http://www.journalofappliedecology.org EarlyView RSS Feed http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/765321/Lowland_farmland_bird_conservation_in_the_context_of_wider_ecosystem_service_del.html 1. Much policy and research in the UK and elsewhere in Europe has been directed towards the conservation of farmland birds. With changes in the drivers of agricultural land management, farmland bird conservation now needs to be considered alongside provision of a range of ecosystem services (ES) indicative of environmentally sustainable land-management. 2. We explore the extent to which land management for farmland bird conservation provides 'cultural' ES, before assessing the potential... 2010-07-28T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/765319/Prescreening_acoustic_and_other_natural_signatures_for_use_in_noninvasive_indivi.html 1. Common ecological tasks, such as wildlife monitoring, adaptive management, and behavioural study, often make use of natural signatures (e.g. animal calls or visual markings) to identify individual animals noninvasively. However, there is no accepted method for pre-screening candidate natural signatures to select which signatures are the best-suited for this purpose. In this paper, we suggest a pre-screening checklist and focus on the challenge of assessing a candidate signature's... 2010-07-28T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747797/Trophic_experiments_to_estimate_isotope_discrimination_factors.html 1. In Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2008a) rats were fed with experimental diets of distinct isotopic values (δ13C and δ15N) in order to infer the discrimination factors. We showed negative relationships between discrimination factors and diet isotopic values. In Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2009), our aim was to generalize these relationships to other taxonomic groups with a view to providing ecologists with a general and flexible method to obtain discrimination factors for diet reconstruction... 2010-06-29T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747795/Laboratory_measures_of_isotope_discrimination_factors_comments_on_Caut_Angulo__C.html 1. In a recent paper, Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2008, Functional Ecology, 22, 255) experimentally measured isotope discrimination factors for rats Rattus rattus. In their study, values for their discrimination factors spanned a much larger range than previously reported in the literature and were found to be negatively related to the stable isotope composition of the diet that the rats were fed. 2. In a subsequent meta-analysis, Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2009, Journal of Applied Ecology, 46,... 2010-06-29T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747793/Biases_in_the_analysis_of_stable_isotope_discrimination_in_food_webs.html 1. Recently, Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2009, Journal of Applied Ecology) published a review on diet-tissue isotopic shifts in animals. They concluded that diet-tissue shifts are influenced by the isotopic composition of the diet for both 13C and 15N in a wide range of animal taxa. 2. We suggest that the conclusion of Caut, Angulo & Courchamp is in error, and provide a discussion of sources of error in the assessment of diet-tissue discrimination. 3. Errors in the derivation of diet-tissue... 2010-06-29T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747853/Trophic_experiments_to_estimate_isotope_discrimination_factors.html 1. In Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2008a) rats were fed with experimental diets of distinct isotopic values (δ13C and δ15N) in order to infer the discrimination factors. We showed negative relationships between discrimination factors and diet isotopic values. In Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2009), our aim was to generalize these relationships to other taxonomic groups with a view to providing ecologists with a general and flexible method to obtain discrimination factors for diet reconstruction... 2010-06-29T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747845/Laboratory_measures_of_isotope_discrimination_factors_comments_on_Caut_Angulo__C.html 1. In a recent paper, Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2008, Functional Ecology, 22, 255) experimentally measured isotope discrimination factors for rats Rattus rattus. In their study, values for their discrimination factors spanned a much larger range than previously reported in the literature and were found to be negatively related to the stable isotope composition of the diet that the rats were fed. 2. In a subsequent meta-analysis, Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2009, Journal of Applied Ecology, 46,... 2010-06-29T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747821/Biases_in_the_analysis_of_stable_isotope_discrimination_in_food_webs.html 1. Recently, Caut, Angulo & Courchamp (2009, Journal of Applied Ecology) published a review on diet-tissue isotopic shifts in animals. They concluded that diet-tissue shifts are influenced by the isotopic composition of the diet for both 13C and 15N in a wide range of animal taxa. 2. We suggest that the conclusion of Caut, Angulo & Courchamp is in error, and provide a discussion of sources of error in the assessment of diet-tissue discrimination. 3. Errors in the derivation of diet-tissue... 2010-06-29T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747801/Mechanisms_linking_plant_species_richness_to_foraging_of_a_large_herbivore.html 1. There is general concern that local loss of plant diversity will adversely impact net primary productivity and other ecosystem properties. However, mechanisms linking plant diversity with other trophic levels, especially for large herbivores, are poorly understood. 2. We examine the responses of foraging sheep to changes in plant species richness in an indoor cafeteria experiment involving six plant species richness levels (1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 11 species) and three plant functional group... 2010-06-21T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747799/Butterfly_and_plant_specialists_suffer_from_reduced_connectivity_in_fragmented_l.html 1. Calcareous grasslands are diversity hotspots for plant and butterfly species in Europe, but connectivity of these grasslands has been reduced by habitat loss and fragmentation in recent decades. Reduced habitat area leads to biodiversity loss, but the significance of habitat connectivity independent of patch size and habitat quality is unclear. 2. Here, we focus on the impact of habitat connectivity on both butterfly and plant species richness and compare (i) a connectivity index, (ii)... 2010-06-21T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747857/Mechanisms_linking_plant_species_richness_to_foraging_of_a_large_herbivore.html 1. There is general concern that local loss of plant diversity will adversely impact net primary productivity and other ecosystem properties. However, mechanisms linking plant diversity with other trophic levels, especially for large herbivores, are poorly understood. 2. We examine the responses of foraging sheep to changes in plant species richness in an indoor cafeteria experiment involving six plant species richness levels (1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 11 species) and three plant functional group... 2010-06-21T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747855/Butterfly_and_plant_specialists_suffer_from_reduced_connectivity_in_fragmented_l.html 1. Calcareous grasslands are diversity hotspots for plant and butterfly species in Europe, but connectivity of these grasslands has been reduced by habitat loss and fragmentation in recent decades. Reduced habitat area leads to biodiversity loss, but the significance of habitat connectivity independent of patch size and habitat quality is unclear. 2. Here, we focus on the impact of habitat connectivity on both butterfly and plant species richness and compare (i) a connectivity index, (ii)... 2010-06-21T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747803/Twenty_years_of_rest_returns_grazing_potential_but_not_palatable_plant_diversity.html 1. Up to 73% of the world's rangelands are degraded, and increasing demand for meat in developing countries and a growing human population are likely to exert even greater pressures on rangelands in the next 20–50 years. Restoration of rangeland grazing potential and resilience is therefore important, particularly in the face of climate change. 2. We investigated the influence of past stocking rates (from 1910 to 1987), rainfall, and current grazing regimes (from 1988 to 2008) on plant... 2010-06-18T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747859/Twenty_years_of_rest_returns_grazing_potential_but_not_palatable_plant_diversity.html 1. Up to 73% of the world's rangelands are degraded, and increasing demand for meat in developing countries and a growing human population are likely to exert even greater pressures on rangelands in the next 20–50 years. Restoration of rangeland grazing potential and resilience is therefore important, particularly in the face of climate change. 2. We investigated the influence of past stocking rates (from 1910 to 1987), rainfall, and current grazing regimes (from 1988 to 2008) on plant... 2010-06-18T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/details/journalArticle/747813/Still_walking_on_the_wild_side_Management_actions_as_steps_towards_semidomestica.html 1. Domestication is a process involving adaptations to man and the man-made environment. Semi-domestic animals are those for which humans have only partial control over breeding, mortality, space use and food supply, and that have not been greatly modified by artificial selection. They therefore appear more similar to their wild counterparts. 2. The degree of domestication depends on the level of (i) human control over breeding, mortality, food supply, space use and thereby selection... 2010-06-17T00:00:00Z