The flight activity of bats was studied at 21 localities in the Moravian Karst (Czech Republic). From April to October, bat detectors were used to record echolocation calls of bats on line transects during the first half of the night. Nine habitats were distinguished. In total, 666 minutes of the presence of flying bats and at least 16 bat species were registered during 3387 transect minutes. Myotis daubentonii was the most numerous species (46.2%) The number of bat species was the highest in rocky habitats (13 species), and the lowest in agrocoenoses (3 species). The greatest intensity of flight activity of the bat community was observed over ponds (35.0 min+/h) and streams (26.6 min+/h). With respect to habitat preference, M. mystacinus/brandtii, M. myotis/blythii, Eptesicus serotinus, Nyctalus noctula, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, and Plecotus auritus/austriacus appear to be eurytopic and M. daubentonii, M. nattereri and M. emarginatus to be stenotopic species.
Long-term studies of population dynamics are important for conservation biology and wildlife management. We conducted 2790 line transects and observed 12516 blue sheep Pseudois nayaur from 2004 to 2009 in the Ningxia Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve of China, and found that the blue sheep population size fluctuated from 12375 in 2004 to 8188 in 2006 then 13344 in 2009, but did not ascend or decline continuously. Population size was positively correlated with the number of rainy days during the previous year. We divided the reserve into high, middle and low density areas according to average sheep encounter rates, and found that in different density areas blue sheep had different population dynamics, sex ratios and group sizes. Ratios between females and males, females and juveniles, and adults and juveniles were not different across six years in all three density areas. Group sizes increased with population size. We deduce that the blue sheep population will not increase or decrease constantly in the reserve, and that managers should manage varying density areas differently to maximize the conservation of blue sheep.
1_Red wood ants are ecologically important members of woodland communities, and some species are of conservation concern. They occur commonly only in certain habitats in Britain, but there is limited knowledge of their numbers and distribution. This study provided baseline information at a key locality (Abernethy Forest, 37 km2) in the central Highlands of Scotland and trialed a new method of surveying red wood ant density and stand type associations: a distance sampling line transect survey of nests. This method is efficient because it allows an observer to quickly survey a large area either side of transect lines, without having to assume that all nests are detected. Instead, data collected on the distance of nests from the line are used to estimate probability of detection and the effective transect width, using the free software "Distance". Surveys took place in August and September 2003 along a total of 71.2 km of parallel, equally-spaced transects. One hundred and forty-four red wood ant nests were located, comprising 89 F. aquilonia (Yarrow, 1955) and 55 F. lugubris (Zetterstedt, 1838) nests. Estimated densities were 1.13 nests per hectare (95% CI 0.74–1.73) for F. aquilonia and 0.83 nests per hectare (95% CI 0.32–2.17) for F. lugubris. These translated to total estimated nest numbers of 4,200 (95% CI 2,700–6,400) and 3,100 (95% CI 1,200–8,100), respectively, for the whole forest. Indices of stand selection indicated that F. aquilonia had some positive association with old-growth and F. lugubris with younger stands (stem exclusion stage). No nests were found in areas that had been clear-felled, and ploughed and planted in the 1970s–1990s. The pattern of stand type association and hence distribution of F. aquilonia and F. lugubris may be due to the differing ability to disperse (F. lugubris is the faster disperser) and compete (F. aquilonia is competitively superior)., 2_We recommend using line transect sampling for extensive surveys of ants that construct nest mounds to estimate abundance and stand type association., Kerry M. Borkin, Ron W. Summers, Len Thomas., and Obsahuje seznam literatury