Although most monitoring protocols characterize fish assemblages based on one sampling occasion per year per site, it is largely unknown how well such snapshot samples characterize fish assemblages at the site and the stream levels. To address these issues, we conducted monthly samplings from March to November in 2009 in two wadeable lowland streams in the catchment area of Lake Balaton, Hungary. Five and seven sites were investigated in the two streams by electric fishing 150 m long sections. For a given sampling site, mean estimated species composition of a single survey showed on average 41 % and 35 % Jaccard index based similarity to the pooled annual samples of the site, and 90 % species representation could be reached using 5.2 and 6.4 sampling occasions on average. The representativeness of relative abundance data also varied considerably in time, showing on average 51 % and 67 % Bray-Curtis index based similarity to the pooled annual samples of the site, and reached 90 % similarity by taking 4.2 and 5.4 surveys on average per year per site. Stream level simulations of sample representativeness showed that a single survey reached on average 62.3 % and 66 % Jaccard similarity and 75.7 % and 74.8 % Bray-Curtis similarity to the whole year dataset. At the stream level, 90 % representativeness of both species composition data and relative abundance data was reached by pooling four surveys for both streams. These results indicate considerable within year variability in lowland stream fish assemblages, which should not be forgotten when evaluating monitoring data, which are based on a single survey per year.

A landscape genetics approach was applied to common goby (Pomatoschistus microps) sampled from three estuaries (six sites) of the Portuguese coast. Individuals of each site were genotyped for eight microsatellite loci and levels of genetic diversity and differentiation were correlated to present-day estuarine characteristics and historical events. A general ecological state for each sampling site was obtained from a principal component analysis (PCA) applied to estuarine geomorphologic characteristics and levels of heavy metals and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons contamination. Genetic diversity was higher than that previously reported for common goby in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. FST were generally very low (0.000-0.049), as well as Nei's genetic distances (0.000-0.167), although the later were statistically significant. Estuarine geomorphology and heavy metal contamination contributed the most to estuarine ecological differentiation but no trend was detected in the relationship between these characteristics and samples' genetic diversity. Mantel tests also revealed no significant relationships between geographic, genetic and ecological distances. Null alleles only contributed to explain significant Hardy-Weinberg departures in two of the eight loci scored, although disequilibria were detected in at least two loci per sample. Notwithstanding its exploratory character, results suggest an important role for historical factors in the timing and direction of P. microps colonization of the Portuguese estuaries. Environmental variation and P. microps ability to cope with it are also structuring factors in establishing and maintaining the patchy genetic diversity detected in the studied estuaries.

In the current study 744 cloacal samples were collected from mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) in the Czech Republic and tested for the presence of influenza virus between 2008 and 2010. Of the total number of 744 mallards tested nine were positive (prevalence 1.2 %) for influenza virus. All the mallards were up to 1.5 years old and the majority (89 %) were killed by hunters.

Long-term studies of population dynamics are important for conservation biology and wildlife management. We conducted 2790 line transects and observed 12516 blue sheep Pseudois nayaur from 2004 to 2009 in the Ningxia Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve of China, and found that the blue sheep population size fluctuated from 12375 in 2004 to 8188 in 2006 then 13344 in 2009, but did not ascend or decline continuously. Population size was positively correlated with the number of rainy days during the previous year. We divided the reserve into high, middle and low density areas according to average sheep encounter rates, and found that in different density areas blue sheep had different population dynamics, sex ratios and group sizes. Ratios between females and males, females and juveniles, and adults and juveniles were not different across six years in all three density areas. Group sizes increased with population size. We deduce that the blue sheep population will not increase or decrease constantly in the reserve, and that managers should manage varying density areas differently to maximize the conservation of blue sheep.

The fauna of Turkey lists the goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) as the only species of the genus Gazella, but older records reported another species of gazelle in Anatolia (either G. dorcas or G. gazella). However, the species status and the distribution of the second gazelle species have never been confirmed, and the species has been regarded as extirpated. We studied the nucleotide differences in a 400 bp region of cytochrome-b gene for Şanlıurfa population and a recently discovered gazelle population in Hatay. A total of 36 sequences were found with 23 variable sites. All individuals from Hatay and the Golan Heights, Israel (G. gazella) revealed an identical monophyletic lineage and the results of phylogenetic analyses suggest that the population in Hatay belongs to G. g. gazella. Şanlıurfa individuals were grouped with Genbank sequences of G. subgutturosa marica, which a recent study has suggested to be a distinct species, G. marica. Our findings have resolved an ongoing debate on the taxonomic status of the Gazella in Turkey and call for the urgent need of improved conservation efforts for the wild gazelles.

Wild boar population size in the Iberian Peninsula was estimated using hunting bag statistics from Spain and Portugal. Density was estimated assigning the wild boar population size to the “potential resources” or suitable habitats categorized by their importance to provide food and/or shelter to wild boars. Land uses were selected from CORINE, the EU database for land cover, using scientific literature and statistical significance for wild boar presence from published data.

The hunting bag was 176245 and 15167 in Spain and Portugal, respectively. The average density was 0.373/km² (min 0.014-max 2.22) in Spain and 0.13/km² (min 0.00048-max 1.99) in Portugal, being 0.31/km² (0.00048-2.22) over the entire Peninsula. Statistical analysis showed that wild boar presence was significantly (p < 0.05) associated to thirteen of the seventeen CORINE land uses selected. Agro-forestry, moors and heathland land use were not statistically significant but were included in the model due to their biological importance. Suitable habitats and distribution of wild boar were mapped for the Iberian Peninsula. This approach is a preliminary step intended to be useful in environmental management and animal health.

We studied the location of Eurasian badger (Meles meles) setts in relation to various environmental factors, and attempted to assess the role of competition with other burrowing carnivores and the importance of human activity on their sett selection in the Western Carpathians (southern Poland). Excavated dens (53 %), caves and rock crevices (43 %), and burrows under buildings (4 %), were used by badgers as permanent shelters. Setts were located mostly in foothills (< 680 m a.s.l.), but selection for den location within the lower montane zone (680-980 m a.s.l.) was also observed. Excavated setts were recorded only up to 640 m a.s.l., while setts in rock crevices occurred up to 1050 m a.s.l. Badger shelters were mainly situated in forests or covered by dense bushes. Badgers avoided northern slopes in all altitudinal zones, and located their burrows mostly on SE or W slopes in foothills, and S or E slopes in montane zones. Setts were placed further from human settlements and main roads, but closer to meadows with high earthworm biomass, when compared with random points. Within badger territories, 1-12 setts were recorded. Badgers occupying territories which included both foothills and montane zones used burrows at various altitudes, but their main setts used for overwintering, were located exclusively above 800 m a.s.l. We conclude that sett location by badgers in mountains is shaped not only by the availability of cover and geological factors influencing digging, but also by human pressure and distance to foraging areas.

In this paper, play behaviour of goitered gazelles is considered for the first time. Young gazelles demonstrated play activity most often, followed by adult males and sub-adults, then adult females. Locomotor play (running, jumping) was the most frequently observed play behaviour, while social play (fighting, sexual play) was noted considerably less often and mostly with males. Adult gazelles played mainly in May and gazelle young in June, and primarily in the evenings (19:00–20:00). Most acts of play lasted from several seconds to a half-minute. Young gazelles played often during their suckling period or, at least in the presence of their mothers. Adult females frequently became involved in their young's play, while males played during grazing or butting. In describing goitered gazelle play patterns, we tested five hypotheses: practice-exercise, surplus energy, locomotor play ontogeny, different play types for specific stages of aging, and the social function of play. Our data for playful behaviour of goitered gazelles supported four of the five hypotheses, but contradicted the fourth listed above, which states, at least for Cuvier's gazelles, that locomotor play appears and disappears earlier than social play. The cause of this difference in results may lie in the different conditions under which groups were observed or the different extent of the studies.

The species IUCN conservation status of smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) is considered ‘Vulnerable’, due to an inferred future population decline caused by habitat loss and sustained exploitation. The status of the Arabian subspecies (L. p. maxwelli) occurring in the Tigris marshes of Iraq and Iran is uncertain due to political problems and limited access to this border region in recent years. With this study we could confirm the persistence of the smooth-coated otter in the marshlands of southern Iraq by using a mitochondrial marker (cytochrome b). Moreover, a second sample from Kurdistan was also identified to be L. perspicillata. This observation represents a major range extension of more than 500 km for this poorly known species. It is recommended to undertake further surveys of suitable habitat in the Tigris wetlands, as well as in Kurdistan, to obtain additional information on the distribution of smooth-coated otter in Iraq, and implement conservation measures in those areas.

We performed a phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial DNA in the edible dormouse, Glis glis (Linnaeus, 1766), including 15 known haplotypes obtained across large part the European species' range along with a fragment of the cytochrome b gene of one specimen from Alonissos island (Sporades archipelago, Greece). The haplotype of this specimen did not cluster with any other haplotypes, which were grouped into four lineages. The genetic divergence (mean K2P distance) between the Greek specimen and these four lineages, comprised between 3.3 % and 5.9 %, was comparable to the genetic divergence found between the aforesaid lineages (1.9-6.4 %). Accordingly, the specimen most likely falls into a new, never described before, Mediterranean mitochondrial lineage of G. glis.