Christian H. Schulze

University of Vienna | UniWien · Division of Tropical Ecology and Animal Biodiversity, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research

Managing ecosystems for carbon storage may also benefit biodiversity conservation, but such a potential 'win-win' scenario has not yet been assessed for tropical agroforestry landscapes. We measured above- and below-ground carbon stocks as well as the species richness of four groups of plants and eight of animals on 14 representative plots in Sulaw...

Collisions with power lines represent an important mortality factor for Great Bustards Otis tarda throughout the distribution range of the species. This study evaluates the success of two conservation measures implemented in the West-Pannonian distribution range to reduce the number of power line collision casualties: (1) extensive underground cabl...

Flight directions of Great Bustards Otis tarda after take-off were used to analyse effects of power lines on spatial movements of this highly endangered bird species. Data on flight directions came from Great Bustard observations conducted in eastern Austria (northern and eastern parts of Lower Austria, northern part of Burgenland), western Slovaki...

1. Biodiversity data are needed for conservation and management of tropical habitats, but the high diversity of these ecosystems makes comprehensive surveys prohibitively expensive and indicator taxa reflecting the biodiversity patterns of other taxa are frequently used. Few studies have produced the necessary comprehensive data sets to assess the...

Local and landscape-scale agricultural intensification is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Controversially discussed solutions include wildlife-friendly farming or combining high-intensity farming with land-sparing for nature. Here, we integrate biodiversity and crop productivity data for smallholder cacao in Indonesia to exemplify for t...

Habitat loss and degradation are key drivers of the current biodiversity crisis. Most research focuses on the question of which traits allow species to persist in degraded habitats. We asked whether a species' trophic position or niche width influences the resilience of species in degraded habitats and to what extent habitat degradation affects tro...

Beyond preferences for particular species of tree, bark-foraging birds are associated with various tree characteristics such as decay stage, trunk diameter, or bark roughness. Our objectives were to study the winter foraging ecology of different bark-foraging bird species in the highly diverse floodplain forests of Donau-Auen National Park (Austria...

Trithemis annulata (Palisot de Beauvois, 1807) is first reported for the Region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in the southern Alps. A large breeding population was observed at Lake Caldaro from August to October 2023, along with two solitary males at other lakes. No other records of T. annulata were made at 16 other locations within the region....

The main goal of the LIFE EUROKITE project is to reduce anthropogenic causes of mortality of the red kite in Europe. The efficient protection of the red kite requires the detailed understanding of overall mortality reasons, especially focusing on those caused by legal and illegal human activities. The LIFE EUROKITE project focuses on a Europe-wide...

Invasive species pose a major threat to forest biodiversity, particularly on islands such as the Galapágos. Here, invasive plants are threatening the remnants of the unique cloud forest and its iconic Darwin's finches. We posit that food web disturbances caused by invasive Rubus niveus (blackberry), have contributed to the rapid decline of the inse...

Tropical species are considered to be more threatened by climate change than those of other world regions. This increased sensitivity to warming is thought to stem from the assumptions of low physiological capacity to withstand temperature fluctuations and already living near their limits of heat tolerance under current climatic conditions. For bir...

To effectively protect European species such as the Red Kite, a detailed understanding of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic influences, especially the causes of mortality and spatial context, is required. Modern telemetry techniques are increasingly used to obtain high-resolution information on spatial use. However, collecting such data can be di...

Distribution shifts and local extinctions in tropical montane birds are expected to result from intolerance to elevated temperatures driven by both climate warming and changes in land use which affect local, microclimatic temperatures (Tamic). However, the physiological basis of this phenomenon is yet insufficiently explored. Here, we experimentall...

The expansion of the agricultural frontier in the species-rich tropical regions of the world has generated conflicts between the need to secure food production and the conservation of biodiversity. As natural areas give way to farmlands, the future of sensitive taxa may depend on how intensively the crops are cultivated. In order to better understa...

Introduction Most Central European grasslands crucially depend on land use, and thus there is a need to comparatively analyse the impacts of different types of land use management on grassland biota. Aims and methods We use grasshoppers (Orthoptera), which are the most important insect herbivores in grasslands, and assess the differences of grazin...

Migrating species and populations are affected by conditions existing across large geographical scales. The degree to which populations mix at stop-over sites and wintering grounds is variable and can involve important fitness consequences. Thus, the link between breeding and wintering grounds and seasonal shifts in population structure are importa...

Invasive species pose a major threat to forest biodiversity, particularly on islands, such as the Galapagos. Here, invasive plants are threatening the remnants of the unique cloud forest and its iconic Darwin's finches. We posit that food web disturbances caused by invasive Rubus niveus (blackberry), but also the management measures used to control...

Human-induced climate change and the destruction of natural habitats are two of the main threats to biodiversity worldwide. Animals can use local weather conditions as environmental cues for optimal breeding conditions, but climate change can cause severe phenological mismatches. Migratory species that have a shorter time period for their settlemen...

Although the protection of tropical primary forests is of primary importance for conservation , secondary forests may help to reduce increasing forest fragmentation and related biodiversity loss. This study from the Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica evaluates the potential of secondary forests to provide additional habitat and to act as stepping stone...

Due to the rising demand for bio-fuels and plant oils, and fostered by high economic benefits, the area of oil palm cultivation is tremendously increasing all over the tropics. This development has spilled over to Costa Rica during the past 20 years, with manifold potentially negative effects on biodiversity. We surveyed ground-dwelling ants in 5 o...

How does migrating behaviour and habitat influence the eye size of tropical understory birds?

We documented the consequences of large-scale habitat loss on a community of Galápagos native bird species on San Cristóbal island, based on point counts conducted between 2010 and 2017. Surprisingly, despite considerable habitat change and a variety of other threats, the landbirds of San Cristóbal have fared much better than on the neighbouring is...

The detrimental effects of invasive parasites on hosts often increase under poor environmental conditions. Both natural fluctuations in environmental conditions and habitat management measures can temporarily cause adverse environmental effects. In this study, we investigated the interaction between the invasive parasitic fly Philornis downsi, cont...

Abstract Background Eurasian Sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) increasingly represent successful city-dwellers. Thereby, a rich food supply indicated by high numbers of small birds is believed to be the key driver for this bird-eating raptor species to settle in urban environments. However, as small passerine birds show particularly strong antipredato...

Oceanic islands are vulnerable ecosystems and their flora has been under pressure since the arrival of the first humans. Human activities and both deliberately and inadvertently introduced biota have had and continue to have a severe impact on island endemic plants. The number of alien plants has increased nearly linearly on many islands, perhaps r...

The Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) is one of a few insectivorous long distance migrants with a slightly positive population trend. In spring 2015 we examined habitat preferences of a population in the Donau-Auen National Park. Singing males were counted at randomly chosen points in six survey rounds. Additionally, possible breeding compe...

Results ot Red Kite telemetry in Centeral Europe

GPS-based telemetry studies of Central European Red Kites Milvus milvus – methodical difficulties and analytical opportunities based on the initial results Although satellite telemetry increasingly gains in importance in research on birds of prey, there are relatively few telemetry studies on Red Kites Milvus milvus dealing with behavioural aspects...

In recent decades, arboreal Darwin's Finches have suffered from a dramatic population decline, which has been attributed to parasitism by the invasive botfly Philornis downsi. However, changes to their primary habitat caused by invasive plant species may have additionally contributed to the observed population decline. The humid cloud forest on San...

In urban landscapes, city parks represent strongholds of avian biodiversity. Hence, understanding which variables promote species richness of bird communities has major implications for urban planning in order to sustain high biodiversity in an increasingly urbanised environment. From a management perspective, three options are available: increase...

Poster presenting the preliminary results of my Master’s thesis on habitat preferences of Collared Flycatchers in Donau-Auen national park.

This poster presents preliminary results of my master`s thesis on habitat preferences of Collared Flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis) in the Donau-Auen national park, Lower Austria.

How flooding regimes shape temperate-zone butterfly communities has received little attention. At the river Danube in eastern Austria, a levee has largely interrupted natural river dynamics since the late nineteenth century. Only a fraction of the floodplain area still experiences annual summer inundations after snow-melt in the Alps. We surveyed m...

Large and isolated trees are often last refuges for rare forest species in highly fragmented and human-dominated landscapes. This is of particular importance in tropical forest margin areas where remnant forest trees are being cleared at an alarming rate. Drivers and consequences of such remnant forest tree losses are still poorly documented. Here...

Managing ecosystems for carbon storage may also benefit biodiversity conservation, but such a potential 'win-win' scenario has not yet been assessed for tropical agroforestry landscapes. We measured above-and below-ground carbon stocks as well as the species richness of four groups of plants and eight of animals on 14 representative plots in Sulawe...

The influence of natural enemies has led to the evolution of various predator avoidance strategies in herbivorous insects. Many caterpillars are exclusively active at night and rest during the day. It is widely assumed that nocturnal activity in caterpillars reduces their risk of falling prey to their natural enemies. To test this hypothesis, we co...

Rising global demand for palm oil comes mainly at the expense of tropical forests, and palm plantations are increasing steadily in Latin America. Conversion of forest to oil palm agriculture accelerates biodiversity loss by dramatically altering availability and abundance of resources. Assessing the impact of these monocultures on highly diverse ke...

Table S1. Habitat characteristics of 36 Vienna city parks, where winter bird surveys were conducted. Beside park size and canopy heterogeneity, also the area of each habitat parameter describing the urban landscape matrix in a circle of radius 500 m around the centroid of each city park are presented. Landscape measures used for analyses are shaded...

Table S3. Biological traits of all bird species considered in this study.

Table S4. Correlation coefficients of Pearson correlations including the park variables park area (log transformed) and canopy heterogeneity as well as the landscape variables natural green space, man‐made green space, forest and sealed area, describing the urban matrix surrounding each city park, are listed. Significant correlations (P < 0.05) are...

Table S2. Total number of individuals of bird species recorded in 36 city parks in Vienna.

In this study, we aim to gain a better insight on how habitat filtering due to urbanization shapes bird communities of Vienna city parks. This may help to derive implications for urban planning in order to promote and maintain high diversity and ecosystem function in an increasing urbanized environment. The structure of wintering bird communities o...

Winter oilseed rape represents an important food source for Great Bustards. Great Bustard surveys during four consecutive winters (2005/2006–2008/2009) were used to identify characteristics of oilseed rape fields, which increase their attractiveness for the species in its West Pannonian wintering area. The study was conducted in study areas in East...

Oil palm plantations expand rapidly in tropical regions, including the Neotropics. This study, quantifies the impact on the herpetofauna of the Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica. Amphibians and reptiles were sampled along transects in forest interior (FI), at forest margins (FM) and in oil palm plantations (OP). While no significant difference in spec...

Structural heterogeneity and plant composition of tropical rainforests are influenced by topography. By comparing butterfly richness and species composition of creek, slope, and ridge forest, we studied to what extent topography may also affect rainforest butterfly assemblages in Piedras Blancas National Park in the Pacific lowlands of southern Cos...

Relating eye size differences in birds to aspects of ecology and life history features offers interesting views on selective forces shaping eye size. However, data on eye size is hardly available. We compare two non-invasive methods for measuring the eye sizes of live birds: measures obtained using photos with a scale of the heads of mist-netted bi...

The lowland forest on the southern Pacific slope of Costa Rica has an extremely diverse avifauna, including the Black-cheeked Ant-tanager Habia atrimaxillaris . The only known remaining populations of this highly range-restricted species occur in the areas of Piedras Blancas and Corcovado National Park. It is assumed that the population is decreasi...

The urban space is a permanently changing ecosystem, suffering from decreasing biodiversity, but also providing new anthropogenic habitats for some adaptable species. The Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is such an adaptable species, whose dense urban populations are ethologically different from rural populations in Europe. Several studies have...

Large River Restoration: effects of inshore restoration measures in the main stem of the free-flowing Danube in Witzelsdorf, Lower Austria, on relevant bio-indicators (vegetation, bird-and fish assemblage). A comparison of vegetation-types, birds and fish assemblage before (2007) and after (2012) rehabilitation measures along an approx. 2 km long r...

The aim of the study was to identify habitat parameters shaping richness and composition of water and reed bed bird assemblages at backwaters in the Morava-floodplains in Lower Austria. 42 water bodies were surveyed between March and June 2008. A total of 21 breeding bird species were recorded. Species richness and species composition were only wea...

Structural heterogeneity and plant composition of tropical rainforests are influenced by topography. By comparing butterfly richness and species composition of creek, slope, and ridge forest, we studied to what extent topography may also affect rainforest butterfly assemblages in Piedras Blancas National Park in the Pacific lowlands of southern Cos...

This study tested for effects of potentially important variables (location, vegetation cover, feeding habitat, wind force, date, time of day, flock size, scan rate, stepping rate) on the peck rate of foraging Ruffs Philomachus pugnax during spring migration at Seewinkel, an important stopover site for waders in Eastern Austria. Therefore foraging R...

Flooding events are an important factor shaping arthropod communities on riverine meadows. We investigated to what extent species diversity and species composition of grasshopper assemblages on meadows in the Donau-Auen National Park (Lower Austria) are affected by annual floods. Grasshoppers were sampled between June and September 2012 on 12 meado...

Due to their trophic position owls represent important indicator species for an intact environment. However, little is known about the population density and habitat preferences of owls in European floodplain forest ecosystems. Therefore, we mapped owl territories and analyzed the habitat use of the Tawny Owl in the largest remaining floodplain for...

Xylobiontic beetles represent a substantial fraction of the biodiversity of forest ecosystems and are useful bioindicators for evaluating effects of forest management measures. This study conducted in the Donau-Auen National Park (Lower Austria) sampled xylobiontic beetles in one of the largest remaining floodplain forests in Central Europe. Beside...

The floodplain forest in the Donau-Auen National Park has been used for forestry and agriculture for centuries. These utilizations and several river regulation measures cause dramatic habitat changes. Nevertheless, the alluvial forests east of Vienna are still one of the most important breeding areas for the River Warbler in Austria and Central Eur...

Annual flood dynamics represent a determining factor in shaping habitats of lowland floodplains. Terrestrial arthropods of the soil and herb layer are particularly exposed to flooding events. We quantified the impact of flooding duration on abundance, species richness and composition of terrestrial true bug assemblages (Heteroptera) on floodplain m...

Species richness in the study plots in relation to below-ground carbon stocks. Species richness of 12 groups of organisms in relation to below-ground (soil + root) carbon stocks in 14 plots of natural forest and cacao agroforests. Symbols as in Fig. S1. (TIF)

Species richness in the study plots in relation to above-ground carbon stocks. Species richness of 12 groups of organisms in relation to above-ground carbon stocks in 14 plots of natural forest and cacao agroforests. Symbols as in Fig. S1. (TIF)

Species richness of selected organisms in relation to total carbon stocks in the 14 plots. Species richness (number of species per plot) of 12 groups of organisms in relation to total carbon stocks in 14 plots of natural forest and cacao agroforests. Large black circles denote natural forest plots, small circles agroforests of varying tree density...

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to hu...