scholarly journals Artificial Nest Cavity Used Successfully By Native Species and Avoided by European Starlings

2011 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 827-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Tyson ◽  
Bradley F. Blackwell ◽  
Thomas W. Seamans
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Artificial Nest ◽  
European Starlings ◽  
Nest Cavity

scholarly journals Low Occupancy Rates of Artificial Nest Cavities by European Starlings

2015 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Seamans ◽  
Bradley F. Blackwell ◽  
Laura A. Tyson
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Emerald Ash Borer ◽  
Agrilus Planipennis ◽  
Occupancy Rate ◽  
Artificial Nest ◽  
European Starlings ◽  
Sialia Sialis ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Ecological Requirements ◽  
Occupancy Rates

European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are known for their generalist ecological requirements and compete for available cavity nest sites with native species.  Our purpose was to revisit recent findings with regard to Starling selection of artificial nest structures.  In previous studies involving Starling use of wooden nest boxes in northern Ohio, USA, Starling occupancy across sites ranged from 67% to 100%; use by native species was minimal.  In this study, we made available 25 wooden boxes and 25 PVC nest tubes for Starling nesting, but we were forced to forego planned treatments because of low Starling occupancy rates.  We found a maximum occupancy rate of 40% for Starlings, whereas Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) had a combined minimal occupancy rate of 52%.  We speculate that an increase in availability of dead ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) due to damage by the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), as well as a potential increase in natural cavities due to an increasing Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) population might explain our findings.  With potentially fewer Starlings selecting artificial structures native species might now exploit these artificial nest sites.

Temporal ventriloquism effect in European starlings: Evidence for two parallel processing pathways.

2017 ◽  
Vol 131 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gesa Feenders ◽  
Yoko Kato ◽  
Katharina M. Borzeszkowski ◽  
Georg M. Klump
Keyword(s):  
Parallel Processing ◽  
European Starlings ◽  
Temporal Ventriloquism ◽  
Processing Pathways

Ice-free area expansion compounds the non-native species threat to Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Duffy ◽  
Jasmine R Lee
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Climate Scenario ◽  
Climatic Environment ◽  
Species Establishment ◽  
Suitable Habitats ◽  
Terrestrial Biodiversity ◽  
A Site ◽  
Area Expansion ◽  
Free Area

Warming across ice-covered regions will result in changes to both the physical and climatic environment, revealing new ice-free habitat and new climatically suitable habitats for non-native species establishment. Recent studies have independently quantified each of these aspects in Antarctica, where ice-free areas form crucial habitat for the majority of terrestrial biodiversity. Here we synthesise projections of Antarctic ice-free area expansion, recent spatial predictions of non-native species risk, and the frequency of human activities to quantify how these facets of anthropogenic change may interact now and in the future. Under a high-emissions future climate scenario, over a quarter of ice-free area and over 80 % of the ~14 thousand km2 of newly uncovered ice-free area could be vulnerable to invasion by one or more of the modelled non-native species by the end of the century. Ice-free areas identified as vulnerable to non-native species establishment were significantly closer to human activity than unsuitable areas were. Furthermore, almost half of the new vulnerable ice-free area is within 20 km of a site of current human activity. The Antarctic Peninsula, where human activity is heavily concentrated, will be at particular risk. The implications of this for conservation values of Antarctica and the management efforts required to mitigate against it are in need of urgent consideration.

High predatory efficiency and abundance drive expected ecological impacts of a marine invasive fish

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. 195-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
EM DeRoy ◽  
R Scott ◽  
NE Hussey ◽  
HJ MacIsaac
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Marine Predator ◽  
Eastern Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Red Grouper ◽  
Per Capita

The ecological impacts of invasive species are highly variable and mediated by many factors, including both habitat and population abundance. Lionfish Pterois volitans are an invasive marine species which have high reported detrimental effects on prey populations, but whose effects relative to native predators are currently unknown for the recently colonized eastern Gulf of Mexico. We used functional response (FR) methodology to assess the ecological impact of lionfish relative to 2 functionally similar native species (red grouper Epinephelus morio and graysby grouper Cephalopholis cruentata) foraging in a heterogeneous environment. We then combined the per capita impact of each species with their field abundance to obtain a Relative Impact Potential (RIP). RIP assesses the broader ecological impact of invasive relative to native predators, the magnitude of which predicts community-level negative effects of invasive species. Lionfish FR and overall consumption rate was intermediate to that of red grouper (higher) and graysby grouper (lower). However, lionfish had the highest capture efficiency of all species, which was invariant of habitat. Much higher field abundance of lionfish resulted in high RIPs relative to both grouper species, demonstrating that the ecological impact of lionfish in this region will be driven mainly by high abundance and high predator efficiency rather than per capita effect. Our comparative study is the first empirical assessment of lionfish per capita impact and RIP in this region and is one of few such studies to quantify the FR of a marine predator.

Endangered Butterflies and their Non-Native Host Plants: Examining Shifting Values of Belonging in Restoration

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Robert M. Anderson ◽  
Amy M. Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Puget Sound ◽  
A Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
Remote Island ◽  
Scientific Truth ◽  
Native Host

The island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus), thought to be extinct throughout the 20th century until re-discovered on a single remote island in Puget Sound in 1998, has become the focus of a concerted protection effort to prevent its extinction. However, efforts to “restore” island marble habitat conflict with efforts to “restore” the prairie ecosystem where it lives, because of the butterfly’s use of a non-native “weedy” host plant. Through a case study of the island marble project, we examine the practice of ecological restoration as the enactment of particular norms that define which species are understood to belong in the place being restored. We contextualize this case study within ongoing debates over the value of “native” species, indicative of deep-seated uncertainties and anxieties about the role of human intervention to alter or manage landscapes and ecosystems, in the time commonly described as the “Anthropocene.” We interpret the question of “what plants and animals belong in a particular place?” as not a question of scientific truth, but a value-laden construct of environmental management in practice, and we argue for deeper reflexivity on the part of environmental scientists and managers about the social values that inform ecological restoration.

Ex Situ Conservation of Rare Medicinal Plants in the Botanical Garden (Institute) of Academy of Sciences of Moldova

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48
Author(s):  
Nina Ciocârlan
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Ex Situ Conservation ◽  
Botanical Garden ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Aromatic Plants ◽  
Medicinal And Aromatic Plants ◽  
Field Collection ◽  
Ecological Flexibility ◽  
Cultivation Techniques ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

Abstract This work refers to the native species of genus Astragalus L. (A. dasyanthus, A. ponticus), Adonis L. (A. vernalis, A. wolgensis) and Digitalis L. (D. lanata, D. grandiflora). The plants are cultivated in the Botanical Garden of Moldova in the field collection of the medicinal and aromatic plants. Investigation includes propagation aspects, research into cultivation techniques and conservation measures. The biological particularities and the phenologic rhythm are also registered. The obtained data shows the ecological flexibility of species and the possibility of preserving them in culture.

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