Providing artificial eggs is a commonly used technique to understand brood parasitism, mainly by the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). However, the presence of a cuckoo egg in the host nest would also require an earlier physical presence of the common cuckoo within the host territory. During our study of the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio), we tested two experimental...
. Broughton, James M. Bullock, Shelley A. Hinsley, Marta Maziarz, J. Owen Mountford, Tim H. Sparks, Richard F. Pywell. Data curation: Richard K. Broughton, Charles George, Ross A. Hill, Marta Maziarz, Markus ... Melin, J. Owen Mountford, Tim H. Sparks. Formal analysis: Richard K. Broughton, Marta Maziarz. Funding acquisition: Richard F. Pywell. Investigation: Richard K. Broughton, Charles George, Ross A. Hill
In their first phase of expanding into new areas, invasive plants often take advantage of the inability of existing herbivores and pathogenic species to exploit them. However, in the longer term local enemies may adapt to using these invasive species as a food source. This study assesses the use of mature acorns of two oak species in Europe (the native Pedunculate Oak Quercus...
Potato Solanum tuberosum is one of the world’s four most important crops. Its cultivation is steadily increasing in response to the need to feed a growing world population. The yield of potato is influenced inter alia by both climate and pests. The main defoliator pest of potato is Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata. Using data from a long-term experiment (1958–2013...
Hedges are both ecologically and culturally important and are a distinctive feature of the British landscape. However the overall length of hedges across Great Britain is decreasing. Current challenges in studying hedges relate to the dominance of research on rural, as opposed to urban, hedges, and their variability and geographical breadth. To help address these challenges and...
There is growing concern about declines in pollinator species, and more recently reservations have been expressed about mismatch in plant-pollinator synchrony as a consequence of phenological change caused by rising temperatures. Long-term changes in honeybee Apis mellifera phenology may have major consequences for agriculture, especially the pollinator market, as well as for...
The study of the phenology of crops, although quite popular, has limitations, mainly because of frequent changes to crop varieties and management practices. Here, we present data on the phenology and yield of winter rye in western Poland collected between 1957 and 2012 from a long-term field experiment. Data were examined for trends through time and compared to climatological...
Bumblebee queens require a continuous supply of flowering food plants from early spring for the successful development of annual colonies. Early in spring, Corydalis cava provides essential nectar and pollen resources and a choice of flower colour. In this paper, we examine flower colour choice (purple or white) in C. cava and verify the hypothesis that bumblebee queens differ in...
Biochemical and blood cell parameters have commonly been employed as useful minimally invasive indicators of the health or nutritional status of many species. Here, we present data on a suite of commonly measured blood parameters from 342 White Stork Ciconia ciconia chicks of molecularly known sex. Samples were collected in western Poland during four breeding seasons (2005–2008...
When attempting to estimate the impacts of future climate change it is important to reflect on information gathered during the past. Understanding historical trends may also aid in the assessment of likely future agricultural and horticultural changes. The timing of agricultural activities, such as grape harvest dates, is known to be influenced by climate and weather. However...
Urbanization has a marked effect on the reproduction and other ecological and behavioural traits of many living organisms, including birds. In migrant birds, survival and reproductive output is influenced by the (mis)synchronization of arrival with the availability of resources. Many recent studies have shown that arrival timing is related to temperatures en-route and at...
We examine the flowering phenology of the cultural iconic Spring Snowflake Leucojum vernum, a considerable tourist attraction, recorded from two sites in western Poland. Flowering dates at the two sites were closely correlated but about 6 days later at the more natural area. The end of flowering was associated with the start of canopy leafing. Early flowering was related to a...
Botanical gardens offer continuity for phenological recording in observers, protocols and plant specimens that may not be achievable from other sources. Here, we examine phenological change and synchrony from one such garden in western Poland. We analysed 66 botanical phenophases and 18 interphase intervals recorded between 1977 and 2007 from the Poznań Botanical Garden. These...
Widespread concerns about global biodiversity loss have led to a growing demand for indices of biodiversity status. Today, climate change is among the most serious threats to global biodiversity. Although many studies have revealed phenological responses to climate change, no long-term community-level indices have been developed. We derived a 250-year index of first flowering...
Although there is much research showing a strong negative effect of habitat fragmentation and deterioration on the viability of different insect populations and on species richness, the effect of fragmentation is modified by other local and landscape factors. One of the most substantial gaps in knowledge is whether species are similar in their response to the same environmental...
Sex allocation has been a fertile topic in the development of evolutionary theory. The dominant models for vertebrates have provided predictions of sex ratios based on asymmetry in breeding success between sexes and the relative effect of local competition. In birds, empirical work has provided some support for these models, but has also generated apparently contradictory...
Most macrofungi produce ephemeral fruit bodies during autumn but some have adapted to spring fruiting. In this study, temporal changes in the time of spring fruiting in Norway and the UK during 1960–2007 have been investigated by statistical analyses of about 6000 herbarium and field records, covering 34 species. Nearly 30 per cent of the temporal variation in fruiting could be...
Urban development has a marked effect on the ecological and behavioural traits of many living organisms, including birds. In this paper, we analysed differences in the numbers of wintering birds between rural and urban areas in Poland. We also analysed species richness and abundance in relation to longitude, latitude, human population size, and landscape structure. All these...
Bird feeding is one of the most widespread direct interactions between man and nature, and this has important social and environmental consequences. However, this activity can differ between rural and urban habitats, due to inter alia habitat structure, human behaviour and the composition of wintering bird communities. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km2 each) in December...
