No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Biodiversity hotspot for conservation priorities
Abstract
Conservationists are far from able to assist all species under threat, if only for lack of funding. This places a premium on priorities: how can we support the most species at the least cost? One way is to identify 'biodiversity hotspots' where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat. As many as 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups are confined to 25 hotspots comprising only 1.4% of the land surface of the Earth. This opens the way for a 'silver bullet' strategy on the part of conservation planners, focusing on these hotspots in proportion to their share of the world's species at risk.
... Brazilian Cerrado is the second-largest vegetation formation in the country, covering about 25% of its territory, 30% of its biodiversity, and 19% of its water potential (Myers et al. 2000). Cerrado is the most biodiverse of the tropical savannas on the planet, hosting about 5% of the world's fauna and flora (Myers et al. 2000). ...
... Brazilian Cerrado is the second-largest vegetation formation in the country, covering about 25% of its territory, 30% of its biodiversity, and 19% of its water potential (Myers et al. 2000). Cerrado is the most biodiverse of the tropical savannas on the planet, hosting about 5% of the world's fauna and flora (Myers et al. 2000). Besides, Cerrado has numerous zones of biological diversity, centers of diversity, and endemism for 4,000 plant and vertebrate species (Myers et al. 2000, Strassburg et al. 2017, Fines & Curvo 2019. ...
... Cerrado is the most biodiverse of the tropical savannas on the planet, hosting about 5% of the world's fauna and flora (Myers et al. 2000). Besides, Cerrado has numerous zones of biological diversity, centers of diversity, and endemism for 4,000 plant and vertebrate species (Myers et al. 2000, Strassburg et al. 2017, Fines & Curvo 2019. ...
A synopsis of the Leguminosae from the Park Nacional das Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba (PNNRP), located in the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil, is presented herein. A total of 68 species and 2 infraspecific taxa belonging to 29 genera and four subfamilies (i.e., Caesalpinioideae, Papilionoideae, Detarioideae, and Cercidoideae) were recorded. Of these, 14 species were considered new records for the northeastern or northern regions of Brazil, or for the states encompassing PNNRP. Genera with the highest number of species were Chamaecrista (15 spp.), Bauhinia (8 spp.), and Mimosa (6 spp.). Regarding plant physiognomies where the species were collected, Cerrado sensu stricto was predominant, followed by Cerradão and Veredas. Most of catalogued species had an unassessed conservation status, except for Bowdichia virgilioides, Chamaecrista coradinii, and Hymenaea parvifolia, which were classified as Near Threatened and Vulnerable, respectively. Treatment includes information on geographical distribution and taxonomic notes for species with an extended range.
... Endemic species are crucial components of regional biodiversity and play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem functionality [1,2]. However, due to their specialized habitats, narrow environmental tolerance, and unique ecological requirements [3], they are highly drought-related variables, to predict the current and future distributions of P. bungeana's suitable ecological niches. ...
... These scenarios were chosen for an accurate simulation of temperature and precipitation patterns in China. The main objectives were as follows: (1) to identify the dominant environmental factors affecting the distribution of P. bungeana and to quantify its suitable range, (2) to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of P. bungeana and the trajectory of the center-of-mass movement of its suitable ecological niches under current and future climate conditions, and (3) to predict the changing trend of the suitable ecological niches for P. bungeana under climate change. Based on these findings, we provide conservation and management recommendations, offering a reference for the future conservation of P. bungeana in China. ...
... Endemic species play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem function and services [1,2], yet their restricted geographic ranges render them particularly vulnerable to climate change [50]. P. bungeana, endemic to west-central China, is listed among the threatened higher plants of China. ...
As climate change continues to alter species distributions, Pinus bungeana, an endangered conifer of significant ecological and ornamental value, faces heightened vulnerability, underscoring the critical need to understand and predict its future habitat shifts. Here, we used 83 effective geographic distribution records, along with climate, topography, soil, and drought indices, to simulate the potential distribution of suitable ecological niches for P. bungeana under current conditions and across three future time periods (2040–2060, 2060–2080, and 2080–2100) under two shared socioeconomic pathways: SSP126 (low emissions) and SSP585 (high emissions), using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model. The results show that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for all simulations exceeded 0.973, indicating high predictive accuracy. Soil moisture, the minimum temperature of the coldest month, temperature seasonality, isothermality, the precipitation of the wettest quarter, and altitude were identified as key environmental factors limiting the distribution of P. bungeana, with soil moisture and the minimum temperature of the coldest month being the most important factors. Under the current climatic conditions, the potentially suitable ecological niches for P. bungeana were primarily located in Shaanxi Province, southern Shanxi Province, southeastern Gansu Province, northeastern Sichuan Province, Henan Province, and northwestern Hubei Province, covering approximately 75.59 × 104 km2. However, under the future climate scenarios, highly suitable areas were projected to contract, with the rate of decline varying significantly between scenarios. Despite this, the total area of potentially suitable ecological niches was predicted to expand in the future periods. Additionally, a pronounced eastward shift in P. bungeana’s distribution was projected, especially under the high-emission SSP585 scenario. These findings provide insights into the potential impacts of climate change on the distribution of P. bungeana, and they offer valuable guidance for its conservation strategies and habitat management in the context of climate change.
... Species diversity is the most basic and critical level of biodiversity, and it is used in many aspects of biodiversity research [1][2][3][4]. A comprehensive understanding of species diversity is a pivotal step in guiding ecological conservation and sustainable utilization strategies, and it serves as a prerequisite for developing effective conservation policies [5,6], carrying profound significance. Among the various plant groups, lycophytes and ferns have ancient origins and include numerous relict and endemic species. ...
... It has been demonstrated in various studies that the identification and protection of biological refugia should be prioritized in environmental protection plans, especially in addressing human-induced climate change [46][47][48]. Myers et al. [5] and Badgley et al. [49] demonstrate that regions with complex terrains encompass many of the world's current diversity hotspots, providing sanctuary to a high proportion of species prone to extinction. Consequently, these regions possess high conservation value. ...
Understanding the species diversity distribution of lycophytes and ferns is crucial for identifying biodiversity hotspots and conservation planning. Northeast China, a biodiversity-sensitive area affected by climate change, lacks comprehensive information on diversity and distribution patterns of these plants. To address this gap, we sorted out all naturally distributed lycophyte and fern species recorded in the region, analyzed their diversity, frequency, and threatened status. Correlation and regression analyses were also conducted with geographic gradients at the county level. Our study identified a total of 143 taxa (species and intraspecific taxa) belonging to 48 genera of 19 families of lycophytes and ferns in Northeast China, with terrestrial (85 spp.) and epilithic (55 spp.) life forms dominating. Species with frequencies below 10.00% comprised 75.52% of the total. Notably, five species were listed as threatened in the Red List of China’s Biodiversity, highlighting the urgency for conservation measures. Overall, species diversity decreased from low to high latitudes, but increased with maximum elevation and elevation range. High diversity areas were concentrated mainly in Da Hinggan Mountains, Xiao Hinggan Mountains, and Changbai Mountains, which correspond to the main mountainous terrain of Northeast China. Changbai Mountains exhibited the highest diversity, establishing itself as a pivotal diversity center for lycophytes and ferns in the region. Exploring the diversity and distribution of lycophytes and ferns is crucial for understanding their interactions with environmental gradients, and thereby supporting significant biodiversity conservation efforts in Northeast China.
... É discrepante o número de organismos existentes e os citados pelos estudantes, sendo desejável que adquiram maior conhecimento sobre esses seres vivos. Haja vista, os ambientes aqui investigados (Cerrado, Mata Atlântica e Ecossistema Costeiro) serem hotspots (Myers et al. 2000), nos quais a diversidade de organismos conhecida ultrapassa os milhares (Aguiar et al., 2015;Mittermeier et al., 2011), sendo áreas prioritárias para preservação e/ou conservação. Essa dificuldade em nomear organismos de seu país ou localidade também foi observada em estudantes do Cerrado (Bizerril, 2010;Borges & Simião-Ferreira, 2018), da Caatinga e Mata Atlântica (Araújo & Sovierzoski, 2016). ...
... Estudos de levantamento da biodiversidade apontam para um número menor, porém relevante, de plantas em relação a animais, seja em escala global (Mora et al., 2011) ou em determinadas localidades (Mittermeier et al. 2011;BFG, 2021;Myers et al., 2000). Mas isso não justifica o pouco conhecimento que os estudantes possuem sobre elas. ...
RESUMO: Um importante papel da escola é ensinar os conhecimentos científicos, como os relacionados à biodiversidade, possibilitando a interpretação do mundo pelos estudantes. Para tanto, visando subsidiar futuras produções de materiais didáticos, este trabalho objetiva investigar quais seres vivos são do conhecimento e interesse de um grupo de estudantes paulistas e, quais seres vivos são representados nos materiais didáticos adotados em suas escolas. Na análise dos materiais didáticos, todos os organismos mencionados foram registrados em uma matriz. Os demais dados foram coletados com os alunos por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas e questionários. Após a análise qualitativa e quantitativa, constatou-se que tanto os estudantes, quanto os materiais didáticos fazem maior referência a animais em detrimento de outros organismos, como plantas e microrganismos, e têm pouco interesse por fungos. Logo, estes grupos podem ser mais explorados por futuros materiais didáticos para fomentar o conhecimento dos estudantes sobre a biodiversidade
... According to (Tittensor et al., 2010), there is a latitudinal gradient in species diversity. Biodiversity has been growing throughout time but it is anticipated to slow down in some years, since it tends to congregate in hotspots (Myers et al., 2000). ...
... Due to the synergy of habitat loss and degradation and high-levels of biodiversity, the Atlantic Forest is classified as a biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al. 2000). However, this biome is subjected to several chronic human-induced modifications (e.g. ...
Birds and mammals are two species-rich taxonomic groups that play several roles in terms of ecosystem functioning. Yet, these homoeothermic vertebrates face several threats to survive worldwide. Our major aims were (1) to provide a checklist of both birds and medium-to large-bodied mammals and (2) to explore the patterns of diversity and composition of birds and mammals in five forest fragments of Semideciduous Forest, located in the Ipumirim municipality, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The mammal inventory was performed using camera-trapping, active search and visual signals and vocalizations. The bird inventory was obtained by occasional records from camera-trapping and active search, complemented by the point count method. We analysed the data with classical diversity descriptors, a rarefaction approach, and a dissimilarity index. We obtained 210 independent records for both taxonomic groups, which included 57 species. Among them, 37 bird species and 20 medium-to large-bodied mammal species were included. Both for birds and mammals, the richness among sites was not significantly different when compared via rarefaction curves and was also equally dissimilar among the sites in terms of species composition. We conclude that the homoeothermic vertebrates in the study area represent only an incomplete parcel of a once-diverse transitory region regarding phytophysiognomy and associated fauna. Even so, faunistic inventories can provide valuable information on species distribution, occurrence, and persistence, which is essential for advancing macroecological studies on persistent Wallacean gaps in medium-to large-sized birds and mammals in certain Neotropical regions, heavily modified by ongoing human activities.
... With an exceptional richness of endemic species, Seychelles is one of the key biodiversity hotspots on earth (e.g. Myers et al. 2000;Senterre et al. 2013). The climate is tropical, and vulnerable to the effects of climate change (Payet & Agricole 2006). ...
Psychodocha picaulti n. sp. is described and illustrated based on both male and female specimens, from a small collection of non-biting moth flies from the Seychelles. We record for the first time the cosmopolitan species Clogmia albipunctata (Williston, 1893) in this region. Additionally, an updated checklist of Seychelles Psychodidae is provided.
... The 20 ha Xishuangbanna Forest Dynamic plot (XFDP), which is located in China near the northern limit of the tropics (21°36′42″ N-21°36′58″ N, 101°34′26″ E-101°34′47″ E), served as the site for our study. The conservation of biodiversity is given priority in this region of the world (Myers et al. 2000). This forest, which is a tropical seasonal rainforest, contains 468 species of trees. ...
In tropical forests, trees often have damage in the form of visible cavities. However, the impacts of these cavities on tropical tree growth and survival are unknown, despite potential implications for the global carbon cycle. Here, we integrate 10 years of forest dynamics data with a survey of cavity presence on 25,450 rainforest trees (> 5 cm in diameter) in the 20 ha Xishuangbanna plot in southern China. We found that cavities negatively impacted tree growth, but not survival, with the growth of smaller trees more negatively affected by cavities. Variation in the impact of cavities was not explained by functional traits related to species life history strategy (specific leaf area, wood density, seed mass, leaf %N, leaf %P). These results suggest that cavities may affect both the compositional and carbon dynamics of tropical forests, but further research is needed to determine what drives variation amongst tree species in cavity impact.
... It boasts the most concentrated, best-preserved, and largest contiguous tropical rainforest area in the country, forming an integral part of the world's tropical rainforests. HTRNP is also a critical area for tropical biodiversity conservation in China, serving as a global gene pool for germplasm resources and a biodiversity conservation hotspot (Myers et al., 2000;Francisco-Ortega et al., 2010). Most of the products provided by HTRNP are public goods. ...
The establishment of national parks is a critical measure for natural ecological protection in China, significantly contributing to biodiversity conservation and regional sustainable development. However, the analysis of temporal-spatial variations in ecosystem services within national parks, along with the factors influencing these variations, remains largely overlooked. This gap limits the effectiveness of ecological protection and refined management in these parks. Using Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park (HTRNP) as a case study, this study integrates geospatial analysis ArcGIS with the InVEST model to evaluate the regulating ecosystem services (RESs) from 2000 to 2020 at 5-year intervals. The analysis examines the temporal evolution patterns and spatial distribution of RESs, utilizing LightGBM to identify the primary driving factors of these services. The findings reveal the following: (1) Temporally, the RESs exhibit significant fluctuations, with a trend of “initial decline followed by a subsequent rise”. Climate regulation services accounted for the highest proportion at 61.4%, followed by water conservation and soil retention. (2) Spatially, the RESs in the eastern and central regions are slightly higher than those in the western region, demonstrating consistency across different years. The RESs in HTRNP show a strong spatial clustering effect (Moran’s I > 0.5, Z > 2.58), with spatial hotspots (H-H) in the eastern and central regions, and spatial cold spots (L-L) in the western and northern regions. (3) In terms of driving factors, natural factors, including annual precipitation (PRE) and annual potential evapotranspiration (PET) alongside socio-economic factors such as land use and land cover (LULC) and the Human Footprint Index (HFI), make the highest marginal contributions to RESs. Specifically, RESs demonstrate the strongest correlation with LULC, a positive correlation with PRE, and negative correlations with PET and HFI. This study explores the dynamic changes and influencing factors of RESs, providing a scientific guideline for future ecological planning and effective management decisions within HTRNP.
... Approximately half of the world's grassland ecosystems are currently undergoing degradation, with approximately five percent facing severe to extreme levels of deterioration (Wang et al., 2005). The Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is recognized as a crucial region for the conservation of high-altitude biodiversity, underscoring its global ecological significance (Chen et al., 2013;Myers et al., 2000). Within the QTP, alpine meadows are key contributors to species diversity (Wu et al., 2022); however, they exhibit relatively low stability, resistance, and resilience in the face of environmental stressors (Li et al., 2020;Yang et al., 2022). ...
Recent investigations on the Tibetan Plateau have harnessed advancements in digital ground vegetation surveys, high temporal resolution remote sensing data, and sophisticated cloud computing technologies to delineate successional dynamics between alpine meadows and alpine steppes. However, these efforts have not thoroughly explored how different successional stages affect key ecological parameters, such as species and functional diversity, stability, and ecosystem multifunctionality, which are fundamental to ecosystem resilience and adaptability. Given this gap, we systematically investigate variations in vegetation diversity, functional diversity, and the often-overlooked dimension of community stability across the successional gradient from alpine meadows to alpine steppes. We further identify the primary environmental drivers of these changes and evaluate their collective impact on ecosystem multifunctionality. Our analysis reveals that, as vegetation communities progress from alpine meadows toward alpine steppes, multi-year average precipitation and temperature decline significantly, accompanied by reductions in soil nutrients. These environmental shifts led to decreased species diversity, driven by lower precipitation and reduced soil nitrate-nitrogen levels, as well as community differentiation influenced by declining soil pH and precipitation. Consequently, as species loss and community differentiation intensified, these changes diminished functional diversity and eroded community resilience and resistance, ultimately reducing grassland ecosystem multifunctionality. Using linear mixed-effects model and structural equation modeling, we found that functional diversity is the foremost determinant of ecosystem multifunctionality, followed by species diversity. Surprisingly, community stability also significantly influences ecosystem multifunctionality—a factor rarely highlighted in previous studies. These findings deepen our understanding of the interplay among diversity, functionality, stability, and ecosystem multifunctionality, and support the development of an integrated feedback model linking environmental drivers with ecological attributes in alpine grassland ecosystems.
... Central Chile concentrates an interesting vascular flora; due to its high degree of endemism and the intense deterioration of ecosystems, this region has been considered a "hotspot" of biodiversity (Armesto et al. 1998;Myers et al. 2000). The notable climatic latitudinal gradient existing in central Chile i.e, decrease of temperatures and an increase of precipitations with latitude has been largely documented in diverse studies (Di Castri and Hajek 1976;Di Castri 1991;Garreaud et al. 2009;Carretier et al. 2018), hence it constitutes an ideal scenario to conduct a natural experiment to test biogeographic hypothesis. ...
How do species reach the limits of their distribution and what prevents their continued expansion beyond these ranges? Exotic plant species represent a natural experiment to answer these questions. If climate is the limiting factor, then one would expect a matching between the observed range limit for a species and the range limit predicted by its climatic niche. If there is no matching, then other factors such as dispersal limitation, competition or facilitation come into play. In this work, the predicted and observed range limits for eight exotic legume species were compared: Acacia dealbata , Acacia melanoxylon , Cytisus striatus , Teline monspessulana , Ulex europaeus , Lotus corniculatus , Trifolium suffocatum and Vicia villosa , in a latitudinal gradient in Chile. For the estimation of the observed range limit (North and South), absence/presence data were obtained from 30° to 43.1° south latitude. For the estimation of the predicted range limits, GBIF presence data were used to construct the global climatic niches, identifying suitable climatic zones (presences) and unsuitable climatic zones (absences). With this information, presence probability models were constructed with hierarchical Huisman-Olff-Fresh (HOF) regression, from which the predicted range limits (North and South) were obtained. Our results suggest that the species Acacia dealbata and Cytisus striatus have reached their predicted edge at the northern and at the southern end of the gradient. The rest of the species have not yet reached this limit across both geographic edges. At the southern end of the gradient, most species have not reached the limit predicted by the climatic niche; except for Cytisus striatus whose observed range limit is higher than predicted. Factors other than climate are discussed to explain the discrepancies between observed and predicted range limits.
... At the same time, Chile has a wide variation of ecosystems along a very large latitudinal gradient (ca. 4,000 km), being considered a biodiversity hotspot for both bees (Marshall et al. 2023) and plants (Myers et al. 2000), with many endemic and relict species (Bannister et al. 2012;Medel et al. 2018b). Although Chile has designated ~ 22% of its territory as a protected area, 89% of these are located in extreme latitudes, while the most diverse and endemism-rich zones remain unprotected as they fall within areas where most of the agricultural activity is concentrated (Armesto et al. 1998;Cordero et al. 2020;Durán et al. 2013). ...
Pollination is a key ecological interaction providing fundamental ecosystem services, as most food items we consume depend on biotic pollination. However, a pollination crisis has become evident in the last decades because of multiple anthropogenic biodiversity loss drivers. Agricultural expansion, agrochemicals, invasive species, and climate change are altering plant-pollinator interaction dynamics. Chile is a large food-producing country undergoing an ‘anthropogenic intensification’ as its economic development is being made at expense of its biodiversity. Based on a large database comprising four decades of plant-pollinator interactions, we used a network approach to characterize their spatiotemporal variation, considering two major events: the introduction of the exotic bumblebee Bombus terrestris in 2000 (becoming invasive), and the 2010–2020 megadrought that affected South-Central Chile. Most plant-pollinator records were concentrated in Central and South regions, where cultivated lands occur, while pollination studies in North and Patagonia regions are scarce and insufficient to perform further analyses. We analyzed 2108 interactions across time using four 10-year periods between 1980 and 2020. The most frequent plant families and pollinator orders changed over time, with hummingbirds and hoverflies more common before 2000 and bees afterward. We observed spatiotemporal changes in network specialization, modularity, and nestedness, matching B. terrestris introduction and the mega-drought. Modularity was significant in all cases, as non-random associations occurred between plant and pollinator groups, but it showed changes as exotic generalist bees became dominant. Analyzing historical data is a valuable tool to understand the effects of human activities on ecological interactions, and also to forecast future effects informing decision-making and providing evidence to prioritize conservation efforts.
... Among the most vulnerable are the world's islands, which, despite covering a modest fraction of the Earth's surface, harbor a disproportionate share of its biodiversity. Over one-third of the global biodiversity hotspots for conservation priority consist mainly or entirely of islands, while almost all tropical islands fall into such a hotspot region (Myers et al., 2000). However, there are knowledge gaps regarding island ecosystem services and their response to climatic and land use changes (Sieber et al., 2018), and thus, science-policy assessments are hindered by such a lack of information (Cámara-Leret and Dennehy, 2019). ...
Islands are diversity hotspots and vulnerable to environmental degradation, climate variations, land use changes and societal crises. These factors can exhibit interactive impacts on ecosystem services. The study reviewed a large number of papers on the climate change-islands-ecosystem services topic worldwide. Potential inclusion of land use changes and other drivers of impacts on ecosystem services were sequentially also recorded. The study sought to investigate the impacts of climate change, land use change, and other non-climatic driver changes on island ecosystem services. Explanatory variables examined were divided into two categories: environmental variables and methodological ones. Environmental variables include sea zone geographic location, ecosystem, ecosystem services, climate, land use, other driver variables, Methodological variables include consideration of policy interventions, uncertainty assessment, cumulative effects of climate change, synergistic effects of climate change with land use change and other anthropogenic and environmental drivers, and the diversity of variables used in the analysis. Machine learning and statistical methods were used to analyze their effects on island ecosystem services. Negative climate change impacts on ecosystem services are better quantified by land use change or other non-climatic driver variables than by climate variables. The synergy of land use together with climate changes is modulating the impact outcome and critical for a better impact assessment. Analyzed together, there is little evidence of more pronounced for a specific sea zone, ecosystem, or ecosystem service. Climate change impacts may be underestimated due to the use of a single climate variable deployed in most studies. Policy interventions exhibit low classification accuracy in quantifying impacts indicating insufficient efficacy or integration in the studies.
... The country is traversed by the Tropic of Cancer and is predominantly a riverine lowland floodplain with < 7 % natural forest cover (Nishat et al., 2002;Khan, 2018). The eastern boundary along the States of Assam, Tripura, and Mizoram in India, and Myanmar forms the outer rim of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot with mixed broadleaf forests (Myers et al., 2000). The southern coast is lined with mangrove forests, while central and northern Bangladesh harbor small patches of wet deciduous forests (Khan, 2018). ...
Several recent commentaries by conservationists underscore the inadequacy of scholarly investigations on the ecology and conservation of non-apex carnivores. This bias spells multi-arrayed challenges for carnivores living in anthropized landscapes. The globally Vulnerable fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) living across human-dominated South Asian wetlands exemplify this problem. Bangladesh, a densely populated, tenuous place for human-wildlife coexistence, constitutes ∼ 30 % of the fishing cat’s known distribution range. Based on systematic surveys of media reports (n = 361; 2005–2021), we implemented a novel application of predictive modeling to map fishing cat presence, and hotspots of human–fishing cat negative interactions across Bangladesh. The distribution of fishing cats was best explained by the extent of wetlands and dry-season precipitation. Negative interactions were associated with patchy mosaics of wetlands, croplands, and road networks. Around 47 % of the reported negative interactions were triggered by mere sightings of the cat and 26 % involved transactional costs. Chase-and-capture of the ‘problem’ animal ensued in > 50 % of reported cases; 26 % mentioned the use of traps or other gears. From 31 % of reports, we recorded 160 fishing cat mortality incidents, but no human fatalities. Our results show that around one-third of Bangladesh likely has breeding fishing cat populations; > 95 % of these regions are outside Protected Areas. We recommend formulating an action plan to strategize a redressal policy, enhance public perception of coexistence, and increase conservation units. We suggest applying this case study to other fishing cat range countries, or other carnivores in the Global South, where data deficiency and lack of systematic large-scale assessments often hinder conservation interventions.
... Extreme climatic events such as storms and high rainfall levels aggravate the occurrence of disasters in areas with mountainous terrain, which is characteristic of the main preserved areas of the Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil. The Atlantic Forest biome is one of the most important phytophysiognomies on the planet due to its high number of endemic species (Myers et al., 2000) and threatened with extinction. There are few large preserved areas, the largest of which are located in the coastal regions of the southern and southeastern states of Brazil. ...
Quantifying plant biomass in native forests is essential to understanding ecosystem health, primary productivity, biodiversity, and the carbon cycle, contributing to climate regulation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to establish biomass estimators and quantify biomass and carbon stocks in subtropical forests in Brazil. The study area can be considered one of the largest preserved areas of the Atlantic Forest biome, covering approximately 6,000 km 2. Two procedures were used to quantify biomass and carbon: i) for trees with less than 50 cm of dbh, equations were established using allometric data collected; ii) for trees with more than 50 cm of dbh, the equations established by Trautenmüller et al. (2021) were used. These equations were biologically consistent and were corrected for heteroscedasticity, using the WNSUR procedure. These equations were later used to estimate the biomass of everyone in an inventory of subtropical forests in the state of Paraná, Brazil. A total of 456,302.00 ha of area with vegetation cover were found, with an average biomass stock of 117.26 Mg.ha − 1. The total biomass stock for the entire area was 53,505.97 Gg, and the carbon equivalent was 92,208.63 Gg, highlighting the need to preserve this area with vegetation cover. One of the most immediate actions to mitigate the effects of climate change is to reduce deforestation, which can be the result of human activities or caused by mass movement. New studies should be carried out to assess the effects of climate extremes on carbon stocks and how these can affect the lives involved.
... Necchi et al. (2019) described two new species from northeastern India (S. assamica and S. indonepalensis). The Western Ghats, situated in southern peninsular India, is one of the eight 'hottest hotspots' for biological diversity, particularly renowned for its high levels of angiosperm endemism (Myers et al., 2000;Nayar et al., 2014). Despite extensive research on the biodiversity of the Western Ghats, exploration of algal groups, including rhodophytes, remains limited, resulting in a significant knowledge gap. ...
... Finally, we employed the validated ANN to anticipate the impact of climate change on the studied basin under near (2021-2050) and distant future periods (2071-2100) based on climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) for SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. Our findings present unique results, as the first employing the recently launched sixth-generation climate models (CMIP6) with reduced bias corrections (regional), aiding in anticipating the impacts of climate change on discharges in the Paraná basin within the Cerrado biome, one of the 25 global biodiversity hotspots Myers et al. (2000). Moreover, our study is aligned with key hydrology research topics, as Blöschl et al. (2019) outlined, by developing reliable models for flood prediction and evaluating if those flood events are accelerating due to climate change. ...
Researchers have widely applied discharge simulation using artificial neural networks (ANNs) and have gained prominence in water resources. Morphological features, watershed urbanization, and climate change influence hydrological variables. Thus, data‐driven models need to be able to identify the hydrological relationships without explicitly stating the physical processes. The main objectives of this work were (i) to evaluate an ANN Multilayer Perceptron for flood forecasting in an urban basin and its efficiency for several lead times; (ii) to evaluate discharge variation considering climate change scenarios. The study applied the methodology in a basin occupied by the Cerrado biome, with its intermediate outlet in an urban area that suffers from recurrent floods. The selection of climate change models followed from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 scenarios Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP)2‐4.5 and SSP5‐8.5 for two futures: 2021–2050 and 2071–2100, with the period of 1976–2019 as reference. The model obtained satisfactory results for the discharge prediction at the current time and for a horizon of up to 4 days. However, forecasts for longer lead times led to metrics deterioration. Furthermore, future projections suggest decreased discharges, more extreme events, and increased short return‐period floods. The developed model is valuable for short‐term forecasting and water resources management in the face of changing climates.
... Regarding bee conservation, comprehensive monitoring and data collection efforts are urgently needed to assess the status of bee populations and identify areas where conservation actions are most critical. savanna biome, a Brazilian biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al., 2000), strongly threatened by agricultural expansion (Rausch et al., 2019). In the southern brazilian states, this biome covers only 1% of Paraná at its extreme southern distribution in the country. ...
Understanding bee diversity and their relationships with plants is crucial for conserving pollination services. Here, we focused on the southern region of Brazil to: i) provide an overview of bee diversity based on fauna inventories, ii) compile studies on floral visitation in natural and agricultural systems, and iii) discuss the threats and conservation status of bee fauna, particularly through endangered species lists., we conducted a systematic review of the literature, and retrieved 138 papers. Among the 68 systematic bee inventories, most were carried out in Paraná, followed by Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Studies indicate bee richness up to 400 species at regional scale (multiple localities). Of the total visitation studies, 48 involved cultivated plants, while 22 were focused on non-cultivated species. Canola was the most researched among the 16 species of cultivated plants, appearing in nine papers, followed by soybean with eight articles. In the case of non-cultivated plants, a total of 23 plant species were studied, with Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae as the most common families. We identified a need for increased research efforts in the western regions of the Atlantic Forest, as well as in the Cerrado and Pampa biomes based on the scarcity of initiatives in these areas. There is a significant gap in our knowledge regarding the pollination of neglected crops and native plants. Regarding bee conservation, comprehensive monitoring and data collection efforts are urgently needed to assess the status of bee populations and identify areas where conservation actions are most critical.
Keywords: Apidae; Biodiversity; Hymenoptera; Ecology; Preservation
... The seven Italian GLORIA TRs are managed by five research institutions with the support of National Parks, Botanic Gardens and regional Environmental Protection Agencies (see Table 1); four of them are located in the Alps, from Valle d'Aosta to Trentino-Alto Adige, while the remaining three sites are located in the Apennines, within the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al. 2000) (Figure 1 and Table 1). Each study site consists of a group of two to four summits, characterized by similar bedrock conditions, arranged along an elevation gradient, and located in the same mountain range (see Figure 2). ...
We announce the formation of the "GLORIA ITALIA NETWORK" and present an overview of the Italian alpine plant communities changes that have occurred in the last 20 years. This network will provide coordination between Italian GLORIA sites and enhance public awareness of changes in alpine plant diversity under climate change.
... The mountains of southwestern China, which are known as "sky islands" (He and Jiang 2014), have been considered key biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al. 2000). The complex topography of the sky islands and diversified climate conditions may have led to the evolution of a unique fauna of endemic species and the emergence of new lineages (Wei et al. 2018). ...
Eozapus is a monotypic genus in the family Zapodidae, with a single species and two subspecies: Eozapus setchuanus setchuanus and Eozapus setchuanus vicinus in the mountains of southwestern China. Eozapus setchuanus is one of the oldest and rarest species. The molecular phylogenetic and evolutionary history of this species has not yet been explored because of its small size and difficulty in capturing it. In this study, we collected 51 specimens, sequenced one mitochondrial gene and two nuclear genes, and conducted morphological analyses to clarify the phylogenetic relationship and evolutionary history of this genus. Both molecular and morphological analyses supported the classification of these three species within the genus Eozapus . We describe a new species, Eozapus wanglangensis sp. nov. , and propose elevating E. s. vicinus , previously considered a subspecies of Eozapus setchuanus , to the status of an independent species. Furthermore, the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the complex topography of sky islands, and climate change promoted the speciation and diversity of the genus Eozapus .
... In West Africa, Nigerian forests ranked high for biodiversity hot spots and global significance for conservation priority (Myers et al., 2000) including Nigerian tropical rain forest . Despite establishments of forest reserves and protected areas in West Africa including Nigeria, biodiversity loss happens because of destructive human activities and climate change. ...
The Mambilla Plateau, located in Taraba State, Nigeria, is renowned for its rich biodiversity, including a vast array of medicinal and aromatic plants that are crucial for both the local ecosystem and the indigenous communities' healthcare practices. Medicinal and Aromatic plants on Mambilla Plateau provide many ecosystem services including provisional, supporting and regulation service as well as maintaining ecosystem properties. On Mambilla Plateau some plants serve both medicinal and aromatic including Clausena anisata and Zanthoxylum leprieurii. This study aims to compile a comprehensive checklist of medicinal and aromatic plant species on the Mambilla Plateau, emphasizing their botanical names, families, and traditional uses. Seventeen medicinal and aromatic plants belonging twelve families were recorded. nine families are represented by one species from each family while two families are represented by two species from each family and one family was represented by four species. Notably family Lamiaceae contains medicinal and aromatic species. By documenting these species, this paper seeks to contribute to the conservation efforts, sustainable development goals, sustainable use of medicinal and aromatic plants resources and other ecosystem services of medicinal and aromatic plants in the region.
... Tropical mountains are home to the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet (Antonelli et al., 2018;Myers et al., 2000;Rahbek et al., 2019b), a distribution largely explained by diverse modern climates (e. g., temperature and humidity (Antonelli et al., 2018)) and environmental factors (e.g., soil properties and topographic ruggedness (Antonelli et al., 2018;Flantua et al., 2019;Hoorn et al., 2013)). Recently, Coelho et al. (2023) highlighted the equally critical role of the spatial distribution of these variables-whether continuous or scattered-in determining global biodiversity patterns. ...
... Since the mid-20th century, the Cerrado ecoregion has undergone agricultural expansion (mainly cattle pastures and cash crops) leading to a loss of almost 50% of its native forest vegetation (Strassburg et al. 2017), including the wooded Cerrado. Consequently, this ecoregion is one of the 25 global biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al. 2000). ...
The Cerrado sensu stricto, so-called wooded Cerrado, is one of the many phytophysiognomies of the undisturbed Brazilian Cerrado ecoregion holding a biodiversity hotspot towards an extensive area. Thus, such land is under constant land use and cover changes mainly due to the demand for agriculture land, sector with the highest consumption of available freshwater in this ecoregion. This underscores this region's critical economic and environmental relevance. The evapotranspiration (ET) in the Brazilian Cerrado is a major player in the regional hydrological cycle, significantly influencing rainfall distribution in this ecoregion. Nonetheless, acquiring observed measurements of ET measurements using the eddy covariance (EC) technique is still challenging, especially where the flux footprint represents a heterogeneous canopy. Thus, how vegetation and spatiotemporal climate variability affect EC evapotranspiration were assessed in a preserved fragment of wooded Cerrado. Our goals were to (i) improve the water fluxes representativeness by coupling flux footprint with remote sensing products to account for spatiotem-poral variability and (ii) assess how seasonal variability of vegetation and climate affect water fluxes in this study's target vegetation. First, we determined which integration approach with enhanced vegetation index (EVI) improved the representativeness of the study's site target vegetation-either a half-hourly flux footprint integration or a fixed-extent radius surrounding the flux tower. We further conducted a random forest analysis to identify the most relevant environmental and meteorological variables influencing the canopy conductance. We noted a significant gain in performance when EVI is integrated with the half-hourly footprint, indicating an improvement in the representativeness between this remote sensing variable and the EC fluxes, evi-denced by a better energy balance closure. And we found that the most relevant variables were the vapor pressure deficit and soil water content at a seasonal and annual basis, respectively. Our findings highlight that integrating a vegetation index with flux footprint can enhance spatiotemporal representativeness of the target vegetation, contributing to a better regional understanding of not only the wooded Cerrado but also other complex and heterogeneous land covers in terms of water and energy fluxes.
... Biogeographically, Gynoxys is distributed in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela [1] in addition to being represented by a single species in northern Argentina [5], and mostly its species are distinctive elements of the cloud forests or shrubs and solitary trees of the jalcas [3]. Gynoxys stands out as one of the most diverse plant lineages in terms of number of species within the Andean region, which contributes significantly to the remarkable species diversity and high rates of endemism in the Andes, one of the areas globally recognized as biodiversity hotspots [6,7]. ...
In this research, species distribution prediction models (i.e., MaxEnt) were
applied to analyze the suitability of the ecological environment among the clades of the genus Gynoxys in Peru. Bioclimatic, edaphic, and topographic variables were integrated to predict the areas with the most significant potential for optimal development of this genus. These data were combined to generate potential distribution maps, taking into account the most relevant variables for each clade. The validation of the MaxEnt model showed an outstanding performance, reaching AUC indices above 0.9, reflecting the high accuracy of the predictions. The results reveal that the key variables influencing the selection of the clade occurrence areas are: mintempwarmest (47.70% contribution) in the Discoide clade, topowet (33.20%) in the Gynoxys clade, and monthcountbytemp10 (33.30%) in the Praegynoxys clade. The potential distribution areas of these clades were 132,594 km2 for Discoide, 168,574 km2 for Gynoxys, and 37,392 km2 for Praegynoxys. The areas with the
highest probability of presence of the genus were found in the Andean regions of northern and central Peru. However, a significant proportion of these areas were threatened by habitat fragmentation and land degradation. In terms of conservation, it was found that 32.05, 35.46, and 61.02% of the potential distribution areas of the discoid, Gynoxys, and Praegynoxys clades, respectively, are conserved, which could be a relevant factor for the preservation of this genus. These findings underscore the relevance of safeguarding key areas for conserving Gynoxys and montane ecosystems in Peru, emphasizing the need for protection strategies that guarantee the long-term sustainability of these species and their associated habitats.
... However, similar topics of interest in otolith research are less explored in tropical Southeast Asia compared to our temperate counterparts (Blackman et al. 2021) despite the high fish biodiversity found in tropical freshwater and marine ecosystems in the region. Tropical Southeast Asia, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, East Timor, and Vietnam, is known to host nine biodiversity hotspots exhibiting high occurrences of endemism due to the region's archipelagic nature (Myers et al. 2000;Hughes 2017;Kano et al. 2013). ...
Otoliths, crucial tools for understanding fish biology and ecology, offer valuable insights into fisheries science in Southeast Asia. Traditionally used for age identification through shape analysis and growth ring counting, otolith studies have evolved to encompass broader ecological investigations. This review synthesizes literature on fish otoliths in Southeast Asia to identify research gaps and suggest future directions. Utilizing targeted keywords, we mined data from scientific search engines, focusing on peer-reviewed articles. Our analysis spans 1988 to 2021 and collated 129 publications, which were trimmed to 91 reviewed scientific articles. Otolith microstructure emerged as a primary research area of interest, with a focus on catadromous fishes from the Anguillidae family. Geographically, publications are concentrated in marine fish populations across archipelagic nations such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and the Vietnam Peninsula. Practical gaps, including validation precautions and cost-benefit analyses, potentially underscore the importance of methodological rigor and innovation in otolith research, but advances in mass-based age determination techniques and radiometric analysis present promising avenues for addressing these challenges. As global otolith research expands beyond aging studies, we urge fisheries scientists to explore innovative research areas outlined here to enhance their expertise in otolith microstructure and morphometric techniques. By integrating innovative approaches and multiple validation methods, researchers can enhance the reliability and accuracy of otolith-based age determination, ultimately advancing our understanding of fish population dynamics and supporting sustainable fisheries management practices in the Southeast Asian region.
... (Piton des Neiges). Due to the high degree of endemism of its native vascular flora (24 % of single-island endemism and 40 % of archipelago-endemism) (IUCN French Committee et al., 2023) and dramatic loss in primary vegetation (over two thirds of the island) (Strasberg et al., 2005), Reunion has been included in the biodiversity hotspot 'Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands' (Myers et al., 2000). In the last few years, the number of native vascular plant species threatened with extinction has grown at a rapid rate, from 30 % in 2010 to 41 % in 2023 (although this change is also attributable to non-genuine reasons such as a different assessment method between both dates and an increasing amount of data available; IUCN French Committee et al., 2023). ...
... We conducted this study in the Reserva Ecológica Mache Chindul (REMACH), Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador, located in the Chocó biogeographic zone. The Chocó is a top biodiversity hotspot globally, with high levels of diversity, endemism, and habitat loss (Myers et al. 2000). Despite being of high conservation priority, this ecosystem is greatly understudied. ...
Habitat selection plays a fundamental role in determining community structure and species coexistence, although the role played by sexual selection in shaping settlement patterns is less well understood. Manakins (Pipridae) are a Neotropical family of lekking birds that exhibit similar behavioral ecology across species, both in terms of resource use and dependence on elaborate visual signaling for mate attraction, yet they differ in the form of their sexually selected displays and ornaments. We characterized and compared the spatial dispersion and habitat attributes of lek sites for four species of sympatric manakins in the Chocó region of northwestern Ecuador to test several hypotheses for habitat selection and lek dispersion. First, the interspecific hotspot hypothesis predicts that if males establish leks in locations where females are likely to be encountered (e.g., resource‐rich patches, topographic channels), then leks of ecologically similar species should cluster in geographic space due to shared patterns of resource use among species. Alternatively, the habitat partitioning hypothesis predicts leks of ecologically similar species to exhibit uniform spatial distributions to minimize competition for shared resources. Finally, the signal enhancement hypothesis proposes that males should establish leks in habitats with ambient light or structural properties optimal for the transmission or production of species‐specific mating signals, and thus leks of different species should segregate in environmental space. We found that leks of sympatric manakin species were randomly distributed in geographic space, inconsistent with the interspecific hotspot and habitat partitioning hypotheses. In addition, manakin species segregated in environmental space based on forest structure characteristics related to visual signaling. These findings suggest that landscape‐level lek site dispersion by sympatric manakins may be primarily influenced by sexual display optimization rather than mechanisms related to their shared ecology. Moreover, this study flags the local population of Masius chrysopterus as a potential conservation concern due to its distinct and limited elevational preferences.
... Euglossini is a taxonomically well-known and inventoried group, mainly due to the passive collection of males using aromatic baits. Therefore, over the decades, several studies and inventories were carried out along the Atlantic Forest (e.g., Peruquetti et al., 1999;Nemésio & Silveira, 2007;Ramalho et al., 2009;Mattozo et al., 2011;Nemésio, 2009Nemésio, , 2013aGiangarelli et al., 2014;Aguiar et al., 2017;Ferronato et al., 2017), summing nearly 50 species for this critically endangered biome, considered a biodiversity and endemism hotspot (Myers et al., 2000). ...
As abelhas Euglossini são um grupo-chave de polinizadores na região neotropical, e por serem relacionados às florestas tropicais são consideradas bioindicadoras do ambiente. Este trabalho objetivou investigar a comunidade de machos de abelhas das orquídeas em dois fragmentos de urbanos de Salvador (Bahia). Os dados compreendem amostras de iscas odoríferas em campanhas mensais entre Junho/18 a Maio/20. Para cada fragmento foram realizados o índice de riqueza de Shannon-Wiener (H’) e o de equabilidade de Pielou (J’). A abundância e a sazonalidade das espécies mais abundantes foram testadas com estatísticas circulares. No total, foram coletados n = 577 indivíduos e oito espécies. Euglossa cordata e Eulaema nigrita foram as espécies mais abundantes e somam juntas > 92% do total em ambas as áreas. A riqueza de euglossíneos: H’site A = 0.92 e H’site B = -0.84 e a similaridade: J’site A = 0.51 e J’site B = -0.41 foram semelhantes entre as áreas. Os resultados confirmam a ausência dos padrões de sazonalidade e de relação com as variáveis climáticas (p > 0.05). A homogeneização da composição específica dos fragmentos e a abundância de espécies indicadoras de ambientes antropizados e generalistas reacendem a discussão quanto à manutenção dos serviços ecossistêmicos dos remanescentes florestais diversos tamanhos circundados por uma matriz urbana ou periurbanas. A ocorrência de fragmentos florestais de é uma realidade nas grandes cidades que ocorrem em áreas originais do bioma Florestal Atlântico, mas podem ser importantes para a manutenção da fauna de polinizadores urbanos.
Accurate biome delineation is difficult where biomes occupy the same climatic space, as is the case for tropical dry forest and savanna. The resulting confusion limits our ability to understand and manage impacts of global change on these biomes. To address this, we developed an unsupervised, repeatable method to delineate biomes and their component functional ecosystems, based on landscape-level vegetation structure measured using remote sensing and an understanding of the ecology of the region. This approach contrasts with previous definitions, based on climate differences amongst savanna, dry forest and rain forest. Using the heterogeneous northeast Brazil, where several biomes interdigitate, as a case study, a hierarchical functional ecosystem classification is proposed that aligns with both the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (GET) and previous work. Based on fuzzy clustering of remotely sensed vegetation attributes, seven groups were found, identified as rain forest, cerrado (savanna) and five caatinga vegetation groups. These groups broadly align with the literature, for example, sedimentary and arboreal caatinga. These groups align with three 'Ecosystem Functional Groups' (EFGs) described by the IUCN GET and, additionally , suggest there is a new, fourth EFG in the region: non-pyric shrublands. Random Forest models showed soil pH was the most important environmental variable distinguishing these vegetation groups. These results suggest a remotely sensed structure-based approach is an effective method for operationalising the IUCN GET. NorthEast Brazil-where many EFGs are inter-digitated-serves as a challenging case study and, therefore , we hope our approach will have generality for other regions globally.
Bat roosts are on the decline in and around cities and towns in India. Bats are emigrating towards rural areas feeding mostly on cultivated lands and orchards for food. While feeding, bats may cause economic losses to cultivators. This has made farmers repel this group of animals. Bats play a vital role in the ecology of forests, seed dispersal, regeneration and pollination. Roosting behaviour in urban and rural areas poses different challenges for this group of animals. Bats, especially the frugivorous ones, are adapting to new situations. Conventionally, bat roosts are protected by public sentiments. Certain modern tools and techniques are provided for studying bats.
Population aspects of pit vipers, Craspedocaphalus travancoricus, Craspedocaphalus peltopelor and Hypnale hypnale, were studied in the southernmost Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India, comprising Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve and the contiguous Courtallam range, covering an area of 1000 sq km. The information gained from marked pit vipers provides the core of this study and is the main basis for conclusions regarding population size, structure, activity, home range and movements. The high population size and small home range of these ambush hunters, with abundant prey base in this area, reveal a suitable habitat in a moderately undisturbed tropical forest.
Distributed across two continents and thousands of islands, the Asian tropics are among the most species-rich areas on Earth. The origins of this diversity, however, remain poorly understood. Here, we reveal and classify contributions of individual tropical Asian regions to their overall diversity by leveraging species-level phylogenomic data and new fossils from the most species-rich Asian palm lineage, the rattans and relatives (Arecaceae, Calamoideae). Radiators (Borneo) generate and distribute diversity, incubators (Indochina, New Guinea, and Sulawesi) produce diversity in isolation, corridors (Java, Maluku, Sumatra, and the Thai-Malay Peninsula) connect neighboring regions, and accumulators (Australia, India, Palawan, and the Philippines) acquire diversity generated elsewhere. These contrasting contributions can be explained by differences in region size and isolation, elucidating how the unique island-dominated geography of the Asian tropics drives their outstanding biodiversity.
The pudu deer Pudu puda is a near-threatened mammal endemic to southern Chile and Argentina. Since this species inhabits mostly human-modified landscapes, addressing the factors that influence habitat use in such environments could aid in their conservation. We evaluated the presence of pudu deer during the spring-summer of 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 at two coastal range sites in the province of Osorno (Huellelhue Community, HC, and Los Riscos, RI) using camera traps. We applied logistic regression (LR) analysis to identify the predictor variables related to vegetation type, human perturbation, and native forest fragmentation that are correlated with the presence or absence of pudu deer as a binary response variable. In HC site, LR analysis identified the most likely top models including the fragmentation variable of the contiguity of patches (AICc = 22.73, Δi = 0.00 and wi = 0.77) with a negative effect (β = -8.573, P < 0.05). In RI locality the top model included the human perturbation variable of the distance to village (AICc = 23.37, Δi = 0.00 and wi = 0.71) with a positive effect (β = 1.805, P < 0.05). Both models accounted for a medium amount of the total variance in the response variable (Nagelkerke R2 = 51–52%). Results suggest that habitat use by pudu deer is affected by human perturbation and native forest fragmentation. Our findings indicate that maintaining a more continuous native forest or areas of native forest located far from human settlements could represent an important strategy for improving the long-term survival of the species.
Brazil's Cerrado, a biodiversity‐rich biome, has faced significant exploitation and degradation. Restoration projects aim to revive native plant communities, highlighting Eremanthus incanus , an endangered pioneering tree vital for colonizing disturbed Campo Rupestre areas but threatened by commercial use. Our objective was to evaluate the efficiency of different exotic grass control methods to promote the natural regeneration of E. incanus in a Cerrado. The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block design ( n = 3). The treatments were crowning the seedlings with herbicide, crowning the seedlings with a coastal brush cutter, and control with herbicide in the total area, crowning the seedlings with a hoe. These forms of control were combined with maintaining or removing straw and fertilizing or not fertilizing the seedlings. Additionally, we had a control treatment without interventions and another with fertilization of seedlings. At 15 months after the application of the procedures, we evaluated the percentage of ingress, survival, increment in height, and diameter at ground height (DGH) of E. incanus individuals. Straw removal treatments promoted a higher percentage of individual entry, regardless of the form of control used. Fertilization had no effect on E. incanus survival in straw removal plots. Weeding with a brush cutter enhanced seedling height and DGH, while herbicide application and crowning with a hoe, combined with straw removal, effectively controlled invasive grasses and improved E. incanus establishment and survival. Control and management of invasive grasses improve the biological conditions of the sites and facilitate the establishment and growth of E. incanus seedlings.
The zoning of protected areas reduces the environmental impacts caused by the recreational use of such locations. Thus, this study aims to develop a predictive model of environmental fragility to support ecotourism planning. A Geographic Information System were used to produce thematic maps of the slope, soil type, precipitation, flow accumulation, and land cover, which were then overlaid to generate the environmental fragility map. The results showed that 73.6% of the Serra Negra da Mantiqueira State Park and 72.7% of the Serra Negra Private Reserve lie within the moderate fragility class, followed by the high (19.3% and 18.6%), very high (5.5% and 6.4%), and low (1.7% and 2.3%) fragility classes, respectively. The long-distance trail that follows the crest of the Serra Negra traverses the territory of the park and the private reserve, showing predominantly moderate (47.5%) to high (41.5%) fragility. The resulting cartographic product allows the definition of new trails, reducing the environmental fragility of the routes, and can be replicated in other protected areas.
This research breaks new ground by showing that, contrary to generally accepted key role of re in shaping plant communities, herbivores shaped both landscape heterogeneity and re-prone habitats in the Mediterranean area. The interconnected roles of re and herbivores predisposed habitat resilience, highlighting the need to integrate grazing for re risk mitigation and biodiversity conservation. The recent decline in pastoralism coincides with the expansion of highly ammable vegetation, exacerbating re risks under current climate conditions. These insights advocate for conservation strategies that balance re management and sustainable herbivory to preserve Mediterranean biodiversity in the face of increasing anthropogenic and climatic pressures.
[Objectives] The Irrawaddy River is one of the major rivers in Indochina Peninsula and the largest river in Myanmar. Its tributaries in China, the Longchuanjiang-Ruilijiang River, Dayingjiang River, Dulongjiang River and Mengnaihe River are rich in fish diversity, with a total of 84 fish species recorded. Due to insufficient sampling and diverse river habitats, there are still species that have not been discovered, described or documented from the basin. Several fish surveys, conducted during from 2021 to 2024 into Gaoligong Mountain (in the Irrawaddy River basin) of Baoshan City and Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, found four newly recorded species of freshwater fish: Triplophysa nujiangensa, Homatula pycnolepis, Psilorhynchus olliei and Glyptothorax longinema (Fig. 1). [Methods] In this study, the collected specimens were identified and morphological characteristics were described with reference to research literatures of Triplophysa, Homatula, Psilorhynchus and Glyptothorax. Based on COI gene fragments, Bayesian inference tree was constructed by Phylosuite 1.2.2. All new sequences in this study have been uploaded to NCBI GenBank, and other sequences were obtained from NCBI GenBank database (Table 1). [Results] In this article, the four newly recorded species are described, morphological photos (Fig. 2, Fig. 4﹣7), morphological (Table 2﹣5) data for identification and phylogenetic tree (Fig. 3, Fig. 8) are also provided. Based on morphological and molecular evidences, the specimens in this study are identified as T. nujiangensa, H. pycnolepis, P. olliei and G. longinema. [Conclusion] The first two species are the first records of two genera Triplophysa and Homatula in the Irrawaddy River Basin. The third species represents an extended distribution of the Psilorhynchidae in China outside the Yarlung Zangbo River basin in Xizang. The last species, so far known from the Nujiang and Lancang River, is the first record in Irrawaddy River basin. This study provides basic data for species identification of fishes in the Irrawaddy River basin of China, and a scientific basis for the investigation and conservation of fish resources in the Gaoligong Mountain area.
Octocorals are sessile invertebrates that play a key role in marine habitats, with significant diversity in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, especially in Ecuador’s shallow waters. This study focuses on the most representative octocorals within the Marine Protected Area El Pelado, Santa Elena, Ecuador, as a part of a marine biodiscovery project employing an integrative approach. While molecular techniques have advanced, challenges persist in distinguishing closely related species. Octocorals produce a wide range of compounds, characterized by unique chemical structures and diverse biological properties. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the potential of metabolomics and advanced analytical techniques to analyze the metabolome of these organisms, aiming to refine species classification and improve understanding of octocoral systematics in this region. Untargeted metabolomics effectively discriminates 12 octocoral species across five genera: Muricea, Leptogorgia, Pacifigorgia, Psammogorgia , and Heterogorgia , with notable differentiation between species within the genus Muricea , reinforcing its utility as an additional data set for species characterization. Secondary metabolites such as sterols, steroids, and terpenes (furanocembranolides and sesquiterpenes), were identified in Leptogorgia and Muricea . Overall, this method enabled the identification of 11 known species and a potentially new one, Leptogorgia cf. alba , confirming the extreme diversity of this group in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and within the Ecuadorian marine ecosystem. The study highlights the value of metabolomics in octocoral systematics and encourages for its broader application in marine biodiversity research.
The Pan‐Himalaya, known as the “Roof of the World”, forms a natural geographic unit covering the entire range of the Himalaya and the Hengduan Mountains in addition to Karakorum and the northeastern extreme of Hindu Kush. The region possesses three biodiversity hotspots and harbors a rich and distinctive flora. Here, we review the history of plant diversity surveys and monographic studies in the region. The contributions of outstanding collectors of Pan‐Himalaya are also reviewed, as well as the ongoing international project on the Flora of Pan‐Himalaya (FPH). As the main concern of the present review, we showed that the development of botanic survey is uneven among different areas in the Pan‐Himalaya region, and that a special concern should be given to northern Myanmar and Yarlung Zangbo–Brahmaputra.
The tropical Andes face unprecedented warming and shifting precipitation patterns due to climate change and land‐use alteration, challenging the future of Andean forests. During the Quaternary, many Andean trees responded to climate change through upslope migrations but, while there is evidence of such ongoing migrations in many species, they are at rates far below what is needed to remain in equilibrium with the current climate. Similarly, given the number of generations required for adaptation and the long lifespans of many tropical trees, it is unlikely that most species will be able to adapt fast enough. This synthesis explores the role of migration‐induced secondary contact and hybridisation as potential mechanisms for accelerating the adaptive response of Andean forests. Hybridisation, historically underappreciated in tropical trees, is increasingly recognised as an important driver of speciation and ecological diversity. It may facilitate gene flow and introgression, providing novel genetic combinations that enhance species resilience to climate change. This process can generate new allelic diversity, allowing species to adapt more rapidly than through mutation or selection on standing variation alone. However, hybridisation can also lead to negative outcomes like genetic swamping and outbreeding depression. Conservation strategies should consider the potential benefits and risks of hybridisation in maintaining biodiversity under changing environmental conditions. As habitat fragmentation and deforestation exacerbate the challenges faced by these forests, preserving habitat connectivity will be crucial to facilitate migration and gene flow, potentially aiding the survival of many Andean tree species in the Anthropocene.
Aims
Cold environments, such as polar systems, are highly vulnerable to global change drivers such as climate change and invasive species. Therefore, it is essential to assess what drives the diversity of native and invasive species in these systems.
Location
We investigated what drives native and alien plant species richness on sub‐Antarctic Marion Island and determined the scale‐dependence of these drivers.
Methods
Native and alien plant species richness was surveyed at “small” (1 m ² ) and “large” (9 m ² ) sampling grains. Difference in richness between the two sampling grains was calculated to assess how local turnover contributes to species assemblage. The factors driving richness at both grains, and the differences in richness between the two grains, were analysed using simultaneous auto‐regressive models. Drivers related to energy and environmental heterogeneity were correlated with native richness, whilst drivers related to productivity were related to alien richness.
Results
Biotic interactions with a cushion plant facilitated native richness, but restricted alien richness at low elevations. Further, some drivers of richness depended on spatial grain. Native richness was positively related to northness at large, but not small grain size, suggesting that higher northness increases local turnover at a grain size > 1 m ² . On the other hand, topographical wetness index (TWI) boosted native richness at small but not large grains, implying that competition for water limits coexistence at low TWI (i.e., low moisture availability) only at small grain. Differences in native species richness between large and small grain sizes were more pronounced at low elevations, suggesting higher compositional heterogeneity at low altitudes.
Conclusions
Our study highlights that drivers of plant species richness in a polar ecosystem differ between native and alien plant species. Additionally, the effects of some drivers on richness differ between sampling grains, and considering these differences provides insight into drivers of local patterns of species assemblage.
Conservation and research of highly diverse plant taxa can be a considerable challenge due to unmanageable numbers of species with potentially complex relationships often resulting in difficulties in species identification. Cyrtandra , the largest genus of the family Gesneriaceae, exemplifies these challenges. The lack of identification resources for the ca. 170 species of Bornean Cyrtandra has left many specimens unidentified, slowing down the research efforts in the area. This project addresses this by constructing the first taxonomic key to all Bornean Cyrtandra and by describing the workflow of creating identification resources for highly diverse taxa, using the online biodiversity data management platform Xper3 (https://app.xper3.fr/). The key is now published and freely accessible online. Online multi-access taxonomic keys provide a promising tool for biodiversity research by combining an accessible user-friendly platform with dynamic tools for taxonomic research, making them particularly well suited for tackling highly diverse taxonomic groups.
As temáticas “uso e cobertura do solo” e “temperaturas” são constantemente discutidas, em decorrência da intensa pressão que as atividades antrópicas imprimem ao redor do planeta. Assim, o presente manuscrito investiga o comportamento dessas variáveis, dentro do intervalo temporal que compreende os anos de 1990 a 2020, e analisa a sua correlação direta, no âmbito do Município de Cajazeiras, zona semiárida do Estado da Paraíba, cuja vegetação nativa é a Caatinga, a qual tem ocorrência endêmica no Brasil. Os dados utilizados são provenientes: do projeto MapBiomas e de trabalhos de campo - para uso e cobertura do solo -; das estações meteorológicas do INMET e dos arquivos do projeto TerraClimate - para temperaturas máximas, médias e mínimas do ar -; e, de imagens dos sensores dos satélites das missões LANDSAT 5 e LANDSAT 8 - para as temperaturas de superfície. As principais técnicas estatísticas empregadas foram os testes de Shapiro-Wilk, de Mann-Kendall e o Coeficiente de Correlação de Spearman. Os resultados indicaram que, no período analisado: houve modificação perceptível da cobertura do solo em Cajazeiras, mediante uma expressiva diminuição das áreas de vegetação natural, com o incremento da zona urbana e, sobretudo, o aumento das parcelas destinadas à utilização agropecuária; que ocorreu variação positiva para a elevação das temperaturas do ar; e, que existe correlação, com significância estatística, entre os tipos de uso e cobertura do solo e as temperaturas do ar e de superfície. Com isso, o trabalho chama atenção para a complexa relação existente entre as interfaces “condição natural” versus “atividades humanas” no tocante às mudanças climáticas, especificamente no campo da regulação térmica do meio ambiente, em área de ocorrência da vegetação de Caatinga. Esses resultados servem de subsídio para que haja uma melhor tomada de decisões, por parte da sociedade, no que concerne à maneira como se ocupa e se modifica a superfície terrestre, sobretudo em zonas semiáridas.
Understanding the capacity of forests to adapt to climate change is of pivotal importance for conservation science, yet this is still widely unknown. This knowledge gap is particularly acute in high-biodiversity tropical forests. Here, we examined how tropical forests of the Americas have shifted community trait composition in recent decades as a response to changes in climate. Based on historical trait-climate relationships, we found that, overall, the studied functional traits show shifts of less than 8% of what would be expected given the observed changes in climate. However, the recruit assemblage shows shifts of 21% relative to climate change expectation. The most diverse forests on Earth are changing in functional trait composition but at a rate that is fundamentally insufficient to track climate change.
Recent fieldwork of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in many parts of the tropics reveals the extent to which they are still undercollected and poorly studied. Recent studies of palms in Madagascar, Cameroon, Lao P.D.R., and Brunei Darussalam have produced many novelties, for example, in Madagascar, 3 new genera and 85 new species. Recent examples from Atlantic coastal Brazil, central Amazonia, and New Guinea are given. Even in apparently well collected areas such as the Ducke Forest Reserve near Manaus, Brazil, and in Brunei where detailed studies of small areas are made, many novelties are found. It is recommended that more such intensive studies of restricted areas are made. The rate of new species that are being described, an average of 2350 over the past nine years, and the rate of additions to Flora Neotropica suggest that the total number of angiosperms is currently being underestimated and that there are in fact between 300,000 and 320,000 species. In order to develop conservation and sustainable use of tropical ecosystems, it is essential that we continue to intensify the rate of collection before it is too late.
HABITAT destruction is the major cause of species extinctions13. Dominant species often are considered to be free of this threat because they are abundant in the undisturbed fragments that remain after destruction. Here we describe a model that explains multispecies coexistence in patchy habitats4 and which predicts that their abundance may be fleeting. Even moderate habitat destruction is predicted to cause time-delayed but deterministic extinction of the dominant competitor in remnant patches. Further species are predicted to become extinct, in order from the best to the poorest competitors, as habitat destruction increases. More-over, the more fragmented a habitat already is, the greater is the number of extinctions caused by added destruction. Because such extinctions occur generations after fragmentation, they represent a debta future ecological cost of current habitat destruction.
Tropical forests are becoming increasingly fragmented, threatening the survival of the species that depend on them. Small, isolated forest fragments will lose some of their original species. What is uncertain is how long this process of faunal relaxation will take. We compiled data on birds in five tropical forest fragments in Kakamega Forest, Kenya, of known date of isolation. We then predicted the original and eventual species richness of these fragments and, from this difference, the eventual species losses. Expressing the losses to date as a fraction of eventual losses suggests that faunal relaxation approximates an exponential decay with a half-life of approximately 50 years for fragments of roughly 1000 ha. In other words, in the first 50 years after isolation, tropical forest fragments of this size suffer half of the total number of extinctions that they are likely to experience. This result sets the time scale over which humanity must take conservation action in fragmented tropical forests, may aid efforts to set priorities, and indicates how high the future global extinction rate will be.
Island biogeography theory predicts that species will be lost on habitat “islands” created by the fragmentation of continental regions. Many Tanzanian parks are rapidly becoming habitat islands as a result of human settlement, agricultural development, and the active elimination of wildlife on adjacent lands. The rate of extinction of mammals in six Tanzanian parks over the last 35–83 years is significantly and inversely related to park area, suggesting that increasing insularization of the parks has been an important contributory factor in large mammal extinctions. I compared observed patterns of persistence of mammals in Tanzanian parks to predictions derived from earlier extinction models. The predictions of the S¹ models of Soulé et al. (1979) and Burkey (1994) and the S² and S³ models of Soulé et al. (1979) match very closely the observed pattern of persistence of mammals in Tanzanian parks. The loss of mammal species will probably continue, particularly in the smaller parks. Establishment of wildlife corridors linking the parks in northern Tanzania could help to reduce the potential loss of species in the future.
Hotspots of biodiversity—areas particularly rich in species, rare species, threatened species, or some combination of these attributes—are increasingly being delineated to help set priorities for conservation. Only recently have we begun to test key assumptions that determine how useful a hotspot approach can be for conservation planning. The evidence suggests that although at large geographic scales hotspots do provide useful information for conservation planning, at smaller scales their value may be more limited.
Maps of large-scale biodiversity are urgently needed to guide conservation, and yet complete enumeration of organisms is impractical at present. One indirect approach is to measure richness at higher taxonomic ranks, such as families. The difficulty is how to combine information from different groups on numbers of higher taxa, when these taxa may in effect have been defined in different ways, particularly for more distantly related major groups. In this paper, the regional family richness of terrestrial and freshwater seed plants, amphibians, reptiles and mammals is mapped worldwide by combining: (i) absolute family richness; (ii) proportional family richness; and (iii) proportional family richness weighted for the total species richness in each major group. The assumptions of the three methods and their effects on the results are discussed, although for these data the broad pattern is surprisingly robust with respect to the method of combination. Scores from each of the methods of combining families are used to rank the top five richness hotspots and complementary areas, and hotspots of endemism are mapped by unweighted combination of range-size rarity scores.
Geographic distribution data for endangered species in the United States were used to locate "hot spots" of threatened biodiversity. The hot spots for different species groups rarely overlap, except where anthropogenic activities reduce natural habitat in centers of endemism. Conserving endangered plant species maximizes the incidental protection of all other species groups. The presence of endangered birds and herptiles, however, provides a more sensitive indication of overall endangered biodiversity within any region. The amount of land that needs to be managed to protect currently endangered and threatened species in the United States is a relatively small proportion of the land mass.
Claims that there will be a massive loss of species as tropical forests are cleared are based on the relationship between habitat area and the number of species. Few studies calibrate extinction with habitat reduction. Critics raise doubts about this calibration, noting that there has been extensive clearing of the eastern North American forest, yet only 4 of its approximately 200 bird species have gone extinct. We analyze the distribution of bird species and the timing and extent of forest loss. The forest losses were not concurrent across the region. Based on the maximum extent of forest losses, our calculations predict fewer extinctions than the number observed. At most, there are 28 species of birds restricted to the region. Only these species would be at risk even if all the forests were cleared. Far from providing comfort to those who argue that the current rapid rate of tropical deforestation might cause fewer extinctions than often claimed, our results suggest that the losses may be worse. In contrast to eastern North America, small regions of tropical forest often hold hundreds of endemic bird species.
Recent extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times their pre-human levels in well-known, but taxonomically diverse groups from widely different environments. If all species currently deemed "threatened" become extinct in the next century, then future extinction rates will be 10 times recent rates. Some threatened species will survive the century, but many species not now threatened will succumb. Regions rich in species found only within them (endemics) dominate the global patterns of extinction. Although new technology provides details of habitat losses, estimates of future extinctions are hampered by our limited knowledge of which areas are rich in endemics.
Global Biodiversity is the most comprehensive compendium of conservation information ever published. It provides the first systematic report on the status, distribution, management, and utilisation of the planet's biological wealth.
The volume is broadly split into two main sections. The firsts consists of seven introductory chapters: biodiversity and priority setting; identifying endemic bird areas; global analyses; the prioritization of endemic brid areas; the conservation relevance of endemic bird areas; endemic bird areas as targets for conservation action; and regional introductions. The second, and larger part of the text looks at the endemic bird areas in detail. The section is split into six subsections, by region: North and Central America; Africa, Europe and the Middle East; continental Asia; SE Asian Islands, New Guinea and Australia; and the Pacific Islands. Within each regional subsection the endemic areas are detailed, providing information on : general characteristics; restricted-range species; threats and conservation; and location maps.
The world’s tropical forests are being cleared rapidly, and ecologists claim this is causing a massive loss of species. This claim has its critics. Can we predict extinctions from the extent of deforestation? We mapped the percentage of deforestation on the islands of the Philippines and Indonesia and counted the number of bird species found only on these islands. We then used the species-area relationship to calculate the number of species predicted to become globally extinct following deforestation on these islands. Next, we counted the numbers of insular southeast Asian endemic bird species considered threatened—i.e., those having “a high probability of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future”—in the latest summary Red Data Book. The numbers of extinctions predicted from deforestation and the numbers of species actually threatened are strikingly similar. This suggests we can estimate the size of the extinction crisis in once-forested regions from the extent of deforestation. The numbers of extinctions will be large. Without rapid and effective conservation, many of the species endemic to insular southeast Asia will soon be lost.
This paper evaluates the proposition that rates of population and species extinction can be assessed by using an indirect measure: total consumption of energy (industrial plus traditional) by man. This proposition rests on three assumptions. First, the rate of extinction is proportional to the rate of habitat destruction because most organisms are adapted to rather limited environments. Second, the rate of habitat destruction is correlated with the scale of human enterprise: the product of the number of people, average consumption, and the environmental damage done by the technologies used to supply each unit of consumption. Third, average energy can be used as a surrogate for the latter two factors, consumption × technology. Total energy use is therefore an indicator of trends in extinction rates, and thus could be used to estimate the rates themselves. I examine these premises and conclude that they are sufficiently well supported for biologists to use total energy consumption as an index of global extinction rates. That index, however, is not useful politically because the assumptions upon which it is based are not understood by decision makers and the general public.
Biodiversity conservation requires efficient methods for choosing priority areas for in situ conservation management. We compared three quantitative methods for choosing 5% (an arbitrary figure) of all the 10 × 10 km grid cells in Britain to represent the diversity of breeding birds: (1) hotspots of richness, which selects the areas richest in species; (2) hotspots of range-size rarity (narrow endemism), which selects areas richest in those species with the most restricted ranges; and (3) sets of complementary areas, which selects areas with the greatest combined species richness. Our results show that richness hotspots contained the highest number of species-in-grid-cell records (with many representations of the more widespread species), whereas the method of complementary areas obtained the lowest number. However, whereas richness hotspots included representation of 89% of British species of breeding birds, and rarity hotspots included 98%, the areas chosen using complementarity represented all the species, where possible, at least six times over. The method of complementary areas was also well suited to supplementing the existing conservation network. For example, starting with grid cells with over 50% area cover by existing “Sites of Special Scientific Interest,” we searched for a set of areas that could complete the representation of all the most threatened birds in Britain, the Red Data species. The method of complementary areas distinguishes between irreplaceable and flexible areas, which helps planners by providing alternatives for negotiation. This method can also show which particular species justify the choice of each area. Yet the complementary areas method will not be fully able to select the best areas for conservation management until we achieve integration of some of the more important factors affecting viability, threat, and cost.
A definition of biodiversity is adopted that takes account not only of numbers of species, but also of the degrees of difference among them. The most appropriate measure of species differences is likely to be made in terms of genealogical relationships, as embodied in taxonomic classifications. Five new measures of taxonomic diversity are compared with existing measures of species richness and taxonomic root weighting for prioritising areas for the conservation of biodiversity, using as an example some data for 43 bumble bee species of the sibiricus-group. Although certain of the new measures can be shown to perform better than any existing methods, more extensive trials are needed, and further refinements can be anticipated. We conclude that combining species richness with taxonomic diversity to give a single measure inevitably involves compromise, as either component could be maximised in its own right. Nonetheless, the new prioritisation methods are already capable of giving practical results.
1. A review of the literature shows that in nearly all cases tropical rain forest fragmentation has led to a local loss of species. Isolated fragments suffer reductions in species richness with time after excision from continuous forest, and small fragments often have fewer species recorded for the same effort of observation than large fragments or areas of continuous forest. 2. Birds have been the most frequently studied taxonomic group with respect to the effects of tropical forest fragmentation. 3. The mechanisms of fragmentation-related extinction include the deleterious effects of human disturbance during and after deforestation, the reduction of population sizes, the reduction of immigration rates, forest edge effects, changes in community structure (second- and higher-order effects) and the immigration of exotic species. 4. The relative importance of these mechanisms remains obscure. 5. Animals that are large, sparsely or patchily distributed, or very specialized and intolerant of the vegetation surrounding fragments, are particularly prone to local extinction. 6. The large number of indigenous species that are very sparsely distributed and intolerant of conditions outside the forest make evergreen tropical rain forest particularly susceptible to species loss through fragmentation. 7. Much more research is needed to study what is probably the major threat to global biodiversity.
Using a stochastic exponential model of population growth based on the
Wiener-drift process, the most likely times to, and probabilities of,
regional extinction were estimated for 35 rare breeding bird species in
the United Kingdom. A quarter of these species were predicted to have
probabilities of extinction equal to 1, and a further third
probabilities of greater than 0.1. The most likely time to attaining the
threshold of a single individual was 50 years or less for both groups
and often much shorter. Although there was also support for some
acknowledged conservation success stories (e.g. osprey, avocet), overall
these results suggest a poor prognosis for many species and a challenge
to conservation agencies.
Many government subsidies serve useful purposes, but others adversely affect the economy and the environment. A forthcoming report suggests that governments could profit from scrapping such `perverse' subsidies.
SPECIES conservation in situ requires networks of protected areas selected for high conservation interest13. Throughout most of the world, however, there are neither the resources nor the time to carry out detailed inventories for most taxa2,4 before designating protected areas. Site selection (on grounds other than availability) would be easier and more effective if two things were true: (1) habitats that are species-rich for one taxon are also species-rich for others5; and (2) rare1 species occur in, and therefore benefit from the conservation of, species-rich habitats. Diversity (usually, species richness) and the presence of rare species are the most frequently cited criteria for site selection by conservationists68. Here, we use data on British plants and animals held by the Biological Records Centre (BRC)9 and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), mapped on a grid of 10 km × 10 km ('10 km squares') to examine the extent to which species-rich areas for different taxa coincide, and whether species-rich areas contain substantial numbers of rare species. The fine scale and high intensity of recording in Britain produces distributional datasets at least as good as and, in most cases, better than those available elsewhere. For Britain at least, we do not find strong support for either proposition. Species-rich areas ('hotspots'10) frequently do not coincide for different taxa, and many rare species do not occur in the most species-rich squares.
The following is an overview of the June 1998 Issues in International Conservation, which was inadvertently omitted from that issue. The editorial staff regrets this oversight.
Over the last three decades a great deal of research, money, and effort have been put into the development of theory and techniques designed to make conservation more efficient. Much of the recent emphasis has been on methods to identify areas of high conservation interest and to design efficient networks of nature reserves. Reserve selection algorithms, gap analysis, and other computerized approaches have much potential to transform conservation planning, yet these methods are used only infrequently by those charged with managing landscapes. We briefly describe different approaches to identifying potentially valuable areas and methods for reserve selection and then discuss the reasons they remain largely unused by conservationists and land-use planners. Our informal discussions with ecologists, conservationists, and land managers from Europe and the United States suggested that the main reason for the low level of adoption of these sophisticated tools is simply that land managers have been unaware of them. Where this has been the case, low levels of funding, lack of understanding about the purpose of these tools, and general antipathy toward what is seen as a prescriptive approach to conservation all play a part. We recognize there is no simple solution but call for a closer dialogue between theoreticians and practitioners in conservation biology. The two communities night be brought into closer contact in numerous ways, including carefully targeted publication of research and Internet communication. However it is done, we feel that the needs of land managers need to be catered to by those engaged in conservation research and that managers need to be more aware of what science can contribute to practical conservation.
Populations that have survived extensive habitat loss may still face extinction owing to a time lag between initial habitat loss and eventual population collapse. Using island biogeography theory, I investigated the potential existence and magnitude of such “extinction debts” among African forest primates as a result of historical deforestation. Forest primate species exhibited a classic species-area relationship ( S = cAz) with forest habitat across African countries. I conducted three tests based on the species-area relationship that indicate extinction debts are likely to exist in African forest primates; in particular, several national extinctions should have already occurred solely as a result of forest loss in the last 50 years (if extinctions occurred simultaneously with habitat loss), but none of these extinctions have yet taken place. I also used the species-area relationship to predict the number of species that make up the total debt accumulated since deforestation began in these countries. My results suggest that in most countries the debt currently consists of over 30% of the forest primate fauna, which usually constitutes between four and eight species. These figures are likely to be accurate because the same model predicts with a reasonable degree of precision (1) the severity of threat of extinction from deforestation faced by country endemics, (2) the distribution of regional community endemics threatened by deforestation, and (3) the total number of African species threatened by deforestation (according to the 1996 IUCN Red List). My findings indicate that although protected areas are an essential part of conservation, the protection of the remaining forest alone may not be enough to prevent extinctions caused by habitat loss.
The survival outlook for biodiversity is being profoundly and adversely influenced by the twin phenomena of discontinuities and synergisms. So potent are their impacts that they may well cause the mass extinction to overtake us more swiftly and extensively than is often expected. Despite their importance, however, we know all too little about these phenomena. They remain almost entirely a black hole of research. This paper, being an introduction to the special issue, presents a short selection of both phenomena, with an evaluation of their impacts on biodiversity. It concludes with an overview of the human enterprise and its probable future repercussions for biodiversity.
Politicians and scientists alike now agree that a priority list of global centres for preservationof biological diversity is required. Diversity has generally been measured only in terms of species richness, or in the form of indices combining richness with abundance. Such measures are considered inadequate for the task in hand. A novel index, based on the information content of cladistic classifications and giving a measure of taxonomic distinctness, is introduced. This taxic diversity measure, when coupled with detailed knowledge of distribution, can be used in modified analyses of the type previously developed as ‘critical faunas analysis’ or ‘network analysis’. Central to all such analyses is the concept of complementarity of floras or faunas. By employing complementariry, step-wise procedures can identify optimally efficient, single-site sequences of priority areas for a group, taking existing reserves into account or not, as required. For practical planning it is concluded that two basic rounds of analysis are required: first, recognition of global priority areas by taxic diversity techniques; secondly, within any such area, analysis without taxic weighting (as being developed by Margules and his co-workers) to identify a network of reserves to contain all local taxa and ecosystems. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some immediate prospects for development of a systematic approach to global conservation evaluation.
1. How do insect and plant species numbers change with respect to one another at a regional scale? Evidence for three higher insect taxa suggest that the patterns may vary substantially from one group to another. 2. Estimates of the total numbers of insect species in different countries suggest that overall there may be a tendency for ratios of insect-to-plant species to be low when plant richness per unit area is high. Regional insect-to-plant ratios are very variable. 3. For particular higher insect taxa global ratios of insect-to-plant species fall within the range of regional ratios, suggesting that regional ratios of all insects to plants may provide a means of estimating the global number of insect species.
In identifying priorities for conservation action, it is critically important to assess how much current conservation initiatives are targeted toward key sites for biodiversity. Such analyses are greatly hampered, however, by lack of information about biological richness and existing conservation effort. We tried to address this problem by using data on one well-known indicator group and by focusing solely on an international scale, which is the only level at which global information on certain aspects of conservation effort is so far available. Building on the results of a project that mapped the distribution of all bird species with breeding ranges of less than 50,000 km2, we found that the number of these restricted-range birds in tropical countries was a useful predictor of national levels of endemism and, to a lesser extent, species richness and threat in other animal and plant groups. The relationships usually persisted after removing the effects of country area, confirming the utility of restricted-range birds as biodiversity indicators. When we then compared national scores for restricted-range bird species with measures of current conservation effort, we found that the extent of both protected areas and foreign funding for biodiversity conservation and research increased with this index of a country’s biological value. Thus, conservation efforts are generally greater in tropical countries with large numbers of restricted-range birds. These results should be interpreted cautiously. When we controlled for area effects, although mean biodiversity spending per unit area of a country increased with area-adjusted importance for restricted-range birds, the percentage of a country covered by protected areas did not increase. Moreover, our indices of effort and biological richness are clearly limited in scope, quality, and resolution. Most important, the relationships between overall current effort and biological value are weak, and there are many ornithologically rich countries that receive relatively little conservation attention. These nations are in many cases important priorities for additional conservation action.
Con la finalidad de identificar prioridades para la acción conservacionista, resulta crítica la determinación de la cantidad de iniciativas conservacionistas actuales que se centran en sitios claves para la biodiversidad. Este análisis se enfrenta a grandes impedimentos debido a la falta de información sobre la riqueza biológica y los esfuerzos conservacionistas existentes. En el presente estudio, tratamos de considerar este problema, utilizando datos de un grupo indicador bien conocido y concentrándonos solamente a escala internacional, ya que es el único nivel al cuál la información global de ciertos aspectos de los esfuerzos conservacionistas se encuentra disponible. Trabajando con los resultados de un proyecto dedicado a mapear la distribución de todas las especies de aves con rangos de cría menores a 50,000 km2, encontramos que el número de estas aves con un área de distribución restringida en países tropicales, fue un predictor útil del endemismo a nivel nacional y en menor grado, de la riqueza de especies y del grado de amenaza en otros grupos de animales y plantas. En general, la relación persistió después de haber extraído los efectos del área del país, lo que confirma la utilidad de las especies de aves con áreas de distribución restringidas como indicadores de la biodiversidad. Luego, cuando comparamos los resultados nacionales de las especies de aves con áreas de distribución restringidas, con las medidas de los esfuerzos actuales de conservación, encontramos que la extension de las áreas protegidas y aquellas destinadas a la conservación y a la investigación de la biodiversidad con fondas económicos foráneos, incrementaron con este índice del valor biológico del país. Por consiguiente, los esfuerzos de conservación son generalmente mayores en países tropicales, con un gran número de especies de aves y con un área de distribución restringida. Estos resultados deben ser interpretados con precaución. Cuando controlamos los efectos del área, encontramos que si bien el gasto promedio en biodiversidad por unidad de área de un país aumentó, con su importancia para las aves con áreas de distribución restringida, el porcentaje de un país cubierto por áreas protegidas no aumentó. Más aún, nuestros índices de esfuerzo y riqueza biológica están claramente limitados en alcance, calidad y resolución. De mayor importancia aún, resulta la debilidad de la relación entre el esfuerzo total actual y el valor biológico y existen muchos países ricos desde un punto de vista ornitológico que, sin embargo, reciben relativamente poca atención a nivel de conservación. Estas naciones constituyen en muchos casos importantes prioridades para una acción conservacionista adicional.
The intention and practice of conservation reserve selection are different. A major reason for systems of reserves is to sustain biological diversity. This involves protecting examples of as many natural features, e.g. species, communities or environments, as possible. In reality, however, new reserves have rarely been dedicated for their representation of features. Furthermore, the opportunism that has characterized the development of reserve systems can actually jeopardize the representation of all features in reserves through the inefficient allocation of limited resources. More systematic approaches are essential if reserves are to play their role in protecting biodiversity. Some basic principles for conservation planning are emerging from recent systematic procedures for reserve selection. These principles will help to link intention and practice.
The phylogeny of the Phytophaga, the largest and oldest radiation of herbivorous beetles, was reconstructed from 115 complete DNA sequences for the 18S nuclear ribosomal subunit and from 212 morphological characters. The results of these analyses were used to interpret the role of angiosperms in beetle diversification. Jurassic fossils represent basal lineages that are still associated with conifers and cycads. Repeated origins of angiosperm-feeding beetle lineages are associated with enhanced rates of beetle diversification, indicating a series of adaptive radiations. Collectively, these radiations represent nearly half of the species in the order Coleoptera and a similar proportion of herbivorous insect species.
This paper aims to throw light on the mass extinction that is overtaking Earth's species. Using an analytic methodology developed for an earlier partial assessment, it focuses on a series of "hotspot" areas, these being areas that a) feature exceptional concentrations of species with high levels of endemism and b) face exceptional threats of destruction. The paper identifies another 8 such areas, 4 of them in tropical forests and 4 in Mediterranean-type zones. The analysis reveals that the 4 tropical-forest areas contain at least 2835 endemic plant species in 18,700 sq. km, or 1.1% of Earth's plant species in 0.013% of Earth's land surface; and that the 4 Mediterranean-type areas contain 12,720 endemic plant species in 435,700 sq. km, or 5.1% of Earth's plant species in 0.3% of the Earth's land surface. Taken together, these 8 hotspot areas contain 15,555 endemic plant species in 454,400 sq. km, or 6.2% of Earth's plant species in 0.3% of Earth's land surface. This is to be compared with the earlier hotspot analysis of 10 tropical-forest areas, with 34,400 endemic plant species in 292,00 sq. km, or 13.8% of Earth's plant species in 0.2% of Earth's land surface. Taking all 18 hot-spot areas together, the authors find they support 49,995 endemic plant species, or 20% of Earth's plant species, in 746,400 sq. km, or 0.5% of Earth's land surface. This means that one-fifth of Earth's plant species are confined to 0.5% of the Earth's land surface--and they occur in habitats that are mostly threatened with imminent destruction. By concentrating on these hotspot areas where needs are greatest and where the pay-off from safeguard measures would be greatest, conservationists can engage in a more systematized response to the challenge of large-scale impending extinctions.
The mass-extinction episode underway is largely centered on tropical forests, insofar as they contain at least half of all Earth's species and they are being depleted faster than any other biome. But species distributions and depletion patterns are anything but uniform throughout the biome. This paper identifies 10 areas that a) are characterized by exceptional concentrations of species with high levels of endemism and b) are experiencing unusually rapid rates of depletion. While these "hotspot" areas comprise less than 3.5% of remaining primary forests, they harbor over 34,000 endemic plant species (27% of all plant species in tropical forests and 13% of all plant species worldwide). They also feature 700,000 endemic animal species and possibly several times more. Unfortunately, they appear likely to lose 90% of their forest cover as soon as the end of the century or shortly thereafter, causing the extinction of almost 7% of Earth's plant species and at least a similar proportion of animal species, this occurring in only 0.2% of Earth's land surface. By concentrating on such areas where needs are greatest and where the pay-off from safeguard measures would also be greatest, conservationists can engage in a more systematized response to the challenge of large-scale extinctions impending in tropical forests.
Governments could safeguard the world's biodiversity with a small
fraction of the money they spend on environmentally harmful subsidies.
Centres of Plant Diversity (three vols) (World Wide Fund for Nature and International Union for Conservation of
- S Davis
- V H Heywood
- A C Hamilton
Davis, S., Heywood, V. H. & Hamilton, A. C. (eds) Centres of Plant Diversity (three vols) (World Wide Fund for Nature and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Gland, Switzerland, 1994±1997).
The Global 200: Key Ecoregions for Saving Life on Earth (World Wildlife Fund-US
- E Dinerstein
Dinerstein, E. et al. The Global 200: Key Ecoregions for Saving Life on Earth (World Wildlife Fund-US, Washington DC, 1996).
Catalog of Fishes (California Academy of Sciences
- W M Eschmeyer
- WM Eschmeyer
Eschmeyer, W. M. Catalog of Fishes (California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, 1998).
- B Groombridge
Groombridge, B. (ed.) Global Biodiversity (Chapman and Hall, London, 1992).