The European honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) as an ally for the control of the invasive yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax).

Background: Biological control in integrated pest management (IPM) often overlooked avian predators until the emergence of the ecosystem services approach. Birds are now recognized as key regulators of pest populations in agroforestry landscapes due to their high mobility. The invasive yellow-legged hornet, introduced into Europe in 2004, threatens agriculture, beekeeping and native pollinators.

Avian regulation of crop and forest pests, a meta-analysis.

Background: Birds have been shown to reduce pest effects on various ecosystem types. This study aimed to synthesize the effect of birds on pest abundance, product damage and yield in agricultural and forest systems in different environments. Our hypothesis is that birds are effective pest regulators that contribute to a reduction in pest abundance, enhancement of yield quality and quantity and economic profit, and that pest regulation may depend on moderators such as the type of ecosystem, climate, pest, and indicator (ecological or economic).

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties.

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties.

Global distribution of earthworm diversity.

Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass.

Change in dominance determines herbivore effects on plant biodiversity.

Herbivores alter plant biodiversity (species richness) in many of the world's ecosystems, but the magnitude and the direction of herbivore effects on biodiversity vary widely within and among ecosystems. One current theory predicts that herbivores enhance plant biodiversity at high productivity but have the opposite effect at low productivity. Yet, empirical support for the importance of site productivity as a mediator of these herbivore impacts is equivocal.

Assessing the ability of novel ecosystems to support animal wildlife through analysis of diurnal raptor territoriality.

Novel ecosystems have emerged through human intervention and are rapidly expanding around the world. Whether they can support animal wildlife has generated considerable controversy. Here we developed a new approach to evaluate the ability of a novel forest ecosystem, dominated by the exotic tree species Eucalyptus globulus, to support animal wildlife in the medium and long term.

Effective nut dispersal by magpies (Pica pica L.) in a Mediterranean agroecosystem.

Scatter-hoarding animals such as corvids play a crucial role in the dispersal of nut-producing tree species. This interaction is well known for some corvids, but remains elusive for other species such as the magpie (Pica pica), an abundant corvid in agroecosystems and open landscapes of the Palearctic region. In addition, the establishment of the individual dispersed seeds-a prerequisite for determining seed-dispersal effectiveness-has never before been documented for the interaction between corvids and nut-producing trees.

Evaluation of trail-cameras for analyzing the diet of nesting raptors using the Northern Goshawk as a model.

Diet studies present numerous methodological challenges. We evaluated the usefulness of commercially available trail-cameras for analyzing the diet of Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) as a model for nesting raptors during the period 2007-2011. We compared diet estimates obtained by direct camera monitoring of 80 nests with four indirect analyses of prey remains collected from the nests and surroundings (pellets, bones, feather-and-hair remains, and feather-hair-and-bone remains combined).

Contrasting impacts of different-sized herbivores on species richness of Mediterranean annual pastures differing in primary productivity.

Vertebrate herbivores can be key determinants of grassland plant species richness, although the magnitude of their effects can largely depend on ecosystem and herbivore characteristics. It has been demonstrated that the combined effect of primary productivity and body size is critical when assessing the impact of herbivores on plant richness of perennial-dominated grasslands; however, the interaction of site productivity and herbivore size as determinants of plant richness in annual-dominated pastures remains unknown. We experimentally partitioned primary productivity and herbivore body size (sheep and wild rabbits) to study the effect of herbivores on the plant species richness of a Mediterranean semiarid annual plant community in central Spain over six years.