Trends in management plans and guides: 25 years of experience from Southern France

This study analysed 14 management plans and guidelines from a 25-year period to understand trends in conservation planning. A Rosetta Stone Analysis was used for the systematic comparison of plans and guidelines. Management plans incorporated management philosophies, management scenarios, opportunities for infrastructure, and plans for data collection by 2000. As of 2010, they incorporated ecosystem services, stakeholders’ objectives and methods for storing and analysing data. The results demonstrate the complex nature of management plans, with an important workload for site managers. Recommendations for future planning include adjustments in planning timeframes and a better identification of conservation targets from initial stages.     

Detection and Sequencing of Multiple Human Norovirus Genotypes from Imported Frozen Raspberries Linked to Outbreaks in the Province of Quebec,Canada, in 2017

Food and Environmental Virology - Human noroviruses are among the main causes of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. Frozen raspberries have been linked to several norovirus food-related outbreaks....     

Species Distribution Models of Freshwater Stream Fishes in Maryland and Their Implications for Management

Species distribution models (SDMs) are often used in conservation planning, but their utility can be improved by assessing the relationships between environmental and species response variables. We constructed SDMs for 30 stream fishes of Maryland, USA, using watershed attributes as environmental variables and presence/absence as species responses. SDMs showed substantial agreement between observed and predicted values for 17 species. Most important variables were natural attributes (e.g., ecoregion, watershed area, latitude/longitude); land cover (e.g., %impervious, %row crop) was important for three species. Focused analyses on four representative species (central stoneroller, creek chub, largemouth bass, and white sucker) showed the probability of presence of each species increased non-linearly with watershed area. For these species, SDMs built to predict absent, low, and high densities were similar to presence/absence predictions but provided probable locations of high densities (e.g., probability of high-density creek chub decreased rapidly with watershed area). We applied SDMs to predict suitability of watersheds within the study area for each species. Maps of suitability and the environmental and species response relationships can help develop better management plans.     

Sexual selection favours small and symmetric males in the polygynous greater sac-winged bat Saccopteryx bilineata (Emballonuridae, Chiroptera)

We investigated how morphological traits of territorial males in the polygynous bat Saccopteryx bilineata were related to their reproductive success. Because of the frequency of aerial courtship displays and defence manoeuvres, and the high energetic costs of flight, we expected small and symmetric males to be better able to court females on the wing and to monopolize copulations with females in their harems. We predicted that small and symmetric males would sire more offspring within the colony and a larger portion of the young born within their harem than large or asymmetric males. We measured size and fluctuating asymmetry of 21 territorial males and analysed their reproductive success in 6 offspring cohorts (n=209 juveniles) using 11 microsatellite loci. As predicted, small and symmetric males had, on average, a higher reproductive success in the colony than large and asymmetric males. The percentage of young sired by males within their harem increased as males decreased in size, but was not influenced by fluctuating asymmetry. As fluctuating asymmetry of males correlated with their reproductive success within the colony but not within their harems, we infer that fluctuating asymmetry is probably related to female choice, whereas male size is probably important for harem defence on the wing.Communicated by G. Wilkinson