In many cultural landscapes, the abandonment of traditional grazing leads to encroachment of pastures by woody plants, which reduces habitat heterogeneity and impacts biodiversity typical of semi-open habitats. We developed a framework of mutually interacting spatial models to locate areas where shrub encroachment in Alpine treeline ecosystems deteriorates vulnerable species' habitat, using bla...

The effect of habitat management is commonly evaluated by measuring population growth, which does not distinguish changes in reproductive success from changes in survival or the effects of immigration or emigration. Management has rarely been evaluated considering complete life cycle of the target organisms, including also possible negative impacts from management. We evaluated the effectivenes...

Swainson's hawks (Buteo swainsoni) are long-distance migratory raptors that nest primarily in isolated trees located in areas of high grassland density. In recent years, anthropogenic conversion of grassland habitat has raised concerns about the status of the breeding population in the northern Great Plains. In 2013, we initiated a study to investigate the influence of extrinsic factors influen...

Agricultural intensification over the last 60 decades has been linked to decreases in biodiversity and in the breeding populations of several avian species in farmlands. However, agricultural intensification has not affected all species in the same way and transformed landscapes can still provide suitable habitats for species tolerant to some degree of anthropogenic change. Understanding habita...

Measurements of green-leaf vegetation dynamics recorded by the advanced very high resolution radiometer instruments onboard National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites 7 and 9 were used to derive ground moisture and rainfall patterns in Kenya and monitor resultant flooding of mosquito larval habitats (dambos) likely to support Rift Valley Fever virus vector mosquitoes (Aedes and ...

Ecologists need an empirical understanding of physiological and behavioural adjustments that animals can make in response to seasonal and long-term variations in environmental conditions. Because many species experience trade-offs between timing and duration of one seasonal event versus another and because interacting species may also shift phenologies at different rates, it is possible that, i...

a r t i c l e i n f o This paper reviews findings from several studies that contribute to our understanding of cross-cultural differences in academic achievement, anxiety and self-doubt. The focus is on comparisons between Confucian Asian and European regions. Recent studies indicate that high academic achievement of students from Confucian Asian countries is accompanied by higher levels of anx...

22 In this paper the realized niche of the Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), a 23 primarily resident Florida shorebird, is described as a function of the scenopoetic and 24 bionomic variables at the nest-, landscape-, and regional-scale. We identified some pos25 sible geomorphological controls that influence nest-site selection and survival using data 26 collected along the Florida Gulf c...

22 In this paper the realized niche of the Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), a 23 primarily resident Florida shorebird, is described as a function of the scenopoetic and 24 bionomic variables at the nest-, landscape-, and regional-scale. We identified some pos25 sible geomorphological controls that influence nest-site selection and survival using data 26 collected along the Florida Gulf c...