Dimitrios Bakaloudis

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• Professor
• Professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Global Roadkill Data: a dataset on terrestrial vertebrate mortality caused by collision with vehicles (Supplementary information)

Roadkill is widely recognized as one of the primary negative effects of roads on many wildlife species and also has socioeconomic impacts when they result in accidents. A comprehensive dataset of roadkill locations is essential to evaluate the factors contributing to roadkill risk and to enhance our comprehension of its impact on wildlife populatio...

The European Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur) has experienced significant population declines across its European breeding range, primarily due to habitat loss. Our study aimed to provide a new reference for the conservation of Turtle Doves in Evros province, a biodiversity hotspot. We used Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling to assess Turtle Dove b...

Understanding the growth rate of nestlings is essential for explaining developmental strategies and is particularly important for birds of prey. Given that they have lower reproduction rates than other species, the growth rate could be one of the critical factors determining parental fitness and influencing the individual's condition. Despite varia...

The spatial ecology of feral horses (Equus ferus f. caballus) in Greece has never been studied before, including home range size and habitat selection. We tracked two mares fitted with global positioning system collars between September 2020 and August 2021 in a portion of Mount Menoikio in Central Macedonia, Northern Greece. We used K-select analy...

The Bonelli’s Eagle exhibits a wide geographic distribution yet remains relatively understudied on the island of Cyprus. Between 1999 and 2002, we examined 32 pairs of Bonelli’s Eagles, totaling 64 breeding attempts. During this period, a total of 116 eggs were laid, with an average clutch size of 2.0 ± 0.1 eggs per pair. Incubation, predominantly...

Identifying the environmental factors that determine the occurrence of invasive species is essential in defining and implementing effective control campaigns. Here, we applied multi-season occupancy models to analyze American mink (Neogale vison) track data collected using 121 floating rafts, as a function of factors occurring at multiple spatial s...

Identifying the environmental factors that determine the occurrence of invasive species is essential in defining and implementing effective control campaigns. We tracked American mink ( Neogale vison ) presence using 150 floating rafts and applied multi-season occupancy models across different spatial scales to identify those factors determining th...

Eleonora’s Falcon is the commonest bird of prey in Greece, with more than 80% of the global population breeding on Greek islands. The aim of this study was to assess the population status and the colony characteristics for the species in the National Marine Park of Alonissos—Northern Sporades. Every island was circumnavigated twice in order to coun...

Anthropogenic changes in the natural environment have led to the need to find alternative resources to ensure the persistence of biodiversity. In birds, nest sites can be a limiting resource in stenotopic populations. A method of active protection is the building of nest boxes. However, attractive nest sites attract target species and their competi...

A morphometric examination of Anthrenus flavipes flavipes LeConte 1854 from Central Macedonia, Greece is carried out and compared with data from previous publications. Size ranges for both sexes are generated. Males are significantly smaller than females. The body width/body length ratio is calculated. Images of body size range, antennal club and a...

In this paper we describe first breeding of Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea in Cyprus. Twenty-three nests were found during the 2020 and 2021 breeding seasons in riparian habitats adjacent to major river systems in the Paphos State Forest. Most nests were located on roadside banks at a height of 2.38 m above the ground and at a distance of about 0–1...

Wildlife-vehicle collisions have been identified as an important ecological problem in most countries around the world, during the last decades. In the present work we examined the impacts on wildlife arising from two road categories crossing and adjoining the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park (DLS NP), in north-eastern Greece. The study area is c...

The sex ratio of nestlings is a crucial population determinant in rare and/or endangered species. We investigated the role of female body condition and female-related traits in Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) nestling sex allocation at a nest-box colony in central Greece. We used the total clutch volume and size, female weight, hatching dates, body...

During August 2021, a wildfire outbreak in Evia, Greece’s second largest island, resulted in a major environmental and economic crisis. Apart from biodiversity and habitat loss, the disaster triggered a financial crisis because it wiped out wood-productive forests and outdoor areas that attract visitors. This crisis highlighted the need for a new g...

The varied carpet beetle, Anthrenus verbasci (L.), is a major pest in museums containing artifacts or specimens of animal origin, e.g., natural science collections. Integrated pest management techniques are deployed to prevent A. verbasci access and controlling the pest should they be found on valuable artifacts. Several synthetic chemicals have be...

This manual has been produced through the European Commission (EC) service contract ‘Identification, Assessment, Sharing and Dissemination of Best Practices for Humane Management of Invasive Alien Species’ (07.027746/2019/812504/SER/ENV.D.2.). The aim of this project was to provide support for the management of vertebrate invasive alien species (ve...

This manual has been produced through the European Commission (EC) service contract ‘Identification, Assessment, Sharing and Dissemination of Best Practices for Humane Management of Invasive Alien Species’ (07.027746/2019/812504/SER/ENV.D.2.). The aim of this project was to provide support for the management of vertebrate invasive alien species (ve...

Twenty-three species belong to the Palaearctic Anthrenus pimpinellae complex. All Anthrenus spp. have intricate dorsal colour patterns. They can do this courtesy of the many small, coloured scales that coat their bodies, rather like Lepidoptera. All species within the complex are generally black/orange with an obvious trans-elytral wide band. One s...

Recent studies have shown that the endemic Cyprus Scops Owl (Otus cyprius) is monotypic and can be separated from Eurasian Scops Owl (O. scops) and other Otus species, by mtDNA, plumage, and vocalizations. Due to its uncertain population status, and evidence that it is hunted, we decided to initiate a nest box program in and adjacent to the Paphos...

Conservation of migratory birds requires knowledge of breeding and nonbreeding ranges and the connections between them. European turtle doves ( Streptopelia turtur ) are Palearctic-African long-distance migrants with wintering areas in the Sub-Saharan belt that are classed as vulnerable due to strong population declines. However, detailed non-breed...

Migration plays a significant part in shaping wing morphology in avian taxa. Differences in wing shape and size have been found to vary with regard to age and sex, as well as between different populations. Here, we examine age-related variation in the wing morphology of the European Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur migrating through the eastern flyw...

Simple Summary Nest boxes are considered a valid conservation tool in order to sustain wild populations of birds. The Cyprus Scops Owl was recently defined as a new species. However, the extant information on the species is sporadic and the population level is not confirmed. In order to evaluate the ability of the species to use nest boxes, and to...

Figure S1. Nest box photograph provided to Cyprus Scops Owl Otus cyprius in Paphos Forest (Cy-prus) showing exact dimensions. Citation: Iezekiel, S.; Yosef, R.; Themistokleus, C.; Bakaloudis, D.E.; Vlachos, C.G.; Antoniou, A.; Iezekiel, E.; Papakosta, M.A.; Kosicki, J.Z. Endemic Cyprus Scops Owl Otus cyprius Readily Breeds in Artificial Nest Boxes....

Anthrenus dorsatus Mulsant et Rey 1868 is recorded from the United States for the first time. Species confirmation is achieved through dissection and genitalia examination. Images of A. p. pimpinellae Fabricius 1775 from the United States are examined and compared with confirmed images of A. p. pimpinellae from Europe. It is suggested that specimen...

Diseases can play a role in species decline. Among them, haemosporidian parasites, vector-transmitted protozoan parasites, are known to constitute a risk for different avian species. However, the magnitude of haemosporidian infection in wild columbiform birds, including strongly decreasing European turtle doves, is largely unknown. We examined the...

An important component of integrated pest management is vigilance. There is always the scope for pest species from other parts of the world to become established outside of their natural range. Here we report on a damaging infestation of natural history specimens by the Dermestid beetle Anthrenus flavipes LeConte 1854. The beetles caused considerab...

Transhumance is a traditional animal husbandry system, but its effects on grassland avian communities have not been dealt with in depth. In this study, we quantified the influence of transhumance on the grassland avifauna, in representative pseudo-alpine grasslands with no (NGG), low (LGG), and high (HGG) grazing intensity in the Pindos Mountains,...

Simple Summary Vultures have suffered dramatic declines worldwide. Using population viability models for the Eurasians Black Vulture population in Southeast Europe, we found that the current population is viable for a period of 100 years. However, high levels of poisoning, food reduction, and increase of wind farms make the population prone to exti...

Abstract. For 160 years, Anthrenus pimpinellae isabellinus Küster, 1848 has been considered a subspecies of A. pimpinellae Fabricius, 1775. However, habitus shape differs between the subspecies with A. p. isabellinus being broader than A. p. pimpinellae and resembling more closely A. dorsatus Mulsant & Rey, 1868. Here A. p. pimpinellae and A. p. is...

Recent research has shown that Anthrenus pimpinellae (Fabricius, 1775) is a complex of species numbering at least 21 in the Palearctic region. No work has been published illustrating what A. pimpinellae pimpinellae looks like relative to any other species in the complex, which interferes with accurate recording. Two species are considered here: A....

27 Sibling competition leading to physiological stress and in consequences to allostatic load is 28 driven by asymmetrical development and limited resources. To verify these predictions, we 29 studied broods of Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni, from a nest-box population in Armenio, 30 Central Greece. For each nestling which breeds in nest-boxes, we n...

European Turtle Doves (Streptopelia turtur) are long‐distance migrants and have experienced a population decline of more than 78% since 1980. Their conservation depends on refined knowledge of breeding origins and population connectivity. Feathers collected at stopover sites, but molted at breeding grounds, provide an opportunity to assign birds to...

Recent studies have proved that the endemic Cyprius Scops Owl (CSO) on the island of Cyprus can be differentiated from the nominate and other species and sub-species, on the basis of mtDNA, plumage and vocalizations. However, it remains unknown as to whether the species is sedentary, partially or completely migratory. Also, in face of the uncertain...

Anthrenus dorsatus Mulsant & Rey, 1868 has been recorded from North Africa, Malta, and Iberia. During a recent visit to Thessaloniki, Greece, several Anthrenus species were collected, including A. dorsatus. The previously known distribution of A. dorsatus suggested that this species was restricted to the western Mediterranean basin, possibly with a...

The high concentration of corvids in cities during winter can cause aesthetic or public health problems due to the high amounts of their excreta. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of corvid roost sites in order to propose management measures for controlling urban wintering corvids. The study conducted in the Municipality...

Hedgerows are one of the most important features of agricultural landscapes for wildlife. However, the response of overwintering bird communities to hedgerow structure has received little attention through Europe. In this study, we aimed to investigate how wintering bird communities respond to hedgerow characteristics. A total of 289 hedgerows with...

Natural vegetation has been lost and fragmented in agricultural landscapes worldwide, due to the intensive land use activities. This is also true for riparian ecosystems, where agricultural practices have simplified their structure with significant cascading impacts on wildlife diversity. In this study, three representative Mediterranean riparian h...

Martes foina is a member of the family Mustelidae, found throughout Europe and central Asia. Attempts to study the genetic structure and the phylogeography of European M. foina populations have been recent, none of which took place in Greece. The present work aims to 1) study the genetic diversity of Greek Martes foina populations, 2) analyze the g...

European wild rabbits ( Oryctolagus cuniculus cuniculus ) have been recently recognized as serious crop pests on Lemnos Island, Greece. With an aim to understand the population dynamics, rabbit reproduction was studied in relation to environmental and intrinsic factors, by a postmortem examination of 273 adults (162 males, 111 females), collected f...

This is a scientific experiment of a cavity-nesting species and not a comprehensive literature compilation of the endemic species historical literature.

External anatomical measurements hold a long tradition in morphometric studies. Recently, three-dimensional laser surface scanners have revolutionized the way such measurements can be obtained. The aim of this study was to quantify measurement error (hereafter ME) and reliability of several linear skull measurements of the red fox made with three d...

European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are prolific herbivores, affecting natural and agricultural ecosystems. We installed 10 experimental units, each consisting of two fenced plots, one excluding all herbivores and one allowing rabbit access only, to estimate the impact of rabbit grazing in three vegetation types occurring in two dominant...

Ecologists use various data mining techniques to make predictions and estimations, to identify patterns in datasets and relationships between qualitative and quantitative variables, or to classify variables. The aim of this study was to investigate if the application of data mining could be used to study geographical variation in the morphometry, c...

Nowadays the use of remote photography systems is very popular for diet assessment. Despite the popularity, there is a greater need for evaluation of these systems against traditional methods of diet assessment, such as direct visual observation. The diet of Lesser Kestrel nestlings and adult provisioning rate were assessed using cameras and direct...

Widespread urbanization leads to environmental changes and affects avian populations. We provided artificial nest sites in the form of plastic tubes placed in earth embankments and compared the breeding parameters to those in natural nest sites of the endemic Cyprus Wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca). We hypothesized that the loss of semi-natural habitat...

Following a dramatic decline, the lesser kestrel Falco naumanni global population has recently stabilised, although it is still fluctuating in several countries, including Greece. Nestling growth rates and size at fledging greatly influence future survival and reproductive success, and therefore the study of postnatal growth can aid the understandi...

Background Understanding how past climatic oscillations have affected organismic evolution will help predict the impact that current climate change has on living organisms. The European turtle dove, Streptopelia turtur, is a warm-temperature adapted species and a long distance migrant that uses multiple flyways to move between Europe and Africa. De...

Potential indicators of the relative health of an ecological area are top predators, such as raptors. The reestablishment of a raptor population is usually considered a sign of a recovering habitat with reduced human disturbance. On Cyprus, we studied the reproductive biology of Long-legged Buzzard, Buteo rufinus, in the years 2005e2007, and collec...

Breeding densities and the breeding biology of the black stork Ciconia nigra were studied in Dadia – Lefkimi – Soufli Forest National Park, north-eastern Greece, during 2006–2008. One hundred and one breeding attempts were monitored during the 3-year study period. In total 271 fledglings were successfully raised during that period. Black storks arr...

Monthly proportion of each plant taxon in the diet of wild rabbit.

Background and Purpose: The potential impact that climate change may have on fire regime in ecosystems that are not fire-dependent emerges from fires that are nowadays spreading over higher altitudes and northern latitudes. The effects of fire occurrence in high elevation forests of Greece became apparent during the last few years when a number of...

The European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a species with a wide distribution across the globe and a contradicting role in the ecological integrity of ecosystems and local economies. Despite the considerable amount of research that has been conducted on the trophic ecology of the species in continental environments, similar studies in insu...

The diet of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has been well studied in Europe, but limited information exists about its feeding habits in Greece and in Mediterranean landscapes. We studied diet variation of red fox by analyzing contents from 219 stomachs, in central Greece from 2003 to 2005. We used Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and quasi-distr...

The diet of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has been well studied in Europe, but limited information exists about its feeding habits in Greece and in other Mediterranean landscapes. We studied the diet variation of the red fox by analyzing contents from 219 red fox stomachs in central Greece from 2003 to 2005. We used canonical correspondence analysis...

Understanding the biogeographical trophic patterns of generalist predators, such as the stone marten (Martes foina), is particularly challenging due to their wide distributions and the broad trophic spectrum. In this research, the geographical variation in food habits of the stone marten was reviewed. Method: We collected data from 43 studies, usin...

European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a widely distributed species with a multiple role in both environmental sustainability and local economy. In the current study we examine the body condition of the species in relation to habitat type, age, sex and seasonality on the island of Lemnos. Body condition was assessed based on a visual estim...

Home range size and foraging habitat use in breeding lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni), a bird species of conservation concern, were investigated during the breeding season of the species in 2008 in an intensively cultivated area of central Greece, using radio-tracking. Grasshopper (the main prey) densities were measured at the most important habita...

Animals' overlapping food chains influence the amount of energy - biomass that moves from one feeding level to the next. Dietary habits of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and stone marten (Martes foina) were studied in central Greece, using microscopic stomach analysis. Frequency of occurrence (FO) and relative volume (RV) were quantified. In order to stud...

Recently, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has received contrasting considerations due to its multidimensional role in the Mediterranean ecosystems. Within this framework, knowledge of factors determining its population size may have important consequences for designing an effective management plan. In this paper, we quantified the combi...

The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a widely distributed mammal with an often contradictory ecological role, imposing the need for population management. Sound management requires an in-depth understanding of the complex species–habitat relationships. In this study, CART analysis was employed to identify the most important environmental...

The rock partridge is an emblematic species of the Greek avifauna and one of the most important game species in the country. The present study, which combined long term in-situ counts with distance sampling methodology in central Greece, indicated that the species' population in Greece is the highest within its European distribution, in contrast to...

Estimate home range size, and foraging strategies of breeding Lesser kestrels in agro-ecosystems of central Greece, in different habitat types and throughout the breeding season.

Stone martens ( Martes foina ) are documented as generalist throughout their distributional range whose diet composition is affected by food availability. We tested if this occurs and what feeding strategies it follows in a typical Mediterranean ecosystem in Central Greece by analysing contents from 106 stomachs, seasonally collected from three dif...

Application of multivariate analysis techniques (CCA, CA, RDA), using as case-study the Barn owl diet, in order to model and explore temporal and spatial patterns in the trophic ecology of nocturnal raptors

Recently, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuni-culus) has received contrasting considerations due to its mul-tidimensional role in the Mediterranean ecosystems. Within this framework, knowledge of factors determining its population size may have important consequences for designing an effective management plan. In this paper, we quantified the com...

Population estimates for the diverse raptor assemblage of Dadia National Park, Greece. Dadia National Park, which is situated in north-eastern Greece, close to the border with Bulgaria and Turkey, is characterised by one of the most diverse arrays of breeding raptorial species in Europe. The first raptor survey was undertaken in the 1970s, but unti...

The diet of the short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) was studied in the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park in northeastern Greece during the breeding seasons of 1996-98. From 167 pellets analysed, 236 prey items were identified. Snakes (84.3%) were the main prey of adult eagle diet, followed by rodents (5.6%), lizards (4.2%), tortoises (3.8%) and...

Evros Delta is the most important wetland habitat in Greece. Thousands of aquatic birdsuse to breed and winter in the area but the reduction of the habitat is still continuing. We used roadtransects and Shelduck Tadorna tadorna habitat selection was recorded. Based on Ivlev’s electivityindex, Shelducks have a preference for places with sweet and sa...

The dietary overlap of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and stone marten (Martes foina) were studied in Central Greece in period 2003-2005. 219 red fox stomachs and 106 stone marten stomachs were laboratorially analyzed and the various prey items that participated in the diet of the two animals were determined. The prey species were classified depending on...

The foraging performance and the hunting strategies of foraging short-toed eagles Circaetus gallicus were studied in Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park during 1996–1998. A general linear model analysis showed that the eagle's hunting mode was related to wind velocity. At low wind speeds, the eagles more frequently soared and/or hovered, whereas on...