River field surveys are carried out to describe biological habitats and the main geomorphic features of a river stretch. They can be extensive, expensive and time consuming campaigns sampling a high number of features. These features belong to a complex river ecosystem characterized by many different processes at various scales from simple to highly non linear. Researchers need sophisticated te...

Because of birds’ mobility, behaviour and many species’ migratory nature, they select repeatedly and spatially among habitats and have been central figures in studies of avian breeding habitat selection during the 20th and 21st centuries. The scientific literature on habitat use by breeding waterfowl has origins dating back to the writings of Charles Darwin in The Voyage of the Beagle, wherein ...

Conversion of tropical forests into agriculture may present a serious risk to amphibian diversity if amphibians are not able to use agricultural areas as habitat. Recently, in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province - a hotspot of frog diversity within China - two-thirds of the native tropical rainforests have been converted into rubber plantation agriculture. We conducted surveys and experim...

In conservation biology there is a basic need to determine habitat suitability and availability. Astroblepus ubidiai (Siluriforms), the only native fish in the highlands of Imbabura province in the Ecuadorian Andes, was abundant in the past in the Imbakucha watershed and adjacent drainages, but currently it is restricted to a few isolated refuges. Conservation actions are needed if this unique ...

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has had detrimental effects on species composition in a range of sensitive habitats, although N deposition can also increase agricultural productivity and carbon storage, and favours a few species considered of importance for conservation. Conservation targets are multiple, and increasingly incorporate services derived from nature as well as concepts of intri...

Species distribution models have great potential to efficiently guide management for threatened species, especially for those that are rare or cryptic. We used MaxEnt to develop a regional-scale model for the koala Phascolarctos cinereus at a resolution (250 m) that could be used to guide management. To ensure the model was fit for purpose, we placed emphasis on validating the model using indep...

Francois' langur (Trachypithecus francoisi) is an endangered primate and endemic to the limestone forests of the tropical and subtropical zone of northern Vietnam and South-west China with a population of about 2,000 individuals. Conservation efforts are hampered by limited knowledge of habitat preference in its main distribution area. We surveyed the distribution of Francois' langur and modele...

Biogenic reefs formed by dense aggregations of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica are a dominant feature in most estuarine systems along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Oyster reefs are complex in their structural nature and have long been recognized for their potential habitat value. However, relatively few studies have characterized nekton abundance in this complex habitat type, and li...

Habitat monitoring of designated areas under the EU Habitats Directive requires every 6 years spatially explicit information on area, range, structure and function for the protected (Annex I) habitat types. Hyperspectral remote sensing could be an important technique to assist in the evaluation of the habitat conservation status by providing continuous maps of habitat quality indicators (e.g., ...

Habitat structure plays an important mediating role in predator-prey interactions. However the effects are strongly dependent on regional predator pools, which can drive predation risk in habitats with very similar structure in opposite directions. In the Mediterranean Sea predation on juvenile sea urchins is commonly known to be regulated by seagrass structure. In this study we test whether th...