The great capricorn beetle Cerambyx cerdo L. in south-western Poland – the current state and perspectives of conservation in one of the recent distribution centres in Central Europe

Great capricorn beetle-created corridors as refuges for lizards

Ecosystem engineering is among the most important factors shaping ecosystems; however, it remains largely unstudied. Here, we present observations on three lizard species, the common lizard Zootoca vivipara, the sand lizard Lacerta agilis, and the slow worm Anguis fragilis, which use habitats created by the great capricorn beetle, Cerambyx cerdo. These galleries are heavily used by the common lizards and young sand lizards. We discuss the possible advantages of such beetle-created habitats for reptiles: antipredator refuges, hibernation sites, thermoregulatory behaviour, and preying activities. Since previous studies have reported numerous invertebrate species as well as vertebrates (including bats and snakes) in these refugia, we find the great capricorn beetle-inhabited oaks as potentially important microhabitats for a variety of animals.

Body Remains Left by Bird Predators as a Reliable Source for Population Genetic Studies in the Great Capricorn Beetle Cerambyx cerdo, a Veteran Oak Specialist

Obtaining biological material for DNA extraction is often challenging in organisms of conservation interest. Non-invasive sampling (i.e., sampling without injuring or disturbing an animal) is preferred as it carries no risk to the population's survival. Here, we tested the possibility of using the body remains left by bird predators for microsatellite genotyping in Cerambyx cerdo, a veteran oak specialist. We compared results obtained from such potentially degraded samples with samples of fresh beetle tarsi (i.e., invasive and destructive but non-lethal samples). Using 10 SSR loci, we genotyped 28 fresh, and 28 remains samples. The analysis indicated that PCR amplification efficiency was not influenced by sample type but allele length and individual heterozygosity. Allele frequencies were perfectly correlated for both sample types (R² = 0.94). Additionally, null allele frequencies and genotyping failure rates were not significantly different from zero. Although the point estimates of individual inbreeding rates (f_i) were higher in remains than fresh samples (medians 0.08 vs. 0.02, respectively), both groups were not significantly different from each other and zero. Our study demonstrated that non-invasive remains samples could provide satisfactory data for population-genetic studies. However, we highlight the problem of biased inbreeding estimates, which may result from samples affected by allelic dropout.

Snakes use microhabitats created by the great capricorn beetle Cerambyx cerdo in southwest Poland

Niche engineering is considered one of the most important interspecific interactions that shape ecosystems, but this kind of interaction network has not been sufficiently studied so far. Here we present the first observation of grass snake Natrixnatrix in the galleries of Cerambyxcerdo. We recorded three grass snake individuals basking and hiding inside the C.cerdo galleries. We suggest the presence of this beetle species may create new environmental niches and improve habitat quality for snakes and other vertebrates.

Assessing fire hazard potential and its main drivers in Mazandaran province, Iran: a data-driven approach

Fires are a major disturbance to forest ecosystems and socioeconomic activities in Mazandaran province, northern Iran, particularly in the Hyrcanian forest sub-region. Mapping the spatial distribution of fire hazard levels and the most important influencing factors is crucial to enhance fire management strategies. In this research, MODIS hotspots were used to represent fire events covering Mazandaran Province over the period 2000-2016. We applied the ecological niche theory through the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) method to estimate fire hazard potential and the association with different anthropogenic and biophysical conditions, by applying different modeling approaches (heuristic, permutation, and jackknife metrics). Our results show that higher fire likelihood is related to density of settlements, distance to roads up to 3 km and to land cover types associated with agricultural activities, indicating a strong influence of human activities in fire occurrence in the region. To decrease fire hazard, prevention activities related to population awareness and the adjustment of farming practices need to be considered.