Artificial canopy bridges improve connectivity in fragmented landscapes: The case of Javan slow lorises in an agroforest environment

Canopy bridges are increasingly used to reduce fragmentation in tropical habitats yet monitoring of their impact on the behavior of primates remains limited. The Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) is endemic to Java, Indonesia, where the species most often occurs in human-dominated, highly patchy landscapes. Slow lorises cannot leap, are highly arboreally adapted, and are vulnerable on the ground. To increase arboreal connectivity, as part of a long-term conservation project in Cipaganti, West Java, we built and monitored seven slow lorises bridges of two types—waterline or rubber—and monitored their use by seven adult individuals from 2016 to 2017. Motion triggered camera traps collected data for 195 ± standard deviation (SD) 85 days on each bridge. We collected 341.76 hr (179.67 hr before and 162.09 hr after the installation of bridges) of behavioral and home range data via instantaneous sampling every 5 min, and terrestrial behavior (distance and duration of time spent on the ground) via all occurrences sampling. We found that slow lorises used bridges on average 12.9 ± SD 9.7 days after their installment mainly for traveling. Slow lorises showed a trend toward an increase in their home range size (2.57 ha before, 4.11 ha after; p = 0.063) and reduced ground use (5.98 s/hr before, 0.43 s/hr; p = 0.063) after implementation of bridges. Although the number of feeding trees did not change, new feeding trees were included in the home range, and the proportion of data points spent traveling and exploring significantly decreased (p = 0.018). Waterline bridges serve a purpose to irrigate the crops of local farmers who thus help to maintain the bridges, and also ascribe value to the presence of slow lorises. Other endemic mammal species also used the bridges. We advocate the use and monitoring of artificial canopy bridges as an important supplement for habitat connectivity in conservation interventions.     

The behavioral effects of exhibit size versus complexity in African elephants: A potential solution for smaller spaces

Population‐level analyses suggest that habitat complexity, but not necessarily space availability, has important welfare outcomes for elephants in human care. At the Dallas Zoo, the opening of a new exhibit complex allowed us to measure the behavior of two female African elephants across three treatments to evaluate the independent effects of complexity and space. Preoccupancy observations were conducted in the elephants’ older exhibit, which consisted of a smaller, more simple yard (630 m²). Subsequent postoccupancy observations measured behavior in two different spaces in the new exhibit: a larger, complex yard (15,000 m²), and a smaller, but complex yard (1,520 m²). The elephants’ overall activity levels were greater in complex habitats, regardless of their size. Similar effects of habitat complexity oversize were observed with greater rates of foraging and lower rates of being stationary. Furthermore, elephants were out of view of visitors significantly more in the small, simple yard compared to either of the more complex habitats. However, exhibit size affected the incidence of stereotypic behavior (with lower rates of stereotypy in the larger exhibit compared to the smaller yards) and investigatory behavior (elephants investigated their environments more with increasing size and complexity). Behavioral diversity also increased with exhibit size and complexity. These results indicate that space availability alone is not sufficient to enhance the behavioral welfare of zoo elephants. Therefore, facilities with limited space can still encourage species‐appropriate behaviors and improved welfare for the elephants in their care by converting a small, simple area into a more complex habitat.     

Molecular evidence on Primate phylogeny from DNA sequences

Evidence from DNA sequences on the phylogenetic systematics of primates is congruent with the evidence from morphology in grouping Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys) and Hominoidea (apes and humans) into Catarrhini, Catarrhini and Platyrrhini (ceboids or New World monkeys) into Anthropoidea, Lemuriformes and Lorisiformes into Strepsirhini, and Anthropoidea, Tarsioidea, and Strepsirhini into Primates. With regard to the problematic relationships of Tarsioidea, DNA sequences group it with Anthropoidea into Haplorhini. In addition, the DNA evidence favors retaining Cheirogaleidae within Lemuriformes in contrast to some morphological studies that favor placing Cheirogaleids in Lorisiformes. While parsimony analysis of the present DNA sequence data provides only modest support for Haplorhini as a monophyletic taxon, it provides very strong support for Hominoidea, Catarrhini, Anthropoidea, and Strepsirhini as monophyletic taxa. The parsimony DNA evidence also rejects the hypothesis that megabats are the sister group of either Primates or Dermoptera (flying lemur) or a Primate-Dermoptera clade and instead strongly supports the monophyly of Chiroptera, with megabats grouping with microbats at considerable distance from Primates. In contrast to the confused morphological picture of sister group relationships within Hominoidea, orthologous noncoding DNA sequences (spanning alignments involving as many as 20,000 base positions) now provide by the parsimony criterion highly significant evidence for the sister group relationships defined by a cladistic classification that groups the lineages to all extant hominoids into family Hominidae, divides this ape family into subfamilies Hylobatinae (gibbons) and Homininae, divides Homininae into tribes Pongini (orangutans) and Hominini, and divides Hominini into subtribes Gorillina (gorillas) and Hominina (humans and chimpanzees). A likelihood analysis of the largest body of these noncoding orthologues and counts of putative synapomorphies using the full range of sequence data from mitochondrial and nuclear genomes also find that humans and chimpanzees share the longest common ancestry. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Die Aussagekraft subfossiler Moos-Synusien bei der Rekonstruktion eines keltischen Lebensraumes — Das Beispiel des Fürstengrabhügels Magdalenenberg bei Villingen

Bei den jüngsten Ausgrabungen am hallstattzeitlichen Fürstengrabhügel Magdalenenberg bei Villingen wurden vorzüglich erhaltene und autochthone Pflanzenreste geborgen, darunter 30 Arten von Bryophyten. Diese ließen sich folgenden rezenten ökologischsoziologischen Gruppen zuordnen: Halbtrockenrasen-Arten, Arten verdichteter Erdblößen, Waldboden-Bewohner, Arten frischer bis nasser Standorte, Euryöke. Durch aktualistischen Vergleich der Moos-Synusien mit heutigen Pflanzengesellschaften im gleichen Naturraum ließ sich entschlüsseln, daß das Gelände damals mit extensiv beweideten Halbtrockenrasen bewachsen war; die Tätigkeit der Hügelbauer spiegelt sich in einer Überlagerung mit “Ruderalmoosen” wider. Durch Samenpflanzen-Funde konnte die Rekonstruktion weiter präzisiert und abgesichert werden.     

质体样细胞器APICOPLAST起源的分子证据评述

顶复合器门的原生动物（Apicomplexan protozoa）含有一个高度退化的质体样（plastid-like）细胞器,定名为apicoplast。Apicoplast的进化起源是一个长期激烈争论的问题,尽管使用了多种分子技术,但尚未取得一致的结论,以致成为质体起源研究的典型案例。文章评述了apicoplast起源研究的分子证据,分析了新的分子证据的可能来源,为进一步研究提供线索。