Sex ratio is an indicator of population health as unexpected biases may indicate potential threats. We studied nestling sex ratio in Black Stork Ciconia nigra populations in order to check potential biases and differences along east-west and north-south gradient across its distribution range in Europe. We also studied variation between years, and checked potential correlations with weather variables. The overall sex ratio of nestlings in Europe was nearly equal with a non-significant deficiency (47.1 %) of males, the larger sex. Although yearly fluctuations in sex ratio were detected, no significant effect of the year alone was found, only simultaneously with population and brood size. There was a tendency to have a higher proportion of female nestlings in larger broods, but the pattern was probably scattered by the effect of reduction of largest broods. Compared to Western and Eastern Europe, a significant deficiency of male nestlings was found in Central Europe (Poland), whereas no differences were found along the north-south gradient. We did not find any effect of temperature, but rainfall during the incubation period was negatively correlated with the proportion of male nestlings in Central (Poland) and Western Europe (France) whereas in North-Eastern Europe (Latvia) the same effect of the precipitation in pre-breeding period was found.

Density variation in "rare" breeding birds in native forests and urban parks. -O. Dubovyk, H. Kuzyo, A. Bokotey. -Biodiversity protection and conservation of rare species are typically the main goals of protected areas. Protected areas are commonly created within native ecosystems where anthropogenic pressure is low. Meanwhile, a growing body of literature has focused on the effectiveness of protected areas to provide important habitats for rare taxa. To highlight this issue, we examined avian species, the most diverse vertebrate class in Ukraine. Forest ecosystems vary relative to conservation status and native integrity. With this in mind, we considered Lviv, Ukraine and outskirts. To determine conservation status, we used regulatory instruments such as the National Red Book of Ukraine, Resolution 6 of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats and appendices, the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals and appendices, and Species of European Conservation Concern (SPEC) status to define rare species. The weighted density of SPEC species and those listed in the Bern Convention and Bonn Convention vary considerably and are higher in forests where native integrity has been lost to various degrees. The density of rare taxa within forests exhibiting high biodiversity loss (e.g. urban parks) was starkly evident. Degree of urbanization, as a function of distance from Lviv, was an insignificant predictor of a species listed in Resolution 6 of the Bern Convention or Red Book of Ukraine. We found that weighted density of species with mean species statuses weight were lower in more native forests than parks. Given that weighted densities were highly correlated with general density, we attribute this finding to the luxury effect. That is, density of birds is higher in more urbanized areas of a particular habitat type (e.g. forests and parks). Our conclusion supports previous findings that an increase in overall bird density is common among European cities. To a lesser extent, these findings suggest ineffective nature conservation management of forests in the Lviv region of Ukraine and imply the lack of interest in urban parks as habitat for rare taxa.

No abstract

The study is devoted to the analysis of collections of the felid family, which are housed in natural history museums of Ukraine, two academic and eight university. The basics of the modern taxonomy of felids are considered with the vernacular names of tribes, genera and their type species, which is important for the unification of exhibition and catalogue information. For each of the considered museums, four blocks of data are presented: a general summary for the collection, presentation of particularly valuable or unique specimens, and description of the exhibition and scientific collections. The most complete felid collections (in terms of the number of specimens) are housed in the Museum of Nature of Kharkiv University (109 specimens), in the National Museum of Natural History (152 specimens), and in the Zoological Museum of Odesa University (66 specimens); in other collections the amount of material is much smaller (7–36 specimens). The total volume of collections of this family reaches 460 specimens of 21 species of 12 genera (out of 14 living). The examples of materials important for the dissemination of knowledge about this group are given, from folklore to important and interesting scientific facts for the general public. For all species, there is an organised catalogue, classified by tribe, genus, and species (all alphabetically), in which key information about the available specimens is given for each museum. Such information for each species is arranged according to the scheme ‘museum, location, number of samples, collection numbers and types of specimens, date, and collector or preparator.’ The present study is the first such generalisation of zoological collections of Ukraine, the experience of which can be extended to other groups of animals. The development of this study showed a high interest of colleagues in such generalisations, which clearly activate the attention of museum workers, researchers of variability and diversity, potential museum visitors and society to the topic of the selected focus groups and activation of exhibiting and research work in relation to those groups.

Наприкінці 2016 р. у законодавче поле України введено поняття охоронної ділянки навколо гнізд рідкісних видів птахів, зокрема занесеного до Червоної книги України (2009) лелеки чорного Ciconia nigra (L.). Радіус ділянки для усіх видів визначено за європейськими стандартами, однак для лелеки він збільшений удвічі, до радіуса 1000 м навколо гнізда впродовж усього року. У 2006-2018 рр. проведено дослідження чисельності, поширення, біотопних преференцій та гніздової біології виду на території Українського Полісся (Волинська, Рівненська, Житомирська, Київська, Чернігівська та Сумська області) та подальший моніторинг гніздової біології чорного лелеки на Західному Поліссі (Волинська та Рівненська області). Дослідженнями доведено, що радіус 1000 м навколо гнізда є надмірним і недоцільним. Першою хибою такого підходу є відсутність врахування сезонності під час створення охоронної ділянки, другою – надмірний радіус. Обґрунтовано оптимальні розміри охоронної ділянки навколо гнізда лелеки чорного. Доведено, що 54 % гнізд розташовані не далі ніж 200 м від краю лісу. Важливість для виду 500-метрової ділянки лісу навколо гнізда підтверджують і білоруські науковці. За їхніми даними, у 83,3 % випадків на цій території знаходиться присід чорного лелеки, який птахи використовують для оцінювання безпеки підльоту до гнізда. Враховуючи сезонність, рекомендовано створювати охоронні ділянки з двох частин – ділянки суворої охорони (радіусом не менше 100 м довкола гнізда) та ділянки сезонної охорони (радіусом не менше 500 м). Ділянка суворої охорони діє впродовж усього року і в ній заборонено будь-яку діяльність, навіть перебування людей. На ділянці сезонної охорони заборонено будь-яку діяльність з 15 березня по 30 липня. На лісових дорогах і просіках, що проходять через ділянку суворої охорони, рекомендуємо встановлювати попереджувальні аншлаги. Роботи здійснено в рамках проекту "Ciconia-Ukraina", який реалізується Західноукраїнським орнітологічним товариством та Державним природознавчим музеєм НАН України, за фінансової підтримки Фонду "Ciconia" (Ліхтенштейн).