This study quantitatively analyzes fish community responses to environmental gradients in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta. Integrating beta-diversity partitioning, Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN), single-season occupancy modeling, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and species co-occurrence network analysis, we identified primary environmental filters shaping ichthyofaunal structure. Spatial comparison between Bogale and Pyapon ecosystems revealed fundamentally distinct communities driven predominantly by species turnover (87.1%). Network topologies further demonstrated a significant spatial restructuring of biological interactions, with the primary network hub role shifting from the highly sensitive Tenualosa ilisha in the upper estuary to the highly adaptable Macrognathus zebrinus in the lower delta. Furthermore, SEM established a substantial structural connection between environmental stress and biological assemblage response (β = 0.99), suggesting water quality as the ecosystem’s master driver. TITAN and occupancy models demonstrated an “estuarine enrichment” effect, where primary network hubs (Tenualosa ilisha, Coilia neglecta) reached peak occupancies only beyond high salinity thresholds (>18.16 ppt). However, escalating water temperatures act as a critical limiting factor, with a strict thermal boundary identified at 27.6 °C, beyond which sensitive taxa populations rapidly decline. These findings provide direct implications for adaptive fisheries management, underscoring the necessity of monitoring osmotic and thermal change-points to protect vital fisheries from compounded climate change impacts.
Global climates are rapidly changing and future climates are predicted to be characterized by extreme climatic events, especially prolonged drought and hot weather. In this study, we explored the effects of manipulated low and high soil water availability and soil temperature on soil food webs (as indicated by soil nematode communities) from contrasting soil habitats. Soils were collected from a relatively arid karst mountain peak, a relatively moist karst piedmont, and a mixed soil of these two was also tested. The results showed that water availability was the primary factor influencing the soil food web. Soil food web structures were mature under low water availability in mountain peak soils and under high water availability in piedmont soils. In the mountain peak soils, high water availability decreased the maturity index and structure index of soil nematodes, which was mainly due to marked increase in the absolute and relative abundances of low trophic level organisms (i.e., bacterivores and fungivores). In the Piedmont soils, high water supply increased the maturity index and structure index of soil nematodes, which mainly due to the increases in the absolute and relative abundances of higher trophic level nematodes, such as omnivores and predators. However, the nematode maturity index and structure index showed no significant response to variations in water availability when soils from the mountain peak and piedmont were mixed and cultured together. Although the overall effect of temperature on the soil nematode community was weaker than that of water availability, temperature exerted significant context-dependent effects. Particularly, moderate temperatures increased fungivorous nematode abundance under drought conditions in mountain peak soils but decreased it under moist conditions in piedmont soils. Notably, plant-parasitic nematodes showed no significant response to either soil moisture or temperature treatments across all soil types, indicating a high degree of stability in this trophic group under short-term fluctuations in water and temperature. Our results suggest that changes in precipitation may have stronger effects on soil nematode communities than increases in temperature. However, the interaction between temperature and moisture should not be overlooked, as it can shape nematode community composition in habitat-specific ways. In addition, drought-tolerant soil organisms may be available for improving the resistance of soil food webs to prolonged drought under climate change conditions.
The rayed pearl oyster Pinctada radiata (Leach, 1814) was the first Indo-Pacific bivalve documented in the Mediterranean Sea and is now among the basin’s most widespread non-indigenous bivalves. Despite its long invasion history, basin-scale assessments integrating habitat suitability, anthropogenic exposure, and public perception remain limited. Here, we developed an integrated Mediterranean risk-screening framework that combines ensemble Species Distribution Modelling (SDM), Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), an Invasion Risk Index (IRI), and multilingual sentiment analysis for P. radiata. Occurrence data comprised 866 georeferenced records from five Mediterranean countries, of which 133 spatially thinned records were retained for SDM calibration. The ensemble SDM demonstrated high predictive performance (AUC = 0.934 ± 0.021, TSS = 0.812 ± 0.033, CBI = 0.883 ± 0.041) and identified mean annual sea-surface temperature, substrate type, and chlorophyll-a as the principal predictors of baseline habitat suitability. More than 81% of dated occurrence records originated from 2020–2026, and the spatially thinned dataset showed a significant westward redistribution through time (Spearman’s ρ = −0.241, p = 0.0059), although this pattern was interpreted cautiously because the dataset was dominated by opportunistic human observations and uneven reporting effort. Structural equation modelling supported consistent spatial associations among environmental suitability, anthropogenic exposure, and the observed distribution of P. radiata, while recognising that these relationships represent statistical associations rather than causal ecological mechanisms. The Invasion Risk Index identified High and Very High priority coastal sectors for surveillance, particularly where elevated environmental suitability coincided with intense maritime activity and relatively low current record density. Multilingual sentiment analysis of 1247 text units revealed predominantly neutral-to-positive public and stakeholder discourse, reflecting the species’ dual perception as both a non-indigenous organism and a commercially recognised resource. Collectively, these findings provide a spatially explicit framework for supporting surveillance, biosecurity planning, and risk communication for P. radiata and other marine non-indigenous species across the Mediterranean.
This paper examines the factors that affect human–wildlife conflict and its socio-ecological consequences, including impacts on the daily lives of rural people, farming activities, children’s schooling, and livestock rearing. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed. Data were collected from secondary sources, primarily the Uttarakhand State Forest Department and the Forest Survey of India, covering 25 years (2000–2025). Information on wildlife species, their populations, and the number of people killed or injured by wildlife was obtained. The author visited some affected areas of human–wildlife conflict in July 2024 and January 2025. A perception study was conducted in which 212 people from five villages were interviewed. A map of human–wildlife conflict hotspots was also prepared. Three districts of Uttarakhand—Pauri, Almora, and Tehri—were identified as human-wildlife conflict hotspots. This study reveals that elephants dominate the plains—namely the Doon Valley and the Tarai region—whereas leopards and bears dominate the middle Himalayan region in terms of human–wildlife conflict. Wild boars and langurs are also found in the same region. Snow leopards are confined to the Greater Himalayan region. Every day, one or more people are killed by wildlife, and the number of injured people is considerably high. Fatalities from leopard attacks are highest, followed by bear attacks, mainly in the middle Himalayan region. The study suggests that both the Forest Department and local communities can play significant roles in managing wildlife through awareness programmes and improved forest management.
