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Bat populations are declining globally. Maintaining high‐quality habitat for bats can help mitigate extinction risk. Natural and semi‐natural linear vegetation features have been shown to provide shelter and foraging habitat for bats in temperate agroecosystems in Europe, yet their value for bats in North America has received little attention. Using automated ultrasonic recorders, we assessed bat species richness and activity across agricultural drainage ditches  that varied in mean vegetation height, variability in vegetation height, and mean width in agroecosystems in eastern Ontario, Canada. Landscapes surrounding recording sites also varied in forest amount and mean field size, and recording sites were located at different distances from the nearest forest patch. We found that in general, bat activity at the community level and at the individual species level was positively associated with mean vegetation height and mean vegetation width; however, species appeared to vary in their response to variation in vegetation height. We also found a general positive relationship within and across species for bat activity with forest amount at the landscape scale. Overall, our results suggest maintaining or increasing vegetation height along drainage ditches and field margins as well as maintaining or increasing forest amount at the landscape scale will best support bats in temperate North American agroecosystems. Using automated ultrasonic recorders, we assessed bat species richness and activity across agricultural drainage ditches that varied in mean vegetation height, variability in vegetation height, and mean width, as well as forest amount, distance to forest, and mean field size at the landscape scale in agroecosystems in eastern Ontario, Canada. Overall, our results suggest maintaining or increasing vegetation height along drainage ditches and field margins, as well as increasing or maintaining forest amount at the landscape scale, will best support bats in temperate North American agroecosystems.

Habitat restoration at a landscape scale is key to reversing the loss of biodiversity arising from habitat destruction. In landscapes that are intensively used by people, such as for agriculture, valuable restoration efforts might be applied not just to ‘prime’ habitats that are known to have strong associations with target species, but also to ‘sub‐prime’ habitats that might nevertheless provide sufficient resources to support populations. Hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) populations are in chronic decline in the UK. The species is typically associated with broadleaf woodland but restoration of this habitat at scale in agricultural landscapes is difficult. Other habitats used by dormice might, therefore, provide opportunities for restoration. We investigated the use by hazel dormice of hedgerow and scrub habitats in southwest England. From June–November 2022, using footprint‐recording tunnels, we surveyed 38 hedges and 21 scrub patches in the vicinity of 18 sites known to contain established dormouse populations. We found that dormice were frequently present in scrub (9.3 detections per 100 tunnel checks, 95% confidence interval 6.6–12.0) and less frequently in hedges (4.5 detections, 95% CI 3.2–5.8). In scrub patches, dormice were present more frequently as the abundance of dormice in the closest population increased, and less frequently where bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) was dominant. In hedges, dormice were detected more frequently where there was abundant hazel (Corylus avellana) and honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), as frequency of intersections with other hedges increased, and where an earthen bank was not present. Understanding hazel dormouse association with a wide range of habitats, particularly scrub, offers more opportunities for habitat restoration as part of species conservation strategies. Conventionally, hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) are thought to be associated with woodland, with conservation efforts focusing on this habitat. We conducted presence/absence surveys in the South West of England using footprint tunnels, and show dormice frequently use understudied hedge and scrub habitats. We identify a number of characteristics for each habitat that were associated with more frequent dormouse presence. Greater understanding of how dormice use alternative habitats offers more opportunities for restoration at a landscape scale.

QUESTIONS: What is the overall restoration potential of the persistent soil seed bank of abandoned flooded meadows? To what degree does the share of typical flooded meadow species in the soil seed bank change during secondary succession from traditionally managed hayfields to stages overgrown by woody vegetation? LOCATION: Flooded meadows in Alam‐Pedja Nature Reserve, central Estonia (26°14′ E, 58°33′ N). METHODS: The species composition of above‐ground vegetation and the persistent soil seed bank were investigated with PerMANOVA and non‐metric multidimensional scaling in mown, 25‐yr abandoned and 50‐yr abandoned sedge and tall forb meadows subjected to annual flooding. Particular attention was given to typical flooded meadow species in the persistent soil seed bank. General linear models and non‐parametric tests were used to assess successional trends in seed bank richness, density, similarity to target vegetation and percentage of flooded meadow species to assess the restoration potential of the soil seed bank. RESULTS: The cessation of traditional management has led to considerable changes in both above‐ground and seed bank communities, differences between successional stages being more pronounced in the soil seed bank. The density of the seed bank was higher in abandoned meadows. Diversity in the vegetation and soil seed bank was lowest in the 25‐yr abandoned tall forb meadows. Although the soil seed bank similarity to above‐ground mown meadows (locally defined target vegetation) was relatively low across different successional stages, the proportion of flooded meadow species in the seed bank remained high – even after 50‐yr abandonment, on average 42% of emerged seeds from sedge meadow and 34% from tall forb meadow were typical flooded meadow species. CONCLUSIONS: Abandoned floodplain meadows in central Estonia still contain a relatively large grassland community species pool, including a large and effective soil seed bank. The soil seed bank could thus play an important role in the restoration of abandoned and overgrown meadow communities. Targeted experiments addressing the optimal techniques for activating the soil seed bank in flooded meadow soil are needed.

The American beaver (Castor canadensis) has been promoted as a tool for restoring aquatic and riparian ecosystems in Western North America. However, little is known about the ecology of beavers in arid environments. The purpose of this study was to examine selection of habitat and woody forage species during winter along the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico. We compared habitat characteristics at sites where beavers were present and absent and evaluated forage selection of woody plants at presence sites. Beavers occurred at sites that retained water over winter and that had larger pools, higher cover of sedges (Cyperaceae), higher abundance of narrowleaf willow (Salix exigua) stems, and higher diversity of woody stems. For foraging, beavers strongly selected Rio Grande cottonwood (Populus deltoides) and Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) and used willows slightly more than available proportionately. We concluded that, while cottonwoods might require protection from beaver foraging, beavers were not having a negative impact on willows and did not promote saltcedars via ecological release.

Species richness was studied in the understorey of natural Pinus sylvestris forest in the eastern Pyrenees. Understorey plant species were grouped in three structural groups as woody species, herbs and mosses. The response curves of total species richness and species richness of each structural group were fitted against environmental and stand-structural parameters, using Generalized Linear Models. The results suggested that, to predict species richness, environmental parameters were more important than tree-canopy structural parameters, in particular incoming radiation and soil nutrient concentration. The species richness response curve was often humped in relation to soil nutrient concentration. Different patterns of species richness were found for each structural group.