Description: Environmentalists and authorities responsible for road safety are trying to reduce the number of wildlife collisions with vehicles (WCV) worldwide. Roe deer are the most common large animal involved in WCV in Europe. This article discusses the distribution of 2010 wildlife-vehicle collisions involving roe deer (WVRD) in Lithuania in 2013 and 2014. The collisions were analyzed in terms of monthly and daily data for each month separately, and the results are compared with the time of sunrise and sunset in Lithuania. By analyzing trends of natural factors that influence the number of collisions we show that the frequency of WVRD is strongly correlated with seasonal and yearly changes in sunrise and sunset. This research shows that these natural factors are extremely important for the dynamics of WVRD. Future analysis of these factors and application of appropriate preventative measures should significantly reduce the risk of collision between vehicles and roe deer.

Description: Evergreen conifers Abies mariesii and A. veitchii codominate in the subalpine zone in central Japan. This study compared the photosynthetic light response curves and related leaf traits of 1-year-old needles between the two species to examine whether photosynthetic traits of A. veitchii are more favorable for growth in bright conditions than those of A. mariesii . Saplings of the two species were sampled at forest edge (FE) and forest understory (FU). FE saplings of the two species showed more shade-intolerant traits (i.e., lower initial slope of photosynthesis light response curve, greater light compensation point and dark respiration rate) than FU saplings. Maximum photosynthetic rate and leaf nitrogen concentration were greater in A. veitchii than A. mariesii for both FE and FU saplings. Photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE) was also greater in A. veitchii than A. mariesii . On the contrary, leaf mass per area was greater in A. mariesii than A. veitchii for both FE and FU saplings. Therefore, this study showed that photosynthetic traits of A. veitchii are more favorable for growth in bright conditions compared with A. mariesii , and A. mariesii has more robust needles at the expense of PNUE.

Description: The measurement of heavy metal concentrations in plants is important both for determining their ability to remove these pollutants from the air to increase its quality, and for the monitoring of air quality. Previous studies have mostly focused on the use of annual leaves of broadleaved species as biomonitors. In this study, the aim was to determine the heavy metal accumulation of the perennial needles of some conifers. In almost all the species studied, concentrations of heavy metals were found to increase with the age of the tree, but this increase was not linear. There were significant differences between the species in terms of heavy metal accumulation. The highest concentrations were for Fe in Pinus nigra , Zn in Picea pungens , Pb in Pinus sylvestris , and for all the other heavy metals in Abies bornmülleriana . This study indicates that A. bornmülleriana is particularly useful as a biomonitor for many heavy metals, and also has the potential to remove heavy metals from the air.

Description: We surveyed plant species composition and distribution in the Tottori Sand Dunes, a strictly protected large coastal dune area of western Japan. We aimed to determine the percentage of species of regional coastal flora that can be maintained, and the relationship between plant species diversity and habitat type, in a large coastal dune reserve. In the Tottori Sand Dunes, we identified 132 vascular plant species, including four endangered species and 20 coastal species. We recorded 36% of Tottori Prefecture’s coastal plants here, suggesting that a protected large coastal dune area that stands alone cannot provide a habitat for all the coastal plant flora at a regional scale. A greater number of coastal plant species were found in the seaside habitat, and it appears that plants more resistant to salt spray and wave action survive there. No plant habitats were found in the main tourist area, which may be a consequence of trampling. The highest number of species was found in the rear dune hollow habitat, whereas that of alien plants was found in the dune hollow habitat. In the dune hollow habitat, weeding during summer may have encouraged the annual invasion of alien plants. This study has shown that plant species diversity is affected by a variety of dune dynamics and also by human impact.

Description: This study investigated vegetation and soil properties in a beaver-created freshwater wetland located on the Coastal Plain of Virginia near Washington, DC. We focused on the associations among floristic quality, soil physicochemistry, denitrification, and hydrologic conditions of the wetland to understand links between the effects of beaver engineering and ecosystem function. The floristic quality assessment index (FQI) and denitrification are two important indicators often used to examine overall habitat quality and ecosystem functioning of a wetland. Samples were collected from ten plots (10 m × 10 m each) in August 2014. Vegetation attributes included total percent cover, species richness ( S ), diversity, FQI, and prevalence index (PI). Soil attributes included organic matter (OM), total carbon, total nitrogen, gravimetric moisture (GM), pH, bulk density ( D b ), and denitrification potential (DP). FQI was greater in the higher of the two standing water level categories, where D b was lower, and was negatively associated with D b but no other soil nutrient properties. DP was positively associated with soil nutrients, OM, and GM, but not with measured vegetation attributes nor standing water levels. We found higher soil GM, lower plant community PI, and lower plot S in this study compared to our previous study, with no changes to other vegetation or soil attributes, indicating enduring beaver activity and a resilient plant community. The outcome of the study includes regression models that best explain the association between structural and functional attributes of the ecosystem, which can be applicable to the study of other beaver-created wetlands. The study also provides partial evidence for the notion that low-lying areas dug out by beaver positively impact the FQI of wetlands.

Description: Detailed procedures for the reintroduction of endangered freshwater mussel species (order Unionoida) after habitat modification, and the population-level consequences of this, have not been reported for agricultural channels. We reintroduced Pronodularia japanensis (Lea, 1859) into a 70-m-long channel after a concrete lining had been inserted. The habitat quality was improved by providing a channel bed with gravel-sand substrate. Four years of monitoring following the reintroduction (3.5 years over four growing and reproductive seasons) showed the continuous recruitment of juvenile P. japanensis to a total of 79 individuals, but a decrease in the number of reintroduced individuals 440 to 118. The population size reached a relatively stable in the first 0.7 years, but remained approximately half the original size for the rest of the monitoring period, despite continuous recruitment. Our findings suggest that the reintroduction of freshwater mussels with appropriate treatment of their habitat helps to maintain the reproduction of local populations for at least 4 years.

Description: We examined the cesium-137 ( 137 Cs) contamination of river food webs in a gradient of initial fallout deposition (net density estimates 2.5–3.5 months after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011), in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Litter, aquatic insects, and salmonid fish were collected in five headwater stream reaches (watershed-average fallout density, 368.1–1398.4 kBq/m 2 ) for the measurement of 137 Cs concentration and stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) in June 2014. The stable isotope ratios suggested that the detrital food chain was a dominant energy pathway in rivers originating from a basal resource (litter) to primary (aquatic insects) and secondary (fish) consumers. The 137 Cs concentration decreased with an increase in the trophic level, with the highest value for litter (10930 ± 5381 Bq/kg, mean ± SD), the lowest for fish (2825 ± 2451 Bq/kg), and the intermediate one for dominant (numerically and biomass-wise) detritivorous insect, Ephemera japonica McLachlan (4605 ± 1970 Bq/kg). 137 Cs concentrations of three trophic levels were linearly predicted by the initial fallout amount of 137 Cs. The evacuation of the gut contents of E. japonica during field experiments led to a reduction in their 137 Cs concentration by approximately 50% within 1–2 day(s) without loss of body weight. This suggested that a substantial portion of 137 Cs contamination of E. japonica was derived from highly contaminated fine solids deposited in depositional habitats at a disproportionately high density. Overall, the initial fallout amount of 137 Cs was helpful in roughly predicting the contamination levels of headwater river-riparian ecosystems with the detrital food chain as a dominant energy pathway. Long-term monitoring of the dynamics and fates of 137 Cs associated with fine organic and inorganic particulates appears important for better prediction of 137 Cs contamination of food webs in forested headwater streams.

Description: In Morocco, sacred groves called marabouts constitute a dense network of wild-forest remnants of high ecological and cultural value but which are threatened by global change. In this study, we investigated the relationship between sacred natural site (SNS) structure and landscape dynamics in the traditional Mediterranean landscape of the Beni Arouss tribe in Northern Morocco. The total number of sacred sites considered was 101, with an average density of 3 SNSs per 10 km 2 and an average area of 2.73 ha per SNS covered with natural vegetation—mainly cork oak forests ( Quercus suber ), woodlands ( Quercus coccifera , Olea europaea ), and scrublands. Analysis of the vascular plants in these sacred groves showed that there were 73 natural species and 3 fruit species in total; the natural species belonged to four plant forms: 6 tree species, 10 liana species, 20 shrub species, and 37 herbaceous plant species. To investigate the relationships between sacred groves and landscape change, the territory was divided into 51 land-use clusters around rural settlements. Multivariate analysis permitted the identification of three types of clusters categorized according to social-ecological system (SES): forest (F), agro-forest (AF), and agriculture (A). The landscape dynamics over the period from 1986 to 2003 were investigated, and those dynamics were found to be dominated by the conversion of forest to agriculture, which resulted in the transformation of 25% of the SESs from F-SESs and AF-SESs into A-SESs during the period considered. Statistical comparisons of plant forms in sacred groves belonging to stable SESs during the period 1986–2003 showed that tree richness and liana cover were higher in F-SESs than in A-SESs, shrub richness and cover were higher in AF-SESs than in A-SESs, but there were no plant forms differences between F-SESs and AF-SESs. We argue that SES transformation processes—as represented by spatial dynamics—involve a regression of sacred groves, such that the functional plant groups of sacred groves could be considered ecological indicators.

Description: The evaluation of the success of soil bioengineering work is an issue still poorly addressed by the scientific community. Nevertheless, soil bioengineering techniques are increasingly used worldwide when mitigating the impact on the environment and the landscape is one, but not the only, goal of intervention. A tool to measure the success of soil bioengineering work, with reference to landslide stabilization, is presented in this paper: the index of ecological success (IES). The IES is based on the phytosociological analysis of vegetation and widens the potential applications of the ecological index of maturity (EIM), recently formulated by Giupponi et al. (Restor Ecol 23:635–644, 2015) to assess the degree of disturbance affecting a plant community. The IES compares the EIM values of the vegetation of an area affected by soil stabilization work with those of the expected vegetation at a precise time after completion of soil stabilization work, providing values ranging between 0 (maximum failure) and 1 (complete success). The IES was applied in two study areas located on two mountain slopes of the Southern Alps (Italy) which, as a result of landslides, were subject to soil bioengineering work aimed at slope stabilization. The results of these first two applications confirm the efficacy of the IES in evaluating the success of soil bioengineering work in mountain areas and bode well as to its future application.