Advanced survey effort required to obtain bat assemblage data in temperate woodlands (Chiroptera)

There is a lack of precise guidelines concerning the survey effort required for advanced bat surveys in temperate European woodlands, resulting in a lack of standardisation in survey methods. In this study we assess catch data from 56 bat trapping surveys at 11 UK woodland sites in order to provide recommendations for mist net survey effort required to gain meaningful bat assemblage data in temperate woodlands. Species accumulation curves were produced and were used to develop two novel values for survey effort: the minimum survey threshold (MST), whereby surveyors are more likely than not to encounter less dominant species; and the known species threshold (KST), the point where a given percentage (in our case, 75%) of the known species assemblage for a site is likely to be reached and beyond which there are diminishing returns for survey effort. For our data, the mean of MST was 17.4 net hours, and for KST, the mean was 29.8 net hours. The MST and KST values were reached during the second and third surveys, respectively. These proposed values are adaptable based on location and known species assemblage and may be used for planning advanced bat surveys in temperate woodlands not only to maximise survey efficacy and use of limited resources but to ensure ethical viability of undertaking advanced surveys in the first place.

Chemistry and Biological Activity of Alkaloids from the Genus Lycoris (Amaryllidaceae)

Lycoris Herbert, family Amaryllidaceae, is a small genus of about 20 species that are native to the warm temperate woodlands of eastern Asia, as in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Himalayas. For many years, species of Lycoris have been subjected to extensive phytochemical and pharmacological investigations, resulting in either the isolation or identification of more than 110 Amaryllidaceae alkaloids belonging to different structural types. Amaryllidaceae alkaloids are frequently studied for their interesting biological properties, including antiviral, antibacterial, antitumor, antifungal, antimalarial, analgesic, cytotoxic, and cholinesterase inhibition activities. The present review aims to summarize comprehensively the research that has been reported on the phytochemistry and pharmacology of the genus Lycoris.

Returning a lost process by reintroducing a locally extinct digging marsupial

The eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi), a medium-sized digging marsupial, was reintroduced to a predator-free reserve after 100 years of absence from the Australian mainland. The bettong may have the potential to restore temperate woodlands degraded by a history of livestock grazing, by creating numerous small disturbances by digging. We investigated the digging capacity of the bettong and compared this to extant fauna, to answer the first key question of whether this species could be considered an ecosystem engineer, and ultimately if it has the capacity to restore lost ecological processes. We found that eastern bettongs were frequent diggers and, at a density of 0.3–0.4 animals ha−1, accounted for over half the total foraging pits observed (55%), with echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), birds and feral rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) accounting for the rest. We estimated that the population of bettongs present dug 985 kg of soil per ha per year in our study area. Bettongs dug more where available phosphorus was higher, where there was greater basal area of Acacia spp. and where kangaroo grazing was less. There was no effect on digging of eucalypt stem density or volume of logs on the ground. While bettong digging activity was more frequent under trees, digging also occurred in open grassland, and bettongs were the only species observed to dig in scalds (areas where topsoil has eroded to the B Horizon). These results highlight the potential for bettongs to enhance soil processes in a way not demonstrated by the existing fauna (native birds and echidna), and introduced rabbit.