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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability, Biodiversity and Conservation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.
Special Issue Editor
Interests: hoofed, semi-aquatic, carnivore and small mammal ecology; population management; biodiversity; human dimensions; threatened species; large carnivores; spatial distribution
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Sustainability is publishing a Special Issue “Mammal Status: Diversity, Abundance and Dynamics” focusing on contemporary mammal investigations. This Special Issue will collect high-quality research articles, including reviews, field studies, modeling, theory, and implementations in all fields of mammal science. We seek clearly and succinctly written contributions, addressing contemporary challenges.
Having nearly 6400 extant species [1], mammals are far from being the most diverse group of vertebrates. Multiple problems facing this group, including loss of habitats, climate change (both resulting shifts in species distribution ranges), roadkills, poaching, and illegal trade, all result in decreases in numbers and abundance, the rapid spread of invasive species that threaten local ones, and human–mammal conflicts, this last being dependent not only upon the damage but also upon poor communication. To help small mammals’ survival in the European agricultural landscapes, support mechanisms enhancing land capacity, such as the Entry Level Scheme Tier of Environmental Stewardship were developed. However, success in restoring populations of large carnivores [2] and otters face controversy, as some stakeholders still maintain hostility, now based on socioeconomic issues. Finally, even the distribution of mammals in Europe (not considering less-investigated continents) requires updating, and, therefore, a second edition of the Atlas of European Mammals is underway.
This Special Issue is focused on mammal science, targeting, but not limited to country-level issues. We welcome reviews and papers, based on extensive field studies, questionnaires, database analyses, investigations of road ecology, and human dimensions of wildlife. Contributors from different fields are invited to submit their articles on this topic. Specifically, we welcome papers focused on, or dealing with, the topics listed in the keywords, or other mammal-related issues.
[1] Burgin, C.J., Colella, J.P., Kahn, P.L. and Upham, N.S. How many species of mammals are there? J. of Mammal., 2018, 99(1), 1–14.
[2] Chapron G., Kaczensky P., Linnell J.D., von Arx M., Huber D., Andrén H., López-Bao J.V., Adamec M., Álvares F., Anders O. and Balčiauskas L. Recovery of large carnivores in Europe’s modern human-dominated landscapes. Sci., 2014, 346(6216), 1517–1519.
Dr. Linas Balčiauskas
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- mammals and climate change
- long term changes in mammal fauna
- road ecology
- invasive mammal species
- threatened species and mammal conservation
- mammal damage and human dimensions
- mammals as sources of pathogens
- agriculture, forest management and mammals
- mammal hunting and population management
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Agreed authors:
1. Prof. John Linnell, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, PO Box 5685 Torgarden, NO-7485 Trondheim, Norway.
2. Prof. Dr. Mirko Di Febbraro, Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio, Università degli Studi del Molise, Cda Fonte Lappone, s.n.c., 86090 Pesche (IS), Italy.
3. Dr. Daniel Klich, Department of Animal Genetics and Conservation, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warsaw, Poland
Planned paper 1:
Title: Influence of habitat complexity and distance to the forest on the detection rates of wildlife in coffee home gardens in Indonesia
Authors: Campera Marco, Katherine Hedger, Hélène Birot, B. Budiadi, M. Ali Imron, Vincent Nijman, K.A.I. Nekaris
Abstract: Complex agroforestry systems adjacent to continuous forest can host similar biodiversity levels to continuous forests. They can provide important ecosystem services for wildlife, such as providing key food resources. Species inhabiting adjacent forest as well as species preferring agroforestry systems can benefit from this habitat matrix. It is necessary, however, to understand the species-specific adaptability to such a complex matrix. Indonesia is a biodiversity hotspot and hosts many endemic species that are threatened with extinction. Its population relies heavily on agriculture (e.g., it is the fourth largest coffee producer in the world), meaning that finding a balance between crop productivity and biodiversity is key for the long-term sustainability of local communities and wildlife. We aim to determine the influence of habitat complexity (sun-exposed vs shade-grown coffee) and distance to the forest on the detection rates of wildlife in coffee home gardens in West Java, Indonesia. We monitored 23 gardens between April 2018 and March 2021, totalling 3856 days of monitoring in shade-grown and 3338 days in sun-exposed gardens. We used Generalised Additive Models to estimate the influence of habitat complexity and distance to the forest on the detection rates of wildlife, and correlation matrices to determine whether there were spatial and temporal associations between species. The civets Viverricula indica and Paradoxus musangus javanicuswere abundant in most of the fields and were associated mainly with the presence of rodents. The Sunda leopard cat Prionailurus javanensis preferred shade-grown gardens close to the forest, but regularly visited the more distant gardens probably in search of food. Wild boars Sus scrofa preferred gardens in proximity to the forest, while barred buttonquails Turnix suscitator were associated with gardens far from the forest. Overall, several species (civets but also Horsfield's treeshrew Tupaia javanica, Javan ferret badger Melogale Orientalis, and Javan mongoose Herpestes javanicus were not influenced by habitat complexity and distance to the forest, suggesting they are well adapted to the agroforestry system. Nevertheless, it is important to maintain the complexity of the agroforestry system and the connectivity with the neighbouring continuous forest to favour the long-term sustainability of this environment and the conservation of endemic species.
Planned paper 2:
Title: Habitat suitability for small mammals in Mediterranean landscapes: how and why shrubs matter
Authors: Ignasi Torre 1, Carlos Jaime-González 2, and Mario Díaz 3
Affiliations:
1 Natural Sciences Museum of Granollers, c/ Francesc Macià 51, Granollers (Spain)
2 C/ Les Eres 10, Bajo 1 - Jesús Pobre, Denia (Alicante).
3 National Museum of Natural Sciences, BGC-MNCN-CSIC, C/Serrano 115 Bis, Madrid (Spain)
Abstract: Fires, either natural or man-made, simplify forest structure by eliminating slow-growing tree species and forest-dwelling animals, allowing the regrowth of fast-growing shrubby plants. Fires are usually seen as a major treat for biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean; however, the natural afforestation resulting from the abandonment of traditional land uses is leading to the disappearance of open spaces that benefit many species of conservation interest. Natural (and prescribed) fires may allow the maintenance of open habitats in which small mammals communities can be benefitted by lower predation pressure and predation risk and higher food availability. Nevertheless, small mammals also require protection against predators and extreme temperatures, which are typically provided by the Mediterranean shrubs suppressed by forest trees in closed forest. In this article we analyze the role of changes in shrub cover and shrub selection by small mammals along the Mediterranean post-fire succession. Our hypothesis is that shrubs are essential for the conservation of Mediterranean small mammal communities, and that shrub cover and shrub selection by small mammals is mainly determined by the port-fire succession. We used data obtained from the Spanish small mammals’ monitoring program (SEMICE; www.semice.org), that has been operative from 2008 until present. We used data for 17 plots representative for the forest, woodlands and port-fire shurblands present in the study area (Barcelona’s Natural Parks, Catalonia, NE Spain). Three-dimensional vegetation structure of sampling plots was assessed by LiDAR technology, since variables obtained were better predictors than field-based variables for modelling ground-dwelling small mammal preferences.
2,662 small mammals of five species were captured in 22.572 trap-nights (11.79% capture success), being Apodemus sylvaticus the most abundant (1,522 individuals, 57.2%), followed by Crocidura russula (763, 28.7%) and Mus spretus (361, 13.5%). The first PC of a Principal Component Analysis of LIDAR data represented a gradient from dense woodland (high canopy cover and low vegetation cover at the ground level) to open shrubland (no canopy cover and high ground-level vegetation cover). Overall mean small mammal abundance was positively associated to PC1, and the same pattern was observed for the average species density. Shannon diversity and equitability were positively associated to PC1, whereas dominance was negatively associated. Early post-fire stages, dominated by shrubs, held the most diverse and abundant small-mammal communities along the study period (2008-2018), with minor seasonal and interannual fluctuations. This pattern could be considered as robust and generalizable to similar areas/habitats and can be a consequence of the interplay of different biotic/abiotic factors and their interactions. Despite abiotic factors (climate) can be responsible of small mammals‘ abundance/diversity variations (either seasonal and interannual) along the study period, we hypothesized that biotic factors like vegetation profiles (providing food and shelter) and their interaction with predators (predation risk and predation pressure) could be responsible of the observed changes of small mammals diversity and abundance along port-fire Mediterranean forest structure gradients.
Planned paper 3:
Title: Distribution, population size and habitat characteristics of the endangered European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus, Rodentia, Mammalia) in its southernmost range
Authors: Dimitra-Lida Rammou1, Dimitris Kavroudakis2, Dionisios Youlatos1*
Affiliations:
1 Laboratory of Marine and Terrestrial Animal Diversity, Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; [email protected] (DLR)
2 Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, GR-81100 Mytilene, Greece; [email protected] (DK)
*Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel. +302310998734
Abstract: Spermophilus citellus is an endangered squirrel, endemic to Central and Southeastern Europe. The species lives in burrow colonies in grassland and agricultural ecosystems. In the recent years, agricultural land-use change and increased urbanization have largely contributed to severe population decline across its range, and more particularly in its southernmost edge. Assessing the population and habitat status of the species is central for prioritizing appropriate conservation actions. The present study aims to track population size changes and identify habitat characteristics of the species in Greece, via literature search, questionnaires, fieldwork for assessing trends in population size and spatial K-means analysis of estimating its relation to specific habitat attributes. In Greece, both distribution size and colony numbers of the species have decreased in the last decade (62.4% and 57.1% respectively). The remaining colonies are isolated and characterized by low density (mean = 7.4 ± 8.6 ind/ha) and a few animals (mean = 13 ± 16 individuals). Distance from urban areas, habitat aspect, and colony area were the main factors contributing mostly to the clustering of the existing colonies. The majority of the colonies were not related to specific habitat attributes. These results demonstrate that the species is confined to small, isolated, and generalized anthropogenic habitats. This critical situation indicates that specific conservation actions, such as habitat improvement and population reinforcement may be central for the survival of the species in Greece.