Aim Moose, Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758), survived the European Pleistocene glaciations in multiple southern refugia, in a northern refugium near the Carpathians and possibly in other locations. During the second millennium ad, moose were nearly extirpated in Europe and only recolonized their current range after World War II. The number and location of refugia during the Pleistocene and recent population lows may have affected the current genetic diversity. We sought to characterize the genetic diversity in European moose in order to determine its genetic structure and the location of genetic hotspots as a way of inferring its population history and the number of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) refugia. Location Europe. Methods We sequenced 538 nucleotides from the mitochondrial control region of 657 moose from throughout the species' European range. We estimated diversity within and among 16 sampling localities, and used samova to cluster sampling locations into subpopulations. We constructed phylogenetic trees and median‐joining networks to examine systematic relationships, and conducted Bayesian analysis of the coalescent and used mismatch distributions and approximate Bayesian computation to infer demographic history. Results Estonia had the highest nucleotide diversity, and western Belarus had the highest haplotype diversity. We observed four regional populations from the samova analysis. We found three haplogroups in European moose, probably representing lineages conserved in different refugia during the Pleistocene. European moose underwent spatial expansion after the LGM, but did not undergo demographic expansion. The effective population size has declined markedly within the last 2000 years. Main conclusions The current levels and distribution of genetic diversity in European moose indicate the effects both of Pleistocene glaciations and of a recent bottleneck, probably associated with anthropogenic influences such as pastoralization and hunting, and a very recent re‐expansion. We show that both historical and recent events can influence the diversity and distribution of a large mammal on a large scale.

Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nests of 21 species of hole and non-hole-nesting birds. There was a significant, positive relationship between clutch size and the base area of the nest box or the nest, and this relationship did not differ significantly between open nesting and hole-nesting species. The slope of the relationship showed significant intraspecific and interspecific heterogeneity among four species of secondary hole-nesting species, but also among all 116 slope estimates. The estimated relationship between clutch size and nest box base area in study sites with more than a single size of nest box was not significantly different from the relationship using studies with only a single size of nest box. The slope of the relationship between clutch size and nest base area in different species of birds was significantly negatively related to minimum base area, and less so to maximum base area in a given study. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that bird species have a general reaction norm reflecting the relationship between nest size and clutch size. Further, they suggest that scientists may influence the clutch size decisions of hole-nesting birds through the provisioning of nest boxes of varying sizes.

The increase in size of human populations in urban and agricultural areas has resulted in considerable habitat conversion globally. Such anthropogenic areas have specific environmental characteristics, which influence the physiology, life history, and population dynamics of plants and animals. For example, the date of bud burst is advanced in urban compared to nearby natural areas. In some birds, breeding success is determined by synchrony between timing of breeding and peak food abundance. Pertinently, caterpillars are an important food source for the nestlings of many bird species, and their abundance is influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and date of bud burst. Higher temperatures and advanced date of bud burst in urban areas could advance peak caterpillar abundance and thus affect breeding phenology of birds. In order to test whether laying date advance and clutch sizes decrease with the intensity of urbanization, we analyzed the timing of breeding and clutch size in relation to intensity of urbanization as a measure of human impact in 199 nest box plots across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East (i.e., the Western Palearctic) for four species of hole‐nesters: blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), great tits (Parus major), collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), and pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). Meanwhile, we estimated the intensity of urbanization as the density of buildings surrounding study plots measured on orthophotographs. For the four study species, the intensity of urbanization was not correlated with laying date. Clutch size in blue and great tits does not seem affected by the intensity of urbanization, while in collared and pied flycatchers it decreased with increasing intensity of urbanization. This is the first large‐scale study showing a species‐specific major correlation between intensity of urbanization and the ecology of breeding. The underlying mechanisms for the relationships between life history and urbanization remain to be determined. We propose that effects of food abundance or quality, temperature, noise, pollution, or disturbance by humans may on their own or in combination affect laying date and/or clutch size.

The timing of reproduction is one of the most crucial life history traits, with enormous consequences for the fitness of an individual. We investigated the effects of season and timing of birth on local survival probability in a small mammalian hibernator, the common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius). Local monthly survival probability was lowest in the early active season (May-August, ϕ(adult) = 0.75-0.88, ϕ(juvenile) = 0.61-0.68), increased during the late active season (August-October), and highest during hibernation (October-May, ϕ(adult) = 0.96-0.98, ϕ(juvenile) = 0.81-0.94). Consequently, dormice had an extremely high winter survival probability. We observed two peaks in the timing of reproduction (June and August/September, respectively), with the majority of juveniles born late in the active season. Although early investment in reproduction seems the better life history tactic [survival probability until onset of reproduction: ϕ(born early) = 0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28-0.64; ϕ(born late) = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.09-0.28], only females with a good body condition (significantly higher body mass) invest in reproduction early in the year. We suggest the high over-winter survival in dormice allows for a unique life history pattern (i.e., combining slow and fast life history tactics), which leads to a bimodal seasonal birth pattern: (1) give birth as early as possible to allow even the young to breed before hibernating, and/or (2) give birth as late as possible (leaving just enough time for these young to fatten) and enter directly into a period associated with the highest survival rates (hibernation) until maturity.

To investigate genetic diversity and the population structure of the European moose (Alces alces), we analyzed 14 microsatellite loci for 694 samples collected across 16 localities. The highest genetic diversity was detected in Belarus and Russia and the lowest was found in Scandinavia. Two major genetic clusters existed, Scandinavian and continental, and some further spatial structure was detected. There was high concordance between the spatial distribution of microsatellite clusters analyzed in the present study and previously recognized mitochondrial DNA clades of moose. The split of genetic lineages calculated using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) occurred at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum: approximately 29 000 and 28 000 years BP. A range‐wide bottleneck detected by ABC took place 1800–1200 years BP, although a more recent decline in moose numbers was also documented in the 18th to early 20th Century. Genetic differentiation in European moose increased with geographical distance, and the Baltic Sea appeared to be a barrier to gene flow. We conclude that isolation in different glacial refugia, postglacial colonization, and declines of range and numbers in Holocene shaped the present pattern of genetic diversity of European moose. Based on genetic divergence and a lack of apparent gene flow, the contemporary Scandinavian and continental subpopulations should be treated as separate management units.

Adult Muscardinus avellanarius (Linnaeus, 1758) were found to be sedentary, showing small home ranges. The mean range area for males (n = 46) throughout their active season was 1.0 ± 0.05 ha, whereas for females (n = 33) it was 0.8 ± 0.05 ha. Male home ranges partially overlapped those of females and each other, whereas female home ranges hardly ever overlapped. In separate years adult dormice were sometimes found to change their home ranges. Dispersal was a necessary stage in the life of the young. The mean distance travelled from the birth place by young born in May-July (n = 65) was 360 ± 30 m, whereas the distance travelled by young born in August-September (n = 109) was 130 ± 10 m. The greatest travelled distance was 1200 m. About 90% of the young that survived the first winter became sedentary in the first autumn of their life, the remainder during the following spring.

The Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) commits its signatories to the identification and monitoring of biodiversity. The European Union has implemented this commitment into its legislation. Despite the legal requirement resources are scarce, requiring a prioritization of conservation actions, including e.g. monitoring. Red lists are currently the most prominent tool for priority setting in applied conservation, despite the fact that they were not developed for that purpose. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that they do not always reflect actual conservation needs. As a response, the concept of national responsibility as a complementary tool was developed during the last two decades. The existing methods are country specific and mainly incomparable on an international scale. Here, we present a newly developed method, which is applicable to any taxonomic group, adjustable to different geographic scales, with little data requirements and clear categorizations. We apply the new method to over 1,000 species in several countries of different size and report on the applicability of our method and discuss problems that derive from the currently available data. Our method has several major advantages compared to currently available methods. It is applicable to any geographic range, allows automatization, given database availability, and is readily adjustable to future data improvements. It further has comparably low data demands by exploiting one of the most commonly available information on biodiversity, i.e. distribution maps. We believe that our method allows the allocation of the limited resources in nature conservation in the most sensible way, e.g. the sharing of monitoring duties, effectively selecting networks of protected areas, improving knowledge on biodiversity, and closing information gaps in many species groups.

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