Recent  

This study provides a record of co-occurrence patterns of tigers and leopards in a dry deciduous forest where both these sympatric predators coexist in high densities. Populations of large carnivores are decreasing on a global scale, and looking into their inter-species relationships is crucial to conserving these species. Our results show that leopards avoid tigers spatially in a dry deciduous system and show significant temporal overlap, with no fine-scale spatio-temporal avoidance.

The dispersal of soil nematodes was not affected by plant spatial configurations, which mostly varied according to their life-history strategy. However, creeping bentgrass grown in a more clustered spatial configuration developed a larger aboveground biomass, which was coupled with a reduction in biomass of subsequently grown ryegrass and plantain. The negative plant–soil feedback may be attributed to the depleted soil nutrients by the stimulated plant growth due to plant–nematode interactions.

Larvae of phantom midges are very sensitive to some pesticides, and populations can be severely affected by relatively low doses. The number of generations these flies produce each year is critical to their potential to recover from pesticide exposure, but this information has not been confirmed precisely. We found strong evidence that one species of phantom midge can have at least four generations per year. This evidence can be used to improve regulatory assessment of pesticides.

We re-evaluate a recently published observation of a spider preying on a bat which made the news internationally and highlighted the potential negative impact of the spider. Spiders are not well loved creatures and often fall victim to false or exaggerated claims in the media. In the current case, we believe the authors' lack of familiarity with bat biology led them to an erroneous conclusion of predation, which was echoed by the media, when no evidence was shown to support this.

Here we introduce the BIODESERT survey, the first systematic field survey devoted to evaluating the joint impacts of grazing by domestic livestock and climate on the structure and functioning of dryland ecosystems worldwide. We describe the major characteristics and the field protocols used in this survey and the organizational aspects followed to carry it out succesfully.

We highlight the arrival of 24 655 seeds in the experiment. We found that depending on how far the artificial perches are from the forest fragment, different seed communities are formed. It is also worth mentioning the extensive deposition of the alien species Australian cheesewood. The Tyrannidae bird family was the most represented. Artificial perches are efficient to increase seed rain in the fallow area but should be used with caution in landscapes with the presence of alien species.