Small isolated plant populations are one of the consequences of fragmentation of natural habitats by humans. We asked what effect does the creation of smaller populations from larger ones has on the plant fitness-related trait seed germination. Using information on 119 species (142 species entries) in 50 families, we found that seeds in only 35.2% of the species entries from larger populations germinated to higher percentages than those from smaller populations. In the other entries, seeds from large and small populations germinated equally well (57.7% of total entries) or seeds from small populations germinated better (7.0% of total entries) than those from large populations. These results indicate that population size is not a reliable predictor of seed germinability. Furthermore, there was little relationship between seed germination and either seed mass, genetic diversity or degree of population isolation, or between population size and genetic diversity.

At least one-third of the land on earth is used for agricultural production and conflicts with the interests of wildlife are inevitable. These conflicts are likely to escalate as the human population expands and as the scale and intensity of agricultural production increases. This paper argues that the same underlying causes frequently affect both wild animal welfare and conservation. Three key threats are discussed: disease transmission from domestic animals and the interventions used to manage wildlife reservoirs of zoonotic diseases; physical operations such as harvesting and the conversion of wildlife habitat to farmland; and the use of agrochemicals, particularly for pest control. While direct effects, such as accidental poisoning, tend to attract the most public attention, it is argued that indirect effects, such as the reduction in food supplies or the disruption of social structures, are likely to be of greater importance. The suffering of pest animals has traditionally been undervalued. There is a need for broader adoption of integrated, ecologically based strategies which minimise suffering and also minimise the numbers of animals involved by preventing population resurgence. New research is urgently required to compare the effects of alternative, economically viable farming strategies on both wildlife conservation and welfare, possibly within the framework of ecosystem services assessments.

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to primate populations globally. The Endangered golden monkey Cercopithecus mitis kandti is only found in two small forest fragments: the Virunga massif in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Gishwati Forest in Rwanda. Little is known about the abundance and distribution of this subspecies, or threats to its survival. During 2007–2018, we collected data along 893.7 km of line transects and 354.2 km of recce trails in Volcanoes National Park and in Gishwati–Mukura National Park to estimate golden monkey density and examine any threats. In Volcanoes National Park, golden monkeys were found almost exclusively in the bamboo zone, and in Gishwati–Mukura National Park they occurred only in the remnant tropical montane Gishwati Forest. In Volcanoes National Park, density was estimated to be 7.89 (95% CI: 3.85–16.19), 5.41 (2.64–11.08), and 5.47 (3.68–8.14) groups per km2 in 2007, 2011 and 2017–2018, respectively. This corresponds to a total of 4,331 individuals (95% CI: 2,723–5,938) in 2007, 4,487 (2,903–6,071) in 2011 and 4,626 (4,165–5,088) in 2017–2018. In Gishwati Forest, group density averaged 1.98 (95% CI: 1.27–3.16) per km2, corresponding to 172 (95% CI: 154–190) individuals in 2017–2018. Survey results from Volcanoes National Park suggest that the golden monkey population has been stable during 2007–2018. Limited habitat, illegal activities such as harvesting of bamboo and firewood, and the presence of feral dogs, threaten the golden monkey in Rwanda and require continued monitoring. The development of a conservation action plan is a priority to protect this species.

The Asian elephant Elephas maximus is at risk of extinction as a result of anthropogenic pressures, and remaining populations are often small and fragmented remnants, occupying a fraction of the species' former range. Once widely distributed across China, only a maximum of 245 elephants are estimated to survive across seven small populations. We assessed the Asian elephant population in Nangunhe National Nature Reserve in Lincang Prefecture, China, using camera traps during May–July 2017, to estimate the population size and structure of this genetically important population. Although detection probability was low (0.31), we estimated a total population size of c. 20 individuals, and an effective density of 0.39 elephants per km2. Social structure indicated a strong sex ratio bias towards females, with only one adult male detected within the population. Most of the elephants associated as one herd but three adult females remained separate from the herd throughout the trapping period. These results highlight the fragility of remnant elephant populations such as Nangunhe and we suggest options such as a managed metapopulation approach for their continued survival in China and more widely.

Human activities change the biodiversity of ecological communities in at least three dimensions: ecologically, taxonomically and functionally. Gathering information on these three dimensions allows the improvement of biodiversity assessments and the increased understanding of anthropogenic impact on natural communities. In this study, we analysed the spider community associated with the tropical plant Heliconia aurantiaca in two contrasting habitat types: continuous forest and forest fragments in south-eastern Mexico. We examined the foliage, stems and bracts of H. aurantiaca individuals in both habitats. We categorized each spider species according to its behavioural and functional traits. We analysed ecological diversity using Hill numbers, taxonomic distinctness and functional diversity using the FRic index. Overall, we collected a total of 110 spiders, of which 44 individuals from 29 species were found in continuous forests, with 66 individuals from 36 species in forest fragments. We found greater ecological diversity in continuous forest than in fragments. In contrast, we found lower functional diversity in continuous forest than in fragments. Taxonomic diversity showed no significant difference between habitats. Forest fragmentation affected the biodiversity of spiders by disrupting species composition and function, which may lead to other ecological changes such as predator–prey interactions and other aspects of ecosystem functioning.

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity worldwide, and little is known about their effects on bats in Africa. We investigated effects of forest fragmentation on bat assemblages at Kakamega Forest, western Kenya, examining captures at edge and interior locations in three forest fragments (Buyangu, 3950 ha; Kisere, 400 ha; and Malava, 100 ha) varying in forest area and human-use regimes. Basal area, canopy cover, tree density and intensity of human use were used as predictors of bat abundance and species richness. A total of 3456 mist-net hours and 3168 harp-trap hours resulted in the capture of 4983 bats representing 26 species, eight families and four foraging ensembles (frugivores, forest-interior insectivores, forest-edge insectivores and open-space insectivores). Frugivores were frequently captured at the edges of the larger, better-protected forests, but also in the interior of the smaller, more open fragment. Forest-interior insectivores and narrow-space foragers predominated in the interiors of larger fragments but avoided the smallest one. Forest specialists showed positive associations with forest variables (canopy cover, basal area and tree density), whereas frugivores responded positively to the human-use indicators. On these bases, specialist species appear to be especially vulnerable to forest fragmentation.

The Endangered proboscis monkey Nasalis larvatus is endemic to the island of Borneo. Habitat loss is a major threat to this species, and an understanding of long-term demographic trends is crucial for its conservation. We assessed the population trends and group sizes of proboscis monkeys over 10 years in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Comparisons of observed populations between 2004 and 2014 revealed significantly reduced group sizes, which is probably a result of forest fragmentation. Three long-term studies over 34–73 months in specific areas showed fluctuating estimated densities in each area, but no overall population increase or decrease. Riparian forests are the most important habitat for these monkeys, and one reason for the relatively stable population could be that there were only minor losses of forest along rivers during 2004–2014 because protected areas have been established in the region in 2005. However, proboscis monkey habitat remains under threat in areas allocated for oil palm, and protection of these areas is paramount to maintaining this population.

Different methods to measure species behaviour and space use may produce diverging results, and provide advantages and shortcomings. Data from spot-mapping of animals might be affected from restricted detectability of individuals in dense vegetation, while radio-tracking provides a less biased (or even unbiased) measure of space use. Here we compare results from spot-mapping and telemetry of four family groups (i.e. five individuals belonging to these four family groups), respectively of the Kenyan endemic cooperative-breeding bird Hinde's babbler, Turdoides hindei. Data from spot-mapping showed that the space use of T. hindei is mostly restricted to riparian vegetation. Home-range sizes calculated from telemetry were five times larger if compared with data obtained from spot-mapping. Telemetry data showed that T. hindei also moves across agricultural land, and mean and maximum displacements are larger if compared with data obtained from spot-mapping. Several reasons might lead to these differences: (1) Telemetry data also consider rare long-distance excursions, while (2) observers of spot-mapping might fail to observe long-distance movements and thus underestimate home-range sizes as well as displacement distances; (3) results from telemetry might become blurred from measurement error during the triangulation of fixes. Our study confirms that both methods provide advantages, but also shortcomings, which need to be considered when selecting a method to elaborate a research question.

Thousand Island Lake (TIL) is a typical fragmented landscape and an ideal model to study ecological effects of fragmentation. Partial fragments of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene of 23 island populations of Dendrolimus punctatus in TIL were sequenced, 141 haplotypes being identified. The number of haplotypes increased significantly with the increase in island area and shape index, whereas no significant correlation was detected between three island attributes (area, shape and isolation) and haplotype diversity. However, the correlation with number of haplotypes was no longer significant when the ‘outlier’ island JSD (the largest island) was not included. Additionally, we found no significant relationship between geographic distance and genetic distance. Geographic isolation did not obstruct the gene flow among D. punctatus populations, which might be because of the high dispersal capacity of this pine moth. Fragmentation resulted in the conversion of large and continuous habitats into isolated, small and insular patches, which was the primary effect on the genetic diversity of D. punctatus in TIL. The conclusion to emphasize from our research is that habitat fragmentation reduced the biological genetic diversity to some extent, further demonstrating the importance of habitat continuity in biodiversity protection.

The dilution effect, that high host species diversity can reduce disease risk, has attracted much attention in the context of global biodiversity decline and increasing disease emergence. Recent studies have criticized the generality of the dilution effect and argued that it only occurs under certain circumstances. Nevertheless, evidence for the existence of a dilution effect was reported in about 80% of the studies that addressed the diversity–disease relationship, and a recent meta-analysis found that the dilution effect is widespread. We here review supporting and critical studies, point out the causes underlying the current disputes. The dilution is expected to be strong when the competent host species tend to remain when species diversity declines, characterized as a negative relationship between species’ reservoir competence and local extinction risk. We here conclude that most studies support a negative competence–extinction relationship. We then synthesize the current knowledge on how the diversity–disease relationship can be modified by particular species in community, by the scales of analyses, and by the disease risk measures. We also highlight the complex role of habitat fragmentation in the diversity–disease relationship from epidemiological, evolutionary and ecological perspectives, and construct a synthetic framework integrating these three perspectives. We suggest that future studies should test the diversity–disease relationship across different scales and consider the multiple effects of landscape fragmentation.

The Atlantic forest is the biome most severely affected by deforestation in Brazil. Cabralea canjerana spp. canjerana is a dioecious tree species with widespread distribution in the Neotropical region. This species is considered a model to ascertain population ecology parameters for endangered plant species from the Atlantic forest. Fine-scale spatial genetic structure and pollen-mediated gene flow are crucial information in landscape genetics and evolutionary ecology. A total of 192 adults and 121 offspring were sampled in seven C. canjerana populations in the Southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil, to assess whether pollen-mediated gene flow is able to prevent spatial genetic structure within and among Atlantic forest fragments. Several molecular ecology parameters were estimated using microsatellite loci. High levels of genetic diversity (HE = 0.732) and moderate population structure (θ = 0.133) were recorded. No significant association between kinship and spatial distance amongst individuals within each population (Sp = 0.000109) was detected. Current pollen-mediated gene flow occurs mainly within forest fragments, probably due to short-distance flights of the pollinator of C. canjerana, and also the forest fragmentation may have restricted flight distance. The high levels of genetic differentiation found amongst the seven sites sampled demonstrated how habitat fragmentation affects the gene flow process in natural areas.

When animals or groups of animals in their wild habitats come close to each other within a defined distance, it is termed as an association. Observing two groups of the lion-tailed macaque at Nelliyampathy and Andiparai forests of the Western Ghats of India, we asked whether the lion-tailed macaque associations with the sympatric Nilgiri langur and bonnet macaque were by chance or had any biological significance. Employing ‘all occurrences’ sampling, we recorded an association if a group of another primate species came within 30 m of the focal group of the lion-tailed macaque. Date, time, associating species, activity of the study species and of the associating species, type of interaction, aggressor and the recipient, species displaced and duration of the association were recorded. We used the Waser gas model to calculate the expected frequency and duration of associations and compared them with the observed associations. The lion-tailed macaque spent less time in associations than expected. The lion-tailed macaque and the Nilgiri langur initiated associations less often, and remained in association for less time, than expected by chance. Whereas the expected and observed initiation of associations between the lion-tailed macaque and the Nilgiri langur in Nelliyampathy was significantly different (expected rate = 153; observed rate = 64), in Andiparai, it was not (expected rate = 55.5; observed rate = 61). The expected and observed association duration was significantly different in Nelliyampathy (expected duration = 54 min; observed duration = 15 min) and Andiparai (expected duration = 48 min; observed duration = 19 min). In contrast, we detected few differences between observed and expected association frequency for the lion-tailed macaque and the bonnet macaque. Aggressive interactions were common in areas where density of the Nilgiri langur groups was high. This is the first study on Asian primates using the ideal gas approach to show that primates do not form active associations with each other.

Conservation of large carnivores is challenging as they face various threats, including habitat loss and fragmentation. One of the current challenges to tiger Panthera tigris conservation in India is the conversion of habitat to uses that are incompatible with conservation of the species. Bringing more tiger habitat within a protected area system and in the process creating a network of connected protected areas will deliver dual benefits of wildlife conservation and protection of watersheds. Focusing on the southern Indian state of Karnataka, which holds one of the largest contiguous tiger populations, we attempted to address this challenge using a conservation planning technique that considers ecological, social and political factors. This approach yielded several conservation successes, including an expansion of the protected area network by 2,385 km2, connection of 23 protected areas, and the creation of three complexes of protected areas, increasing the protected area network in Karnataka from 3.8 to 5.2% of the state's land area. This represents the largest expansion of protected areas in India since the 1970s. Such productive partnerships between government officials and conservationists highlight the importance of complementary roles in conservation planning and implementation.

Habitat fragmentation is an important area of concern in species conservation. Habitatfragmentation can affect population distributions through reductions in suitable habitat,and through organism responses to different habitat types and the transitions betweenthem. In earlier work, the effect of habitat fragmentation on cyclic populations wasinvestigated in the context of populations that show no behavioural response to theinterface between habitat types. In this paper, we extend the earlier work by addingedge-mediated behaviour to the models. That is, we investigate the dynamics that resultwhen oscillatory predator and prey species also exhibit behavioural responses to habitatinterfaces. Our results show generally that habitat loss decreases the amplitude and theaverage density of the prey and predator populations, but that most of the reponsesobserved in the two models exhibit marked differences. This work highlights the complexityof the interplay between population cycles, habitat fragmentation, and edge-mediatedbehaviour, and the need to study such systems in greater detail.

Habitat fragmentation can adversely impact biodiversity, although where remnant fragments of natural vegetation provide favourable conditions the negative effects of fragmentation may be mitigated. Host-parasite systems in fragmented areas have only recently been examined, with parasites generally showing higher prevalence and richness in fragments, mediated by changes in host density. However, the effect of fragmentation on parasite body size and fecundity remains poorly investigated. Thus, here we compared the body size and condition of a generalist rodent host, Rhabdomys pumilio and the body size of 2 common flea species between pristine natural areas and remnant fragments within agriculture areas. Host body length, weight and body condition values were significantly larger in fragments than in pristine natural vegetation. Listropsylla agrippinae fleas showed the same pattern, being significantly larger in fragments, while Chiastopsylla rossi fleas did not differ in size between fragments and natural areas. The differential response of the 2 flea species may reflect the strength of association between the host and parasite, with the former spending a greater proportion of its lifespan on the host. Therefore, in this study agriculture fragments provide better conditions for both an opportunistic rodent and a closely associated flea species.

Predictive models are frequently used to define the most suitable areas for species protection or reintroduction. Land-cover variables can be used in different ways for distribution modelling. The surface area of a set of land-cover classes is often used, each land-cover presence/absence or the distance to them from any point of the study area can be preferred; multiple types of land-cover variables may be combined to produce a single model. This paper assesses whether different approaches to using land-cover variables may lead to different ecological conclusions when interpreted for conservation by focusing on the distribution of the salamader Salamandra salamandra longirostris, an endangered amphibian subspecies in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty-eight land-cover classes and another 42 environmental variables were used to construct four different models. Three models used a unique type of land-cover variable: either the presence of each class, the surface area of each class or the distance to each class, with all three variable types jointly entered in a fourth model. All models attained acceptable scores according to some criteria (discrimination, descriptive and predictive capacities, classification accuracy and parsimony); however most of the assessment parameters computed indicated a better performance of the models using either the surface area of land classes or the distance to them from every sampled square, compared to the model using class presences. The best scores were obtained with the fourth model, which combined different types of land-cover variables. This model suggested that oak forest fragmentation in favour of herbaceous crops and pastures may have negative effects on the distribution of S. s. longirostris. This was only partially suggested by the first three models, which considered a single type of land-cover variable, demonstrating the importance of considering a multi-variable analysis for conservation planning.

Palms are important components of tropical forest plant communities, due both to their abundance (Henderson et al. 2000) and to the network of interactions with their pollinators and dispersers (Henderson 2002, Zona & Henderson 1989). Forest fragmentation alters the biotic and abiotic conditions of habitats (Ewers & Didham 2006, Fahrig 2003) and it has been observed that Attalea palms increase their densities in disturbed sites (Aguiar & Tabarelli 2009, Andreazzi et al. 2012, Lorenzi et al. 2004). Increased light availability (Salm 2005, Souza & Martins 2004), changes in seed dispersal and predation patterns (Andreazzi et al. 2012, Pimentel & Tabarelli 2004, Wright et al. 2000), and ability to recover after disturbance (Souza & Martins 2004) are among the main mechanisms that have been proposed to explain enhanced palm densities. However, how altered conditions following disturbances influence the dynamics of flower and fruit production is still little understood.