Herpetofauna of the Reserva Extrativista do Rio Gregório, Juruá Basin, southwest Amazonia, Brazil

We present a checklist for reptiles and amphibians of the Reserva Extrativista do Rio Gregório, at the upper Juruá River basin, in the southwest Brazilian Amazonia. Using time-constrained searches, pitfall traps, vocalization, and accidental sightings, we recorded 84 species: 46 amphibians and 38 reptiles. Although analyses suggest still higher diversity, considering the short sampling time, relatively high species richness was documented, which reveals the relevance of this region for conservation. Species richness did not differ between upland and floodplain habitats. Species compositions were significant different between these habitat categories for amphibians and snakes, but not for lizards, suggesting some habitat preferences. Additionally, we found threatened and vulnerable species. We did not assess impacts of human activities on natural populations in RESEX do Rio Gregório, but since resident people have directly used natural resources (e.g. consuming turtles and modifying natural habitats), we recommend monitoring biodiversity to avoid negative impacts.

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Biogeography and areas of endemism of Prepops Reuter (Heteroptera: Miridae)

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v64i1.18229 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 17

Author(s):

Livia Aguiar Coelho ◽

Carlos Molineri ◽

Daniel Andrés Dos Santos ◽

Paulo Sérgio Fiuza Ferreira

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Transition Zone ◽

Spatial Data ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Close Correlation ◽

Neotropical Region ◽

Andean Region ◽

Southern Patagonia ◽

Areas Of Endemism ◽

High Species Richness

The Miridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) are one of the most species rich families of insects, with about 11 100 described species. Mirinae is the largest subfamily and its endemism becomes evident at the tribal level and below. Mirines of the tribe Restheniini are found throughout America, with most of the diversity confined to the Neotropics. Prepops Reuter is the largest genus in Restheniini with 198 described species and its geographical range is similar to that of the tribe. The study of the distribution and areas of endemism in Miridae are scarce and non-existent for Prepops. We analyzed all the geographic records of Prepops (707 records for 181 species) in order to identify diversity patterns and areas of endemism, using network analysis. Locality data were assigned using museum specimens and geographic records in the literature. Additionally we used spatial data to propose habitat preferences and geoclimatic variables important for each group of co-occurring species. The results indicate high species richness in subtropical regions, while the tropical belt and high latitudes appear impoverished. The Neotropical region contains 86% of the species, and the Nearctic about 11 % (but with larger species ranges); the Andean region is sparingly represented. Twenty-three areas of endemism (and two diads), formed by 2 or more endemic species, are distributed in the Nearctic (3), Mexican Transition Zone and Caribbean subregion (5), South American Transition Zone and Amazonian, Chacoan and Paranaense subregions (15). Overlap between some of the areas indicates regions with high species richness and complex history. The lack of records from the Andean region (except for P. nigrus in Southern Patagonia) and dominance of strictly Neotropical species (86 %) supports the hypothesis of a Neotropical origin for the tribe Restheniini. The general arrangement of the units of co-occurrence of Prepops species shows a close correlation with known biogeographic regions and subregions. Broad physiographic characteristics most commonly associated with Prepops geographical records are, in order of importance: broad leaf forests (wet and dry), grasslands and xeric habitats.

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Occurrence Patterns, Photoperiod and Dispersion Ability of the Non-Marine Ostracoda (Crustacea) in Shallow Waters

Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.4194/1303-2712-v21_2_03 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (02) ◽

pp. 73-85

Author(s):

Okan Külköylüoğlu ◽

Mehmet Yavuzatmaca ◽

Derya Akdemir

Keyword(s):

Habitat Preferences ◽

Sampling Time ◽

Shallow Waters ◽

Species Occurrence ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Effective Factor ◽

Species Pairs ◽

Occurrence Pattern ◽

Species Specific ◽

Occurrence Patterns

Patterns of species occurrence, dispersion ability, habitat preferences and sampling time can be important factors on the species composition. To understand effective roles of these factors on non-marine ostracods, samples were collected from 98 different shallow aquatic bodies from Osmaniye and Kilis provinces in Turkey. Total of 16 and 12 species were identified from the two provinces, respectively. All species are reported new for these provinces. Three species (Heterocypris incongruens, Ilyocypris inermis, I. bradyi) demonstrated the most frequent occurrences and abundances in up to seven different habitats. Species diversity and abundance were at least two times higher in natural habitats (streams, creeks) than artificial habitats (reservoirs, troughs). Numbers of species with and without swimming setae on the second antenna was not significantly different between lentic and lotic habitats. A positive co-occurrence pattern was found between Neglecandona neglecta and I. inermis while the rest of the species pairs exhibited random co-occurrences to each other. Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed 80.8% of correlation between species and environmental variables when water temperature was the major effective factor (P<0.05) on species occurrence. Sampling time did not make difference on the numbers of species between morning (06:30-11:58 a.m.) and after noon (12:05-19:52 p.m.). Results suggest that species occurrence seems to be related to species-specific characteristics in its n-dimensional niche where species deals with several other factors.

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Bird diversity in the coastal talukas of Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.4007.11.9.14166-14186 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 14166-14186

Author(s):

Golusu Babu Rao ◽

Santhanakrishnan Babu ◽

Goldin Quadros ◽

Anoop Vijay Kumar

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Bird Diversity ◽

Coastal Zones ◽

Wetland Birds ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Secondary Sources ◽

Threat Categories ◽

High Species Richness ◽

Secondary Information

The list of birds of Sindhudurg coastal district was compiled based on primary and secondary information. All observations were made along the Sindhudurg coast, i.e., from Terekhol to Vijaydurg. Wetland birds were recorded during sampling while terrestrial birds were recorded opportunistically. Besides, we also collated bird occurrence records from published literature (including grey literature and online resources) to prepare a comprehensive list of birds for Sindhudurg coast. During our study, we recorded 283 species, and 24 more species were compiled from secondary sources. Altogether, 307 species belonging to 78 families and 22 orders were recorded from the Sindhudurg coast. Order Passeriformes was dominant with 111 species. Among the 307 species, four species are endemic to the Western Ghats. Three species of vultures had been reported earlier but two were not encountered in recent years. Great Knot (EN), Woolly-necked Stork (VU) and 14 other species (NT) fall under various threat categories of IUCN. Species richness was higher in Vengurla (256) followed by Malvan (247) and Devgad talukas. Construction of homestays, unregulated tourism in coastal areas, and conversion of natural habitats to meet increasing tourism are the major threats to the coastal avifauna of the district. A high species richness of birds in Sindhudurg coast is attributed to the availability of a wide array of habitats (coastal to woodlands with different degrees of anthropogenic disturbances). Considering the high species richness of birds and livelihood dependency of humans on the coastal zones, a few estuaries namely Mochemad, Karli and Mitbav estuaries may be recognized as community/ conservation reserve to manage the ecosystem sustainably for long-term conservation of these estuaries and sub-habitats therein. Also, those sites can be perceived as Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas of IBCN as they fulfill the IBA criteria.

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Terrestrial mammalian fauna (Eulipotyphla, Lagomorpha, Rodentia, Carnivora, Artiodactyla) of Lozen Mountain

ARPHA Conference Abstracts ◽

10.3897/aca.2.e46677 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Sirma Zidarova

Keyword(s):

Conservation Status ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Mammalian Fauna ◽

Pitfall Trapping ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Live Trapping ◽

High Species Richness ◽

Natura 2000 Site

Field data on the terrestrial mammalian fauna (Eulipotyphla, Lagomorpha, Rodentia, Carnivora, Artiodactyla) of Lozen Мountain collected from 2005 untill 2019 were summarized. Several methods were used: live trapping, pitfall trapping, camera trapping, transects for signs (e.g. prints and scats), and visual observations. The investigation revealed relatively high species richness of the mammalian fauna in the area. The species composition of mammal associations in forested and open habitats, the conservation status and zoogeographic classification of the recorded species are presented. The distribution and habitat preferences of particular species (Neomys fodiens, Muscardinus avellanarius, Canis aureus, etc.) are discussed. The significance of the natural and the semi-natural habitats in Lozen Mountain for mammalian populations is considered. The main threats for the mammals and their habitats on the territory of Natura 2000 site “Lozenska planina” (BG0000165) are emphasized and recommendations for future management and monitoring activities are proposed.

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Coleoptera of Genting Highland, Malaysia: species richness and diversity changes along the elevations

Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica ◽

10.32800/amz.2019.17.0123 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 123-144

Author(s):

M. M. Musthafa ◽

F. Abdullah

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Cloud Forest ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Light Trap ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Peninsular Malaysia ◽

Sampling Effort ◽

Pitfall Traps ◽

High Species Richness ◽

Abundance And Diversity

The objective of this study was to measure beetle richness and diversity in Genting Highland at four major elevations (500 m, 1,000 m, 1,500 m and 1,800 m). Beetles were collected using light traps, malaise traps and pitfall traps. Altogether, 1,499 beetle samples representing 156 morphospecies were collected. Light trap and pitfall traps were more effective than Malaise trap. The 500 m elevation band displayed high species richness, abundance and diversity with all indices showing a decreasing pattern. The species accumulation curve displayed a progressive asymptote for all the altitudinal transects, showing the sampling effort was sufficient for this study. A long-term monitoring program of beetle diversity and distribution is useful to test abiotic factors that might influence biodiversity. This study also serves as a benchmark for further studies on this highly disturbed montane cloud forest in Peninsular Malaysia and will be useful to implement effective conservation management, particularly under the threat of climate change.

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Family graveyards form underappreciated local plant diversity hotspots in China's agricultural landscapes

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-80362-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Cheng Gong ◽

Liangtao Li ◽

Jan C. Axmarcher ◽

Zhenrong Yu ◽

Yunhui Liu

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Natural Habitat ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Landscape Features ◽

Habitat Islands ◽

Local Plant ◽

Ecological Functioning

AbstractIn the intensively farmed, homogenous agricultural landscape of the North China Plain, family graveyards form distinct cultural landscape features. In addition to their cultural value, these graveyards represent semi-natural habitat islands whose potential roles in biodiversity conservation and ecological functioning has remained poorly understood. In this study, we investigated plant species richness on 199 family graveyards of different ages and sizes. In accordance with biogeography theory, both overall and insect-pollinated plant species richness increased with area and age of graveyards. Even small graveyards show a strong potential for conserving local plant richness, and a mosaic of both large and small family graveyards could play an important role in the conservation of farmland biodiversity and related ecosystem functions. The launch of agri-environmental measures that conserve and create semi-natural habitats, in turn benefitting agricultural biodiversity and ecological functioning, has proven difficult in China due to the shortage of dispensable arable land. Given the great value of family graveyards as semi-natural habitats reflected in our study, we propose to focus preliminary efforts on conserving these landscape features as existing, widespread and culturally important semi-natural habitat islands. This would represent an effective, complementary policy to a subsequent re-establishment of other semi-natural habitats for the conservation of biodiversity and ecological functioning in agricultural landscapes.

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Distribution and habitat preference of protected reindeer lichen species (Cladonia arbuscula, C. mitis and C. rangiferina) in the Balaton Uplands (Hungary)

The Lichenologist ◽

10.1017/s0024282921000165 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 53 (3) ◽

pp. 271-282

Author(s):

Mónika Sinigla ◽

Erzsébet Szurdoki ◽

László Lőkös ◽

Dénes Bartha ◽

István Galambos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vascular Plants ◽

Management Practices ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Habitat Type ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Lichen Species ◽

Oak Forests ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Cladonia Rangiferina

AbstractThe maintenance of protected lichen species and their biodiversity in general depends on good management practices based on their distribution and habitat preferences. To date, 10 of the 17 protected lichen species of Hungary have been recorded in the Bakony Mts including the Balaton Uplands region. Habitat preferences of three protected Cladonia species (C. arbuscula, C. mitis and C. rangiferina) growing on underlying rocks of red sandstone, basalt, Pannonian sandstone and gravel were investigated by detailed sampling. We recorded aspect, underlying rock type, soil depth, pH and CaCO3 content, habitat type (as defined by the General National Habitat Classification System Á-NÉR), all species of lichen, bryophyte and vascular plants as well as percentage cover of exposed rock, total bryophytes, lichens, vascular plants and canopy, degree of disturbance and animal impacts. Sporadic populations of these species mostly exist at the top of hills and mountains in open acidofrequent oak forests, but they may occur in other habitats, such as closed acidofrequent oak forests, slope steppes on stony soils, siliceous open rocky grasslands, open sand steppes, wet and mesic pioneer scrub and dry Calluna heaths. Cladonia rangiferina was found to grow beneath higher canopy cover than either C. arbuscula or C. mitis in the Balaton Uplands. Furthermore, there were significant differences in canopy cover between occupied and unoccupied quadrats in the case of all three species. Cladonia rangiferina is a good indicator species of natural habitats in Hungary due to its restricted distribution and low ecological tolerance. These results may lead to the adoption of effective conservation methods (e.g. game exclusion, artificial dispersal) in the future.

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Biodiversity hanging by a thread: the importance of fungal litter-trapping systems in tropical rainforests

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2011.1115 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 397-400 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Jake L. Snaddon ◽

Edgar C. Turner ◽

Tom M. Fayle ◽

Chey V. Khen ◽

Paul Eggleton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Leaf Litter ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Habitat Complexity ◽

Tropical Rainforests ◽

Dramatic Reduction ◽

Experimental Removal ◽

Crucial Component ◽

High Species Richness ◽

Vital Resource

The exceptionally high species richness of arthropods in tropical rainforests hinges on the complexity of the forest itself: that is, on features such as the high plant diversity, the layered nature of the canopy and the abundance and the diversity of epiphytes and litter. We here report on one important, but almost completely neglected, piece of this complex jigsaw—the intricate network of rhizomorph-forming fungi that ramify through the vegetation of the lower canopy and intercept falling leaf litter. We show that this litter-trapping network is abundant and intercepts substantial amounts of litter (257.3 kg ha −1 ): this exceeds the amount of material recorded in any other rainforest litter-trapping system. Experimental removal of this fungal network resulted in a dramatic reduction in both the abundance (decreased by 70.2 ± 4.1%) and morphospecies richness (decreased by 57.4 ± 5.1%) of arthropods. Since the lower canopy levels can contain the highest densities of arthropods, the proportion of the rainforest fauna dependent on the fungal networks is likely to be substantial. Fungal litter-trapping systems are therefore a crucial component of habitat complexity, providing a vital resource that contributes significantly to rainforest biodiversity.

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Seasonality in a taxocoenosis of molluscs from soft bottoms in the Bay of Cádiz (southern Spain)

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315401004829 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 81 (6) ◽

pp. 903-912 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Jose L. Rueda ◽

Manuel Fernández-Casado ◽

Carmen Salas ◽

Serge Gofas

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Correspondence Analysis ◽

Dominant Species ◽

Southern Spain ◽

Soft Bottom ◽

Soft Bottoms ◽

High Species Richness ◽

Bay Of Cadiz ◽

Bay Of Cádiz ◽

Autumn And Winter

The macrofauna of molluscs associated with soft bottoms in the Bay of Cádiz (southern Spain) was studied monthly from February 1994 to January 1996. The number of species (63) is high for a soft bottom and is related to environmental characteristics (growth of macrophytes) and the biogeographical setting of the studied area. Corbula gibba (∼90%) was the dominant species in this taxocoenosis together with the gastropod Nassarius pygmaeus and the bivalves Pandora inaequivalvis, Parvicardium exiguum and Macoma melo. The most frequent species during the two years was also the bivalve Corbula gibba (100%) followed by the gastropods Nassarius pygmaeus, Tricolia tenuis, Rissoa membranacea and the bivalve Macoma melo. Total abundance of the taxocoenosis in both years reached higher values in spring. The dynamics of the ecological indices such as diversity or evenness, and the species richness showed a similar pattern in both years, with low values of diversity and evenness together with high species richness in spring and summer months and the reverse in autumn and winter. The qualitative correspondence analysis of monthly samples shows an ordination related to seasonality in both studied years, however the values of Jaccard's coefficient do not indicate significant boundaries among the monthly samples. The quantitative correspondence analysis shows an ordination and grouping of samples related to the biology of species, particularly with the recruitment of C. gibba, the dominant species. The existence of similar trends in the structure of the taxocoenoses over both years, and the seasonality highlighted by the qualitative correspondence analysis, seems to indicate a certain stability of the ecosystem.

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