Global climate change results in variations in morphological traits, resource competition, species diversity, physiological activity, genetic diversity, habitat use, distributional range, and conservation status in organisms

Habitat utilization is a critical determinant of animal survival and reproductive success. Clarifying species-specific habitat preferences provides essential insights into ecological requirements and forms the basis for sound conservation planning. The Temminck’s Tragopan (Tragopan temminckii), a medium-sized, sexually dimorphic pheasant endemic to montane forests of central and southern China, is classified as a nationally protected Class II species. Nevertheless, its fine-scale habitat selection during the breeding season remains inadequately documented. In 2024, we conducted a field investigation in the Laojunshan National Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province, to examine microhabitat use during this critical period. Our analysis revealed a significant preference for sites characterized by greater tree and bamboo height, higher canopy and bamboo cover, increased litter coverage, and taller shrub layers. In contrast, the species consistently avoided locations dominated by dense, tall herbaceous vegetation. Principal Component Analysis identified six principal components, collectively explaining 71.78% of the total environmental variance. The first component was primarily associated with bamboo structural attributes, the second with tree-layer structure, and the third with proximity to forest edges and streams. These findings indicate that effective conservation of this pheasant requires targeted forest management practices that preserve this specific suite of habitat characteristics, which are essential for ensuring reproductive success and long-term population viability.

Brain size asymmetry differs considerably across species, including humans, vertebrates, and invertebrates. The subtle structural, functional, or size differences between the two brain sides are associated with processing specific cognitive tasks. To evaluate the differences between the sizes of the left and right sides of the whole brain and brain regions and the effect of predation risk (i.e., snake density) on brain size asymmetry among Chinese anurans, we compared the differences between the left and right hemisphere sizes of the whole brain and brain regions among anuran species and analyzed the correlations between the predation risk and size asymmetry index of the brain and brain regions. We found that when one side of the brain was consistently larger than the other, there was a significant difference between the sizes of the left and right sides of the brain and brain regions, displaying directional asymmetry of the whole brain and brain regions. We also found that total brain size was positively correlated with the size asymmetry index of the olfactory bulb and optic tecta when the left hemispheres of the whole brain and brain regions were larger than the right ones. Meanwhile, the index of telencephalon size asymmetry was positively correlated with predation risk when the right hemispheres of the brain and brain regions were larger than the left ones. However, there were non-significant differences between the sizes of the left and right sides of the brain and brain regions across 99 species of anurans. Our findings suggest that an increased predation risk linked to sociality is likely to drive an increase in right telencephalon size.