We showed that in addition to the spatial attributes of woodlots (that is, their area, isolation, and shape), local habitat is an important predictor of woodlot bird species richness. The overall richness of bird species increased with vegetation height and the richness of woody plant species and decreased with the cover of an invasive tree, the Black Locust Robinia pseudoaccacia. On the contrary, the richness of farmland bird species was positively related to the diversity of woodlot microhabitats, which reflects mainly enrichment by non-forest habitats such as grassland or sparse shrubs.

Our results indicate that the current practices implemented by the EU’s CAP subsidy system favour widespread forest bird species, but not the farmland birds that are more threatened in Europe, for which a microhabitat heterogeneity should instead be maximized.

The study was carried out in cooperation with Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

Dvořáková L., Kuczyński L., Rivas-Salvador J. and Reif J. 2022. Habitat Characteristics Supporting Bird Species Richness in Mid-Field Woodlots. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 10:816255. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.816255

In this article, we explain what mechanisms influence the effective colonisation of plants by parastic mites.

The paper is part of Alicja’s PhD thesis. Congratulations!

The study was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland, research grant no. 2017/27/N/NZ8/00305 and the Dean Faculty of Biology grant no. GDWB-07/2018.

Laska, A., Przychodzka, A., Puchalska, E., Lewandowski, M., Karpicka-Ignatowska, K. & Skoracka A. Mechanisms of dispersal and colonisation in a wind-borne cereal pest, the haplodiploid wheat curl mite. Sci Rep 12, 551 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04525-9

How can species persist when their habitat disappears? Theoretically, in seasonal environments, habitat sinks (where population growth is zero or negative) could serve as temporal stepping-stones (refuges) for specialists, but this possibility has not been demonstrated to date. By combining laboratory experiments and field surveys, we demonstrated the importance of sink habitats for population persistence in temporally varying environments. Together, our results emphasize the relevance of source-sink dynamics in shaping species’ ecological niches. They also have significant implications for explaining patterns of host use by specialists, and the persistence of agricultural pests when their preferred host plants are absent.

The paper is part of Alicja’s PhD thesis. Congratulations!

The study was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (NSC); research grant no. 2017/27/N/NZ8/00305 and  NSC research grant no. 2016/21/B/NZ8/00786.

Laska, A., Magalhães, S., Lewandowski, M., Puchalska, E., Karpicka-Ignatowska, K., Radwańska, A., Meagher, S., Kuczyński, L., Skoracka, A. 2021. A sink host allows a specialist herbivore to persist in a seasonal source. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 288: 20211604. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1604

 

 

A new paper, co-authored by Lechosław Kuczyński from our Lab, was published in Limnology and Oceanography. The authors investigated thermal adaptation of Daphnia from lakes that had been artificially warmed for six decades and served as a whole ecosystem model of future temperature increase. Daphnia from heated lakes evolved larger body size, which is contradictory to general expectations and theory. Authors suggest that large size is adaptive during warmer and iceless winters when daphnids overwinter in active form.

More info: Dziuba, M.K., Kuczyński, L., Wejnerowski, Ł., Cerbin, S. and Wolinska, J. 2021. Countergradient variation concealed adaptive responses to temperature increase in Daphnia from heated lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 66: 1268-1280. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11680

In our recent paper we evaluated temperature-dependent development and survival of an invasive wheat curl mite Aceria tosichella at a wide range of temperatures. The results allow for predicting and monitoring the mite population growth rate. They also provide information promoting more efficient and effective manipulation of mite laboratory colonies and testing a wide array of ecological and evolutionary hypotheses.

Karpicka-Ignatowska K., Laska A., Rector B.G., Skoracka A., Kuczyński L. 2021. Temperature-dependent development and survival of an invasive genotype of wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella. Experimental and Applied Acarology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-021-00602-w