Niche conservatism and convergence in birds of three cenocrons in the Mexican Transition Zone
Background The niche conservatism hypothesis postulates that physiological and phylogenetic factors constrain species distributions, creating richness hotspots with older lineages in ancestral climatic conditions. Conversely, niche convergence occurs when species successfully disperse…
Investigating the planning efficiency of species richness- and complementarity-based algorithms in data deficient areas
Efficient conservation planning is a necessary approach for protecting endangered species with deficient distribution data and reducing biodiversity loss. Richness- and complementarity-based algorithms can improve conservation planning efficiency to different degrees, but differences in planning eff…
Diversidad de sifonóforos en Colombia (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa): lista actualizada
Una lista actualizada de las especies de sifonóforos de Colombia fue compilada a partir de registros en tesis publicadas e inéditas, e informes técnicos finales de proyectos del Invemar. El inventario más reciente publicado para las aguas marinas sudamericanas contiene algunos de los registros, pero…
Climate and human stressors on global penguin hotspots: Current assessments for future conservation
As charismatic and iconic species, penguins can act as “ambassadors” or flagship species to promote the conservation of marine habitats in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately, there is a lack of reliable, comprehensive, and systematic analysis aimed at compiling spatially explicit assessments of …
More than 17,000 tree species are at risk from rapid global change
Trees are pivotal to global biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, yet accelerating global changes threaten global tree diversity, making accurate species extinction risk assessments necessary. To identify species that require expert-based re-evaluation, we assess exposure to change in s…
Quantifying spatial ignorance in the effort to collect terrestrial fauna in Namibia, Africa
Effective conservation efforts and predictions of future impacts on biodiversity depend heavily on publicly available information about species distributions. However, data on species distributions is often patchy, especially in many countries of the Global South where resources for biological surve…
Ecological Niche Modelling of an Industrially Important Mushroom - Ganoderma lucidum (Leys.) Karsten: A Machine Learning Global Appraisal
Species Distribution Modelling (SDM) involves utilizing observations of a given species and its surrounding environment to produce a sound approximation of the species' potential distribution. The intricate relationships between organisms and their surro…
Bioclimatic similarity between species locations and their environment revealed by dimensionality reduction analysis
Species distribution modeling is an active research topic with applications in conservation management, pest risk assessment, and population ecology. Several machine-learning methods have been applied to estimate species distribution. Non-linear dimensionality reduction techniques aim to preserve th…
The climatic suitability of New Zealand for Cirsium arvense and its biological control agent Cassida rubiginosa
The leaf-feeding beetle, Cassida rubiginosa, was introduced into New Zealand from Europe in 2007 as a biological control agent for Cirsium arvense (Californian thistle) and is now widely distributed. To determine the extent to which geographically variable climate might explain its observed sporadic…
What happens in ice age, does not stay in ice age: Phylogeography of Bombus terrestris revealed a low genetic diversity amongst the Eurasian populatio…
The objective of this research was to assess the genetic diversity and phylogeography of Bombus terrestris and examine the historical events that shaped its contemporary genetic structures using the COI mitochondrial marker. Specimens of the species were collected from its distribution range alongsi…
Community change and population outbreak of grasshoppers driven by climate change
The response of insects to climate changes in various aspects has been well-documented. However, there is a dearth of comprehensive review specifically focusing on the response and adaptation of grasshoppers, which are important primary consumers and pests in grassland and agricultural ecosystems. T…
Assessing mercury contamination in Southern Hemisphere marine ecosystems: The role of penguins as effective bioindicators
Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant known for its significant bioaccumulation and biomagnification capabilities, posing a particular threat to marine environments. Seabirds have been recognized as effective bioindicators of marine pollution, and, among them, penguins present a unique opportunity to s…
Invasive Alien Species in the Campos Sulinos: Current Status and Future Trends
The dramatic loss of natural grasslands in the Campos Sulinos , and the threats to the remaining areas due to biological invasions, makes it essential to compile information on which are the most frequent invasive alien species (IAS) and their distribution throughout the region. In this chapter, we …
A Historical Perspective on the Biogeography of the Pampa Region: Imprints of Time and Origins of Its Flora
The Pampa, also known as Río de la Plata grassland region, is arguably one of the most diverse and largest grassland areas in the world, yet timing, origin, and assembling of its flora are not well understood. Here, we provide a first comprehensive overview of the angiosperm historical biogeography …
Effects of drought, invasive species, and habitat loss on future extinction risk of two species of imperiled freshwater turtle
While predicting species status into the future is inherently uncertain, it is necessary to properly inform conservation decision-making. Using a triple loop stochastic simulation model with a population viability analysis, we projected populations of the northwestern and southwestern pond turtle (A…
From host to host: The taxonomic and geographic expansion of Botryosphaeriaceae
Fungal pathogens are responsible for 30% of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in plants. The risk of a pathogen emerging on a new host is strongly tied to its host breadth; however, the determinants of host range are still poorly understood. Here, we explore the factors that shape host breadth of …
Multi-dimensional temperature sensitivity of protected tropical mountain rain forests
Introduction Tropical mountain rain forests (TMRF, natural forests at > 300 m asl) are globally important for biodiversity and ecosystem services and are believed to be highly vulnerable to climate change. But there are no specific approaches for rigorous assessment of their vulnerability at the lan…
Spatial and temporal representation of marine fish occurrences available online
Despite the 243,000 marine species described by 2022, our knowledge about the oceanic biodiversity is still incomplete. This knowledge gap carries potentially adverse and far-reaching consequences for the preservation of marine ecosystems, particularly in the context of the ongoing human-induced alt…
Biodiversity conservation in Myanmar's coastal wetlands: Focusing on saltwater crocodile habitats and connectivity
Landscape-level conservation strategies are needed to protect the saltwater crocodile population and habitats in Myanmar. Identifying the remaining habitats and movement corridors is essential due to population decline across coastal regions and insufficient habitat coverage, even within protected a…
Evaluation of moth community changes and northward shifts in response to climate warming in Korea using both local and global occurrences
Although climate warming arguably induces changes in species distribution, thereby causing poleward shifts in various taxa, comprehensive research on the response of moths to climate warming is lacking. This study compared the distribution of macro-moths between historical (1978–2002) and recent (20…
Ecological adaptation of Australian Myrtaceae through the leaf waxes analysis: Corymbia citriodora, Eucalyptus gunnii, and Eucalyptus globulus
Seeking to get insight into the close relationship between plant waxes and the climatic conditions of plants’ original biomes, the leaves of three Myrtaceae from the eastern Australian-Tasmanian region (Corymbia citriodora (Hook.) K.D.Hill & L.A.S.Johnson (lemon-scented gum), Eucalyptus gunnii Hook.…
Potential impacts of climate change on wild cherry distribution and associated consequences on brown bears
Wild cherry (Prunus avium) is a climate-sensitive species of great ecological importance and has gained importance in the diet of the Cantabrian brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) in recent years. Understanding the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of wild cherry and the interactions …
Native recovery or expansive threat? Past and predicted distribution of Trapa natans L. s. l. on northern limit of species’ range – Handout for specie…
Global changes are responsible for the movement of species. While many research emphasize the spread of alien or invasive alien species, the rapid spread of rare, native species is poorly study. In our studies, we focused on Trapa natans, a species that is considered a strictly protected plant speci…
Practical guide for retaining correlated climate variables and unthinned samples in species distribution modeling, using random forests
Species distribution models contain bias, or inaccurate predictions, due to predictors and species occurrences. Collinearity of predictor variables is a concern limited to standard error of estimates for data models, although issues remain about identification of important variables and model transf…
Southward shifts and enhancements of the westerlies over the Tibetan Plateau during North Atlantic cooling events
Variations in mid-latitude westerlies have an important influence on climate change, but their impact on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) since the Last Glacial Maximum is still debated, due to shortage of direct proxies reflecting the variations in the westerlies. Here we present an exotic (Cedrus) pollen …