The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.

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Dietary information, collected during 1995-97 in the south-west of the Northern Territory, is presented for 11 raptor species. Unlike better-studied populations of these species in south-eastern and eastern Australia, most of the raptors in the arid inland were found to depend heavily on reptiles and birds, the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) being a particularly important food for many species during those periods when it was plentiful. Between-territory, between-year and seasonal differences in diet are quantified for most species.The raptor assemblages in central Australia included specialists on medium-sized to large mammals, small to medium-sized birds, and small reptiles/invertebrates, as well as several generalists. Indices of prey diversity and evenness were calculated for each species, and diet overlap between them was used to investigate aspects of interspecific competition for food. Overall, diet overlap was greatest among the bird specialists and between some of the generalists. It increased in 1997, a year of comparative plenty, possibly because several species exploited an abundance of some prey taxa and competitive pressure eased. R a p t o r d i e t s i n t h e No r t h e r n T e r r i t o r y T . A u m a n n

On the basis of opportunistic observations, the preferred habitats of diurnal raptors in the south-west of the Northern Territory are quantified in terms of their vegetation structures and composition, and linked with foraging methods and information on local diets. Broad interspecific differences in diel activity patterns are also described. The evidence suggests that raptor species in this part of arid Australia differ with respect to their foraging times, habitats and methods, and that these differences relate to their partitioning of food resources.

The diet of the brown goshawk, Accipiter fasciatus, was studied during 1980-83 near Macclesfield, VIc. Birds made up 63% and mammals 26% of 1769 prey items. Rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, accounted for 95% of mammalian items. Mammals were estimated to contribute more to dietary biomass than birds (54 v. 46%). Other animals recorded in the diet were reptiles (Elapidae and Scincidae), insects (mostly Coleoptera and Orthoptera) and crustaceans (Engaeus spp.).Diet composition varied significantly from year to year, from season to season and, during breeding, between territories in close proximity to one another. There were significant differences in the diets of males and females. Males took relatively more birds (52 v. 24%), more insects (41 v. 21%) and fewer mammals (2 v. 48%). Differences in food between age classes were also significant. Compared to second-year and older birds, first-year birds took relatively fewer mammals (28 v. 43%), fewer birds (23 v. 49%) and more insects (43 v. 0%).