Fuel load and flight ranges of blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla in northern Iberia during autumn and spring migrations

Fuel accumulation,mainly as fatty acids,is one of the main characteristics of migratory birds.Studying to what extent each population or species manages fuel load and how it varies along routes of migration or between seasons(autumn and spring migrations)is crucial to our understanding of bird migration strategies.Our aim here was to analyse whether migratory blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla passing through northern Iberia differ in their mean fuel loads,rate of fuel accumulation and 'potential' flight ranges between migration seasons.Blackcaps were mist netted for 4 h-periods beginning at dawn from 16 September to 15 November 2003-2005,and from 1 March to 30 April 2004-2006 in a European Atlantic hedgerow at Loza,northern Iberia.Both fuel load and fuel deposition rate(this latter assessed with difference in body mass of within-season recaptured individuals)were higher in autumn than in spring.Possible hypotheses explaining these results could be seasonal-associated variations in food availability(likely lower during spring than during autumn),the fact that a fraction of the migrants captured in spring could breed close to the study area and different selective pressures for breeding and wintering.

The Detection of Partial Albinism at Three Species of Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in European Part of Russia

The first time for the territory of European Russia describes the cases of catching bats with signs of albinism. This article describes the detection of three species of bats with partial albinism in European part of Russia. There are four animal units of Eptesicus serotinus turcomanus that are stored in Penza State University. They were procured in Astrahan region in 1992 and in 1996. One more animal was found in Volgograd region in 2004. All these animals have white spots of different size and shape on their abdominal part of body. In 2012 it was caught a young female of Pipistrellus nathusii in Samarskaya Luka (Samara region) and in 2013 the scientists found a mature female of Myotis mystacinus. Both animals had a light-colored fur, red eyes and with almost white ears. Moreover, they had pale-pink noses and extremities.

Dust Retention Ability of Plants as a Factor Improving Environment Air

It is well known that air in industrial cities contains a significant amount of dust particles, smoke, and toxic gases. The increased number of vehicles has a direct impact on air quality resulting in the emission of exhaust gases, and the increase of dust concentration in air. In this article, we are describing the dust retention ability of plants depending on their leaf structure. Plant species were classified into three groups according to their dust-holding capacities. Dust retaining ability of plant species in conditions of high, average and low dust conditions described.

Phylogenetic relationship and variation of alarm call traits of populations of red-cheeked ground squirrels(Spermophilus erythrogenys sensu lato)suggest taxonomic delineation

Distribution area and taxonomic borders within the species complex Spermophilus erythrogenys sensu lato re­main questionable.Early evidence suggests that red-cheeked ground squirrels of Southeast Kazakhstan are re­markably different in terms of the acoustic structure of their alarm calls from the red-cheeked ground squirrels of the Kurgan region in Russia.In this study,we analyzed the differences in the acoustic structure of the alarm call and mitochondrial DNA(complete control region,1005-1006 bp and complete cytochrome b gene,1140 bp)in 3 populations of red-cheeked ground squirrels(Tara,Altyn-Emel and Balkhash),all located within ar­eas isolated by geographical barriers in Southeast Kazakhstan.We found that the alarm call variables were sim­ilar between the 3 study populations and differed by the maximum fundamental frequency(8.46±0.75 kHz)from the values(5.62±0.06 kHz)reported for the red-cheeked ground squirrels from the Kurgan region of Rus­sia.Variation in mtDNA control region was only 3%and variation in cytochrome b gene was only 2.5%.Phylo­genetic trees based on cytochrome b gene polymorphism of 44 individuals from the study area and adjacent ter­ritories indicated 3 clades with high(98-100%)bootstrap support:“intermedius,”“brevicauda”and“iliensis”).We conclude that the 3 study populations in Southeast Kazakhstan belong to the clade intermedius and suggest a taxonomical revision of the species complex Spermophilus erythrogenys sensu lato,including analyses of nu­clear DNA and alarm calls for populations of the brevicauda and iliensis clades.

Northwestward range expansion of the bumblebee Bombus haematurus into Central Europe is associated with warmer winters and niche conservatism

Species range expansions are crucial for understanding niche formation and the interaction with the environment.Here,we studied the bumblebee Bombus haematurus Kriechbaumer,1870,a species historically distributed from northern Serbia through northern Iran which has very recently started expanding northwestward into Central Europe without human-mediated dispersal(i.e.,it is a natural spread).After updating the global distribution of this species,we investigated if niche shifts took place during this range expansion between newly colonized and historical areas.In addition,we have explored which climatic factors may have favored the natural range expansion of the species.Our results indicated that Bombus haematurus has colonized large territories in 7 European countries outside the historical area in the period from the 1980s to 2018,a natural expansion over an area that equals 20%of the historical distribution.In addition,this bumblebee performs generalism in flower visitation and it occurs in different habitats,although a preference for forested areas clearly emerges.The land-use associated with the species in the colonized areas is similar to the historical distribution,indicating that no major niche shifts occurred during the spread.Furthermore,in recently colonized localities,the range expansion was associated with warming temperatures during the winter and also during both queen overwintering and emergence phases.These findings document a case of natural range expansion due to environmental change rather than due to niche shifts,and specifically they suggest that warmer winters could be linked to the process of natural colonization of new areas.

Improving ecosystem services in farmlands:beginning of a long-term ecological study with restored flower-rich grasslands

Biodiversity declines in an unprecedented way,mostly due to land use change.Restoration interventions proved to be one of the most effective tools to halt the decline,especially in ecosystems such as agricultural fields.Evidence-based,locally adapted recommendations on grassland restoration,however,are often missing,so we present a novel approach for such interventions that can be implemented anywhere and that are based on scientific rigor.In a recently started long-term field ecological study,we established 0.5 ha wildflower parcels,using a diverse local seed mixture of 32 insect-visited plant species in Central European agricultural landscapes in 2020.Our focus is on the landscape-scale effects of this ecological intensification on ecosystem services such as crop yield,pollination and pest control,and the long-term monitoring of the successional processes.The aim is to showcase an effective restoration protocol that could serve as a model for future farm management,and provide much-needed evidence for policy on landscape ecological restoration of international relevance.

Repellent effect of synanthropic house mouse urine odor on small forest mammals

In this study,we examined the effect of synanthropic house mouse(Mus musculus)urine odor on catching probability of small mammals to live traps.We conducted a series of field experiments in August 2016 and 2017 in a natural forests of the northwestern Moscow Region(Russia).Small mammals were trapped at two 4-ha fields using capture-mark-recapture technique by setting 200 live traps(100 points,2 traps per point)within each field.One trap in each pair was odorless(control)with bait only,whereas the other one was odor-baited with 20μL of the urine of a synanthropic house mouse.Further analysis was based on the data collected from 2 rodent species(bank vole Myodes glareolus,herb field mouse Apodemus uralensis)and 3 shrew species(common shrew Sorex araneus,Laxmann’s shrew Sorex caecutiens,and Eurasian pygmy shrew Sorex minutus).As a result,only bank voles significantly avoided odor-baited live traps.Using generalized linear mixed models,we showed that the choice of a trap by bank voles depended on their age,whereas the probability of repeated capture to a certain live trap was related to their prior experience.We discuss the possible role of components of synanthropic house mouse urine in the population management of exoanthropic small mammals.

Testate amoebae communities from some freshwater and soil habitats in China （Hubei and Shandong Provinces）

Seventy-eight species and forms of testate amoebae were identified from 29 freshwater and soil habitats in three territories of China （Shandong and Hubei Provinces）. Most abundant species from the genera Plagiopyxis, Centropyxis and Trinema represent the globally-distributed and eurybiont group of testate amoe- bae. The species richness was observed to be the lowest （7-12 species per biotope） in sandy sediments of the Yangtze River, but considerably higher （20-30 taxa） in soil environment. In the range of terrestrial habitats, the most remote communities from Laoshan Mountain in Shandong Province, China manifested the highest difference from others. On the other hand, communities originated in the most distant from industrial center places （Guifeng Mountain in Hubei Province, China） possess the most peculiar species composition including specific Gondwa- nian taxa （e.g. Nebela bigibbosa）. In sum, the results obtained provide the evidence that the community complexity and specificity reduce in the places located within areas that are highly populated and intensively visited by humans.

Fluctuating fine-scale spatial genetic structure in the common shrews (Eulipotyphla, Mammalia)

The spatial genetic structure is a topical issue in the studies of various aspects of ecology and evolution.Using the multilocus autocorrelation method with hypervariable microsatellite genetic markers,we investigated afine-scale pattern of genetic structure in 5 local populations of the common shrew Sorex araneus separated by distances of 300–1000 m(the Moscow chromosomal race).Spatial genetic autocorrelation analysis based on 5 microsatellite loci(expected heterozygosity>0.79)with 90 alleles revealed a consistent pattern of significant positive genetic structure.By testing the autocorrelation at multiple scales from 25 to 500 m,we found that positive spatial genetic structure is detectable in distance classes of<500 m.The weaker spatial genetic structure positively correlated with a higher ratio of nonresident individuals to residents’activity(number of captures).In contrast to nonresident animals,the residents demonstrated prominent genetic structure.Genetic difference(FST)between the populations was significant(0.016–0.051)and comparable with that between populations of different races analyzed previously(0.016–0.038).FST was not associated with geographic distance.These demographic patterns allowed us to propose a scheme of genetic-structure dynamics involving periodic appearance of more related local groups and renewal of allelic profiles fromаcommon pool where the alleles are mixed.The scheme predictsfluctuating genetic structure and random similar differences among local populations.