For overwintering species, individuals' ability to find refugia from inclement weather and predators probably confers strong fitness benefits. How animals use their environment can be mediated by their personality (e.g. risk-taking), but does personality mediate how overwintering species select refugia? Snow cover is a dynamic winter characteristic that can influence crypsis or provide below-the-snow refugia. We explored how wintering ruffed grouse ( Bonasa umbellus ) selected snow roosting sites, a behaviour that reduces stress and cold exposure. We linked selection for approximately 700 roosts with survival of 42 grouse, and showed that grouse generally selected deeper snow and warmer areas. Grouse found in shallow snow were less likely to survive winter. However, individuals that selected deep snow improved their survival, suggesting that demographic consequences of selecting winter refugia are mediated by differences in personality . Our study provides a crucial, and seldom addressed, link between personality in resource selection and resulting demographic consequences.

Decision support systems are now mostly computer and internet-based information systems designed to support land managers with complex decision-making. However, there is concern that many environmental and agricultural decision support systems remain underutilized and ineffective. Recent efforts to improve decision support systems use have focused on enhancing stakeholder participation in their development, but a mismatch between stakeholders' expectations and the reality of decision support systems outputs continues to limit uptake. Additional challenges remain in problem-framing and evaluation. We propose using an outcomes-based approach called theory of change in conjunction with decision support systems development to support both wider problem-framing and outcomes-based monitoring and evaluation. The theory of change helps framing by placing the decision support systems within a wider context. It highlights how decision support systems use can "contribute" to long-term outcomes, and helps align decision support systems outputs with these larger goals. We illustrate the benefits of linking decision support systems development and application with a theory of change approach using an example of pest rabbit management in Australia. We develop a theory of change that outlines the activities required to achieve the outcomes desired from an effective rabbit management program, and two decision support systems that contribute to specific aspects of decision making in this wider problem context. Using a theory of change in this way should increase acceptance of the role of decision support systems by end-users, clarify their limitations and, importantly, increase effectiveness of rabbit management. The use of a theory of change should benefit those seeking to improve decision support systems design, use and, evaluation.

Currently there are few robust techniques being used in New Zealand to assess the results of pest control targeting predatory mammals such as stoats (Mustela erminea), feral cats (Felis catus) and hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus), with most operations using capture rates from kill traps as a measure of success. We conducted field trials of camera traps to detect these species at two sites-Macraes Flat and Tasman Valley-where intensive predator trapping is conducted by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. We compared camera traps with kill traps in terms of capture rate per 100 trap nights. Camera traps detected all three target species, as well as various non-target animals. Capture rates of cats and hedgehogs were higher with cameras than with kill traps. Comparisons for stoats were inconclusive due to a low number of detections. We suggest that camera traps are suitable for monitoring relative abundance of cats and hedgehogs, and recommend further testing in areas of higher stoat abundance.

Urbanization causes the simplification of natural habitats, resulting in animal communities dominated by exotic species with few top predators. In recent years, however, many predators such as hawks, and in the US coyotes and cougars, have become increasingly common in urban environments. Hawks in the Accipiter genus, especially, are recovering from widespread population declines and are increasingly common in urbanizing landscapes. Our goal was to identify factors that determine the occupancy, colonization and persistence of Accipiter hawks in a major metropolitan area. Through a novel combination of citizen science and advanced remote sensing, we quantified how urban features facilitate the dynamics and long-term establishment of Accipiter hawks. Based on data from Project FeederWatch, we quantified 21 years (1996–2016) of changes in the spatio-temporal dynamics of Accipiter hawks in Chicago, IL, USA. Using a multi-season occupancy model, we estimated Cooper's ( Accipiter cooperii ) and sharp-shinned ( A. striatus ) hawk occupancy dynamics as a function of tree canopy cover, impervious surface cover and prey availability. In the late 1990s, hawks occupied 26% of sites around Chicago, but after two decades, their occupancy fluctuated close to 67% of sites and they colonized increasingly urbanized areas. Once established, hawks persisted in areas with high levels of impervious surfaces as long as those areas supported high abundances of prey birds. Urban areas represent increasingly habitable environments for recovering predators, and understanding the precise urban features that drive colonization and persistence is important for wildlife conservation in an urbanizing world.

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