scholarly journals Taxonomy, distribution and habitats of the Dytiscidae (Coleoptera) of Ethiopia

1993 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Nilsson ◽  
Sven Persson

The 168 species of Dytiscidae known from Ethiopia are listed. For each species are given: original citation, synonyms, gross distribution, and distribution in Ethiopia with special reference to altitude and provinces. Besides literature records and museum specimens, 7300 individuals of 53 species collected by the junior author chiefly in the Arssi highlands in 1988 and 1989 are reported on. One syn. n. is presented: Rhantus longulus Regimbart, 1895 = Rhantus flavicollis Regimbart, 1887. Most of the 38 species endemic to Ethiopia occur only over 2000 m a.s.l., and the proportion of endemic species is highest in the Gondar, Shoa, Arssi and Bale provinces. The fauna of most provinces is poorly known. The Shoa province is best known, with 92 species recorded. In the Arssi highlands, the maximum local diversity was near 20 species in both lentic and lotic biotopes. The species richness of different supraspecific taxa is discussed and information is presented on co-occurrence of congeneric species and proportions of rare and frequent species.


Check List ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego F. García-Mendoza ◽  
Celia López-González

An updated list of the mammals of Durango state, Mexico was built from literature records and Museum specimens. A total of 139 species have been recorded, representing 28.3 % of the Mexican terrestrial mammals, and 25.1 % species more compared to the previous account. Two species have been extirpated from the state, 23 are endemic to Mexico. Four major ecoregions have been previously defined for the state, Arid, Valleys, Sierra, and Quebradas. Species richness is highest at the Quebradas, a tropical ecorregion, whereas the aridlands are the least species-rich. The Sierra has the highest number of endemic species (11) followed by Quebradas (7), Valleys and Arid (3). Despite the fact that Durango harbors one of the largest diversities of mammals of the country, conservation efforts are minimal, and the current protected areas do not include the most species-rich regions. The current rate of anthropogenic modification in the state makes urgent to put in practice already existing plans to protect Durango’s unique biodiversity.



2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 985-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Gastauer ◽  
Marcos Eduardo Guerra Sobral ◽  
João Augusto Alves Meira-Neto

According to its owners, the Forest of Seu Nico (FSN) from the Viçosa municipality, Minas Gerais, Brazil, never has been logged and is therefore considered a primary forest. Nevertheless, the forest patch suffered impacts due to selective wood and non-timber extraction, fragmentation and isolation. Aim of this study was to test if the FSN, despite impacts, preserved characteristics of primary forests, which are elevated percentages of non-pioneer (>90%), animal-dispersed (>80 %), understory (>50%) and endemic species (~40%). For that, all trees with diameter at breast height equal or major than 3.2 cm within a plot of 100 x 100 m were identified. With 218 tree species found within this hectare, the FSN's species richness is outstanding for the region. The percentages of non-pioneer (92 %), animal-dispersed (85 %), understory (55 %) and endemic species (39.2 %) from the FSN fulfill the criteria proposed for primary forest. Therefore, we conclude that the FSN maintained its characteristics as a primary forest which highlights its importance for the conservation of biotic resources in the region, where similar fragments are lacking or not described yet.



2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Robert Alexander Pyron

We live in an unprecedented age for systematics and biodiversity studies. Ongoing global change is leading to a future with reduced species richness and ecosystem function (Pereira, Navarro, & Martins, 2012). Yet, we know more about biodiversity now than at any time in the past. For squamates in particular, we have range maps for all species (Roll et al., 2017), phylogenies containing estimates for all species (Tonini, Beard, Ferreira, Jetz, & Pyron, 2016), and myriad ecological and natural-history datasets for a large percentage of species (Meiri et al., 2013; Mesquita et al., 2016). For neotropical snakes, a recent synthesis of museum specimens and verified localities offers a fine-grained perspective on their ecogeographic distribution in Central and South America, and the Caribbean (Guedes et al., 2018).



<em>Abstract.</em>—We examined fish assemblage responses to urban intensity gradients in two contrasting metropolitan areas: Birmingham, Alabama (BIR) and Boston, Massachusetts (BOS). Urbanization was quantified by using an urban intensity index (UII) that included multiple stream buffers and basin land uses, human population density, and road density variables. We evaluated fish assemblage responses by using species richness metrics and detrended correspondence analyses (DCA). Fish species richness metrics included total fish species richness, and percentages of endemic species richness, alien species, and fluvial specialist species. Fish species richness decreased significantly with increasing urbanization in BIR (<em>r </em>= –0.82, <EM>P </EM>= 0.001) and BOS (<em>r </em>= –0.48, <EM>P </EM>= 0.008). Percentages of endemic species richness decreased significantly with increasing urbanization only in BIR (<em>r </em>= – 0.71, <EM>P </EM>= 0.001), whereas percentages of fluvial specialist species decreased significantly with increasing urbanization only in BOS (<em>r </em>= –0.56, <EM>P </EM>= 0.002). Our DCA results for BIR indicate that highly urbanized fish assemblages are composed primarily of largescale stoneroller <em>Campostoma oligolepis</em>, largemouth bass <em>Micropterus salmoides</em>, and creek chub <em>Semotilus atromaculatus</em>, whereas the highly urbanized fish assemblages in BOS are dominated by yellow perch <em>Perca flavescens</em>, bluegill <em>Lepomis macrochirus</em>, yellow bullhead <em>Ameiurus natalis</em>, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed <em>L. gibbosus</em>, brown bullhead <em>A. nebulosus</em>, and redfin pickerel <em>Esox americanus</em>. Differences in fish assemblage responses to urbanization between the two areas appear to be related to differences in nutrient enrichment, habitat alterations, and invasive species. Because species richness can increase or decrease with increasing urbanization, a general response model is not applicable. Instead, response models based on species’ life histories, behavior, and autecologies offer greater potential for understanding fish assemblage responses to urbanization.



Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2170
Author(s):  
Elzbieta Dumnicka ◽  
Tanja Pipan ◽  
David Culver

Caves are the best studied aquatic subterranean habitat, but there is a wide variety of these habitats, ranging in depth below the surface and size of the spaces (pore or habitat size). Both factors are important in setting limits to species composition and richness. In addition to caves, among the most important shallow aquatic subterranean habitats are the hyporheal (underflow of rivers and streams), the hypotelminorheal (very superficial drainages with water exiting in seeps), epikarst, and calcrete aquifers. Although it is little studied, both body size and species composition in the different habitats is different. Because of high levels of endemism and difficulty in access, no subterranean habitats are well sampled, even caves. However, there are enough data for robust generalizations about some geographic patterns. Individual hotspot caves are concentrated in the Dinaric region of southern Europe, and overall, tropical regions have fewer obligate aquatic cave dwellers (stygobionts). In all subterranean aquatic habitats, regional diversity is much higher than local diversity, but local diversity (especially single cave diversity) may be a useful predictor of regional species richness. In Europe there is a ridge of high aquatic subterranean species richness basically extending east from the French–Spanish border. Its cause may be either high productivity or that long-term temperature oscillations are at a minimum. With increased collecting and analysis, global and continental trends should become clearer.



Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2061 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETERSON R. DEMITE ◽  
REINALDO J. F. FERES ◽  
ANTONIO C. LOFEGO ◽  
ANIBAL R. OLIVEIRA

This study reports on the mites associated with plants in two Cerrado formations: Cerradão and Riparian Forest, located in Itiquira, in the southern region of Mato Grosso State, Brazil. A total of 67 mite species was collected, belonging to 20 families in the suborders Gamasida, Actinedida, Acaridida and Oribatida. Phytoseiidae (13 species) and Tarsonemidae (11 species) were the families with the greatest richness. Iphiseiodes zuluagai (Denmark & Muma) (Phytoseiidae), Lamellobates (Lamellobates) sp. (Oribatida, Austrachipteriidae) and Agistemus sp. (Prostigmata, Stigmaeidae) were the most frequent species, collected on eleven, ten and nine plant species, respectively. Among the plants found during the fieldwork, the plant species Bauhinia longifolia (Bong.) Steud. (Caesalpinaceae), collected in the Riparian Forest formation, contained the highest species richness (28 species). The specific identification of approximately 70% of the taxa collected was not possible. For these reasons, surveys of mites in natural areas that include estimates of the ratio of undescribed species are important, because they provide a panorama of the great diversity of unknown mite fauna in these environments.



2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chitra Bahadur BANIYA ◽  
Torstein SOLHØY ◽  
Yngvar GAUSLAA ◽  
Michael W. PALMER

AbstractThis study of elevation gradients of lichen species richness in Nepal aimed to compare distribution patterns of different life-forms, substratum affinities, photobiont types, and Nepalese endemism. Distribution patterns of lichens were compared with elevational patterns shown by a wide range of taxonomic groups of plants along the Nepalese Himalayan elevational gradient between 200–7400m. We used published data on the elevation records of 525 Nepalese lichen species to interpolate presence between the maximum and minimum recorded elevations, thereby giving estimates of lichen species richness at each 100-m elevational band. The observed patterns were compared with previously published patterns for other taxonomic groups. The total number of lichens as well as the number of endemic species (55 spp.) showed humped relationships with elevation. Their highest richness was observed between 3100–3400 and 4000–4100m, respectively. Almost 33% of the total lichens and 53% of the endemic species occurred above the treeline (>4300m). Non-endemic richness had the same response as the total richness. All growth forms showed a unimodal relationship of richness with elevation, with crustose lichens having a peak at higher elevations (4100–4200m) than fruticose and foliose lichens. Algal and cyanobacterial lichen richness, as well as corticolous lichen richness, all exhibited unimodal patterns, whereas saxicolous and terricolous lichen richness exhibited slightly bimodal relationships with elevation. The highest lichen richness at mid altitudes concurred with the highest diversity of ecological niches in terms of spatial heterogeneity in rainfall, temperature, cloud formation, as well as high phorophyte abundance and diversity implying large variation in bark roughness, moisture retention capacity, and pH. The slightly bimodal distributions of saxicolous and terricolous lichens were depressed at the elevational maximum of corticolous lichens.



Alpine Botany ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Lamprecht ◽  
Harald Pauli ◽  
Maria Rosa Fernández Calzado ◽  
Juan Lorite ◽  
Joaquín Molero Mesa ◽  
...  

AbstractClimate change impacts are of a particular concern in small mountain ranges, where cold-adapted plant species have their optimum zone in the upper bioclimatic belts. This is commonly the case in Mediterranean mountains, which often harbour high numbers of endemic species, enhancing the risk of biodiversity losses. This study deals with shifts in vascular plant diversity in the upper zones of the Sierra Nevada, Spain, in relation with climatic parameters during the past two decades. We used vegetation data from permanent plots of three surveys of two GLORIA study regions, spanning a period of 18 years (2001–2019); ERA5 temperature and precipitation data; and snow cover durations, derived from on-site soil temperature data. Relationships between diversity patterns and climate factors were analysed using GLMMs. Species richness showed a decline between 2001 and 2008, and increased thereafter. Species cover increased slightly but significantly, although not for endemic species. While endemics underwent cover losses proportional to non-endemics, more widespread shrub species increased. Precipitation tended to increase during the last decade, after a downward trend since 1960. Precipitation was positively related to species richness, colonisation events, and cover, and negatively to disappearance events. Longer snow cover duration and rising temperatures were also related to increasing species numbers, but not to cover changes. The rapid biotic responses of Mediterranean alpine plants indicate a tight synchronisation with climate fluctuations, especially with water availability. Thus, it rather confirms concerns about biodiversity losses, if projections of increasing temperature in combination with decreasing precipitation hold true.



Biologia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natália Raschmanová ◽  
Dana Miklisová ◽  
Ľubomír Kováč ◽  
Vladimír Šustr

AbstractThe study compared communities of soil Collembola along the inversed microclimatic gradient of the collapse doline of the Silicka ľadnica Ice Cave (Slovakia) in spring and autumn of 2005. Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and the Mann- Whitney test revealed significant differences in abundance between sites and both seasons. Significantly higher abundance means and species richness were observed at most sites during the spring compared with the autumn. NMS ordination documented a clear delimitation of communities with remarkably different soil microclimates. The community pattern of the coldest section of the gradient, with low species richness and high mean abundance, was analogous to communities living in the harsh alpine and polar soils. The collapse doline with inversed microclimate hosted a high number of species (72) and a broad variety of montane forms (13), thus documenting that these karst landforms enhance local diversity of edaphic Collembola and serve as local refugia of specialized cold-tolerant species. The cold tolerance of the four abundant species at the doline cold sites, namely Ceratophysella sigillata, Tetrodontophora bielanensis, Protaphorura armata and Desoria tigrina, was tested in the laboratory using one-hour exposition survival tests. Within a temperature range from -2.4 to -7.8◦C, T. bielanensis was the most cold-sensitive species, with a lethal dose LD50 of -4.4◦C, while D. tigrina was the most cold-resistant, showing LD50 of -5.8◦C.



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