PREDATION OF Felis catus (LINNAEUS, 1758) BY Boa constrictor amarali (STULL, 1932)

The most mammal preys of B. constrictor are median and small primates, rodents, opossums and bats. In general, predatory mammals are not part of diet of B. constrictor. Here we report the predation of Felis catus by Boa constrictor amarali. Reports of anecdotal events like this are important both to emphasize the opportunistic and generalist feeding habit of B. constrictor and their ability to live in an anthropogenic landscape.

The Main Stages of the Development Process of Ancient Surkhan

This article presents conclusions about the development of the ancient Surkhan territory by the inhabitants of this region, also analyzes the emergence of the early anthropogenic landscape of irrigated agriculture, handicrafts, and the development of the urban planning industry.

Designing (for) Urban Food Webs

Interest is growing in designing resilient and ecologically rich urban environments that provide social and ecological benefits. Regenerative and biocentric designs fostering urban ecological habitats including food webs that provide ecosystem services for people and wildlife increasingly are being sought. However, the intentional design of urban landscapes for food webs remains in an early stage with few precedents and many challenges. In this paper, we explore the potential to design (for) urban food webs through collaborations between designers and ecologists. We start by examining the ecology and management of Jamaica Bay in New York City as a case study of an anthropogenic landscape where ecosystems are degraded and the integrity of extant food webs are intertwined with human agency. A subsequent design competition focusing on ecological design and management of this large-scale landscape for animal habitat and ecosystem services for people illustrates how designers approach this anthropogenic landscape. This case study reveals that both designing urban landscapes for food webs and directly designing and manipulating urban food webs are complicated and challenging to achieve and maintain, but they have the potential to increase ecological health of, and enhance ecosystem services in, urban environments. We identify opportunities to capitalize on species interactions across trophic structures and to introduce managed niches in biologically engineered urban systems. The design competition reveals an opportunity to approach urban landscapes and ecological systems creatively through a proactive design process that includes a carefully crafted collaborative approach to constructing ecologically functioning landscapes that can integrate societal demands. As designers increasingly seek to build, adapt, and manage urban environments effectively, it will be critical to resolve the contradictions and challenges associated with human needs, ecosystem dynamics, and interacting assemblages of species. Ecologists and designers are still discovering and experimenting with designing (for) urban food webs and fostering species interactions within them. We recommend generating prototypes of urban food webs through a learning-by-doing approach in urban development projects. Design and implementation of urban food webs also can lead to research opportunities involving monitoring and experiments that identify and solve challenges of food-web construction while supporting and encouraging ongoing management.

Ecological factors driving pollination success in an orchid that mimics a range of Fabaceae

Rewarding plants can enhance the pollination success of co-occurring plants pollinated by food mimicry. However, it is not always possible to readily discern between the effect of model and magnet species. Here, we tested for mimicry of co-occurring Fabaceae by the rewardless Diuris magnifica (Orchidaceae) and whether the number of flowers of Fabaceae, habitat remnant size and frequency of conspecifics, influenced the pollination success of D. magnifica. Trichocolletes bees were the primary pollinators of D. magnifica, on which they displayed similar behaviour as seen when feeding on Fabaceae. Quantification of spectral reflectance suggested that flowers of Bossiaea eriocarpa, Daviesia divaricata and Jacksonia sternbergiana may represent models for D. magnifica, whereas Hardenbergia comptoniana strongly differed in colour. Orchid pollination success was not directly affected by the number of model flowers, but the pollination rate was enhanced by increased numbers of Hardenbergia flowers. Pollination success of the orchid decreased with higher density of conspecifics, but did not exhibit a significant relationship with Trichocolletes occurrence, possibly because of the contribution of sub-optimal pollinator species. Fruit set of the orchid was greater in larger habitat remnants. Overall, pollination success of D. magnifica is affected by ecological factors related to the effectiveness of mimicry, numbers of co-flowering plants and anthropogenic landscape alteration.