Department of Biodiversity, Institute of Nature Conservation, PAS

31/03/2021

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13/03/2021

New publication!
One of the most important problems of nature conservation is the protection of biodiversity in the agricultural environment. A particularly good indicator of the state of biodiversity is the number of farmland birds, which is strongly decreasing from year to year. However, the protection of farmland birds is costly as it usually requires changes in the land management at large scales (e.g. introducing agri-environmental programs and organic farming). Also, most studies on the impact of landscape changes on bird biodiversity use large-scale spatial data (eg Corine Land Cover, land fragmentation, crop diversification) or length of linear structures (roadsides, drainage ditches, tree alleys). This approach ignores the existence and potential role of single, often very small, natural or man-made point elements common to agricultural landscapes (such as, for example, trees, shrubs, poles, manure heaps, straw piles) that could be a component of bird habitat. These elements are often overlooked in research due to small dimensions, ephemeral character, lack of readily available data and difficulties in estimating their number. Sylwia Pustkowiak, Magdalena Lenda and Piotr Skórka from our Dept. are co-authors of research published in Biological Reviews, in which they described the potential impact of singular point elements in the agricultural landscape on bird distribution and their biology. The study identified a list of single point elements that are potentially important for farmland birds as a nesting, foraging or sheltering site. Based on a review of the literature and a survey of ornithologists, the relative role that individual types of elements can play for the bird population was assessed. The study highlights the enormous potential of singular point elements in the protection of biodiversity, as their maintenance or changing their number is easy and cheap to implement. Nevertheless, in review identified numerous gaps in data and evidence. Thus, it is necessary to conduct empirical research on the importance and use of singular point elements in the protection of birds in farmland.
The article link:

Farmland birds belong to the most endangered group of vertebrates in Europe. They are an important component of farmland biodiversity considering the numerous functions they perform (e.g. seed disper...

28/02/2021

New publication!
Why do some species occur in small, restricted areas, while others are distributed globally? Environmental heterogeneity increases with area and so does the number of species. Hence, diverse biotic and abiotic conditions across large ranges may lead to specific adaptations that are often linked to a species’ genome size and chromosome number. Therefore, a positive association between genome size and geographic range is anticipated. Piotr Skórka from our Dept. took part in research that tested this hypotheses in birds. Results demonstrated that range size is positively associated with bird genome size but probably not with chromosome number. Moreover, relative brain mass had no effect on range size, whereas body mass had a possible weak and negative effect. However, our models did not fully explain the overall variation in range size. The work was published in (open access):

Why do some species occur in small, restricted areas, while others are distributed globally? Environmental heterogeneity increases with area and so does the number of species. Hence, diverse biotic and abiotic conditions across large ranges may lead to specific adaptations that are often linked to a...

21/02/2021

New publication!
How is the development of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis affected by some insecticide formulations at environmentally relevant concentration? Agnieszka Bednarska from our Dept. co-authored a paper in journal Science of the Total Environment on the effects of three commonly used insecticide-based plant protection products on the development of the red mason bee by exposing larvae to insecticide-contaminated multifloral pollen. The toxic effects of the chronic exposure of larvae to insecticides can be manifested as increased larval mortality, decreased body mass, altered larval development (e.g., time to pupation), increased overwintering mortality, prolonged time to emergence of adults or overall failure to emerge. All of the above-mentioned endpoints were studied and different insecticides affected these endpoints differently. However, at least 80% of individuals exposed to any of the tested insecticides died before reaching the adult stage, whereas 43% of the controls emerged successfully after overwintering. Thus, there is an urgent need for revising current pesticide usage recommendations.
Full text is available on

Solitary bees provide essential pollination services for many arable crops, but are prone to global decline. Agricultural intensification, which is co…

18/02/2021

Nowa publikacja!
Stosowanie środków owadobójczych (insektycydów), to podstawowa metoda ochrony upraw przed ‘szkodnikami’. Głównym problemem przy stosowaniu insektycydów jest to, że działają one negatywnie na populacje innych owadów pożytecznych. Dr hab. Agnieszka Bednarska z naszego Instytutu jest współautorką artykułu opublikowanego w czasopiśmie Science of the Total Environment na temat metod ochrony populacji owadów pożytecznych w agroekosystemach, niebędących celem zwalczania przy pomocy insektycydów. Autorzy wykorzystali dynamiczne modele krajobrazu o wysokiej rozdzielczości i zaawansowane przestrzennie modelowanie populacji (ALMaSS), aby oszacować względne znaczenie stosowania środków owadobójczych i struktury krajobrazu dla dynamiki populacji szeroko rozpowszechnionego chrząszcza, biegacza Bembidion lampros. Okazało się, że zmniejszenie śmiertelności powodowanej przez insektycydy miało większy pozytywny wpływ na zagęszczenie populacji chrząszczy, niż zwiększenie udziału miedz i skrajów pól w krajobrazie. Wyniki te sugerują znaczenie miedz jako wspierającego, ale nie jedynego środka zmniejszającego wpływ insektycydów na owady świadczące tzw usługi ekosystemowe. Utrzymanie dostatecznie dużego udziału siedlisk marginalnych powinno być metodą wspierającą przy utrzymaniu populacji chrząszczy na terenach rolniczych, nawet przy umiarkowanym stosowaniu środków owadobójczych. Stwierdzono ponadto, że skuteczność zastosowanych metod ochrony populacji chrząszczy silnie zależała od stopnia heterogeniczności krajobrazu, co może determinować wybór odpowiednich strategii ochrony ich populacji.
Pełny tekst pracy: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721008135?via%3Dihub

New Publication!
Agnieszka Bednarska from our Department co-authored the paper published in Science of the Total Environment on supporting non-target arthropods in agroecosystems. The authors used high-resolution dynamic landscape models and advanced spatially-explicit population modelling (ALMaSS) to estimate the relative importance of insecticide use and landscape structure for population dynamics of a widespread carabid beetle Bembidion lampros. They found that reducing the insecticide-driven lethality had larger positive impacts on beetle density and occupancy than increasing the abundance of field margins in a landscape. The results suggest the importance of field margins rather as a supporting not stand-alone mitigation measure, as they generally improved effects of reduction of insecticide-driven lethality. Therefore, adding sufficiently broad off-field habitats should help to maintain viable beetle populations in agricultural landscapes even with moderate use of insecticides. Moreover, the effectiveness of applied mitigation measures strongly depended on landscape and farmland heterogeneity. Thus, to achieve the same management or mitigation target in different landscapes might require different strategies.

Full text is available on: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721008135?via%3Dihub

Intensification of agricultural practices is one of the most important drivers of the dramatic decline of arthropod species. We do not know, however, …

12/12/2020

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22/11/2020

New publication!
The protection of rare endangered birds requires knowledge on how individuals use the available habitats. An example of such a species is the Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), whose population is strongly declining in Europe. Dorota Kotowska from our Dept., participated in research in which 50 harriers were equipped with GPS transmitters, thanks to which it was possible to know the size of the home ranges, their variability over time and the use of habitats by harriers. Results showed that the Harriers are very mobile. Males flew about 100 km a day, moving away from the nest up to 35 km, and their home ranges were up to 70 km2. The home ranges of females were much smaller. Moreover, the home ranges also changed in the 24-hour cycle and in the course of a breeding season. The harriers chose dry, elevated areas, dominated by grasslands or arable land, and avoided human settlements. Research indicates that the conservation of birds of open habitats should involve a larger spatial scale than previously believed. The work was published in the Journal of Ornithology, open access:

Agriculture intensification drives changes in bird populations but also in the space use by farmland species. Agriculture in Eastern Europe still follows an extensive farming model, but due to policy shifts aimed at rural restructuring and implementation of government subsidies for farmers, it is be...

17/11/2020

New publication!
We live in a world where there is an intense exchange of information, mainly via the Internet. However, not all information is true, verified and thus may be misleading. Dr. Magdalena Lenda, Dr. Piotr Skórka and Michał Bełcik from our Dept investigated in a paper published in Ecology Letters how the development of online social media fuels the spread of false information that can boost invasions of alien plant species. On the example of goldenrod, the authors showed that social networks disseminate information about the alleged healing properties of goldenrod honey, which generates a great demand for it. As a result, beekeepers often place hives in goldenrod stands. In addition, they exchange information on how to plant goldenrod in semi-natural habitats on online social media. In this way, goldenrods can be moved to regions of the world where these plants do not yet occur. It happens despite the fact that bees fed with goldenrod honey have a reduced survival, and the goldenrod itself destroys native food sources for honey bees. Link to the article:

Internet driven misinformation and beliefs in unproven superfood health benefits may drive biological invasions. People's interest in superfood causes that beekeepers use and disperse invasive Golden...

12/11/2020

Istnieje wiele badań dotyczących związku pomiędzy krajobrazem, a występowaniem i liczebnością zwierząt. W tych badaniach płazy często są wybierane jako gatunki modelowe, ponieważ w sezonie lęgowym zwykle zamieszkują łatwo rozpoznawalne siedliska (stawy, kałuże), oraz są uważane za...

22/10/2020

New publication!
Starvation may lead to odd behaviours. Cannibalistic necrophagy is rare in social hymenopterans, although starvation could easily favour such behaviour. Reason for the rarity of necrophagy is that eating of nestmate corpses carries the risk of epidemia. Dr Magdalena Lenda from our Dept coauthored a paper in Scientific Reports in which researchers found that ants F. polyctena distinguished between corpses of different types and with different levels of infection risk, adjusting their behaviour accordingly. The frequency of behaviours indicating cannibalistic necrophagy increased during starvation, although these behaviours seem to be fairly common in this ant even in the presence of other food sources. The ability to detect infections and handle pathogens are important behavioural adaptations for social insects. The article is freely available from:

Cannibalistic necrophagy is rarely observed in social hymenopterans, although a lack of food could easily favour such behaviour. One of the main supposed reasons for the rarity of necrophagy is that eating of nestmate corpses carries the risk of rapid spread of pathogens or parasites. Here we presen...

18/06/2020

New publication!
Woodpeckers are indicators of bird biodiversity in forests. Can they, however, be indicators for other groups of organisms? In the research led by Dorota Kotowska from our Dept., and co-workers, the relationship between the abundance of the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and the diversity and activity of bats found in the pine forests of north-eastern Poland was investigated. A positive relationship was found between the number of woodpeckers and the species' richness and activity of the entire bats community, as well as the activity of some of the studied species: Nyctalus sp., Pipistrellus nathusii, Pipistrellus pipistrellus. Thus, the Great Spotted Woodpecker appears to be a good indicator of the diversity of bats in managed forests. The work has been just published open access in the PeerJ:

Woodpecker diversity is usually higher in natural forests rich in dead wood and old trees than in managed ones, thus this group of birds is regarded as an indicator of forest biodiversity. Woodpeckers excavate cavities which can be subsequently used by several bird species. As a consequence, their a...

19/05/2020

Richarda Feynmana, fizyka, który dostał Nagrodę Nobla, bo nauka go bawiła, przedstawia