Dracula's ménagerie: A multispecies occupancy analysis of lynx, wildcat, and wolf in the Romanian Carpathians.

The recovery of terrestrial carnivores in Europe is a conservation success story. Initiatives focused on restoring top predators require information on how resident species may interact with the re-introduced species as their interactions have the potential to alter food webs, yet such data are scarce for Europe.In this study, we assessed patterns of occupancy and interactions between three carnivore species in the Romanian Carpathians.

Measuring protected-area effectiveness using vertebrate distributions from leech iDNA.

Protected areas are key to meeting biodiversity conservation goals, but direct measures of effectiveness have proven difficult to obtain. We address this challenge by using environmental DNA from leech-ingested bloodmeals to estimate spatially-resolved vertebrate occupancies across the 677 km Ailaoshan reserve in Yunnan, China. From 30,468 leeches collected by 163 park rangers across 172 patrol areas, we identify 86 vertebrate species, including amphibians, mammals, birds and squamates.

Limited reciprocal surrogacy of bird and habitat diversity and inconsistencies in their representation in Romanian protected areas.

Because it is impossible to comprehensively characterize biodiversity at all levels of organization, conservation prioritization efforts need to rely on surrogates. As species distribution maps of relished groups as well as high-resolution remotely sensed data increasingly become available, both types of surrogates are commonly used. A good surrogate should represent as much of biodiversity as possible, but it often remains unclear to what extent this is the case.

Habitat connectivity and resource selection in an expanding bobcat () population.

Terrestrial carnivores are among the most imperiled species worldwide, yet some species are resilient and are recovering in human-dominated landscapes after decades or centuries of absence. Bobcat () populations were extirpated from much of Midwestern US in the mid-1800's, and are currently expanding and recolonizing their former range. In this study, we investigated multi-scale habitat selection for Ohio's expanding bobcat population, and examined habitat connectivity in order to evaluate the conduits for dispersal statewide.

Sublethal, Behavioral, and Developmental Effects of the Neonicotinoid Pesticide Imidacloprid on Larval Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica).

Imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide, is used to prevent the spread of the hemlock woolly adelgid, currently affecting Eastern Hemlock trees across North America. When the pesticide is sprayed directly onto soil around infested trees (soil drenching), it can run off into aquatic systems, with potential negative effects on biota. Simultaneously, climate change may lead to faster pool drying, which acts as an additional stressor for sensitive species such as amphibians.

Complex hydroperiod induced carryover responses for survival, growth, and endurance of a pond-breeding amphibian.

Assessing carryover effects from the aquatic to the terrestrial stage of pond-breeding amphibians is critical as temperature and hydrologic regimes of temporary ponds continue to be altered as a result of climate change and other stressors. We evaluated carryover effects of hydroperiod length (50-62 days) on amphibian survival, developmental rates, and locomotor performance using a model organism, the wood frog (Rana sylvatica), through aquatic and terrestrial mesocosm experiments with individual tests of locomotor performance. We found that shorter hydroperiods (50 days) had low larval survival (0.

Identification of areas of very high biodiversity value to achieve the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 key commitments.

Background: The European Union strives to increase protected areas of the EU terrestrial surface to 30% by year 2030, of which one third should be strictly protected. Designation of the Natura 2000 network, the backbone of nature protection in the EU, was mostly an expert-opinion process with little systematic conservation planning. The designation of the Natura 2000 network in Romania followed the same non-systematic approach, resulting in a suboptimal representation of invertebrates and plants.

Quantifying biodiversity trade-offs in the face of widespread renewable and unconventional energy development.

The challenge of balancing biodiversity protection with economic growth is epitomized by the development of renewable and unconventional energy, whose adoption is aimed at stemming the impacts of global climate change, yet has outpaced our understanding of biodiversity impacts. We evaluated the potential conflict between biodiversity protection and future electricity generation from renewable (wind farms, run-of-river hydro) and non-renewable (shale gas) sources in British Columbia (BC), Canada using three metrics: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, electricity cost, and overlap between future development and conservation priorities for several fish and wildlife groups - small-bodied vertebrates, large mammals, freshwater fish - and undisturbed landscapes. Sharp trade-offs in global versus regional biodiversity conservation exist for all energy technologies, and in BC they are currently smallest for wind energy: low GHG emissions, low-moderate overlap with top conservation priorities, and competitive energy cost.

Author Correction: Roadkill and space use data predict vehicle-strike hotspots and mortality rates in a recovering bobcat (Lynx rufus) population.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Roadkill and space use data predict vehicle-strike hotspots and mortality rates in a recovering bobcat (Lynx rufus) population.

Roadways pose challenges for conserving wide-ranging animal species. As bobcat (Lynx rufus) populations recover in Ohio, an accurate evaluation of population metrics is critical to understanding future population trajectories. In this study, we integrated multiple datasets to examine overall road mortality rates in Ohio.

Empirical analysis and modeling of Argos Doppler location errors in Romania.

Background: Advances in wildlife tracking technology have allowed researchers to understand the spatial ecology of many terrestrial and aquatic animal species. Argos Doppler is a technology that is widely used for wildlife tracking owing to the small size and low weight of the Argos transmitters. This allows them to be fitted to small-bodied species.

Conservation priorities for terrestrial mammals in Dobrogea Region, Romania.

Based on species occurrence records of museum collections, published literature, and unpublished records shared by mammalian experts, we compiled a distribution database for 59 terrestrial mammals populating the extensively protected Dobrogea Region of Romania. The spatial patterns of mammal distribution and diversity was evaluated and systematic conservation planning applied to identify priority areas for their conservation. The spatial analyses revealed that intensive sampling was not directly correlated to mammal diversity but rather to accessibility for inventory.

Navigating protected areas networks for improving diffusion of conservation practices.

The Natura 2000 protected area network is the cornerstone of European Union's biodiversity conservation strategy. These protected areas range across multiple biogeographic regions, and they include a diversity of species assemblages along with a diversity of managing organizations, altogether making difficult to pool relevant sites to facilitate the flow of knowledge significant to their management. Here we introduce an approach to navigating protected area networks that has the potential to foster systematic identification of key sites for facilitating the exchange of knowledge and diffusion of information within the network.

Power, influence and structure in Natura 2000 governance networks. A comparative analysis of two protected areas in Romania.

Successful management of complex social-ecological landscapes overlapping Natura 2000 sites requires collaboration between various actors such as law enforcement agencies, NGOs and enterprises. Natura 2000 governance is stimulated by central actors (e.g.

Integrating sign surveys and telemetry data for estimating brown bear () density in the Romanian Carpathians.

Accurate population size estimates are important information for sustainable wildlife management. The Romanian Carpathians harbor the largest brown bear () population in Europe, yet current management relies on estimates of density that lack statistical oversight and ignore uncertainty deriving from track surveys. In this study, we investigate an alternative approach to estimate brown bear density using sign surveys along transects within a novel integration of occupancy models and home range methods.

Collaboration Networks in Applied Conservation Projects across Europe.

The main funding instrument for implementing EU policies on nature conservation and supporting environmental and climate action is the LIFE Nature programme, established by the European Commission in 1992. LIFE Nature projects (>1400 awarded) are applied conservation projects in which partnerships between institutions are critical for successful conservation outcomes, yet little is known about the structure of collaborative networks within and between EU countries. The aim of our study is to understand the nature of collaboration in LIFE Nature projects using a novel application of social network theory at two levels: (1) collaboration between countries, and (2) collaboration within countries using six case studies: Western Europe (United Kingdom and Netherlands), Eastern Europe (Romania and Latvia) and Southern Europe (Greece and Portugal).

Species, habitats, society: an evaluation of research supporting EU's Natura 2000 network.

The Natura 2000 network is regarded as one of the conservation success stories in the global effort to protect biodiversity. However, significant challenges remain in Natura 2000 implementation, owing to its rapid expansion, and lack of a coherent vision for its future. Scientific research is critical for identifying conservation priorities, setting management goals, and reconciling biodiversity protection and society in the complex political European landscape.

Testing the consistency of wildlife data types before combining them: the case of camera traps and telemetry.

Wildlife data gathered by different monitoring techniques are often combined to estimate animal density. However, methods to check whether different types of data provide consistent information (i.e.

Moving into protected areas? Setting conservation priorities for Romanian reptiles and amphibians at risk from climate change.

Rapid climate change represents one of the top threats to biodiversity, causing declines and extinctions of many species. Range shifts are a key response, but in many cases are incompatible with the current extent of protected areas. In this study we used ensemble species distribution models to identify range changes for 21 reptile and 16 amphibian species in Romania for the 2020s and 2050s time horizons under three emission scenarios (A1B = integrated world, rapid economic growth, A2A = divided world, rapid economic growth [realistic scenario], B2A = regional development, environmentally-friendly scenario) and no- and limited-dispersal assumptions.

Estimating population impacts via dynamic occupancy analysis of Before-After Control-Impact studies.

Estimating environmental impacts on populations is one of the main goals of wildlife monitoring programs, which are often conducted in conjunction with management actions or following natural disturbances. In this study we investigate the statistical power of dynamic occupancy models to detect changes in local survival and colonization from detection-nondetection data, while accounting for imperfect detection probability, in a Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) framework. We simulated impacts on local survival and/or detection probabilities, and asked questions related to: (1) costs and benefits of different analysis models, (2) confounding changes in detection with changes in local survival, (3) sampling design trade-offs, and (4) species with low vs.

Clear-cutting affects habitat connectivity for a forest amphibian by decreasing permeability to juvenile movements.

Conservation of forest amphibians is dependent on finding the right balance between management for timber production and meeting species' habitat requirements. For many pond-breeding amphibians, successful dispersal of the juvenile stage is essential for long-term population persistence. We investigated the influence of timber-harvesting practices on the movements of juvenile wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus).