scholarly journals Rhea americana Distribution: Range Expansion and Introductions of America’s Largest Bird

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Everton B.P. de Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Species Distribution ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Amazon Forest ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Rhea Americana ◽  
Threat Status ◽  
Forested Ecosystems ◽  
Current Species

Species distribution is a good predictor of several important traits, including threat status. Additionally, species expanding out of their original range can become invasive and this trend must be evaluated objectively. The greater rhea (Rhea americana) is a flightless large-sized avian species that thrives on open landscapes of South America. The species has been affected by the conversion of their savanna habitat into cropland and pastures, as well as benefited from forest conversion into fields at neighboring ecoregions. I propose to evaluate those range expansions, contractions and extirpations, as well as to depict the current species distribution. Here I show that greater rheas have expanded their range out of the “dry lands diagonal” into degraded portions of forested ecosystems—more extensively on the Amazon Forest—while persisting in human-altered landscapes of their historical range. This suggests that the species is faring well regarding conservation, which does not justify its current status at IUCN. Additionally, the potential ecological interactions of the species in newly colonized environments must be investigated. The faunal savanization undergoing in the Neotropics accounts on many new ecological interactions, of which greater rheas are a relevant part. Future actions of management may improve the species conservation profile.

scholarly journals ALTERAÇÃO NA COBERTURA FLORESTAL DA REGIÃO NOROESTE DA AMAZÔNIA MATOGROSSENSE

Nativa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 520
Author(s):  
Luani Rosa de Oliveira Piva ◽  
Rorai Pereira Martins Neto
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Amazon Forest ◽  
Landsat 8 Oli ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
The Past ◽  
Landsat 5 Tm

Nos últimos anos, a intensificação das atividades antrópicas modificadoras da cobertura vegetal do solo em território brasileiro vem ocorrendo em larga escala. Para fins de monitoramento das alterações da cobertura florestal, as técnicas de Sensoriamento Remoto da vegetação são ferramentas imprescindíveis, principalmente em áreas extensas e de difícil acesso, como é o caso da Amazônia brasileira. Neste sentido, objetivou-se com este trabalho identificar as mudanças no uso e cobertura do solo no período de 20 anos nos municípios de Aripuanã e Rondolândia, Noroeste do Mato Grosso, visando quantificar as áreas efetivas que sofreram alterações. Para tal, foram utilizadas técnicas de classificação digital de imagens Landsat 5 TM e Landsat 8 OLI em três diferentes datas (1995, 2005 e 2015) e, posteriormente, realizada a detecção de mudanças para o uso e cobertura do solo. A classificação digital apresentou resultados excelentes, com índice Kappa acima de 0,80 para os mapas gerados, indicando ser uma ferramenta potencial para o uso e cobertura do solo. Os resultados denotaram uma conversão de áreas florestais principalmente para atividades antrópicas agrícolas, na ordem de 472 km², o que representa uma perda de 1,3% de superfície de floresta amazônica na região de estudo.Palavras-chave: conversão de áreas florestais; uso e cobertura do solo; classificação digital; análise multitemporal. CHANGE IN FOREST COVER OF THE NORTHWEST REGION OF AMAZON IN MATO GROSSO STATE ABSTRACT: In the past few years, the intensification of anthropic activities that modify the soil-vegetation cover in Brazil’s land has been occurring on a large scale. To monitor the forest cover changes, the techniques of Remote Sensing of vegetation are essential tools, especially in large areas and with difficult access, as is the case of the Brazilian Amazon. The aim of this work was to identify the changes in land use and land cover, over the past 20 years, in the municipalities of Aripuanã and Rondolândia, Northwest of Mato Grosso State, in order to quantify the effective altered areas. Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI digital classification images techniques were used in three different dates (1995, 2005 and 2015) and, later, the detection to the land use and land cover changes. The digital classification showed excellent results, with kappa index above 0.80 for the generated maps, indicating the digital classification as a potential tool for land use and land cover. Results reflect the conversion of forest areas mainly for agricultural activities, in the order of 472 km², representing a loss of 1.3% of Amazon forest surface in the study region.Keywords: forest conversion; land use and land cover; digital classification; multitemporal analysis.

Rubus zielinskii (Rosaceae), a new species from Poland

Phytotaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 273 (3) ◽  
pp. 183 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATEUSZ MARIAN WOLANIN ◽  
MAGDALENA NATALIA WOLANIN ◽  
KRYSTYNA MUSIAŁ ◽  
IWONA KANIA ◽  
KRZYSZTOF OKLEJEWICZ
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
Conservation Assessment ◽  
Forest Roads ◽  
Threat Status ◽  
A New Species

Rubus zielinskii M. M. Wolanin & M. N. Wolanin, a new species from south-east Poland is described and illustrated. Rubus zielinskii is a tetraploid (2n=28) belonging to the series Sprengeliani based on morphology. It is most similar to Rubus sprengelii from which it differs in the inflorescence, being leafy to the apex, the larger flowers, paler colour of the vegetative stem and straighter prickles. The species occurs mostly along forest roads, ditches and forest edges. A species conservation assessment for Rubus zielinskii determines its threat status to be Least Concern.

scholarly journals The effects of using different species conservation priority lists on the evaluation of habitat importance within Hungarian grasslands

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
PÉTER BATÁRY ◽  
ANDRÁS BÁLDI ◽  
SAROLTA ERDŐS
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Great Plain ◽  
Conservation Priority ◽  
Threat Status ◽  
Bern Convention ◽  
Conservation Values ◽  
Declining Species ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Many bird species of conservation importance inhabit the grasslands of the Hungarian Great Plain. Although extensive grazing management usually supports more bird species than intensive management, the conservation priority is to protect rare or declining species. Therefore, the conservation status of species must also be included in assessments of the value of different habitats. We used territory mapping to count birds in 21 extensively and intensively grazed field pairs on the Hungarian Great Plain, and subsequently adjusted site scores depending on which species appeared on various lists of priority taxa. We investigated differences in conservation scores of two global conservation lists (the Bonn Convention and another based on values of eight biological characteristics), two West Europe based lists (Bird Directive and CORINE), three continental lists (European Threat Status, SPEC and Bern Convention) and two Hungarian lists (protected species of Hungary and an alternative based on the specifics of Hungarian populations). Extensively managed fields had higher conservation values under seven of the nine priority lists: only the two West Europe based lists showed opposite trends in more than half the study areas. Since both West Europe based lists cover many central and eastern European countries, there is an urgent need to revise these lists, especially the Bird Directive list that gives serious legal responsibilities to countries.

scholarly journals Trends and gaps in the use of citizen science derived data as input for species distribution models: A quantitative review

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0234587
Author(s):  
Mariano J. Feldman ◽  
Louis Imbeau ◽  
Philippe Marchand ◽  
Marc J. Mazerolle ◽  
Marcel Darveau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Species Distribution Models ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Species Occurrence ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Digital Platforms

Citizen science (CS) currently refers to the participation of non-scientist volunteers in any discipline of conventional scientific research. Over the last two decades, nature-based CS has flourished due to innovative technology, novel devices, and widespread digital platforms used to collect and classify species occurrence data. For scientists, CS offers a low-cost approach of collecting species occurrence information at large spatial scales that otherwise would be prohibitively expensive. We examined the trends and gaps linked to the use of CS as a source of data for species distribution models (SDMs), in order to propose guidelines and highlight solutions. We conducted a quantitative literature review of 207 peer-reviewed articles to measure how the representation of different taxa, regions, and data types have changed in SDM publications since the 2010s. Our review shows that the number of papers using CS for SDMs has increased at approximately double the rate of the overall number of SDM papers. However, disparities in taxonomic and geographic coverage remain in studies using CS. Western Europe and North America were the regions with the most coverage (73%). Papers on birds (49%) and mammals (19.3%) outnumbered other taxa. Among invertebrates, flying insects including Lepidoptera, Odonata and Hymenoptera received the most attention. Discrepancies between research interest and availability of data were as especially important for amphibians, reptiles and fishes. Compared to studies on animal taxa, papers on plants using CS data remain rare. Although the aims and scope of papers are diverse, species conservation remained the central theme of SDM using CS data. We present examples of the use of CS and highlight recommendations to motivate further research, such as combining multiple data sources and promoting local and traditional knowledge. We hope our findings will strengthen citizen-researchers partnerships to better inform SDMs, especially for less-studied taxa and regions. Researchers stand to benefit from the large quantity of data available from CS sources to improve global predictions of species distributions.

scholarly journals Trophic redundancy reduces vulnerability to extinction cascades

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (10) ◽  
pp. 2419-2424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Sanders ◽  
Elisa Thébault ◽  
Rachel Kehoe ◽  
F. J. Frank van Veen
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Species Loss ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Trophic Links ◽  
Current Species

Current species extinction rates are at unprecedentedly high levels. While human activities can be the direct cause of some extinctions, it is becoming increasingly clear that species extinctions themselves can be the cause of further extinctions, since species affect each other through the network of ecological interactions among them. There is concern that the simplification of ecosystems, due to the loss of species and ecological interactions, increases their vulnerability to such secondary extinctions. It is predicted that more complex food webs will be less vulnerable to secondary extinctions due to greater trophic redundancy that can buffer against the effects of species loss. Here, we demonstrate in a field experiment with replicated plant-insect communities, that the probability of secondary extinctions is indeed smaller in food webs that include trophic redundancy. Harvesting one species of parasitoid wasp led to secondary extinctions of other, indirectly linked, species at the same trophic level. This effect was markedly stronger in simple communities than for the same species within a more complex food web. We show that this is due to functional redundancy in the more complex food webs and confirm this mechanism with a food web simulation model by highlighting the importance of the presence and strength of trophic links providing redundancy to those links that were lost. Our results demonstrate that biodiversity loss, leading to a reduction in redundant interactions, can increase the vulnerability of ecosystems to secondary extinctions, which, when they occur, can then lead to further simplification and run-away extinction cascades.

scholarly journals Of Pongo, palms and perceptions: a multidisciplinary assessment of Bornean orang-utans Pongo pygmaeus in an oil palm context

Oryx ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Ancrenaz ◽  
Felicity Oram ◽  
Laurentius Ambu ◽  
Isabelle Lackman ◽  
Eddie Ahmad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Palm ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Pongo Pygmaeus ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Industrial Oil ◽  
Palm Trees ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Orang Utan

AbstractThe oil palm industry is blamed for the demise of iconic species such as the orang-utan Pongo pygmaeus in Borneo but production of, and demand for, this commodity continue to expand. Therefore, a better understanding of how the orang-utan is adapting to human-transformed environments is crucial for conserving the species. Results from a combination of repeated ground transects, aerial presence/absence surveys, and interviews of workers in mature plantations of the lower Kinabatangan River floodplain (eastern Sabah) provide an overall picture of the current status of orang-utans in an established agro-industrial oil palm landscape. Our results show that orang-utans disperse into mature plantations, use oil palm trees for nesting, and feed on mature fruits. Most oil palm workers report orang-utans of all age–sex classes within the estates but fail to report any negative effect of the animals on productivity of mature palms ≥5 years. Our surveys also show that orang-utan presence in the mature oil palm landscape is correlated with proximity to natural forest patches. These results suggest that forest patches, even when small, fragmented and degraded, are required to sustain the species in human-transformed landscapes. Homogenous oil palm plantations are incompatible with viable populations of orang-utans. The cessation of further forest conversion to agriculture and the enforcement of better management practices are needed to reduce the threat of oil palm development to orang-utan survival.

scholarly journals Species versus within-species niches: a multi-modelling approach to assess range size of a spring-dwelling amphibian

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Forough Goudarzi ◽  
Mahmoud-Reza Hemami ◽  
Mansoureh Malekian ◽  
Sima Fakheran ◽  
Fernando Martínez-Freiría
Keyword(s):  
Species Distribution ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Area Of Occupancy

AbstractSpecies Distribution Models (SDMs) can be used to estimate potential geographic ranges and derive indices to assess species conservation status. However, habitat-specialist species require fine-scale range estimates that reflect resource dependency. Furthermore, local adaptation of intraspecific lineages to distinct environmental conditions across ranges have frequently been neglected in SDMs. Here, we propose a multi-stage SDM approach to estimate the distributional range and potential area of occupancy (pAOO) of Neurergus kaiseri, a spring-dwelling amphibian with two climatically-divergent evolutionary lineages. We integrate both broad-scale climatic variables and fine-resolution environmental data to predict the species distribution while examining the performance of lineage-level versus species-level modelling on the estimated pAOO. Predictions of habitat suitability at the landscape scale differed considerably between evolutionary level models. At the landscape scale, spatial predictions derived from lineage-level models showed low overlap and recognised a larger amount of suitable habitats than species-level model. The variable dependency of lineages was different at the landscape scale, but similar at the local scale. Our results highlight the importance of considering fine-scale resolution approaches, as well as intraspecific genetic structure of taxa to estimate pAOO. The flexible procedure presented here can be used as a guideline for estimating pAOO of other similar species.

scholarly journals Species conservation profiles of tarantula spiders (Araneae, Theraphosidae) listed on CITES

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Fukushima ◽  
Jorge Mendoza ◽  
Rick West ◽  
Stuart Longhorn ◽  
Emmanuel Rivera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Area Of Occupancy ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
The Impact

CITES is an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Regarding spiders, all species listed in CITES are tarantulas. They are included in Appendix II, meaning that they are species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that they may become so unless trade is closely controlled. Many tarantulas are legally and illegally traded in the pet market and they are one of the most traded invertebrate groups. Originally, the CITES list published in 1995 included all the current species of the genus Brachypelma Simon, 1891 plus Aphonopelma pallidum (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897) and the so-called Aphonopelma albiceps (Pocock, 1903). After that, some taxonomic changes were done, as well as descriptions of new species in the genus Brachypelma. The objective of this paper is to assess the 21 taxonomically valid spider species listed on CITES according to the IUCN criteria, study the general patterns and trends and advise on possible future conservation actions critical for the survival of endangered species. Amongst all 21 species assessed, 16 had sufficient data on their distribution, ecology and threats to properly understand their current status and suggest possible conservation measures. A decline in the area of occupancy (AOO) and extent of occurrence (EOO) was inferred to almost all species, caused mostly by human activities (urbanisation, roads, agricultural and touristic activities), which often lead to the complete loss of subpopulations across their range. Hurricanes and frequent rising water, which are increasing in frequency due to climate change, can cause decline in habitat quality and consequent change in EOO and AOO of some species and should also be considered when planning conservation actions. Severe fragmentation was detected in 13 species and is therefore one of the most relevant threats to the most endangered Brachypelma species and should be made a priority aspect to deal with when proposing conservation actions for the group. Regarding the loss of individuals in wild populations, the main cause seems to be the overharvesting to meet the illegal trade. The most important conservation actions identified across species include preserving their natural habitat through protected areas, establishing management plans for both the species and their habitats and undertaking systematic monitoring to provide information about population recovery and species re-introduction programmes. In general, we propose to prioritise and support research on the population trends and distribution, as well as on the impact of land use and habitat degradation. Special attention regarding conservation actions and research plans has to be given to the central Pacific coastal area of Mexico, particularly around Guerrero State where five species of Brachypelma occur. Critically, for some of the most endangered species, such as B. baumgarteni and B. hamorii, there is no official protected area in their range of occurrence. It would therefore be highly recommended to establish at least one conservation unit which focuses on protecting each of these species in situ. In some cases, basic taxonomic research is needed before development of any appropriate conservation action can be proposed.

scholarly journals Globally distributed occurrences utilised in 200 spider species conservation profiles (Arachnida, Araneae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Cardoso ◽  
Vaughn Shirey ◽  
Sini Seppälä ◽  
Sergio Henriques ◽  
Michael Draney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Data Reporting ◽  
Spider Species ◽  
Threat Status ◽  
Global Threat ◽  
Online Sources ◽  
Globally Distributed ◽  
Coordinate Data ◽  
Occurrence Records

Data on 200 species of spiders were collected to assess the global threat status of the group worldwide. To supplement existing digital occurrence records from GBIF, a dataset of new occurrence records was compiled for all species using published literature or online sources, from which geographic coordinates were extracted or interpreted from locality description data. A total of 5,104 occurrence records were obtained, of which 2,378 were from literature or online sources other than GBIF. Of these, 2,308 had coordinate data. Reporting years ranged from 1834 to 2017. Most records were from North America and Europe, with Brazil, China, India and Australia also well represented.

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