Supplemental Feeding of Northern Bobwhite Affects Red-Tailed Hawk Spatial Distribution

ABSTRACT Supplemental feeding is a widely used management practice in areas managed for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter quail). Although food provisioning is intended to benefit quail directly, it may also indirectly affect predators by allowing them to focus on the increased concentration of prey. We studied the effects of food supplementation for northern bobwhite on red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) space use in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem in southwestern Georgia. We used radiotelemetry to determine whether hawks were attracted to areas where supplemental feeding occurred. We found hawks almost 3 times closer to feeding sites (224 ± 96 m; x̄ ± SE) than expected (638 ± 96 m). Our data provide an example of a common game management practice having an unintended influence on a top predator.     

Historical DNA from museum type specimens clarifies diversity of Asian leaf turtles (Cyclemys)

Species boundaries in Asian leaf turtles of the genus Cyclemys are difficult to define on the basis of morphology, primarily because many populations exhibit considerable ontogenetic variation in shell and head coloration. Two recent molecular phylogenetic hypotheses of Cyclemys species relationships, based largely on market and pet-trade samples of uncertain provenance, were highly incongruent. We used historical DNA methods to sequence fragments of the mitochondrial cytochrome  b gene from eight type specimens of Cyclemys (including one collected by Alfred Russel Wallace), and phylogenetically placed these type sequences into the context of published cytochrome  b variation. Our phylogenetic hypothesis supports the recognition of four named species ( Cyclemys atripons , Cyclemys dentata , Cyclemys oldhamii , and C. pulchristriata ), as well as a fifth species of unknown geographical provenance obtained from the Hong Kong pet trade. The type sequences show that previous molecular phylogenetic studies were hampered by misidentifications, supporting the notion that Cyclemys of unknown provenance are not reliably identified to species solely on the basis of morphology.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 94 , 131–141.