European Hamster at the edge: declining in nature and rare in owl pellets

AbstractOver the last decades, the European Hamster (Cricetus cricetus) has been declining in many parts of its European range. Due to the lack of recent information on the occurrence and status of the European Hamster in the south-western Carpathian Basin west of the Danube, we used information gathered from prey remains in Common Barn-owl (Tyto alba) pellets. In spite of considerable sampling effort, we retrieved only few hamster remnants. Two skulls were found in Podolje (Croatia) in 2007 and 2016, respectively. Further five hamsters were retrieved from pellets collected in 2017, 11 km to the northwest in Udvar (Hungary). In Sátorhely, 5 km north from Udvar, one roadkill male was found on 27.07.2019. Testimonies from local inhabitants confirmed the current presence of the European Hamster in the area. Our results suggest the presence of a small isolated population in the border area of Croatia (UTM 10 km grid square CR27) and Hungary (CR18, CR19). This small isolated population is on the south-western limit of the range of the species. We presume that the population requires conservation attention because of its isolated position at the edge of the species’ range, its small size and low abundance. We call for a transboundary action by nature conservation authorities in Croatia and Hungary.

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An attempt to determine the size of the Common Barn-owl’s (Tyto alba) hunting area based on its prey composition

Avian Biology Research ◽

10.1177/17581559211066091 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 175815592110660

Author(s):

Jenő J Purger ◽

Dávid Szép

Keyword(s):

Functional Groups ◽

Small Mammals ◽

Small Mammal ◽

Barn Owl ◽

Tyto Alba ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Open Forest ◽

Prey Composition ◽

Small Mammal Species ◽

Owl Pellets

The relative abundance of small mammal species detected from Common Barn-owl pellets reflects the landscape structure and habitat pattern of the owl’s hunting area, but it is also affected by the size of the collected pellet sample and the size of the supposed hunting area. The questions arise: how many pellets should be collected and analyzed as well as how large hunting area should be taken into consideration in order to reach the best correspondence between the owl’s prey composition and the distribution of habitats preferred by small mammals preyed in supposed hunting areas? For this study, we collected 1045 Common Barn-owl pellets in a village in southern Hungary. All detected small mammal species were classified into functional groups (guilds) preferring urban, open, forest and wetland habitats. The proportion of functional groups was compared to the proportion of these habitats around the pellet collection site within circles of one, two, and three km radius. Saturation curves showed that at least 300 pellets or ca. 600 mammalian remains are required for the detection of the 19 small mammal species. The share of small mammals detected in the prey and their functional groups according to their habitat preference showed an increasing consistency with the distribution of real habitats in the potential hunting area of a radius of 3 km around the owl’s breeding or resting place.

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Anurans of the Parque Estadual do Mirador, a remnant of Cerrado in the state of Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2016-0260 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Etielle Barroso de Andrade ◽

Luiz Norberto Weber ◽

José Roberto de Souza Almeida Leite

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Central Region ◽

Wide Distribution ◽

The State ◽

Northeastern Brazil ◽

Species Number ◽

Sampling Effort ◽

The South ◽

Cerrado Biome ◽

South Central

Abstract The Cerrado is one of the most threatened biomes in Brazil. It is estimated that much of its original vegetation has been replaced by some type of human use. This is quite worrying, mainly in the northern part where the number of wildlife inventories is insufficient and creates the false impression of low diversity in the region. The Parque Estadual do Mirador-PEM, located in the south-central region of the state of Maranhão, presents vegetation typical of the Cerrado biome and corresponds to one of 46 priority areas for conservation in the state. Herein, we describe the species richness and composition of the anurofauna from the PEM and analyze the influence of different types of vegetation in its formation. Our inventory was conducted from December 2013 to February 2015, using the active search and auditory census methods on breeding sites in different water bodies of the park. We recorded 31 anuran species belonging to five families (species number in parentheses): Leptodactylidae (14), Hylidae (12), Bufonidae (3), Microhylidae (1) and Phyllomedusidae (1). The rarefaction curve and species richness estimators indicated that the sampling effort was enough to record most of the species in the region. The richness of anurans in the PEM was higher than reported by other authors for several areas of Cerrado. Most species have a wide distribution in Brazil or are strongly associated with the Caatinga or Amazon biomes. Only about 19% are endemic to the Cerrado biome. This study is the first to inventory the anurans species of the south-central region of state of Maranhão and provides important data on amphibian communities from the northern part of the Brazilian Cerrado.

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The identification of river foreshore corridors for nature conservation in the South Coast Region of Western Australia

Biological Conservation ◽

10.1016/0006-3207(92)90873-l ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 60 (1) ◽

pp. 70

Keyword(s):

Nature Conservation ◽

Western Australia ◽

South Coast ◽

The South ◽

Coast Region

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Influence of oceanic fronts on mesozooplankton abundance and grazing during spring in the south-western Atlantic

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf14357 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 67 (5) ◽

pp. 626 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rubens M. Lopes ◽

Catarina R. Marcolin ◽

Frederico P. Brandini

Keyword(s):

Chlorophyll A ◽

Daily Basis ◽

Polar Front ◽

Grazing Impact ◽

Sampling Effort ◽

Antarctic Polar Front ◽

The South ◽

Western Atlantic ◽

Oceanic Fronts ◽

Plankton Biomass

We investigated the influence of oceanic fronts on mesozooplankton distribution and grazing activity in the south-west Atlantic. Sampling was conducted during late spring 1993 along a north–south transect between subtropical waters off Brazil and Antarctic waters. Mesozooplankton abundance and biomass were ~10-fold higher in the Subtropical Confluence Zone (SCZ) and in the Antarctic Polar Front (APF) relative to subtropical and subantarctic waters beyond the influence of those frontal systems. Mesozooplankton was dominated by calanoid and cyclopoid copepods. Community ingestion rates ranged between 0.1 and 0.3mg chlorophyll-a m–2day–1 in interfrontal areas, increasing to 2.0 and 9.0mg chlorophyll-a m–2day–1 in the APF and SCZ respectively. Mesozooplankton grazing removed up to 40% of the total chlorophyll stock in the SCZ, and 22% in the APF, on a daily basis. These estimates suggest that mesozooplankton exert a significant grazing impact on phytoplankton over much of the frontal areas studied. Recent investigations have shown that the geographic position of oceanic fronts and plankton biomass maxima in the study area have remained basically the same from the time of our sampling effort to date, meaning that our results apply to present conditions.

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An illustrated catalogue of the South American species of the cyphophthalmid family Neogoveidae (Arthropoda, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) with a report on 37 undescribed species

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.1509.1.1 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 1509 (1) ◽

pp. 1-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

LIGIA BENAVIDES ◽

GONZALO GIRIBET

Keyword(s):

Trinidad And Tobago ◽

French Guiana ◽

Single Species ◽

Sampling Effort ◽

South American ◽

Undescribed Species ◽

The South ◽

South American Species

We provide an illustrated catalog of the cyphophthalmid diversity of the Neotropics, including photographs of the holotypes and paratypes (when available) for all but one described South American Neogoveidae. These include the single species of Huitaca, two of the three Metagovea species, the four Neogovea species and ? Gen. enigmaticus. Furthermore we provide collecting data for 37 undescribed species of south American Neogoveidae, including Huitaca (8 spp.), Neogovea (12 spp.) and Metagovea (17 spp.). Distributional data of the species of Neogoveidae add the first records for French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Colombia shows the largest diversity of Cyphophthalmi among South American countries, perhaps due to the large amount of ecosystems found in this country, but this could also reflect sampling effort.

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Diet of the Barn Owl, Tyto-Alba, in the Tanami Desert, Northern Territory

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr9890611 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. 611 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

JDB Smith ◽

J Cole

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Small Mammals ◽

Small Mammal ◽

Barn Owl ◽

Northern Territory ◽

Tyto Alba ◽

Prey Biomass ◽

Large Fluctuations ◽

Prey Items ◽

Owl Pellets

The diet of the barn owl was determined by analysing egested pellets collected from the Tanami Desert. These data were also used to examine the distribution of small mammals in the region. Rodents were the dominant prey items, forming more than 74% of prey biomass in all samples. The dominant rodent species were those that undergo large fluctuations in population size. Notomys alexis was the dominant prey item in 15 of the 17 samples. In all samples, one or two species of rodents formed 47-100% of prey biomass. Dasyurids were relatively minor prey items, forming less than 12% of prey biomass in all samples. It is suggested that this is a reflection of their abundance relative to rodents. Bats, birds, lizards and insects combined formed less than 14% of prey biomass in all but one sample (24%). Behavioural and life-history characteristics of prey appear to affect their susceptibility to predation. The analysis of pellets proved to be a useful supplementary technique to conventional methods of surveying small mammals. All species of small mammal that could be expected were identified in owl pellets. Notomys amplus was recorded in pellets but not collected by conventional techniques.

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