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Approximately 20% of primary energy consumed in the U.S. is attributed to HVAC use. Ideally, HVAC operation would be driven by actual building occupancy, but lack of reliable occupancy information often results in the use of conservative static schedules. This disparity is even more pronounced in a college campus, where the function of each space differs by building (classrooms, offices, libraries) and the class schedules change frequently -- every semester, day of week, and hour. While several research papers propose the use of counts of the Wi-Fi connections (e.g., phones, computers) as a proxy for occupancy, few real-world implementationsexist. This paper describes the development and deployment of an open-sourceWi-Fi-to-Occupancy software library in 65 buildings of a college campus, and the plannedintegration with the building energy management and control system at the building scale. Overa year of Wi-Fi data was gathered into distinct academic periods, including fall and springsemester, academic breaks, and summer sessions. Patterns such as students moving between classrooms, closing laptops before exams, etc., can be visualized from the data. Approximating occupancy from Wi-Fi data presents challenges which we address in this project -- for example, identifying static devices, or estimating the ratio of devices per person. Utilizing real-time occupancy data to inform optimal HVAC schedules and ventilation rates creates the potential to identify and reduce energy waste. Other potential applications include forecasting occupancy, and using Wi-Fi data to predict peak demands. Finally, the paper discusses how to easily scale these tools to other buildings.

The serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor is an important target for drug development and the main receptor through which classical psychedelics elucidate their hallucinogenic effects. The 5-HT2A receptor antagonist ketanserin has frequently been used as a tool to block the receptor. Here, we establish the dose-occupancy relation of ketanserin and the cerebral 5-HT2A receptor in healthy participants by conducting a positron emission tomography (PET) study. 120-min PET scans using the 5-HT2A receptor agonist radiotracer [11C]Cimbi-36 were conducted at baseline and after oral doses of either 10, 20, or 40 mg of ketanserin; each participant underwent one or two scans after ketanserin administration. Occupancy was defined as the percent change in neocortex binding potential (BP ND), estimated using the simplified reference tissue model (SRTM) with the cerebellum as reference region. Peroral ketanserin intake resulted in a plasma concentration-related increase in cerebral 5-HT2A receptor occupancy with the highest plasma ketanserin concentrations measured after ∼2 h. The relation between mean plasma ketanserin concentrations and 5-HT2A receptor occupancy conformed to a single-site binding model with an estimated EC 50 (95 % CI) of 2.52 (0.75; 8.1) ng/mL, which corresponds to a peroral dose of ketanserin of approximately 10 mg. These data elucidate for the first time in humans the cerebral pharmacodynamics of ketanserin, both benefitting its use as a pharmacological tool for probing brain function and adding to its potential for therapeutic use in rescuing a bad psychedelic experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resource development in the Canadian Arctic—a mostly remote and 'untouched' landscape—is expanding. Raptorial species are key indicators of ecosystem diversity and environmental change; disturbance-mediated changes to Arctic-breeding raptor populations can be assessed to determine impacts from development. From 2012 through 2020, we monitored peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus) breeding territories near an iron ore mine on North Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. The mine was constructed from 2010 through 2014 and became operational in 2015. Our objective was to evaluate whether proximity to mining disturbance affected occupancy and reproductive success of both species. We quantified occupancy using multi-season occupancy models and reproductive success using stochastic partial differential equations capable of accounting for unexplained spatiotemporal variation. Occupancy of both species was best explained by year effects. Occupancy remained relatively stable across time for peregrine falcons (λ = 0.99 ± 0.04) but fluctuated drastically for rough-legged hawks (λ = 3.41 ± 2.17). For both species, most of the spatiotemporal variation in reproductive success was unexplained (presumably from underlying abiotic and biotic factors), which led to the differential presence and count of nestlings across the study area and time. Neither distance to disturbance nor primary production explained variation in occupancy and reproductive success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sympatric primate species coexist in tropical communities through interactions with the abiotic environment and other species. Determining the factors that influence primate species co-occurrence can help to inform conservation practices. Our study focused on the ecological interactions of central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) with each other and their environment in a multiuse landscape. We assessed species-specific occupancy at 17 camera trap sites across different land-use types (National Park, Forest Management Units, or Community Lands) between June 2019 and May 2020 and examined the impact of fruit availability and human presence on ape presence. Across the study area, chimpanzees occupied a greater total number of sites than did gorillas, with a significantly higher proportion of occupied sites within the National Park than in other land-use types. The density of fruiting trees positively influenced the presence of gorillas but had no effect on chimpanzee presence. We found no effect of human presence on the presence of either chimpanzees or gorillas, although this analysis was limited to sites where apes were present. The probability of either species being present at a site during a given month remained stable under the conditional presence or absence of the other species, suggesting the absence of interactions between the two species at our study sites. These results support previous findings that the heterogeneous distribution of fruits and preferred resources allows chimpanzees and gorillas to limit direct competition by exploiting different feeding resources. Our findings provide insights on the factors influencing the occupancy of each species, including environmental variables and land-use type, information relevant when monitoring their coexistence within tropical communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predator exclosure reserves have become pivotal to conserving some threatened Australian mammalian fauna. However, the impact of predator exclosure reserves on resident (non‐target) small vertebrates is less understood. Given the potential ecological consequences of fencing, and the contribution of small vertebrates to ecosystem processes, we investigated species' occupancy, and site colonization and extinction dynamics, inside and outside of a predator exclosure fenced area for nine small vertebrates (six reptile, three mammal). We conducted vertebrate surveying 4 years (2011–2014) pre‐ and 2 years (2015–2016) post‐fence construction at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy Mt Gibson Sanctuary, in the semi‐arid, critically endangered Wheatbelt Eucalypt Woodlands of Western Australia, to assess spatial and temporal trends in small mammal and reptile populations. Of nine species modelled, one reptile (Diplodactylus pulcher) decreased in occupancy inside of the fence following construction. We detected no negative impact of the predator exclosure fence on the remaining eight species. One native reptile species (Lerista kingi) and an introduced rodent (Mus musculus) increased occupancy inside (but not outside) the fenced area. Spatial and temporal occupancy inside and outside of the fenced area for all other modelled species was stable. Biotic (habitat) factors and stochastic interannual detectability were the most significant drivers of species' occupancy. Species‐specific habitat associations were partially determined by site‐based presence and absence probabilities. This suggests that the predator exclosure sanctuary either benefitted or had minimal impact on all but one modelled species. These results may be a useful reference for future fencing projects aimed at both conservation and land management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The island biogeography theory predicts that species richness in islands and island-like systems is the ultimate result of island isolation and area. Species with high dispersal capabilities are predicted to be less affected by these factors because of their capacity to move more efficiently between islands or habitats, and here we test this idea in bats, the only mammals capable of flight. We conducted mist net and acoustic surveys across 21 islands in the San Juan Archipelago (Washington State, United States) and adjacent northwest mainland to: (i) investigate the effects of island area, distance from mainland, and habitat on bat diversity; and (ii) evaluate whether differences in morphological (body mass, forearm length, wing loading) and ecological (dietary niche breadth, foraging guild) traits among species influence their prevalence across islands. We found that island size strongly influenced patterns of species richness, with larger islands having a greater number of bat species. However, neither island distance from mainland nor any measure of habitat availability was a significant predictor of species richness at the scale of this study. Additionally, we found that dietary niche breadth, as opposed to any morphological trait, best predicted the prevalence of species across the islands. Our results suggest that species with more specialized diets may be more vulnerable to habitat fragmentation, and provide insight into how geographic and ecological factors affect the diversity of insular bat communities, adding to growing knowledge about the role of species traits as mediators of their responses to large-scale landscape structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupant-centric control (OCC) is intelligent control of building systems based on the real comfort needs of occupants. This paper provides a comprehensive review of how real-world data on energy-related occupant behavior (OB) can be integrated and applied in OCC systems. The aim is to accurately portray the real occupant needs and improve energy efficiency without sacrificing occupant comfort. This paper first introduces two types of OB: detailed occupancy states and energy-interaction behaviors, including methods to monitor, establish, and predict these OB. Then, OCC is divided into real-time control and model-based predictive control, and each of these four scenarios is discussed. It extensively reviews OCC methods for different equipment in four cases, covering control strategies, control scales, comfort enhancement scenarios, and energy-saving potential for each category. It is summarized that despite extensive research on OB, there are still significant challenges in integrating this research into OCC. A major issue is the lack of a bridge connecting monitoring acquired information and controls. In addition, the article reviews the current state of OCC platform development. The future direction should be combined with advanced Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, WiFi, and other communication technologies to obtain information about people's behavior and real needs in order to create truly energy efficient and comfortable smart environments. The article also discusses how enhancing the real-time feedback capability of the OCC system can help improve the overall control system capability and the importance of testing through experimentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has suggested that category theory can provide useful insights into the field of machine learning (ML). One example is improving the connection between an ML problem and the design of a corresponding ML algorithm. A tool from category theory called a Kan extension is used to derive the design of an unsupervised anomaly detection algorithm for a commonly used benchmark, the Occupancy dataset. Achieving an accuracy of 93.5% and an ROCAUC of 0.98, the performance of this algorithm is compared to state-of-the-art anomaly detection algorithms tested on the Occupancy dataset. These initial results demonstrate that category theory can offer new perspectives with which to attack problems, particularly in making more direct connections between the solutions and the problem's structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Drift Prairie, in central North America, has been largely converted from grasslands to croplands, but still contains thousands of wetlands used by shorebirds and waterfowl during breeding and migration periods. Consequently, many of the remaining wetlands are situated within cropland where disturbance regimes (i.e., fire, grazing, and water-level dynamics), which occurred naturally prior to agricultural development, have been highly altered by landscape fragmentation from agriculture practices. Currently, smaller wetlands within crop fields are subject to disturbances stemming from agricultural practices (i.e., manipulations), such as burning, disking, harvesting, and mowing. We evaluated vegetation structure of idled (i.e., not recently manipulated by farming practices) and manipulated agricultural wetlands to investigate whether management method or resulting vegetation structure had greater influence on occurrence probabilities and densities of dabbling ducks and shorebirds during spring. All manipulation methods reduced vegetation heights compared to idled wetlands and most manipulations reduced the proportion of vegetation cover in inundated areas. Wetland manipulations generally increased shorebird occurrence compared to idled wetlands, whereas vegetation variables better explained duck occurrence probabilities. Duck occurrence peaked in wetlands with lower vegetation coverage (32%), and duck densities decreased as vegetation coverage increased beyond 10%. While more studies are needed to understand underlying mechanisms driving these outcomes, our results indicate that including periodic disturbances that reduce dense vegetation within wetlands in agricultural fields would increase their use by migrating and breeding shorebirds and dabbling ducks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. As conversion of natural areas to human development continues, there is a lack of information about how developed areas can sustainably support wildlife. While large predators are often extirpated from areas of human development, some medium-bodied mammalian predators (hereafter, mesocarnivores) have adapted to co-exist in human-dominated areas. Aims. How human-dominated areas such as residential yards are used by mesocarnivores is not well understood. Our study aimed to identify yard and landscape features that influence occupancy, relative abundance and spatial-temporal overlap of three widespread mesocarnivores, namely, coyote (Canis latrans), grey fox (Urocyon cineroargenteus) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Methods. Over the summers of 2021 and 2022, we deployed camera-traps in 46 and 96 residential yards, spanning from low-density rural areas (<1 home per km2) to more urban areas (589 homes per km2) in north-western Arkansas, USA. Key results. We found that mesocarnivore occupancy was marginally influenced by yard-level features as opposed to landscape composition. Fences reduced the occupancy probability of coyotes, although they were positively associated with the total area of potential shelter sites in a yard. We found that relative abundance of grey fox was highest in yards with poultry, highlighting a likely source of conflict with homeowners. We found that all three species were primarily nocturnal and activity overlap between the species pairs was high. Conclusions. Thus, these species may be using spatio-temporal partitioning to avoid antagonistic encounters and our data supported this, with few examples of species occurring in the same yards during the same 24-h period. Implications. As the number of residential yards continues to grow, our results suggested that there are ways in which our yards can provide resources to mesocarnivores and that homeowners also have agency to mitigate overlap with mesocarnivores through management of their yard features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, some new lane-changing rules for one-way two-lane traffic with one work zone are proposed. Considering their velocities difference between the vehicle in the current lane and some vehicle behind/ahead in the target lane, and its own velocity, driver will choose to change lanes if necessary. Unlike some previous studies, one-way two-lane with one work zone is divided into three sections: symmetrical zone, conversion zone and work zone. In the conversion zone, the maximum velocity of vehicles in merge lane depends on the number of unsuccessful lane-changing. Based on the refined Nagel–Schreckenberg model, all vehicles update their corresponding velocities and positions in own respective lanes, employing open boundary conditions. The computer results show that the system has two states: unsaturated state and saturated state. In the saturated state, these vehicles on these two lanes have the same occupancy, which change steadily without inflection point when approaching the conversion zone, especially for upstream of the work zone. As one of the results of vehicle self-organization, the system can reach the saturated state in a short period of time as the injection probability increases. This saturated state can also spread across the conversion zone to the symmetrical zone. In the unsaturated state, one also finds that the velocity distribution can be consistent with the actual traffic conditions for upstream of the work zone. We selected three road sections with work zone to carry out field test, and the flow of these three road sections is basically consistent with the flow of the saturated state for the present model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through an analysis of the moral relationship between people and place, this paper offers a new view of the wrongful character of gentrification, which is pluralistic, locating the wrong in the non-fulfillment of three place-related rights: rights to a home, rights of residency, and place-based rights to a community. By focusing on the multiple ways that people are connected to place, we offer a more complete and systematic account of place-related rights that is not only able to make sense of people's lived experiences of the harms of gentrification but is also able to address standard criticisms, which have been made of other key accounts of the wrong of gentrification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban-Building Energy Modelling (UBEM) tools play a crucial role in analysing and optimizing energy use within cities. Among the available approaches, the bottom-up physics-based one is the most versatile for urban development and management applications. However, their accuracy is often limited by the inability to capture the dynamic impact of occupants' presence and actions (i.e., Occupant Behaviour) on building energy use patterns. While recent research has explored advanced Occupant Behaviour (OB) modelling techniques that incorporate stochasticity and contextual influences, current UBEM practices primarily rely on static occupant profiles, due to limitations in the software itself. This paper addresses this topic by conducting a thorough literature review to examine existing OB modelling techniques, data sources, key features and detailed information that could enhance UBEM simulations. Furthermore, the flexibility of available UBEM tools for integrating advanced OB models will be assessed, along with the identification of areas for improvement. The findings of this review are intended to guide researchers and tool developers towards creating more robust and occupant-centric urban energy simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Here, we evaluate a PET displacement model with a Single-step and Numerical solution in healthy individuals using the synaptic vesicle glycoprotein (SV2A) PET-tracer [11C]UCB-J and the anti-seizure medication levetiracetam (LEV). We aimed to (1) validate the displacement model by comparing the brain LEV-SV2A occupancy from a single PET scan with the occupancy derived from two PET scans and the Lassen plot and (2) determine the plasma LEV concentration-SV2A occupancy curve in healthy individuals. Methods: Eleven healthy individuals (five females, mean age 35.5 [range: 25–47] years) underwent two 120-min [11C]UCB-J PET scans where an LEV dose (5–30 mg/kg) was administered intravenously halfway through the first PET scan to partially displace radioligand binding to SV2A. Five individuals were scanned twice on the same day; the remaining six were scanned once on two separate days, receiving two identical LEV doses. Arterial blood samples were acquired to determine the arterial input function and plasma LEV concentrations. Using the displacement model, the SV2A-LEV target engagement was calculated and compared with the Lassen plot method. The resulting data were fitted with a single-site binding model. Results: SV2A occupancies and VND estimates derived from the displacement model were not significantly different from the Lassen plot (p = 0.55 and 0.13, respectively). The coefficient of variation was 14.6% vs. 17.3% for the Numerical and the Single-step solution in Bland-Altman comparisons with the Lassen plot. The average half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50), as estimated from the area under the curve of the plasma LEV concentration, was 12.5 µg/mL (95% CI: 5–25) for the Single-Step solution, 11.8 µg/mL (95% CI: 4–25) for the Numerical solution, and 6.3 µg/mL (95% CI: 0.08-21) for the Lassen plot. Constraining Emax to 100% did not significantly improve model fits. Conclusion: Plasma LEV concentration vs. SV2A occupancy can be determined in humans using a single PET scan displacement model. The average concentration of the three computed IC50 values ranges between 6.3 and 12.5 µg/mL. The next step is to use the displacement model to evaluate LEV occupancy and corresponding plasma concentrations in relation to treatment efficacy. Clinical trial registration: NCT05450822. Retrospectively registered 5 July 2022 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results? term=NCT05450822&Search=Search. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many mountain species are expected to respond to climate change through upslope shifts of their range limits, but competition may restrict or alter this response. Under traditional range‐limit theory, it is expected that lower‐elevation species are better competitors than closely related higher‐elevation species. However, recent work finds that this prediction is often unmet. We investigated evidence for the impact of competition during breeding season on the elevational range limits of a pair of closely related bird species, willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus and rock ptarmigan L. muta, in mainland Norway. The species share overlapping ranges that loosely divide slightly upslope from the treeline ecotone, with willow ptarmigan generally occupying lower sites and rock ptarmigan occupying higher sites. We used multi‐species occupancy models to test four competing hypotheses for how competition may affect the range limit between willow ptarmigan and rock ptarmigan: 1) asymmetric competition that restricts the lower range limit of rock ptarmigan; 2) asymmetric competition that restricts the upper range limit of willow ptarmigan; 3) condition‐specific competition that restricts both species' range limits; and 4) range limits unaffected by competition. We found evidence for a negative pairwise interaction between the two species. Changes in interaction strength along the elevation gradient suggested evidence for condition‐specific competition. However, a strong positive correlation between rock ptarmigan and higher‐elevation habitat resulted in a highly asymmetric outcome, where the upper range limit of willow ptarmigan was restricted but rock ptarmigan occupancy was fairly independent of willow ptarmigan. This outcome is opposite to the prediction of traditional range‐limit theory and may suggest a greater climate threat to willow ptarmigan than has been previously projected. Thus, our results demonstrate the importance of considering biotic interactions at both the higher and lower ends of species' range limits along elevation gradients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Identification of highly biodiverse areas has become a crucial step in protecting species richness, especially considering the rapid collapse of biodiversity and the limited funds available to avert, far less to reverse, these trends. Therefore, we aimed to identify the most important areas for the conservation of specified mammalian groups in Southern Asia, a region rich in biodiversity hotspots threatened by increasing rates of habitat loss and other anthropogenic activities. To achieve this, we modelled the occupancy of ungulates and of small, medium and large carnivorans at 20 study sites across the region and identified hotspots of species richness. We analysed the variation of estimated space use between different species groups and ranked areas according to their predicted importance for mammalian species conservation. Our results reveal a significant positive correlation in the spatial utilization patterns of competitive carnivores, yet no correlation among carnivores and their prey species, suggesting that anthropogenic impacts in the region are constraining species to coexist in only the few remaining suitable areas, superseding interactions between species guilds. Although the rank of site importance varied amongst species groups, we were able to identify a consensus on sites that are crucial for the conservation of all groups considered. Most of these top-ranking sites were located in the peninsular region of Thailand. We argue that, of the areas assessed, these sites represent the most important refuges for species conservation in the region, and their protection is critical for the maintenance of the biodiversity in Southern Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the ongoing biodiversity crisis requires identifying the winners and losers of global change. Species are often categorized based on how they respond to habitat loss; for example, species restricted to natural environments, those that most often occur in anthropogenic habitats, and generalists that do well in both. However, species might switch habitat affiliations across time and space: an organism may venture into human-modified areas in benign regions but retreat into thermally buffered forested habitats in areas with high temperatures. Here, we apply community occupancy models to a large-scale camera trapping dataset with 29 mammal species distributed over 2,485 sites across the continental United States, to ask three questions. First, are species responses to forest and anthropogenic habitats consistent across continental scales? Second, do macroclimatic conditions explain spatial variation in species responses to land use? Third, can species traits elucidate which taxa are most likely to show climate-dependent habitat associations? We found that all species exhibited significant spatial variation in how they respond to land-use, tending to avoid anthropogenic areas and increasingly use forests in hotter regions. In the hottest regions, species occupancy was 50% higher in forested compared to open habitats, whereas in the coldest regions, the trend reversed. Larger species with larger ranges, herbivores, and primary predators were more likely to change their habitat affiliations than top predators, which consistently affiliated with high forest cover. Our findings suggest that climatic conditions influence species space-use and that maintaining forest cover can help protect mammals from warming climates.

Building temperature setpoints affect both HVAC energy consumption and occupant comfort. To reduce HVAC energy usage, researchers often investigate how system operations can be optimized under weather and occupancy variability subject to a fixed setpoint that minimizes any possible discomfort. While previous research has explored the selection of dynamic setpoints to minimize HVAC energy consumption based on outdoor temperature, they have often neglected the impact of varying occupancy rates on the setpoints. This paper aims to demystify energy savings derived from fixed and dynamic temperature setpoints under weather and occupancy variability and explores the additional energy savings that can be achieved through dynamic temperature setpoints. An exhaustive HVAC zone temperature setpoint optimizer was developed to determine dynamic setpoints with respect to weather and occupancy (i.e., setpoints that minimize HVAC energy consumption at different occupancy rates based on outdoor weather). U.S. DOE reference building energy models for small, medium, and large office buildings were simulated at 17 climate zones, 4 occupancy rates (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) and 7 setpoints (19.5°C to 25.5°C at 1°C interval). It was found that, both fixed and dynamic setpoints benefit from the energy reduction of approximately 2-4% from the lower heat generated by the occupants at lower occupancy rates. However, at outdoor temperatures between 5°C and 32°C where occupant heat loads can swing the building between heating, free-running, and cooling modes, dynamic setpoints yield additional 2-10% energy savings, compared to fixed setpoints.

Effective conservation is becoming more difficult as threats to wildlife increase. Natural resource managers are pressured to make difficult decisions with limited resources, and in many instances, large uncertainty. Scientists and managers tasked with the conservation of a species need tools to help guide efficient decision-making. Often, information for management decisions is insufficient. Tools that help to inform decision makers and address uncertainty are invaluable to effective conservation initiatives. The objective of our study was to create a model to best predict Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) breeding occurrence across the northeastern United States. We estimated relationships between breeding newt field survey data and landscape-level covariates while accounting for imperfect detection. We then used those relationships to map expected newt breeding site occupancy across the northeastern United States. We find that newt breeding occupancy is inversely correlated to the amount of human influence in a landscape, highlighting a key existing threat to Eastern Newts that may be exacerbated by the introduction of novel pathogens, such as the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building temperature setpoints affect both HVAC energy consumption and occupant comfort. To reduce HVAC energy usage, researchers often investigate how system operations can be optimized under weather and occupancy variability subject to a fixed setpoint that minimizes any possible discomfort. While previous research has explored the selection of dynamic setpoints to minimize HVAC energy consumption based on outdoor temperature, they have often neglected the impact of varying occupancy rates on the setpoints. This paper aims to demystify energy savings derived from fixed and dynamic temperature setpoints under weather and occupancy variability and explores the additional energy savings that can be achieved through dynamic temperature setpoints. An exhaustive HVAC zone temperature setpoint optimizer was developed to determine dynamic setpoints with respect to weather and occupancy (i.e., setpoints that minimize HVAC energy consumption at different occupancy rates based on outdoor weather). U.S. DOE reference building energy models for small, medium, and large office buildings were simulated at 17 climate zones, 4 occupancy rates (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) and 7 setpoints (19.5°C to 25.5°C at 1°C interval). It was found that, both fixed and dynamic setpoints benefit from the energy reduction of approximately 2-4% from the lower heat generated by the occupants at lower occupancy rates. However, at outdoor temperatures between 5°C and 32°C where occupant heat loads can swing the building between heating, free-running, and cooling modes, dynamic setpoints yield additional 2-10% energy savings, compared to fixed setpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We recently published a study discussing the pitfalls of non‐probability sampling when selecting monitoring sites. We demonstrated that selecting sites based on abundance can often lead to biased inference, and we suggested that researchers use probability sampling. We also called for nuance when interpreting results of monitoring programs that use non‐probability sampling. We suggested that inference from sites of great abundance might still be useful for inference into population dynamics of long‐lived species such as raptors. Perret et al. seem to misinterpret our call for nuance as advocating for non‐probability sampling. They state that we concluded the general recommendation of using probability sampling should be revised. We did not conclude this. In fact, we agree with their recommendation. Perret et al. implemented simulations that are unrealistic within the context of our study. We use empirical data for 12 raptor species to demonstrate that our previous results are valid and that simulations implemented by Perret et al. do not reflect the biology of long‐lived raptors. The time series simulated by Perret et al. fluctuated greatly in abundance with populations often more than doubling within a year. This is extremely unlikely for populations of long‐lived species having high site fidelity. Many historical programs monitor sites of great abundance and thus risk biased results. We demonstrate that this risk is minimal under some important conditions and our results likely apply to other long‐lived species. Acknowledging this nuance could rescue many long‐term monitoring programs and their data thereby preserving efforts of costly conservation programs. Consistent with our original study, these exceptions do not invalidate the general recommendation to avoid non‐probability sampling; however, they do support our call for nuance when interpreting results of studies that monitored animals at sites of great abundance.

Abstract Population monitoring programmes typically rely on sampling because it is impossible to survey all the sites within the study area. In such a situation, the general recommendation to obtain unbiased estimates of population trends is to select monitoring sites using probability sampling. However, site selection not based on probability sampling, such as selecting sites with the largest abundance of individuals at the beginning of the monitoring programme, is common in practice. Nevertheless, these methods carry the risk of obtaining biased trend estimates. Using simulations, McClure & Rolek (2023) investigated whether three non‐probability sampling site selection methods can yield unbiased trend estimates under some specific conditions. For two of these methods, that is selecting high quality sites and selecting sites known to be occupied, the authors conclude that there is a major risk of obtaining biased trend estimates. For the third method, that is selecting sites with the largest initial abundance, they found conditions in which unbiased estimates can be obtained. They conclude that the general recommendation to use probability sampling should be revised. Here, we show that the authors' results, although perfectly correct, do not invalidate this recommendation. First, we point out that the authors made strong assumptions about the populations' functioning in their simulations, especially that inter‐annual variance in abundance is similar for all sites, which is unlikely in most real populations. We show through simple simulations that even slightly relaxing this assumption invalidates the authors' results. We also point out that for most of the hypotheses made by the authors, it is generally not known at the beginning of a study whether they will be respected. Furthermore, the authors did not provide evidence that selecting sites based on high initial abundance leads to more precise trend estimates than probability sampling methods. Therefore, neither the benefits nor the risks of this method are known. We conclude that until evidence is provided that abundance‐based site selection improves estimate precision and the situations in which it provides unbiased estimates are clearly identified, using probability sampling should remain the rule.

Abstract Site occupancy models (SOMs) are a common tool for studying the spatial ecology of wildlife. When observational data are collected using passive monitoring field methods, including camera traps or autonomous recorders, detections of animals may be temporally autocorrelated, leading to biased estimates and incorrectly quantified uncertainty. We presently lack clear guidance for understanding and mitigating the consequences of temporal autocorrelation when estimating occupancy models with camera trap data. We use simulations to explore when and how autocorrelation gives rise to biased or overconfident estimates of occupancy. We explore the impact of sampling design and biological conditions on model performance in the presence of autocorrelation, investigate the usefulness of several techniques for identifying and mitigating bias and compare performance of the SOM to a model that explicitly estimates autocorrelation. We also conduct a case study using detections of 22 North American mammals. We show that a join count goodness‐of‐fit test previously proposed for identifying clustered detections is effective for detecting autocorrelation across a range of conditions. We find that strong bias occurs in the estimated occupancy intercept when survey durations are short and detection rates are low. We provide a reference table for assessing the degree of bias to be expected under all conditions. We further find that discretizing data with larger windows decreases the magnitude of bias introduced by autocorrelation. In our case study, we find that detections of most species are autocorrelated and demonstrate how larger detection windows might mitigate the resulting bias. Our findings suggest that autocorrelation is likely widespread in camera trap data and that many previous studies of occupancy based on camera trap data may have systematically underestimated occupancy probabilities. Moving forward, we recommend that ecologists estimating occupancy from camera trap data use the join count goodness‐of‐fit test to determine whether autocorrelation is present in their data. If it is, SOMs should use large detection windows to mitigate bias and more accurately quantify uncertainty in occupancy model parameters. Ecologists should not use gaps between detection periods, which are ineffective at mitigating temporal structure in data and discard useful data.

The proliferation of forest edges and invasive predators have been identified as two primary threats to carnivore populations globally. These threats often occur in unison, facilitated by anthropogenic activities (e.g., fragmentation), and together may pose a greater influence than when they occur separately. Targeted conservation actions for forest carnivores, including Madagascar carnivores, have been hindered by a failure to understand the relative contributions of these factors in driving species declines. To fill this gap, we conducted an extensive camera survey along the edge of intact, continuous protected rainforests in eastern Madagascar to evaluate the extent invasive predators and forest edge separately and in combination affect native carnivore space use. We hypothesized that structural vegetation changes at the forest edge interact with invasive predator trap success and occurrence to reduce native carnivore space use near the forest edge and separately have less influence than when combined. In contrast to findings in fragmented and degraded forests of Madagascar, we found hard forest edge and invasive predators alone do not indiscriminately reduce native carnivore space use in continuous intact forest. Instead, we found free‐roaming dogs and cats interact with their surrounding environment (i.e., forest edge) in unique ways that shape species response differently than within interior forest. At the forest edge, vegetational changes of increasing shrub cover and the occurrence of dogs reduce space use of three of four native carnivores. However, we found greater effects of proximity to villages, especially with high invasive predator activity (free‐roaming cats). Ultimately, native carnivores showed variable sensitivities to pressures we examined, providing support for species‐specific management actions to maximize conservation outcomes. We encourage future studies to consider evaluating the magnitude of separate and combined threats to carnivores. In doing so, conservationists can better identify when threats can be managed in isolation and when they require simultaneous mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insectivorous bats in temperate zones have evolved strategies such as migration or hibernation to overcome challenges of reduced resource availability and increased energy demand during winter. In the southeastern United States Coastal Plain, bats are either year‐round residents and remain active during winter or are migrants from colder areas seeking milder temperatures. Southeastern Coastal Plain forests also may represent important areas for remnant populations of species impacted by white‐nose syndrome. Working pine (Pinus spp.) forests comprise a large proportion of southeastern Coastal Plain forests, yet winter bat habitat associations and how forest management affects bat use remain understudied. Hence, we used hierarchical multispecies spatial occupancy models to evaluate factors influencing winter bat occupancy and foraging habitat associations in working forests of the southeastern Coastal Plain. From January to March 2020–2022, we deployed Anabat Swift acoustic detectors and measured site‐ and landscape‐level covariates on six working landscapes. We detected five species of bats and three species groups at 93% (224/240) of sites. We observed higher species richness at sites with high proportions of contiguous forest and low levels of basal area. At the species level, occupancy patterns were influenced by site and landscape covariates, which had varying effects on species with distinct foraging strategies. Temperature was an important predictor of detectability. Our findings offer new insights into the ecology of bats in working forest landscapes during winter, where we highlight positive responses in occupancy with contiguous forests and lower levels of basal area, as in previous summer work. By providing valuable information on winter community composition and foraging habitat associations, we hope to guide management decisions for forest attributes important to these species, thus increasing conservation opportunities within working forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently published a study discussing the pitfalls of non‐probability sampling when selecting monitoring sites. We demonstrated that selecting sites based on abundance can often lead to biased inference, and we suggested that researchers use probability sampling. We also called for nuance when interpreting results of monitoring programs that use non‐probability sampling. We suggested that inference from sites of great abundance might still be useful for inference into population dynamics of long‐lived species such as raptors.Perret et al. seem to misinterpret our call for nuance as advocating for non‐probability sampling. They state that we concluded the general recommendation of using probability sampling should be revised. We did not conclude this. In fact, we agree with their recommendation.Perret et al. implemented simulations that are unrealistic within the context of our study. We use empirical data for 12 raptor species to demonstrate that our previous results are valid and that simulations implemented by Perret et al. do not reflect the biology of long‐lived raptors. The time series simulated by Perret et al. fluctuated greatly in abundance with populations often more than doubling within a year. This is extremely unlikely for populations of long‐lived species having high site fidelity.Many historical programs monitor sites of great abundance and thus risk biased results. We demonstrate that this risk is minimal under some important conditions and our results likely apply to other long‐lived species. Acknowledging this nuance could rescue many long‐term monitoring programs and their data thereby preserving efforts of costly conservation programs. Consistent with our original study, these exceptions do not invalidate the general recommendation to avoid non‐probability sampling; however, they do support our call for nuance when interpreting results of studies that monitored animals at sites of great abundance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Facing the current sustainability challenges requires reduction in building stock energy usage towards achieving the European Green Deal targets. This can be accomplished by adopting techniques such as fault detection and diagnosis and efficiency optimization. Taking an Estonian school as a case study, an occupancy-based algorithm for scheduling ventilation operations in buildings is here developed starting only from energy use data. The aim is optimizing the system's operation according to occupancy profiles while maintaining a comfortable indoor climate. By relying only on electricity meters without using carbon dioxide or occupancy sensors, we use the historical data of a school to develop a DBSCAN-based clustering algorithm that generates consumption profiles. A novel occupancy estimation algorithm, based on threshold and time-series methods, then creates 12 occupancy schedules that are either based on classical detection with an on-off method or on occupancy estimation for demand-controlled ventilation. We find that the latter replaces the 60% capacity of current on-off schedules by 30% or even 0%, with energy savings ranging from 3.5% to 66.4%. The corresponding costs are reduced from 18.1% up to 62.6%, while still complying with current national regulations for indoor air quality. Remarkably, our method can immediately be extended to other countries, as it relies only on occupancy schedules that ignore weather and other location-specific factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Despite warming temperatures, some species are found persisting at the trailing edge of their distribution. Microclimates provided by complex topography are considered a key factor in these cases of range stationarity, buffering stress from exposure to warming and enabling persistence. However, for species with trailing‐edges located in human‐modified landscapes, refugial conditions provided by microclimates could be disrupted by human activities. Here, we aimed to understand the determinants of trailing‐edge occupancy for a small lagomorph found in rocky patches harbouring cool microclimates. Location: Hokkaido Island, Japan. Taxon: Northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea). Methods: We surveyed the occupancy of northern pikas across a wide elevational gradient (350–2200 m) for two consecutive summers. Ambient air and microhabitat (i.e. rock interstices) thermal conditions were measured to assess their relationship. We then analysed their effects on occupancy at two nested spatial scales: (1) whole‐distribution, and (2) at identified trailing‐edge sites where we explored the effects of microclimates and surrounding human activities (i.e. distance to nearest road and area of human land use such as plantation forests or agricultural fields). Results: Overall, rock interstices exhibited cooler conditions than ambient air with temperature differences of 1–2°C. The overall distribution of northern pikas was affected by both mean ambient temperature and microhabitat availability, with warmer (lower elevation) sites with less microhabitats corresponding to the trailing edge of its distribution. Interestingly, trailing edge occupancy patterns were best explained by the negative effect of surrounding human land despite the existence of suitable microclimates in the rocky patches. Main Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the local refugial conditions supported by cool microclimates are likely to be disrupted by the effects of human land alterations at the larger landscape scale. This result highlights the importance of considering the effects of human activities and landscape alteration for effective microrefugia conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountain hare is a cold‐adapted species threatened by climate change, but despite its emblematic nature, our understanding of the causes of population decline remains limited. Camera traps are increasingly used in ecology as a tool for monitoring animal populations at large spatial and temporal scales. In mountain environments where field work is constrained by difficult access and harsh conditions, camera traps constitute a promising tool for surveying rare and elusive species such as the mountain hare. Our study explored the use of camera traps as a tool for studying seasonal habitat occupancy and daily activity patterns of the mountain hare, in order to carry out long‐term monitoring of populations. We installed 46 camera traps along elevation gradients in the Mont‐Blanc massif (France) from January 2018 to June 2022. We measured habitat variables at each camera trap site in order to define vegetation composition and habitat structure. We performed multi‐season and single‐season occupancy models to respectively describe habitat occupancy of the mountain hare throughout the year and identify the environmental variables influencing mountain hare presence during the breeding season. Mountain hares occupy coniferous forest in winter, and then switch to mixed areas of shrubland and grassland above treeline in spring and the beginning of summer. In spring, occupancy probability of the mountain hare increases with relative cover of mixed low shrub and herbaceous layer (i.e. the 10–40 cm vegetation layer), suggesting a link to food resources and protection from predation. Our results also confirm the nocturnal and crepuscular activity of the mountain hare during the breeding season, and strictly nocturnal activity in winter. Our results demonstrate the efficiency of camera traps as tools for monitoring mountain hare habitat occupancy in mountain environments and underline the importance of diverse habitat mosaics for the preservation of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the occupancy and density estimate of Northern Red Muntjac (Muntiacus vaginalis) at a landscape scale is crucial due to their significant ecological impact on ecosystems, particularly as prey for large predators. This study employed a single-season site occupancy model to assess the occupancy and density of Northern Red Muntjac using camera traps in the east Sikkim and Darjeeling hills Central Himalayan landscape from 2018 to 2020. A total of 513 photo captures of Northern Red Muntjac were obtained from 3150 trap nights with a naive occupancy estimate of 0.64 for the Central Himalayan landscape. The top model revealed positive influences of broadleaved forest (β = 0.93 ± 0.26), mixed forest (β = 0.6 ± 0.47), and slope (β = 0.2 ± 0.24) on the occupancy probability, while elevation (β = −0.08 ± 0.24) and ruggedness (β = −0.53 ± 0.23) had negative influences. Similarly, broadleaved forest (β = 1.3 ± 0.24), mixed forest (β = 0.74 ± 0.39), and ruggedness (β = 0.62 ± 0.25) positively influenced the detection probability, whereas elevation (β = −0.3 ± 0.22) and slope (β = −1.13 ± 1.21) had negative effects. The study estimated a total abundance of 169.23 ± 20.77 individuals with a density of 0.33 per square kilometre in the landscape. This study is a pioneering effort and provides a foundation for future investigations into the occupancy and density estimate of Northern Red Muntjac in the Central Himalayas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Site occupancy models (SOMs) are a common tool for studying the spatial ecology of wildlife. When observational data are collected using passive monitoring field methods, including camera traps or autonomous recorders, detections of animals may be temporally autocorrelated, leading to biased estimates and incorrectly quantified uncertainty. We presently lack clear guidance for understanding and mitigating the consequences of temporal autocorrelation when estimating occupancy models with camera trap data.We use simulations to explore when and how autocorrelation gives rise to biased or overconfident estimates of occupancy. We explore the impact of sampling design and biological conditions on model performance in the presence of autocorrelation, investigate the usefulness of several techniques for identifying and mitigating bias and compare performance of the SOM to a model that explicitly estimates autocorrelation. We also conduct a case study using detections of 22 North American mammals.We show that a join count goodness‐of‐fit test previously proposed for identifying clustered detections is effective for detecting autocorrelation across a range of conditions. We find that strong bias occurs in the estimated occupancy intercept when survey durations are short and detection rates are low. We provide a reference table for assessing the degree of bias to be expected under all conditions. We further find that discretizing data with larger windows decreases the magnitude of bias introduced by autocorrelation. In our case study, we find that detections of most species are autocorrelated and demonstrate how larger detection windows might mitigate the resulting bias.Our findings suggest that autocorrelation is likely widespread in camera trap data and that many previous studies of occupancy based on camera trap data may have systematically underestimated occupancy probabilities. Moving forward, we recommend that ecologists estimating occupancy from camera trap data use the join count goodness‐of‐fit test to determine whether autocorrelation is present in their data. If it is, SOMs should use large detection windows to mitigate bias and more accurately quantify uncertainty in occupancy model parameters. Ecologists should not use gaps between detection periods, which are ineffective at mitigating temporal structure in data and discard useful data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining best methods to detect individuals and monitor populations that balance effort and efficiency can assist conservation and land management. This may be especially true for small, non-charismatic species, such as rodents (Rodentia), which comprise 39% of all mammal species. Given the importance of rodents to ecosystems, and the number of listed species, we tested two commonly used detection and monitoring methods, live traps and camera traps, to determine their efficiency in rodents. An artificial-intelligence machine-learning model was developed to process the camera trap images and identify the species within them which reduced camera trapping effort. We used occupancy models to compare probability of detection and occupancy estimates for six rodent species across the two methods. Camera traps yielded greater detection probability and occupancy estimates for all six species. Live trapping yielded biasedly low estimates of occupancy, required greater effort, and had a lower probability of detection. Camera traps, aimed at the ground to capture the dorsal view of an individual, combined with machine learning provided a practical, noninvasive, and low effort solution to detecting and monitoring rodents. Thus, camera trapping with machine learning is a more sustainable and practical solution for the conservation and land management of rodents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread eradication of large carnivores and subsequent expansion of top mesopredators has the potential to impact species and community interactions with ecosystem‐wide implications. An example of these trophic dynamics is the widespread establishment of coyotes following extirpation of wolves and mountain lions in eastern North America. Here, we examined occupancy of three carnivores in northern New York considering both environmental/habitat factors and interspecific interactions. We estimated the co‐occurrence of coyotes, fishers, and martens from a landscape‐scale winter camera trap survey repeated annually for three years. Martens occurred independently of both coyotes and fishers, while fishers and coyotes displayed positive intraguild interactions that were constant across the landscape. Both marten and fisher first‐order occupancy were driven by a combination of biotic and abiotic factors, with both species displaying positive associations with forest cover but antithetical responses to average snow depth. The integral and antithetical role of snow depth in driving the occurrence of martens (positive) and fishers (negative) in the landscape indicates that future climatic warming could reduce the availability of current spatial refuges for martens created by severe winter conditions. Climate‐driven alterations to established competitive interactions and co‐existence patterns between marten and fisher have critical implications for the species survival and conservation. We provide correlational evidence consistent with the potential for positive top–down effects of dominant mesocarnivores on subordinate species, with fisher occupancy increasing conditional on the presence of coyotes across the landscape. These findings align with the hypothesis that under certain conditions, coyotes may facilitate certain subordinate carnivores. The evidence produced here is consistent with hypotheses on the dynamic nature of trophic niches. We demonstrate the need to consider the interplay between climate, habitat, and interspecific interactions to understand wildlife occupancy patterns and inform wildlife management in a rapidly changing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since being described in the year 2000, little ecological information has accumulated for South Mountains Gray-Cheeked Salamanders (Plethodon meridianus), a narrowly distributed salamander in southern Appalachia. In this study, we used repeat surveys to model occupancy and abundance of P. meridianus along a transect running from the approximate range center to range edge. We found a strong effect of elevation and distance to streams as predictors of occupancy and abundance. The number of days since rain had a strong impact on detection probability, likely due to its effect on salamander surface activity (i.e., time outside of burrow), as opposed to observer error. Treating elevation as a proxy for distance to the range edge, we found that occupancy and abundance declined toward the range edge, supporting the center-periphery hypothesis. Our findings matched that of similar previous studies: at low elevations in dry habitat, salamanders are only found along the cooler microhabitat of streams, whereas at high elevations, salamanders are more widespread across the landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge about the distributions of species and the variables influencing their occurrence is important for their management and conservation, but factors affecting occurrence can vary across the range of a species. Northwestern pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) are widespread generalist turtles, but are nonetheless of conservation concern throughout their range. To better understand the distribution of northwestern pond turtles and introduced American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus), we surveyed streams on private timberlands of the interior foothills of northern California using visual encounter surveys and collecting samples of environmental DNA. We found that northwestern pond turtle occurrence was negatively related to elevation in our sampling frame. Detection probabilities with environmental DNA were approximately twice those of visual encounter surveys, but both methods were effective for detecting turtles in streams. American bullfrogs were detected in a single sample at each of 2 sites (one by environmental DNA, one by visual encounter surveys). Management for northwestern pond turtles in forest streams within our sample area will likely have the largest effect at lower elevation sites where turtles are most likely to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnAl2O4 with a typical spinel structure is highly expected to be a novel rare‐earth‐free ion‐activated oxide phosphor with red emission, which holds high actual meaning for advancing phosphor‐converted light‐emitting diode (pc‐LED) lighting. Among the rare‐earth‐free activators, Mn4+ ions have emerged as one of the most promising activators. Considering the price advantage of MnCO3 generating Mn2+ ions and the charge compensation effect potentially obtaining Mn4+ ions from Mn2+ ions, this research delves into a collection of ZnAl2O4:Mn2+(Mn4+), x Li+ (x = 0%–40%) phosphors with Li+ as co‐dopant and MnCO3 as Mn2+ dopant source prepared by a high temperature solid‐state reaction method. The lattice structure was investigated using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy. Results suggest a relatively high probability of Li+ ions occupying Zn2+ lattice sites. Furthermore, Li+ ion doping was assuredly found to facilitate the oxidization of Mn2+ to Mn4+, leading to a shift of luminescence peak from 516 to 656 nm. An intriguing phenomenon that the emission color changed with the Li+ doping content was also observed. Meanwhile, the luminescence intensity and quantum yield (QY) at different temperatures, as well as the relevant thermal quenching mechanism, were determined and elucidated detailedly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crowding in public transport is one of the reasons that nudges road users to shift from public transport to private modes of transport. To provide the passengers with a facility to plan their trips as per the dynamic crowding levels, this work proposes a framework for a passenger information system (PIS), in which the transit choices are differentiated with respect to crowding levels on the transit routes at different times of the day. A granular crowding prediction model is developed and integrated with PIS. In this, firstly, the transit segment relation (TSR) is constituted and used to make clusters based on the ridership index. Further, a time-series model is trained for each cluster using boarding TSR. A case study of Bhubaneswar, India, is presented, and three months of ticketing data are used to demonstrate the performance of the proposed prediction model. The prediction model is integrated into the PIS to expedite various route choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty years of increasing fire size and severity in California’s Sierra Nevada were embodied by the 2021 Dixie Fire, which burned 389,837 ha between July and October, making it one of the largest, most destructive fires in California’s history. Historical fire regimes burned substantial areas annually, but primarily at low and moderate severities. Studies of the implications of fires like the Dixie Fire, which burn largely at higher severities, have focused on habitat change in the burned area; much less is known about potential edge effects. The hermit warbler (Setophaga occidentalis) and western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) have previously been characterized as species with dramatic, opposing post-wildfire responses: hermit warblers display a strongly negative response to fires while western bluebirds display a strong positive response. We conducted passive acoustic monitoring pre- and post-Dixie Fire inside and outside the burned area and analyzed the audio with the machine learning animal identification tool BirdNET. We then used a multi-season occupancy modeling framework to characterize both species’ site extinction and site colonization responses as a function of fire and habitat variables. We found no influence of edge effects, though this may have been a function of the low density of our recorders relative to the home range of these species. We did, however, observe contrasting relationships between the species. Hermit warbler site extinction was elevated in burned areas, particularly those burned at higher severities, while site colonization in unburned habitat was positively associated with canopy cover. Western bluebirds displayed the exact opposite pattern (elevated colonization in areas of high-severity fire, elevated extinction in unburned areas with high canopy cover). These results suggest contrasting trajectories for fire-influenced bird species under contemporary fire regimes and could guide hypothesis generation for broader studies of biodiversity responses to fire in this ecosystem.

Negative interactions among invasive predators, competitors and native species can often disrupt ecosystem services, particularly when keystone species are affected. The Key Largo woodrat (Neotoma floridana smalli) is an endangered ecosystem engineer, endemic to protected hammocks on the northern third of the island of Key Largo, FL, USA. Invasive predator control efforts have assisted in woodrat recovery, but less is known about how a potential competitor, the black rat (Rattus rattus), interacts with the woodrat. We conducted camera trap surveys at supplemental nest sites throughout the range of the woodrat and used multi-species occupancy models to investigate factors influencing woodrat and black rat co-occurrence. Supplemental nest sites were surveyed each year over a three-year period, during which the population of black rats within the protected hammock declined precipitously. Woodrats and black rats occurred at similar levels in the first survey with occupancy probabilities of 22.8 % and 15.6 %, respectively. Both species occurred at fewer sites in the second survey, but while woodrats later rebounded, black rats were only detected twice in the final survey. There was evidence of species avoidance between the rodents based on a species interaction term, and they exhibited opposing relationships with predictor variables of both detection and occupancy probabilities. As the occupancy of black rats decreased, the relationship between woodrats and distance from developed areas also weakened. Following the black rat decline, woodrats recolonized an area previously dominated by black rats, where they had been presumed extirpated for 2–3 decades. Our results indicate that black rat competition restricted occupancy of Key Largo woodrats, hindering recovery efforts that previously concentrated on invasive predator removal, demonstrating the need to consider influences of both invasive predators and competitors in species recovery programs.

Habitat loss and fragmentation significantly contribute to the population decline of endangered species and pose conservation challenges. The canopy-living primates are highly susceptible to such habitat loss or fragmentation. Golden langur is one such primate with limited occupancy. In the present study, we aimed to identify factors influencing the occurrence of the endangered golden langur which is confined to a narrow region of north-western Assam, India, and its population characteristics using an occupancy framework. Ten teams of 4–5 people walked 1772.11 km in 1363 grid cells of 50 ha in size. We constructed detection histories of the species for each grid from three replications. We obtained 740 detections of golden langurs and estimated the probability of occupancy to be 0.57 ± 0.04SE in Manas Biosphere Reserve (BR) and 0.69 ± 0.08SE in the southern fragments. The moist deciduous forests positively and rainfall negatively influenced the occupancy probability in Manas BR, while forest cover and canopy height positively influenced the occupancy of golden langurs in the southern fragments. The encounter rate of golden langur in Manas BR was 0.37 groups/km and 0.67 groups/km in the southern fragments. The mean group size of the multi-male multi-female groups was 11± 4 SD (10.71± 4.72 SD in Manas BR and 10.60 ± 3.81 SD in the southern fragments). The mean group size and composition did not vary between the two areas indicating the ability of the species to adapt to changing habitat conditions. Fragment size did not show any relation between the percent grid cells with the langur occurrence, encounter rate, and mean group size. The unique langur group count was multiplied by the mean group size and calculated the minimum population size of golden langurs in India to be 7396 langurs. Since golden langur is highly folivorous, their persistence depends on the availability of suitable habitats, thus, the management of moist deciduous forests and contiguity of the canopy is crucial to ensure their survival.

Predator populations persisting in desert landscapes may be especially vulnerable to habitat fragmentation and changing climates, but many are chronically understudied and at risk of extirpation. The Asiatic subspecies of caracal, Caracal caracal schmitzi, inhabit the mountainous landscapes of the western and southern Arabian Peninsula, but they are thought to be in decline across the region. In Saudi Arabia, a recent extensive study used camera traps and face-to-face questionnaires to survey Arabian leopards and other medium- to large-size mammals, simultaneously generating vast bycatch data on Asiatic caracal presence. We assessed interspecific temporal overlap and identified factors that influence caracal occupancy, and predict their potential distribution across their historical range in Saudi Arabia. From fourteen camera trap surveys, 497 independent captures of caracals were recorded at only the nine south-western sites. Occupancy modelling showed caracals occurred in areas with higher gross primary productivity and elevations, as well as with a higher relative abundance of free-roaming cats and dogs, striped hyaena, and wild prey. Higher abundances of large predators decreased detection of caracals. Caracals displayed a cathemeral activity pattern with peaks of activity around sunrise and sunset, and had a high diel overlap with free-roaming cats and dogs, and wild Arabian wolves. Predictive modelling identified the south western mountains as a stronghold for Asiatic caracals, with low occupancy or recent extirpation in the north and elsewhere, and was highly congruous with predictions from false-positive occupancy modelling from 843 questionnaires. The persistence of caracal populations is likely driven by the increased vegetation and wild prey associated with the southern regions, as well as a more frequent human presence that potentially increases availability of alternative prey, including free-roaming cats. Caracals persisting in dry and desert regions may be particularly vulnerable to climatic changes affecting vegetation and prey abundance, but may have the ability to adapt and benefit from limited human presence if conflict can be avoided.