Biogeographic characterisation of the Austral High Andean district, Patagonian province, based on vascular plant taxa

The Austral High Andean area extends from south-eastern Mendoza, Argentina, to the southernmost tip of South America in the form of isles on the peaks of the Andes range. The objective of this biogeographic regionalisation study was to characterise this area. Individual tracks were made on the basis of the distribution maps of 232 species of vascular plants present in the area, from which localities were identified and georeferenced. A parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) was used to obtain a generalised track. The results support an area of endemism located mainly in the Neuquén province, which is treated as a district of the Patagonian province that belongs to the Patagonian subregion of the Andean region. This track analysis is a preliminary contribution for understanding the distributional patterns of the High Andean biota within an evolutionary biogeographic framework.

Catalogue of Blattaria (Insecta) from Argentina

An updated catalogue is given of the cockroach species recorded in Argentina. It includes a list of species, their distribution in the different provinces of the country, the institutions in which the type specimens are deposited, and an updated list of references. The results indicate 87 (plus 2 incertae sedis) species, included in 4 families, 12 subfamilies and 40 currently recognized genera. A few species are widely spread across the country, but 35% (29 + 2 incertae sedis) are only known to occur in Argentina. The biotic affinities of the biogeographic provinces were studied. The data analysis corresponds with the major areas of influence: the Neotropical and Andean regions. A parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) was performed. The Parana Forest, Pampa and Chaco biogeographic provinces are supported by numerous endemic species. The families Blaberidae, Blattellidae and Phyllodromiidae include 90% of the species. The cockroach fauna from Argentina is still poorly known and the number of species undoubtedly is higher. The primary homonym of Chorisoneura minuta Rocha e Silva & Aguiar, 1977 was replaced with Chorisoneura rochaesilvae nom. n.

A new biogeographical regionalisation of the Páramo biogeographic province

We identified biogeographical districts in the Páramo biogeographic province, in the north-western Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, including the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, above 3000m ASL. We applied a parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) to 8418 distributional data of 4644 vertebrate and angiosperm species, distributed in the north-western Andes and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Areas analysed were selected according to the hypotheses of several authors. We obtained a single most parsimonious cladogram, which shows 10 groups of areas (southern Ecuadorian, central Ecuadorian, northern Ecuadorian, Venezuelan, Los Picachos, Sierra Nevada, Santa Inés-Sonsón, Paramillo del Sinú, Cordillera Oriental and Quindío) and a single isolated area (Farallones de Cali). We propose that these areas conform 11 biogeographical districts. The biogeographical districts obtained adjust to the ‘cordilleran pattern’, where páramos of each cordillera are linked together. This study supports the hypothesis that during different glacial periods, páramos of these cordilleras were connected and, subsequently, separated during interglacial periods.

Bird distributional patterns support biogeographical histories and are associated with bioclimatic units in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Rivers as barriers to dispersal and past forest refugia are two of the hypotheses proposed to explain the patterns of biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest. It has recently been shown that possible past refugia correspond to bioclimatically different regions, so we tested whether patterns of shared distribution of bird taxa in the Atlantic Forest are 1) limited by the Doce and São Francisco rivers or 2) associated with the bioclimatically different southern and northeastern regions. We catalogued lists of forest birds from 45 locations, 36 in the Atlantic forest and nine in Amazon, and used parsimony analysis of endemicity to identify groups of shared taxa. We also compared differences between these groups by permutational multivariate analysis of variance and identified the species that best supported the resulting groups. The results showed that the distribution of forest birds is divided into two main regions in the Atlantic Forest, the first with more southern localities and the second with northeastern localities. This distributional pattern is not delimited by riverbanks, but it may be associated with bioclimatic units, surrogated by altitude, that maintain current environmental differences between two main regions on Atlantic Forest and may be related to phylogenetic histories of taxa supporting the two groups.

Patrones de endemismo y disyunción de los géneros de Euphorbiaceae sensu lato: un análisis panbiogeográfico

Distributional patterns of the genera of Euphorbiaceae were analyzed under a panbiogeographic approach, using the parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) method. Four generalized tracks were obtained, joining the following regions: (1) Neotropical-Afrotropical (determined by the genera Amanoa, Caperonia, Conceveiba, Manprounea, Pogonophora, Savia and Tetrorchidium); (2) Temperate Australian-Tropical Australian-Neoguinean-Oriental (determined by the genera Actephila, Baloghia, Choriceras, Petalostigma and Sauropus); (3) Temperate Australian-Tropical Australian-Neoguinean-Afrotropical- Neotropical (determined by the genera Acalypha, Alchornea, Cleidion, Drypetes, Margaritaria, Microstachys, Omphalea and Phyllanthus); and (4) Neoguinean-Oriental-Afrotopical (determined by the genera Glochidion, Macaranga, Microdesmis and Shirakopsis). Two generalized tracks overlap in the Afrotropical region, which is identified as a node.

Evaluación de AE y PAE para identificar trazos generalizados, a partir de las serpientes del estado de Hidalgo, México

One of the most important concepts in Panbiogeography is the generalized track, which represents an ancestral biota fragmented by geological events that can be recovered through several methods, including Parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) and endemicity analysis (EA). PAE has been frequently used to identify generalized tracks, while EA is primarily designed to find areas of endemicity, but has been recently proposed for identifying generalized tracks as well. In this study we evaluated these methods to find generalized tracks using the distribution of the 84 snake species of Hidalgo. PAE found one generalized track from three individual tracks (Agkistrodon taylori, Crotalus totonacus and Pliocercus elapoides), supported by 89 % of Bootstrap, and EA identified two generalized tracks, with endemicity index values of 2.71-2.96 and 2.84-3.09, respectively. Those areas were transformed to generalized tracks. The first generalized track was retrieved from three individual tracks (Micrurus bernadi, Rhadinaea marcellae and R. quinquelineata), and the second was recovered from two individual tracks (Geophis mutitorques and Thamnophis sumichrasti). These generalized tracks can be considered a unique distribution pattern, because they resembled each other and agreed in shape. When comparing both methods, we noted that both are useful for identifying generalized tracks, and although they can be used independently, we suggest their complementary use. Nevertheless, to obtain accurate results, it is useful to consider theoretical bases of both methods, along with an appropriate choice of the size of the area. Results using small-grid size in EA are ideal for searching biogeographical patterns within geopolitical limits. Furthermore, they can be used for conservation proposals at state level where endemic species become irreplaceable, and where losing them would imply the extinction of unique lineages.