scholarly journals Differential nest-defense to perceived danger in urban and rural areas by female Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Kunca ◽  
Reuven Yosef

The reaction of wildlife to humans is known to differ with surroundings. In urban environments that provide suitable habitats for breeding birds, animals adapt to humans and their response is accordingly altered. This study examined the nest defense behavior of female Eurasian sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) during the breeding season in urban and rural areas of Prague. The females showed four different types of reaction to humans that approached the nest and differed significantly between the two study areas. Contrary to expectations, urban nesting females were more aggressive than rural conspecifics. The intensity of response increased as the season progressed, and females defended their broods to a much greater degree than their clutches in both urban and rural habitats, suggesting a differential effort as a function of their relative investment in the breeding attempt conforming with the parental investment hypothesis.

The Condor ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Knight ◽  
Daniel J. Grout ◽  
Stanley A. Temple

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Milan Tomić ◽  
Sandra Rover ◽  
Bojan Pejović ◽  
Nina Uremović

Different types of interactions between rural and urban areas have the effect of improving economic, social, cultural and political dimensions in both areas, separating these two areas by their type of activity. Rural and urban types of regions have different resources and means that can be used in a complementary way. In rural-urban interaction there is a possibility of occurrence of conflict of interest of these two areas. This kind of conflict should be overcome when applying the partnership approach between rural and urban areas. The types of rural areas, depending on the proximity of the urban center and the functions of these areas, are divided into suburban, agricultural and remote type areas. By determining the functions of each type of area, the type and intensity of the interactions of rural areas with the urban center are presented. Rural entrepreneurs are able to bridge rural-urban differences, possessing certain market knowledge and descriptions of the characteristics of urban environments, while benefiting from their position. Rural entrepreneurs' interaction with the urban environment can contribute to sustainable economic relations between citizens in urban and rural areas. This paper presents the results of research related to determining the functions of certain areas, their strengths, unused and utilized resources, the frequency of interaction with the urban environment and the perspectives of suburban, agricultural and remote type areas in the context of interaction with the urban environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. e004993
Author(s):  
Luh Putu Lila Wulandari ◽  
Mishal Khan ◽  
Marco Liverani ◽  
Astri Ferdiana ◽  
Yusuf Ari Mashuri ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe aim of this mixed-method study was to determine the extent and determinants of inappropriate dispensing of antibiotics by licensed private drug retail outlets in Indonesia.MethodsStandardised patients (SPs) made a total of 495 visits to 166 drug outlets (community pharmacies and drug stores) between July and August 2019. The SPs presented three clinical cases to drug outlet staff: parent of a child at home with diarrhoea; an adult with presumptive tuberculosis (TB); and an adult with upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). The primary outcome was the dispensing of an antibiotic without prescription, with or without the client requesting it. We used multivariable random effects logistic regression to assess factors associated with the primary outcome and conducted 31 interviews with drug outlet staff to explore these factors in greater depth.ResultsAntibiotic dispensing without prescription occurred in 69% of SP visits. Dispensing antibiotics without a prescription was more likely in standalone pharmacies and pharmacies attached to clinics compared with drug stores, with an OR of 5.9 (95% CI 3.2 to 10.8) and OR of 2.2 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.9); and more likely for TB and URTI SP-performed cases compared with child diarrhoea cases, with an OR of 5.7 (95% CI 3.1 to 10.8) and OR of 5.2 (95% CI 2.7 to 9.8). Interviews revealed that inappropriate antibiotic dispensing was driven by strong patient demand for antibiotics, unqualified drug sellers dispensing medicines, competition between different types of drug outlets, drug outlet owners pushing their staff to sell medicines, and weak enforcement of regulations.ConclusionThis study shows that inappropriate dispensing of antibiotics by private drug retail outlets is widespread. Interventions will need to address not only the role of drug sellers, but also the demand for antibiotics among clients and the push from drug outlet owners to compete with other outlets.


Author(s):  
Matthew Thornton ◽  
Richard W. Lyles

The effectiveness and appropriateness of establishing speed limits on freeways and the spatial extent of the zones were studied. Of particular interest were 55-mph (88-km/hr) speed zones that exist in the transition between urban and rural areas (determined according to urban area boundaries). Three types of freeway segments (urban-55, fringe-55, and rural-65) were analyzed, and although the study was of comparatively small scale, the results generally showed that higher speeds do not lead to more numerous or serious accidents. Moreover, compliance with speed limits is not necessarily a good measure of safety. On the other hand, motorists are self-policing to a certain degree in that they drive at reasonable speeds given the design of the different types of freeways. It is suggested that artificially lowered speed limits without a clear need being established from engineering and safety perspectives will not yield impressive safety benefits.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 20170276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Davies ◽  
Nicole Haddad ◽  
Jenny Q. Ouyang

A major challenge in urban ecology is to identify the environmental factors responsible for phenotypic differences between urban and rural individuals. However, the intercorrelation between the factors that characterize urban environments, combined with a lack of experimental manipulations of these factors in both urban and rural areas, hinder efforts to identify which aspects of urban environments are responsible for phenotypic differences. Among the factors modified by urbanization, anthropogenic sound, particularly traffic noise, is especially detrimental to animals. The mechanisms by which anthropogenic sound affects animals are unclear, but one potential mechanism is through changes in glucocorticoid hormone levels. We exposed adult house wrens, Troglodytes aedon , to either traffic noise or pink noise (a non-traffic noise control). We found that urban wrens had higher initial (pre-restraint) corticosterone than rural wrens before treatment, and that traffic noise elevated initial corticosterone of rural, but not urban, wrens. By contrast, restraint stress-induced corticosterone was not affected by noise treatment. Our results indicate that traffic noise specifically contributes to determining the glucocorticoid phenotype, and suggest that glucocorticoids are a mechanism by which anthropogenic sound causes phenotypic differences between urban and rural animals.


The Condor ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gricelda Ruiz ◽  
Mario Rosenmann ◽  
Francisco Fernando Novoa ◽  
Pablo Sabat

Abstract A number of wild bird species have fortuitously incorporated themselves into urban life. One of these, the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis), dwells with seemingly similar success in urban and rural areas. Nevertheless, we found that urban Rufous-collared Sparrows have lower body weight, higher blood glucose concentration, higher proportion of heterophils (H), lower proportion of lymphocytes (L), and consequently, a larger H:L stress index, than rural ones. After two weeks of captivity rural birds developed blood characteristics that resembled those of urban birds. These indices reveal typical primary (acute), and secondary (chronic) stress characteristics in the urban birds. Parámetros Hematológicos e Indice de Estrés en Zonotrichia capensis de Ambientes Urbanos Resumen. Varias especies de aves han sido incorporadas a la vida urbana. Una de ellas, Zonotrichia capensis, habita con similar éxito tanto en ambientes urbanos como rurales. Sin embargo, hemos notado que individuos urbanos de Z. capensis tienen un peso corporal menor, mayores niveles de glucosa circulante, mayor proporción de heterófilos (H), menor proporción de linfocitos (L), y consecuentemente un mayor índice de estrés H:L que individuos rurales. Aves rurales mantenidos en cautiverio por dos semanas presentaron cambios hematológicos que concuerdan con las características de las aves urbanas. Estos índices revelan características de estrés primarias (agudas) y secundarias (crónicas) que son típicas en aves urbanas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn H Smith ◽  
Jesi Hessong-Brown ◽  
Sara E Lipshutz ◽  
Jennifer N Phillips ◽  
Catherine Rochefort ◽  
...  

Abstract Urbanization is one of the most extreme forms of land transformation and results in changes to ecosystems and species compositions. As a result, there are strong directional selection pressures compared to nearby rural areas. Despite a surge in research on the different selection pressures on acoustic communication in urban and rural areas, there has been comparatively little investigation into traits involved with visual communication. We measured the plumage of museum specimens of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) from urban and adjacent rural habitats in San Francisco, CA, to assess the effects of divergent habitats on plumage. We found significant differences in dorsal plumage, but not crown plumage, between urban and rural populations that have been diverging over the past 100 years. Urban birds have increasingly darker and duller dorsal plumage, whereas rural birds in adjacent areas have plumage with richer hues and more color complexity. Our findings suggest a newly observed adaptation to urban environments by native species and suggest that many traits, in addition to acoustic signals, may be changing in response to urban selection pressures. Additional collections in urban areas are needed to explore likely divergences in plumage coloration between urban and rural environments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Bernard

Abstract This article contributes to the rural-urban quality of life comparison issue by investigating territorial differences in quality of life using indices of poverty, satisfaction and opportunity deprivation. The article introduces three innovative elements. First, rural-urban differences are analysed alongside with the within-rural differentiation; second, two distinct spatial patterns of different forms of rural territorial disadvantage are introduced; third, the net-effect of the residential environment is assessed. Empirical results, based on survey data, show increased opportunity deprivation in rural areas, which however is not accompanied by decreased community satisfaction. For the most indices, within-rural differences proved larger than the difference between urban and rural areas.


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