Voices in the dark: predation risk by owls influences dusk singing in a diurnal passerine

Predation is an important cost of communication in animals and thus a potent selection pressure on the evolution of signaling behavior. Heterospecific eavesdropping by predators may increase the vulnerability of vocalizing prey, particularly during low light, such as at dusk when nocturnal predators are actively hunting. Despite the risk it entails, dawn and dusk chorusing is common in passerines. However, the dusk chorus has not been studied much, neglecting the opportunity for understanding how eavesdropping between predators and prey may shape communication in birds. Here, we report the first demonstration of simulated predation risk (playback of owl vocalizations) altering the dusk chorus of a diurnal passerine, the veery (Catharus fuscescens). Veeries have a pronounced dusk chorus, singing well after sunset and potentially exposing themselves to predation by owls. In response to brief playbacks of owl calls (~30 s of calls presented three times over 25 min), veeries sang fewer songs post-sunset and stopped singing earlier relative to control trials. These changes in singing remained evident 30 min after the last owl stimulus. Although the avian dusk chorus has received relatively little attention to date, our results suggest that the dusk chorus may pose a higher predation risk to singing males that may influence the evolution of singing behavior in diurnal birds.     

Behavioural,emotional, and cognitive responses in European disasters: results of survivor interviews

In the European multi‐centre study BeSeCu (Behaviour, Security, Culture), interviews were conducted in seven countries to explore survivors’ emotional, behavioural, and cognitive responses during disasters. Interviews, either in groups or one‐to‐one, were convened according to type of event: collapse of a building; earthquake; fire; flood; and terror attack. The content analysis of interviews resulted in a theoretical framework, describing the course of the events, behavioural responses, and the emotional and cognitive processing of survivors. While the environmental cues and the ability to recognise what was happening varied in different disasters, survivors’ responses tended to be more universal across events, and most often were adaptive and non‐selfish. Several peri‐traumatic factors related to current levels of post‐traumatic stress were identified, while memory quantity did not differ as a function of event type or post‐traumatic stress. Time since the event had a minor effect on recall. Based on the findings, several suggestions for emergency training are made.     

Geostatistical Analysis of data on AIR Temperature and Plant Phenology From Baden-Württemberg (GERMANY) as a Basis for Regional Scaled Models of Climate Change

The rise of the air temperature is assured to be part of the global climatic change, but there is still a lack of knowledge about its effects at a regional scale. The article tackles the correlation of air temperature with the phenology of selected plants by the example of Baden-Württemberg to provide a spatial valid data base for regional climate change models. To this end, the data on air temperature and plant phenology, gathered from measurement sites without congruent coverage, were correlated after performing geostatistical analysis and estimation. In addition, geostatistics are used to analyze and cartographically depict the spatial structure of the phenology of plants in spring and in summer. The statistical analysis reveals a significant relationship between the rising air temperature and the earlier beginning of phenological phases like blooming or fruit maturation: From 1991 to 1999 spring time, as indicated by plant phenology, has begun up to 15 days earlier than from 1961 to 1990. As shown by geostatistics, this holds true for the whole territory of Baden-Württemberg. The effects of the rise of air temperature should be investigated not only by monitoring biological individuals, as for example plants, but on an ecosystem level as well. In Germany, the environmental monitoring should be supplemented by the study of the effects of the climatic change in ecosystems. Because air temperature and humidity have a great influence on the temporal and spatial distribution of pathogen carriers (vectors) and pathogens, mapping of the environmental determinants of vector and pathogen distribution in space and time should be performed in order to identify hot spots for risk assessment and further detailed epidemiological studies.     

Indigenous and local communities can boost seed supply in the UN decade on ecosystem restoration

The UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration is poised to trigger the recovery of ecosystem services and transform structural injustices across the world in a way unparalleled in human history. The inclusion of diverse Indigenous and local communities to co-create robust native seed supply systems is the backbone to achieve the goals for the Decade. Here we show how community-based organizations have co-developed native seed supply strategies for landscape restoration from the bottom-up. We draw on the interconnections over two decades of seed networks in Brazil and the emerging Indigenous participation in native seed production in Australia. From an environmental justice perspective, we provide a participatory seed supply approach for local engagement, noting local geographical, social and cultural contexts. Meeting large-scale restoration goals requires the connection between local seed production and collaborative platforms to negotiate roles, rights and responsibilities between stakeholders. An enduring native seed supply must include a diversity of voices and autonomy of community groups that builds equitable participation in social, economic, and environmental benefits.     

Influence of cosolvents on quinoline sorption by subsurface materials and clays

Quinoline sorption was measured on Na-saturated subsurface materials, a natural clay isolate, and montmorillonite, and was dominated by exchange of the quinolinium ion. In water/methanol and water/acetone mixtures, quinoline sorption on the subsoils and clays was lower than from water. In cosolvent, sorption followed the ionization fraction indicating the continued predominance of ion exchange. The reduction in quinoline sorption by cosolvent was similar for all the subsoils and clays indicating commonality in the surface-solute-solvent interaction. Conditional equilibrium constants (_cK_ex) for quinoline exchange on the subsoils in water/methanol mixtures decreased log-linearly with mole percent cosolvent up to 20% methanol. This decrease closely followed the increase in quinoline solubility in the cosolvent mixtures. Acetone caused greater reduction in sorption than methanol, at comparable mole percent, in accordance with its lower dielectric constant and enhanced solvating power. A generalized thermodynamic approach based on the concept of transfer activity coefficients was developed to account for the cosolvent effect on _cK_ex, and was successfully applied to the quinoline sorption data. The thermodynamic analysis suggested that enhanced solvation of the organic cation in the bulk solvent and desolvation of Na⁺ at the charged surface predominate the cosolvent effect.     

Government and biodiversity governance in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: an institutional perspective

Over the last 15 years, Azerbaijan has doubled its protected areas territory to almost 10 % of the country’s surface area. Although the daily management of the existing strictly protected areas continues to pose a challenge, the establishment of nine national parks has been a remarkable achievement. At present, the designation of UNESCO biosphere reserves (BR) is the expressed political will of the government. By reviewing the last 25 years of nature conservation, and, in particular, the national park programme, we present an institutional analysis for integrative nature conservation in Azerbaijan. Against the cultural, social and political background, in particular the transition of the state, the challenges for cross-hierarchical governance of protected areas are outlined at the example of a BR. We find that the implementation of the UNESCO MAB philosophy, which is based on inter alia participation by administration, local communities and rural stakeholder, is hampered by this present-day political reality. The political situation and an autocratic governance scheme put successful implementation of a “model region of sustainable development” at risk. Education and empowerment are a prerequisite for eventual success; this is true for Azerbaijan as well as for other Post-Soviet countries with strong top-down regimes.     

Transitions in high-Arctic vegetation growth patterns and ecosystem productivity tracked with automated cameras from 2000 to 2013

Climate-induced changes in vegetation phenology at northern latitudes are still poorly understood. Continued monitoring and research are therefore needed to improve the understanding of abiotic drivers. Here we used 14 years of time lapse imagery and climate data from high-Arctic Northeast Greenland to assess the seasonal response of a dwarf shrub heath, grassland, and fen, to inter-annual variation in snow-cover, soil moisture, and air and soil temperatures. A late snow melt and start of growing season is counterbalanced by a fast greenup and a tendency to higher peak greenness values. Snow water equivalents and soil moisture explained up to 77 % of growing season duration and senescence phase, highlighting that water availability is a prominent driver in the heath site, rather than temperatures. We found a significant advance in the start of spring by 10 days and in the end of fall by 11 days, resulting in an unchanged growing season length. Vegetation greenness, derived from the imagery, was correlated to primary productivity, showing that the imagery holds valuable information on vegetation productivity.     

Cross-sectional biomonitoring study of pesticide exposures in Queensland,Australia, using pooled urine samples

A range of pesticides are available in Australia for use in agricultural and domestic settings to control pests, including organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides, herbicides, and insect repellents, such as N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET). The aim of this study was to provide a cost-effective preliminary assessment of background exposure to a range of pesticides among a convenience sample of Australian residents. De-identified urine specimens stratified by age and sex were obtained from a community-based pathology laboratory and pooled (n = 24 pools of 100 specimens). Concentrations of urinary pesticide biomarkers were quantified using solid-phase extraction coupled with isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Geometric mean biomarker concentrations ranged from <0.1 to 36.8 ng/mL for organophosphate insecticides, <0.1 to 5.5 ng/mL for pyrethroid insecticides, and <0.1 to 8.51 ng/mL for all other biomarkers with the exception of the DEET metabolite 3-diethylcarbamoyl benzoic acid (4.23 to 850 ng/mL). We observed no association between age and concentration for most biomarkers measured but noted a “U-shaped” trend for five organophosphate metabolites, with the highest concentrations observed in the youngest and oldest age strata, perhaps related to age-specific differences in behavior or physiology. The fact that concentrations of specific and non-specific metabolites of the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos were higher than reported in USA and Canada may relate to differences in registered applications among countries. Additional biomonitoring programs of the general population and focusing on vulnerable populations would improve the exposure assessment and the monitoring of temporal exposure trends as usage patterns of pesticide products in Australia change over time.     

Evaluating coal tar-water partitioning coefficient estimation methods and solute-solvent molecular interactions in tar phase

Equilibrium partitioning coefficients between an industrial coal tar sample and water (K(CT/w)) were determined for 41 polar and nonpolar solutes in batch systems. Together with literature values, 69 K(CT/w) data were analyzed using the following model approaches: Raoult's law, the single parameter linear free energy relationship (SPLFER) with octanol-water partitioning coefficients (K(ow)), the linear solvation energy relationships (LSERs), SPARC and COSMOtherm. Estimations by Raoult's law and the SPLFER agreed well with the experimental log K(CT/w) values for the investigated coal tar, with root mean square errors (RMSE) of 0.31 and 0.33, respectively. LSER resulted in as good estimations (RMSE=0.29) as the previous two. The LSER analysis revealed significant hydrogen (H)-bond acceptor properties of the studied coal tar phase. Using naphthalene as a surrogate solvent for the coal tar phase, SPARC and COSMOtherm provided fairly good predictions (RMSE of 0.63 and 0.65, respectively) of log K(CT/w), without any additional empirical parameter. Further calculations using SPARC and COSMOtherm for partitioning between water and other tar-components (e.g., benzofuran, phenol and quinoline) suggested that minor components in coal tar do not significantly influence K(CT/w) of nonpolar solutes, and that Raoult's law and the SPLFER thus may be generally applied to these types of solutes, e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and alkylbenzenes, regardless of coal tar compositions. In contrast, partitioning of H-bonding solutes (e.g., phenols) can significantly vary depending on the amount of polar tar-components such as N-heterocyclic aromatic compounds. Therefore, the presented successful applications of Raoult's law and SPLFER to the studied coal tar could be a special case, and these simple approaches may not provide reasonable estimations for partitioning of H-bonding solutes from compositionally different coal tars.