Biogeographical units matter

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augusto Ferrari
Keyword(s):  
Classification Scheme ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Historical Biogeography ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Analytical Results ◽  
Areas Of Endemism ◽  
Area Classification

One of the recurrent themes in historical biogeography relates to the units of analysis, their definition and identification. Although areas of endemism are usually accepted as the standard units of study, other units have been suggested, as well as several methods for identifying them. There is no consensus on which units are best suited for the studies; however, the effect of the units and area schemes on analytical results is acknowledged. Here, I review the literature on biogeographic units, their uses and recommendations, highlighting the relevance of the use of more than one area-classification scheme in empirical studies.

scholarly journals Endemism analysis of Neotropical Pentatomidae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera)

2010 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augusto Ferrari ◽  
Andressa Paladini ◽  
Cristiano Feldens Schwertner ◽  
Jocelia Grazia
Keyword(s):  
Grid Cell ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
Historical Biogeography ◽  
Distribution Data ◽  
Grid Cells ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Areas Of Endemism ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Amazonian Region

The definition of areas of endemism is central to studies of historical biogeography, and their interrelationships are fundamental questions. Consistent hypotheses for the evolution of Pentatomidae in the Neotropical region depend on the accuracy of the units employed in the analyses, which in the case of studies of historical biogeography, may be areas of endemism. In this study, the distribution patterns of 222 species, belonging to 14 Pentatomidae (Hemiptera) genera, predominantly neotropical, were studied with the Analysis of Endemicity (NDM) to identify possible areas of endemism and to correlate them to previously delimited areas. The search by areas of endemism was carried out using grid-cell units of 2.5° and 5° latitude-longitude. The analysis based on groupings of grid-cells of 2.5° of latitude-longitude allowed the identification of 51 areas of endemism, the consensus of these areas resulted in four clusters of grid-cells. The second analysis, with grid-cells units of 5° latitude-longitude, resulted in 109 areas of endemism. The flexible consensus employed resulted in 17 areas of endemism. The analyses were sensitive to the identification of areas of endemism in different scales in the Atlantic Forest. The Amazonian region was identified as a single area in the area of consensus, and its southeastern portion shares elements with the Chacoan and Paraná subregions. The distribution data of the taxa studied, with different units of analysis, did not allow the identification of individual areas of endemism for the Cerrado and Caatinga. The areas of endemism identified here should be seen as primary biogeographic hypotheses.

Information Systems Research in China

2010 ◽  
pp. 258-272
Author(s):  
Shaobo Ji ◽  
Qingfei Min ◽  
Weihe Han
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Is Research ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Information Systems Research ◽  
Review Current

The purpose of this study is to review current research activities concerning information systems (IS) in mainland China. We thus examined Chinese IS research with reference to discipline, research topic, research method, and units of analysis, identifying and reviewing a total of 604 research papers, published in 18 leading Chinese academic journals from 1999 to 2003. The results show that: (1) IS itself represents the major theoretical reference of the studies; (2) the IS research in China has clearly focused on organizational and system/software issues; (3) non-empirical studies were dominant in the field of IS research in China; and (4) the majority of studies were conducted at an organizational or systemic level.

scholarly journals Historical relationships among areas of endemism in the tropical South America using Brooks Parsimony Analysis (BPA)

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mário Sérgio Sigrist ◽  
Claudio José Barros de Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Parsimony Analysis ◽  
Monophyletic Cluster ◽  
Influence Area ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Areas Of Endemism ◽  
History Of ◽  
Endemic Areas ◽  
Biogeographical Analysis ◽  
Area Classification

Areas of endemism are the smallest units of biogeographical analysis. One of its definitions is that these areas harbor organisms with restricted distributions caused by non random historical factors. The aim of this study was to examine historical relationships among areas of endemism in the Neotropics using Brooks Parsimony Analysis (BPA). We applied BPA to 12 unrelated taxa distributed within two sets of endemic areas in order to: (1) compare the proposed endemic area classifications; (2) examine whether Amazonia and Atlantic Forest are true biogeographic units and, (3) examine whether the inclusion of open area formations influence area relationships of the surrounding forests. General area cladograms revealed a basal split between Amazonian and Atlantic forests, suggesting that these areas have been isolated for a long period of time. All Atlantic forest endemic areas formed a monophyletic cluster, showing a sequence of vicariant events from north to south. The hypothesis that Amazonia is a composite area, made up of different historical units, is herein corroborated. When Cerrado and Caatinga (grasslands and savannas) are included, internal area relationships within Amazonia change, indicating that area classification schemes comprising forests and open formations should be preferred given the complementary history of these areas.

A comparative review of cladistic approaches to historical biogeography of southern South America

1991 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
JV Crisci ◽  
MM Cigliano ◽  
JJ Morrone ◽  
S Roig-Junent
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
South America ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
A Priori ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Areas Of Endemism ◽  
Selection Of

Cladistic historical biogeographic studies on the austral continents are briefly reviewed with special reference to southern South America. The biogeography of marsupials, southern beeches and the relationships of New Zealand and southern South America are compared. No general pattern of interrelationships is common to all the analyses. Differences in delimitation of areas, selection of taxa and techniques applied are discussed as possible causes of incongruities. The comparative review of these empirical studies reveals that, although it is valid to investigate the existence of a unique pattern of interrelationships among areas of endemism, this cannot be considered as an a priori assumption in the analyses.

“Neighborhood” influence on police use of force: state-of-the-art review

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 859-872 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Shjarback
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Theoretical Formulation ◽  
Police Use Of Force ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Ecological Influence ◽  
Neighborhood Influence ◽  
Point Of Departure

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a state-of-the-art review on the topic of neighborhood/ecological influence on police use of force. In doing so, it provides an overview of the theoretical formulation and early ethnographic work on the topic as well as an in-depth critique of the issues that require further discussion. Design/methodology/approach Using several databases, a literature search was performed to collect the available empirical studies on the topic. Findings An analysis of the extant literature suggests that neighborhood/ecological influence on police use of force might not be as uniform as previously discussed, and it suffers from the ability to make sufficient comparisons. Tests vary based on the use of force measures, units of analysis, and the neighborhood-level variables examined. Originality/value This review should serve as a point of departure for scholars working in this area moving forward. It is hoped that the review provides thought-provoking commentary on the limitations of previous studies and the challenges facing this line of inquiry in the future.

Revision, phylogeny and historical biogeography of the genus Apodrosus Marshall, 1922 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae)

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Franz ◽  
Jennifer Girón
Keyword(s):  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Phylogenetic Reconstruction ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Historical Biogeography ◽  
Diagnostic Features ◽  
Western Caribbean ◽  
Areas Of Endemism ◽  
Mona Island

AbstractThe Caribbean weevil genus Apodrosus Marshall, 1922 is revised, including a redescription of A. argentatus Wolcott, 1924 and A. wolcotti Marshall, 1922 and description of 11 new species: A. adustus, sp.n. (Bahamas), A. andersoni, sp.n. (Dominican Republic), A. artus, sp.n. (Dominican Republic), A. earinusparsus, sp.n. (Dominican Republic), A. empherefasciatus, sp.n. (Bahamas), A. epipolevatus, sp.n. (Puerto Rico), A. eximius, sp.n. (Dominican Republic), A. mammuthus, sp.n. (Mona Island, Turks and Caicos Islands), A. quisqueyanus, sp.n. (Dominican Republic), A. stenoculus, sp.n. (Dominican Republic) and A. viridium, sp.n. (Dominican Republic). A key to the species and illustrations of external and internal structures are provided. Apodrosus is characterized as a monophyletic group by two unreversed synapomorphies – i.e., the presence of a median fovea on the apex of abdominal sternum VII and a J- or Y-shaped spermatheca – and is furthermore differentiated from related taxa by a unique combination of diagnostic features including the presence of premucro, a complete tegminal plate in males, the absence of longitudinal sclerites in the genital chamber of females, and an apical projection on the spermathecal cornu. A phylogenetic reconstruction of 20 taxa (7 outgroup, 13 ingroup) and 25 morphological characters yielded a single most parsimonious cladogram (L=61 steps, CI=42, RI=74) with the ingroup topology (A. artus, (A. andersoni, (A. earinusparsus, (A. epipolevatus, A. wolcotti)))), (A. eximius, ((A. argentatus, A. mammuthus), (A. viridium, (A. stenoculus, (A. quisqueyanus, (A. adustus, A. empherefasciatus)))))). The phylogeny indicates that Anypotactus bicaudatus Champion (Anypotactini Champion) is the sister group to Apodrosus, thereby calling into question the traditional tribal placement of this genus in the Polydrusini. The host plant associations of most species remain uncertain. A reconstruction of the historical biogeography of Apodrosus suggests that post-GAARlandia (Greater Antillean+Aves Ridges land span) vicariance was an important factor in the diversification of the higher-elevation inhabiting A. artus-A. wolcotti clade. Conversely, the species richness of the lower-elevation inhabiting A. eximius-A. empherefasciatus clade is most plausibly explained through a series of independent and likely more recent colonization events from the ancestral source area of southwestern Hispaniola to several smaller western Caribbean islands, or – in the case of Hispaniola – within-island areas of endemism.

scholarly journals STUDENT PARTICIPANTS IN EMPIRICAL STUDIES IN ENGINEERING DESIGN - A COLLECTION OF REFLECTIONS TO IMPROVE YOUR STUDY QUALITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 2741-2750
Author(s):  
Selin Üreten ◽  
Olga Sankowski ◽  
Dieter Krause
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Classification Scheme ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Study Quality ◽  
Laboratory Conditions ◽  
Broad Variety ◽  
Recommended Practices ◽  
Research Institute

AbstractEngineering design has a broad variety of approaches, methods and methodologies to conduct, evaluate and validate research. This contribution focuses on empirical studies and divides existing approaches and classifies them according to a scheme with criteria and boundary conditions, such as participants (students, researchers), the length of the study, the incorporation of the study into the curriculum etc. There are certain ideas, challenges and recommended practices associated with each environment and scenario. Knowing them will help design method developers in engineering design who want to conduct empirical studies but have little or no experience with student participants. Therefore, conducted studies from the research institute are mapped onto the classification scheme and synthesized challenges and recommended practices associated with laboratory conditions and student participants will be presented.

Biotectonics of Sulawesi: Principles, methodology, and area relationships

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5068 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-484
Author(s):  
BERNARD MICHAUX ◽  
VISOTHEARY UNG
Keyword(s):  
Historical Biogeography ◽  
Data Partitioning ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Consensus Trees ◽  
Areas Of Endemism ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tectonic Development ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
The Relationship

Biotectonics is an approach to historical biogeography based on the analysis of independently derived biological and tectonic data, which we demonstrate using the island of Sulawesi as an example. We describe the tectonic development of Sulawesi and discuss the relationship between tectonic models and phylogenetic hypotheses. We outline the problem of interpreting areagrams based on single phylogenies and stress the importance of combining all available data into a general areagram. We analysed the distributions of Sulawesi area of endemism endemics (AEEs) using 30 published phylogenies, which were converted into paralogy-free taxon-area cladograms using the programme LisBeth (Zaragüeta-Bagalis et al. 2012) from which Adam’s consensus trees were constructed using PAUP (Swofford 2002). The results of our analyses show that the relationship between the areas of endemism is congruent with the terrane history of the island. A further 79 phylogenies of Sulawesi species with extralimital distributions were analysed to determine area relationships of Sulawesi within the broader Indo-Pacific region. We demonstrate the utility of data partitioning when dealing with areas that are geologically and biologically composite by showing that analysing Asian and Australasian elements of the Sulawesi biota separately produced general areagrams that avoid artifice and are interpretable in the light of current tectonic models.  

Flies, endemicity, and the Atlantic Forest: a biogeographical study using topographic units of analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalton S. Amorim ◽  
Charles M. D. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Data Matrix ◽  
Parsimony Analysis ◽  
Semideciduous Forest ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Separate Area ◽  
Areas Of Endemism ◽  
Northern Atlantic ◽  
Semideciduous Seasonal Forest ◽  
Ombrophilous Forest

We present a study of the endemicity patterns in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest on the basis of the distribution of 107 fly species belonging to 24 genera of 15 families. This is the first picture of endemism for Diptera in the Atlantic Forest. Instead of the traditional grid of geographical coordinates, we used a system of topographic units (TUs) for the analysis, delimited after gathering information on rivers and altitude for each state and country. A parsimony analysis of the data matrix with the species records for the TUs was performed, named topographic-unit parsimony analysis (TUPA). The same distributional data was used in a NDM/VNDM analysis. The combination of the resulting patterns from both analyses indicated the existence of the following three major areas of endemism for flies in the Atlantic Forest: a Northern Atlantic Forest, north of Rio Doce; a Southern Atlantic Forest, south of Rio Doce along the coast, extending to the west and to the south at the level of the state of Paraná; and a Semideciduous Seasonal Forest, west to the ombrophilous forest along the coast. None of these areas seems to be shaped solely by vicariance events. They can possibly be the result of biotic fusion of ancestral areas of endemism as a result of barrier collapse and secondary overlap of sister biotas, a hypothesis yet to be tested. The recognition of a separate area of endemism for flies in the Semideciduous Forest agrees with phytogeographical reconstructions and raises an important alert for the scarcity of biological reserves for this vegetation.

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