Rita Bastos

Early detection and rapid response are essential to deal effectively with new introductions of invasive alien species (IAS). Citizen science platforms for opportunistic recording of species are increasingly popular, and there is potential to harvest their data for early detection of IAS, but this has not been tested. We evaluated the potential of data from existing citizen science platforms for early detection of IAS by obtaining 687 first records of species from 30 European countries where there was both an official first record (i.e. published in scientific literature or by a government agency) and a record in a citizen science platform. We tested how the difference between the two (time lag) was related to species traits, popularity in citizen science platforms, public and research attention and regulatory status. We found that for 50% of the time lag records, citizen science platforms reported IAS earlier than or in the same year as the official databases. Although we cannot determine causality (the first official record could have been from a citizen science platform, or contemporaneous with it), this demonstrates that citizen science platforms are effective for IAS early detection. Time lags were largely affected by species traits. Compared with official records, vertebrates were more likely to have earlier records on citizen science platforms, than plants or invertebrates. Greater popularity of the IAS in citizen science platforms and its observation in neighbouring countries resulted in earlier citizen science reporting. In contrast, inclusion in the EU priority list resulted in earlier official recording, reflecting the efficacy of targeted surveillance programmes. However, time lags were not affected by the overall activity of citizen platforms per country. Synthesis and applications. Multi‐species citizen science platforms for reporting nature sightings are a valuable source of information on early detection of IAS even though they are not specifically designed for this purpose. We recommend that IAS surveillance programmes should be better connected with citizen science platforms, including greater acknowledgement of the role of citizen scientists and better data flow from smaller citizen science initiatives into global databases, to support efficient early detection. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The Doñana Protected Area, Western Europe’s largest protected wetland and UNESCO World Heritage Site, is of great importance for the Spanish biodiversity. Despite its ecological value, there is a noticeable scarcity of scientific and technical information about its hydrology and expected climate change effects, as highlighted by several authors. This article reviews the existing research on the Guadalquivir River and Doñana National Park, examining the interplay between hydrodynamics, climate change scenarios, and the potential impact of the removal of the current dike which was built to limit tidal flooding. In this context, the hydrodynamic changes predicted by a hydrodynamic model were examined under both present (including the current mean sea level and the presence of the dike) and predicted future conditions (encompassing a mean sea level rise of 0.84 m and the removal of the dike). These hydrodynamic changes were assessed in terms of the maximum predicted water levels, mean velocity, amplitude, and phase of M₂ and M₄ tidal constituents, tidal asymmetry, and tidal prims. The results reveal that the removal of the dike and a sea level rise will have a significant impact on the protected area, resulting in the complete flooding of the Doñana national marshes during spring tides. Such changes could have negative impacts, as increased environmental alterations would require more demanding adaptation measures.

Reintroduction of species should be based on ecological knowledge, which is fundamental to enhancing the probability of success, but also in predicting the response to future changing landscapes. The addax (Addax nasomaculatus), an endangered antelope whose ecology is mostly unknown, was released in a fenced area of the Jbil National Park, Tunisia. Considering the extreme desert conditions of the area, seasonal changes should affect both habitat and diet selection. Addax occurrence, habitat selection and diet were assessed using an integrative approach, and analysed with multivariate statistics. During the wet season, preferred and avoided plant species abundance were highly correlated with addax occurrence; while in the dry season, preferred plant species abundance were positively correlated with addax presence. Micro-histological analysis of faecal samples indicated differences in diet between seasons. The integrative approach proposed represents a useful contribution for decision-making in the scope of reintroduction programmes and habitat restoration measures, by facilitating the assessment of habitat suitability for endangered antelopes in arid environments.

Oceans are extremely dynamic environments, which poses challenges for top-predators such as seabirds to find food resources. Yet, seabirds evolved sensorial abilities (olfactory senses) along with complex behaviours (social information transfer through local enhancement) to improve foraging efficiency. Using the Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris borealis) as a model species, we developed an individual-based model to explore the complementary role of different searching mechanisms (olfactory foraging and local enhancement) for the optimal foraging behaviour of pelagic seabirds during 1-day foraging trips around breeding colonies. Model outputs were compared with observed patterns of Cory’s shearwaters distribution during local foraging trips. Also, the foraging efficiency of virtual individuals was analysed considering hypothetical scenarios of foraging conditions and densities of foraging individuals around breeding colonies. The results support the use of a combination of searching strategies by Cory's shearwaters, which produced representative patterns of space use from tracked individuals, including spatial foraging segregation of neighbouring sub-colonies. Furthermore, while the mechanisms underpinning local enhancement played a key role in mitigating sub-optimal foraging conditions, the use of olfactory senses conferred great adaptive foraging advantages over a wide range of environmental conditions. Our results also indicate a synergistic effect between the two strategies, which suggests that a multimodal foraging strategy is useful to forage in extremely dynamic environments. The developed model provides a basis for further investigation regarding the role of foraging mechanisms in the population dynamics of colonial animals, including the adaptive foraging behaviour of marine top predators to dynamic environmental conditions.

Summary: The Eurasian skylark Alauda arvensis is very susceptible to the negative effects of wind farms. In northern Portugal, this evidence is particularly severe due to the skylark's preference for mountain breeding habitats where most wind farms are located. Facing the frequent failure of environmental impact assessments (EIA) to evaluate the cumulative impacts of wind farms on wildlife, this study aimed to develop and test a methodology to quantify local and regional consequences on birds, using skylarks as a test species, taking into account future predictable environmental changes. We propose a spatially explicit dynamic approach that combines the results from multiple modelling techniques under a common framework to assess the local and cumulative regional impacts of wind farms on skylark populations. This includes the following: (i) modelling the local impact of wind farms (in terms of collision mortality) on the skylark population dynamics by developing an index for quantitative assessments, (ii) determining the actual and future skylark breeding distribution across northern Portugal and (iii) integrating the above contributions in an emergent spatially explicit regional representation to capture the ecological cumulative consequences as a whole. The simulations show an increasing average local impact for the skylark breeding populations directly affected by wind farms, expressed in mean number of collision fatalities per UTM study unit (1 km²), representing 1·3% of the local breeders in 2006 and 4% in 2026. The distribution area of skylark breeding populations was predicted to decrease around 4·5% throughout a period of 15 years, as a result of the scenario of climate and land cover changes in the study area. When combined with a concomitant increase in skylark global mortality (c. 184%) induced by all wind farms in the study region, the above trend contributes to an intensification of the regional cumulative impact from 1·2% to 3·7% of the total estimated breeding individuals. Synthesis and applications. The proposed modelling framework represents a step forward in evaluating the multi‐scale cumulative consequences of wind farms on vulnerable birds, using skylarks as a test species. This could be used in the future to guide monitoring efforts and to improve the applicability of the data bases generated by long‐term ecological research and monitoring studies.