JournalTOCs School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK Email: journaltocs@hw.ac.uk Tel: +00 44 (0)131 4513762  Your IP address: 3.239.40.250 |
JournalTOCs School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK Email: journaltocs@hw.ac.uk Tel: +00 44 (0)131 4513762 Your IP address: 3.239.40.250 |
Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
Helicopter darting is a useful capture technique for large mammals but presents considerable animal welfare risks. This study assessed helicopter darting for chital deer in Australia and demonstrated that the technique caused considerable adverse animal welfare events including mortalities. We make recommendations for how to monitor and refine helicopter darting for chital deer. Photograph by Jordan Hampton.
The diet of a species is key for gaining an understanding of its ecology. We compared microscopic analysis and DNA barcoding of scats of the greater bilby, and show that the methods are best used in concert. Researchers and land managers should use both approaches to gain a robust understanding of the bilby diet, and manage landscapes accordingly. Photograph by Stuart Dawson.
Exclusion fences are increasingly used to prevent interactions between predators and assets of interest. We aimed to quantify the interaction among factors that affect fencing efficiency. Our results demonstrated that exclusion fences can be a very effective and should be used either as a preventive measure, or when the initial predator density is very low. Photograph by DPIRD (camera trap).
We evaluated the influence of fire regimes and vegetation type on species richness and detection rate of small mammals in the north Kimberley. Low fire frequency and, to a lesser extent, presence of rainforests were associated with more diverse and abundant small mammal assemblages. These findings support the theory that disturbance regimes might contribute to small-mammal decline. Photograph by Stefania Ondei (camera trap).
The Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is an introduced herbivore of the savannas and floodplains of northern Australia. Using animal telemetry and remote sensing data, we show that buffalo clans exhibit different late dry season ecological strategies depending on whether they inhabit lowland floodplain or upland savanna. This causes different scales and types of environmental damage and should be considered when managing buffalo population densities. Photograph by Jessie Northfield.
Breaks in silo-bag linings alter the internal atmosphere causing losses of stored harvest. We described the incidence and intensity of breaks in silo bag by mammals and recorded damage in 49% of 306 silo bags sampled. Our results showed that farmer’s decision on the location of silo bags has significant implications in mitigating human–wildlife conflicts. Photograph by Agustín M. Abba.
Ungulates must optimally balance vigilance and feeding. This study assessed red deer vigilance patterns in response to human hunters and wolves in the Białowieża Forest, Poland, via camera trapping. Red deer showed increased vigilance during the hunting season and were more vigilant at night within reserves, when wolf activity is highest, and more vigilant during the day outside of reserves, when human risk is highest. Understanding the interplay between risk effects from humans and predators is vital for forest management. Photograph by Adam Wajrak.
Understanding the relationships between land use and amphibian habitat selection would help make conservation-management and habitat-restoration decisions. The present study aimed to assess the associations between different land-use types and individual anuran species in a traditional agricultural area of Taiwan. We also tested the hypothesis that connectivity and land-use heterogeneity are important in determining species richness. Our data suggested that land-use heterogeneity should be a primary consideration for increasing amphibian species richness. Photograph by Chau-Ren Jung.
Management of saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory is shifting from restoring depleted population to managing an abundant population through controlled harvests for commercial purposes and public safety. Simulations suggested that harvesting since protection has had no adverse impact and survival of adults has a much larger impact than egg harvest, which should be accounted for in future harvest scenarios. Photograph by Yusuke Fukuda.
The Asian house gecko continues to spread into new areas, globally, including natural habitats. We assessed calling behaviour as a means for detection. The conspicuous ‘chik, chik, chik…’ call is only uttered by males, primarily as adults, and more when paired with a female than another male. There are clear peaks in calling just before sunrise and at sunset. These results can be used to guide optimal call surveys. Photograph by Jaimie Hopkins.
Historically, illegal harvesting and by-catch by fishermen have caused dramatic declines in green turtle (Chelonia mydas) populations in Southeast Asian waters, and, alarmingly, these activities continue today. We obtained confiscated green turtles from Hainan Island, China, and used a genetic approach to determine that the Paracel Islands and the Sulu Sea rookeries are the most heavily affected areas by Hainan fishermen. We suggest that more work by the Chinese government needs to be undertaken to deter collection, and to increase the protection of turtles, at nesting rookeries in the Paracel Islands. Photograph by Liu Lin.
Marine turtle eggs are vulnerable to flooding throughout incubation. We evaluated the interactive effects of flooding duration and incubation stage on the hatching success of loggerhead turtle eggs and found that eggs in the middle portion of incubation can tolerate some flooding, whereas eggs within 1 week of laying or hatching are less tolerant to flooding. Our results inform management practices of marine turtles in the face of climate change. Photograph by Colin J. Limpus.
Biologists accumulate large quantities of images from remote cameras. We estimated bighorn sheep abundance by using counts from the days cameras were deployed at water sources. We obtained precise abundance estimates with 12 days of sampling and could have avoided analysing >80% of images, saving time and money. Our findings can help researchers reduce cost of setting and analysing photographs for ungulate population monitoring. Photograph by Jace Taylor.
This article examined the relationships among farmers’ beliefs associated with wild pigs, their perceptions of risks and their acceptance of actions for controlling damages from pigs. Findings indicated that positive and negative beliefs about pigs were related to perceived risks and acceptability of lethal actions to control impacts. Perceived risks were also related to support for lethal control. Photograph by Thomas Metthe (Reporter-News).
Feral goats are a significant pest species in southern rangeland areas. GPS data collected from feral goats showed they had large annual home ranges of over 100 km2, sought out tall shrubland habitat and used waterpoints only intermittently. Data suggest that targeting waterpoints for control operations will not remove all goats from a control area. Photograph by K. Moseby.
Pitfall traps are commonly used to index invertebrate prey resources for insectivorous vertebrates, but can be a lethal trap for ground-dwelling vertebrates. We test three shorebird exclusion devices on pitfall traps on beaches and find them broadly comparable in terms of the invertebrates sampled. Thus, ethical and ‘safe’ pitfall trapping is readily achievable on beaches. Photograph by M. A. Weston.
Population models are used to plan management actions. However, it is important that these models are realistic. We developed a flexible framework with the capacity to simulate individual interactions with baits, accommodate multi-species interaction and complex dynamics such as avoidance behaviours. This approach provides fine-scale control of the simulated dynamics and is relevant for biodiversity conservation and agriculture protection. Photograph by DPIRD camera trap.
We assessed the effect of corporal bending of a newt species (I3S-Straighten) on the reliability of the I3S algorithm (I3S-Pattern+), which had a non-negligible negative impact on the algorithm performance. These findings could help other researchers to improve photo-standardisation during wildlife surveys, so as to ensure that their data are useable. Photograph by Julien Renet.
Shore-based surveys are a common method for monitoring marine mammal populations, but their limited view from a stationary site makes local density estimation difficult. We developed the means of analytically determining animal detection probabilities on the basis of archival shore-based observations. This increases the scientific value of shore-based surveys while maintaining their affordability and accessibility. Photograph by Eric Keen.
On the basis of theory of planned behaviour, we identified underlying beliefs linked to public support of gene drive and pest-specific toxin for biodiversity gains. Beliefs of good/bad and safety were significant contributors to overall levels of support; beliefs related to biodiversity outcomes were not significant. These beliefs should be incorporated into future engagement to ensure a constructive public dialogue. Photograph by David Mudge.
For the past two decades, we have used several methods to monitor wolf populations in Lithuania. Early efforts relied on snow-track counts, but that approach became ineffective during mild winters. We then developed a protocol that relied on incidental observations by volunteers and the combined results of all efforts indicated that wolf abundance, distribution and pack size have increased. Photograph by Vitalijus Stirkė.
Cats are critical in the lifecycle of five pathogens that affect people or livestock in Australia. We estimate the annual cost of four of these pathogens at AU$6.07 billion (range AU$2.12–10.7 billion). Reducing cat populations and securely containing pet cats could provide substantial benefits to human health and livestock production. Photograph by Community Eye Health CC BY-NC 2.0 FLICKR.
Eradicat® is an effective cat bait containing sodium fluoroacetate (1080) now registered for use in Western Australia. Because this bait is small, soft and moist, it is accessible to small dasyurid marsupials such as the red-tailed phascogale, which could ingest enough bait material to result in poisoning. We distributed rhodamine-laced non-toxic baits in phascogale habitat and found that ingestion of baits was extremely rare. Camera monitoring showed that most baits were taken by Australian ravens and brushtail possums. Nine radio-tagged phascogales all survived through a toxic baiting event, indicating that individuals are at a low risk from an Eradicat® baiting episode. Photograph by J. A. Friend.
This paper summarises a landscape-scale feral cat and fox baiting program that was delivered across reserves on the south coast of Western Australia that were occupied by the critically endangered western ground parrot (Pezoporus flaviventris) in the early 2000s. Up to 500 000 ha of national parks and natures reserves were baited with Eradicat®. Monitoring was established to evaluate both the efficacy of landscape-scale baiting in managing feral cat populations, and the response of several native fauna species, including the western ground parrot, to an integrated introduced predator control program. Photograph by IFRP Team, DBCA South Coast Region.
