Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (64)
- Part of Periodical (31)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
- Preprint (1)
Language
- English (97) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (97) (remove)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (97)
Keywords
- biodiversity (97) (remove)
The nesting biology of the potter wasp Pachymenes ghilianii (Spinola) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) is described based on observations made in the Cerro Turega Hydric Reserve, Penonome, Panama. The collection of building material, the architecture of the nest, the process of building a cell and cell provision with geometrid larvae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), and the emergence time of the adults are recorded.
Elusive flaws are identified in techniques widely adopted to organize the Material Examined sections in taxonomic publications, mostly regarding the usage of the term ibidem and the nesting of information such as country and states. Logical errors are identified that prevent objective retrieval of the original information and can hinder or block its interpretation, even in case-by-case analyses. It is demonstrated that the free usage of ibidem in the sense of “same as previous except as follows” compromises the interpretation of data, characterizing bad practice. Solutions are proposed for the precise usage of both the term ibidem and the nesting technique. A new technique for organizing, compressing, and presenting information, called grid-setting, is described and evaluated. Its most notable practical effect is that the Material Examined section becomes literally a coded data sheet, which can be accurately converted back to spreadsheet format. In addition, the grid-setting technique was able to generate texts up to 30% shorter than those edited with the best-known traditional techniques. The new ideas and fixes are incorporated into a new software, flexible enough to process varied and unlimited data into largely user-defined texts, which remain nevertheless universal in their format and logical interpretation.
The pseudoscorpion (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) fauna of mainland Ecuador, excluding the Galápagos Islands, is poorly known, with only 41 described species in 9 families. The family Syarinidae has a pantropical distribution and presently comprises ca 120 species in 17 valid genera that are found in leaf litter and subterranean habitats, mostly in tropical and subtropical climates. Four syarinid species have been recorded from Ecuador, including the Galápagos, in two widespread genera, Ideobisium and Ideoblothrus, but field collections suggest that these pseudoscorpions are common and abundant in all forest systems across the country. Here, we review field collections of syarinids from mainland Ecuador and describe five new species in these genera: Ideobisium kichwa sp. nov. (Napo Province, Colonso Chalupas Natural Reserve), I. sonqo sp. nov. (Napo Province, Colonso Chalupas Natural Reserve), I. susanae sp. nov. (Napo Province, Jatun Sacha Natural Reserve), Ideoblothrus nadineae sp. nov. (Napo Province, Colonso Chalupas Natural Reserve) and I. safinai sp. nov. (Pichincha Province, Otongachi Natural Reserve) based on morphology. These species seem to have narrow distributions and we therefore restrict the ranges of two species previously recorded from Ecuador (Ideobisium crassimanum Balzan, 1892 and Ideoblothrus costaricensis (Beier, 1931)) to their countries of origin, which is Costa Rica and Venezuela, respectively.
Erebaces woodruffi Anderson, new species (Curculionidae: Molytinae: Cryptorhynchini), from Palawan (Philippines) is described and illustrated. This is the second species of the genus Erebaces Pascoe described from the Philippines. It can be separated from Erebaces kidapawanus Pancini by the pair of divergent dorsal pale-scaled lines on the pronotum extended onto the elytra and by the form of the elytral tubercles.
We present an abundance-based checklist of Pennsylvania planthoppers (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoroidea) compiled from available literature and 13,718 specimens. A substantial portion of the latter were bycatch from Lindgren funnel and panel traps intended to intercept wood-boring beetle species, and a directed survey for the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula (White)). The known planthopper fauna of Pennsylvania consists of 10 families, 54 genera and 139 species including 34 new state species records (and 12 new genera). In an attempt to assess the level of completeness of this survey, we compiled an abundance-based checklist of planthopper species found in states adjacent to Pennsylvania and found similar numbers of planthopper species for each state (viz. Delaware 138 species, Maryland 147, New Jersey 145, New York 162 and Ohio 126), but the cumulative species list is comprised of 240 planthopper species, suggesting that the inventory for Pennsylvania and all adjacent states may be substantially incomplete.
A comprehensive checklist of Habenaria from Chapada dos Veadeiros, State of Goiás, was performed alongside morphologic and molecular phylogenetic studies, revealing three new taxa endemic to this region. A total of 61 taxa (59 species and two varieties) of Habenaria are recorded for Chapada dos Veadeiros, representing a two-fold increase compared to previous lists and comprising one of the greatest diversities of the genus in Brazil. Of this total, four taxa are locally endemic. Habenaria cultellifolia, until recently known only from the type collection, was rediscovered in the region after 127 years without records and represents this species’ only known extant population. Three proposed new taxa of Habenaria (H. minuticalcar J.A.N. Bat. & Bianch. sp. nov., H. proiteana J.A.N. Bat., A.A. Vale & Bianch. sp. nov., and H. lavrensis var. xanthodactyla J.A.N. Bat. & Bianch. var. nov.) are corroborated by molecular phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear and plastid markers. They are described, illustrated, tentatively assessed as threatened, and compared to phylogenetically and morphologically related species. Since some areas of this mountain range have not yet been floristically sampled, additional taxonomic novelties and new records are still expected in the future.
Elevational gradients in high mountain ranges are particularly suitable to study and understand patterns and drivers of plant community diversity and composition, yet there are only few studies that explicitly addressed this topic for the European Alps. Here we analysed an elevational gradient in grasslands of the Gran Paradiso National Park (NW Italy) from c. 1,700 to 3,100 m a.s.l. We recorded vascular plant species composition in 13 100-m² plots, each with two series of nested subplots from 0.0001 to 10 m², as well as a set of environmental parameters (topography, soil). Beta-diversity was assessed via the z-values of power-law species-area relationships, both across all plot sizes and from one plot size to the next bigger one. Diversity-environment relationships were assessed with multi-model inference based on Akaike information criterion (AIC), while scale dependence in z-values across plot sizes was analysed with an ANOVA. Life forms and three major functional traits (specific leaf area = SLA, canopy height, seed mass) were derived from trait databases to calculate fractions of life forms and community-weighted means for the metric traits. Species richness on 100 m² ranged from 17 to 65, with a mean of 43.5. The z-values were within a typical range known for European grasslands (mean: 0.227), with non-significant scale dependence. The importance of environmental factors for richness changed across grain sizes, with inclination (positive effect), mean soil depth and soil skeleton content (both: negative effect) being most influential at grain sizes of 0.0001–1 m². By contrast, soil pH was most important (with a unimodal relationship) for 10 and 100 m². After account-ing for the other environmental factors, elevation showed a moderate unimodal relationship only for the two largest grain sizes. By contrast, functional composition showed strong and mostly significant rela-tionships with elevation: hemicryptophytes and geophytes became rarer and chamaephytes more fre-quent, while community-weighted means of SLA, canopy height and seed mass decreased. Our findings highlight the scale dependence of biodiversity patterns, thus pointing to the need of multi-scale sampling to reach comprehensive understanding. Further, we could provide one of the first documentations of biodiversity and functional composition along an elevational gradient in the Alps, some in agreement with expectations, others not. This suggests that more extensive studies with a similar design in this and other regions of the Alps could be a valuable contribution to the understanding of how environmental factors drive components of biodiversity as well a functional community assembly.
Solenogastres (Aplacophora) is a small clade of marine, shell-less worm-molluscs with close to 300 valid species. Their distribution ranges across all oceans, and whereas the vast majority of species has been collected and described from the continental shelf and slope, only few species are known from depths below 4,000 m. Following traditional taxonomy, identification of specimens to species level is complex and time-consuming and requires detailed investigations of morphology and anatomy—often resulting in the exclusion of the clade in biodiversity or biogeographic studies. During the KuramBio expedition (Kuril-Kamchatka Biodiversity Studies) to the abyssal plain of the Northwest Pacific and the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, 33 solenogaster specimens were sampled from 4,830 m to 5,397 m. Within this study we present an efficient workflow to address solenogaster diversity, even when confronted with a high degree of singletons and minute body sizes, hampering the use of single individuals for multiple morphological and molecular approaches. We combine analyses of external characters and scleritome with molecular barcoding based on a self-designed solenogaster specific set of mitochondrial primers. Overall we were able to delineate at least 19 solenogaster lineages and identify 15 species to family level and beyond. Based on our approach we identified three key lineages from the two regionally most species-rich families (Acanthomeniidae and Pruvotinidae) for deeper taxonomic investigations and describe the novel abyssal species Amboherpia abyssokurilensis sp. nov. (Cavibelonia, Acanthomeniidae) using microanatomical 3D-reconstructions. Our study more than doubles the previous records of solenogaster species from the Northwest Pacific and its marginal seas. Almost all lineages are reported for the first time from the region of the (Northwest) Pacific, vastly expanding distribution ranges of the respective clades. Moreover it doubles the number of Solenogastres collected from abyssal depths on a global scale and underlines the lack of exploratory α-diversity work in the abyssal zone for reliable species estimates in marine biodiversity.
Ten new species belonging to three new genera (Atlantisina gen. nov., Bathycyclopora gen. nov., Calvetopora gen. nov.) of umbonulomorph bryozoans from northeastern Atlantic seamounts, islands, and the continental slope are introduced. We furthermore erect the new family Atlantisinidae fam. nov. for these genera. Eight new species belong to the new genus Atlantisina: Atlantisina atlantis gen. et sp. nov. (type species), A. acantha gen. et sp. nov., A. gorringensis gen. et sp. nov., A. inarmata gen. et sp. nov., A. lionensis gen. et sp. nov., A. meteor gen. et sp. nov., A. seinensis gen. et sp. nov., and A. tricornis gen. et sp. nov. The genus Bathycyclopora gen. nov. is introduced for ?Phylactella vibraculata Calvet from the Azores, and also includes Bathycyclopora suroiti gen. et sp. nov. The type species of Calvetopora gen. nov. is Lepralia inflata Calvet from the Gulf of Cadiz; this genus also includes Calvetopora otapostasis gen. et sp. nov. and another species left in open nomenclature. Of the 13 species described herein, 11 occur on seamounts and islands, and nine species are endemic to a single seamount, island or station. The present results show that bryozoans provide striking examples of the function of seamounts as areas of endemism, most likely intrinsically linked to the low dispersal abilities of bryozoan larvae.
It is widely acknowledged that biodiversity change is affecting human well-being by altering the supply of Nature's Contributions to People (NCP). Nevertheless, the role of individual species in this relationship remains obscure. In this article, we present a framework that combines the cascade model from ecosystem services research with network theory from community ecology. This allows us to quantitatively link NCP demanded by people to the networks of interacting species that underpin them. We show that this “network cascade” framework can reveal the number, identity and importance of the individual species that drive NCP and of the environmental conditions that support them. This information is highly valuable in demonstrating the importance of biodiversity in supporting human well-being and can help inform the management of biodiversity in social-ecological systems.