This paper reports a case of accessory antler growth from the left zygomatic bone of a rusa stag (estimated age 7 years) shot in New Caledonia in January 2026. At the time of death, the individual was carrying orthotopic velvet antlers of about 13.5 cm length. The extra antler had grown from the lower rim of the left orbita and was covered by typical velvet. It was attached to the zygomatic bone via a bony socket that was covered by normal scalp skin and considered to represent a pedicle. The ectopic pedicle-and-antler structure (length 5.4 cm) became detached during maceration, suggesting that the connection between pedicle base and zygomatic bone had been cartilaginous rather than osseous. According to an observation of the stag's head shortly after death, a small exostosis was also present above the right eye. The distal portion of this exostosis appeared to be covered by velvet and thus may have represented a second accessory antler. However, since this region of the skull was destroyed by the shot in the head, it could not be examined after maceration. The case presented here is only the second instance of antler formation from the zygomatic bone reported in the scientific literature. Accessory antler growth was presumably caused by a trauma to the periosteum. The findings of the present study and other reports suggest that all membrane bones of the deer skull have the potential to produce accessory antlers upon strong unphysiological stimulation of their periosteum.

Age estimation of individuals is an important tool for the management of marine mammals and is mostly done by microscopic analysis of growth layer groups (GLGs) in teeth (cementum and dentin) and bone. The present study evaluated the use of sutural and synchondrosal closure in the skull of the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) as a potential non-destructive alternative for age estimation. For that, we scored the ectocranial closure of 12 selected sutures and synchondroses in a sample of 303 Eastern Atlantic harbour seals (P. v. vitulina; 138 males, 165 females), for which data on age at death were available, based on determined gross-morphological criteria in individuals younger than 1 year and cement layer analysis in canines in older individuals. A strong positive relationship between the sum of closure level scores (SCS) and age (males: r = 0.8797, females: r = 0.8825) was recorded, which was stronger than that for the relationship between age and condylobasal length (CBL, males: r = 0.7085, females: 0.7086) (all p-values <0.0001). In adult individuals (≥5 years), CBL was higher in males than females (p < 0.0001), while SCS did not significantly differ between the two sexes (p = 0.148). Our findings show that the analysis of sutural/synchondrosal closure is a valid alternative for age estimation in harbour seals, thereby confirming results of previous studies on other pinniped species.

Male alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are distinct behavioural mating strategies that members of this sex follow. While these strategies lead to observable differences in behaviour, it remains unclear whether such differences arise from how individuals allocate their time or reflect true intrinsic differences in ability. To address this, we examined the relationship between two ARTs (territoriality or roaming) and problem solving, space use, spatial cognition and social interaction in male house mice, Mus musculus domesticus. Combining observations from seminatural enclosures and controlled laboratory experiments, we tested 72 adult males following one of the two tactics, identified as either ‘territorial’ or ‘roamer’. We found that ARTs influenced space use and problem solving only under ecologically relevant conditions. Specifically, in the seminatural enclosures, roamers visited more and spent more time near novel problems, leading them to be more likely to solve them, as well as exhibiting greater tolerance towards conspecifics compared to territorials. Territorials, on the other hand, engaged in more competitive interactions but limited their exposure to problem-solving opportunities. Under controlled conditions, ARTs showed no differences in spatial learning, problem solving or persistence in engaging with problems, showing that these differences probably exist due to the ecological constraints imposed by the social environment on individuals following different ARTs. Overall, while roamers solved more problems, this probably reflected their higher encounter rate with problems, rather than inherent differences in problem-solving ability. These findings highlight the importance of the ecological and social context when studying the link between behavioural polymorphisms, such as ARTs, and complex traits such as innovative problem solving or cognition.

The goal of this article is threefold: First, the theoretical background for a model-based framework of argumentation to describe and evaluate argumentative pro cesses in science education is presented. Based on the general model-based perspective in cognitive science and the philosophy of science, it is proposed to understand arguments as reasons for the appropriateness of a theoretical model which explains a certain phenom enon. Argumentation is considered to be the process of the critical evaluation of such a model if necessary in relation to alternative models. Secondly, some methodological details are exemplified for the use of a model-based analysis in the concrete classroom context. Third, the application of the approach in comparison with other analytical models will be presented to demonstrate the explicatory power and depth of the model-based perspective. Primarily, the framework of Toulmin to structurally analyse arguments is contrasted with the approach presented here. It will be demonstrated how common methodological and theoretical problems in the context of Toulmin’s framework can be overcome through a model-based perspective. Additionally, a second more complex argumentative sequence will also be analysed according to the invented analytical scheme to give a broader impression of its potential in practical use.

In einer zweiteiligen Serie wird ein kontextunabhängiges Unterrichtskonzept zur Förderung der Bewertungskompetenz vorgestellt, das die Erfahrungen mit bisherigen Konzepten aufgreift und weiterentwickelt. Hierzu werden in diesem Beitrag zwei verbreitete Verfahren einer kritischen Analyse unterzogen. In einem zweiten Beitrag wird ein eigenes Konzept entwi- ckelt und ein darauf basierendes kompetenzbezogenes Curriculum vorgestellt. Hierzu werden in diesem Beitrag zwei verbreitete Verfahren einer kritischen Analyse unterzogen. In einem zweiten Beitrag wird ein eigenes Konzept entwickelt und ein darauf basierendes kompetenzbezogenes Curriculum vorgestellt.

Bone consists mainly of carbonated apatite (cAp) nanoplatelets embedded in a matrix of collagen fibrils. Earlier, high-energy small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) studies of archaeological adult human second metacarpal bones (mc2) found collagen D-period peaks with high-intensity ID in specimens in which microcomputed tomography (microCT) showed little diagenesis and ID ~ 0 for specimens where microCT revealed severe diagenesis (Park et al. 2022 Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 32, 170–181 (doi:10.1002/oa.3053); Stock et al. 2022 Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 32, 120–131 (doi:10.1002/oa.3049)). The present paper uses SAXS at beamline 1-ID, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory and other techniques to study a set of 10 mc2 from an early Medieval cemetery at Greding, Germany. We hypothesized that non-invasive measurement of ID would provide an accurate and rapid (approx. 6 min/specimen) assessment of diagenesis in archaeological mc2. Results of Raman spectroscopy, laboratory microCT and backscattered electron, reflected light and polarized transmitted light microscopies confirmed the SAXS determinations, but lattice parameter values from X-ray diffraction were uncorrelated with ID value. Age-at-death estimates placed the 10 mc2 in three age categories (young adult, middle adult, old adult): lattice parameters from X-ray diffraction were uncorrelated with age at death. Cross-sectional bone area fraction from microCT dropped noticeably for the older age cohort.

The study of vegetation-plot data on a broad geographical scale is of increasing importance in vegetation science. It significantly contributes to the transnational characterisation of vegetation types as well as the better understanding of their large-scale patterns and to habitat typologies, which are important for decision-making processes in European nature conservation. I examined semi-natural, saline and brackish Baltic Sea grasslands which occur on sedimentary flats at the transition between land and sea. Their diverse vegetation is dependent on low intensity grazing (Dijkema 1990). This valuable part of the European cultural landscape (Küster 2004), which is recognized as Annex I priority habitat type (Natura 2000; European Commission 2013), underwent an overall decrease in quality and quantity within the last 150 years, which is frequently related to abandonment. Thus, the coastal grasslands of the Baltic Sea have been assessed as Endangered in the European Red List of Habitats (Janssen et al. 2016). Within this thesis I (i) developed a proposal to integrate vegetation data using non-standard scales into general vegetation analyses, (ii) characterised the vegetation of Baltic Sea grasslands on transnational level, (iii) regarded them from a North-west European perspective, (iv) discussed their nature conservation aspects on European scale, (v) investigated changes in their plant species composition and discussed its possible relation to cessation of grazing and (vi) formulated a monitoring concept important for management planning in nature conservation.

Durch offene Verbreitungswege wie Social Media hat sich der öffentliche Diskursraum erweitert und die Bedeutung entsprechender Kontrollinstanzen (sog. Gatekeeper) reduziert. Dies hat zu einem deutlichen Anstieg unreflektierter oder auch gezielt verbreiteter Desinformationen geführt. Ein kompetenter Umgang mit dieser wenig gesicherten Informationsqualität (= Informationskompetenz) ist insbesondere für den naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht von hoher Relevanz, da eine Bewertung gesellschaftspolitischer Themen wie Klimawandel oder Impfen naturwissenschaftlich fundierte Informationen erfordert, deren Gültigkeit bzw. Zuverlässigkeit entsprechend überprüft werden muss. Das hier vorgestellte Unterrichtskonzept verbindet die Förderung von Bewertungs- und Informationskompetenz und bietet einen mehrschrittigen Lernweg, der die verfügbaren Kriterien der Lernenden aktiviert, reflektiert und erweitert. Eine graduell angelegte Anwendung der Kriterien sowie strukturierendes Unterrichtsmaterial helfen dabei, der realen Vielfalt von Informationsqualität gerecht zu werden.

The aim of this cumulative dissertation is to strengthen the conservation of Dactylorhiza majalis and enhance the conservation efficiency of species-rich wet grasslands. By the use of long-term data, investigation of multiple wet grasslands, robust, reproducible statistical methods, and by synthesizing results into implications for applied conservation practices, the thesis facilitates evidence-based conservation. This cumulative dissertation is constituted by a thesis summary (Chapter 1), three peer-reviewed publications (Chapters 2 – 4), three non-peer-reviewed German publications (Chapters 5 – 7), and one manuscript to be submitted to a German non-peer-reviewed journal (Chapter 8). Chapter 1 introduces the research context and questions (Ch. 1.1), provides an overview of the methodological approach (Ch. 1.2; 1.3), and the most important results (Ch. 1.3; 1.4). In Chapter 1.4, the key findings are briefly summarized and discussed, and the research questions answered. In addition, I shortly embed my conclusions into a broader, theoretical context and selectively present future research (Ch. 1.5), appearing as the most reasonable next steps for me based on my research. The thesis summary is closed by an overview on the conclusions for conservation (Ch. 1.6) that can be drawn from this thesis. The first two peer-reviewed publications (Chapters 2 & 3) aimed to assess which factors are threatening wet grasslands and particularly the characteristic orchid D. majalis within managed conditions. Considering area size, climatic and site-specific factors, we addressed different potential environmental drivers of biodiversity loss. As wet grasslands are bound to extensive land-use, the third peer-reviewed publication (Chapter 4) focused on the efficiency of different management regimes (mowing vs. grazing) to provide species richness and valuable species composition in wet grasslands. Efficient conservation requires evidence-based approaches, which are best ensured through a constant, reciprocal exchange between science and practice. All parts of this dissertation contribute to this exchange, for instance by analyzing long-term monitoring data gathered by practitioners, comparing scientific and practice-oriented literature, or by deriving practical implications for conservation (within publications and the synthesis). In addition, and with the aim to cultivate a (more) vital communication and discussion with the practitioners, three non-peer reviewed publications (and one manuscript in preparation) (Chapters 5 – 8) were published in practice-oriented journals.

Competition in mesic sites and drought stress combined with short growing seasons in drier sites are key environmental factors along macroclimatic aridity gradients. They impose a triangular trade-off for local adaptation. However, as experiments have rarely disentangled their effects on plant fitness, uncertainty remained whether mesic populations are indeed better competitors and drier populations better adapted to drought stress and short season length. Aridity differs also at microclimatic scale between north (more mesic) and south (more arid) exposed hill-slopes. Little is known whether local adaptation occurs among exposures and whether south exposures harbor conspecifics better adapted to drier climates that could provide adaptive reservoirs under climate change. We sampled two Mediterranean annuals (Brachypodium hybridum, Hedypnois rhagadioloides) in 15 sites along a macroclimatic aridity gradient (89–926 mm rainfall) on corresponding north and south exposures. In a large greenhouse experiment, we measured their fitness under drought stress, competition, and short vs. long growing seasons. Along the macroclimatic gradient, mesic populations were better competitors under benign conditions. Drier populations performed no better under drought stress per se but coped better with the short growing seasons typical for drier macroclimates. At microclimatic scale, north exposure plants were slightly better competitors in H. rhagadioloides; in B. hybridum, south exposure plants coped better with drought under short season length. We demonstrate that local adaptation to drier macroclimates is trading-off with competitive ability under benign conditions and vice-versa. Drought escape via short life-cycles was the primary adaptation to drier macroclimates, suggesting that intensified drought stress within the growing season under climate change challenges arid and mesic populations alike. Moreover, the drier microclimates at south exposures exhibited some potential as nearby reservoirs of drier-adapted genotypes. This potential needs further investigation, yet may assist populations to persist under climate change and lessen the need for long-distance migration.

Background: Endozoochory is, in grazing systems, a substantial vector for seed dispersal. It can play an important role in vegetation dynamics, especially in colonization processes through seed input on the vegetation and on the soil seed bank. We investigated the endozoochorous seed input of donkeys and goats on a semi-natural island ecosystem in the Mediterranean. Through germination experiments, we assessed the viable seed content of the dung of these grazing animals to estimate their suitability and efficiency for seed dispersal of the vegetation types of the island. Results: We show different dispersal patterns of donkeys and goats. Goats disperse a high number of diaspores from shrubs while donkeys disperse more diaspores of grasses. In addition, goats disperse plants of greater growth height and donkeys plants of shorter height. These dispersal patterns are in accordance with the vegetation types of which donkeys and goats disperse indicator species. Both, donkeys and goats, feed on and disperse species of the vegetation types, open grassland and temporarily wet grassland. In addition, goats feed on and disperse diagnostic species of the semi-open maquis and preforest formations. Conclusions: Overall, our results show that donkeys and goats are complementing each other in their endozoochorous seed dispersal potential. This emphasizes the importance of both grazing animals for the vegetation dynamics of the semi-natural island ecosystem. Therefore, the adaption of the goat management to a traditional land management based on directed transhumance might maintain and enrich vegetation types.

Animal responses to risky situations are shaped by both environmental (external) cues and internal states such as body condition. Recent meta‐analyses indicate that individuals in better condition take fewer risks, consistent with the idea that they protect their assets. However, these results rely mostly on short‐term, standard laboratory assessments of threat response. Consequently, it remains unclear whether variation in condition influences risk‐taking consistently across different ecological contexts. Here, we address this by testing whether house mice from high‐ or standard‐quality food environments, and mice of different weight (used as a proxy for condition), vary in their risk‐taking behaviour across two scenarios. First, we quantified foraging behaviour in low‐ and high‐risk areas in the absence of predation cues. We then introduced predator stimuli to assess how foraging changed under increased perceived threat. Overall, we aimed to determine whether the effect of risk on foraging depended on diet quality and body mass. Mice originating from the high‐quality food environment reduced foraging in the high‐risk area under predation cues significantly more than those from standard‐quality environments. In contrast, heavier individuals, irrespective of food quality, foraged less and for shorter periods in the high‐risk area. Last, when predation cues were introduced, these heavier mice increased their foraging effort in the high‐risk area but did not spend more time there. These findings indicate condition‐dependent responses to risk and support core predictions of the asset‐protection hypothesis. Importantly, they highlight that different traits related to individual state or condition may shape different responses to ecological unpredictability, such as predation risk. This variation as a function of different variables related to state warrants further investigation.

Tropical wetlands maintain a high biodiversity and provide ecological services which are basis for millions of livelihoods. However, freshwater ecosystems are largely neglected in research and environmental policy. Today they are among the most threatened habitat types throughout the world with highest loss rates for natural inland wetlands in the tropics. The high dependency of local communities upon natural resources makes conservation management for wetlands in developing countries to a particular challenge. This study investigated the different perspectives of conservation planning at Lake Alaotra, the largest wetland complex of Madagascar. First, the ecological state of Lake Alaotra was assessed to close knowledge gaps and to provide an adequate basis for ecosystem-based conservation measures. Second, I evaluated the community-led management of a small protected area in order to determine its potentials and weaknesses. Third, the local fishery, as the largest lake resource user group, was investigated to understand the drivers of overfishing. By interlinking the results of the three perspectives of conservation planning – ecology, management and resource user – interrelations and trade-offs between the three dimensions were identified. The current ecological state of Lake Alaotra reveals that the anthropogenic disturbance is favoring the proliferation of invasive plant species and leading to the alteration of the water quality (e. g. hypoxia). Insights into the local management show that the community-based management contributes to the conservation of the natural flora and fauna. However, the small-scale conservation area suffers from isolation and illegal activities, while its management lacks recognition at community level. The fishery sector has grown dramatically although fish catches have fallen sharply. Species composition changes and low reproduction rates are reflecting the fishing pressure. A high population growth and lacking agricultural land force people to enter fishery and increases the human pressure on the lake. Overall this study shows that the conservation of multiple-value ecosystems, such as tropical wetlands in developing countries, require site-specific multidimensional approaches that interlink ecological demands, resource user needs and the local sociocultural setting. This research demonstrates that: ongoing livelihood dynamics linked to the socio-economic conditions have to be considered to create more realistic management policies; strengthening resource users’ assets will help to decrease the human pressure on the already considerably altered ecosystem; capacity building for local management associations and the adoption of local ideas and management concepts is needed to enable the evolvement of an locally legitimated and tailored wetland conservation management.

This article reviews the pathological changes in the enamel of permanent mandibular cheek teeth and their sequelae in European roe deer from regions polluted by anthropogenic fluoride emissions. The primary (developmental) changes of fluorotic roe deer enamel are hypomineralization and microstructural aberrations, including enamel hypoplasia. The hypomineralized fluorotic enamel is whitish-opaque on eruption and gets stained following tooth eruption. Moreover, it is prone to excessive wear and mechanical breakdown, resulting in posteruptive enamel lesions. These posteruptive lesions can morphologically clearly be distinguished from hypoplastic defects. Due to the impaired mineralization of fluorotic enamel, affected cheek teeth lack the prominent enamel ridges normally present on the occlusal surface. The severity of dental fluorosis typically varies among the permanent mandibular cheek teeth of more severely fluorotic dentitions. While the permanent premolars and the third molar show marked pathological changes, the first molar is largely unaffected, and the second molar is less affected by fluorotic alterations. These differences have been related to protective mechanisms (placental barrier and milk-blood barrier to fluoride) operating during prenatal and early postnatal life that prevent excessive plasma fluoride levels during crown formation of the M1 and partly also of the M2 in individuals from fluoride-polluted habitats. Observations on the fluoride content of early-formed and late-formed dentin of cheek teeth from individuals with severe dental fluorosis support this hypothesis. The findings in the European roe deer constitute the most comprehensive characterization of dental fluorosis currently available for a wild ruminant species.

Organism responses to environmental change require coordinated changes across correlated traits, so-called syndromes. For example, animals differ in their “pace-of-life syndrome” (POLS); suites of correlated life-history, behavioral and physiological traits. But standard “gene-centric” evolutionary theory cannot explain why POLSs exist because it assumes that the expression of phenotypic traits of animals is determined by genotype-specified reaction norms; it ignores that developmental processes can bias the direction of evolution so that phenotypes no longer match genotype-by-environment interactions. Here we apply a development-centric perspective to derive new POLS hypotheses that can resolve the conflict that current POLS predictions fail to explain which species/populations are resilient to environmental change.

Infanticide by females occurs in many mammalian species but is rarely observed directly, making its social and ecological determinants difficult to identify. Here, we report the first direct observation of within‐pack infanticide by a female free‐ranging domestic dog. To assess whether this case can be better explained by resource competition or nutritional gain, we examined the social context in which it occurred. In our long‐term study population, we identified 26 cases characterised by a similar pattern of overlapping pregnancies within social groups. By comparing dominance rank and birth order across cases, we found that subordinate females time their births after or in synchrony with the alpha female, which may be a strategy to reduce infanticide risk. By giving birth later, the subordinate potentially allows the alpha a competitive advantage, thereby reducing the incentive for infanticide. Furthermore, subordinate free‐ranging dogs may use communal denning as a protective measure, as it hinders the identification of individual litters. In our study, the infanticide followed a period of rank instability. Social rank instability could elevate infanticide risk, since the absence of dominance signals might complicate the subordinate's assessment of the potential threat to its offspring, or because infanticide is used to consolidate dominance. On the other hand, we did not find support for the hypothesis that insufficient nutrition motivated the infanticide, based on an evaluation of the body condition scores within the pack and on the observation that not all killed pups were eaten. Taken together, our preliminary findings suggest that resource competition rather than nutritional gain may better explain infanticide by female free‐ranging dogs.

In the Mediterranean region, land-use practices over millennia have almost completely transformed native vegetation into secondary communities, resulting in a diverse landscape structure that is associated with the region’s high biodiversity. Mediterranean islands, in particular, represent important refugia for genetic and floristic richness and, regarding climate and land-use changes, are key areas for the conservation of species diversity. In the context of biodiversity conservation, the establishment of large protected areas, such as national parks, plays a central role. However, in Europe, the national park’s approach of excluding human land-use impact on the majority of the area presents a challenge, as here the landscapes are often characterised by a high percentage of traditional cultural elements that require active management. The island and National Park of Asinara (NW Sardinia, Italy) with its significant number of feral ungulates provides an illustrative example of the challenge of balancing the conservation of natural environmental processes with the preservation of traditional cultural landscape elements, which is a common issue in the management of large protected areas. This study analyses the floristic composition and diversity of the Asinara National Park and the underlying abiotic and biotic environmental factors to derive implications for the protection of biodiversity regarding the area management. The work is based on the analysis of vegetation and the soil seed bank in different cultural and natural habitats. In addition to examining their interrelations, relationships with soil properties, microclimate and ungulate abundance are assessed. The results indicate that microclimatic variables (air temperature and intercorrelated air humidity), soil physical and chemical variables (soil moisture, C/N ratio), and topographical variables (slope gradient) are significant determinants of species composition in the vegetation and soil seed bank. Vegetation species richness and diversity are influenced by relative air humidity and soil moisture, and by air temperature and pH, respectively. The species richness of the vegetation, in conjunction with the C/N ratio and the percentage of bare soil, is the primary driver of seed bank species richness and diversity. Furthermore, observational data indicate that the abundance of ungulates has a detrimental impact on plant species diversity. However, in this study the significance of endozoochorous seed dispersal patterns of donkeys and goats is also highlighted, illustrating the importance of grazing animal species for vegetation dynamics on Asinara Island. To summarise, the highest species richness and diversity can be found in cultural habitats. Given the main objective of biodiversity conservation in the Asinara National Park, these habitats should be the focus of management measures. To maintain the present floristic diversity, the continuation of grazing by ungulates must be considered an important management tool. However, vegetation types that are sensitive to grazing and browsing must be effectively protected against overgrazing. In conclusion, it is proposed that the protected area category of a UNESCO biosphere reserve with an adapted sustainable land-use management would be more suitable than the category of a national park to maintain the high biodiversity within the species-rich, diverse cultural landscape as found on the island.

Dry semi-natural grasslands are highly species-rich, and therefore often protected in cultural landscapes of Central Europe. However, reserves are typically small and may be subjected to edge effects. Here, we ask how grassland biodiversity changes from edges neighbouring arable fields into grassland interior. We compared plant diversity of protected grasslands adjacent to organically versus conventionally managed arable fields. We surveyed the vegetation along 50 m transects from the arable field border into the grasslands, and compared site characteristics via Ellenberg indicator values and measured soil parameters. Averaged linear mixed-effects models showed an increase of diversity with increasing distance from the adjacent field, from a mean observed richness of 25 species per 4 m²-plot at the border to more than 30 species in the interior. For organic sites, models consistently showed 13 species more per plot than for conventional sites. Diversity for the two land use types remained different over the entire transect length. Thus, the effect of adjacent field farming extends far into the interior of the protected grasslands, yet overall organic farming is less detrimental. We assume that this is related to a combination of differences in local farm management, such as pesticide application, and the wider landscape context associated with the farm type. Buffer zones with at least organic-like management could improve the conservation value of nature reserves.