a b s t r a c tAir-dried paddy soils stored for 1e18 years were used to examine the resistance of methanotrophs to drought. Older air-dried soils representing longer-lasting drought events reduced methanotrophic diversity, and adversely affected methane oxidation rate after re-wetting. In early incubations the type II methanotrophs are outperformed by the less abundant type I.
Large carnivores are currently recolonizing Europe following legal protection, but increased mortality in landscapes highly impacted by humans may limit further population expansion. We analyzed mortality and disappearance rates of 35 wolves (of which three emigrated, nine died and 14 disappeared by 1 January 2020) by genetic monitoring in the heavily cultivated and densely populated Jutland peninsula (Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). Annual traffic kill rate estimates ranged from 0.37 (95% CI: 0.11-0.85) to 0.78 (0.51-0.96) in the German part, equivalent to 0.08 (0.02-0.29)-0.25 (0.13-0.46) for the entire region, in the absence of any registered Danish roadkills. In Denmark, annual mortality rate estimates ranged from 0.46 (0.29-0.67) to 0.52 (0.35-0.71), predominantly from cryptic mortality. Despite successful reproductions, we conclude the region is a wolf population sink, primarily driven by cryptic mortality, most likely illegal killing. We hypothesize that frequent encounters between wolves and wolfaverse persecutors in cultivated landscapes may cause unsustainably high mortality rates despite the majority of hunters respecting protection laws.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Golden jackal (Canis aureus) monitoring in central Europe generates more interest and becomes increasingly important with the species’ appearance in areas where it was previously unestablished. For genetic monitoring of golden jackals via scat collection, the distinction of jackal scats from those of related species such as the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is crucial: if done incorrectly, it can falsify diet studies or inflate costs of DNA analyses. In this study, we tested the potential benefits of using domestic dogs to specifically find jackal scats. We used trained scat detection dogs to locate and identify golden jackal scats in an area of dense shrubland, with the species’ presence previously confirmed via bioacoustic monitoring. On a total of 133 km of transects covering at least two golden jackal groups, two human-dog teams found 34 putative golden jackal scats. A total of 26 of these were successfully genetically analysed, of which 19 were attributed to 13 individual golden jackals, an accuracy rate of 73%. Our results show that detection dogs can successfully differentiate golden jackal scats from other species. This tool can be applied to detect golden jackal presence and establish more reliable estimates of group number and size than previously determined through bioacoustic stimulation. By combining both methods, questions about family structures and kinship, seasonal differences in habitat use and territory sizes can be answered. The regular use of detection dogs can present an efficient method to monitor golden jackals on a long-term basis and to learn more about their behaviour and population dynamics.
Considering the spread of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) in Europe over the past 30 years, Luxembourg took some measures to prepare for the return of this apex predator, including the establishment of a management plan that notably addresses the issue of wolf depredation on livestock. Here we present the results of genetic analyses of putative wolf saliva, hair and scat samples collected from or near prey carcasses between 2015 and 2020. In two cases, the wolf was confirmed via DNA analysis: in July 2017 near Garnich and in April 2020 near Niederanven, both assigned to category C1 (hard evidence). A third case was classified as C2 (confirmed observation) based on prey carcass characteristics, while genetic analysis yielded no result. These are the first confirmed records of wolves in Luxemburg since 1893. Moreover, the two C1-cases originated from the Alpine (Garnich) and Central European (Niederanven) populations. Given similar developments in the neighboring countries and regions, we conclude that the area including the Benelux countries as well as Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Northern France may well become a melting pot for wolves of the two aforementioned populations in the coming years and decades.
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