scholarly journals Bats of the El Kala Biosphere Reserve, northeastern Algeria (Chiroptera)

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
Amrane Farfar ◽  
Mohammed Lamine Bendjeddou ◽  
Zihad Bouslama ◽  
Wassim Metallaoui ◽  
Raouf Amara Korba ◽  
...  

Twelve bats species representing four families (Rhinolophidae, Miniopteridae, Vespertilionidae, and Molossidae) were recorded in sites representing nine different habitats of the El Kala Biosphere Reserve and its vicinity in northeastern Algeria. Myotis emarginatus showed the highest frequency, it was found at five sites, Rhinolophus hipposideros, Eptesicus isabellinus and Miniopterus schreibersii at four sites, while Rhinolophus euryale, R. blasii, Myotis punicus, Pipistrellus kuhlii and Tadarida teniotis in three localities each. Species richness (total number of species within a site) ranged between 1 and 8 (mean 4.33). The annual activity pattern of all species was recorded by one netting session per month per locality in the course of two years.

Author(s):  
C. Hily ◽  
F. Jean

Patterns of the distribution of intertidal fauna in relation to the diversity of habitats were studied in the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) reserve of the archipelago of Molene and Ouessant (west Brittany, France). A classification of environmental features was developed in order to determine species richness, abundance, biomass and trophic structure of the macrobenthic fauna in this intertidal area which covers 1120 ha. The four descriptors of the environment were: (1) substratum (rock, boulders, sediment, pebbles); (2) height on the shore, based on the macrophytic zones: Pelvetia canaliculata/Fucus spiralis; Fucus vesiculosus / Ascophyllum nodosum; Fucus serratus; and Himanthalia elongata/Zostera marina; (3) wave exposure (sheltered, semi-sheltered, exposed); (4) percentage of algal cover (<50%, >50%). Each type was defined by a four-figure number and matched to a map codification. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a posteriori Newman-Keuls test (P=0.05) were applied to the series of species richness and biomass. Among the 308 species sampled, 40 represented 90% of the total biomass. Maximal number of species was reached in boulder fields in the Himanthalia zone, under exposed conditions and high algal cover. The lowest number of species was observed in pebble fields of the Pelvetia zone and in the sedimentary areas. Trophic structures were dominated by suspension feeders and herbivores at high levels on the shore and by carnivores at the lowest levels. High vegetation cover and wave-exposed conditions were shown to increase with increasing faunal diversity. Links between patterns of habitat distribution and faunal diversity and biomass in different spatial scales are discussed.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8373
Author(s):  
Fabio Albuquerque ◽  
Yaiyr Astudillo-Scalia

Because the distribution of most of the species is poorly known, conservationists use surrogates to help maximize the representation level of all species. Historically, species richness has been used to calculate the importance of priority areas for conservation, but several studies revealed sites with high species richness often fail to determine the smallest number of sites that will protect the highest number of species. Rarity, however, has played a prominent role in safeguarding planning units. While the performance of rarity has been previously assessed in terrestrial systems, we tested the hypothesis that rarity of a site can be used as a measure of the importance of a site to a conservation network in marine ecosystems. We used the presence data (at a 1-degree resolution) to calculate five rarity indices of fish diversity at a global extent and compared the results to those obtained by using species richness and site complementarity. Our objectives were to: (1) determine if rarity indices can be used as surrogates of fish biodiversity by representing the highest number of species in the smallest number of sites; and (2) determine if the effectiveness of these indices to represent fish biodiversity is impacted by the metric used to define rarity. Results indicate that rarity could be an effective surrogate for marine fishes, as most results showed a mean of 100% effectiveness. In the context of marine biodiversity conservation, results show that rarity indices could be considered affordable and feasible surrogates of species representation, with the most significant benefit to those areas of the world that are in most need to access alternative tools. Results also open a new area of collaboration between biogeography and marine conservation biology since planners can use biogeographical patterns of rarity to enhance the performance of the current protected area network.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Abdeldjabar Necer ◽  
Aicha Tadjine ◽  
Djamila Belouahem-Abed ◽  
Messaoud Saoudi

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Despite its ecological importance, the study of Algerian alder forests has been largely neglected, even though they represent the largest ones of their kind in North Africa. Moreover, few measures have been taken towards the protection of these ecosystems.</p><p><strong>Questions: </strong>How many species are present in the Algerian alder forests? What is the effect of soil properties on species richness and diversity of inventoried plants?  Is its spatial patterns a result of soil variables variation?</p><p><strong>Studied species: </strong>Polypodiopsida, Gymnospermae, and Angiospermae.</p><p><strong>Study site and dates:</strong> El-Kala Biosphere Reserve (KBR), El-Tarf province, northeastern Algeria, from January 2016 to February 2017.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> Twenty-eight localities were sampled using the relevé method. Soil samples were taken from three points at each site. The relationship between species richness and soil factors was statistically evaluated using multiple linear regression and multivariate statistical analysis.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> The inventory showed a total of 352 species that belong to 236 genera and 89 families. According to NMDS results, black alder forests were classified into two groups (marshy and the hilly, and the fluvial forests), in relation to plant species richness. No linear relationships between species richness and soil parameters were observed, except for OM (<em>P</em> =  0.013).</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> The present study allowed us to perform an inventory of plant species present in alder forests and to understand its distribution among different habitat types, as well as those factors that affect its zonation. For this ecosystem, our study revealed that vegetation diversity is related to the variation of soil variables.</p>


Author(s):  
Wojciech Gubała ◽  
Bronisław Wołoszyn

Bats hibernating in underground shelters of Małe Pieniny mountains (the Carpathian Mountains, Southern Poland) Six bat species were observed during winter censuses in years 2005-2009: Lesser horseshoe bat, Mouse-eared bat, Daubenton's bat, Whiskered/Brandt's bat, Northern bat and Brown long-eared bat. Rhinolophus hipposideros was most numerous (67% of all bats recorded). Largest hibernaculum on Polish side of range was mine Bania w Jarmucie, with maximum 29 bats during a single control, through the years of research number of species and individuals was increasing. Rarely seen in Outer Carpathians Eptesicus nilssonii winter roost was found in Homole Ravine Reserve.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Carlos M. Delgado-Martínez ◽  
Fredy Alvarado ◽  
Melanie Kolb ◽  
Eduardo Mendoza

Abstract Great attention has been drawn to the impacts of habitat deforestation and fragmentation on wildlife species richness. In contrast, much less attention has been paid to assessing the impacts of chronic anthropogenic disturbance on wildlife species composition and behaviour. We focused on natural small rock pools (sartenejas), which concentrate vertebrate activity due to habitat’s water limitation, to assess the impact of chronic anthropogenic disturbance on the species richness, diversity, composition, and behaviour of medium and large-sized birds and mammals in the highly biodiverse forests of Calakmul, southern Mexico. Camera trapping records of fauna using sartenejas within and outside the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (CBR) showed that there were no effects on species richness, but contrasts emerged when comparing species diversity, composition, and behaviour. These effects differed between birds and mammals and between species: (1) bird diversity was greater outside the CBR, but mammal diversity was greater within and (2) the daily activity patterns of birds differed slightly within and outside the CBR but strongly contrasted in mammals. Our study highlights that even in areas supporting extensive forest cover, small-scale chronic anthropogenic disturbances can have pervasive negative effects on wildlife and that these effects contrast between animal groups.


2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 958-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anderson Pedro Bernardina Batista ◽  
José Márcio de Mello ◽  
Marcel Régis Raimundo ◽  
Henrique Ferraço Scolforo ◽  
Aliny Aparecida dos Reis ◽  
...  

Abstract: The objective of this work was to analyze the spatial distribution and the behavior of species richness and diversity in a shrub savanna fragment, in 2003 and 2014, using ordinary kriging, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. In both evaluation years, the measurements were performed in a fragment with 236.85 hectares, in which individual trees were measured and identified across 40 plots (1,000 m2). Species richness was determined by the total number of species in each plot, and diversity by the Shannon diversity index. For the variogram study, spatial models were fitted and selected. Then, ordinary kriging was applied and the spatial distribution of the assessed variables was described. A strong spatial dependence was observed between species richness and diversity by the Shannon diversity index (<25% spatial dependence degree). Areas of low and high species diversity and richness were found in the shrub savanna fragment. Spatial distribution behavior shows relative stability regarding the number of species and the Shannon diversity index in the evaluated years.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Sebastián-González ◽  
JM Barbosa ◽  
JM Pérez-García ◽  
Z Morales-Reyes ◽  
F Botella ◽  
...  

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Understanding the distribution of biodiversity across the Earth is one of the most challenging questions in biology. Much research has been directed at explaining the species latitudinal pattern showing that communities are richer in tropical areas; however, despite decades of research, a general consensus has not yet emerged. In addition, global biodiversity patterns are being rapidly altered by human activities. Here, we aim to describe large-scale patterns of species richness and diversity in terrestrial vertebrate scavenger (carrion-consuming) assemblages, which provide key ecosystem functions and services. We used a worldwide dataset comprising 43 sites, where vertebrate scavenger assemblages were identified using 2,485 carcasses monitored between 1991 and 2018. First, we evaluated how scavenger richness (number of species) and diversity (Shannon diversity index) varied among seasons (cold vs. warm, wet vs. dry). Then, we studied the potential effects of human impact and a set of macroecological variables related to climatic conditions on the scavenger assemblages. Vertebrate scavenger richness ranged from species-poor to species rich assemblages (4–30 species). Both scavenger richness and diversity also showed some seasonal variation. However, in general, climatic variables did not drive latitudinal patterns, as scavenger richness and diversity were not affected by temperature or rainfall. Rainfall seasonality slightly increased the number of species in the community, but its effect was weak. Instead, the human impact index included in our study was the main predictor of scavenger richness. Scavenger assemblages in highly human-impacted areas sustained the smallest number of scavenger species, suggesting human activity may be overriding other macroecological processes in shaping scavenger communities. Our results highlight the effect of human impact at a global scale. As species-rich assemblages tend to be more functional, we warn about possible reductions in ecosystem functions and the services provided by scavengers in human-dominated landscapes in the Anthropocene.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. 8272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Girish Gogoi ◽  
Vipin Parkash

<p>Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary is comprised of five distinct compartments.  A total of 138 species of gilled mushrooms belonging to 48 genera, 23 families, five orders of the class Agaricomycetes, division Basidiomycota, have been collected and analyzed. The order Agaricales was was found with the highest number of species (113), followed by Russulales (14), Polyporales (5), Cantharellales (4) and Boletales (2). The species <em>Coprinellus disseminatus </em>and <em>Megacollybia rodmani</em> have shown the highest (8.26) and the lowest density (0.05), respectively.  A total of 24 species, e.g., <em>Termitomyces albuminosus, Marasmius curreyi, Marasmiellus candidus, Leucocoprinus medioflavus, Mycena leaiana, Hygrocybe miniata, Collybia chrysoropha, Gymnopus confluens</em> were common with frequency percentage of 11.9, whereas <em>Megacollybia rodmani</em> with less frequency percentage (2.4) was found only in few quadrates of the sanctuary.  The highly abundant species were <em>Termitomyces medius</em> (91.7) and <em>Coprinellus disseminatus </em>(86.8), and less abundant species were <em>Psilocybe wayanadensis</em> (1.0) and <em>Lepiota</em> sp. (1.0) in the study site.  The order of the species richness index (<em>R</em>) compartment wise was 2&gt;3&gt;4&gt;5&gt;1. Both the Shannon diversity index and Simpson diversity index of agarics was maximum (1.88, 0.98) in compartment 2, whereas minimum (1.72, 0.95) in compartment 1 and 5, respectively.  Moreover, the compartment 2 was found very much similar with compartment 3 and very less similar with compartment 1.</p><div> </div>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Steinke ◽  
TWA Braukmann ◽  
L Manerus ◽  
A Woodhouse ◽  
V Elbrecht

AbstractThe Malaise trap has gained popularity for assessing diverse terrestrial arthropod communities because it collects large samples with modest effort. A number of factors that influence collection efficiency, placement being one of them. For instance, when designing larger biotic surveys using arrays of Malaise traps we need to know the optimal distance between individual traps that maximises observable species richness and community composition. We examined the influence of spacing between Malaise traps by metabarcoding samples from two field experiments at a site in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. For one experiment, we used two trap pairs deployed at weekly increasing distance (3m increments from 3 to 27 m). The second experiment involved a total of 10 traps set up in a row at 3m distance intervals for three consecutive weeks.Results show that community similarity of samples decreases over distance between traps. The amount of species shared between trap pairs shows drops considerably at about 15m trap-to-trap distance. This change can be observed across all major taxonomic groups and for two different habitat types (grassland and forest). Large numbers of OTUs found only once within samples cause rather large dissimilarity between distance pairs even at close proximity. This could be caused by a large number of transient species from adjacent habitat which arrive at the trap through passive transport, as well as capture of rare taxa, which end up in different traps by chance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 895-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan Salles ◽  
Patrice Rey ◽  
Enrico Bertuzzo

Abstract. Species distribution and richness ultimately result from complex interactions between biological, physical, and environmental factors. It has been recently shown for a static natural landscape that the elevational connectivity, which measures the proximity of a site to others with similar habitats, is a key physical driver of local species richness. Here we examine changes in elevational connectivity during mountain building using a landscape evolution model. We find that under uniform tectonic and variable climatic forcing, connectivity peaks at mid-elevations when the landscape reaches its geomorphic steady state and that the orographic effect on geomorphic evolution tends to favour lower connectivity on leeward-facing catchments. Statistical comparisons between connectivity distribution and results from a metacommunity model confirm that to the 1st order, landscape elevation connectivity explains species richness in simulated mountainous regions. Our results also predict that low-connectivity areas which favour isolation, a driver for in situ speciation, are distributed across the entire elevational range for simulated orogenic cycles. Adjustments of catchment morphology after the cessation of tectonic activity should reduce speciation by decreasing the number of isolated regions.


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