Where do hamsters go after cereal harvest? A case study.

Bald, Vanessa; Boetzl, Fabian A.; Krauß, Jochen

doi:10.1016/j.baae.2021.04.008

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Measures that could be beneficial to the European ground squirrel are, among others, low or no pesticide and fertilizer use, no plowing of fallows fields until October if the fields are to be cultivated next year, no burning of fallow vegetation, vegetation cut at least once annually (preferably before June), maintenance of unploughed strips at the edge of fields, intercropping, and the selection of crops that do not require dressed seeds [95,97]. Studies of another endangered, fossorial, small mammal, namely, the European hamster (Cricetus cricetus), also indicated that increasing the crop variety and farmland habitat mosaic improved the density and fitness of hamster populations [98,99]. The European ground squirrel could serve as a "flagship species" for farmland biodiversity (as they are charismatic and attractive to the public [100] and a keystone species), contributing toward sustainable agricultural landscapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

European Ground Squirrels at the Edge: Current Distribution Status and Anticipated Impact of Climate on Europe’s Southernmost Population

Rammou

Astaras²,

Migli

et al. 2022

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) is an endangered semifossorial small mammal of grassland/agricultural ecosystems. In the last few decades, the species’ population has declined throughout its range in Europe. The Greek populations represent the southernmost limit of the species’ range and are notably small, scattered, and located mainly in human-modified areas. The goal of the present research is to understand the environmental and anthropogenic variables associated with its distribution in the Mediterranean habitats, assess possible drivers of observed local extinctions, and propose conservation and land-use management actions in light of near-future climate change scenarios. We used presence records since 2000 across all known populations (107 colonies) and maximum entropy conditional probability models (MaxEnt) to calculate both the habitat suitability (bioclimatic variables) and habitat availability (anthropogenic/land-use variables) within the European ground squirrel’s historical range in northern Greece. We report a projected 39% to 94.3% decrease in habitat suitability by 2040–2060 due to climate change. Based on our findings, we provide guidance by proposing nascent conservation actions to protect the few existing colonies in Greece via improved land management practices and identify in situ climate refugia that could be prioritized as sites for future reintroductions.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

European Ground Squirrels at the Edge: Current Distribution Status and Anticipated Impact of Climate on Europe’s Southernmost Population

Rammou

Astaras²,

Migli

et al. 2022

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Wildflower strips, vegetables and fodder crops are known to have a positive impact on hamster populations, increasing burrow density [58,66,67]. However, the benefits of fodder crops depend on their management [14,57].…”

Section: From Knowledge To Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Agriculture: Nutritional Benefits of Wheat–Soybean and Maize–Sunflower Associations for Hibernation and Reproduction of Endangered Common Hamsters

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Farmland species face many threats, including habitat loss and malnutrition during key periods of their life cycle. This is aggravated in conventionally managed monocultures, leading to nutrient deficiencies that impair the survival and reproduction of farmland wildlife. For instance, protein deficiencies in wheat or vitamin B3 deficiency in maize reduce by up to 87% the reproductive success of the critically endangered common hamster (Cricetus cricetus), a flagship species of European farmlands. It is urgent to identify and implement agricultural practices that can overcome these deficiencies and help restoring hamsters’ reproductive success. As part of a conservation program to diversify farming habitats in collaboration with farmers, we tested whether associations between wheat or maize and three supplemental crops (soybean, sunflower and fodder radish) supported hamsters’ performance during hibernation and reproduction. We observed that maize–sunflower, maize–radish and wheat–soybean associations minimized hamsters’ body mass loss during hibernation. The wheat–soybean association led to the highest reproductive success (N = 2 litters of 4.5 ± 0.7 pups with a 100% survival rate to weaning), followed by maize–sunflower and maize–radish. These crop associations offer promising opportunities to overcome nutritional deficiencies caused by cereal monocultures. Their agronomic potential should promote their implementation on a large scale and benefit farmland biodiversity beyond the common hamster.

show abstract

Amphibian diversity across an urban gradient in southern South America

Demartín,

Ghirardi,

López

2024

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Habitat alteration is recognized as one of the most important drivers of biodiversity decline. Urbanization implies a major habitat alteration and its impact on biodiversity depends on type and degrees of habitat modifications. Growing cities generate great heterogeneity with respect to the uses of space that enable the preservation of a certain diversity of amphibians within the urban frame. Our objective is to understand how environments with different levels of urbanization influence local amphibian diversity. We grouped various urban green spaces of a medium-sized and growing city of Argentina in relation to natural and anthropic environmental variables which allows us to describe an urban environmental gradient and we calculate beta diversity among these groups of urban environments considering the richness, composition and abundance of amphibian at each sites’ group. From this, we analyze and tested the differences in the functional diversity of amphibians in the defined urban environmental gradient. We hypothesize that: (i) the described spatial heterogeneity would be related to an elevated beta diversity of amphibians within the urban frame; and (ii) the analysis of functional diversity would reveal a stronger biotic or abiotic filtering of the focal community. We found that groups of urban environments with an intermediate degree of urbanization can present a greater functional diversity and species richness than those that are less urbanized. We identified urban avoiders (T. typhonius, P. santafecinus and P. biligonigerus) and urban tolerant species (E. bicolor, R. arenarum, R. dorbignyi, L. macrosternum, L. latinasus, P. albonotatus, D. nanus and S. nasicus). The replacement beta diversity recorded indicated that the species assemblage changes throughout urban environmental gradient, but functionally similar species thrive in the less to the most urbanized sites, allowing them to occupy the entire functional space of the groups of urban environments with different types and degrees of urbanization.

show abstract

Where do hamsters go after cereal harvest? A case study.

Cited by 3 publications

References 20 publications

European Ground Squirrels at the Edge: Current Distribution Status and Anticipated Impact of Climate on Europe’s Southernmost Population

European Ground Squirrels at the Edge: Current Distribution Status and Anticipated Impact of Climate on Europe’s Southernmost Population

Sustainable Agriculture: Nutritional Benefits of Wheat–Soybean and Maize–Sunflower Associations for Hibernation and Reproduction of Endangered Common Hamsters

Amphibian diversity across an urban gradient in southern South America

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About