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The village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is a common colonial nesting bird widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. It is known to weave its nests from leaf strips from a variety of tree species (mainly coconuts trees, oil palm trees) associated with human settlement areas, grasses, and other available plants. In this regard, this bird was considered a pest for its impact on different economic activities. Although extensive literature is already available on the parasitic role of village weavers, there is still a lack of analytical data that outlines which tree species are used for nesting and in what proportion, as well as the related implications in terms of economic impacts. Here, we carried out the first comprehensive arrangement of trees used by this species for nesting in Southern Nigeria (West Africa), checking for possible different impacts on stakeholders. In April 2021, we searched for village weaver nesting in 95 sites in 77 communities from 24 local government areas in Southern Nigeria, during 14 field surveys. Within each site, we collected GPS coordinates and counted the number of active nests, nesting birds and occupied trees. We recorded a total of 5,776 nests and 2,140 birds in 94 plants belonging to 23 tree species selected for nesting. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis; n = 45) was the most used tree species, as 2,990 (51.77%) nests and 873 (40.79%) birds were recorded. Our results indicate the preference for nesting on trees used by stakeholders belonging to agricultural (palm farmers), touristic (operators) and energy (gas flare stations) sectors with economic implications about the conflict with this pest species.

Biological communities are structured by a variety of biotic and abiotic relationships, whose understanding forms the basis for effective conservation. Among the myriad factors influencing community dynamics, resource partitioning stands out, potentially enriching ecosystem complexity but also carrying risks for conservation if disregarded. In this study, we investigated intersexual and ontogenetic niche differences among populations of the West African softshell turtle Trionyx triunguis in Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria. We observed that these distinct populations exhibited similar habitat preferences, favouring large rivers with abundant riverbank and aquatic vegetation, and muddy substrates. Disparities in habitat preferences were evident among populations and across various life stages, indicating the adaptability of the species. We found that the species was active throughout the year, but most of our sightings and captures occurred during the wet season. In light of the species' vulnerability to overhunting, our research findings provide important data on the ecology of this species that can assist in its effective conservation across all life stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A body plan (bauplan) is a suite of morphological characters shared by phylogenetically related animals at some point during their development. Despite its value, the bauplan concept is still rarely employed to characterize functional groups in community ecology. Here, we examine habitat use and spatio-temporal activity correlates of an entire seven-species community of lizards with different bauplans. The study was carried out in three locations in central Italy, encompassing a complex landscape with a patchy mosaic of a wide variety of habitats and microclimates. We tested four hypotheses regarding niche breadth, habitat use, and activity patterns. The first hypothesis, niche complementarity, in which species with similar body shapes should non-randomly partition available habitats, was not supported. By contrast, the hypotheses that larger bodied species should have a wider niche breadth, that slower species should inhabit habitat types of higher cover, and species inhabiting open sunny habitats should exhibit more seasonally variable activity patterns, were all supported by the data. Sympatric lizard communities in our study area were clearly organized by autecological constraints and eco-physiological attributes. Key words: Sauria, Western Green Lizard, Lacerta bilineata, Common Wall Lizard, Podarcis muralis, Italian Wall Lizard, Podarcis siculus, Mediterranean House Gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, Common Wall Gecko, Tarentola mauritanica, Italian Slow Worm, Anguis veronensis, Italian Three-toed Skink, Chalcides chalcides, Mediterranean, resource partitioning, bauplan, autecological constraints, eco-physiological attributes. Un plan de construction (bauplan) est un ensemble de caractères morphologiques qu'ont en commun, à un moment ou un autre de leur développement, des animaux phylogénétiquement apparentés. Malgré sa valeur, le concept de plan de construction demeure rarement employé pour caractériser les groupes fonctionnels en écologie des communautés. Nous examinons des corrélats de l'utilisation d'habitats et de l'activité spatiotemporelle de l'ensemble d'une communauté de sept espèces de lézards présentant différents plans de construction. L'étude a été menée en trois sites du centre de l'Italie couvrant un paysage complexe caractérisé par une mosaïque parcellaire d'habitats et de microclimats très variés. Nous avons vérifié quatre hypothèses concernant la largeur de niche, l'utilisation d'habitats et les motifs d'activité. La première hypothèse, de complémentarité des niches, selon laquelle des espèces aux formes de corps semblables devraient se partager les habitats disponibles de manière non aléatoire, n'est pas appuyée par les observations. En revanche, les hypothèses selon lesquelles la largeur de niche d'espèces à plus grands corps devrait être plus grande, les espèces plus lentes devraient habiter des types d'habitats au couvert plus important et les motifs d'activité d'espèces vivant dans des habitats ouverts ensoleillés devraient présenter de plus importantes variations saisonnières sont toutes appuyées par les données. Les communautés de lézards sympatriques dans la région d'étude étaient clairement organisées en fonction de contraintes autoécologiques et d'attributs écophysiologiques. [Traduit par la Rédaction] Mots-clés : sauriens, lézard vert occidental, Lacerta bilineata, lézard des murailles, Podarcis muralis, lézard des ruines, Podarcis siculus, gecko verruqueux, Hemidactylus turcicus, tarente de Maurétanie, Tarentola mauritanica, orvet de Vérone, Anguis veronensis, seps tridactyle, Chalcides chalcides, Méditerranée, partage des ressources, plan de construction, contraintes autoécologiques, attributs écophysiologiques., Introduction In evolutionary biology, a suite of characters shared by a group of phylogenetically related animals at some point during their development is defined as body plan or 'bauplan' (Woodger [...]