Pius Korner

• Swiss Ornithological Institute

Land-use changes are considered one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. Agricultural intensification, pastoral abandonment, and changes in forest management have led to the homogenisation of landscapes. In particular, the encroachment of grasslands and the densification of forests that are no longer pastured threaten species that require mult...

Grooming behavior in domestic cattle serves various functions, including hygiene maintenance, social bonding, and stress alleviation. We examined the grooming patterns of rewilded Highland cattle, to describe their behavioral adaptations and responses to environmental factors in a conservation grazing system. We observed 21 Highland cattle in a Fre...

Available knowledge on in-flight reactions of nocturnal bird migrants to winds is reviewed, with emphasis on the challenging topographical and meteorological conditions in Western Europe, and differences from the situation in North America discussed. Conclusions drawn are used for a new approach: using individual radar tracks of nocturnal migrants...

Birds breeding in high-Alpine habitats must select a suitable breeding site and achieve successful reproduction within a restricted time. During four breeding seasons, we monitored nest sites of the Northern Wheatear ( Oenanthe oenanthe ), a high-Alpine long-distance migrant. We investigated how ecological factors predicted the selection of a site...

Lapwing are among those ground nesting bird species that suffered strong population declines following agricultural intensification in many parts of Europe. The key problem appears to be a low breeding success which, depending on the situation, may be due to predation of eggs and chicks, starvation of chicks especially during dry conditions, agricu...

Organisms living in high-elevation habitats are usually habitat specialists who occupy a narrow ecological niche. To envision the response of alpine species to a changing environment, it is fundamental to understand their habitat preferences on multiple spatial and temporal scales. However, information on small-scale habitat use is still widely lac...

Escalating conflicts between grassland farming and wintering geese in northern Germany stimulated a long‐term study in order to promote a fair and workable system of compensation of harvest loss. Between 1996 and 2018 standardized experiments were carried out to quantify changes in yield loss and herbage quality. Simultaneously, we weekly monitored...

During six consecutive autumn seasons we registered birds that were attracted to an illuminated 41-storey building in Bonn, Germany, the so-called ‘Post Tower’. Casualties on the ground were disoriented by the light and in most cases collided with the building. All-night observations with numbers of casualties, effective light sources, moon, and we...

The results of some previous studies suggest that the analysis of individual differences in the songs of roding European Woodcock males can be used to discriminate between the birds and thus to estimate the number of roding males. To test this methodological approach in the field, we recorded the songs of males in an area of about 100 ha in the Alp...

Aims: RheumaTool is a clinical decision support system designed to support the diagnostic process in rheumatology by presenting a differential diagnosis list after the input of clinical information. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of RheumaTool in detecting the correct diagnosis in referrals to a rheumatology clinic. M...

Old-growth forest specialists are among the species most affected by commercial forestry. However, it is often unclear whether such species can persist and what their habitat needs are in managed forests. We investigated habitat selection of one such old-growth forest specialist, the white-backed woodpecker Dendrocopos leu- cotos, a species highly...

Capsule: Trophic status of a deep-water lake was the main driver of changes in breeding population size of Great Crested Grebes Podiceps cristatus while reproductive success was also strongly affected by weather parameters. Aims: To determine the effects of changes in nutrient status of a formerly highly-eutrophicated deep-water lake and other envi...

Capsule: Grazing by livestock can have complex effects on drivers of population change in the Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus and Dead Sea Sparrow Passer moabiticus. Aims: To investigate the effect on two specialist bird species on wetland degradation in the Jordan Valley. Methods: The direct and indirect effects of grazing on the pr...

Woodland ecosystems of Europe have undergone major transitions in the last centuries. Changes in land use and the loss of natural forest dynamics have often led to structurally poor, uniform and dense stands. Not surprisingly, open forest species relying on a heterogeneous stand structure have suffered dramatic population declines. The European Nig...

Capsule: Farmers can influence species richness and abundance of typical farmland birds positively, even on rather small farms (20–50 ha) within intensively farmed areas. Aims: To assess the impact of farm settings, farm characteristics and heterogeneity of habitats on bird species richness and abundance, and to indicate which actions and measures...

While a large number of studies have dealt with the ecology and habitat requirements of farmland birds during breeding time, much less is known about the use of farmland by birds during winter. In this study, we counted the birds on transects on ten habitat types during winter 2014/2015 in the Champagne genevoise, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The...

Large declines of farmland bird species have been observed in the lowlands of Western Europe, whereas important populations of some of these species have survived in parts of Eastern and Southern Europe and in small areas within Western Europe, e.g. in parts of the Alps. However, such extant hotspots of farmland biodiversity are at risk: The econom...

Vineyards are likely to be regionally important for wildlife, but we lack biodiversity studies in this agroecosystem which is undergoing a rapid management revolution. As vine cultivation is restricted to arid and warm climatic regions, biodiversity-friendly management would promote species typical of southern biomes. Vineyards are often intensivel...

Geographic distribution and sampling randomization of study sites. The three shape-coded vs. five letter-coded regional zones regroup transects for random selection of visit order during the breeding and the non-breeding seasons, respectively. Reprinted from Swisstopo under a CC BY license, with permission from Alexandra Frank (see S1 File). (PDF)

Transect characteristics. (PDF)

Granted copyright permission from Swisstopo. Email-response to copyright request for satellite picture in Fig 1 and maps in S1 Fig (Creative Commons Attribution License (CCAL) CC BY 4.0). (PDF)

Species list and sample sizes. (PDF)

Breeding bird fauna in a coniferous forest in the northern Prealps after storm Lothar In a 70-hectare large coniferous forest located on the northern edge of the Alps in central Switzerland, Canton of Obwalden, at an altitude of 1260 to 1550 metres above sea level, we surveyed the local breeding bird fauna in 2002 and 2013 by means of point counts...

When predicting the collision risk to bats at a planned wind power site it is advanta-geous to be able to predict the height of bat activity depending on the surrounding landscape features. In order to determine which landscape parameters influence bat activity a dataset comprising of 120 continuous recordings made in south and south-western German...

The solar day–night rhythm imposes a strict diel activity pattern on many organisms. Among birds, most species are generally either active during the day and rest during the night, or vice versa. However, many waterbird species can be active during both daylight and darkness. Hence, these species are much less limited by an external clock to alloca...

Mixed effects models are used to analyze nonindependent, that is, grouped or hierarchical data. These models are called mixed effects models because they contain fixed and random effects. Fixed effects are factors with a finite (“fixed”) number of levels (e.g., sex), whereas random effects have a theoretically infinite number of levels of which we...

This chapter introduces five hierarchical ecological models and corresponding BUGS and Stan code. First, a hierarchical multinomial model is used to study the use of different roosting site types by an owl species based on telemetry data in relation to environmental variables. Second, we analyze the breeding success of the black stork using a zero-...

In a generalized linear model (GLM), the distribution of the data can be chosen from a variety of statistical distributions. Therefore, these models are used when the outcome variable is a count or proportions or something else that will produce nonnormally distributed residuals in a normal linear model. We introduce the binomial, the Bernoulli, an...

We introduce a Bayesian method to assess goodness of fit and also discuss the use of the proportion of variance explained, R2, a classical measurement of goodness of fit. Posterior predictive model checking is the comparison of the simulated data from the model with the observed data. The simulated data can differ from the observed data in various...

Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) are the combination of generalized linear models and linear mixed models, which means that the error distribution can be different from Gaussian and that a random factor is included in the model. We discuss the binomial model used to analyze proportions or binary outcome variables, and the Poisson model used t...

How to select a model or to base conclusions on more than one model depends on the purpose and the design of the study. In this chapter, we discuss the difference between confirmatory and predictive analyses and explain the tradeoff between bias and precision in statistical models. We present commonly used methods to rank models according to their...

Bayesian data analysis is the process of fitting a probability model to data and drawing inferences based on posterior distributions of the model parameters or derived quantities. Bayes’ theorem provides the theoretical background and modern computer techniques, such as the R function sim, allow for the application of these processes. The posterior...

The checklist provides a step-by-step guide through a typical data analysis. After data checking, we start with defining a model structure depending on the nature of the data-generating process. Then, the error distribution is chosen. The explanatory variables are prepared using transformations, centering, and scaling. After model fitting, goodness...

Normal linear models (LM) are used when the outcome variable can be modeled directly with predictor variables, that is, no link function is needed, and when the resulting residuals are approximately normally distributed. These models include widely used techniques: simple linear regression for a continuous predictor, one-way ANOVA for a categorical...

The likelihood is a relative measure of the probability of obtaining a specific data set given a model. If the likelihood of model 1 is twice as high as the likelihood of model 2, the probability of obtaining precisely this data set is twice as large for model 1 than for model 2. The likelihood function is the likelihood for a fixed data set and va...

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is a simulation technique that can be used to find the posterior distribution and to sample from it. Thus, it is used to fit a model and to draw samples from the joint posterior distribution of the model parameters. The different MCMC algorithms differ in their performance in relation to speed and convergence dependi...

Statistical models serve to communicate information in data, to think about systems, to learn from data, and to make predictions and decisions. Our daily life is governed by models. This book is about linear models and extensions of these. In a linear model, the expected value of the outcome variable itself, or a transformation thereof, is a linear...

Prior distributions, or “priors” are important parts of the model. Improper, flat, and weakly informative prior distributions are discussed. Informative or weakly informative prior distributions have computational as well as conceptual advantages over flat priors. Conjugate priors ease the calculation of posterior distributions by hand. The influen...

The results of the data analysis are the basis for your conclusions. They contain estimates of the effects that have been studied including a measurement of uncertainty. Often, derived parameters are more meaningful than model parameters. In addition, it is helpful to present the information needed to judge the biological (or other) relevance of th...

Model assumptions need to be checked before drawing conclusions from any model. Usually, the residuals are independent and identically distributed (iid), when the model assumptions are met. We discuss several graphical methods for assessing independence and distribution of the residuals such as the Tukey–Anscombe or the QQ plot. We further discuss...

Spatial autocorrelation is a general property of most ecological data sets. When data are spatially autocorrelated, the value of a random variable characterizing a site can be partially predicted by the values at neighboring sites. Spatial autocorrelation can thus be described as one of the mechanisms leading to pseudoreplication. Uncertainty will...

Nine wintering Mallards were equipped with GPS tags with accelerometer. The location was registered every 30 min, and from the accelerometer data the duck was categorized as being active vs. inactive every two to five minutes. We observed large differences in the behaviour among individuals, e.g. in the local movements within the study perimeter of...

Key Features Offers Bayesian data analysis, allowing users to obtain uncertainty measurements easily for any derived parameter of interest Written in a step-by-step approach, which is accessible to non-statisticians Includes companion website containing R-code to help users conduct Bayesian data analyses on their own data Description Bayesian Da...

Changes of vegetation and land-use intensity of irrigated versus non-irrigated study sites were investigated in a long-term monitoring in the Swiss Engadin. We focused on the change of proportions of extensively used (no-input) hay meadows to less intensively used meadows (including a range of meadows used at intermediate intensity). Vegetation sur...

During a long-term monitoring from 1987 to 2010, changes in vegetation and land-use intensity at irrigated versus non-irrigated study sites were investigated in the Swiss Engadin. Specifically, vegetation surveys were compared between the years 1987/88 and 2009/10 to identify whether and how proportions of extensively used (no-input) hay meadows to...

Meadow-breeding bird species, particularly the Whincat, are increasingly threatened by agricultural intensification in mountainous regions. Some regions in “Graubünden”, in the East of Switzerland, still hold larger populations of meadow-breeding birds, especially the Engadin. A detailed survey of the most important areas for ground-nesting species...

Wind energy is of increasing importance for a sustainable energy supply worldwide. At the same time, concerns about the number of birds and bats being killed at wind turbines have been growing. In this situation, methods for a reliable estimation of bird and bat fatality numbers are needed. To obtain an unbiased estimate of the number of fatalities...

R package to estimate the number of fatalities from carcass searches

Common and widespread species often show a large variability in behaviour and habitat use. Such variability at the species level may result from individuals themselves being very variable or, alternatively, variability may arise from differences between individuals. The aim of this study was to explore land use in general and between-subject variab...

Many waterbird species assemble in large aggregations during winter. In most species, these aggregations are generally thought to be composed of individuals not familiar to each other. In this study, we analysed mark-recapture data of Tufted Ducks Aythya fuligula and Common Pochard A. ferina from four wintering places in Switzerland to assess wheth...

NIEVERGELT & W. SCHAFFNER (2009): Autumn migration of Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus in the Jura mountains in relation to weather: high variation in daily migratory intensity. Ornithol. Beob. 106: 193–207. We present the diurnal and seasonal pattern of Common Wood Pigeon Co-lumba palumbus autumn passage at Ulmethöchi, a pass (973 m a.s.l.) in...

We analysed the number of autumn migrants at a bird ringing station over 41years in the Jura mountains of Switzerland. For 12 irruptive or potentially irruptive bird species, the correlations between their numbers per year were calculated and the species were clustered accordingly. We found high correlations in the number of migrants between the Co...

Do birds during irruption years differ from birds during "normal" years? Vogelwarte 46: 207 – 216. We compared age composition, and three morphological variables (feather length, body mass, fat class) between birds caught at a ringing station during irruption years with birds caught during years with relatively few migrants for the Coal Tit, Blue T...

KORNER-NIEVERGELT, F., P. KORNER-NIEVERGELT, E. BAADER, L. FISCHER, W. SCHAFFNER & M. KESTENHOLZ (2007): Diurnal autumn migration at the ring- ing station Ulmethöchi in the Jura mountains: changes in the number of captu- res over 40 years (1966-2005). Ornithol. Beob. 104: 3-32. Autumn migrants were caught at Ulmethöchi (Basle-Country, Switzerland)...

Essentially, all animals face parasites, but little data are available on the rate of parasitism in wild animals, particularly in insects. Here, we report observations of more than 400 bumblebee workers collected at an Alpine site, including the parasites observed (Crithidia bombi , Nosema bombi , conopid parasitoid fly larvae and tracheal mites),...

Concepts from evolutionary ecology have recently been applied to questions of immune defences. However, an important but often neglected aspect is the temporal dynamics of the simple immune measures used in ecological studies. Here, we present observations for workers of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris on the dynamics of the phenoloxidase (PO) sys...

The male ejaculate, particularly the accessory gland products, has been shown to affect female survival (as is best understood in Drosophila melanogaster). So far, these findings have primarily been discussed in the context of a sexual conflict and multiple mating. Here, we show that in the bumble-bee Bombus terrestris, male genotype influences fem...

This study on the nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos, is the first to examine both nocturnal and diurnal singing activity of mated and unmated males throughout a species’ entire breeding cycle. Nocturnal song was sung mostly by unmated males. After pair formation, males ceased nocturnal singing and resumed it if their mate deserted. These results s...

In the Valais, Switzerland, we observed an Alpine Swift taking the abdomen of an owlfly in fast hunting flight. The remains of the insect fell to the ground and were still moving. The largest prey items taken by Alpine Swift are of similar size as the owlfly. It is astonishing how selectively swifts can catch food, despite the birds' fast flight.

Allergy to bumblebee venom is a rare form of Hymenoptera venom allergy. Because bumblebees are increasingly used for the pollination of greenhouse plants, the prevalence of this Hymenoptera allergy has increased during the past decade. The clinical presentation, diagnosis and therapy of bumblebee venom allergy are similar to other Hymenoptera venom...

Mistaken identity and competitive exclusion are two alternative hypotheses proposed to explain interspecific aggression between males. We examined agonistic behaviour in males of two lizard species: Platysaurus minor and P. monotropis. In each of nine outdoor field enclosures, we maintained a male and a female of both species (i.e., four total) and...

Streuwiesen sind anthropogene Pflanzengesellschaften, welche durch Rodung von Bruch- und Auenwäldern und anschliessende jährliche (oder zweijährliche) Mahd im Herbst entstanden sind. Es handelt sich um ungedüngte, nährstoffarme Grünlandgesellschaften, bei denen folgende Typen unterschieden werden: (1) Pfeifengras-Streuwiesen (Molinion, der Streuwie...

Extensiv genutzte Wiesen oder Magerwiesen sind artenreiche, durch menschliche Nutzung geschaffene Lebensräume. Sie sind durch Rodung und langjährige Bewirtschaftung von ursprünglich meist bewaldeten Flächen entstanden. Es werden verschiedene Typen von Extensivwiesen unterschieden: (1) Borstgras-Rasen (Nardion) auf kalkarmen Böden, (2) Kalk-Magerras...

Die jahrhundertlange Haustierhaltung führte allmählich zur Ausbildung von offenem Grünland, dessen natürliche Wiederbewaldung meist durch Weidehaltung verhindert wurde. Je nach Standort sind unterschiedliche Extensivweiden entstanden. Die zwei wichtigsten Typen sind (1) Borstgras-Magerrasen (Nardion) auf kalkarmen Böden in eher höheren Lagen und (2...

Die Waldweide ist eine der ursprünglichsten landwirtschaftlichen Nutzungsformen (Ellenberg, 1996). Durch Verbiss des Viehs, durch Schlagen oder Abbrennen von Bäumen und Holzraubbau entstand über eine lange Zeitperiode die offene Feldflur. Bis ins letzte Jahrhundert wurden Haustiere in den Wald getrieben, wo sie Unterwuchs, Laub, junge Triebe und Fr...

Wenig intensiv genutzte Wiesen werden meist zweimal jährlich geschnitten und mässig mit Mist oder Gülle gedüngt. Wie die Magerwiesen ist auch dieser Wiesentyp durch traditionelle Bewirtschaftung entstanden. Da ursprünglich eher ein Mangel an Naturdünger (Mist und Gülle) bestand, wurden vor allem die besten Böden in Tallagen gedüngt. Wenig intensiv...

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