BACKGROUND Habitat fragmentation reduces genetic connectivity for multiple species, yet conservation efforts tend to rely heavily on single-species connectivity estimates to inform land-use planning. Such conservation activities may benefit from multi-species connectivity estimates, which provide a simple and practical means to mitigate the effects of habitat fragmentation for a larger number o...

Anthropogenic habitat loss and fragmentation have been implicated as among the key drivers of the burgeoning global biodiversity crisis. In response, there is a growing mandate among natural resource managers to evaluate the impacts of proposed management actions on the extent and fragmentation of habitats. Unfortunately, few guidelines exist to help managers understand the many complex issues ...

BACKGROUND Generalist predators may vary their diet and use of habitat according to both internal state (e.g. breeding stage) and external (e.g. weather) factors. Lesser black-backed gulls Larus fuscus (Linnaeus 1758) are dietary generalists, foraging in both terrestrial and marine habitats during breeding. We investigate what affects the gulls' propensity to forage at sea or on land. We assess...

Habitat transformation and disturbance are significant threats to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem function. Disturbance is generally defined as any event that removes biomass (Townsend and Hildrew 1994), and is distinguished from habitat transformation or stress, which reduces available resources or changes the microclimate or structure of the habitat (Andersen 2000; Pickett and White 1...

Mutual trophic interactions between contiguous habitats have remained poorly understood despite their potential significance for community maintenance in ecological landscapes. In a deciduous forest and stream ecotone, aquatic insect emergence peaked around spring, when terrestrial invertebrate biomass was low. In contrast, terrestrial invertebrate input to the stream occurred primarily during ...

This paper describes the Wildlife Habitat Response Model (WHRM), a web-based computer tool for evaluating potential effects of fuel reduction projects on terrestrial wildlife habitats in dry coniferous forests of the western United States. WHRM uses species-habitat associations to predict how fuel treatments may affect species habitat suitability. Users input the amount of change in forest floo...

A review article on life strategies and ecomorphological adaptations (xerothalloid and xeropottioid life syndromes) of bryophytes is given, based on the hitherto known and analysed terrestrial, saxicolous and epiphytic communities of the Near and Middle East. The examples given impressively demonstrate common adaptive trends that arise convergently but independently in unrelated taxa when they ...

Although studies have addressed effects of abrupt transitions in habitat type (e.g., forest–clear-cut or forest–field edges) on amphibian movements, little is known about effects of more subtle habitat transitions on patterns of migration and habitat use in amphibians. We used radiotelemetry to study movement patterns of juvenile gopher frogs (Rana capito) emigrating from ponds that were surrou...

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an environmental contaminant that can have adverse effects on wildlife. Because MeHg is produced by bacteria in aquatic ecosystems, studies of MeHg contamination of food webs historically have focused on aquatic organisms. However, recent studies have shown that terrestrial organisms such as songbirds can be contaminated with MeHg by feeding on MeHg-contaminated spiders....

Documenting habitat-related patterns in foraging behaviour at the individual level and over large temporal scales remains challenging for large herbivores. Stable isotope analysis could represent a valuable tool to quantify habitat-related foraging behaviour at the scale of individuals and over large temporal scales in forest dwelling large herbivores living in coastal environments, because the...