Endoparasite community structure has been poorly studied in migratory birds, particularly among the seabirds of south Florida. We examined parasite communities in seven south Florida seabird species: brown pelican Pelecanus occidentalis (n=33), northern gannet Morus bassanus (n=31), double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus (n=33), osprey Pandion haliaetus (n=27), royal tern Thalasseus maximus (n=30), herring gull Larus argentatus (n=12), and laughing gull Leucophaeus atricilla (n=40). We identified 33 parasitic helminth species: 6 nematodes, 2 cestodes, 3 acanthocephalans, and 22 digeneans. Subsequent pairwise tests and similarity profile analysis identified four distinct clusters with similar parasite community structures: (1) pelican and gannet; (2) cormorant; (3) osprey; and (4) tern and both gull species. The mean infracommunity observed species richness differed among the several seabird host species with the highest observed values in pelicans (5.7±0.4) and gannets (5.1±0.4), while the lowest values were seen in herring (0.8±0.7) and laughing (0.4±0.4) gulls. RELATE analyses indicated that the factors of host phylogeny (Rho=0.564, p=0.017), host feeding range (Rho=0.553, p=0.005), and host feeding technique (Rho=0.553, p=0.039) were significant and had similar magnitudes of effect on the structure of observed parasite communities within the several seabird species of this study. Host prey preference was not significant from the RELATE analyses (Rho=0.124, p=0.278), suggesting that preferred prey items of the several seabird hosts had a negligible impact in the structuring of parasite communities. From our results, host phylogeny and host feeding ecology are important driving factors of parasite community composition and structure of these south Florida seabirds, while host prey preference had little influence on parasite communities.

Wildlife trade is a significant factor affecting situation of some species in the wild. Especially its illegal part, which is also very profitable similarly as arms trade and drugs trade, may be fatal for some species. Today, birds of prey are one of the most often traded groups of birds in the world and falconry is the main driving force of this trade. Although development of methods of captive breeding of birds of prey was an important turning point for their protection, it was not able to fully suppress taking them from the wild. Until recently, the European market was a large consumer of imported birds but European Union policy makes imports, especially for wild birds, more and more difficult. Thus it supports another aspect which is historically rooted in this area, namely breeding. A keeping and captive breeding of birds of prey is increasing in Europe and it takes part in global market. The goal of this thesis was to analyse content and volume of the trade with live specimens of birds of prey within EU for period 2000-2017. In addition to the EU as a whole, data for the Czech Republic were also processed. The EU has proven to be an important exporter with an upward trend, whereas imports have been restricted, especially since 2006, and still decrease. In general, the most traded birds are hybrid falcons and also a Gyrfalcon which is determined by Middle East demand. Although there are almost only captive birds in European export, there still are wild birds in some imports, especially vultures from Guinea. The Czech Republic copies European trends more or less. It seems that there is more birds of Accipitriformes order in the intra-European trade than in the trade with third countries. It emerged that European legislations can have a significant impact on the trade, even in global terms. An unpleasant finding was that used sources (especially the CITES database) have to be taken with discretion because they contain many mistakes and inconsistencies which may dramatically affect the results.

Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-06-01T18:45:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 diversidade_sazonalidade.pdf: 1974162 bytes, checksum: 1339725def3f25ce1b288ad92aaad7a8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-01T18:45:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 diversidade_sazonalidade.pdf: 1974162 bytes, checksum: 1339725def3f25ce1b288ad92aaad7a8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Nenhuma / Os rapinantes, assim como os demais predadores, possuem grande importância na regulação das populações de presas e por isso influenciam na manutenção dos ecossistemas onde estão incluídos. Assim, a presença destes indivíduos produz efeitos ao longo das cadeias tróficas influenciando até mesmo a comunidade vegetal envolvida. Em função disso, conhecer as comunidades de rapinantes, e também avaliar como estes táxons interagem com as alterações dos ambientes onde vivem permitem explicar a capacidade de adaptação destas espécies. Em especial, a análise das escolhas de diferentes locais por estas aves, elucidam quais características dos ambientes são determinantes para a permanência destes indivíduos no habitat referido. Neste sentido, este trabalho avaliou a comunidade de aves de rapinas diurnas em um ambiente fragmentado no sul do Planalto das Araucárias, analisando características da estrutura da comunidade e sazonalidade, bem como uso e tendência de seleção de habitats em relação a um ambiente heterogêneo e com a presença de ação antrópica. Na área de estudo foram classificados quatro ambientes distintos (campo nativo, agrícola, mata nativa e talhão de Pinus sp.) e foram avaliados 3 fragmentos de cada um destes habitats. Para o levantamento dos rapinantes diurnos realizou-se três pontos amostrais, em cada um dos 12 fragmentos. Como metodologia complementar, realizaram-se 8 transectos de carro, ao longo da área de estudo, abrangendo áreas dos quatro habitats descritos. Registraram-se 16 espécies de rapinantes, que apresentaram diferença significativa em sua abundância ao longo das estações, o que pode ser em função das diferenças climáticas que alteram os recursos disponíveis no ambiente. As aves de rapinas diurnas utilizaram diferentes ambientes para a realização de seus comportamentos e por isso não foi encontrada similaridade na composição das espécies em relação aos pontos amostrais. Em relação ao uso de ambientes, as espécies utilizaram as áreas abertas em maior quantidade, apresentando grande utilização dos ambientes agrícolas, o que confirma a adaptação destes indivíduos à estas áreas. As espécies generalistas utilizaram, em geral, os ambientes na proporção disponível no local, inclusive apresentando em alguns casos, tendência de seleção positiva aos ambientes alterados, enfatizando sua adaptação às alterações ambientais. Por outro lado, algumas espécies especialistas apresentaram uso de áreas mais conservadas, podendo por isso serem utilizadas como espécies indicadoras de qualidade ambiental. / The raptors, like other predators, have great importance in the regulation of prey populations and therefore influence the maintenance of ecosystems which are included. So, the presence of these individuals produces effects along the trophic chains influencing even the plant community involved. Because of that, knowing the communities of raptors, and also to evaluate how these taxa interact with changes to the environments in which they live, can explain the adaptability of these species. In particular, analysis of the choice of different places for these birds, elucidate which features of the environment are essential to the permanence of these individuals that the habitat. Thus, this study evaluated the community of diurnal birds of prey in a fragmented environment in the south of the Araucaria Plateau, analyzing characteristics of community structure and seasonality, as well as use and habitat selection tendency in relation to a heterogeneous environment with the presence of human action. In the study area were classified four distinct environments (native grassland, agricultural, native forest and planting of Pinus sp.) And were evaluated 3 fragments of each of these habitats. To survey the diurnal raptors three sampling points was performed on each of the 12 fragments. As a complementary methodology, there were 8 car transects along the study area, covering the four areas described habitats. We recorded 16 species of raptors, which showed significant differences in abundance throughout the seasons, which may be due to climatic differences that alter the resources available in the environment. The diurnal birds of prey used different environments to perform their behaviors and therefore no similarity was found in species composition in relation to the sampling points. Regarding the use of environments, the species used the open areas in greater quantities, with great use of agricultural environments, which confirms the adaptation of these individuals to these areas. The generalist species used, in general, environments in the proportion available in the area even featuring, in some cases, significant and positive selection to altered environments, emphasizing adaptation to environmental changes. On the other hand, some specialists species showed use of the most conserved areas and can therefore be used as indicator species of environmental quality.