native ichneumonid abundance. Among restored areas, ichneumonid communities did not differ by planting age or configuration. As tree cover increased within 120 m of a sampling point, ichneumonid community composition increasingly resembled that found in native forest. Similarly, native ichneumonid abundance increased with proximity to native forest. Our results suggest that restoration plantings, if situated near target forest ecosystems and in areas with higher local tree cover, can facilitate restoration of native fauna even in a highly invaded system.     

Historical and ecological context, pattern and process, in the derivation of New Zealand?s freshwater fish fauna

This paper explores distribution patterns exhibited by New Zealand?s freshwater fish fauna, both fossil and extant, and seeks to clarify processes that have generated these patterns. Knowledge of a Miocene New Zealand terrestrial/freshwater fossil fauna is based substantially on lacustrine deposits in Central Otago. It reflects an ecologically very different fauna from that known today. Nothing is known of the Miocene fluvial fauna. Present-day patterns of distribution and diversity reflect a deep ecological dichotomy. About half the fauna is diadromous, and the habit of these species, of moving to and from the sea, provides them with great resilience in the face of major known landscape perturbations resulting from orogeny and land submergence, glaciation and volcanism. The diadromous species tend to be widespread throughout New Zealand. In contrast, non-diadromous species are more strictly confined to freshwater habitats, and a major means of spread relates to changes in directions and connections of stream flows. As a result, species are much less resilient, they exhibit complex patterns of sympatry, and their ranges are much more localised. Despite all elements in the fauna living across the same landscape in space and time, distribution patterns of the varying species groups display great differences in pattern.     

Beauty before age: landscape factors influence bird functional diversity in naturally regenerating fragments,but regeneration age does not

Effective ecological restoration actions should be able to recover ecosystem processes that influence community development in the long term. However, there is scarce information on how landscape factors promote or accelerate fauna recovery. We used a landscape framework to evaluate how functional groups respond to natural regeneration in a highly fragmented region of Atlantic Forest. Using bird functional groups sampled in 15 regenerating forest fragments, we built and ranked models using a model selection approach to test the relative effect of landscape variables on each group. Our results showed that bird community recovery is not determined by the duration of the regeneration process (i.e. forest age), but by how the species responds to the landscape context. Functional diversity and the abundance of the functional groups were mainly related to composition metrics, whereas the functional metric affected only specific groups. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the landscape level to ensure both the colonization of fauna and the restoration of ecological functions.