Journal of Wildlife and Biodiversity
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2023

Whereas European ground squirrels (Spermophilus citellus) do not utilize food caches during hibernation, it has occasionally been reportedthat they store food during the active season. Recent evidence for S.citellusmaintaining food stores in summer aroseduring thelong-term ecological supervision ofa construction project in Vienna, Austria.Fromthe onset of the project in 2012,ground squirrels were observed to forageon tubers of the tuberous vetchling(Lathyrus tuberosus). During the preparation of a building plotin July2016, a cavitycontaining 380g of tubers of L.tuberosus was excavated by a digger when removing the upper30 cm soil layer. Whentheconstruction areawasexpandedin July 2017, a ground squirrel repeatedly inspecteda burrow on a future building plot, oncecarrying a tuber to the burrow.To examine if the burrow was vacant, it was stripped by layer, revealing acache of 290g tubers in a blind-ending tunnelat a depth of about 90 cm. The structure consisted of one chamber without nesting material, and one tunnel containing the cache. We concludethat the burrow may haveserved as a hideoutfacilitatingfood intake while avoiding predation andother adverse external conditions.

Zoochosis is a stereotypical behavior of animals.It is commonly observed in captive animals. The stereotypicactivities in animals are tiresome in conduct, consistent in practice, with no seeming goal or definite purpose. Common forms of Zoochotic conduct in captive conditions include head rolling, striding, extreme licking, hair or feather pulling, and outline swimming. Various studies that explained the effects of stimulus's expectednesson animal conduct and welfarehavebeen inclined to manipulate certainty.Zoos play an animated part in wildlife andare ex-situ protection sites which areplaying a livelypart in wildlife supervision and protection. However, Zoo tourists might serve as an importantcause of stresson captive animals. These stresses result inself-biting and hurting in captive animals which is comparable to self-injurious behavior (SIB) in humans. This review article wouldhighlight the conditions of captive animals and analyze the factors that are directly affecting captive animals.

Elephant habitats were mainly found in the dense forest regions which is the tropical evergreen forest in Sonitpur District, Assam. The total area of Sonitpur District is approximately 5204 km2. Satellite imagery from 1990, 2009, and 2017 was investigated. The current research aims to investigate the huge amount of deforestation that occurred from 1990 to 2017 in the Sonitpur district using a temporal satellite imagery system. The visual data interpretation and change matrix analysis using three-period imagery indicated significant corridor loss and deforestation between 1990 and 2017. The study indicates that a massive number of land-use changes would be occurring within the next few years. So, to protect elephants and forests, agricultural land should be converted into natural forests and anthropogenic activities should be stopped in the corridors and buffer areas. Local communities and governments should take various steps to do so and Government should take legal steps against elephant killing. This research focuses on the conservation problems associated with the corridor's decrease over time. The findings also indicated the advanced capabilities of GIS and remote sensing for monitoring and analyzingcorridor status.

Despite active botanical studies around the world, there are still regions that lack data about the distribution, ecology, and biology of some threatened plants. During the field surveys in 2021, the new location of a threatened plant, C. guttatum (Orchidaceae), has been found in the Tyumen Region. The age structure of the found population has been studied by measuring morphometric traits (plant height, number of leaves, size (length, width), and number of veins of the second leaf, and, for generative individuals, the number of flowers and (if any) fruits, and fruit set) and classifying C. guttatum individuals to several age classes (juvenile, immature, virginile (mature vegetative), generative). The obtained results demonstrated that the found orchid population is assigned to C. guttatum f. albоstriatum nom. prov. The agestructure of C. guttatum population (j:im:v:g: 1%:5%:64%:30%) is characterized by the dominance of vegetative individuals. The obtained data on C. guttatum population serve as a starting point for further population studies in both Tyumen Region and the entire Western Siberia. The establishment and extension of a plan for long-term population studies can allow us to make an unbiased evaluation of the conservation status of C. guttatum using methods of the IUCN Red Listassessment.

Some epidermal leaf anatomy characteristicssuch as the absence/of presence trichomes and stomata and trichometypes in adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaceswithindifferent species, subspecies, varieties,and populations are afforded valuable taxonomic characteristicsin theirdetermination. This study aimedto investigate the leaf epidermal characteristics in72 populations belonging to 46 wild and native Brassicaceae taxa collected from central Iran. Theadaxial and abaxial leaf epidermis was examined using light microscopy. Resultsshowed that all studied samples lack crystals in their epidermis. They can be divided into three groups: 1)without trichomes in both adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces, 2)having trichomes just onthe abaxial side (Lepidium sativumand Sisymbrium irio),and 3)trichomes in both adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Two Choriosporaspecies can be separated by their trichomes. C. ibericahas glandular trichome,while C. tenellahas no trichomes.This study revealed that just epidermal leaf anatomy characters are not sufficient to identify members of the Brassicaceae members, but can be helpful alongwith other features and may support the systematic valueof taxa in this family.

The present study was conducted to study the morphological variation of the Cabdio morar populations inMashkil, Sarbaz, and Jegin rivers in terms of morphometric, meristic, length-weight relationship, and condition factor. A total of 21 morphometric and 7 meristic traits were measured and counted, respectively, and data was analyzed using One-Way ANOVA, Duncan test, Kruskal-Wallis, principal component analysis (PCA), canonical variate analysis (CVA), and cluster analysis. The results indicated significant differences in 9 morphometric characters (P<0.05), but meristic traits showed no differences between the populations (P>0.05). Multivariate results separated the studied populations showing that the studied populations are delimited mostly by the body depth and dorsal-fin height characters. The values of the length-weight relationship parameters showed that the population of Mashkil River has an almost isometric growth pattern, and the two others have a negative pattern. In addition, the condition factor of the Sarbaz population were lower (0.89±0.23), than two other populations i.e. Jegin and Mashkil (1.35±0.17 and 1.21±0.32, respectively) showing poor conditions of its habitat.

An introduced species is one that enters and occupies a habitat where it does not naturally occur. We have reviewed articles and media sources to shed light on the introduced vertebrate species (hereafter IVS) of Iran. Here, we present a list of IVS in Iran which have the potential to become invasive and are the ones that can harm biodiversity. We aggregated information on their approximate range in the country, origin, probable means of introduction, as well as conservation status based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Based on the results of this study, 63 such species were recognized as introduced. Human population size in each province was a correlate of the number of introduced species. We suggest that this correlation exists because human demand for exotic species as pets orlivestock may result in the release of invasive species into the wild. Further investigations on the root causes of their emergence, their range in Iran, and their ecological interactions are urgently needed. Finally, we propose educating the public, and government authorities about IVS in order to encourage better management and prevent future introductions. We recommend that species with a high levelof invasiveness should be targeted foreradication.