Impact of Invasive Cane Toads on Australian Birds

Abstract: The cane toad (Bufo marinus), a large, toxic, American anuran, was introduced to Australia in 1935. Populations of many of Australia's reptiles (snakes, varanid lizards, crocodiles) and carnivorous mammals (dasyurid marsupials) have declined because these predators are killed by the toad's powerful toxins. In contrast to these well‐studied species, little is known about the cane toads impacts on Australian birds. We reviewed published and unpublished data on behavioral interactions between Australian avian predators and cane toads and collated distributional and dietary information to identify avian taxa potentially at risk from cane toad invasion. Cane toads are sympatric with 172 frog‐eating bird species in Australia, and an additional 8 bird species overlap with the predicted future range of the toad. Although many bird species thus are potentially at risk, behavioral observations suggest the risk level is generally low. Despite occasional reports of Australian birds being killed when they ingest cane toads, most birds either ignore toads or survive the predation event. The apparently higher tolerance of Australian birds to toad toxins, compared with Australian reptiles and marsupials, may reflect genetic exchange between Australian birds and Asian populations that encounter other bufonid species regularly and hence have evolved the capacity to recognize or tolerate this toxic prey.     

Lichen Conservation in Heavily Managed Boreal Forests

Lichens are an important component of the boreal forest, where they are long lived, tend to accumulate in older stands, and are a major food source for the threatened woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). To be fully sustainable, silvicultural practices in the boreal forest must include the conservation of ecological integrity. Dominant forest management practices, however, have short‐term negative effects on lichen diversity, particularly the application of herbicides. To better understand the long‐term effects of forest management, we examined lichen regeneration in 35 mixed black spruce (Picea mariana) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) forest stands across northern Ontario to determine recovery following logging and postharvest silvicultural practices. Our forest stands were 25–40 years old and had undergone 3 common sivilcultural treatments that included harvested and planted; harvested, planted, and treated with N‐[phosphonomethyl] glycine (glyphosate); and harvested, planted, and treated with 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4‐D). Forest stands with herbicide treatments had lower lichen biomass and higher beta and gamma diversity than planted stands that were not treated chemically or control stands. In northwestern Ontario, planted stands that were not treated chemically had significantly greater (p < 0.05) alpha diversity than stands treated with herbicides or control stands. Our results show that common silvicultural practices do not emulate natural disturbances caused by wildfires in the boreal forest for the lichen community. We suggest a reduction in the amount of chemical application be considered in areas where lichen biomass is likely to be high and where the recovery of woodland caribou is an objective. Conservación de Líquenes en Bosques Boreales Manejados Intensivamente     

Forest Restoration and Fire: Principles in the Context of Place

Abstract:  There is broad consensus that active management through thinning and fire is urgently needed in many forests of the western United States. This consensus stems from physically based models of fire behavior and substantial empirical evidence. But the types of thinning and fire and where they are applied are the subjects of much debate. We propose that low thinning is the most appropriate type of thinning practice. Treating surface fuels, reducing ladder fuels, and opening overstory canopies generally produce fire-safe forest conditions, but large, fire-resistant trees are also important components of fire-safe forests. The context of place is critical in assigning priority for the limited resources that will be available for restoration treatments. Historical low-severity fire regimes, because of their current high hazards and dominance by fire-resistant species, are the highest priority for treatment. Mixed-severity fire regimes are of intermediate priority, and high-severity fire regimes are of lowest priority. Classification systems based on potential vegetation will help identify these fire regimes at a local scale.     

Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Understory Hummingbirds in Amazonian Brazil

We sampled understory hummingbirds in Amazonian forest fragments from before isolation through nine years after isolation. We recorded 377 captures of eight species in five 1-ha fragments and four 10-ha fragments. The three species netted before isolation, Phaethornis superciliosus, Phaethornis bourcieri , and Thalurania furcata , were nearly equally abundant at that time. After isolation abundance of P. bourcieri and T. furcata did not change, but P. superciliosus became nearly twice as common. Five additional species that were netted only after isolation represented about 10% of the post-isolation sample. The species recorded only after isolation were forest species usually found above the levels of nets; fragments were not colonized by nonforest species. Use of fragments did not differ between 1- and 10-ha fragments. The landscape surrounding the fragments included active cattle pasture, abandoned pasture, and Cecropia -dominated second growth, but this variation had little effect on use of fragments by hummingbirds. The results suggest that these understory hummingbirds can persist in a matrix of fragments, secondary growth, and large forest patches. This response is much different than that of the insectivorous birds that dominate the understory bird community at the site, which are much more vulnerable to fragmentation.     

Changes in Wildlife Communities Near Edges

Abstract: Wildlife managers and land managers have traditionally considered edges as beneficial to wildlife because species diversity generally increases near habitat edges. Explanations for this edge effect include greater vegetative complexity at edges or the simultaneous availability of more than one landscape element. However, edges can have negative consequences for wildlife by modifying distribution and dispersal and by increasing incidence of nest predation and parasitism Edges also may be detrimental to species requiring large undisturbed areas because increases in edge generally result in concommitant reductions in size and possible isolation of patches and corridots. Thus, both wildlife and land managers should be cautious when describing the benefits of edges to wildlife: particularly when dealing with species that require forest interiors.
Changes in wildlife communities associated with habitat edges are not easily assessed because defining edge species and measuring edge dimensions can be difficult in field studies Also, there is no general consensus as to how edge effect is best measured. Well-designed long-term studies of edges in various landscapes are needed (1) to better understand the positive and negative impacts of edges on wildlife communities, guilds, or key species, and (2) to effectively quantify edge effect and thereby develop management recommendations to improve the quality of edges for wildlife. Additional studies of edge effect are timely because greater amounts of edge will continue to be created in future landscapes due to extensive agriculture and other land-use-practices, and because developing knowledge in conservation biology and landscape ecology will facilitate multidisciplinary approaches to edge and landscape management for the benefit of wildlife.     

The Effect of Habitat Alteration on Migratory Land Birds in a West Mexican Tropical Deciduous Forest: A Conservation Perspective

Comaparé conteos puntuales en censos de localidades de bosque secundario alto y bajo con conteos tomados en bosque desciduo, tropical, cercano y no alter- en las costas de Jalisco, Méxoco. Cada una de las localdades de bosque secundario difirió significativamente de las localidades no alteradas en cuanto a su composición de pájaros Gran parte del cambio puede ser atribuída al mejoramiento de las condiciones para algunas especies parte grupos ecológicos (ej, los comedores de semillas) y la eliminateón de condiciones adecuadas para otras (ej, los forrajeadores de troncos, los comedores de-frutas). Sin embargo, existió una diferencia signiyicativa en el efecto sobre especies migrantes versus especies residentes independientemente de sus grupos ecológicos alimenticios; las especies migratorias de largas distancias tuvieron mayor probabilidad de incrementar su abundancia significatiuemente como resultado de la alteración que las especies resdentes. Por lo tanto, muchas especies migratorias en el oeste de México podrían beneficiarse de la creación por humanos de habitats del tipo sucesional-medio. Es importante notar sin embargo que esta conclusión posiblemente no se aplique a los habitats alteradas más intensamente y que no concieme a todas especies migratorias En adición sin información sobre el habitat y la distribution geográfica de migrantes en el invierno, e índices de mortalidad dependientes del habitats, no podremaos generar conclusiones sobre 10s efectos más amplios en las especies que mostraron cambios poblacioanules en respuesta a la alteración del habitat.     

Genetically Effective Population Size of Large Mammals: An Assessment of Estimators

Calculamos tamuños de poblaciones genéticamente efectivas (N_e) para poblaciones simuladas del oso gris (Ursus arctos) trazando la péridida de heterozigasidad a tráves del tiempo, luego las comparamos con estimaciones de N_e Producidas aplicando fórmulas publicadas a los resultados demográficos de la simulación. Los valores de N_e calculados usando diferentes fórmula.s con datos idénticos, variaron mucho. Las ecuaciones publicadas por Hill (1972), y modificaciones de las usuadas por Ryman, et aL (1981) y Reed et al. (1986), proporcionaron los cálculos más precsios Fluctuaciones menores en las poblacionales tuvieron poco efecto sobre N_e pero la variación en el éxito repductivo por vida entre los machos V_km redujo tremendamente el N_e comparado con el valor esperado bajo exito reproductivo al azar. Todos los métodos para calcular N_e para poblaciones con demografias complejas requieren datos extensos, pero estimaciones para V_km en especies poligamas son especialmente dificiles de obtener. Sugerimos que modelos de simulación pueden proveer métodos alternutivos para calcular V_km y N_e.     

湖泊沉积物中氨氧化微生物的amoA基因数量

采用定量PCR方法测定了4个湖泊沉积物中氨氧化微生物的amoA基因数量,并分析了其与环境因子之间的关系. 结果表明:小南湖AOA(氨氧化古菌)和AOB(氨氧化细菌)的amoA基因数量最多,分别达2.1×104和2.8×103copies/g(以干质量计,下同);梁子湖仅检测到了AOA amoA基因的存在,平均值为4.9×103copies/g. 东湖和汤逊湖的AOA amoA基因数量比较接近,约为3.0×103copies/g,然而AOB的amoA基因数量在这2个湖泊中仅分别为37和86copies/g;在这些采样点中,AOA的amoA基因数量是AOB的3~278倍. 统计分析发现,随着湖泊营养水平和间隙水中ρ(NH₄+)的上升,AOA和AOB的amoA基因数量均呈增加趋势,但ρ(NH₄+)增加对AOB的促进作用要大于AOA,导致AOA和AOB的amoA基因数量比值与间隙水中ρ(NH₄+)呈显著负相关. pH上升对2类氨氧化微生物的抑制作用则与ρ(NH₄+)增加对它们的促进作用相反. 沉积物中amoA基因数量与间隙水中ρ(NO₂-)无显著相关性,但与ρ(NO₃-)呈显著正相关. 由于ρ(NH₄+)与ρ(DO)之间呈显著负相关,因此认为ρ(DO)与氨氧化微生物amoA基因数量之间的显著负相关可能更多的是对ρ(NH₄+)与氨氧化微生物amoA基因数量之间紧密关系的一种间接反应.