Vertebrate colonization of land occurred multiple times, including over 50 origins of terrestrial eggs in frogs. Some environmental factors and phenotypic responses that facilitated these transitions are known, but responses to water constraints and risk of ammonia toxicity during early development are poorly understood. We tested if ammonia accumulation and dehydration risk induce a shift from ammonia to urea excretion during in early stages of four anurans, from three origins of terrestrial development. We quantified ammonia and urea concentrations during early development on land, under well-hydrated and dry conditions. Where we found urea excretion, we tested for a plastic increase under dry conditions and with ammonia accumulation in developmental environments. We assessed the potential adaptive role of urea excretion by comparing ammonia tolerance measured in 96h-LC50 tests with ammonia levels in developmental environments. Ammonia accumulated in foam nests and perivitelline fluid, increasing over development and reaching higher concentrations under dry conditions. All four species showed high ammonia tolerance, compared to fishes and aquatic-breeding frogs. Both nest-dwelling larvae of Leptodactylus fragilis and late embryos of Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni excreted urea, showing a plastic increase under dry conditions. These two species can develop the longest on land and urea excretion appears adaptive, preventing their exposure to potentially lethal levels of ammonia. Neither late embryos of Agalychnis callidryas nor nest-dwelling larvae of Engystomops pustulosus risked toxic ammonia levels under dry conditions, and neither excreted urea. Our results suggests that an early onset of urea excretion, its increase under dry conditions, and elevated ammonia tolerance, can all help prevent ammonia toxicity during terrestrial development. High ammonia represents a general risk for development that can be exacerbated as climate change increases dehydration risk for terrestrial-breeding frogs. It may also be a cue that elicits adaptive physiological responses during early development.

The trade-off between cognitive capacity and developmental costs drive brain size and morphology across fish species, but this pattern is less explored at intraspecific level. Physical habitat complexity has been proposed as a selection pressure on cognitive capacity that shapes brain morphology of fishes, but development of brain is also inherently linked to supply of energy and nutrients, particularly of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA). In this study, we compared brain morphology of brown trout Salmo trutta from stream, lake, and hatchery environments, which differ in physical complexity and availably of dietary n-3 LC-PUFA ranging from low habitat complexity and high n-3 LC-PUFA availability in hatchery to high habitat complexity and low n-3 LC-PUFA availability in streams. We found that brain size, and size of optic tectum and telencephalon differed across the three habitats, being largest in lake fish. We suggest that these differences appeared to associate with diet quality and habitat specific behavioural adaptations rather than physical habitat complexity.

Adversity early in life can shape the reproductive potential of individuals through negative effects on health and lifespan. However, long-lived populations with multiple reproductive events may present alternative life history strategies to optimize reproductive schedules and compensate for shorter lifespans when experiencing adversities early in life. Here, we quantify the effects of major hurricanes and density-dependence as sources of early-life ecological adversity on the mean age-specific fertility, reproductive pace, and lifetime reproductive success (LRS) of Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque females, and explored demographic mechanisms for reproductive schedule optimization later in life. Females experiencing major hurricanes early in life exhibit a delayed reproductive debut, but maintain inter-birth intervals and show a higher mean fertility during prime reproductive ages relative to females experiencing no hurricanes. Increasing density at birth is associated to a decrease in mean fertility and LRS. When combined, our study reveals that early-life ecological adversities predict a delay-overshoot pattern in mean age-specific fertility that supports the maintenance of LRS. In contrast to predictive adaptive response models of accelerated reproduction, the long-lived Cayo Santiago population presents a novel reproductive strategy where females who experience major natural disasters early in life ultimately overcome their initial reproductive penalty with no overall negative fitness outcomes. Such strategy suggests that investing more energy into development and maintenance at younger ages allows long-lived females experiencing early-life ecological adversity to reproduce at a mean rate equivalent to that of a typical female cohort later in life.

Knowing the abundance of a population is a crucial component to assess its conservation status and develop effective conservation plans. For most cetaceans, abundance estimation is difficult given their cryptic and mobile nature, especially when the population is small and has a transnational distribution. In the Baltic Sea, the number of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) has collapsed since the mid-20th century and the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN; however, its abundance remains unknown. Here, one of the largest ever passive acoustic monitoring studies was carried out by eight Baltic Sea nations to estimate the abundance of the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise for the first time. By logging porpoise echolocation signals at 298 stations during May 2011-April 2013, calibrating the loggers’ spatial detection performance at sea, and measuring the click rate of tagged individuals, we estimated an abundance of 66-1,143 individuals (95% CI, point estimate 490) during May-October within the population’s proposed management border. The small abundance estimate strongly supports that the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise is facing an extremely high risk of extinction, and highlights the need for immediate and efficient conservation actions through international cooperation. It also provides a starting point in monitoring the trend of the population abundance to evaluate the effectiveness of management measures and determine its interactions with the larger neighbouring Belt Sea population. Further, we offer evidence that design-based passive acoustic monitoring can generate reliable estimates of the abundance of rare and cryptic animal populations across large spatial scales.

Density dependence in reproduction plays an important role in stabilising population dynamics via immediate negative feedback from population density to reproductive output. Although previous studies have shown that density dependence is associated with strong spacing behaviour and social interaction between individuals, the proximal mechanism for generating density-dependent reproduction remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of density-induced stress on reproduction in root voles. Founder population enclosures were established by introducing six (low density) and 30 (high density) adults per sex into per enclosure (four enclosures per density in total) during the breeding season from April to July 2012 and from May to August 2015. Faecal corticosterone metabolite (FCM) levels, reproductive traits (recruitment and the proportion of reproductive condition), and founder population numbers were measured following repeated live-trapping in both years. The number of founders was negatively associated with recruitment rates and the proportion of reproductive conditions, displaying a density-dependent reproduction. FCM level was positively associated with the number of founders. The number of founder females indirectly affected the proportion of reproductive females in 2012 and recruitment in 2015 through their FCM levels; the effect of the number of male founders on the proportion of reproductive condition was mediated by their FCM level in 2012, but the effect was not found in 2015. Our results showed that density-induced stress affected density-dependent reproduction and that density-induced stress is one ecological factor generating density-dependent reproduction.

Sexual dimorphism (SD) is a main source of intraspecific morphological variation, however sexual shape dimorphism (SShD) was long time neglected in evolutionary research. Especially in cold-blooded animal groups only subtle shape differences are expressed between males and females and the selective forces behind it are poorly understood. Crocodile newts of the genera Echinotriton and Tylototriton are highly polymorphic in their reproductive ecology and hence, are a highly suitable model system to investigate potential evolutionary forces leading to SShD differences. We applied 3D geometric morphometrics to the cranial and humerus morphology of nine species of crocodile newts to investigate patterns of SShD in relation to the different mating modes. Trajectories of shape differences between males and females differ in both, cranium and humerus but mating mode does explain differences in SShD trajectories between species only in cranial morphology. Nevertheless, cranial morphology shape differed between the amplecting and circle dancing species. Hence, other selective forces must act here. Variable interspecific allometric trajectories are a potential source of shape differences whereas these trajectories are quite stable for the sexes irrespective of the species.

Aim: The objective of this study was to survey the species composition, relative abundance and to determine major threats of medium and large-sized mammals in Amoro Forest. Method: Linetransects surveying and indirect surveys method (including fresh tracks, scats, hair, spines and burrows) were used to survey mammalian diversity. A survey was conducted in the early morning from 6:00 to 10:00 and late afternoon from 16:00 to 19:00. Key interview and direct site observationswere carried out to assess the major threat of mammals in the study area. Results: A total of 12 species of medium and large sized mammals belonging to sex orders and eight families were recorded. Porcupine (Hystrix cristata), Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) and Olive baboon (Papio anubis) were among the medium-sized mammals while, Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta),Leopard (Panthera pardus) and Common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) were among the large sized mammals observed in the study area. Shannon–Wiener Index values were low (H′ = 1.666) whereas, the Simpson’s index (1-D) of diversity showed the highest species diversity (0.761) in the study area. Illegal logging of trees; overgrazing, agricultural activities and human-wildlife conflicts were the foremost threats in the area. Conclusion: Species richness and evenness were varied from habitat to habitat in Amoro forest. Land degradation anddifferent anthropogenicactivities were common threats for the mammals in the study area. Community participation and awareness creation is very important to limit the impact of anthropogenic activities threatening wildlife. Key words: Anthropogenic activity, Conservation, Diversity, Mammalssurvey

Conflicts arising from the consumption of anthropogenic foods by wildlife are increasing worldwide. Conventional tools for evaluating the spatial distribution pattern of large terrestrial mammals that consume anthropogenic foods have various limitations, despite their importance in management to mitigate conflicts. In this study, we examined the spatial distribution pattern of crop-foraging sika deer by performing nitrogen stable isotope analyses of bone collagen. We evaluated whether crop-foraging deer lived closer to agricultural crop fields during the winter and spring, when crop production decreases. We found that female deer in proximity to agricultural crop fields during the winter and spring were more likely to be crop-foraging individuals. Furthermore, the likelihood of crop consumption by females decreased by half as the distance to agricultural crop fields increased to 10 km and fell to essentially zero at a distance of approximately 40 km. We did not detect a significant trend in the spatial distribution of crop-foraging male deer. The findings of spatial distribution patterns of crop-foraging female deer will be useful for the establishment of management areas, such as zonation, for efficient removal of them.

Many of the species in decline around the world are subject to different environmental stressors across their range, so replicated large-scale monitoring programmes, are necessary to disentangle the relative impacts of these threats. At the same time as funding for long-term monitoring is being cut, studies are increasingly being criticised for lacking statistical power. For those taxa or environments where a single vantage point can observe individuals or ecological processes, time-lapse cameras can provide a cost-effective way of collecting time series data replicated at large spatial scales that would otherwise be impossible. However, networks of time-lapse cameras needed to cover the range of species or processes create a problem in that the scale of data collection easily exceeds our ability to process the raw imagery manually. Citizen science and machine learning provide solutions to scaling up data extraction (such as locating all animals in an image). Crucially, citizen science, machine learning-derived classifiers, and the intersection between them, are key to understanding how to establish monitoring systems that are sensitive to – and sufficiently powerful to detect –changes in the study system. Citizen science works relatively ‘out of the box’, and we regard it as a first step for many systems until machine learning algorithms are sufficiently trained to automate the process. Using Penguin Watch (www.penguinwatch.org) data as a case study, we discuss a complete workflow from images to parameter estimation and interpretation: the use of citizen science and computer vision for image processing, and parameter estimation and individual recognition for investigating biological questions. We discuss which techniques are easily generalizable to a range of questions, and where more work is needed to supplement ‘out of the box’ tools. We conclude with a horizon scan of the advances in camera technology, such as on-board computer vision and decision making.

1. Animals exhibit varied life-history traits that reflect adaptive responses to their environments. For Arctic-breeding birds, traits like foraging guild, egg nutrient allocation, clutch size, and chick growth are predicted to be under increasing selection pressure due to rapid climate change and increasing environmental variability across high-latitude regions. 2. We compared four migratory birds (black brant [Branta bernicla nigricans], lesser snow geese [Chen caerulescens caerulescens], semipalmated sandpipers [Calidris pusilla], and Lapland longspurs [Calcarius lapponicus]) with varied life histories at an Arctic site in Alaska, USA, to understand how life-history traits help moderate environmental variability across different phases of the reproductive cycle. 3. We monitored aspects of reproductive performance related to the timing of breeding, reproductive investment, and chick growth from 2011–2018. 4. In response to early snow melt and warm temperatures, semipalmated sandpipers advanced their site arrival and bred in higher numbers, while brant and snow geese increased clutch sizes; all four species advanced their nest initiation dates. During chick rearing, longspur chicks were relatively resilient to environmental variation whereas warmer temperatures increased the growth rates of sandpiper chicks but reduced growth rates of snow goose goslings. These responses generally aligned with traits along the capital-income spectrum of nutrient acquisition and altricial-precocial modes of chick growth. Under a warming climate, the ability to mobilize endogenous reserves likely provides geese with relative flexibility to adjust the timing of breeding and the size of clutches. Warmer temperatures, however, may negatively affect the quality of herbaceous foods and slow gosling growth. 5. Species may possess traits that are beneficial during one phase of the reproductive cycle and others that may be detrimental at another phase, uneven responses that may be amplified with future climate warming. These results underscore the need to consider multiple phases of the reproductive cycle when assessing the effects of environmental variability on Arctic-breeding birds.

Acoustic communication allows animals to coordinate and optimize resource utilization in space. Cardioderma cor, the heart-nosed bat, is one of the few species of bats known to sing during nighttime foraging. Previous research found that heart-nosed bats react aggressively to song playback, supporting the territorial defense hypothesis of singing in this species. By tracking 14 individuals nightly during the dry seasons in Tanzania we further investigated the territorial defense hypothesis from an ecological standpoint, which predicts singing should be associated with exclusive areas containing a resource. We quantified the singing behavior of individuals at all perches used throughout the night. Using home range analysis tools, we quantified overall use night ranges and singing ranges, as well as areas used in early and later time periods at night. Males engaged in antiphonal singing from small (x̄ = 3.48 ± 2.71 ha), largely exclusive areas that overlapped with overall night ranges used for gleaning prey. Individuals varied in singing effort; however, all sang significantly more as night progressed. Subsequently, areas used earlier at night and overall use areas were both larger than singing areas. Individuals varied in singing strategies. Some males sang for long periods in particular trees and had smaller core areas, while others moved frequently among singing trees. The most prolific singers used more perches overall. The results support the hypothesis that acoustic communication repertoires evolved in support of stable foraging territory advertisement and defense in some bats.

Offshore wind energy is a growing industry in the United States, and renewable energy from offshore wind is estimated to double the country's total electricity generation. There is growing concern that land-based wind development in North America is negatively impacting bat populations, primarily long-distance migrating bats, but the impacts to bats from offshore wind energy is unknown. Bats are associated with the terrestrial environment, but have been observed over the ocean. In this review, we synthesize historic and contemporary accounts of bats observed and acoustically recorded offshore over North American waters to ascertain the spatial and temporal distribution of bats flying offshore. We integrate these records with studies of offshore bats in Europe and of bat behavior at land-based wind energy studies to examine how offshore wind development could impact North American bat populations. We find that most offshore bat records are of long-distance migrating bats and records occur during autumn migration, the period of highest fatality rates for long-distance migrating bats at land-based wind facilities in North America. We summarize evidence that bats may be attracted to offshore turbines for roosting and foraging opportunities, potentially increasing their risk of collision, but that higher wind speeds offshore can potentially reduce the amount of time that bats are exposed to risk. We identify knowledge gaps and hypothesize that a combination of mitigation strategies may be the most effective approach for minimizing impacts to bats and maximizing offshore energy production.

Identification of phenotypic characteristics in reproductively successful individuals provides important insights into the evolutionary processes that cause range shifts due to environmental change. Female beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Baffin Bay region (BB) of the Canadian Arctic in the core area of the species’ geographic range have larger body size than their conspecifics at the southern range periphery in Hudson Bay (HB). We investigated the mechanism for this north and south divergence as it relates to ovarian reproductive activity (ORA = total corpora) that combines morphometric data with ovarian corpora counted from female reproductive tracts. Based on the previous finding of reproductive senescence in older HB females, but not for BB whales, we compared ORA patterns of the two populations with age and body length. Female beluga whale ORA increased more quickly with age (63% partial variation explained) in BB than in HB (41%). In contrast, body length in HB female beluga whales accounted for considerably more of the total variation (12 vs 1%) in ORA compared to BB whales. We speculate that female HB beluga whale ORA was more strongly linked with body length due to higher population density resulting in food competition that favors the energetic advantages of larger body size during seasonal food limitations. Understanding the evolutionary mechanism of how ORA varies across a species’ range will assist conservation efforts in anticipating and mitigating future challenges associated with a warming planet.

Anderson’s White-bellied Rat, Niviventer andersoni (Thomas, 1911) (Muridae, Niviventer) is an species endemic to China. In the present study, we have sequenced the first complete mitochondrial genome of N. andersoni using next-generation sequencing. The 16,291 bp mitochondrial genome consists of 22 transfer RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes, and one non-coding control region (D-Loop). Phylogenetic analyses of the nucleotide sequences of all 13 PCGs, PCGs minus ND6 and the entire mitogenome sequence except for the D-loop, produce nearly identical, well-resolved topologies. Our results support that N. andersoni clustered with N. excelsior and form a sister group with N. confucianus, and they statistically reject the hypothesis from one cytochrome b (cytb) gene tree that N. confucianus is sister to N. fulvescens. Our research may be helpful to further reconsideration of clearer taxonomy and improve our understanding of mitogenomic evolution in the genus Niviventer.

Human-mediated introduction of cosmopolitan species and extirpation of endemic species modify community similarity, resulting in community-distinctiveness decrease or increase. Data from four basins in the Wannan Mountains, China, was used to evaluate the effects of low-head dams on fish assemblage homogeneity/heterogeneity. We aimed to examine whether the changes in fish assemblage similarity differed between taxonomic and functional metrics, and whether the outcome of homogenization/differentiation depended on incidence-based or abundance-based approaches. Taxonomic differentiation exceeded functional differentiation for incidence-based approaches and was accompanied by weak functional homogenization for abundance-based approaches. The extent of taxonomic differentiation using incidence-based approaches was higher than that using abundance-based ones, suggesting that the former significantly overestimated the degree of taxonomic differentiation; however, an opposite trend was verified for functional aspects, suggesting that the latter could detect nuanced patterns of fish functional homogenization/differentiation. Additionally, partial pairs exhibited considerable variation in patterns of perceived homogenization and differentiation for taxonomic and functional aspects. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the strong dependence on data type of perceived patterns in homogenization/differentiation and highlights the importance of abundance-based approaches in structuring homogenization/differentiation of fish assemblages at small spatial scales; otherwise, the qualitative and quantitative conclusions may be erroneous or contradictory. Keywords: Low-head dam, Stream fish, Biotic homogenization and differentiation, Taxonomic and functional diversities

Both the Norwegian Spring Spawning herring (Clupea harengus) and the Northeast Arctic cod (Gadus morhua) are examples of how the overexploitation of marine fish populations was leading to a strong reduction even so stock collapse, with a strong decline in the associated fisheries, followed by a recovery. Cod and herring are both part of the Barents Sea ecosystem, which experienced major warming events in the early (1920-1940) and late 20th century. While the collapse or near collapse of these stocks seems to be linked to instability created by overfishing and climate, the difference of population dynamics before and after is not fully understood. In particular, it is unclear how the changes in population dynamics before and after the collapses are associated with biotic interactions. The combination of the availability of unique long-term time series for herring and cod makes it a well-suited study system to investigate the effects of collapse. We examine how species interactions may differently affect the herring and cod population dynamic before and after a collapse. Particularly we explore, using a GAM modelling approach, how herring could affect cod and reciprocally. We found that the effect on herring of cod biomass that was generally positive (i.e., covariation) became negative after the collapse (i.e., predation or competition). Likewise a change occurred for the cod, the juvenile herring biomass that had no effect before the collapse had a negative one after. Our results indicate that population collapses may lead to altered inter-specific interactions as well as altered response to abiotic environmental variations. While the stocks are at similar abundance levels before and after the collapses the system is potentially different in its functioning and may require different management action.

Historically, bird song complexity was thought to evolve primarily through sexual selection on males, yet in many species both sexes sing. Previous research suggests competition for mates and resources during short, synchronous breeding seasons leads to more elaborate male songs at high latitudes. In contrast, we expect male-female song dimorphism and elaboration to be more similar at lower latitudes because longer breeding seasons and year-round territoriality yield similar social selection pressures in both sexes. However, studies seldom take both selective pressures and sexes into account. We examined song elaboration and sexual dimorphism in 15 populations of nine fairy-wren species (Maluridae), a Southern Hemisphere clade with female song. We compared song elaboration and sexual song dimorphism to latitude and life history variables tied to sexual and social selection pressures and sex roles. Our results suggest that song elaboration evolved in part due to sexual competition in males: male song variability was more positively correlated with temperate breeding and greater breeding synchrony than female song. We also found strong evidence that sex-role similarity contributed to male-female song similarity: male and female songs were shorter and more similar when parental care was more equal and when male survival was high. Contrary to Northern Hemisphere latitudinal patterns, songs were less dimorphic at higher, temperate latitudes. These results suggest that selection on song can be sex-specific, with male song elaboration favored in contexts coincident with sexual selection. However, selection pressures associated with sex-role similarity also appear to constrain sex specific song evolution and song dimorphism.

Warning signals are often characterized by highly contrasting, distinctive and memorable colors. Both chromatic (hue) and achromatic (brightness) contrast contribute to signal efficacy, making longwave colored signals (red and yellow) that generate both chromatic and achromatic contrast common. Shortwave colors (blue and ultraviolet) do not contribute to luminance perception, yet are also common in warning signals. The presence of UV aposematic signals is paradoxical as UV perception is not universal, and evidence for its utility is at best mixed. We used visual modeling to quantify how UV affects signal contrast in aposematic butterflies and frogs. We found that UV only appreciably affected visual contrast in the butterflies. As the butterflies, but not the frogs, have UV-sensitive vision these results support the notion that UV reflectance is associated with intraspecific communication, but appears to be non-functional in frogs. Consequently, we should be careful when assigning a selection-based benefit from UV reflectance.

Haemosporidians are among the most common parasites in birds and often impact negatively host fitness and consequently can affect entire host populations. It is therefore important to determine what factors influence parasite prevalence, particularly if they are caused by anthropogenic activities. Here we explore the effect of temperature, forest cover, and proximity to anthropogenic disturbance on haemosporidian prevalence and host-parasite networks on a horizontal spatial scale, comparing four fragmented forest patches and five localities within a continuous forest in Papua New Guinea. We find that the majority of Haemosporidian infections are caused by the genus Haemoproteus and that avian-haemosporidian networks are more specialized in continuous forests. At the community level, only forest cover was negatively associated with Haemoproteus infections, while abiotic and anthropogenic effects on parasite prevalence differed between bird species. We further tested if prevalence and host-parasite networks differed between the canopy and the understorey (vertical stratification) and found significantly higher Haemoproteus prevalence levels in the canopy, and the opposite trend for Plasmodium prevalence. This implies that birds experience distinct parasite pressures depending on the stratum they inhabit, likely driven by differences in vector communities. These three-dimensional analyses of avian-haemosporidians at horizontal and vertical scales provides a deeper understanding of the environmental factors driving haemosporidian prevalence in tropical lowland forests of New Guinea. Collectively, our results suggest that the effect of abiotic variables on haemosporidian infections are species specific, and that factors influencing community-level infections are primarily driven by host community composition.

Human–wildlife conflicts have intensified by many folds and at different levels in the recent years. The same is true in the case of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), the roof of the world and a region known for its wealth in biodiversity. We present systematic literature review (SLR) using the search, appraisal, synthesis, and analysis (SALSA) framework; and for spatial and network analysis, we employed the VOSviewer software. The review – covering 240 peer- articles within a span of 27 years (from 1982 to 2019) – revealed that in the last decade of that period, there was a 57 per cent increase in publications but with disproportionate geographical and thematic focus. About 82 per cent of the research concentrated on protected areas large carnivores and mega herbivores played a big role in such conflicts. About 53 per cent of the studies were based on questionnaires based and the main driver was reported was the habitat disturbance of the animals due to land-cover change, urbanization, and increase in human population. On the management front, the studies reported the use of traditional protection techniques like guarding and fencing. Our analysis of 681 keywords revealed prominent focus on ‘human-wildlife conflict’, ‘Nepal’, ‘Bhutan’, ‘Snow Leopard’ and ‘Leopard’ indicating the issue are linked with these species and countries. The involvement of 640 authors from 36 countries indicates increasing interest and Nepal and India are playing key role from the region. As for the spatial and network analysis that was conducted, while it showed variations in terms of localities, there were conspicuous limitations in terms of having a transboundary focus. Thus, particular attention ought to be paid to building transboundary partnerships and improving management interventions; there is also a pressing need to understand the patterns of human–wildlife convergence, especially involving meso mammals.

Global climate change is already contributing to the extirpation of numerous species worldwide, and sensitive species will continue to face challenges associated with rising temperatures throughout this century and beyond. It is especially important to evaluate the thermal ecology of endangered ectotherm species now so that mitigation measures can be taken as early as possible. A recent study of the thermal ecology of the federally endangered Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia sila) suggested that they face major activity restrictions due to thermal constraints in their desert habitat, but that large shade-providing shrubs act as thermal buffers to allow them to maintain surface activity without overheating. We replicated this study and also included a population of G. sila with no access to large shrubs to facilitate comparison of the thermal ecology of G. sila in shrubless and shrubbed populations. We found that G. sila without access to shrubs spent more time sheltering inside rodent burrows than lizards with access to shrubs, especially during the hot summer months. Lizards from a shrubbed population had higher midday body temperatures and therefore poorer thermoregulatory accuracy than G. sila from a shrubless population, suggesting that greater surface activity may represent a thermoregulatory tradeoff for G. sila. Lizards at both sites are currently constrained from using open, sunny microhabitats for much of the day during their short active seasons, and our projections suggest that climate change will exacerbate these restrictions and force G. sila to use rodent burrows for shelter even more than they do now, especially at sites without access to shrubs. The continued management of shrubs and of burrowing rodents at G. sila sites is therefore essential to the survival of this endangered species.

We evaluated whether evolution is faster at ecotones as niche shifts may be needed to persist under unstable environment. We mapped diet evolution along the evolutionary history of 350 sigmodontine species. Mapping was used in three new tip-based metrics of trait evolution–Transition Rates, Stasis Time, and Last Transition Time–which were spatialized at the assemblage level (aTR, aST, aTL). Assemblages were obtained by superimposing range maps on points located at core and ecotone of the 91 South American ecoregions. Using Linear Mixed Models, we tested whether ecotones have species with more changes from the ancestral diet (higher aTR), have maintained the current diet for a shorter time (lower aST) and have more recent transitions to the current diet (lower aLT) than cores. We found higher aTR, aST and aLT at ecotones than at cores. Although ecotones are more heterogeneous, both environmentally and in relation to selection pressures they exert on organisms, ecotone species change little from the ancestral diet as generalist habits are necessary toward feeding in ephemeral environments. The need to incorporate phylogenetic uncertainty in tip-based metrics was evident from large uncertainty detected. Our study integrates ecology and evolution by analyzing how fast trait evolution is across space.

Pangolins in the genus Manis are nocturnal, burrowing, insectivorous mammals listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Of the eight extant pangolin species worldwide, two species are found in Nepal: the Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) and the Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata). Despite having a great ecological role by controlling the ants or termite population, little attention has been given to the conservation interventions of both species of pangolins found in the Terai region (low land) of Nepal. The present study assesses habitat use and factors affecting the habitat choice of pangolins in low land (Terai), Nepal. The research was focused on Amritdharapani community forest of Chitwan district. Pangolin burrows were used as the indirect signs of pangolin presence. A total of thirty-nine burrows were observed at elevations ranging from 301 to 413 m asl. Burrows were frequently associated with north-west aspects, gentle slope (15º to 20º), moderate canopy cover (51 to 75%), red-colored soil, and acidic soils with pH 6.5 to 7. The burrows were most common in areas with weak human disturbance (i.e. 1500 to 1700 m from settlements), 800 to 1200 m from roads, and with-in 300 m from a water source and with-in 20 m from the nearest termitarium. This study revealed distance to settlement, distance to road, soil pH, and canopy cover as major factors affecting the habitat choice of pangolins in the study area.

Species-environment relationships were studied between the occurrence of 13 fish and lamprey species and 9 mainly map-based environmental variables of Finnish boreal small streams. A self-organizing map (SOM) analysis showed strong relationships between the fish species and environmental variables in a single model (explained variance 55.9%). Besides basic environmental variables such as altitude, catchment size, and mean temperature, landcover variables were also explored. A logistic regression analysis indicated that the occurrence probability of brown trout, Salmo trutta L., decreased with an increasing percentage of peatland ditch drainage in the upper catchment. Ninespine stickleback, Pungitius pungitius (L.), and three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., seemed to benefit from urban areas in the upper catchment. Discovered relationships between fish species occurrence and land-use attributes are encouraging for the development of fish-based bioassessment for small streams. The presented ordination of the fish species in the mean temperature gradient will help in predicting fish community responses to climate change.