African savanna raptors show evidence of widespread population collapse and a growing dependence on protected areas.

The conversion of natural habitats to farmland is a major cause of biodiversity loss and poses the greatest extinction risk to birds worldwide. Tropical raptors are of particular concern, being relatively slow-breeding apex predators and scavengers, whose disappearance can trigger extensive cascading effects. Many of Africa's raptors are at considerable risk from habitat conversion, prey-base depletion and persecution, driven principally by human population expansion.

Raptor research during the COVID-19 pandemic provides invaluable opportunities for conservation biology.

Research is underway to examine how a wide range of animal species have responded to reduced levels of human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this perspective article, we argue that raptors (i.e.

Awareness of environmental legislation as a deterrent for wildlife crime: A case with Masaai pastoralists, poison use and the Kenya Wildlife Act.

Illegal wildlife crime is a global phenomenon, accelerating the ongoing biodiversity crisis. In the Old World, and particularly in Africa, illegal use of poisons to eliminate carnivores is the main driver of the continental vulture crisis. Knowledge about the underlying source and drivers of this threat is lacking for most areas, including Kenya, a global vulture and biodiversity hotspot.

Sources and transmission routes of campylobacteriosis: A combined analysis of genome and exposure data.

Objectives: To determine the contributions of several animal and environmental sources of human campylobacteriosis and identify source-specific risk factors.

Methods: 1417 Campylobacter jejuni/coli isolates from the Netherlands in 2017-2019 were whole-genome sequenced, including isolates from human cases (n = 280), chickens/turkeys (n = 238), laying hens (n = 56), cattle (n = 158), veal calves (n = 49), sheep/goats (n = 111), pigs (n = 110), dogs/cats (n = 100), wild birds (n = 62), and surface water (n = 253). Questionnaire-based exposure data was collected.

Tracing the animal sources of surface water contamination with Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli.

Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli, the primary agents of human bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide, are widespread in surface water. Several animal sources contribute to surface water contamination with Campylobacter, but their relative contributions thus far remained unclear.

Mortality limits used in wind energy impact assessment underestimate impacts of wind farms on bird populations.

The consequences of bird mortality caused by collisions with wind turbines are increasingly receiving attention. So-called acceptable mortality limits of populations, that is, those that assume that 1%-5% of additional mortality and the potential biological removal (PBR), provide seemingly clear-cut methods for establishing the reduction in population viability.We examine how the application of these commonly used mortality limits could affect populations of the Common Starling, Black-tailed Godwit Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Spoonbill, White Stork, Common Tern, and White-tailed Eagle using stochastic density-independent and density-dependent Leslie matrix models.

Balancing ecosystem function, services and disservices resulting from expanding goose populations.

As goose populations increase in abundance, their influence on ecological processes is increasing. We review the evidence for key ecological functions of wild goose populations in Eurasia and North America, including aquatic invertebrate and plant propagule transport, nutrient deposition in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the influence of goose populations on vegetation biomass, carbon storage and methane emission, species diversity and disease transmission. To estimate the implications of their growing abundance for humans, we explore how these functions contribute to the provision of ecosystem services and disservices.

Impacts of roads, hunting, and habitat alteration on nocturnal mammals in African rainforests.

Nocturnal mammals are poorly studied in Central Africa, a region experiencing dramatic increases in logging, roads, and hunting activity. In the rainforests of southern Gabon, we used spotlighting surveys to estimate abundances of nocturnal mammal species and guilds at varying distances from forest roads and between hunted and unhunted treatments (comparing a 130-km(2) oil concession that was nearly free of hunting, with nearby areas outside the concession that had moderate hunting pressure). At each of 12 study sites that were evenly divided between hunted and unhunted areas, we established standardized 1-km transects along road verges and at 50, 300, and 600 m from the road.

Determinants of orangutan density in the dryland forests of the Leuser Ecosystem.

Orangutans are the only great ape in Asia. Since orangutan densities vary between habitat types within regions and within similar habitat types among regions, it is important to determine areas with high densities for their protection. In this paper we show that orangutan density in old-growth dryland forests in the Leuser Ecosystem, Sumatra is significantly related to the density of large strangling figs and topsoil pH.