Habitat selection during the breeding season has important consequences for reproductive success and, in seasonal and heterogeneous environments, most likely occurs on several temporal and spatial scales. I examined several possible topographical, substrate and vegetation, as well as anthropological effects on snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) habitat selection across pre-breeding and bree...

We tested the prediction of the sensory drive hypothesis using four allopatric populations of the lizard Anolis cristatellus from two distinct environments (i.e., mesic and xeric conditions). For each population, we measured habitat light characteristics and quantified signal design by measuring the spectral and total reflectance and transmittance of the dewlap. We used these data to calculate ...

This study considers the importance of lake trout habitat as a factor determining persistent organochlorine (OC) concentration. Lake trout is a stenothermal, cold water species and sensitive to hypoxia. Thus, factors such as lake depth, thermal stratification, and phosphorus enrichment may determine not only which lakes can support lake trout but may also influence among-lake variability in lak...

Predators can affect prey populations through changes in traits that reduce predation risk. These trait changes (nonconsumptive effects, NCEs) can be energetically costly and cause reduced prey activity, growth, fecundity, and survival. The strength of nonconsumptive effects may vary with two functional characteristics of predators: hunting mode (actively hunting, sit-and-pursue, sit-and-wait) ...

One of the goals of the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) recovery plan is to expand panther range north of the Caloosahatchee River in central Florida. Our objective was to evaluate the potential of that region to support panthers. We used a geographic information system and the Mahalanobis distance statistic to develop a habitat model based on landscape characteristics associated with pan...

Animals may respond to habitat quality and habitat edges and these responses may affect their distribution between habitats. We studied the movement behaviour of a ground-dwelling generalist predator, the carabid beetle Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger). We performed a mark-recapture experiment in two adjacent habitats; a large plot with oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus) and a plot with rye (Se...

Most habitat models developed for defining priority conservation sites target areas currently exhibiting suitable habitat conditions. For species whose habitats have been altered by land use practices, these models may fail to identify sites with the potential of producing suitable habitats, if management practices were modified. Using capercaillie Tetrao urogallus as an example, we propose a m...

Coexistence often involves niche differentiation either as the result of environmental divergence, or in response to competition. Disentangling the causes of such divergence requires that environmental variation across space is taken into account, which is rarely done in empirical studies. We address the role of environmental variation versus competition in coexistence between two rodent specie...

Adapting and adopting River Habitat Survey: Problems and solutions for fluvial hydromorphological assessment in Portugal The Water Framework Directive (WFD), which established the use of hydromorphological quality elements to assess the ecological status of water bodies, has influenced the purpose and content of several European methods for characterizing physical structure and assessing habita...