There is increasing empirical evidence that the quality of habitat patches (determined by either habitat degradation or natural heterogeneity in the quality of habitat) plays an important role in determining species distribution patterns and in regulating spatial dynamics in fragmented landscapes. However, to date, most of the debate has focused on whether or not to include habitat variables in fragmentation studies, and we still lack general conclusions as well as standard and robust research approaches. In this paper we show how a weak conceptualization of "patch quality" and the inappropriate choice of target surrogate variables (e.g., density is often used as an indicator of patch quality) have mainly produced case-specific results, rather than general conclusions. We then identify weaknesses in the inclusion of habitat quality measurements within fragmentation studies. In particular, we focus on: (1) the lack of appropriate experimental design, outlining how few studies have actually included a gradient of habitat quality in their sample; (2) the lack of fundamental information provided (e.g., lack of standard outputs), which in turn hampers the possibility of carrying out meta-analyses. We finally synthesize available knowledge from empirical studies and highlight the different conceptual frameworks needed for patch occupancy versus patch use studies.

ABSTRACT1. We report the results of the first systematic assessment of global patterns and research priorities emerging in the field of rodent pest management. We carried out an extensive literature review targeted towards identifying the most relevant rodent pests, their impacts and the most common methods used to control them. 2. We identified three disproportionally important pest species that are characterized by severe, generalist and geographically widespread impacts: the black rat Rattus rattus, the Norway rat Rattus norvegicus and the house mouse Mus musculus.Overall, only 7% of known rodent species may be considered pests. Scansorial (i.e. terrestrial and semi arboreal) and fossorial species are generally important as pests, while aquatic and arboreal species have only specific impacts. 3. Impacts of rodent pests on arable crops were studied most, followed by impacts on ecosystems. Studies on arable crops were typical in countries with low net income and health expenditure, while the opposite was observed for studies on ecosystems. Poisons were the most commonly used control method, followed by traps and habitat management. The need to control rodent species is expanding, especially to protect ecosystems and public health. Unlike in other fields of pest management (e.g. insect control), in rodent control we are approaching new problems with old solutions; control strategies and methods have not kept pace with emerging impacts. 4. The need to control a rodent pest species is higher when it is non-native than within its original geographical range. The impact of a rodent species in its native range is a good predictor of the impact it may have in areas of introduction. 5. Our review will contribute towards guiding researchers and stakeholders to focus research efforts and investments on a subset of species, and on new, less hazardous control techniques.

Many plants rely on animals for seed dispersal, but are all individuals equally effective at dispersing seeds? If not, then the loss of certain individual dispersers from populations could have cascade effects on ecosystems. Despite the importance of seed dispersal for forest ecosystems, variation among individual dispersers and whether land‐use change interferes with this process remains untested. Through a large‐scale field experiment conducted on small mammal seed dispersers, we show that an individual's personality affects its choice of seeds, as well as how distant and where seeds are cached. We also show that anthropogenic habitat modifications shift the distribution of personalities within a population, by increasing the proportion of bold, active, and anxious individuals and in‐turn affecting the potential survival and dispersal of seeds. We demonstrate that preserving diverse personality types within a population is critical for maintaining the key ecosystem function of seed dispersal.

Summary 1.Habitat loss must be distinguished from habitat fragmentation so that appropriate conservation management can be applied. Few studies have evaluated the independent effects of habitat loss and habitat fragmentation on the distribution of vertebrates, and none has evaluated the independent effect of changes in structural connectivity. We carried out a landscape-scale experiment to assess the independent contribution of these three processes and to examine what landscape scale factors affect the distribution of two forest-dependent arboreal rodents: the hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius and the red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris. 2. Habitat loss, rather than habitat fragmentation per se, was the major driver of distribution patterns for both species. As predicted, structural connectivity (hedgerow networks) played an important role in determining the distribution of the hazel dormouse, but not of the red squirrel. 3. Our models predict that long lengths of hedgerows (>30 km) are unlikely to increase the probability of occurrence of hazel dormouse in landscapes where there are low levels of forest cover (<5%-10%). 4. Synthesis and applications. Our empirical findings indicate that structural connectivity and habitat loss may have additive effects on vertebrate distribution. For the hazel dormouse, improving structural connectivity will be ineffective if the amount of forest cover in the landscape is less than 5-10%. The key message from this study is that resources should not be invested in landscape linkages until their efficacy for the given level of suitable habitat has been assessed.

AimTo quantify changes over a 15-year period in bird functional diversity within woodland patches where woodland patches remained unchanged, but the surrounding landscape context has been altered by exotic plantation establishment.Location South-eastern Australia.Methods Using statistical modelling and principal coordinate analysis, we explored how a suite of functional diversity measures, bird species richness and the composition of the bird assemblage changed over time and in response to key covariates, including time since plantation establishment, woodland patch size, number of woodland patch boundaries surrounded by plantation and woodland vegetation type. ResultsThere was no significant change in species richness over time (with woodland patch size being the only significant effect on this measure). In contrast, we identified marked changes in the composition of bird assemblages, as well as significant temporal changes in functional diversity. The most substantial declines in functional diversity occurred in woodland patches completely surrounded by long-established stands of radiata pine. Plantation age also affected the functional diversity of bird assemblages through attracting new (typically closed forest-associated) species to the region. We also found reduced overlap in the amount of functional trait space defined by sets of species surveyed in successive years. This was linked to a shift away from solitary or pairforming species found in open-woodland environments and which consume seeds and various other food resources, towards insectivorous, nectarivorous and closed forest-associated taxa that occur in flocks or groups.Main Conclusions Examination of temporal changes in functional diversity added new insights into the biotic changes associated with landscape transformation and the functional role of species being replaced.

No abstract

No abstract

Studies on the distribution of mammalian carnivores in fragmented landscapes have focused mainly on structural aspects such as patch and landscape features; similarly, habitat connectivity is usually associated with landscape structure. The influence of food resources on carnivore patch use and the important effect on habitat connectivity have been overlooked. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relative importance of food resources on patch use patterns and to test if food availability can overcome structural constraints on patch use. We carried out a patch-use survey of two carnivores: the beech marten (Martes foina) and the badger (Meles meles) in a sample of 39 woodland patches in a fragmented landscape in central Italy. We used the logistic model to investigate the relative effects on carnivore distribution of patch, patch neighbourhood and landscape scale variables as well as the relative abundance of food resources. Our results show how carnivore movements in fragmented landscapes are determined not only by patch/landscape structure but also by the relative abundance of food resources. The important take-home message of our research is that, within certain structural limits (e.g. within certain limits of patch isolation), by modifying the relative amount of resources and their distribution, it is possible to increase suitability in smaller/relatively isolated patches. Conversely, however, there are certain thresholds above which an increase in resources will not achieve high probability of presence. Our findings have important and generalizable consequences for highly fragmented landscapes in areas where it may not be possible to increase patch sizes and/or reduce isolation so, for instance, forest regimes that will increase resource availability could be implemented