Bird-habitat associations predict population trends in central European forest and farmland birds

Recent studies show differences in population trends between groups of species occupying different habitats. In Czech birds, as well as in many other European countries, populations of forest species have increased, whereas populations of farmland species have declined. The aim of our study was to test whether population trends of particular species were related to finer bird-habitat associations within farmland and forest birds. We assessed bird-habitat associations using canonical correspondence analysis based on data from a 400 km long transect across the Czech Republic. We calculated population trends of 62 bird species using log-linear models based on data from a large-scale annual monitoring scheme, which covers the time series from 1982 to 2005. Within forest birds, species with a closer association with lowland broad-leaved forest have had more positive population trends, whereas species with a closer association with montane and coniferous forest revealed more negative population trends. We attribute these opposite trends to the gradual replacement of coniferous forests by deciduous ones, which took place in the Czech Republic during recent decades. Our analyses revealed a hump-shaped relationship within farmland birds, species most closely associated with farmland habitat revealing the most negative trends, whereas species with intermediate association to farmland habitat showed the most positive population trends. Such a pattern can be explained by the abandonment of previously cultivated areas followed by the spread of unmanaged meadows and scrubland. Changes in quantity or quality of preferred habitats may thus represent major drivers of observed bird population changes.     

The tail of Microbrachis (Tetrapoda; Microsauria)

Previously undescribed specimens of the aquatic microsaur Microbrachis pelikani Fritsch from the Upper Carboniferous of Nýřany, Czech Republic, demonstrate the presence of a deep-swimming-adapted tail supported by up to 46 postsacral vertebrae. The tail appears to have lengthened with ontogeny. Most microsaurs appear to have been terrestrial and because the group has been perceived to be related to the amniotes, all (including Microbrachis ) had been reconstructed with slender tapering tails. Microbrachis appears to be an early offshoot of the microsaurs and it is unclear whether the deep tail is a primitive retention or an acquired characteristic of the genus.     

Le Paléolithique de la République Tchèque

Bohemia and Moravia, the two parts constituting together the Czech Republic, do not only represent historical countries, but they also display distinct geographies. As Bohemia is surrounded by mountains, its territory is often called the Bohemian Basin. In Moravia, the mountains in the north of the country are interrupted by the Moravian Gate, giving access to the Great Northern Plain of Europe with its rich sources of Northern flints, the best raw material for chipped stone industries available in Central Europe. The southern part opens directly towards the Danubian region with its more temperate environment, and connecting the south of Germany with the Balkans. The morphology of the territory had obviously influenced the Palaeolithic occupation. In the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic when communication did not play any major role, the two countries were settled relatively regularly, although not too densely. The Early Upper Palaeolithic brought a substantial change: In Moravia hundreds of sites proliferate, while there are only few of them in Bohemia. The Pavlovian phase of the Gravettian seems to be completely missing in Bohemia, while in Moravia it is concentrated in several megasites on the banks of the main rivers. This is certainly caused by the presence of the South-North artery of animal migrations and human communication. Since the Epigravettian, the density of occupation became balanced again. The local evolution of the Upper Palaeolithic was interrupted by the invasion of the Magdalenians coming from the West, on the one side along the Danube River, on the other by the northern route through Poland. The Late Palaeolithic, subject to influences coming from the North, gradually transformed into the Mesolithic.     

The Chilean coastal range: a vanishing center of biodiversity and endemism in South American temperate rainforests

Temperate forests of southern South America are globally important because of their high level of endemism. I argue here that within southern South America, rainforests of the Chilean Coastal Range should be the primary target for new conservation efforts. Historically, most protected areas in southern South America have been designated to preserve forests above 600 m, mainly in the Andes. However, Coastal Range forests have higher species richness and are under greater threat than Andean forests at similar latitudes. Coastal forests are characterized by the presence of numerous narrow-range endemics, among them two monotypic plant families. The higher frequency of endemic species in Coastal Range forests is attributed to its more stable biogeographic history compared to the Andes, particularly during the glacial events of the Quaternary. Due to the extent of human impact, the remaining fragments of coastal forests are quite distant from one another, and are disconnected from the larger protected areas of Andean forests. Only 439000 ha of Valdivian coastal forest still remain, including some remnants of primary forest. New private or public reserves should be created to protect the last remnants of continuous forest remaining on the Coastal Range of the Valdivian region (40–42° S). A different conservation strategy should be applied north of 40° S, where protected areas are too small and fragments are too scattered to maintain viable populations of most vertebrates. In this latter area, I recommend expanding existing reserves, restoring native forests, and interconnecting remnant forests through a corridor network.     

Spontaneous succession in Central‐European man‐made habitats: What information can be used in restoration practice?

Abstract. The results of previous studies concerning spontaneous vegetation succession in various man‐made or disturbed habitats in Central Europe are discussed in relation to restoration ecology. An attempt is made to answer the main questions which are important to restoration programs. These concern the rate and direction of succession; participation of target species and communities, woody species, ruderals and aliens; arresting or diverting succession; changes in species diversity; variability of successional pathways and the role of abiotic environmental conditions. The great potential for using successional theory in restoration programs is emphasized.     

Survival rates in the Czech Republic of introduced plants known as wool aliens

The paper analyses an unintentional experiment conducted 40 years ago with species termed wool aliens which were observed in employee garden allotments of a wool-processing factory in Brno, Czech Republic. The waste from processing was used as a garden fertilizer, and alien species were recorded by Dvořák and Kühn (1966) Zavlečené rostliny na pozemcích přádelny vlny ‘Mosilana’ n.p. v Brně. Preslia 38: 327–332. The survival of these species was assessed by their occurrence in the current alien flora of the Czech Republic. Of the 56 species introduced in the 1960s and classified as wool aliens, 18 are still present in the Czech alien flora. The remaining 38 species are considered extinct, i.e. alien plants not capable of long-term survival in the country. The resulting survival rate of wool aliens is 22.1%. Three species on the list (5.4%) were clearly capable of naturalization. Compared to the other alien flora of the Czech Republic, wool aliens were disproportionally introduced from Australia, Africa and South and Central America. Species from Europe and Africa tended to survive the best. Grasses were most strongly represented, contributing 62.5% to wool alien species but only 7.9% to the total Czech neophyte flora. All surviving species were annuals, whereas none of the perennials survived; the survival rate in annuals was 37.5%. Survival of species introduced with wool was significantly comparable to their performance in the UK and in Central Europe, indicating that survival is not determined by mere chance and that the same species tend to be successful elsewhere in Europe. Maximum height and the month of first flowering were not significantly related to the species survival. The role of specific events in the enrichment of alien floras is discussed.     

Dinosaur Highways

A specimen of Calceola sandalina (Linne 1771) from the Givetian of the Czech Republic shows severe injury on its right side when observed from its cardinal side. Approximately one-half of the counter side is missing between the counter septum and the alar corallite angle. The injury is healed within the calice, as visible also on deformed septa close to injury, while the outer flat ventral side shows no signs of healing. The operculum is not preserved but the damage clearly must have affected it. It is difficult to envision how such damage might have occurred by abiotic means in a rather low-energy environment without the influx of grains larger than silt. We consider the injury a result of attack by a predator. When speculating on the animal capable of producing such injury, one must consider preferably a vertebrate with strong jaws: fish-like animals capable of durophagy (placoderms and chondrichthyans) appeared in the Devonian.     

Breeding waterbirds in relation to artificial pond attributes: implications for the design of irrigation facilities

The growth of inter-basin water transfers and the development of new irrigation facilities in southeastern Spain are responsible for a variety of ecological impacts. In spite of this, the construction of artificial ponds to keep water for intensive agriculture may also provide new habitats for breeding waterbirds. We counted waterbirds during the breeding season in artificial ponds that had been built up using different materials and measured their abiotic and biotic attributes. We found that ponds were used as breeding and foraging habitat by 22 different waterbird species and breeding numbers of a few of them seemed to be larger in these artificial facilities than in nearby natural and semi-natural wetlands. Abundance and richness of breeding waterbirds was influenced by construction materials. Ponds constructed with low density polyethylene and covered with sand and stones held more species and their numbers were higher than those constructed with other plastic materials. The presence of emergent and submerged vegetation as well as abiotic attributes, such as pond size, accounted for most of the deviance when modelling richness and species abundance.     

New distributional data and an updated and commented list of Czech and Slovak Sarcophagidae (Diptera)

Based on a revision of large recent collections housed by Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Masaryk University, Brno, and in the private collection of Yu. Verves (Kyiv, Ukraine), new distributional data and an updated and commented list of Czech and Slovak Sarcophagidae are presented. The following six species are firstly recorded from the Czech Republic: Macronychia (s. str.) substriginervis Verves & Khrokalo, 2006, Paragusia multipunctata (Rondani, 1859), Oebalia praeclusa (Pandellé, 1895), Nyctia lugubris (Macquart, 1843), Blaesoxipha dupuisi Léonide & Léonide, 1973, and B. grylloctona Loew, 1861. As a result, 143 species of the family Sarcophagidae are currently known from the Czech Republic (109 from Bohemia and 129 from Moravia), and 131 species are known from Slovakia.     

Terrestrial insect bioerosion and the possibilities of its fossilization (Holocene to recent,Czech republic)

Cylindrical tunnels, representing bee's nests, are present at and immediately beneath exposed surfaces of Late Cretaceous castellated sandstones in the Czech Republic. The tunnels originated either in weathered rock of overhanging surfaces, or in a thin layer of weathered sandstone formed between hard opaline crusts on rock surfaces and material not affected strongly by recent exogenic processes. Degraded rock crusts, which may bear parts of the biogenic structures, are present in sandy talus deposits usually representing all of the Holocene. Insect “borings” within lithified substrates in terrestrial settings are an unusual phenomenon; their fossilization potential in the Holocene sediments of the Bohemian castellated rocks may be relatively high.     

长江新螺段白鱀豚国家级自然保护区长江江豚分布特征及河道形态影响研究

研究旨在探讨长江新螺江段长江江豚(Neophocaena asiaeorientalis)分布特征及影响其栖息地选择的河道形态因素, 为其栖息地修复和保护区管理提供科学依据。研究利用2006—2023年的考察数据, 通过栖息地选择模型分析了保护区江段长江江豚在不同水文季节的分布情况及与环境因子的相关性。结果显示, 该江段的长江江豚在枯水期主要分布于保护区江段的老湾水域、潘家湾和簰洲湾水域, 丰水期主要分布于簰洲湾水域, 季节性分布差异显著。保护区赤壁大桥以上江段在历次考察中长江江豚分布稀少。总体来看, 长江江豚的分布与河道弯曲度、河漫滩面积显著相关, 这提示长江河道的自然景观特征可能是驱动长江江豚分布的主要因素。根据上述结果, 建议进一步开展保护区水域具体河道理化特征研究, 阐明长江江豚栖息地选择机制。加强河漫滩生境的保护和修复, 在长江江豚高密度分布的老湾水域、潘家湾和簰洲湾水域保持自然岸线占比。加强保护区上游江段长江江豚的种群监测, 并采取生境改造手段, 恢复部分河漫滩, 改善不同河漫滩生境之间的栖息地连通性。