scholarly journals Distribution and diversity of reptiles in Albania: a novel database from a Mediterranean hotspot

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edvárd Mizsei ◽  
Daniel Jablonski ◽  
Zsolt Végvári ◽  
Szabolcs Lengyel ◽  
Márton Szabolcs
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Altitudinal Variation ◽  
Diversity Patterns ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Precipitation Variation ◽  
Variation Explained ◽  
Online Sources

Although Albania has a rich reptile fauna, efforts to reveal its diversity have so far been limited. To fill this gap, we collected available published and unpublished (museum collections, online sources) records of reptile occurrences and conducted several expeditions to search for reptiles in areas with few or no previous records. Our georeferenced database contains 3731 records of 40 species from between 1918 and 2015. Based on this comprehensive dataset, we prepared distribution maps for each reptile species of the country. Applying spatial statistics, we revealed that overall sampling effort was clustered, with hotspots associated with easily accessible areas and natural heritage sites. The maximum number of species per cell was 26 with an average of seven. Cells harbouring large reptile diversity were located along the Adriatic and Ionian coasts, on the western slopes of south Albanian mountains, i.e. in areas generally considered as Balkans biodiversity hotspots or potential historical refugia. We found that species presence and diversity is strongly influenced by landscape features. Diversity of land cover, altitudinal variation, temperature and precipitation variation explained the observed pattern in our models. Our study presents the largest database of reptile occurrences to date and is the first to analyse reptile diversity patterns in Albania. The database and the diversity patterns can provide a basis for future macroecological studies and conservation planning.

scholarly journals Spatially Related Sampling Uncertainty in the Assessment of Labile Soil Carbon and Nitrogen in an Irish Forest Plantation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2139
Author(s):  
Junliang Zou ◽  
Bruce Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Sampling Area ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N ◽  
Highly Correlated

The importance of labile soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in soil biogeochemical processes is now well recognized. However, the quantification of labile soil C and N in soils and the assessment of their contribution to ecosystem C and N budgets is often constrained by limited information on spatial variability. To address this, we examined spatial variability in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved total nitrogen (DTN) in a Sitka spruce forest in central Ireland. The results showed moderate variations in the concentrations of DOC and DTN based on the mean, minimum, and maximum, as well as the coefficients of variation. Residual values of DOC and DTN were shown to have moderate spatial autocorrelations, and the nugget sill ratios were 0.09% and 0.10%, respectively. Distribution maps revealed that both DOC and DTN concentrations in the study area decreased from the southeast. The variability of both DOC and DTN increased as the sampling area expanded and could be well parameterized as a power function of the sampling area. The cokriging technique performed better than the ordinary kriging for predictions of DOC and DTN, which are highly correlated. This study provides a statistically based assessment of spatial variations in DOC and DTN and identifies the sampling effort required for their accurate quantification, leading to improved assessments of forest ecosystem C and N budgets.

scholarly journals Herpetofauna from an urban Pampa fragment in southern Brazil: composition, structure and conservation

Check List ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1964
Author(s):  
Omar Machado Entiauspe-Neto ◽  
Tângela Denise Perleberg ◽  
Marco Antonio de Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Faunal Composition ◽  
Diversity Patterns ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
History Of ◽  
Composition Structure

Faunistic inventories regarding natural history of amphibians and reptiles are considered scarce and very little is known about their assemblages in urban areas; the Pampas morphoclimatic domain, also known as Uruguayan Savannah or Southern Grasslands, is also poorly known regarding their faunal composition.  Herein, we present a checklist of 16 amphibian and 20 reptile species recorded over a course of four years in the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciências e Tecnologia, Câmpus Pelotas-Visconde da Graça, in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We also present data on natural history and discuss conservation efforts to be undertaken in the area, in one of the least preserved and known Brazilian morphoclimatic domains, providing insights into urban herpetofaunal diversity patterns and showing the importance of modified areas in its conservation.

Spatial distribution and temporal variability of open fire in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kunpeng Yi ◽  
Yulong Bao ◽  
Jiquan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Burnt Area ◽  
The North ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Vegetation Fires ◽  
Precipitation Variation ◽  
Two Peaks

This study presents the spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation fires in China based on a combination of national fire records (1950–2010) and satellite fire data (2001–12). This analysis presents the first attempt to understand existing patterns of open fires and their consequences for the whole of China. We analysed inter- and intra-annual fire trends and variations in nine subregions of China as well as associated monthly meteorological data from 130 stations within a 50-year period. During the period 2001–12, an average area of 3.2 × 106 ha was consumed by fire per year in China. The Chinese fire season has two peaks occurring in the spring and autumn. The profiles of the burnt area for each subregion exhibit distinct seasonality. The majority of the vegetation fires occurred in the north-eastern and south-western provinces. We analysed quantitative relationships between climate (temperature and precipitation) and burnt area. The results indicate a synchronous relationship between precipitation variation and burnt area. The data in this paper reveal how climate and human activities interact to create China’s distinctive pyrogeography.

scholarly journals Low predictive power of mid-domain effect to explain geographic species richness patterns in Palearctic songbirds

2007 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Aliabadian ◽  
C. S. Roselaar ◽  
R. Sluys ◽  
V. Nijman
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Null Model ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Geometric Constraints ◽  
Diversity Patterns ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Richness Patterns

In the study of diversity patterns, the Mid-domain effect (MDE), which explains gradients in diversity solely on the basis of geometric constraints, has emerged as a null-model against which other hypotheses can be tested. The effectiveness, measured by its predictive power, of these MDE models appears to depend on the size of the study area and the range-sizes of the taxa considered. Here we test the predictive power of MDE on the species richness patterns of birds and assess its effectiveness for a variety of species range sizes. We digitised distribution maps of 889 species of songbird endemic to the Palearctic, and analysed the emergent biogeographic patterns with WORLDMAP software. MDE had a predictive power of 20% when all songbirds were included. Major hotspots were located south of the area where MDE predicted the highest species-richness, and some of the observed coldspots were in the centre of the Palearctic, contradicting the predictions of the MDE. MDE had little explanatory power (3-19%) for all but the largest range sizes, whereas MDE performed equal or better for the large-ranged species (20-34%) compared to the overall model. Overall MDE did not accurate explain species-richness patterns in Palearctic songbirds. Subsets of larger-range species did not always have a larger predictive power than smaller-range species or the overall model. Despite their low predictive power, MDE models can have a role to play in explaining biogeographic patterns but other variables need to be included in the model as well.

Reptiles of the NSW Murray Catchment

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Michael ◽  
David Lindenmayer
Keyword(s):  
Catchment Area ◽  
New South ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Farming Landscapes ◽  
Distinguishing Features

This is an easy to use field guide for identifying the 80 reptile species currently known to occur in the Murray catchment area of New South Wales. Illustrated with high quality colour photographs, the book describes the key distinguishing features of each reptile and includes details on habitats and conservation status. Uniquely, it has a detailed chapter on how to conserve reptiles and manage key habitats, providing landholders and natural resource agencies with the knowledge to help conserve reptiles in agricultural farming landscapes. The up-to-date distribution maps are based on 10 years of extensive surveys and research on reptiles in the Murray catchment. The final chapter includes a section on similar looking species to further enable readers to accurately and quickly identify difficult species. Reptiles of the NSW Murray Catchment promotes a broad appreciation of reptiles in the region, and is a must-have for natural history enthusiasts.

scholarly journals Air temperature and precipitation variation trends of the Lancang river upstream from 1957 to 2011

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1383-1388
Author(s):  
Ya-Nan Guo ◽  
Xiao-Hua Yang ◽  
Xiao-Juan Chen ◽  
Ying Mei ◽  
Chong-Li Di
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Resources Allocation ◽  
Precipitation Time Series ◽  
Lancang River ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Precipitation Variation ◽  
Variation Trends ◽  
Kendall Method

Air temperature and precipitation variation trends of the upstream of Lancang river using the time series from 1957 to 2011 are evaluated. The Mann-Kendall method is applied to study the trend and climatic jump of the air temperature and precipitation time series. It shows that the temperature has an obvious uptrend with an increase of 0.023?C per year. The annual precipitation of the upstream of Lancang river is 954.96 mm without any change, however, the precipitation is gradually increased from upstream to downstream. This paper is significant for understanding the climate change over the years, and it has practical significance for water resources allocation and management in the future.

scholarly journals The Reptile Database: Curating the biodiversity literature without funding

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Uetz
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Publication ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Initial Release ◽  
Taxonomic Changes ◽  
Species Type ◽  
Species Descriptions ◽  
Online Sources ◽  
Type Information ◽  
Name Changes

The Reptile Database (RDB) curates the literature and taxonomy for about 14,000 species and subspecies of reptiles (Uetz et al. 2021). Together with a few other databases, the RDB curates the literature for about 70,000 species of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. While it acts as a current name list for extant reptile taxa, including synonymies, it also collects images (currently ~18,000, representing half of all species), type information, diagnoses and descriptions, and a bibliography of 62,000 references, most of which are linked to online sources. The database is also extensively cross-referenced to citizen science projects (iNaturalist), the NCBI taxonomy, the IUCN Red List, and several others, and serves as data provider (for reptiles) for the Catalogue of Life. A major challenge for the Reptile database is the consistent curation of the literature, which requires the addition of about 2000 papers a year, including about 200 new species descriptions and numerous taxonomic changes. For instance, during the past five years, almost 1000 species changed their names, in addition to the ~900 species that were newly described, i.e., almost 20% of all reptile species were described or changed their name within just a half decade! While the database can keep track of name changes, it remains a largely unsolved problem of how these name changes can or should be translated into related databases such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which keeps track of the literature independently (but exchanges data with the RDB). Some sites use the web services of the RDB to update their taxonomy, such as Calphotos or iNaturalist, but many do not or have not been able to implement automated name tracking. The RDB also works with the Global Assessment of Reptile Distributions (GARD Initiative) to keep track of range changes. After GARD published a collection of ~10,000 range maps for reptiles in 2017, more than half of these maps have changed in area size by more than 5% since the initial release. The database has developed several avenues for streamlining and optimizing curation of the literature, e.g., (semi-) automated requests for publications, species descriptions, and photos from authors, but the process is far from fully automated. Questions remain: how can taxonomic databases develop, share, and exchange better tools for curation? Can we standardize data collection and processing? How can we automatically exchange data with other data sources? How can we optimize the process of scientific publication to streamline databasing and automated information extraction?

Misuse of bird digital distribution maps creates reversed spatial diversity patterns in the Amazon

Biotropica ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 636-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana M. Vale ◽  
Tamires L. Marques ◽  
Mario Cohn-Haft ◽  
Marcus Vinícius Vieira
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Diversity ◽  
Diversity Patterns ◽  
Distribution Maps

scholarly journals Arbuscular mycorrhizal trees influence the latitudinal beta-diversity gradient of tree communities in forests worldwide

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonglin Zhong ◽  
Chengjin Chu ◽  
Jonathan A. Myers ◽  
Gregory S. Gilbert ◽  
James A. Lutz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Beta Diversity ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Diversity Patterns ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Diversity Gradient ◽  
Mycorrhizal Associations ◽  
Tree Communities ◽  
Tree Performance ◽  
Total Beta

AbstractArbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) associations are critical for host-tree performance. However, how mycorrhizal associations correlate with the latitudinal tree beta-diversity remains untested. Using a global dataset of 45 forest plots representing 2,804,270 trees across 3840 species, we test how AM and EcM trees contribute to total beta-diversity and its components (turnover and nestedness) of all trees. We find AM rather than EcM trees predominantly contribute to decreasing total beta-diversity and turnover and increasing nestedness with increasing latitude, probably because wide distributions of EcM trees do not generate strong compositional differences among localities. Environmental variables, especially temperature and precipitation, are strongly correlated with beta-diversity patterns for both AM trees and all trees rather than EcM trees. Results support our hypotheses that latitudinal beta-diversity patterns and environmental effects on these patterns are highly dependent on mycorrhizal types. Our findings highlight the importance of AM-dominated forests for conserving global forest biodiversity.

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