scholarly journals Seasonality and habitat preferences of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae) attracted to moose Alces alces L. dung in the Kampinos National Park

2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-308
Author(s):  
Dawid Marczak ◽  
Radosław Mroczyński

Abstract Dung beetles (coleoptera: geotrupidae) are an extremely important element of many ecosystems. their activity allows the incorporation of mineral compounds trapped in faeces into the nutrient cycle. seasonality and habitat preferences are the most important factors shaping the beetle communities inhabiting dung. the present study compares beetle communities inhabiting moose dung Alces alces L. in various forest ecosystems quantitatively and qualitatively. Due to the beetle seasonality, field work was performed from the beginning of March until the end of october 2017 in three habitats: coniferous forest, oak-hornbeam forest and alder forest. the dung beetles were collected using three Barber traps on each site baited with moose dung (80 g ± 10 g) and the traps were emptied as well as rebaited every 15 days. altogether, 2330 specimen of dung beetles representing three species were collected: Anoplotrupes stercorosus (2088), Trypocopris vernalis (154) and Geotrupes stercorarius (88). these three species were found in all of the studied habitats. the largest total number of individuals was captured in the alder forest (1132 individuals), followed by the broadleaved forest (712) and the smallest number was captured in the coniferous forest (486). in terms of individuals caught, each species was statistically significantly different between the habitats. The largest number of A. stercorosus was captured in the alder forest, followed by the broadleaved forest and the smallest number was caught in the coniferous forest. however, the reverse was observed in the case of T. vernalis and G. stercorarius, where the most individuals were caught in the coniferous forest, and fewer in the broadleaved and alder forests. this is most likely due to the various habitat preferences of each individual species. Furthermore, the seasonal dynamics of this beetle family showed some differences between habitats. these differences most probably resulted from different microclimatic and humidity conditions.

Author(s):  
Adrian Wydeven

Elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) have been the most numerous ungulate in Wind Cave National Park (WCNP), South Dakota, in recent years. If population numbers for elk and other herbivores increased substantially, a marked effect on available forage may occur. Information on movement, on herd organization, and on areas of intensive use has been obtained previously (Varland 1976). Additional information is necessary for rational management of elk in the Park. Wind Cave National Park is an 11,355 ha park in the southern Black Hills. The vegetation is ecotonal between the coniferous forest of the Black Hills and mixed grass prairie of the Great Plains. The Park is surrounded by a wovenwire fence 1.2 to 2.4 m high. Field work was conducted from 6 June 1976 through 12 August 1977. A summary of data gathered during 1976 was reported earlier (Wydeven 1977).


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (02) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dishane K. Hewavithana ◽  
Mayuri R. Wijesinghe ◽  
Chandima D. Dangalle ◽  
H. A. S. Gayan Dharmarathne

AbstractWe studied the food and habitat preferences of beetles of the subfamily Scarabaeinae in a protected tropical monsoon forest, the Wasgomuwa National Park in Sri Lanka. While gaining an insight into the capacity of different resources to support dung beetles, we tested the hypothesis that, in a landscape with a mosaic of habitat types and a diversity of large mammals, specialization facilitates coexistence of the scarabs. Pitfall traps were laid in five distinct habitat types (forest, riverine, sandy banks, scrub and grassland), and baited with five dung types (leopard, cervid, elephant, bear and buffalo). Four hundred and fifty seven beetles of 22 species in seven genera were recorded. Significant differences were seen in the species richness and abundance of dung beetles between different habitats and dung types, indicating habitat and food preferences. The highest richness of scarabs was in the riverine habitat and in leopard dung. Niche breath values of the individual species indicated differences in the degrees of specialization, while niche overlap values indicated a greater sharing of dung beetle species between similar habitats and dung types than between dissimilar ones. These findings provide evidence that selectivity of habitat, and dung, may be important in promoting coexistence among the scarabs in a tropical environment.


1996 ◽  
pp. 64-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguen Nghia Thin ◽  
Nguen Ba Thu ◽  
Tran Van Thuy

The tropical seasonal rainy evergreen broad-leaved forest vegetation of the Cucphoung National Park has been classified and the distribution of plant communities has been shown on the map using the relations of vegetation to geology, geomorphology and pedology. The method of vegetation mapping includes: 1) the identifying of vegetation types in the remote-sensed materials (aerial photographs and satellite images); 2) field work to compile the interpretation keys and to characterize all the communities of a study area; 3) compilation of the final vegetation map using the combined information. In the classification presented a number of different level vegetation units have been identified: formation classes (3), formation sub-classes (3), formation groups (3), formations (4), subformations (10) and communities (19). Communities have been taken as mapping units. So in the vegetation map of the National Park 19 vegetation categories has been shown altogether, among them 13 are natural primary communities, and 6 are the secondary, anthropogenic ones. The secondary succession goes through 3 main stages: grassland herbaceous xerophytic vegetation, xerophytic scrub, dense forest.


2017 ◽  
Vol 168 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Pierre Mollet ◽  
René Hardegger ◽  
Res Altwegg ◽  
Pius Korner ◽  
Simon Birrer

Breeding bird fauna in a coniferous forest in the northern Prealps after storm Lothar In a 70-hectare large coniferous forest located on the northern edge of the Alps in central Switzerland, Canton of Obwalden, at an altitude of 1260 to 1550 metres above sea level, we surveyed the local breeding bird fauna in 2002 and 2013 by means of point counts as well as additional area searches for rare species. In December 1999, hurricane Lothar caused two large windthrow areas and several smaller areas with scattered throws in the survey range. We found a total of 48 breeding bird species, which is a very diverse species composition for a mountain forest. In the eleven years between surveys, a decline in distribution or abundance was recorded for four species, while seven species showed an increase; a further four species showed no change. For the remaining species, the data sets were too small to reliably estimate changes. A comparison with forest structure data provided by the Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL revealed that for five bird species, the changes in distribution or abundance could be explained at least partially by forest succession. In order to obtain realistic distribution and abundance values in this kind of breeding bird survey, it is essential to collect large enough samples and to consider the detection probability of each individual species using appropriate statistical methods.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 374
Author(s):  
Piotr Brewczyński ◽  
Kamil Grałek ◽  
Piotr Bilański

The small-sized gametophytes and sporophytes of the green shield-moss Buxbaumia viridis (Moug.) Brid. make it difficult to study. However, in Europe, there has been increasing interest in this species in the past few years, mostly as a result of the implementation of the Natura 2000 network. In Poland, B. viridis has only been reported in isolated studies that have been limited in terms of area and the number of participating workers. One of the Polish regions where B. viridis was recently recorded is the Bieszczady Mountains, but there have been no large-scale surveys of that region to date. The objective of the current work was to describe the B. viridis population in the Bieszczady Mountains in terms of its spatial distribution and abundance, investigate its selected microhabitat preferences, and evaluate the conservation status of this moss species within the Natura 2000 site Bieszczady PLC180001. The studied region encompassed 93,490.44 ha, including 69,056.23 ha of managed forests and 24,434.21 ha of forests belonging to the Bieszczady National Park. A preliminary survey was conducted in the Cisna Forest District (forest area of 19,555.82 ha) on 15–17 November 2017, while the main survey was performed in selected forest subcompartments of four forest districts—Baligród, Komańcza, Lutowiska, and Stuposiany—as well as the Bieszczady National Park from 5 to 16 November 2018. The field work consisted of searching for B. viridis sporophytes and setae and recording selected population and locality characteristics. The study led to the discovery of 353 new B. viridis localities in 202 study areas, with 9197 diploid individuals (sporophytes or setae only) growing in 545 microhabitats. The number of B. viridis localities discovered in the Bieszczady Mountains during 17 days of survey in 2017 and 2018 was two times higher than the combined number of localities previously found in Poland over more than 150 years (159 localities). Additionally, the number of sporophytes and setae identified was two times greater than their overall number in previous records. In addition, this study provides information about selected microhabitat preferences and the conservation status of this moss in the Bieszczady Natura 2000 site.


2017 ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Guadalupe Cornejo-Tenorio ◽  
Alejandro Casas ◽  
Berenice Farfán ◽  
José Luis Villaseñor ◽  
Guillermo Ibarra-Manríquez

A study of the flora and vegetation physiognomy was conducted at the core zones of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, in the states of México and Michoacán. Collection of plant specimens was carried out du ring one year of field work and this activity was supplemented by a review of voucher specimens previously collected in the area and deposited at the Mexican herbaria IEB, EBUM, and MEXU. A total of 423 vascular plant species including 32 infraespecific taxa and grouped in 86 families and 244 genera were identified, Families with the largest species richness were Asteraceae (103), Lamiaceae (21), Fabaceae (17), and Scrophulariaceae (17).The most speciose genera were Salvia (13), Stevia (8), and Ageratina (7). Mexican endemic species comprised 135 (31.9%) species, which included 13 infrae spec ific taxa; 40 of these species belong to Asteraceae. Herbs were represented by 326 species, followed by shrubs (5 1) and trees (33). The main vegetation types recognized were coniferous forest (including combinations of fir, pine, and oak forests), cloud forest, anthropogenic grass land, and Quercus forest.


Author(s):  
Joseph Hall

1997 was the third and final season devoted to gaining information on the behavior of river otters with most emphasis on nocturnal and diurnal activity. As in the 1995 and 1996 seasons, six automatic camera monitors, activated by treadle switches, were put out at sites often frequented by these animals. In addition, canoes were frequently used for daytime patrols. Field work occurred from July 8 - August 6.


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