Nature Conservation

Wildlife is one of the most important food resources in rural areas and popular among all social layers of Lao PDR. Numerous vertebrate species are sold at the local markets, but …

Monitoring climate changes and habitat degradation in threatened species without negative impact to the populations can pose a considerable challenge. A rare chance to test the mo…

Conservation for both biodiversity and ecosystem services are an important issue worldwide. However, knowledge of their relationship remains limited. As habitat structure is stron…

Temperature has strong effects on species composition and traits. These effects can differ within and between species groups. Thermoregulation and mobility are traits which can be…

The leopard Panthera pardus is thought to be sparsely distributed across Pakistan and there is limited understanding of the demographic structure and distribution of the species i…

Remediation with plants is a technology used to decrease soil or water contamination. In this study we assessed the remediation potential of two weed species (Chenopodium album an…

The European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) is a vulnerable species (IUCN) living in open habitats of Central and South-eastern Europe. Translocations (introductions, rei…

Isolated fragments of semi-natural habitats are often embedded in a landscape matrix that is hostile to organisms of conservation concern. Such habitat islands are prone to change…

Data from five sites of the International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network in the North-Eastern Pacific, Western Arctic Ocean, Northern Baltic Sea, South-Eastern Nort…

Mountain ecosystems are particularly sensitive to changes in climate and land cover, but at the same time, they can offer important refuges for species on the opposite of the more…

The availability of quantitative long term datasets on the phytobenthic assemblages of the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (southern Italy, Mediterranean Sea), a lagoon like semi-enclosed …

A number of studies have reported decreasing trends of acidifying and N deposition inputs to forest areas throughout Europe and the USA in recent decades. There is a need to asses…

Benthic prokaryotes are the key-players in C-cycling at the sediment-seawater interface, one of the largest biologically active interfaces on Earth. Here, microbial-mediated proce…

Reservoirs are primary water resources for many uses in the Mediterreanean region and need dedicated studies for understanding the complexity of their dynamics particularly vulner…

In benthic studies, the identification of organisms at the species level is known to be the best source for ecological and biological information even if time-consuming and expens…

The Ross Sea is one of the most productive areas of the Southern Ocean and includes several functionally different marine ecosystems. With the aim of identifying signs and pattern…

Phytoplankton community structure was analysed from 2010 to 2017 at C1-LTER, the coastal Long-Term Ecological Research station located in the Gulf of Trieste, which is the norther…

The genus Opetiopalpus from the family of checkered beetles (Coleoptera: Cleridae) is represented by 28 species worldwide, with 11 species found in the Palearctic and only four sp…

Abundance and composition of the planktonic tintinnid ciliates were studied in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea, NE Mediterranean Sea) from July 1998 to July 2016. Tinti…

A significant proportion of the mortality of rainforest trees occurs during early life stages (seeds and seedlings), but mortality agents are often elusive. Our study investigated…

The marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata is a Near Threatened small felid. The cat’s presence in Nepal is based on an anecdote. A camera trap-based study to access diversity and abund…

In Australia, a multi-million-dollar industry is based on viewing the Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus), predominantly through boat visits to breeding colonie…

The assessment of invasive terrestrial plant species in the Romanian protected areas is an important research direction, especially since the adventive species have become biologi…

We assessed the usefulness of Cladocera remains for establishing the ecological status of oxbows and also tested the association of Cladocera species with various vegetation types…

Information on the presence of Pinna nobilis (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Mediterranean Sea is largely reported in literature because it is an endemic and, at the same time, endangered…

Habitat destruction and fragmentation alter the quality of habitats and put populations under the risk of extinction. Changes in population parameters can provide early warning si…

To pursue a proper conservation of narrow endemic species, the knowledge of basic reproductive strategies is crucial to plan adequate conservation activities. One of the most evol…

Linking the conservation of cultural heritage and natural values provides a unique opportunity for preserving traditional landscapes and receives an increased awareness from stake…

Invasive alien species are the main agent of biodiversity loss in protected natural areas. Prevention is the most appropriate management tool for addressing this challenge, howeve…

At the start of the third millennium, new opportunities have arisen in biogeographical research, namely in the generalisation, visualisation and cross-spectrum analysis of biologi…

Isolated populations are usually subject to low fitness and reduced genetic diversity, both of which may negatively affect their survival and adaptive potential. Hence, these issu…

Mammal communities in the vicinity of human settlements are often subject to subsistence hunting and retaliatory killings. We used fourteen digital camera traps equipped with infr…

Protected areas around the world are increasingly being recognized for their potential to protect various ecosystem services in addition to biodiversity. We carried out an ecosyst…

European beech-dominated forests are crucial for maintaining biodiversity in forested mountain landscapes of the European temperate zone. This paper presents the results of resear…

We describe an interspecific relationship wherein grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) appear to seek out and consume agricultural seeds concentrated in the middens of red squi…

In a twenty-year effort at Drabo, southern Benin, small remnant forests, young fallow and agricultural fields were linked and rehabilitated to develop a 14 ha forest reserve. Fore…

Morimus asper is a morphologically variable longhorn beetle that occurs in large parts of southern and central Europe. Although this saproxylic beetle is widespread in old-growth …

The Life Project “Monitoring of insects with public participation” (LIFE11 NAT/IT/000252) had as the main objective to develop and test methods for the monitoring of five beetle s…

Lucanus cervus is one of the most charismatic saproxylic beetles, widely distributed in Europe. The species is typical of mature deciduous forests, especially oak woodlands. Loss …

The genus Osmoderma is a flagship taxon of invertebrate conservation in Europe and encompasses a complex of four accepted species. While species limits amongst Osmoderma have been…

Morimus asper reproduces mainly in freshly dead wood and, as a consequence, populations are affected by modern forestry practices. The taxon M. funereus, now incorporated into the…

Lichenophanes varius (Illiger, 1801) is a Turanic-European-Mediterranean species. In most of European countries, this species is protected at different levels and it is classified…

The European stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, is a flagship species for biodiversity conservation of old-growth forests and is protected under the Habitats Directive. Although it has …

Animal body size commonly exhibits a remarkable variation in response to environmental conditions. Latitude, when correlated with temperature, rainfall and seasonality, represents…

The endangered and specialised saproxylic beetle Osmoderma eremita occurs in veteran trees, a habitat particularly threatened by changes in agricultural landscapes. Its conservati…

Throughout the tropics, pristine forests disappear at an alarming pace. This presents a severe threat to forest-dependent species. Especially dispersal-limited understory birds ar…

The aim of ecological restoration is to establish self-sustaining and resilient systems. In coral reef restoration, transplantation of nursery-grown corals is seen as a potential …

The timing of breeding can strongly influence individual breeding performance and fitness. Seasonal declines in breeding parameters have been often documented in birds, particular…

Butterfly monitoring schemes are recording programs initiated to monitor nationwide butterfly abundance and distribution patterns, often with help from volunteers. The method gene…

Changes in morphological traits, such as body size, body condition, and leg length, are important indicators of changes to life history or habitat quality, which can affect the pe…