Roadside verges in densely populated areas are often a significant addition to the total semi-natural area and as such may contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. Furthermore, they can enhance the ecological cohesion of a region, especially when the existing nature reserves are small and/or highly fragmented. We investigated the occurrence of ground beetles and spiders in six highway verges with grey hair-grass vegetation in the Veluwe region, The Netherlands. Total species number in the verges was similar to the values found in nearby nature reserves with comparable vegetation, but the ground beetles tended to be more abundant in the reserves. Many stenotopic species were present in the verges, confirming the significant conservation value of this habitat. However, compared with the nature reserves, there were fewer species of stenotopic ground beetles and the stenotopic spiders were less abundant in the verges. From our knowledge of the biology and ecology of the species captured it seems likely that this is attributable to differences in "habitat quality". In the verges, species preferring bare sand are scarcer, and the weighted mean body length of ground beetles is shorter than in nature reserves. This suggests that the sward in the road verges is too dense and the suitable vegetation too patchy to sustain some of the stenotopic species. Habitat analyses support this contention: Compared with the nature reserves, the verges had proportionally less bare sand, more herb and tree cover and the vegetation patches were smaller. The strategy suggested to promote stenotopic species entails removing encroaching trees and shrubs from the verges in order to expand the nutrient-poor zone and (re-)create pioneer conditions. Subsequent management should aim at further improving the road verges as extensions of nutrient-poor habitat.
a1_Důvěra a tolerance patří k předpokladům demokracie; identifikace latentních proměnných v postojích může odkrýt zdroje tolerance a netolerance. Sekundární analýza Evropské studie hodnot (EVS, otázka Q6 – které menšiny by si respondenti nepřáli mít za sousedy, 44 evropských zemí, N2011 = 63.281) ukázala podstatnou shodu v sociální distanci od menšin: Nejpřijímanější sousedy spojuje především etnická a náboženská diverzita; nejodmítanější skupiny charakterizuje chování odlišné od sociálních norem (závislí na alkoholu a drogách, lidé s kriminální minulostí); přijímání dalších ze čtrnácti posuzovaných skupin (Romů, gayů, lidí s AIDS) bylo rozporné. Faktorová analýza i analýza hlavních komponentů, jak s šikmými tak i ortogonálními rotacemi, poskytly stabilní řešení blížící se jednoduché struktuře s třemi faktory: 1. Diverzita (etnická a náboženská různorodost), 2. Deviace (odlišnost chování), 3. Politický extremizmus. Obdobnost řešení získaných z dat 3. vlny (N1999-2001 = 10.522) i o dekádu pozdější 4. vlny EVS (N2008-2010 = 13.719), kdy data byla sbírána jinými agenturami, potvrzuje spolehlivost výsledků. K významným zjištěním patří, že větší sociální vzdálenost respondentů EVS od menšin má vztah k vyšší zátěži těchto menšin v faktoru Deviace a naopak, menšiny s vysokou zátěží v faktoru Diverzity jsou častěji za sousedy přijímány. Menšiny hodnocené ambivalentně se často také ambivalentně objevují ve dvou faktorech (Diverzity i Deviace), ač se faktorová struktura blíží jednoduchému řešení. A tak mají východoevropští gayové a lidé s AIDS kromě zvláště vysoké zátěže v faktoru Deviace i menší zátěž v Diverzitě; Romové mají vysokou zátěž v Diverzitě a méně vysokou v Deviaci., a2_(Pro srovnání, gayové v České republice mají vysokou zátěž v Diverzitě a menší v Deviaci; čeští Romové a lidé s AIDS skórovali ve starší vlně vysoko v Diverzitě, ale v nejčerstvější vlně mají vysokou zátěž v Deviaci). Šikmá řešení ukazují další souvislosti. Výsledky ilustrují rozdílnosti a naznačují současný vývoj v postojích., b1_Objectives. Heuristic study focused on common reasons for social distance from minorities and assumed that latent variables in attitudes can reveal the roots of intolerance, with a special attention to ambivalently accepted outgroups. Subjects and setting. A secondary analysis of answers to European Values Study (EVS 1999- 2010) was performed focusing on the Czech Republic alone and on Eastern European EU members (wave 3 N=10.522 and wave 4 N=13.719); responses to question Q6 (which minorities would be undesirable as neighbors). Hypotheses. Authors looked for a context in which out-groups are perceived, specifically for relationships a) between diversity and acceptance and b) between deviance and rejection of individual minority groups. Statistical analyses. Factor analyses and principal component analyses (both oblique and orthogonal rotations) based on Kaiser’s criterion; Cronbach’s alpha. Results. Respondents indicated consensus in social distance from minorities: the most accepted neighbors are defined mostly by ethnic or religious diversity; the most rejected groups are characterized by behavior deviant from social norms (addicts, criminals); there is a disagreement about admittance of the rest of the fourteen groups assessed (Roma, gays, AIDS patients). All factor analyses and principal component analyses yielded a stable solution close to a simple structure with three factors: 1. Diversity (ethnic, religious); 2. (Behavioral) Deviance; 3. Political extremism. Stronger social distancing from ethnic minorities and gays is related to higher minority loading on Deviance factor; conversely, minorities loading on Diversity factor tend to be accepted. Minorities who met with neighbors’ ambivalence (especially Roma, gays, people with AIDS) often ambivalently appear in two factors (Diversity and Deviance). Study limitations., b2_Methodology of Pearson’s correlation matrices was used as a basis for factor analyses., Martina Klicperová-Baker, Jaroslav Košťá., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Meaningful ecological studies on insect communities require sampling protocols that take into consideration temporal fluctuations in abundance and species composition. Bees with their specific requirements for nutrition and nesting are good indicators of landscape structure and overall biodiversity, provided the ecological and seasonal patterns they show are taken into consideration. The present two year study traced the ecological and seasonal patterns on 2 km2 of a southern slope in the Swiss Alps, ranging from 1150 to 1550 m above sea level. The study area consisted mainly of grassland under different regimes, mostly hay meadows and pastures. By direct netting at five monthly intervals in each year a total of 247 bee species were recorded. This comprehensive sampling scheme identified one of the most diverse bee faunas in Central and Northern Europe, consisting of a statistically estimated 280 species. Most species were rare with 14.6% represented by a single individual. Ecological analysis of the bee community showed that the primitively eusocial species were over represented among the abundant species and the parasitic species among the rarest.
Both abundance and species richness were subject to marked seasonal variations. A substantial turnover in species composition as well as changes in ecological patterns were observed. More than 25% of all species were recorded in only one of the two years, in particular many of the parasitic species. Singletons accounted for a higher proportion when individual years rather than the pooled data were analysed. All these findings underline the importance of season-long sampling and sampling over more than one year if bees are to be used as indicators in ecological and studies on bee communities.
The Tisza River Basin is an important area as it is a green corridor in which there are highly endangered habitats and a high level of biodiversity. The patterns in the species richness of invertebrates and the environmental conditions affecting these patterns are poorly studied in the grassy habitats in the lower reaches of the Tisza River Basin. The present study focuses on the effects of flooding, habitat and landscape features on the species richness of orthopterans at 24 grassland sites in two different landscapes. The relations between the explanatory variables and the pattern of diversity of orthopterans with different life-history traits were studied, using ordination and Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Although the influential factors for the different trait groups differed, we suggest that landscape features are the most important in shaping orthopteran assemblages, whereas habitat characteristics and flooding have comparatively little effect. Habitat characteristics affected only the non-xerophilous and Ensifera species and only the species richness of non-xerophilous orthopterans in flooded and non-flooded sites differed. We emphasize that even in countries where there are still considerable areas of high value natural grasslands, such as Hungary, non-protected meadows, linear grassy habitats (dikes, ditch banks, road verges, etc.) need more attention and should be given higher priority in the conservation of invertebrates., Attila Torma, Miklós Bozsó., and Obsahuje bibliografii
During the breeding period, I analysed bird community-habitat relationships in a managed broad-leaved forest of north-western Italy (a newly established nature reserve). Species richness, diversity, biomass and abundance of some ecological groups of birds were analysed with respect to habitat variables, summarising habitat structure, canopy and understorey floral composition. Two major patterns of relationships among bird and habitat were traced: the first involved changes in tree structure during their growth (canopy height and diameter of the dominant tree), the second was related to characteristics associated with floral richness. Bird diversity, species richness, the amount of hole nesters, of trunk and ground feeders were positively associated with stands age. The abundance of some groups of birds was positively related to plant species richness: understorey species richness influenced shrub feeders, shrub nesters and edge species; canopy species richness affected trunk feeders. Canopy species richness also affected bird diversity, richness, biomass, abundance of hole nesters, trunk feeders and forest interior species.
Ants are often considered as good indicators of change of management in different habitats. They have been used sporadically to evaluate large scale transformations involving reafforestation. In the present study, the ant assemblages at 15 forest sites are compared. The sites differ in history, age and forest management. Our results show that there are clear changes in ant assemblages with developmental stage but even after 25 years not all forest species are present. Natural succession and planting of trees with or without any other management, resulted in only open country species, and some from forest and wet grassland colonizing these new forests. Sometimes gynes of target forest species arrived in new forests from nearby mature forest, but apparently were unable to start a colony. We attribute this findings to the lack of appropriate vegetation structure and litter characteristics, which determines the forest ant fauna, more than the dispersal of ant gynes. Further investigations should enable us to predict if these conditions can be produced by 50-100 or more years of forest succession and adequate management.
a1_The first molecular assessment of phylogenetic relationships of cladorchiid digeneans (superfamily Paramphistomoidea Fischoeder, 1901) from freshwater fishes based on 28S rDNA, ITS2 and cox1 sequences reveals the subfamilies Dadayiinae Fukui, 1929 and Kalitrematinae Travassos, 1933 as non-monophyletic, whereas Dadaytrema Travassos, 1931 represented by three species is monophyletic. Fourteen species of cladorchiids were found in characiform, perciform and siluriform fishes in the Neotropical Region (Brazil and Peru), with numerous new host and geographical records. The first scanning electron micrographs of seven species are presented. Two new species of dadayiine and one new species of kalitrematine paramphistomes are described. Microrchis macrovarium sp. n. from Pimelodella cristata (Müller et Troschel) (type host), Tetranematichthys quadrifilis (Kner) and Pterodoras granulosus (Valenciennes) in Brazil and Peru differs from all three congeners in that the testes are directly tandem, not oblique, and that the ovary, between the caecal ends, is widely separated from the testes. Pronamphistoma philippei sp. n. from Heros sp. in Brazil is distinguished from the type and only species, Pronamphistoma cichlasomae Thatcher, 1992, by the absence of the anterior collar-like expansion present in the type species, the presence of extramural rather than intramural pharyngeal sacs, and the unusual development of the dorsal and ventral exterior circular muscle fibre series in the acetabulum., a2_Pseudocladorchis romani sp. n. from P. granulosus (type host), Brachyplatystoma vaillantii (Valenciennes), Calophysus macropterus (Lichtenstein), Megalodoras uranoscopus (Eigenmann et Eigenmann) and Oxydoras niger (Valenciennes) in Brazil and Peru, is most similar to Pseudocladorchis nephrodorchis Daday, 1907 but differs in the shape of the testes (irregular, versus reniform in the latter species) and the size of the ovary (as large as, or larger than, the testes in the new species). The generic diagnosis of Pronamphistoma Thatcher, 1992 is amended. Dadaytremoides parauchenipteri Lunaschi, 1989 is transferred to Doradamphistoma Thatcher, 1979 as D. parauchenipteri (Lunaschi, 1989) comb. n. based on morphological and molecular evidence., Camila Pantoja, Tomáš Scholz, José Luis Luque, Arlene Jones., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Calopteryx splendens is a widely distributed palaearctic damselfly with a remarkably uniform morphology. Variation in the size and shape of the pigmented spot on the wing is the main diagnostic character used to discriminate subspecies across its huge geographic range. Here, AFLP analysis was used to assess the genetic structure and diversity of nine populations representing 3 putative subspecies and evaluate the pigment spot as a taxonomic marker. Genetic diversity was high, with the number of polymorphic loci per population ranging from 141 to 280 out of a total of 333 variable sites (42.3-84.1%) and Nei's gene diversity from 0.160 to 0.283 (overall 0.299). Overall population genetic differentiation (FST = 0.2766) suggests limited gene flow and adaptation to local environments. Restricted gene flow and genetic differentiation among populations are supported by significant FST estimates. High levels of gene flow (Nm >1) were only recorded among three Asian populations (Russia - Kazakhstan - Turkey). The patterns of genotypic diversity suggest that a given wing spot size and shape may arise from the hybridization of a limited number, possibly not more than four, ancestral gene pools in different ways and at different times. Clearly, the sample analyzed was not sufficient to capture all of the complex history of C. splendens, but sufficient to indicate the taxa ancilla, waterstoni, and orientalis possibly represent three of the four ancestral gene pools, and originated in western Asia. The origin of the fourth, xanthostoma, is the western Mediterranean.
The abundance, diversity and community composition of ground-dwelling arthropods present in three different types of Cantabrian heathland grazed by small ruminants were studied. A factorial design of three vegetation types (heather-, gorse- or grass-dominated) and two grazer species (sheep or goats) with two replicates was established in twelve 0.6 ha paddocks. Ground-dwelling arthropods (Araneae, Opiliones, Isopoda, Julida, Microcoryphia, Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera) were recorded using pitfall traps and plant cover and canopy height assessed in each paddock in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Higher abundances and more families of ground dwelling arthropods were recorded in areas dominated by heather, although certain species were more numerous in areas dominated by grass. The direct effects of the grazer species on arthropods were subtle compared to their great effect on the vegetation. Significant interactions between grazer species and vegetation were observed for some taxa and the overall arthropod community composition. Gradient analyses indicate that arthropod assemblages that include Lycosidae, Opiliones and Carabidae differed between vegetation types and years, but are not affected by the grazer species. Our study shows that areas dominated by shrubby and diverse heather had the highest diversity and abundance of arthropods. Species composition varied along a gradient in the structure of the vegetation, which in turn was modified by the grazer species.
Just nineteen species of ectoparasitic helminths were found in a survey of over 1,500 individuals of 26 species of sillaginid fishes in the Indo-west Pacific, A twentieth worm is known only from the literature; a twenty-first, also known only from the literature, is considered a doubtful record. Fifteen of the twenty worms are branchial monogeneans, one is a monoge-nean of the pharyngeal plates, one is an ectoparasitic digenean living under the scales, and three are leeches of the mouth cavity and fins. The most common monogeneans were diplectanids (Diplectanum spp. and Monoplectanum spp.) and microcotylids (Polylabris spp.), each with five recently described or redescribed species. Of the remaining monogeneans, three were extremely rare, and two were uncommon. Pseudnbivagina sp. and Polynemicola sp. (Microcotylidae) and Pseudempleurosoma sp. (Ancyrocephalidae) were represented by only a single worm each from three different hosts (Sillago robusta, S. sihama, and S. ingenuua, respectively). The gyrodactylid Gyrodactylus sp, is widespread and was recorded from four species of sillaginids (S. ciliata, S. japonica, S. schomburgkii and S. sihama). Encolyllabe chirrmemi Robinson (Capsalidae) is recorded for the first time from sillaginids, but only on S. aeolus.'Tv/o additional monogeneans are known from sillaginids only in the literature: Dacty-logyrus sp, (Dactylogyridae) is known only from cultured S. sihama', the single specimen of Microcotyle sp. (Microcotylidae) recorded from Sillaginodes punctata is probably a contaminant, since the haptor was missing. The generalist trematode Trans-versolrema Ucinum Manter (Transversotrematidae) was found for the first time in samples of four species of sillaginids (Sillago analis, S. ingenuua, S. lutea and 5. sihama). Three species of piscicolid leeches were encountered: Austrohdella translucens Badham was common on the fins of three large inshore sillaginids (S. ciliata, S. schomburgkii and S. analis); a single specimen of the generalist species Zeylanicobdella arugamensis De Silva was recovered from S. soringa·, and specimens of Z. stellata (Moore) infected S. schomburgkii and S. analis. The diversity of host-specific worms in Sillaginidae is low compared with those of some other Indo-west Pacific fishes.