Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 1997. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

No description available.

Fitness in ground squirrels is a frequently discussed topic, reported in many publications, although it was rarely the subject of their study. The aim of this study was to determine which factors and find out how they affect the fitness of individuals, and thus the whole population of the European ground squirrel in Czech Republic. For this purpose we collected body mass data at three studied population, which are the main indicator of the fitness in ground squirrels. We also recorded information about injuries, reproduction status, ectoparasites and endoparasites. Moreover we collected all available data on the body mass of European ground squirrel in the central European region, and we compiled overview of body mass changes during the season. This enables us to compare our data with typical/common body mass value in particular sex, age and season. Recorded differences in body mass at three studied sites were related to sex, age, locality and season. We found positive correlation between the body mass and injuries from fights/reproduction activity in adult males. The relationship between body mass and reproduction activity of females was not found. Four species of ectoparasites, mostly occurring in adults, were recorded in studied populations. We also found five species of endoparasites, which...

No description available.

The Mackenzie Delta region, NWT, has a short growing season and highly seasonal climate, and brown bears (Ursus arctos) there face many challenges obtaining their nutritional requirements. Consumption of meat by brown bears is linked to increases in population density, fecundity, growth and body size. I examined the use of Arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii), and broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus) as meat sources by Mackenzie Delta brown bears. As a preliminary step, I built an Arctic ground squirrel habitat model, using field-surveyed ground squirrel burrow locations. Using this model, I examined bears selection for Arctic ground squirrel habitat as a population, by sex and as individuals, and linked this to results of stable isotope analysis and site investigations. Bears showed little evidence of Arctic ground squirrel use at the population and sex level, but some individual bears appeared to prey heavily on ground squirrels, particularly during hyperphagia. I also described observations of a brown bear using broad whitefish in autumn, and used telemetry locations to show that other bears may also feed heavily on broad whitefish during hyperphagia. My research provides prey-specific evidence for intrapopulation niche variation among Mackenzie Delta brown bears. / Ecology

En écologie évolutive, les comportements de reproduction sont particulièrement intéressants de part leur impact sur le succès reproducteur et donc leur lien étroit avec la valeur sélective individuelle. En s'appuyant sur des suivis individuels à long-terme de populations naturelles d'un rongeur hibernant et d'un oiseau marin migrateur, cette thèse a eu pour objectif 1) de déterminer la présence de sélection de parentèle et le lien entre l'environnement social et la philopatrie chez le spermophile du Columbia (Urocitellus columbianus) et 2) d'estimer le potentiel évolutif de la phénologie de la migration et la reproduction chez la sterne pierregarin (Sterna hirundo).Alors que la dispersion à longue distance a été largement étudiée chez de nombreux taxa, notre compréhension des mouvements au sein d'une colonie, en particulier en tenant compte de l'environnement social, reste limitée. Pourtant l'organisation spatiale des individus apparentés peut être fortement liée à l'évolution de la coopération, qui a pour condition nécessaire la présence de sélection de parentèle. Les travaux de cette thèse montrent que les femelles spermophiles du Columbia coopérant avec des apparentées ont une valeur sélective inclusive plus élevée que les autres femelles, révélant une forte influence de la sélection de parentèle. Les femelles sont fortement philopatriques au sein de la colonie et les mouvements à courte distance semblent liés à un partage de l'espace avec les apparentées. La philopatrie et les ajustements spatiaux permettent une forte proximité entre apparentées, qui est à la base de leur coopération. Ces résultats ouvrent des perspectives prometteuses pour explorer les mécanismes proximaux et ultimes de la coopération, en particulier en lien avec l'évolution des personnalités.Dans le contexte des changements climatiques, de nombreuses études chez les oiseaux documentent un avancement de la phénologie. L'étude d'une population déclinante de sternes pierregarins montrant un retard progressif des dates de ponte soulève l'importance d'évaluer les changements évolutifs attendus ainsi que les contraintes évolutives pour la phénologie de la migration et de la reproduction. Ces travaux montrent une diminution des variances phénotypique et génétique additive de la date d'arrivée de la migration printanière avec l'avancement du stade reproducteur. Ce résultat révèle un cas original de forte sélection passée pour la canalisation d'un trait comportemental, pouvant représenter une contrainte évolutive pour ce caractère. En outre, alors que la phénologie de la reproduction est classiquement considérée comme un caractère femelle-spécifique, l'analyse révèle un effet environnemental indirect du mâle sur la date de ponte, lié à la nécessité d'une synchronisation entre les partenaires pour l'arrivée de la migration printanière. Malgré d'une part l'absence de contraintes génétiques et d'autre part une héritabilité et une variance génétique additive significatives, les changements évolutifs attendus pour des dates de ponte plus précoces sont restreints du fait d'une sélection faible. De même, le potentiel évolutif de la date d'arrivée de la migration est limité. Des recherches futures explorant la plasticité phénotypique et la désynchronisation entre la phénologie des sternes et de leurs proies pourraient expliquer le retard de la phénologie de la reproduction en contraste avec nos prédictions. / In evolutionary ecology, behaviours associated with reproduction are particularly interesting because of their impact on reproductive success, and thus their close link to individual fitness. Using long-term individual monitoring of natural populations of a hibernating rodent and a migratory seabird, the aims of this PhD were 1) to determine presence of kin selection and relationship between social environment and philopatry in Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus) and 2) estimate the evolutionary potential of the migratory and reproductive phenology in common terns (Sterna hirundo).While long-distance dispersal has been well studied in numerous taxa, our understanding of within-colony movements is still limited, particularly with respect to the social environment. However, spatial organization of kin can be strongly related to the evolution of nepotistic cooperation, which requires kin selection as a necessary condition. My studies show that female Columbian ground squirrels that cooperate with kin have higher inclusive fitness, revealing a strong influence of kin selection. Females are strongly philopatric within the colony and short-distance movements seemed to be linked to sharing of space with kin. Philopatry and spatial accommodation promote strong proximity between kin, which is the basis of their cooperation. These results offer promising research perspectives for the exploration of proximate and ultimate mechanisms of cooperation, particularly linked with the evolution of personality.In the context of climate change, numerous studies in birds document advances of avian phenology. The study of a declining population of common terns exhibiting a progressive delay of laying dates indicates the importance of evaluating expected evolutionary changes, as well as constraints on migratory and reproductive phenology. My studies found a decrease of the phenotypic and additive genetic variances in arrival date from spring migration with advancing reproductive stage. This result reveals an original case of strong past selection for canalization of a behavioural trait, perhaps representing an evolutionary constraint. Also, while phenology of reproduction is classically considered a female-specific trait, analyses show an indirect environmental effect of male on laying date, linked to the need of partners to be synchronized when arriving from spring migration. In spite of, on one hand, lack of genetic constraints, and on the other hand, significant heritability and genetic variance, expected evolutionary changes for earlier laying dates are limited due to a weak selection. Similarly, the evolutionary potential of arrival date from spring migration is limited. Future research exploring phenotypic plasticity and the mismatch between the phenology of terns and their prey might explain the delay of the reproduction phenology, in contrast with our expectations.

<p>Greater prairie-chickens (<i>Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus</i>; GPC) have declined throughout large areas in the eastern portion of their range. I used species distribution modeling to predict most appropriate areas of translocation of GPC in and around Kankakee Sands, a tallgrass prairie in northwest Indiana, USA. I used MaxEnt for modelling the predictions based on relevant environmental predictors along with occurrence points of 54 known lek sites. I created four models inspired by Hovick et al. (2015): Universal, Environmental, Anthropogenic-Landcover, and Anthropogenic-MODIS. The Universal, Environmental, and Anthropogenic-MODIS models possessed passable AUC scores with low omission error rates. However, only the Universal model performed better than the null model according to binomial testing. I created maps of all models with passing AUC scores along with an overlay map displaying the highest predictions across all passing models. MaxEnt predicted high relative likelihoods of occurrence for the entirety of Kankakee Sands and many areas in the nearby landscape, including the surrounding agricultural matrix. With implementation of some management suggestions and potential cooperation with local farmers, GPC translocation to the area appears plausible.</p> <p>Franklin’s ground squirrels (<i>Poliocitellus franklinii</i>; FGS) have declined throughout a large portion of the eastern periphery of their range. Because of this, The Nature Conservancy is interested in establishing a new population of these animals via translocation. The area of interest is tallgrass prairie in northwest Indiana, USA: Kankakee Sands and the surrounding landscape. Species distribution modelling can help identify areas that are suitable for translocation. I used MaxEnt, relevant environmental variables, and 44 known occurrence points to model the potential for translocation of FGS to Kankakee Sands and the surrounding area. I created four models inspired by Hovick et al. (2015): Universal, Environmental, Anthropogenic-Landcover, and Anthropogenic-MODIS. I created maps of models with passing AUC scores. The final map was an overlay map displaying the highest relative likelihood of occurrence predictions for the area in all passing models. Only the Universal and Anthropogenic-MODIS models had passable AUC scores. Both had acceptable omission error rates. However, none of the models performed better than the null model (p < 0.05). MaxEnt predicted that a few areas in and outside of Kankakee Sands possess high relative likelihoods of occurrence of FGS in both the Universal and Anthropogenic-MODIS models. However, MaxEnt predicted high relative likelihoods in the surrounding agricultural matrix in the Universal Model. FGS prefer to cross through agricultural areas via unmowed roadside instead of open fields (Duggan et al. 2011). Because of this, high predictions in agricultural matrices in the Universal model are irrelevant. High relative likelihood predictions for linear sections that are obviously roads are disregardable in the context of my modeling efforts. Because of my low sample size, none of the models are really reliable in predicting relative likelihoods of occurrence for this area. Despite high relative likelihood predictions, the appropriateness of a translocation effort to the area is inconclusive.</p>

<p>U&nbsp; radu&nbsp; je&nbsp; analiziran&nbsp; odgovor&nbsp; lokalnih&nbsp; populacija&nbsp; tekunice&nbsp; u&nbsp; Vojvodini&nbsp; na<br />promene&nbsp; uslova&nbsp; klime&nbsp; i&nbsp; kori&scaron;ćenja&nbsp; zemlji&scaron;ta.&nbsp; Odgovori&nbsp; populacija&nbsp; tekunice<br />(tipičnog&nbsp; predstavnika&nbsp; otvorenih&nbsp; stani&scaron;ta&nbsp; i&nbsp; idealnog&nbsp; model&nbsp; organizma)&nbsp; na<br />pomenute promene omogućiće razmatranje kako mere na regionalnom nivou: i)<br />mogu unaprediti za&scaron;titu i očuvanje tekunice ii) ublažiti efekti promene klime i<br />kori&scaron;ćenja&nbsp; zemlji&scaron;ta&nbsp; iii)&nbsp; mogu&nbsp; usaglasiti&nbsp; razvoj&nbsp; poljoprivrede&nbsp; sa&nbsp; očuvanjem<br />biodiverziteta travnatih ekosistema. Kako&nbsp; bi&nbsp; se&nbsp; odgovorilo&nbsp; na&nbsp; pitanja&nbsp; i&nbsp; postavljene&nbsp; hipoteze&nbsp; u&nbsp; radu&nbsp; sprovedeno&nbsp; je terensko&nbsp; istraživanje,&nbsp; kori&scaron;ćen&nbsp; standardni&nbsp; prostorni&nbsp; pristup&nbsp; i&nbsp; ekolo&scaron;ko modelovanje.&nbsp; Sve&nbsp; primenjene&nbsp; tehnike&nbsp; su&nbsp; komplementarne&nbsp; jedna&nbsp; drugoj&nbsp; u dobijanju&nbsp; odgovora&nbsp; na&nbsp; postavljena&nbsp; pitanja&nbsp; gde&nbsp; rezultati&nbsp; jedne&nbsp; analize predstavljaju&nbsp; ulazne&nbsp; podatke&nbsp; za&nbsp; drugu&nbsp; analizu.&nbsp; U&nbsp; tezi&nbsp; su&nbsp; kori&scaron;ćeni&nbsp;&nbsp; podaci dobijeni&nbsp; na&nbsp; osnovu&nbsp; terenskog&nbsp; mapiranja&nbsp; lokalnih&nbsp; populacija&nbsp; i&nbsp; podaci&nbsp; iz eksperimenta&nbsp; modelovanja&nbsp; kao&nbsp; i&nbsp; serija&nbsp; podataka&nbsp; dobijena&nbsp; cenzusom&nbsp; kolonija tekunica i terenskim uzorkovanjem zemlji&scaron;ta i vegetacije. Rasprostranjenje&nbsp; populacija&nbsp; oblikuju&nbsp; klimatski&nbsp; uslovi&nbsp; ali&nbsp; pored&nbsp; abiotičkih faktora&nbsp; uslovljavaju&nbsp; ih&nbsp; i&nbsp; biotički&nbsp; faktori&nbsp; i&nbsp; kretanje&nbsp; jedinki.&nbsp; Promena&nbsp; klime direktno&nbsp; utiče&nbsp; na&nbsp; distribuciju&nbsp; optimalnih&nbsp; uslova.&nbsp; Istraženo&nbsp; je&nbsp; u&nbsp; kojoj&nbsp; meri&nbsp; će doći&nbsp; do&nbsp; promene&nbsp; u&nbsp; distribuciji&nbsp; optimalnih&nbsp; uslova&nbsp; sredine&nbsp; za&nbsp; tekunicu. Potencijalna promena&nbsp; analizirana je&nbsp; uzimajući&nbsp; u obzir klimatski scenario Max Plank&nbsp; Instituta&nbsp; sa&nbsp; tri&nbsp; rcp&nbsp; projekcije&nbsp; i&nbsp; tri&nbsp; generisana&nbsp; prostorna&nbsp; scenarijadistribucije&nbsp; otvorenih&nbsp; travnatih&nbsp; stani&scaron;ta&nbsp; u&nbsp; Vojvodini.&nbsp; Sagledavanje&nbsp; mogućih efekata promene sredinskih uslova&nbsp; dalo je&nbsp; mogućnost da se ukaže na zone koja će&nbsp; biti&nbsp; ključne&nbsp; za&nbsp; očuvanje&nbsp; populacija&nbsp; tekunica&nbsp; i&nbsp; travnatih&nbsp; ekosistema&nbsp; u Vojvodini. Sledeće,&nbsp; s&nbsp; obzirom&nbsp; da&nbsp; disperzija&nbsp; jedinki,&nbsp; dostupnost&nbsp; resursa&nbsp; kao&nbsp; i&nbsp; delovanje lokalnih&nbsp; faktora&nbsp; ugrožavanja&nbsp; (barijere,&nbsp; menadžment&nbsp; stani&scaron;ta,&nbsp; varijabilnost sredinskih uslova, predatorstvo, poljoprivredne aktivnosti) oblikuju distribuciju populacija&nbsp; u&nbsp; prostoru,&nbsp; u&nbsp; radu&nbsp; je&nbsp; analiziran&nbsp; i&nbsp; uticaj&nbsp; promene&nbsp; ovih&nbsp; faktora&nbsp; na distribuciju populacija. Na području lokalnog slatino-stepskog koridora srednjeg Banata istražene su kompozicija biljnih vrsta, upravljanje na stani&scaron;tu, promena u kompoziciji okolnih poljoprivrednih kultura i dinamika populacije. Dobijene su informacije o efektima lokalnih uslova na prisustvo&nbsp; kolonija,&nbsp; veličinu kolonija i kondiciono stanje jedinki. Informacije dobijene u ovim poglavljima&nbsp; su kasnije kori&scaron;ćeni&nbsp; za&nbsp; formiranju&nbsp; seta&nbsp; kriterijuma&nbsp; radi&nbsp; karakterizacije&nbsp; svih&nbsp; mapiranih stani&scaron;ta u Vojvodini. Dalje,&nbsp; veliku&nbsp; ulogu&nbsp; u&nbsp; poljoprivrednom&nbsp; predelu&nbsp; imaju&nbsp; tranziciona&nbsp; stani&scaron;ta&nbsp; koja&nbsp; povezuju&nbsp; lokalne&nbsp; populacije.&nbsp; Identifikovanje&nbsp; koja&nbsp; tranziciona&nbsp; stani&scaron;ta&nbsp; koriste jedinke tekunice je ključno za očuvanje&nbsp; populacija i&nbsp; ublažavanje trena&nbsp; opadanja brojnosti. Na terenu su mapirani distribucioni obrasci lokalnih kolonija tekunice i istraženo je da li postoje razlike na lokalnom i predeonom&nbsp; nivou u distribuciji nastanjenih i napu&scaron;tenih stani&scaron;ta na području Vojvodine. U&nbsp; radu&nbsp; je&nbsp; dalje&nbsp; analizirana&nbsp; mapirana&nbsp; mreža&nbsp; stani&scaron;ta&nbsp; lokalnih&nbsp; populacija&nbsp; i pretpostavljano&nbsp; je&nbsp; da&nbsp; populacije&nbsp; funkcioni&scaron;u&nbsp; i&nbsp; održavaju&nbsp; se&nbsp; u&nbsp; okviru metapopulacione strukture. Sa druge strane, veličina i povr&scaron;ina koju zauzimaju potencijalne&nbsp; metapopulacione&nbsp; struktura&nbsp; mapirane&nbsp; mreže&nbsp; stani&scaron;ta&nbsp; koje&nbsp; se razlikuju&nbsp; u&nbsp; odnosu&nbsp; na&nbsp; okupiranost,&nbsp; kapacitet&nbsp; i&nbsp; povezanost&nbsp; nisu&nbsp; bile&nbsp; poznate. Kako&nbsp; bi&nbsp; se&nbsp; kvantifikovale&nbsp; potencijalne&nbsp; metapopulacione&nbsp; jedinice&nbsp; i&nbsp; utvrdila vijabilnost&nbsp; svake&nbsp; definisane&nbsp; pojedinačne&nbsp; metapopulacione&nbsp; mreže&nbsp; kori&scaron;ćen&nbsp; je metod ključnog fragmenta. Mapirane mreže evaluirane su iz perspektive samog taksona&nbsp; i&nbsp; testiran&nbsp; je&nbsp; potencijalni&nbsp; disperzioni&nbsp; kapacitet.&nbsp; Proverena&nbsp; je permeabilnost predeonog matriksa između mapiranih stani&scaron;ta i identifikovani su potencijalni koridori za jedinke. Ovakav pristup daje uvid&nbsp; u koji deo predela&nbsp; je značajno&nbsp; i&nbsp; neophodno&nbsp; ulagati&nbsp; ograničena&nbsp; sredstva&nbsp; za&nbsp; za&scaron;titu&nbsp; prirode&nbsp; unutar regiona Vojvodine. U&nbsp; tezi&nbsp; je&nbsp; na&nbsp; kraju&nbsp; ocenjen&nbsp; doprinos&nbsp; trenutne&nbsp; regionalne&nbsp; konzervacione&nbsp; prakse za&scaron;titi&nbsp; stani&scaron;ta&nbsp; tekunice,&nbsp; dat&nbsp; pregled&nbsp; slabih&nbsp; tačaka&nbsp; i&nbsp; predlog&nbsp; predeono adaptacionih mera koji će doprineti za&scaron;titi i očuvanju populacije tekunice kao i mozaika otvorenih travnatih stani&scaron;ta.</p> / <p>The study analyzes the&nbsp; European ground squirrel (EGS) population&nbsp; response to land use and climate change&nbsp; in Vojvodina. The response&nbsp; of the EGS population&nbsp; (typical&nbsp; species&nbsp; of&nbsp; open&nbsp; grassland&nbsp; habitats&nbsp; and&nbsp; the&nbsp; ideal&nbsp; model&nbsp; organism)&nbsp; to changes in&nbsp; environmental conditions in this region will enable consideration of following measures at&nbsp; the local and landscape level: i) effective protection and<br />conservation of the EGS and habitat it relay on; ii) climate change and land use mitigation&nbsp; and&nbsp; adaptation&nbsp; iii)&nbsp; how&nbsp; can&nbsp; we&nbsp; harmonize&nbsp; the&nbsp; development&nbsp; of agriculture and preserve&nbsp; the biodiversity of&nbsp; grassland ecosystem&nbsp; in agricultural settings. In order to answer the questions of this study, the field research was conducted, standard spatial approach and ecological modeling were employed. All applied techniques&nbsp; are&nbsp; complementary&nbsp; to&nbsp; one&nbsp; another&nbsp; in&nbsp; obtaining&nbsp; responses&nbsp; to&nbsp; the questions&nbsp; asked.&nbsp; The&nbsp; results&nbsp; of&nbsp; one&nbsp; analysis&nbsp; represent&nbsp; the&nbsp; input&nbsp; data&nbsp; for&nbsp; the following&nbsp; one.&nbsp; The&nbsp; data&nbsp; for&nbsp; the&nbsp; study&nbsp; were&nbsp; obtained:&nbsp; from&nbsp; EGS&nbsp; local populations&rsquo;&nbsp; field&nbsp; mapping,&nbsp; from&nbsp; the&nbsp; modeling&nbsp; experiment,&nbsp; the&nbsp; census campaigned and the field sampling of soil and vegetation. Distribution of populations, which in addition to abiotic factors are conditioned by biotic factors and movement of individuals were evaluated in the context of climate&nbsp; change.&nbsp; Climate&nbsp; change&nbsp; directly&nbsp; affects&nbsp; the&nbsp; distribution&nbsp; of&nbsp; optimalconditions.&nbsp; The&nbsp; potential&nbsp; changes&nbsp; in&nbsp; distribution&nbsp; of&nbsp; optimal&nbsp; environmental conditions for EGS were assessed by considering&nbsp; changes in abiotic factors and the&nbsp; availability&nbsp; of&nbsp; grasslands.&nbsp; The&nbsp; climate&nbsp; scenario&nbsp; obtained&nbsp; using&nbsp; a&nbsp; dynamic vegetation&nbsp; map&nbsp; with&nbsp; three&nbsp; rcp&nbsp; projections&nbsp; and&nbsp; three&nbsp; spatial&nbsp; scenarios&nbsp; for&nbsp; the distribution of open grasslands were used. The extrapolation of a suitable area obtained&nbsp; by&nbsp; presence&nbsp; only&nbsp; model&nbsp; Maxent&nbsp; gives&nbsp; the&nbsp; possibility&nbsp; to&nbsp; point&nbsp; to&nbsp; the zones&nbsp; that&nbsp; will&nbsp; be&nbsp; crucial&nbsp; for&nbsp; preserving&nbsp; the&nbsp; populations&nbsp; and&nbsp; grassland ecosystems in future. Dispersion&nbsp; of&nbsp; individuals,&nbsp; availability&nbsp; of&nbsp; resources&nbsp; and&nbsp; the&nbsp; operation&nbsp; of&nbsp; local threats (e. g. barriers, habitat management, variability of the central conditions, predation, agricultural activities) shape the distribution of&nbsp; populations in space and time. In the area of the local saline steppe corridor of the central Banat in Vojvodina&nbsp; i)&nbsp; the&nbsp; composition&nbsp; of&nbsp; plant&nbsp; species,&nbsp; ii)&nbsp; open&nbsp; grassland&nbsp; habitat management&nbsp; iii)&nbsp; changes&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; composition&nbsp; of&nbsp; surrounding&nbsp; crops&nbsp; and&nbsp; iv) population&nbsp; dynamics&nbsp; of&nbsp; EGS&nbsp; have&nbsp; been&nbsp; investigated.&nbsp; The&nbsp; effects&nbsp; of&nbsp; local conditions on the presence, size of colonies and condition of the individuals&nbsp; of EGS were assessed. The&nbsp; information obtained in these chapters was later used to&nbsp; form&nbsp; a&nbsp; set&nbsp; of&nbsp; criteria&nbsp; for&nbsp; the&nbsp; characterization&nbsp; of&nbsp; all&nbsp; mapped&nbsp; habitats&nbsp; in Vojvodina. In the agricultural area, transitional habitats connect local populations of many species. Identifying&nbsp; transitional&nbsp; habitats&nbsp; which potentially&nbsp; can&nbsp; be used by focal species&nbsp; is&nbsp; key&nbsp; to&nbsp; protect&nbsp; and&nbsp; mitigate&nbsp; population&nbsp; decline.&nbsp; For&nbsp; this&nbsp; purpose distribution&nbsp; patterns&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; colonies&nbsp; were&nbsp; mapped&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; field.&nbsp; The haracteristics&nbsp; and&nbsp; differences&nbsp; among&nbsp; mapped&nbsp; patches&nbsp; at&nbsp; the&nbsp; local&nbsp; and&nbsp; sub landscape scale were detected and evaluated. Later in the study the network of&nbsp; mapped habitats patches was evaluated. It was assumed&nbsp; that&nbsp; mapped&nbsp; populations&nbsp; in&nbsp; Vojvodina&nbsp; function&nbsp; within&nbsp; several&nbsp;&nbsp; metapopulations networks. However, the size and area of potential meta-population networks&nbsp; are&nbsp; likely&nbsp; to&nbsp; differ&nbsp; in&nbsp; relation&nbsp; to&nbsp; occupancy,&nbsp; capacity&nbsp; and&nbsp; habitat connectivity. The knowledge of potential population units was&nbsp; scarce. In&nbsp; order to&nbsp; quantify&nbsp; the&nbsp; potential&nbsp; population&nbsp; units,&nbsp; to&nbsp; determine&nbsp; the&nbsp; viability&nbsp; and conservation&nbsp; priority&nbsp; of&nbsp; each&nbsp; defined&nbsp; habitat&nbsp; network&nbsp; the&nbsp; key&nbsp; patch&nbsp; approach was used. Mapped networks were evaluated from the perspective of the taxon itself&nbsp; and potential dispersed capacity was tested. The ermeability of the matrix area,&nbsp; connectivity&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; mapped&nbsp; habitats&nbsp; and&nbsp; the&nbsp; distribution&nbsp; of&nbsp; potential corridors&nbsp; was&nbsp; verified.&nbsp; This&nbsp; approach&nbsp; gives an&nbsp; opportunity&nbsp; to&nbsp; assess to&nbsp; which part&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; area&nbsp; and&nbsp; population&nbsp; it&nbsp; is&nbsp; necessary&nbsp; to&nbsp; invest&nbsp; limited&nbsp; resources&nbsp; for nature protection in&nbsp; Vojvodina.The contribution of&nbsp; current regional conservation practice to protection of EGS was evaluated,&nbsp; a brief overview of the weak points and the proposal of preciseadaptation&nbsp; measures&nbsp; that&nbsp; should&nbsp; be&nbsp; taken&nbsp; in&nbsp; Vojvodina&nbsp; are&nbsp; presented&nbsp; in&nbsp; final chapter. The results of this study&nbsp; propose the&nbsp; development of&nbsp; spatial adaption measures&nbsp; and&nbsp; conservation&nbsp; design&nbsp; that&nbsp; will&nbsp; contribute&nbsp; not&nbsp; only&nbsp; in&nbsp; preserving EGS and habitats it relay on&nbsp; but also other wild plant and animal species&nbsp; in this intensively used agricultural settings.</p>