The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.

A study was carried out in Sariska Tiger Reserve in India to investigate the effects of anthropogenic disturbance caused by biomass extraction on the bird communities of tropical dry forests. The study was based on comparisons of the avifaunal community as well as vegetation structure between strictly protected ('undisturbed') and intensively used ('disturbed') sites that were demarcated a priori on the basis of disturbance indicators. There was no significant difference in the number of recorded species and bird abundance between disturbed and undisturbed sites. However, bird species diversity was significantly lower in disturbed sites. Bird species composition was found to differ significantly between disturbed and undisturbed sites and was associated with the measured disturbance indicators. Changes in bird species composition occurred because of seven of 26 locally abundant bird species (26.9%) responding significantly to the disturbance regime. All the affected bird species are primarily insectivorous. Bird species composition was significantly related to six vegetation structural variables, including two that were significantly altered by disturbance. Changes in vegetation structure accounted for all the changes in bird species composition caused by disturbance. However, vegetation structure had additional effects on bird species composition besides those caused simply by disturbance. Thus, our study indicates that forest use in the form of chronic biomass extraction can have significant effects upon bird diversity and species composition of tropical dry forest. There is a need to retain a proportion of natural ecosystems as inviolate if the full complement of biodiversity is to be conserved.

Tropical forests have exceptional woodpecker diversity, but little is known about the abundance and diversity of woodpeckers in the Indian subcontinent, particularly for the Shorea robusta‐dominated moist deciduous forests of northern India. Our objective was to compare the number of woodpecker species and number of individuals detected using playback surveys and visual/aural transect surveys at five sites. Each site was surveyed 5–6 times along a 2000‐m transect, with woodpeckers detected using two methods: (1) visual and aural cues, and (2) playing back calls of 13 species at 400‐m intervals. Both methods involved similar effort per survey (100–110 min). During surveys, we detected 11 species of woodpeckers. More species and more than twice as many individuals were detected during playback surveys than during visual/aural surveys. In addition, species accumulation curves showed that we detected the species known to be present based on previous work faster with playback surveys than with visual/aural surveys at four of the five sites. During field trials, 97% of targeted individuals (N= 269) of 12 species responded to playback, and 83% of the responses occurred within 1 min of broadcast. The number of species of woodpeckers in our study area (11 species) was typical for a structurally diverse, tropical/subtropical moist broad‐leaved forest. Our results demonstrate that playback surveys are more efficient and accurate than visual/aural surveys, and that playback surveys can be useful for assessing and monitoring woodpecker diversity in tropical forests.

Garbage accumulation around terrestrial nature reserves poses a risk to many species. We monitored animal visitation patterns and foraging behaviour at garbage dumps near a forested area in Uttarakhand Himalaya, India, to examine plastic consumption by animals. We recorded 32 species of birds and mammals visiting garbage dumps and classified them as 'peckers', 'handlers' and 'gulpers' based on their foraging behaviour. Gulpers (carnivores and ruminants) were observed feeding more frequently and spent longer durations (3.8  0.2 min) at garbage dumps. Our results highlight the importance of at-source segregation of waste to prevent wild and domestic animals from ingesting hazardous wastes, including plastics at garbage dumps.

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The sub-Himalayan dipterocarp forests of subtropical region in northwest India support 17 species of woodpecker. From a conservation perspective it is necessary to assess the ecological requirements of woodpeckers in these biologically diverse landscapes, which are experiencing habitat modification and decline in some woodpeckers. We studied the foraging niche differentiation among ten sympatric woodpeckers in the sub-Himalayan forests of northwest India: Dendrocopos canicapillus, D. macei, Picus chlorolophus, P. xanthopygaeus, P. canus, Dinopium shorii, D. benghalense, Chrysophlegma [Picus] flavinucha, Chrysocolaptes lucidus, and Mulleripicus pulverulentus. We examined the foraging site preferences of individual woodpecker species and explored the role of inter-specific differences in foraging behaviour as a possible mechanism for their coexistence. Observations on foraging woodpeckers were taken visa -vis the following niche dimensions: diameter of the foraging tree, height of the foraging bird, type of substrate on which it was foraging, vertical position with respect to canopy, condition of the forage tree and condition of the substrate. Distinct preferences were evident among species in their foraging tree diameters, foraging heights, vertical positions, and choice of substrate type, while preference for dead substrates was not an important distinguishing factor. Species that overlapped in one dimension generally segregated along other dimensions. Niche segregation in forage tree diameter was associated with body weight. Based on their overall niche overlaps species could broadly be differentiated into groups according to body size viz. small (3 species), medium (3 species), large (3 species), and very large (1 species). Our study demonstrates that differentiation in foraging may be a likely mechanism for coexistence of sympatric woodpeckers in this region. Given that larger species prefer larger substrates, removal of mature trees could affect their abundance, and homogenisation of stand structure could lead to impoverishment of woodpecker diversity.