Domestic cats ( Felis catus ) kill an estimated 1.3–4.0 billion birds annually in the United States and are a major source of mortality for urban birds. While their lethal impacts are well documented, fewer studies address sublethal effects such as changes in avian risk assessment. We analyzed a dataset of 1,120 experimental approaches by human observers on 48 bird species across 11 sites in the Los Angeles metropolitan area,...

A mounting body of research suggests that invasive nonnative earthworms substantially alter microbial communities, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ( AMF ). These changes to AMF can cascade to affect plant communities and vertebrate populations. Despite these research advances, relatively little is known about (1) the mechanisms behind earthworms’ effects on AMF and (2) the factors that determine the outcomes of earthwor...

Many jurisdictions have adopted programs to manage feral cats by trap–neuter–return (TNR), in which cats are trapped and sterilized, then returned to the environment to be fed and cared for by volunteer caretakers. Most conservation biologists probably do not realize the extent and growth of this practice and that the goal of some leading TNR advocates is that cats ultimately be recognized and treated as “protected wildlife.”...