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The Furnariidae is a very diverse family of Neotropical passerines in which the role of sexes in nest attendance and the possible existence of sexual dimorphism still remain poorly known for most species. Here, in a study spanning two breeding seasons, we analyzed the sexual dimorphism in morphology and the parental roles during incubation and chick rearing in the Wren-like Rushbird Phleocryptes melanops, a typical furnariid distributed in the southern wetlands of South America. Given previous knowledge of natural history of this family, we expected a slight dimorphism in size and a similar role of the sexes in parental care. Adults were captured and measured, and blood samples taken for molecular sex determination. Males had on average, 10.3%, 10.2%, 5.3%, and 4.4% larger bill lengths, tail lengths, wing chord lengths, and tarsus lengths than females, respectively, whereas no significant sexual differences were found for bill widths and depths. In addition, we found that both parents participated similarly in all reproductive activities during incubation and nestling stages, in line with the general pattern reported in furnariids. The sexual selection hypothesis may best explain the size differences between the sexes and in the behaviour of the species at the beginning of the nesting cycle. —Pretelli, M.G., Chiaradia, N., Cardoni, A., Baladrón, A., Cavalli, M., Madrid, E. & Isacch, J.P. (2023). Sexual dimorphism and parental care in the Wren-like Rushbird Phleocryptes melanops. Ardeola, 70: 29-40. Furnariidae es una familia con una gran diversidad de paseriformes neotropicales, sin embargo, el rol de los sexos en la atención del nido y la posible existencia de dimorfismo sexual aún permanecen poco conocidos para la mayoría de las especies. Durante dos temporadas reproductivas, analizamos el dimorfismo sexual y el rol de los parentales durante la incubación y cría de pollos en el junquero Phleocryptes melanops, un furnárido típico que habita en los humedales del sur de Sudamérica. Dado el conocimiento previo sobre la historia natural de esta familia, esperamos un leve dimorfismo en tamaño y un rol similar de los sexos en el cuidado parental. Los adultos fueron capturados y medidos, y se les extrajo una muestra de sangre para el sexado molecular. Hallamos que los machos, en promedio, fueron 10,3%, 10,2%, 5,3% y 4,4% más grandes que las hembras en el largo del pico, cola, cuerda de ala y tarso, mientras que el ancho y la profundidad del pico no difirieron. Además, encontramos que ambos parentales participan similarmente en todas las actividades reproductivas durante la incubación y en la etapa de pollos, lo que concuerda con el patrón general reportado para furnáridos. La hipótesis de selección sexual es la que mejor podría explicar las diferencias halladas en el tamaño entre sexos y en el comportamiento de la especie al comienzo del ciclo reproductivo.—Pretelli, M.G., Chiaradia, N., Cardoni, A., Baladrón, A., Cavalli, M., Madrid, E. e Isacch, J.P. (2023). Dimorfismo sexual y cuidado parental en el junquero Phleocryptes melanops. Ardeola, 70: 29-40. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nest survival is an important part of breeding success in grassland ecosystems, and the location of nests can determine vulnerability to different predators. We conducted an experiment with artificial nests to evaluate jointly the predation rate on nests at different spatial scales (landscape, patch and tussock) and the relative abundance of potential nest predators (small mammals and birds) in a temperate grassland area. In November 2014 and 2016, we installed 288 artificial nests in Common Pampas Grass Cortaderia selloana grasslands in the southeastern Pampas region, Argentina. The nests were placed in two 10‐ha plots in a continuous grassland patch (c. 900 ha) within a reserve and in two small grassland patches (1.5 and 1.8 ha) in an agricultural matrix (landscape‐scale), at the patch edge and inside the patches (patch‐scale), and at two heights within the tussock grass (tussock‐scale). In 2016, we also conducted live trapping of small mammals and surveyed birds along strip transects at the sampling sites. Nests located in patches within an agricultural matrix and near the edge had greater relative survival than those set in the reserve and inside the patches, respectively. This might be explained by the lower relative abundance of small mammals that we found outside the reserve. Artificial nest survival values recorded at the landscape‐scale contrasted with those previously observed for natural nests. Our results could be partly explained by differences in nest density between agro‐patches and those within the reserve. Future studies could also evaluate the role of parental nest defence on nest survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Rural tourism would lead to a synergistic provision of several ecosystem services. • We studied landscape attributes, behavioral intentions and biodiversity status in farms with and without tourism. • Farmers with tourism have more positive attitudes towards non-cultivated areas conservation. • Tourists prefer environments that also sustain higher bird diversity. • The promotion of rural tourism should also take into account local context limitations. The Pampean agroecosystems are oriented to providing a few Ecosystem Services (ES) with undesired consequences on the environment, particularly the loss of biodiversity and cultural ES. In this context, it is necessary to find ways to make agricultural production compatible with biodiversity conservation through sustainable practices. Rural tourism is a form of productive diversification that generates additional economic income for farmers and may encourage the conservation of uncultivated semi-natural environments. Thus, agroecosystems could provide a greater variety of ES, achieving their multifunctionality. For this, it is necessary to understand the link between land use and biodiversity and the psycho-social factors that stimulate or limit farmers to conserve their field's semi-natural environments. To this end, we conducted a study with three approaches: 1) we evaluated the intentions of rural Pampa's farmers of conserving uncultivated environments through surveys analyzed under the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, 2) we explored the preferred environments for recreation through a self-administered survey to rural tourists, and 3) we conducted bird surveys to associate land use with biodiversity. The results showed a trend of greater intention to conserve uncultivated environments in farmers with rural tourism than without rural tourism. These intentions were related to more positive attitudes due to the intrinsic and utilitarian values of conserving uncultivated environments and less identification with agriculture only as a source of economic income. Tourists preferred semi-natural environments for recreation, which also sustain higher bird diversity. Results allowed to detect key aspects to influence farmers to achieve a greater intention to conserve uncultivated environments and manage them to supply multiple ES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]