Ville Vasko - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Ville Vasko
The distribution ranges and spatio-temporal patterns in the occurrence and activity of boreal bat... more The distribution ranges and spatio-temporal patterns in the occurrence and activity of boreal bats are yet largely unknown due to their cryptic lifestyle and lack of suitable and efficient study methods. We approached the issue by establishing a permanent passive-acoustic sampling setup spanning the area of Finland to gain an understanding on how latitude affects bat species composition and activity patterns in northern Europe. The recorded bat calls were semi-automatically identified for three target taxa; Myotis spp., Eptesicus nilssonii or Pipistrellus nathusii and the seasonal activity patterns were modeled for each taxa across the seven sampling years (2015–2021). We found an increase in activity since 2015 for E. nilssonii and Myotis spp. For E. nilssonii and Myotis spp. we found significant latitude -dependent seasonal activity patterns, where seasonal variation in patterns appeared stronger in the north. Over the years, activity of P. nathusii increased during activity peak ...
UNESCON Ihminen ja biosfääri -ohjelmaan kuuluva Saaristomeren biosfäärialue järjesti Kemiönsaaren... more UNESCON Ihminen ja biosfääri -ohjelmaan kuuluva Saaristomeren biosfäärialue järjesti Kemiönsaaren Holmassa lajistonselvitystapahtuman 15.-16.8.2014. Yhdeksän eliölajien asiantuntijaa tutki saaren eliöstöä yleisölle avoimessa tapahtumassa ja tavoitteena oli mm. selvittää perinneympäristön kunnostuksella saavutettuja tuloksia
The zipped folder includes original consensus genotypes (cons_2Feb2015.txt), R commands to cluste... more The zipped folder includes original consensus genotypes (cons_2Feb2015.txt), R commands to cluster individual bat haplotypes (Nautela_genotyping.R), and final genotypes (NautelaUniqueProfile_cons_2Feb2015_mismatch4.html)
Clustered to OTUs using USEARCH algorithm with default (97%) similarity. This way there is a litt... more Clustered to OTUs using USEARCH algorithm with default (97%) similarity. This way there is a little bit of oversplitting, and OTUs belonging to same biological species are clustered subsequently
Zoology in the Middle East, 2017
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2014
Animals constantly need to acquire information about the environment for settlement decisions, ei... more Animals constantly need to acquire information about the environment for settlement decisions, either by using a trial-and-error strategy or by using public information by monitoring conspecifics. We studied a nest box population of Eurasian kestrels Falco tinnunculus in western Finland to test if pellets and other prey remains accumulated on the bottom of nest boxes are used as public information during settlement. During 2002-2013, nest boxes were randomly cleaned (treatment) or left un-cleaned (control) in each season. It is possible that kestrels reuse nest boxes which include information of successful nesting (i.e. have not been cleaned) because they indicate previous breeding attempt at the site. At the same time, this decision may entail costs because of bloodsucking ecto-parasites like Carnus hemapterus overwintering in the layer of pellets. First, we found that egg-laying date was significantly earlier in un-cleaned control boxes than in cleaned treatment boxes, indicating the use of public information revealed by pellets in the settlement decision. Second, the ecto-parasite burden of young nestlings (age 6-15 days) was significantly higher in un-cleaned control nest boxes. We found higher ecto-parasite infestation in early and lower infestation in late nests, a seasonal trend that is in disagreement with the ecto-parasite avoidance hypothesis. Contrary, in overall lower-infected cleaned boxes, ecto-parasite prevalence remained equal throughout the season. However, the ectoparasite burden had no obvious effect on breeding success. We conclude that the use of pellets revealing successful breeding attempt of the previous year as public information appeared to be important in the settlement decision of kestrels.
Environmental Science & Technology, 2020
Although labeled as environmentally friendly, wind power can have negative impacts on the environ... more Although labeled as environmentally friendly, wind power can have negative impacts on the environment, such as habitat destruction or wildlife fatalities. Considering the distribution and migratory characteristics of European bats, the negative effects of wind power should be addressed on an appropriate scale. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge on interactions between wind farms and bats in Europe, and compares it with the situation in the countries of the European boreal biogeographic region. We analyzed data from papers published in international and national scientific journals, focusing on studies conducted in Europe. The issue of the impacts wind power has on bats is clearly overlooked in most of the countries of the European boreal region, with low volumes of research available on the topic. This is probably due to fewer wind farms in the area, making this recent issue a less-prioritized topic. However, the Baltic Sea, and the countries surrounding it, are of extreme importance with regards to bat migration, especially for the Pipistrellus nathusii. Therefore, more research on wind power and bats is needed in this region, as well as more cooperation between all the stakeholders.
Oikos, 2014
Individual variation in breeding dispersal has extensive ecological and evolutionary consequences... more Individual variation in breeding dispersal has extensive ecological and evolutionary consequences, but the factors driving individual dispersal behaviour and their fi tness consequences remain poorly understood. Our data on dispersal events of a rodent-specialist predator, the Eurasian kestrel Falco tinnunculus , over 20 years in western Finland off ers a unique opportunity to explore the mechanisms underlying breeding dispersal behaviour and its reproductive consequences in a wild bird population. Sex, age, body condition and previous breeding success aff ected breeding dispersal. Dispersal distances were longer in females than in males as well as longer in yearlings than in older individuals. Body condition was positively correlated to breeding dispersal distances, particularly for females. Th e lowest dispersal distances were recorded for intermediate brood sizes in the year preceding dispersal. Our results highlight sex-and environment-specifi c consequences of breeding dispersal on reproductive performance. During increase phases of the three-year vole cycles, males dispersing further had lower reproductive performance after dispersal, whereas in females, long breeding dispersal distances were associated with increased breeding success under all environmental conditions. Th ese results suggest benefi ts associated to breeding dispersal in females, potentially related to large spatio-temporal variation in main food abundance and intensity of intra-specifi c competition. Breeding dispersal of males was costly during increasing food abundance, indicating the potential fi tness benefi ts of environmental familiarity in this migratory species. Overall, our results indicate that both individual traits and environmental factors interact to shape breeding dispersal strategies in wide-ranging predator populations under fl uctuating food conditions.
Journal of Avian Biology, 2011
... temporally fluctuating food abundance Ville Vasko, Toni Laaksonen, Jari Valkama and Erkki Kor... more ... temporally fluctuating food abundance Ville Vasko, Toni Laaksonen, Jari Valkama and Erkki Korpimäki V. Vasko (vvvask@utu.fi), T. Laaksonen and E. Korpimäki, Section of Ecology, Dept of Biology, FI-20014 Univ. of Turku, Finland. ...
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2014
Animals constantly need to acquire information about the environment for settlement decisions, ei... more Animals constantly need to acquire information about the environment for settlement decisions, either by using a trial-and-error strategy or by using public information by monitoring conspecifics. We studied a nest box population of Eurasian kestrels Falco tinnunculus in western Finland to test if pellets and other prey remains accumulated on the bottom of nest boxes are used as public information during settlement. During 2002-2013, nest boxes were randomly cleaned (treatment) or left un-cleaned (control) in each season. It is possible that kestrels reuse nest boxes which include information of successful nesting (i.e. have not been cleaned) because they indicate previous breeding attempt at the site. At the same time, this decision may entail costs because of bloodsucking ecto-parasites like Carnus hemapterus overwintering in the layer of pellets. First, we found that egg-laying date was significantly earlier in un-cleaned control boxes than in cleaned treatment boxes, indicating the use of public information revealed by pellets in the settlement decision. Second, the ecto-parasite burden of young nestlings (age 6-15 days) was significantly higher in un-cleaned control nest boxes. We found higher ecto-parasite infestation in early and lower infestation in late nests, a seasonal trend that is in disagreement with the ecto-parasite avoidance hypothesis. Contrary, in overall lower-infected cleaned boxes, ecto-parasite prevalence remained equal throughout the season. However, the ectoparasite burden had no obvious effect on breeding success. We conclude that the use of pellets revealing successful breeding attempt of the previous year as public information appeared to be important in the settlement decision of kestrels.
Drafts by Ville Vasko
Large-scale long-term passive-acoustic monitoring reveals spatio-temporal activity patterns of boreal bats, Apr 6, 2023
The distribution ranges and spatio-temporal patterns in the occurrence and activity of boreal bat... more The distribution ranges and spatio-temporal patterns in the occurrence and activity of boreal bats are yet largely unknown due to their cryptic lifestyle and lack of suitable and efficient study methods. We approached the issue by establishing a permanent passive-acoustic sampling setup spanning the area of Finland to gain an understanding on how latitude affects bat species composition and activity patterns in northern Europe. The recorded bat calls were semi-automatically identified for three target taxa; Myotis spp., Eptesicus nilssonii or Pipistrellus nathusii and the seasonal activity patterns were modeled for each taxa across the seven sampling years (2015–2021). We found an increase in activity since 2015 for E. nilssonii and Myotis spp. For E. nilssonii and Myotis spp. we found significant latitude -dependent seasonal activity patterns, where seasonal variation in patterns appeared stronger in the north. Over the years, activity of P. nathusii increased during activity peak in June and late season but decreased in mid season. We found the passive-acoustic monitoring network to be an effective and cost-efficient method for gathering bat activity data to analyze spatio-temporal patterns. Long-term data on the composition and dynamics of bat communities facilitates better estimates of abundances and population trend directions for conservation purposes and predicting the effects of climate change.
The distribution ranges and spatio-temporal patterns in the occurrence and activity of boreal bat... more The distribution ranges and spatio-temporal patterns in the occurrence and activity of boreal bats are yet largely unknown due to their cryptic lifestyle and lack of suitable and efficient study methods. We approached the issue by establishing a permanent passive-acoustic sampling setup spanning the area of Finland to gain an understanding on how latitude affects bat species composition and activity patterns in northern Europe. The recorded bat calls were semi-automatically identified for three target taxa; Myotis spp., Eptesicus nilssonii or Pipistrellus nathusii and the seasonal activity patterns were modeled for each taxa across the seven sampling years (2015–2021). We found an increase in activity since 2015 for E. nilssonii and Myotis spp. For E. nilssonii and Myotis spp. we found significant latitude -dependent seasonal activity patterns, where seasonal variation in patterns appeared stronger in the north. Over the years, activity of P. nathusii increased during activity peak ...
UNESCON Ihminen ja biosfääri -ohjelmaan kuuluva Saaristomeren biosfäärialue järjesti Kemiönsaaren... more UNESCON Ihminen ja biosfääri -ohjelmaan kuuluva Saaristomeren biosfäärialue järjesti Kemiönsaaren Holmassa lajistonselvitystapahtuman 15.-16.8.2014. Yhdeksän eliölajien asiantuntijaa tutki saaren eliöstöä yleisölle avoimessa tapahtumassa ja tavoitteena oli mm. selvittää perinneympäristön kunnostuksella saavutettuja tuloksia
The zipped folder includes original consensus genotypes (cons_2Feb2015.txt), R commands to cluste... more The zipped folder includes original consensus genotypes (cons_2Feb2015.txt), R commands to cluster individual bat haplotypes (Nautela_genotyping.R), and final genotypes (NautelaUniqueProfile_cons_2Feb2015_mismatch4.html)
Clustered to OTUs using USEARCH algorithm with default (97%) similarity. This way there is a litt... more Clustered to OTUs using USEARCH algorithm with default (97%) similarity. This way there is a little bit of oversplitting, and OTUs belonging to same biological species are clustered subsequently
Zoology in the Middle East, 2017
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2014
Animals constantly need to acquire information about the environment for settlement decisions, ei... more Animals constantly need to acquire information about the environment for settlement decisions, either by using a trial-and-error strategy or by using public information by monitoring conspecifics. We studied a nest box population of Eurasian kestrels Falco tinnunculus in western Finland to test if pellets and other prey remains accumulated on the bottom of nest boxes are used as public information during settlement. During 2002-2013, nest boxes were randomly cleaned (treatment) or left un-cleaned (control) in each season. It is possible that kestrels reuse nest boxes which include information of successful nesting (i.e. have not been cleaned) because they indicate previous breeding attempt at the site. At the same time, this decision may entail costs because of bloodsucking ecto-parasites like Carnus hemapterus overwintering in the layer of pellets. First, we found that egg-laying date was significantly earlier in un-cleaned control boxes than in cleaned treatment boxes, indicating the use of public information revealed by pellets in the settlement decision. Second, the ecto-parasite burden of young nestlings (age 6-15 days) was significantly higher in un-cleaned control nest boxes. We found higher ecto-parasite infestation in early and lower infestation in late nests, a seasonal trend that is in disagreement with the ecto-parasite avoidance hypothesis. Contrary, in overall lower-infected cleaned boxes, ecto-parasite prevalence remained equal throughout the season. However, the ectoparasite burden had no obvious effect on breeding success. We conclude that the use of pellets revealing successful breeding attempt of the previous year as public information appeared to be important in the settlement decision of kestrels.
Environmental Science & Technology, 2020
Although labeled as environmentally friendly, wind power can have negative impacts on the environ... more Although labeled as environmentally friendly, wind power can have negative impacts on the environment, such as habitat destruction or wildlife fatalities. Considering the distribution and migratory characteristics of European bats, the negative effects of wind power should be addressed on an appropriate scale. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge on interactions between wind farms and bats in Europe, and compares it with the situation in the countries of the European boreal biogeographic region. We analyzed data from papers published in international and national scientific journals, focusing on studies conducted in Europe. The issue of the impacts wind power has on bats is clearly overlooked in most of the countries of the European boreal region, with low volumes of research available on the topic. This is probably due to fewer wind farms in the area, making this recent issue a less-prioritized topic. However, the Baltic Sea, and the countries surrounding it, are of extreme importance with regards to bat migration, especially for the Pipistrellus nathusii. Therefore, more research on wind power and bats is needed in this region, as well as more cooperation between all the stakeholders.
Oikos, 2014
Individual variation in breeding dispersal has extensive ecological and evolutionary consequences... more Individual variation in breeding dispersal has extensive ecological and evolutionary consequences, but the factors driving individual dispersal behaviour and their fi tness consequences remain poorly understood. Our data on dispersal events of a rodent-specialist predator, the Eurasian kestrel Falco tinnunculus , over 20 years in western Finland off ers a unique opportunity to explore the mechanisms underlying breeding dispersal behaviour and its reproductive consequences in a wild bird population. Sex, age, body condition and previous breeding success aff ected breeding dispersal. Dispersal distances were longer in females than in males as well as longer in yearlings than in older individuals. Body condition was positively correlated to breeding dispersal distances, particularly for females. Th e lowest dispersal distances were recorded for intermediate brood sizes in the year preceding dispersal. Our results highlight sex-and environment-specifi c consequences of breeding dispersal on reproductive performance. During increase phases of the three-year vole cycles, males dispersing further had lower reproductive performance after dispersal, whereas in females, long breeding dispersal distances were associated with increased breeding success under all environmental conditions. Th ese results suggest benefi ts associated to breeding dispersal in females, potentially related to large spatio-temporal variation in main food abundance and intensity of intra-specifi c competition. Breeding dispersal of males was costly during increasing food abundance, indicating the potential fi tness benefi ts of environmental familiarity in this migratory species. Overall, our results indicate that both individual traits and environmental factors interact to shape breeding dispersal strategies in wide-ranging predator populations under fl uctuating food conditions.
Journal of Avian Biology, 2011
... temporally fluctuating food abundance Ville Vasko, Toni Laaksonen, Jari Valkama and Erkki Kor... more ... temporally fluctuating food abundance Ville Vasko, Toni Laaksonen, Jari Valkama and Erkki Korpimäki V. Vasko (vvvask@utu.fi), T. Laaksonen and E. Korpimäki, Section of Ecology, Dept of Biology, FI-20014 Univ. of Turku, Finland. ...
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2014
Animals constantly need to acquire information about the environment for settlement decisions, ei... more Animals constantly need to acquire information about the environment for settlement decisions, either by using a trial-and-error strategy or by using public information by monitoring conspecifics. We studied a nest box population of Eurasian kestrels Falco tinnunculus in western Finland to test if pellets and other prey remains accumulated on the bottom of nest boxes are used as public information during settlement. During 2002-2013, nest boxes were randomly cleaned (treatment) or left un-cleaned (control) in each season. It is possible that kestrels reuse nest boxes which include information of successful nesting (i.e. have not been cleaned) because they indicate previous breeding attempt at the site. At the same time, this decision may entail costs because of bloodsucking ecto-parasites like Carnus hemapterus overwintering in the layer of pellets. First, we found that egg-laying date was significantly earlier in un-cleaned control boxes than in cleaned treatment boxes, indicating the use of public information revealed by pellets in the settlement decision. Second, the ecto-parasite burden of young nestlings (age 6-15 days) was significantly higher in un-cleaned control nest boxes. We found higher ecto-parasite infestation in early and lower infestation in late nests, a seasonal trend that is in disagreement with the ecto-parasite avoidance hypothesis. Contrary, in overall lower-infected cleaned boxes, ecto-parasite prevalence remained equal throughout the season. However, the ectoparasite burden had no obvious effect on breeding success. We conclude that the use of pellets revealing successful breeding attempt of the previous year as public information appeared to be important in the settlement decision of kestrels.
Large-scale long-term passive-acoustic monitoring reveals spatio-temporal activity patterns of boreal bats, Apr 6, 2023
The distribution ranges and spatio-temporal patterns in the occurrence and activity of boreal bat... more The distribution ranges and spatio-temporal patterns in the occurrence and activity of boreal bats are yet largely unknown due to their cryptic lifestyle and lack of suitable and efficient study methods. We approached the issue by establishing a permanent passive-acoustic sampling setup spanning the area of Finland to gain an understanding on how latitude affects bat species composition and activity patterns in northern Europe. The recorded bat calls were semi-automatically identified for three target taxa; Myotis spp., Eptesicus nilssonii or Pipistrellus nathusii and the seasonal activity patterns were modeled for each taxa across the seven sampling years (2015–2021). We found an increase in activity since 2015 for E. nilssonii and Myotis spp. For E. nilssonii and Myotis spp. we found significant latitude -dependent seasonal activity patterns, where seasonal variation in patterns appeared stronger in the north. Over the years, activity of P. nathusii increased during activity peak in June and late season but decreased in mid season. We found the passive-acoustic monitoring network to be an effective and cost-efficient method for gathering bat activity data to analyze spatio-temporal patterns. Long-term data on the composition and dynamics of bat communities facilitates better estimates of abundances and population trend directions for conservation purposes and predicting the effects of climate change.