No abstract

Deforestation and fragmentation of tropical forest are the most serious threats to biodiversity. In the lowlands of the Huasteca Potosina region, Mexico, more than 95,000 ha of tropical forest have disappeared. This paper analyses tree species composition in tropical forest patches of this highly deforested region, located in northeast of Mexico. At present, only 57 remnants of arboreal vegetation larger than ten hectares still remain standing, which cover 6117 ha. These decreasing fragments host 140 floristic species, representing 42 families and 85 genera. Compared with previous inventories, these data show a sharp drop in species composition. Most of the forest remnants contain less than 50% of the floristic diversity recorded by previous surveys, particularly in the medium subperennial tropical forest.

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is a bird of prey belonging to the group of vultures. Although in the past it occupied mountain systems in Asia, Europe and Africa, and its distribution in the Iberian Peninsula was widely distributed, its current distribution in Spain is limited to very specific mountain ranges, including the Aragonese Pyrenees. The decline of the Iberian population is supposed to be linked to factors acting at a microscale level as the use of poisons, illegal hunting, human activity and the decrease in intensive livestock farming. There are, however, other factors acting on a biogeographical scale that may also be affecting the viability of populations that are not currently being considered. The aim of this study is to determine on a large scale the effect that environmental conditions may have on the temporal oscillations of the reproductive parameters of the bearded vulture. For this purpose, the breeding population in the Aragones Pyrenees has been used as the study population. We tested the degree to which each of 26 macroclimatic oscillation indices were teleconnected with three reproductive parameters (hatching rate, fledge rate and productivity). Two indices (the Tropical Northern Atlantic Index, and the East Atlantic/West Russia Pattern) were temporally correlated with the reproductive parameters of the bearbed vulture. The results are expected to provide novel information in the field of bearded vulture conservation, as there are no previous studies that address this issue from a biogeographical perspective. The results could have important implications for the management and conservation of the species and its successful reintroduction in other territories.

Today, governments and administrations strive to minimise issues associated with Feral Pigeon (Columbia livia var. domestica) colonies in urban areas. Scientific evidence has demonstrated that control measures are ineffective in the long term, and colonies recover rapidly. Most scientific research has occurred under high-density circumstances, primarily in large city centres. Moreover, very few studies have been conducted in residential zones or suburban areas where colony densities are lower, but where Feral Pigeons generate the same issues. In this study, we analysed the recovery time of Feral Pigeon colonies in 11 buildings in low-density urban areas where control campaigns were previously conducted to reduce their abundance. Recovery times were highly variable among the buildings (50–3072 days). Distance to the nearest uncontrolled colony of Feral Pigeons, i.e., a source area, was the primary factor that contributed to recovery time, which significantly increased with increasing distance to source colonies. Thus, buildings closest to the Pigeons’ source areas (<500 m) were recolonised more rapidly than were buildings that were >500 m away from source areas. Our findings highlight the relevance of identifying an effective management unit for the implementation of control programmes to reduce immigration rates and increase long-term effects.