scholarly journals Acoustic indices as rapid indicators of avian diversity in different land-use types in an Indian biodiversity hotspot

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel T. Buxton ◽  
Samira Agnihotri ◽  
V. V. Robin ◽  
Anurag Goel ◽  
Rohini Balakrishnan

Passive acoustic monitoring is a potentially valuable tool in biodiversity hotspots, where surveying can occur at large scales across land conversion types. However, in order to extract meaningful biological information from resulting enormous acoustic datasets, rapid analytical techniques are required. Here we tested the ability of a suite of acoustic indices to predict avian bioacoustic activity in recordings collected from the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot in southwestern India. Recordings were collected at 28 sites in a range of land-use types, from tea, coffee, and cardamom plantations to remnant forest stands. Using 36 acoustic indices we developed random forest models to predict the richness, diversity, and total number of avian vocalizations observed in recordings. We found limited evidence that acoustic indices predict the richness and total number of avian species vocalizations in recordings (R2 < 0.51). However, acoustic indices predicted the diversity of avian species vocalizations with high accuracy (R2 = 0.64, mean squared error = 0.17). Index models predicted low and high diversity best, with the highest residuals for medium diversity values and when continuous biological sounds were present (e.g., insect sounds >8 sec). The acoustic complexity index and roughness index were the most important for predicting avian vocal diversity. Avian species richness was generally higher among shade-grown crops than in the open tea plantation. Our results suggest that models incorporating acoustic indices can accurately predict low and high avian species diversity from acoustic recordings. Thus, ecoacoustics could be an important contributor to biodiversity monitoring across landscapes like the Western Ghats, which are a complex mosaic of different land-use types and face continued changes in the future.

2017 ◽  
Vol 437 ◽  
pp. 82-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Nogué ◽  
Katie Whicher ◽  
Ambroise G. Baker ◽  
Shonil A. Bhagwat ◽  
Kathy J. Willis

Oecologia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 193 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachakonda Sreekar ◽  
Lian Pin Koh ◽  
Christos Mammides ◽  
Richard T. Corlett ◽  
Salindra Dayananda ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1459-1467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhilash Nair ◽  
Sujith V. Gopalan ◽  
Sanil George ◽  
K. Santhosh Kumar ◽  
Takahito Shikano ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 18257-18282
Author(s):  
Anoop P. Balan ◽  
S.V. Predeep

A checklist of the legumes of Kerala State is presented.  This exhaustive checklist is an outcome of extensive field surveys, collection, identification and documentation of family Leguminosae carried out across Kerala State during the period 2006–2019.  A total of 448 taxa were recorded under five subfamilies and 115 genera.  The majority of the legumes are herbs and shrubs, the rest being trees and woody climbers.  About 81 taxa are endemic to India, especially confined to the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, out of which 17 are endemic to  Kerala.  The state is home to two Critically Endangered and six Endangered legumes, facing severe threat of extinction.  Crotalaria is the dominant legume genus in the state with 62 taxa followed by Desmodium and Indigofera.  About 57 genera are represented by single species each.  Legumes are treated according to the latest phylogenetic classification of the Legume Phylogeny Working Group (LPWG).  Updated nomenclature, habit, native countries, voucher specimens, and images of endemic and lesser known legumes found in the state are provided.  Crotalaria multiflora var. kurisumalayana (Sibichen & Nampy) Krishnaraj & N. Mohanan is reduced as a synonym to C. multiflora (Arn.) Benth.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4985 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
SHAHID ALI AKBAR ◽  
HIMENDER BHARTI ◽  
MARIUSZ KANTURSKI ◽  
AIJAZ AHMAD WACHKOO

Here we describe and illustrate Syllophopsis peetersi sp. nov. from Silent Valley National Park, a biodiversity hotspot region of the Western Ghats of India. The discovery also marks a first native report of the genus from the Indian subcontinent. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis was carried out to elucidate the general morphology and sensilla of the new species. The new species is similar to congeners from Madagascar, but with larger differences from species that occur elsewhere.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4550 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
BERNHARD A. HUBER

As part of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot, Sri Lanka harbors a rich and diverse fauna, especially in the perhumid southwestern part of the island. However, many invertebrate groups such as spiders continue to be poorly studied. The present paper reviews our knowledge about Pholcidae, a family of spiders that is well represented in Sri Lanka, both by numerous (10) introduced species and by a rich native fauna in five genera (described native Sri Lankan species in parentheses): Belisana Thorell, 1898 (6), Leptopholcus Simon, 1893 (1), Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (4), Tissahamia Huber, 2018 (4), and Wanniyala Huber & Benjamin, 2005 (9). Fourteen species are newly described: Belisana minneriya sp. n., B. badulla sp. n., B. gowindahela sp. n.; Pholcus metta sp. n., P. puranappui sp. n., P. uva sp. n.; Tissahamia karuna sp. n.; Wanniyala mudita sp. n., W. orientalis sp. n., W. upekkha sp. n., W. ohiya sp. n., W. viharekele sp. n., W. mapalena sp. n., and W. labugama sp. n.. All new species are described from males and females. New Sri Lankan records are given for 16 previously described species. Distribution data suggest that most or all of the 24 native species might be endemic to Sri Lanka, but the Indian pholcid fauna remains almost entirely unknown. 


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