HUman Disturbance

This study examined the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on species richness, pattern of diversity, forest structure and regeneration of tree species in the Madhupur Sal (Shorea robusta C.F. Gaertn) forests of Bangladesh. The forest sites were classified as low, medium and highly disturbed based on the intensity of historic and current anthropogenic impacts. Plant species richness and biological diversity varied along a disturbance gradient in different forest types. A total of 134 plant species were identified. The highest plant species richness (125 species) was found in the low disturbed forest type, and the lowest species richness (19 species) in the highly disturbed forest type. Plant density (except herbs and saplings) and basal area of mature trees declined with an increase in disturbance intensity. Only a few snags (4.4 ha -1 ) were found in the low disturbed forest type. The diameter and height distributions revealed that the low disturbed forest type comprised a mixture of very young to giant trees, while the medium and highly disturbed forest types contained only young trees. The relative abundance of the early successional species, S. robusta,increased with the intensity of human disturbances due to its regeneration potential. Highly disturbed forests can no longer be considered natural habitats for natural plant species due to shifting cultivation and agroforestry.

Ecosystem management of protection forests aims at maintaining forests near a state during which effective protection is secured. As the evolution of a dynamic forest ecosystem cannot be stopped, silvicultural measures are required which aim at maintaining both the ecosystem integrity and the protective function of mountain forests. Ecosystem integrity is defined as the system's capacity to maintain structure and ecosystem functions using processes and elements characteristic for its ecoregion. Here, ecosystem functions also reflect the capability of the ecosystem to provide functions of value to humans. Ecosystem integrity of a protection forest implies that the stability (mainly the property resilience is addressed) of the forest is high, because that is required to provide a high level of protection in the long term. The main conditions promoting natural evolutionary processes and ecological stability in protection forests are: (1) a diverse composition of species; (2) sufficient natural regeneration; (3) an optimal forest structure. The first example in this chapter explains how these conditions might be achieved by silvicultural interventions in a forest that mainly protects against rockfall in the Austrian Alps. The second example deals with socioeconomic aspects of ecosystem integrity of a forest that also protects against rockfall, but then in the French Alps. Both examples show that forest authorities are aware of techniques to improve the stand stability of protection forests, but the problem is that current forest management is often a kind of trial and error, because the exact consequences of interventions for forest ecosystem dynamics are not known. Therefore, it is proposed that forest ecosystem research should shift focus from protection forest dynamics to the geo-ecosystem functioning of protection forests, including the effects of natural and human disturbances. For this, the concept of panarchy may be a promising way forward.

Multiple disturbances to ecosystems can influence community structure by modifying resistance to and recovery from invasion by non-native species. Predicting how invasibility responds to multiple anthropogenic impacts is particularly challenging due to the variety of potential stressors and complex responses. Using manipulative field experiments, we examined the relative impact of perturbations that primarily change abiotic or biotic factors to promote invasion in coastal salt marsh plant communities. Specifically we test the hypotheses that nitrogen enrichment and human trampling facilitate invasion of upland weeds into salt marsh, and that the ability of salt marsh communities to resist and/or recover from invasion is modified by hydrological conditions. Nitrogen enrichment affected invasion of non-native upland plants at only one of six sites, and increased aboveground native marsh biomass at only two sites. Percent cover of native marsh plants declined with trampling at all sites, but recovered earlier at tidally flushed sites than at tidally restricted sites. Synergistic interactions between trampling and restricting tidal flow resulted in significantly higher cover of non-native upland plants in trampled plots at tidally restricted sites. Percent cover of non-native plants recovered to pre-trampling levels in fully tidal sites, but remained higher in tidally restricted sites after 22 months. Thus, perturbations that reduce biotic resistance interact with perturbations that alter abiotic conditions to promote invasion. This suggests that to effectively conserve or restore native biodiversity in altered systems, one must consider impacts of multiple human disturbances, and the interactions between them.

The islands of the Mediterranean Basin probably represent some of the ecosystems globally most at risk from invasive species. Compared to neighbouring mainland areas, island floras have a significantly higher proportion of alien plant species. Yet the circumstances that have led to this situation and the subsequent consequences of plant invasions remain poorly understood. This knowledge deficit is addressed in this paper through a comprehensive review of recent research findings. Most alien plants occurring on Mediterranean islands have been introduced intentionally for economic purposes although there still exists a sizeable proportion that arrives by accident. A wide range of alien plant functional types have colonized Mediterranean islands. While certain traits appear important, e.g. reproductive strategies, species characteristics are closely allied to the habitats invaded. Large-scale biogeographic studies have highlighted a strong correlation between local and regional abundan...

Anthropized landscapes are characterized by various human activities related to resource extraction,
recreational activities, and urbanization, among others.
Conservation of species living in such landscapes is challenging due to the lack of compatibility between wildlife and human needs, which can create win-lose
scenarios for target species. Therefore, adequate management practices are necessary to reduce conflicts and promote coexistence between wildlife and human beings. Here, we test the effectiveness of management measures on the productivity of an Egyptian vulture population living in an anthropized region of Northern Spain by using long-term monitoring data (2000–2020). During the first decade, we demonstrated that disturbance events negatively affected the species reproduction. Therefore, in 2010 we started a management plan in which we first established a basis for the species protection, and second we developed management actions to avoid or reduce the impact of potential disturbance events on the Egyptian vulture’ breeding.
We observed that almost half of the disturbances detected after the management was related to resource extraction activities such as forestry (40.6%). Management measures effectively increased productivity (84 vs 137, chicks fledged successfully before and after, respectively) and the breeding success of the pairs in which the disturbances were detected and stopped (66.7%) was much higher than those non-managed and non-stopped in time (17.4%). Moreover, we estimated that 44 nestlings (32.1%) would have died without management actions during the second decade. Overall, our work demonstrated that collaborative networks can design and implement effective management measures for endangered territorial species, taking into account all agents involved (policymakers, rangers, stakeholders, general public, and researchers) in the conservation area. Thereby, it alleviates conflicts in humandominated ecosystems and generates a balanced scenario that favors long-term sustainable human-wildlife coexistence.

Mentougou District acts as a crucial component in the ecological buffer in western Beijing mountainous areas, Beijing, China. Using two Landsat MSS/TM images acquired on July 14, 1979 and July 23, 2005, the vegetation coverage of Mentougou District was calculated based on normalized difference vegetation index and spectral mixture analysis (NDVI-SMA) model. Its temporal and spatial changes were analyzed according to digital elevation model (DEM) image, social and economic data. The results showed that the vegetation coverage decreased from 76.4% in 1979 to 72.7% in 2005. Vegetation degradation was probably the result of human disturbance, such as outspreading of resident areas, and coal and stone mining activities, while vegetation restoration might be contributed by the combined effects of both natural processes and ecological construction effort. Vegetation changes were closely related to topographical characteristics. Plants at high altitude were more stable and less degraded than the plants at low altitude, while the plants on steep slope or northwest aspect were more vulnerable to degradation. During the period of 26 years, landscape appeared to become more fragmental, and ecological quality of the land seemed deteriorated sharply in that highly-covered vegetation area has been decreased by 24%.

The use of fish communities to assess environmental quality is common for streams, but a standard methodology for large rivers is as yet largely undeveloped. We developed an index to assess the condition of fish assemblages along 1,580 km of the Ohio River. Representative samples of fish assemblages were collected from 709 Ohio River reaches, including 318 ''leastimpacted'' sites, from 1991 to 2001 by means of standardized nighttime boat-electrofishing techniques. We evaluated 55 candidate metrics based on attributes of fish assemblage structure and function to derive a multimetric index of river health. We examined the spatial (by river kilometer) and temporal variability of these metrics and assessed their responsiveness to anthropogenic disturbances, namely, effluents, turbidity, and highly embedded substrates. The resulting Ohio River Fish Index (ORFIn) comprises 13 metrics selected because they responded predictably to measures of human disturbance or reflected desirable features of the Ohio River. We retained two metrics (the number of intolerant species and the number of sucker species [family Catostomidae]) from Karr's original index of biotic integrity. Six metrics were modified from indices developed for the upper Ohio River (the number of native species; number of great-river species; number of centrarchid species; the number of deformities, eroded fins and barbels, lesions, and tumors; percent individuals as simple lithophils; and percent individuals as tolerant species). We also incorporated three trophic metrics (the percent of individuals as detritivores, invertivores, and piscivores), one metric based on catch per unit effort, and one metric based on the percent of individuals as nonindigenous fish species. The ORFIn declined significantly where anthropogenic effects on substrate and water quality were prevalent and was significantly lower in the first 500 m below point source discharges than at least-impacted sites nearby. Although additional research on the temporal stability of the metrics and index will likely enhance the reliability of the ORFIn, its incorporation into Ohio River assessments still represents an improvement over current physicochemical protocols.

Quantitative information about spatial patterns in subtidal hard substrate assemblages is scant. Such information is necessary to understand the responses to anthropogenic disturbances in these habitats. Along the coast of Apulia (Southern Italy), the collection of the European date mussel Lithophaga lithophaga is a strong source of disturbance: harvesting is carried out by demolition of the rocky substrate and causes epibiota disappearance. A hierarchical sampling design was used to quantify the spatial variability of subtidal epibenthic assemblages and the extent of rock damage due to L. lithophaga harvesting along 360 km of rocky coasts in Apulia. The surveyed coast was divided into 8 adjacent sectors, and replicate samples were taken by visual inspection at each of the 3 sites nested in each sector. Multivariate analyses indicated that assemblages differed consistently with spatial scale, variability being higher at the largest scale. However, variability among sites within each sector was also detected. Patchiness (i.e., average similarity among quadrats) was consistent among sectors. Some species were identified as 'important' in characterising and/or differentiating sectors. The pattern of distribution of these species as well as total cover and number of species were analysed by analysis of variance. Results recorded a considerable source of variation at site level. Damage by L. lithophaga fishing was shown to be extremely widespread. A humped relationship between patchiness and disturbances by L. lithophaga fisheries was obtained. In particular, patchiness at a small scale was highest at 'intermediate' levels of damage, because disturbance produces patches of different size and/or age, leading to 'mosaic' landscapes of epibenthic assemblages.

The potential impact of human disturbance on wintering waterbirds using intertidal mudflats was considered by relating their numbers to the presence of nearby footpaths, roads, railroads, and towns. Data were obtained for six English estuaries from the Wetland Bird Survey Low Tide Count scheme. Counts were undertaken monthly from November to February, and data were available for an average of 2.8 years per estuary for the period 1992-1993 to 1999 -2000. Count sections and the positions of man-made landscape features were mapped using a GIS. Generalized linear models tested whether bird numbers varied according to the estuary, month, area, whether or not the section bordered water, and the pro-portion of each section within a specified distance of each landscape feature. In addition, the proximity of sections to the nearest footpath access point was considered. Numbers of six of nine species, northern shelduck (Tadorna tadorna), red knot (Calidris canutus), dunlin (Calidris alpina), black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) and common redshank (Tringa totanus), were significantly lower where a footpath was close to a count section, while those of brant (Branta bernicla) were greater. Northern shelduck, black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola), dunlin, and black-tailed godwit numbers were reduced close to railroads and those of common ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula), black-bellied plover, and Eurasian curlew close to roads. Common ringed plover numbers were greater close to towns. The relative distances to which species were affected by footpaths corresponded to published information concerning their flight distances in response to human disturbance. The study provided evidence that sustained disturbance associated with footpaths, roads, and railroads reduced local habitat quality for waterbirds and the carrying capacity of estuaries.

This study aimed to investigate changes in macroinvertebrate assemblage within Nyando wetlands and developed an index of biotic integrity for monitoring human disturbances. Triplicate macroinvertebrate samples were collected monthly for seven months using a scoop net. They were sorted live, counted and identified to genus level. Water samples for nutrients were collected and analyzed using standard methods. Physico-chemical parameters were taken in situ using electronic meters. Macroinvertebrates were analyzed for richness, diversity, dominance and abundance. Abundance was correlated with physico-chemical parameters. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to test spatial differences in macroinvertebrate community. Metrics for index of biotic integrity were chosen, tested, and a 5, 3, 1 scoring criteria was used. A total of 45 genera were identified and Kruskal-Wallis test analysis revealed significant spatial differences in macroinvertebrate abundance. Repeated measures ANOVA showed significant spatio-temporal differences. Tolerant macroinvertebrates were abundant at the disturbed sites whereas intolerant taxa showed a strong negative correlation with nutrient levels. Sites with higher disturbance recorded a total index score far below the reference site score. The results indicated that macroinvertebrates in Nyando wetlands can be used to monitor its ecological integrity. The IBI developed should be used to protect the lake from eutrophication.

1. The Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and of the four subspecies originally recognized, recent extinctions mean that only two now persist. Recent genetic analyses have cast doubt on the generally accepted taxonomy of the species, where four subspecies were distinguished by coat colour and horn morphology, and propose the distinction of two subspecies based on their mitochondrial DNA sequence polymorphism. These analyses make clear the need for a comprehensive revision that integrates genetic and morphological approaches resulting in a definitive description and differentiation of the subspecies. 2. Studies of ibex behavioural ecology and health status are scarce and generally descriptive. They should be implemented in an integrative way, taking into account the ecological requirements of the species, current population status, the presence of other sympatric wild and domestic ungulates, and the type of hunting regime and management in their distribution areas.

Tree condition and characteristics of natural regeneration of tree species was assessed in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Sampling was done in anthropogenically undisturbed, lightly disturbed, heavily disturbed and completely disturbed forest types. Nested plots measuring 25 x 30 m were established to assess tree size classes from seedlings (diameter < 2 cm and height ≤ 150 cm) to large trees (DBH > 15 cm). Higher stem densities were found in undisturbed and lightly disturbed forest types compared to heavily or completely disturbed types. Tree species richness and diversity were highest in lightly disturbed forest. Acacia mearnsii, an introduced tree species in Uganda, was recorded in completely disturbed forest. Regeneration from vegetative sprouts was highest in disturbed sites while regeneration from seeds was highest in undisturbed sites. High intensity human disturbance was associated with fewer signs of mammal damage. Damage to trees by physical agents and climber abundance increased with intensity of disturbance except in completely disturbed forest. High intensity human disturbance adversely affected tree species abundance, diversity and regeneration and increased the incidence of damage to trees. Regeneration from vegetative sprouts was most important in heavily disturbed sites. Intensity of disturbance and slope influenced the distribution of regenerating tree species.

... example, where aeolian sands cover the soil uniformly, no vegetation banding occurs on the Niger plateaux (d&#x27;Herbès and Valentin, 1997). ... The occurrence of crusted surfaces in the interbands have been noted in most studies (eg, Boaler and Hodge, 1962; White, 1971, Mabbut ...

Chile A B S T R A C T Over the last decade the Humboldt penguin, Spheniscus humboldti, has become a focus for ecotourism. Current management applies visitor guidelines similar to those developed for Magellanic penguins, Spheniscus magellanicus. However, unlike these, Humboldt penguins are extremely sensitive to human presence. Breeding success was significantly reduced at frequently visited sites. Heart rate telemetry during disturbance experiments revealed that Humboldt penguins respond more strongly to human presence than do any other penguin species thus far studied. A person passing an incubating penguin at 150 m distance already provoked a significant heart rate response. Recovery times were up to half an hour after direct human approach, causing increased energy expenditure without any overt behavioural reaction. Being extraordinary sensitive to human activity with little habituation potential the Humboldt penguin proves to be a difficult focal species for ecotourism. For sustainable ecotourism visitors are required to stay out of sight of Humboldt penguin breeding and moulting areas. Management guidelines need to acknowledge that even closely related species may react very differently towards human presence. 1 3 3 ( 2 0 0 6 ) 9 5 -1 0 6 a v a i l a b l e a t w w w . s c i e n c e d i r e c t . c o m j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / b i o c o n Habituation

The animal soundscape is a field of growing interest because of the implications it has for human-landscape interactions. Yet, it continues to be a difficult subject to investigate, due to the huge amount of information which it contains. In this contribution, the suitability of the Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI) is examined. It is an algorithm created to produce a direct quantification of the complex biotic songs by computing the variability of the intensities registered in audio-recordings, despite the presence of constant human-generated-noise. Twenty audio-recordings were made at equally spaced locations in a beech mountain forest in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park (Italy) between June and July 2008. The study area is characterized by the absence of recent human disturbance to forest assets but the presence of airplane routes does bring engine noise that overlaps and mixes with the natural soundscape, which resulted entirely composed by bird songs. The intensity values and frequency bin occurrences of soundscapes, the total number of bird vocalizations and the ACI were processed by using the Songscope v2.1 and Avisoft v4.40 software. The Spearman's rho calculation highlighted a significant correlation between the ACI values and the number of bird vocalizations, while the frequency bin occurrence and acoustic intensity were weaker correlated to bird singing activity because of the inclusion of all of the other geo/anthro-phonies composing the soundscape. The ACI tends to be efficient in filtering out anthrophonies (such as airplane engine noise), and demonstrates the capacity to synthetically and efficiently describe the complexity of bird soundscapes. Finally, this index offers new opportunities for the monitoring of songbird communities faced with the challenge of human-induced disturbances and other proxies like climate and land use changes.

In northern Europe at least, extensive knowledge of the systematics and ecology of spiders leads the authors to consider them as a very suitable group for pest limitation and for biodiagnostic purposes. An examination of both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of perdition by spider populations and communities is discussed as well as the evolution of some human factors occurring in agroecosystems that are likely to induce changes in spider predation such as chemical spraying and cultural practices. Studies addressing the recolonisation of agroecosystems by spiders, taking into account their dispersing abilities and habitat selection are summarised, followed by a discussion of the global efficiency of spiders as predators in such environments, the risks associated with their use and how to maximise their efficiency.

Banded landscapes are comprised of alternating bands of vegetation and bare ground aligned Ž . along the contours in arid and semi-arid regions 50-750 mm rainfall , on very gentle and uniform Ž . slopes 0.2-2% . Vegetated bands can be perpendicular to the direction of the dominant wind, or more frequently of the slope. Under given climatic conditions, slope gradient is the controlling Ž . factor of the type of pattern 'spotted', 'broadly' or 'typically' banded . For a given slope gradient, mean annual rainfall determines the contrast between the vegetated and bare phase, as well as the band length and the interband width:band width ratio. A typical transect through such two-phase mosaic includes a dynamic succession of surface crusts which generates a run-off-runon system. This favours the capture of limited water resources and thus a biomass production greater for banded patterns than spotted patterns or uniformly scattered vegetation. Moreover, vegetated bands act as natural bench structures that greatly limit soil erosion. As suggested by modelling, banded vegetation patterns can equally be derived from nearly bare areas or from dense vegetation patterns. Because banded vegetation patterns have often been considered as a form of degradation of previous continuous vegetation cover, many attempts have been made by foresters to restore this initial cover by reforestation of the bare interbands. However the numerous failures of reforestation of the bare interbands illustrate the key role of these mosaic components in the maintenance of the tiger bush ecosystem. Banded vegetation patterns are more resilient to climate change than to human disturbances. The loss of landscape patchiness due to the clearing of the bands either for fuelwood or for ephemeral cropping induces a rapid decline in soil fertility and water infiltration potential. Long-term monitoring shows that the interband width:band width ratio adapts to rainfall variations that are intrinsic of semi-arid zones. Moreover, climatic changes might ) Corresponding author. 0341-8162r99r$ -see front matter q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary and paleoecological studies suggest that fires are natural in the Mediterranean basin. However, the important increase in the number of fires and area burned during the 20th century has created the perception that fires are disasters. In the present paper, we review to what extent fires are generating ecological disasters in the Mediterranean basin, in view of current fire regimes and the long-term human pressure on the landscapes. Specifically, we review studies on post-fire plant regeneration and soil ...

The myth persists that in 1492 the Americas were a sparsely populated wilderness, "a world of barely perceptible human disturbance." There is substantial evidence, however, that the Native American landscape of the early sixteenth century was a humanized landscape almost everywhere. Populations were large. Forest composition had been modified, grasslands had been created, wildlife disrupted, and erosion was severe in places. Earthworks, roads, fields, and settlements were ubiquitous. With Indian depopulation in the wake of Old World disease, the environment recovered in many areas. A good argument can be made that the human presence was less visible in 1750 than it was in 1492.

Three geomorphic considerations that underpin the design and implementation of realistic and strategic river conservation and rehabilitation programs that work with the nature are outlined. First, the importance of appreciating the inherent diversity of river forms and processes is discussed. Second, river dynamics are appraised, framing the contemporary behavioral regime of a reach in relation to system evolution to explain changes to river character and behavior over time. Third, the trajectory of a reach is framed in relation to downstream patterns of river types, analyzing landscape connectivity at the catchment scale to interpret geomorphic river recovery potential. The application of these principles is demonstrated using extensive catchment-scale analyses of geomorphic river responses to human disturbance in the Bega and Upper Hunter catchments in southeastern Australia. Differing implications for reach-and catchment-scale rehabilitation planning prompt the imperative that management practices work with nature rather than strive to 'fight the site.'

As migratory animals, sustainable management of African elephant populations, both within and around protected areas, is a major challenge in the conservation policy of many African countries. We captured seven female elephants, representative members of family groups, in different parts of Tarangire National Park (TNP), Tanzania, and used GPS satellite radio-tracking (November 1997-June 2000 to monitor their space and habitat use and seasonal migrations throughout wet and dry seasons. Patterns of home range overlap revealed the existence of two large clans that occupied the north-central and southern parts of TNP, respectively. At the end of the dry season, elephants from the southern clan migrated about 100 km southeast of the park boundary, those from the northern clan remained mostly inside the park, or used periodically wet-season core areas in the nearby Game Controlled Areas. No natural mortality occurred during the study, but two elephants were poached outside the park. Human disturbance also affected activity patterns, and elephants were less active at day outside than inside the park. Home range size varied from 477 to 1078 km 2 for the northern elephants, and from 1630 to 5060 km 2 for the southern elephants. Migration routes were characterised by higher cover (open and closed forest) than core areas. Our results indicate that elephant management must be considered across park boundaries and that migration corridors must be protected against human disturbance and land cultivation. Society problems linked to elephant conservation can be solved by creating alternative, sustainable, use of natural resources that enhance the livelihood of local communities.

Courir, marcher, ramper, galoper, ou simplement contempler sont des activités de plein air indispensables au bien-être de chaque humain. Sur une terre où la nature laisse la place à l'urbanisation, à des structures de transport, à l'agriculture, les surfaces utilisables pour ces activités de plein air se réduisent et la pression augmente sans cesse sur la faune, la flore, les milieux naturels. Quelques conseils de bon sens permettent de pratiquer son activité dans le plus grand respect de ce patrimoine naturel. Ce guide est une invitation à un comportement respectueux et dont l'adoption permettra de conserver la nature sans avoir à la mettre sous cloche.

In response to various types of human disturbance, most Italian rivers have experienced considerable channel adjustment during the last centuries and in particular in the last decades. This paper reviews all existing published studies and available data, and aims to reconstruct a general outline of the main channel adjustments that have occurred in Italian rivers during the past 100 years.

Responses of carabid beetles ͑Coleoptera: Carabidae͒ to urbanisation were studied along an urban-suburban-rural gradient representing decreasing intensities of human disturbance. Carabids were collected by pitfall trapping during their activity period in lowland oak forest patches in the city of Debrecen, Eastern Hungary. The average number of carabid species was significantly higher in the rural and urban areas compared to the suburban one. The high overall species richness in the urban area was due to the presence of species preferring open habitats. The species richness of forest specialist carabids significantly increased along the urban-rural gradient. The overall carabid abundance was significantly higher in the rural than the other two areas. The results did not support the hypothesis that overall diversity should decrease in response to habitat disturbance. They also contradicted the intermediate disturbance hypothesis: species richness was not the highest in the moderately disturbed suburban area. In the urban area, opportunistic species dominated. The average carabid body size was significantly larger in the rural and suburban areas than in the more disturbed urban area. Multivariate methods detected changes in species composition and abundance structure along the urban-rural gradient. Significant proportion of the variation in abundance and species richness was explained by the heterogeneity of environmental variables ͑ground temperature, surface temperature, humidity, cover of decaying wood material, herbs, canopy layer, and by the amount of prey͒.

Se encontró una diferencia significativa entre el número de ítems consumidos entre una zona con perturbación (ZCP) y otra sin perturbación (ZSP) (t= -4,198; gl =118; P < 0,001). En ambas zonas la dieta es de tipo especialista (0.043 ZCP y 0.083 ZSP), esto debido a que en época de transición la mayoría de las plantas inician la época de fructificación, por lo que la disponibilidad de ítems es limitada. En la ZCP la dieta fue más equitativa y presentó una menor dominancia de ítems con respecto a la ZSP y se observó que se comparte un 53,84% de ítems entre zonas. Por otra parte, se encontraron indicios que sugieren un registro nuevo para la dieta del oso en Bolivia (Vicugna vicugna) y tres registros para la dieta del oso, con Escallonia myrtilloides (Escalloniaceae), Oligorizomys sp. (Rodentia) y Gracialamus aceromarcae (Didelphimorphia). A pesar de que existen varios estudios sobre la dieta del Jucumari (Tremarctos ornatus), no existe información acerca del efecto de la perturbación humana sobre esta. El objetivo principal del presente trabajo es comparar la dieta del Jucumari (T. ornatus) en una zona con perturbación humana “ZCP” y otra sin perturbación “ZSP”, ubicadas en el PN y ANMI Cotapata. Esta comparación se realizó mediante el análisis de heces recolectadas entre octubre y noviembre de 2014. Se recolectaron 60 muestras por cada zona y se identificaron trece ítems alimenticios en la ZSP y siete en la ZCP. Puya atra fue el ítem más frecuente en las muestras de ambas zonas. El trabajo apoya la hipótesis planteada de que la perturbación representada por la existencia de la carretera, ejerce un cambio en el comportamiento de forrajeo del mismo y da como resultado una menor diversidad de ítems alimenticios en relación a ambientes no perturbados

... Joanna Hoyle,1* Andrew Brooks,2 Gary Brierley,3 Kirstie Fryirs1 and James Lander1 1 Department of Physical Geography, Environmental ... A year later, Allan Cunningham (1825) described elongate pools on the Upper Hunter immediately upstream of the Goulburn confluence ...

As urban areas continue to expand and replace natural and agricultural landscapes, the ability to manage and conserve native wildlife within urban environments is becoming increasingly important. To do so we first need to understand species' responses to local-level habitat attributes in order to inform the decision-making process and on-ground conservation actions. Patterns in the occurrence of native terrestrial reptile and small mammal species in 59 sites located in remnant urban habitat fragments of Brisbane City were assessed against local-level environmental characteristics of each site. Cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling ordination, and principal axis correlation were used to investigate relationships between species' occurrences and environmental characteristics. Native reptiles were most strongly associated with the presence of termite mounds, a high amount of fallen woody material, and a moderate amount of weed cover. Native small mammals were most strongly associated with the presence of grass trees (Xanthorrhoea spp.), and both reptiles and small mammals were negatively influenced by increased soil compaction. Significant floristic characteristics were considered to be important as structural, rather than compositional, habitat elements. Therefore, habitat structure, rather than vegetation composition, appears to be most important for determining native, terrestrial reptile and small mammal species assemblages in urban forest fragments. We discuss the management implications in relation to human disturbances and local-level management of urban remnants.

Recent data on oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) indicates that Mediterranean soil communities tend to show uneven patterns of species abundance distribution (SAD) that are well fitted by a simple model such as the geometric series. In the case of linear distributions, the fraction of total sampled individuals that is contributed by the most abundant species, known as the Berger–Parker index, synthetically describes the SAD of disturbed communities. This study assessed the bioindicator potential of the Berger–Parker index by comparing its variations among Mediterranean oribatid assemblages under different types of soil disturbance. The index significantly changes between undisturbed and disturbed soils reaching the highest values in areas with strong physical disturbance due to agricultural management. The Berger–Parker index is therefore a practical and effective tool for monitoring biodiversity impairment linked to human disturbance in soil ecosystems.

Mexico harbors more than 10% of the planet's endemic species. However, the integrity and biodiversity of many ecosystems is experiencing rapid transformation under the influence of a wide array of human and natural disturbances. In order to disentangle the effects of human and natural disturbance regimes at different spatial and temporal scales, we selected six terrestrial (temperate montane forests, montane cloud forests, tropical rain forests, tropical semi-deciduous forests, tropical dry forests, and deserts) and four aquatic (coral reefs, mangrove forests, kelp forests and saline lakes) ecosystems. We used semiquantitative statistical methods to assess (1) the most important agents of disturbance Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Over the last decade there has been considerable growth in marine mammal-watching tourism throughout the world. Due to the species use of coastal habitats, bottlenose dolphins are most frequently exposed to dolphin-watching tourism. We conducted boatbased focal follows of schools of bottlenose dolphins to determine the effect of boats on dolphin behaviour. A CATMOD analysis showed that behaviour differed by boat number, in particular, resting behaviour decreased as boat number increased. Dolphins rested less and engaged in more milling behaviour in the presence of permitted dolphin-watching boats compared to non-permitted boats. An increase from 49 to 70 permitted trips per week and a change in their departure times resulted in a further decrease in resting behaviour. Currently the effects of boats, in particular permitted boats, on dolphin resting behaviour whilst they are in the Bay of Islands, are substantial. In the light of these findings we suggest that current legislation in New Zealand is not affording this isolated population protection from disturbance. #

A butterfly species inventory of the Bifeng Valley within the Baishuijiang Natural Reserve in Gansu Province in China was conducted and several aspects of biodiversity were analyzed in a biogeographical context. One hundred and eighty-four species have been encountered belonging to 12 families and 99 genera. According to the total area of the Bifeng Valley of 30 km 2 , an estimated density of six butterfly species per km 2 can be regarded as particularly high. A transect study in Bifeng Valley, aimed to quantify anthropogenic impact and the influence of remaining natural habitat on the occurrence of butterfly species and individuals. With higher levels of human disturbance and corresponding decreasing amount of natural habitat species numbers and overall butterfly abundance decreased. First suggestions on the inclusion of the rarest species in the area into certain conservation categories are provided. This is intended as a starting point to highlight conservation necessities and deficiencies in areas which are easily ignored as these are only rarely highlighted in an national and even more so in an international context.

Numerous field reports of hybrid monkeys and documented cases of persistent hybrid zones suggest that natural hybridization is common among African cercopithecines. Both theoretical considerations and a review of cases lead us to conclude that parapatric hybridization among closely related allotaxa is a widespread, usually natural process whose incidence may be modified by human influence. Sympatric hybridization, between species ecologically distinct enough to have overlapping ranges, is rarer, and in monkeys tends to occur in settings where natural or anthropogenic habitat edges restrict migration and hence access to unrelated conspecific mates. Although sympatric hybridization occurs in the absence of human disturbance, and may even have been a creative force in cercopithecine evolution, anthropogenic habitat fragmentation may increase its incidence. Hybridization with a more abundant form may increase the level of threat faced by a species whose numbers and range have been severely restricted, either naturally or artificially.

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) population in Estonia is a part of the large fragmented Eurasian population, constituting a piece of its north- westernmost branch. The large forested region in northeastern Estonia has been a core area for bears since the Holocene. Although half of the country is covered by forest, suitable habitats for bears are limited. Extensive forest clearance

As migratory animals, sustainable management of African elephant populations, both within and around protected areas, is a major challenge in the conservation policy of many African countries. We captured seven female elephants, representative members of family groups, in different parts of Tarangire National Park (TNP), Tanzania, and used GPS satellite radio-tracking (November 1997-June 2000 to monitor their space and habitat use and seasonal migrations throughout wet and dry seasons. Patterns of home range overlap revealed the existence of two large clans that occupied the north-central and southern parts of TNP, respectively. At the end of the dry season, elephants from the southern clan migrated about 100 km southeast of the park boundary, those from the northern clan remained mostly inside the park, or used periodically wet-season core areas in the nearby Game Controlled Areas. No natural mortality occurred during the study, but two elephants were poached outside the park. Human disturbance also affected activity patterns, and elephants were less active at day outside than inside the park. Home range size varied from 477 to 1078 km 2 for the northern elephants, and from 1630 to 5060 km 2 for the southern elephants. Migration routes were characterised by higher cover (open and closed forest) than core areas. Our results indicate that elephant management must be considered across park boundaries and that migration corridors must be protected against human disturbance and land cultivation. Society problems linked to elephant conservation can be solved by creating alternative, sustainable, use of natural resources that enhance the livelihood of local communities.

We assessed the diversity of woody plants at 15 forested sites in the Tansa Valley of Thane District, in Maharashtra, India. The fewest species (11) were seen at a degraded mangrove site near the river mouth, and the greatest number (150) in the rich semi-evergreen forest on Tungar Hill. For all sites there were 141 tree, 25 shrub and 15 liana species, a total of 181 species. Excluding the mangrove site, which had no species in common with the other 14 sites, we analyzed the species distributions in detail. These sites ranged in area from 4 to 30 km2 each, had woody floras of 89 ± 6 species, and varied in intensity of human impact. Despite a history of exploitation and substantial reduction in biomass from firewood collecting, set fires and illicit tree felling, considerable plant diversity remains in the area. We found a modest increase in species richness in transects away from two villages. We observed the exploitation of the forest by the principal users, primarily of the Warli Tribe. They exploited a wide variety of forest resources (92 species), for medicines, foods, construction materials, household goods, manure and other purposes. They collected 15 items for sale. By far the single most important item collected was firewood, which dramatically reduced forest biomass within 2 km of villages. The species distributions in these forest remnants are strongly nested, mostly due to varying degrees of disturbance at individual sites. The high species diversity on Tungar Hill is most likely a relict of the earlier character of forests throughout much of the valley. It merits the highest priorities for preservation, as a refuge for Western Ghat species at the northern limits of their distributions.

There is an exceptional group of alpine peatlands in the world situated in the arid grasslands of the central Andes. The peatlands in northern Chile occur in the most arid part of their range. Members of the Juncaceae are the primary peat-forming plant species. Fresh and mildly saline groundwaters originate from glaciers, snowmelt and rain are the water sources for the northern Chile peatlands. Paleoecological investigations suggest that some peatlands are recent features of the landscape having developed within the last three thousand years or less. These peatlands are unique, extremely fragile water features sensitive to climate changes and human disturbances such as regional mining activity. Much more work is required to develop scientifically based sound management and conservation programs for the rare plants and animals that live in them and to ensure the future livelihoods of the indigenous peoples who depend on them.

Reindeer and caribou Rangifer tarandus are reported to avoid human infrastructure such as roads, high-voltage power lines, pipelines, and tourist resorts. Lichens are important forage for reindeer during winter, and their relatively slow growth rates make them vulnerable to overgrazing. Height and volume of lichens are often used as an indicator of grazing pressure by reindeer and, thus, as an indirect measure of Rangifer avoidance of human infrastructure. We sampled lichen height in Cetraria nivalisdominated communities along 4 and 3 parallel transects located on two parallel mountain ridges in Hardangervidda, south central Norway. The lichen measurements were analyzed in relation to altitude and the distance from four tourist cabins in the area and a highway (Rv7) running perpendicular to the 7 transects. The mountain ridge with 4 transects is part of a much used migratory corridor for wild reindeer R. tarandus tarandus. Along the nonmigratory ridge, lichen height decreased 35% over an 8-km distance from Rv7 and a tourist cabin, indicating reindeer aversion toward Rv7 and/or a tourist cabin. No similar relationship was found for the migration ridge in relation to distance from Rv7 or the tourist cabins. Our results suggest that avoidance of human infrastructure by wild reindeer might be limited where reindeer use of winter pastures is influenced by herd traditions and/or motivation to follow established migration corridors. This has important implications for addressing the use of similar pasture measurements when testing for Rangifer aversion toward human disturbances.

The breeding seabirds of the Azores comprise five species of Procellariiformes, four Charadriiformes and one Pelecaniform. This paper reviews their past and present status, ecology and conservation. Historical population trends inferred from 16th and 17th century chronicles indicate dramatic declines for most species. While the main islands were important breeding places in the past, most seabird populations are now restricted to small islets. Intra-and inter-specific competition for nest sites is noteworthy among burrowing Procellariiformes and shortage of optimal breeding habitat seems important in limiting their populations. The chick-rearing periods of Procellariiformes with similar ecological niche do not overlap, suggesting that segregation related to partitioning of food resources or breeding habitat may be operating. Current threats to the Azores seabirds are diverse and may differentially affect the various species. They range from predation by introduced mammals, human disturbance and exploitation, habitat loss due to invasive alien plants and overgrazing by rabbits, and, potentially, competition with fisheries. Although the importance of the Azores seabird fauna was recognised in recent inventories, accurate population estimates are lacking and many potential breeding areas need surveying. For effective conservation much direct action is needed, including management plans for virtually all sites and wardening at the most important sites.

The Gambia River is one of the last aquatic ecosystems in West Africa that has not yet been affected by strong environmental changes and human disturbances. In contrast to the neighbouring Casamance and Sine Saloum estuaries, the Gambia estuary is free of major climatic perturbation and remains a ''normal'' estuary, with a salinity range from freshwater to 39. The present paper aims to study the spatial and seasonal variability of fish assemblages in this estuary in terms of bio-ecological categories and of their relation with some environmental variables. Four surveys were conducted, from June 2001 to April 2002, in order to cover the major hydroclimatic events, at 44 sampling sites along the lower, intermediate and upper zones of the Gambia estuary (up to 220 km). Fish assemblages were sampled using a purse seine net, fish were identified to species level and environmental variables such as water depth, transparency, salinity, temperature and percentage oxygen saturation were measured. The main spatial structure of the fish assemblages and its seasonal changes were first studied using the STATIS-CoA multitable method. The combination of fish assemblages and environmental variables was then analysed using the STATICO method, designed for the simultaneous analysis of paired ecological tables. A total of 67 species were observed, belonging to all bio-ecological categories characterizing West African estuaries. The marine component of the community was largely dominant throughout the estuary, while the freshwater component was permanently observed only in the upstream zone. The main spatial structure was a longitudinal gradient contrasting marine and freshwater affinity assemblages, with strong seasonal variations. The most complete gradient was observed in December, at the beginning of the dry and cool season, while in June, at the end of the dry and warm season, there was the least structured gradient. The role of salinity, always correlated with temperature, was emphasized, while turbidity appeared to be another important factor. Oxygen and depth did not play a major role at the estuary scale. The relative importance of the bio-ecological categories varied according to the season and the distance to sea. Stable fish assemblages were observed in the lower zone at the end of the dry season, in the upper zone during the flood and in the middle zone throughout the year. In some situations, a relative inadequacy between fish assemblages and their environment was noticed. The present study contributes to the definition of the functioning of a ''normal'' West African estuary, the Gambia estuary, with balanced effects of marine and freshwater influences and the presence of all bio-ecological categories. The Gambia estuary can therefore be considered to be a reference ecosystem for further comparisons with other tropical estuarine ecosystems, subjected to natural or artificial perturbations.