It has long been established that mature forests are mosaics of patches in different development phases but it has seldom explicitly been taken into account in ecological studies. We demonstrate here that these development phases, which... more
It has long been established that mature forests are mosaics of patches in different development phases but it has seldom explicitly been taken into account in ecological studies. We demonstrate here that these development phases, which are related to the population dynamics of trees, play an important role in the distribution of fauna based on observations on frugivorous birds. In an area close to the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, we studied the abundance of large forest bird species in relation to forest development phases, with a methodology that seems promising for ecological diagnosis and prognosis in forest management planning. Fine-scale forest mapping and bird counts were carried out in two block-transects of 40 m × 3000 m. Tree sampling in a sub-transect was used to generate population characteristics of trees. Large bird species preferred mature or senescent forest patches, whereas relatively young, growing forest patches were avoided. Important large tree species such as Manilkara zapota, Thouinia paucidentata, Guaiacum sanctum and Esenbeckia pentaphylla, characteristic of older forest patches, showed skewed size distributions indicating stress or overexploitation. The population of M. zapota, a key fruiting species that accounted for 26.5% of the total woody biomass, was most heavily affected by stress. A future collapse in the population of M. zapota, a decrease of the total area of older forest, and a decline in the abundance of large birds is likely if stress on the system continues at this level.
Community-based nature management is becoming more common around the world. Nongovernmental nature organisations in the Netherlands, such as Natuurmonumenten, are responding to this trend by setting up communities. Since Natuurmonumenten... more
Community-based nature management is becoming more common around the world. Nongovernmental nature organisations in the Netherlands, such as Natuurmonumenten, are responding to this trend by setting up communities. Since Natuurmonumenten has limited experience in this respect, this study aimed to provide insight in the processes and effects of the set-up of a nature community around two newly acquired nature areas in Delfzijl. The processes of the set-up of this community were studied by observing the community group and the Natuurmonumenten delegates, and by subjecting the delegates of Natuurmonumenten to a questionnaire. Further insights were gained by measuring the effects of the processes of the set-up of the community using a preand post-test among the community group and a control group. The observations indicated that the Natuurmonumenten delegates were very dedicated during the set-up of this community, while the community group was hesitant and somewhat non-active during mo...
Antipredator responses could affect nutrient intake, which could lead to nutritional deficits. However, little is known about the antipredator response of small herbivores because most are nocturnal or crepuscular and therefore very... more
Antipredator responses could affect nutrient intake, which could lead to nutritional deficits. However, little is known about the antipredator response of small herbivores because most are nocturnal or crepuscular and therefore very difficult to study in the field. Therefore we experimentally assessed the effect of a reactive response to predation risk on the nutrient (i.e., phosphorous) intake of the European hare (Lepus europaeus) by using three different playback sounds. Additionally, we studied the time spent being costly vigilant, the time spent foraging, and the vegetation height in which the hares were present by using accelerometers and GPS. Our results showed that elevated predation risk from our playback experiment did not affect the 1) phosphorus intake, 2) time spent being costly vigilant, and 3) time spent in tall vegetation. However, elevated predation risk did increase the time spent foraging. Possibly hares spent more time foraging with an increased predation risk be...
Spatial variation in habitat riskiness has a major influence on the predator–prey space race. However, the outcome of this race can be modulated if prey shares enemies with fellow prey (i.e., another prey species). Sharing of natural... more
Spatial variation in habitat riskiness has a major influence on the predator–prey space race. However, the outcome of this race can be modulated if prey shares enemies with fellow prey (i.e., another prey species). Sharing of natural enemies may result in apparent competition, and its implications for prey space use remain poorly studied. Our objective was to test how prey species spend time among habitats that differ in riskiness, and how shared predation modulates the space use by prey species. We studied a one‐predator, two‐prey system in a coastal dune landscape in the Netherlands with the European hare (Lepus europaeus) and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as sympatric prey species and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as their main predator. The fine‐scale space use by each species was quantified using camera traps. We quantified residence time as an index of space use. Hares and rabbits spent time differently among habitats that differ in riskiness. Space use by predators and habitat riskiness affected space use by hares more strongly than space use by rabbits. Residence time of hare was shorter in habitats in which the predator was efficient in searching or capturing prey species. However, hares spent more time in edge habitat when foxes were present, even though foxes are considered ambush predators. Shared predation affected the predator–prey space race for hares positively, and more strongly than the predator–prey space race for rabbits, which were not affected. Shared predation reversed the predator–prey space race between foxes and hares, whereas shared predation possibly also released a negative association and promoted a positive association between our two sympatric prey species. Habitat riskiness, species presence, and prey species’ escape mode and foraging mode (i.e., central‐place vs. noncentral‐place forager) affected the prey space race under shared predation
