Biology subjects

Batary, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Batary, P..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Heritage of ancient cultures supports conservation: a continent-wide perspective from the Eurasian steppes

Civilisations including ancient ones, have shaped the global ecosystems in many ways through a co-evolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilisations are seldom considered in conservation. Here using a continental-scale dataset containing over 1,000 data records on the localities, land cover, protection status and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (so-called kurgans), we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth. By using Bayesian logistic generalized regressions and proportional odds logistic regressions, we aimed to reveal the potential of mounds in preserving grasslands considering landscapes with different levels of land use transformation. We also compared the conservation potential of mounds situated inside and outside protected areas and assessed whether the presence of cultural, historical or spiritual values support the maintenance of grasslands on them. We revealed that kurgans have enormous importance in preserving grasslands in transformed landscapes outside protected areas, where they can act as habitat islands, and provide an additional pillar for conservation by contributing to habitat conservation and improvement of habitat connectivity. We found that besides their steep slopes hindering ploughing, the existence of cultural, historical or religious values could almost double the chance for grassland occurrence on kurgans due to the related extensive land use and the respect of local communities. As the estimated number of steppic mounds is about 600,000 and also similar historical features exist in all continents, our results can be upscaled to a global level. Our results also suggest that an integrative socio-ecological approach in conservation might support the positive synergistic effects of conservational, landscape and cultural values.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

A comparative analysis reveals irreproducibility in searches of scientific literature

Repeatability is the cornerstone of science and it is particularly important for systematic reviews. However, little is known on how database and search engine choices influence replicability. Here, we present a comparative analysis of time-synchronized searches at different locations in the world, revealing a large variation among the hits obtained within each of the several search terms using different search engines. We found that PubMed and Scopus returned geographically consistent results to identical search strings, Google Scholar and Web of Science varied substantially both in the number of returned hits and in the list of individual articles depending on the search location and computing environment. To maintain scientific integrity and consistency, especially in systematic reviews, action is needed from both the scientific community and scientific search platforms to increase search consistency. Researchers are encouraged to report the search location, and database providers should make search algorithms transparent and revise access rules to titles behind paywalls.View Full Text

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2020

Increasing habitat loss and human disturbances in the world's largest mangrove forest: the impact on plant-pollinator interactions

The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site has been facing an increasing pressure of habitat destruction. Yet, no study has been conducted to test how human disturbances are affecting plant-pollinator interactions in this unique ecosystem. Hence, we aimed to provide the first insight of the impact of habitat loss and human disturbances on the pollinator communities in the Sundarbans. We selected 12 sites in the North-Western region of the Sundarbans, along a gradient of decreasing habitat loss and human activities from forest fragments near human settlements to continuous pristine forest, where we studied insect pollinators of two mangrove plant species, Acanthus ilicifolius and Avicennia officinalis. Our results show that different pollinator groups responded to the disturbance gradient differently. For example, the abundance of Apis dorsata, one of the three local species of honey bees, increased gradually from the village area towards the deep pristine forest. On the other hand, A. cerana and A. florea were found in the village sites and completely absent in the deep forest. Although pollinator community composition changed along the disturbance gradient, their efficacy in pollination did not seem to be significantly affected. However, lower plant diversity and low understory plant cover in the forest patches nearby the village indicated that human disturbances not only affected pollinator community composition but also played a major negative role in the regeneration of the forest. Our study provides first insights into plant-pollinator interactions in the Sundarbans and demonstrates that more research is needed to inform conservation of this unique habitat.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2017

Autonomous Bird Sound Recording Outperforms Direct Human Observation: Synthesis And New Evidence

1) Autonomous sound recording techniques have gained considerable traction in the last decade, but the question still remains whether they can replace human observation surveys to sample some animal taxa. Especially bird survey methods have been tested using classical point counts and autonomous sound recording techniques.\n2) We review the latest information by comparing both survey methods' standardization, verifiability, sampling completeness, data types, compatibility, and practicality by means of a systematic review and a meta-analysis of alpha and gamma species richness levels sampled by both methods across 20 separate studies.\n3) Although sound recording surveys have hitherto not enjoyed the most effective setups, they yield very similar results in terms of alpha and gamma species richness. We also reveal the crucial importance of the microphone (high signal-to-noise ratio) as the sensor that replaces human senses.\n4) We discuss key differences between both methods, while richness estimates are closely related and 81% of all species were detected by both methods. Sound recording techniques provide a more powerful and promising tool to monitor birds in a standardized, verifiable, and exhaustive way against the golden standard of point counts. Advantages include the capability of sampling continuously through day or season and of difficult-to-reach regions in an autonomous way, avoidance of observer bias and human disturbance effects and higher detection probability of rare species due to extensive recordings.

ecology↗