An annotated list of the reptiles of the highland grassland of Tandilia Mountains, Argentina

Identifying key conservation sites for the reptiles of the Tandilia mountains in Pampas highlands

In Argentina, the grasslands of Pampas region comprise approximately 15% of the country. As in other grasslands of the world, grasshoppers are among the most important native herbivores. Their economic importance has been recognized in Argentina since the mid to late nineteenth century, since outbreaks of different species have become recurrent phenomena. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to study their diversity and distribution in grasslands of the Southern Pampas region (Laprida county, Buenos Aires province), as one of the most affected areas. The study was conducted during five seasons (2005-10). Sampling sites were represented by the most common plant communities in this area, classified in four categories: native grasslands, disturbed grasslands, implanted pastures and halophilous grasslands. The samplings were conducted from mid-spring to early autumn, with five or six samples per season. We estimated the following population descriptors: species richness (S), eveness (E), dominance (J), and diversity index (H'). In order to evaluate the similitude of the grasshopper communities present in the different plant communities, we used qualitative and quantitative coefficients of similitude. A total of 22 species of grasshoppers were collected, of which 21 belong to the family Acrididae. The subfamily Melanoplinae was the most diverse with eight species. The largest species richness was recorded in native grasslands (18). The different communities of grasshoppers had similar indices of evenness and dominance (p>0.05). Considering all plant communities, the average value of Shannon-Wiener index was 1.58+/-0.075. There was a positive correlation between evenness index and species richness (p<0.05). The diversity index H' was different between plants communities (p<0.05), and it was higher in the disturbed grassland (1.75+/-0.096, p<0.05) than in the halophilous grasslands (1.34+/-0.12). Native and disturbed grasslands had a higher plant richness than halophilous grasslands and implanted pastures (p<0.05). There was a positive relationship between plant richness and grasshoppers species richness, and diversity of grasshoppers. According to the qualitative indices applied, the similitude between different grasshopper communities was higher than 60%. In general, the species that had a higher frequency of occurrence showed greater abundance and distribution. Covasacris pallidinota, Dichroplus elongatus, D. maculipennis, Borellia bruneri and B. pallida were the most widely distributed species, most of them (12) showed a restricted distribution and few (five) an intermediate distribution.

Neotropical temperate grasslands comprise the Pampas ecoregion in Argentina. This region is also the center of agricultural development in Argentina, which has led to a significant simplification and homogenization of the landscape. The Tandilia Mountains, located in the Southeast of the ecoregion, house one of the last remnants of the highland grassland that acts as a refuge for several native species, including both endemic and threatened species. This work aims to present an updated inventory of mammal species that inhabit the highland grassland remnants of the Tandilia Mountains. We used several sources of information to compile the list, including museum collections, citizen science projects (i.e., iNaturalist, EcoRegistros, and Argentinian Network for Monitoring Run Over Fauna), literature, and personal observations. We recorded 40 species of mammals, which include 32 native species and eight exotic species. The richest orders were Rodentia (42.5%), Chiroptera (17.5%), and Carnivora (12.2%). The native mammals found in the Tandilia Mountains represent 44% of the mammal diversity of the Pampas ecoregion, among which there are endemic species of the ecoregion, species whose populations are declining globally, and threatened species. Unfortunately, the presence of protected areas in the system is limited to a few small ones, which highlights the urgency of increasing the number and variety of protected areas. The information presented in this work contributes to the knowledge of biodiversity and the planning of conservation actions for the last remnants of highland grasslands.

Productivity Dynamics of a Native Temperate Grassland in Argentina

Invasive alien slugs alter plant community assemblages via selective herbivory, yet evidence of their impacts on indigenous plant species in threatened Australian native grasslands are scarce. Carabid beetles have been explored as biocontrol agents of pest slugs in agriculture, with native grassland habitat adjoining agricultural fields thought to be a potential source of beneficial carabid predators. The association between indigenous carabid beetles and invasive alien slugs within remnant native grassland vegetation patches, however, is unquantified. Studies were conducted to identify (i) The extent and determinants of slug invasion into remnant native grassland, and (ii) Whether carabid beetles can confer biotic resistance to native plant species in remnant grasslands. The interaction between alien slugs, carabid beetles and a rare grassland forb was explored in microcosm experiments to test the hypothesis that carabid beetles, by regulating slug herbivory, influence plant survival and growth. Slugs were found at 90% of the remnant native grasslands surveyed; carabid beetles were infrequent and their active abundance was low. There was little evidence that landscape or site-level parameters influence slug density, although species-specific patterns were apparent for the two most abundant slug species. This may reflect the importance of propagule pressure from source populations (the agricultural matrix) affecting slug invasion success, suggesting that native grassland habitat features are of secondary importance. The microcosm experiments provided evidence that slug herbivory may significantly impact the survival of a native forb at the seedling stage, but less so at a mature plant stage. We found that carabid beetles can markedly reduce the impact of alien slugs on plants, provided that encounters between the two taxa occurs. Interactions in the field are likely to be density-dependent such that beneficial impacts of carabid beetles are only apparent when their abundance is high. The high abundance of alien slugs in remnant grasslands, and lack of evidence for biotic resistance via carabid beetle predation, indicates that grassland conservation management may need to include slug baiting to mitigate the potential for negative impacts of slugs on seedling recruitment of threatened native plant species.

Simple SummaryConservation of insects requires a reliable knowledge of their distribution. Such knowledge is hard to obtain in many cases, due to lack of human power and funding for extensive surveys. Three ways out of this problem have been suggested: (1) data already available in museum collections, (2) data already available in the entomological literature and (3) use of citizen science projects as a cheap, efficient way to survey extensive territories. We assessed the contribution of each of these sources of information in delineating the Spanish distribution of the European stag beetle. Although citizen science quickly contributed more grid cells than the other sources, some grid cells were uniquely contributed by museum and publication data. Thus, the three sources of information need to be combined when targeting endangered species in a broad, heterogenous, sparsely populated territory such as Spain.Reliable distribution maps are in the basis of insect conservation, but detailed chorological information is lacking for many insects of conservation concern (the Wallacean shortfall). Museum collections, entomological publications and citizen science projects can contribute to solve this Wallacean shortfall. Their relative contribution to the knowledge on the distribution of threatened insects has been scarcely explored, but it is important given that each of these three sources of information has its own biases and costs. Here we explore the contribution of museum data, entomological publications and citizen science in delineating the distribution of the European stag beetle in Spain. Citizen science contributed the highest number of records and grid cells occupied, as well as the highest number of grid cells not contributed by any other information source (unique grid cells). Nevertheless, both museum data and publications contributed almost 25% of all unique grid cells. Furthermore, the relative contribution of each source of information differed in importance among Spanish provinces. Given the pros and cons of museum data, publications and citizen science, we advise their combined use in cases, such as the European stag beetle in Spain, in which a broad, heterogeneous, sparsely populated territory has to be prospected.

Udawattha Kele Sanctuary which is located in Kandy city, is situated in the intermediate zone of Sri Lanka. It is the only man made urban forest in Sri Lanka, which was declared as a sanctuary in 1938 and vested with the forest department. The forest is located between 7 ° 17”- 8° 19” Northern latitudes and 80° 38” - 80° 39” Eastern longitudes. It is 500m a.s.l and covers 257 acres with its moist semi evergreen type forest ecosystem. This forest ecosystem is known to harbor a rich composition of reptile fauna which represents 11 families. The present study was carried out to evaluate the species composition and to understand the distribution patterns of reptiles and to strengthen conservation strategies. Field sampling started in September 2011 and continued up to December 2011. 40 Randomly located 10m x 10m plots were sampled in undisturbed upper, undisturbed lower, naturally disturbed and an abandoned single species Mesua ferrea plantation equally and the wet litter mass (Kg), litter depth (Cm), % canopy cover, % ground cover, number of fallen logs/plot, soil pH, soil moisture, soil temperature and atmospheric temperature were recorded. The natural disturbances have occurred due to soil erosion and tree falls. Twenty one different species of terrestrial reptiles were captured in plots over the study including 13 species of snakes, 3 species of gekkonids, 3 species of scincids and 2 species of agamids out of them 57% species were endemic to Sri Lanka. Species distribution and habitat was positively correlated with the leaf litter and arboreal faunal abundance of reptilians. 20 species were observed at undisturbed sites, while disturbed sites supported 5 species and there were only 2 species present in plantation sites. The highest diversity of 3.911 (H‟-Shannon) and species richness 20, were observed at undisturbed upper site .Assemblage composition was high in those sites compared to disturbed and Mesua ferrea plantation sites. In contrast, the Mesua ferrea plantation had the lowest species richness of 2, diversity of 0.543 (H‟-Shannon) among the study sites. Soil moisture, wet litter mass, litter depth, number of fallen logs/plot, canopy cover and ground cover were significantly positive (<0.001) predicators of reptilian presence in plots. There is an adverse effect on reptile faunal diversity and its abundance by large areas of single-species plantations in Udawattha Kele Sanctuary. Natural disturbances also have a negative impact on its reptile composition in comparing to undisturbed sites. Furthermore, populations of Sus scrofa affinis and Macaca sinica has became a potential threat for their abundance. Especially Sus scrofa affinis feeds upon them, disturbing their habitats and breeding sites. In addition, it is recommended to increase and to maintain the sustainability of the forest ecosystem and its bio diversity by long term and short term urban forest management plans, and also to conserve and preserve the reptile fauna in this urban forest.

Exurban land use growth has been documented for at least thirty years in various regions around the world. Land use planners and land use/land cover change researchers have been concerned about the low-density residential developments scattered on a natural or agricultural matrix, due to their ecological and environmental impacts. In this paper, exurban sprawl in the Pampas ecoregion (Buenos Aires province, Argentina), is characterized and assessments are taken of the magnitude of two important consequences: agricultural land conversion, and excess CO2 emission resulting from commute. The exurban developments concentrate between 50 and 70 km from Buenos Aires city, mainly at walking distances from compact towns, from 1 to 6 km of main roads, and no further than 25 km from them. Most of the exurban developments are located on the higher elevations in the study area (25 to 30 m above sea level). Even though exurban land use covers a very small proportion of land, the results show a tendency for conversion of land in the highest soil productivity capacity classes. While the best agricultural lands accounted for 29% of the land in the study area, it accounted for 54% of the exurban development. Preference of exurban land use conversion for good quality agricultural soils is observed even in those counties with a scarcity of good soils. However, there are great differences among counties in the relative proportion of land converted to exurban land use in each soil productivity capacity class. At the county level, from 0 to 100% of the highest production capacity lands have been converted to exurban uses, regardless of the proportion of land in each soil productivity capacity class for individual counties. Excess CO2 equivalents emission was calculated for both the actual and the potencial number of households in the exurban developments. According to the automobile marque, range and fuel type, the actual emission ranges from 81,065 to 190,446 tons/year, and the potential from 296,643 to 696,908 tons/year. The excess emission per household is higher than that produced by domestic energy consumption within the Buenos Aires city during the same time period. The amount of CO2 emitted in a year by personal vehicle transportation, in the study area, is equivalent to that captured by 16,000 ha of temperate forests or 27,600 ha of temperate grasslands during the same time period.

Museum collections are critical to contemporary biological research, but museum acquisitions have declined in recent decades, hampering researchers’ ability to use collections to assess species responses to habitat modification, urbanization, and global climate change. Citizen science may be a key method to bolster museum collections data, particularly from urban regions, where ongoing data collection is critical to our understanding of ecosystem dynamics in a highly modified and variable landscape. In this study, we compare data collected as part of the citizen science project Reptiles and Amphibians of Southern California (RASCals), hosted on the platform iNaturalist (www.inaturalist.org), to data in the VertNet database (www.vertnet.org), which houses millions of museum collection records from over 250 natural-history collections, for four focal species, including a native lizard of conservation concern that has declined with urbanization, a native lizard that is widespread in urban areas, and two invasive aquatic species. We compared numbers of VertNet records over time to modern RASCals records, and the number of records collected from urban, suburban, and protected areas from both databases. For all species, citizen science records were generated much more rapidly than museum records. For three of our four focal species, RASCals participants over 27 months documented from 70% to 750% more records than were added to the VertNet database after 1990. For the urban-tolerant southern alligator lizard, RASCals participants collected nearly 45 times more modern urban records than are contained in the VertNet database. For all other species, the majority of RASCals records were collected within suburban or other highly modified landscapes, demonstrating the value of citizen science for collecting data within urban and suburban ecosystems. As new museum acquisitions decline, citizen science projects like RASCals may become critical to the maintenance of modern species distribution data.

The aim of this study was to assess the genotoxic potential of surface waters located in a rural area in the north east of Buenos Aires province (Argentina) using the Allium cepa test. Water samples were collected at four sites located in a drainage channel and two sites on the Burgos stream that receives water from the channel, taking into account the sowing and harvesting months and rainfall periods. Analytical determinations revealed high total concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn (maximum values: 0.030, 0.252, 0.176, and 0.960mgL-1, respectively), and concentrations of glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), with maximum values of 13.6 and 9.75μgL-1, respectively. Statistically positive correlations were observed between the total metal concentrations and precipitation. No cytotoxicity (mitotic index MI) was observed in A. cepa. However, several water samples showed significant increases in micronucleus (MN) frequencies with respect to the controls. No correlations were observed between MN and the abiotic variables or precipitation. These results showed a state of deterioration in the water quality at the rural area studied in Buenos Aires province, and heavy metal contamination may contribute to the genotoxic activity. A. cepa was shown to be a useful tool for the detection of genotoxicity in water samples from areas with agricultural and livestock activities.

Fil: Cortelezzi, Agustina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Ecosistemas y Desarrollo Sustentable; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentina

The implementation of Citizen Science in biodiversity studies has led the general public to engage in environmental actions and to contribute to the conservation of natural resources (Chandler et al. 2017). Smartphones have become part of the daily lives of millions of people, allowing the general public to collect data and conduct automatic measurements at a very low cost. Indeed, a series of Citizen Science mobile applications have allowed citizens to rapidly record specimen observations and contribute for the development of large biodiversity databases around the World. Citizen Science applications have a multitude of purposes, as well as target a variety of taxa, biological questions and geographical regions. Brazil is a megadiverse country that includes many threatened species and Biomes. Conversation efforts are urgent and the engagement of the civil society is critical. Brazilian dry and wet forests are dominated by members of the plant family Bignoniaceae, all of which are characterized by beautiful trumpet-shaped flowers and a big-bang flowering strategy. Species of the Neotropical Bignoniaceae trees are popularly known in Brazil as “Ipê” and are broadly cultivated throughout the country due to the showy flowers and strong wood. Different species have different flower colors, making its identification relatively easy. The showy and colorful flowers are extremely admired by the local population and the media. Flowering of “Ipês” is triggered by dry climate, lower temperatures and increasing day-light, making this group an excellent model for phenological and climatic studies involving Citizen Science. Here, we developed a multi-platform mobile application focused on the plant family Bignoniaceae that allows users to contribute phenological data for species from this plant family. More specifically, through this application the user is able to provide data about specimen locations, phenology and date, all of which can be validated by a photograph. This platform is based on React Native, a hybrid app framework that helps the developers to reuse the code across multiple mobile platforms, a development much more efficient and with efforts focused on the user experience. This technology uses Javascript as programming language and Facebook React as a basis for development. The system is similar to other CS apps such as iNaturalist. Namely, the overall observations improve the quality of the ranking through positive feedback from the community, strengthening the network of interactions between users and encouraging active participation. On the other hand, the application allows users to access all previously stored observations, which, in turn, can suggest improvements to that particular observation. Furthermore, observations without a correct ID can be stored until others can suggest a correct identification, maximizing the value of individual observations and data gathered. An important aspect of this mobile application is the participation of a network of experts on this plant family, allowing a rapid and accurate verification of individual observations. This team of Bignoniaceae experts is also able to make full use of the data gathered by correlating climate and phenological patterns. Results from these analyses are provided to the citizens gathering the data which will, in turn, stimulate the collection of new data, especially in poorly sampled locations. This is a very dynamic mobile application, that aims to engage the civil society with true scientific research, stimulating the management of natural resources and conservation efforts. Through this mobile app, we hope to engage the general public into biodiversity studies by improving their knowledge on an iconic group of Brazilian plants, while contributing data for scientific studies. The system is expected to be released in May and will be available at ipesdobrasil.org.br.

Nowadays, the implementation of project assignments of the study of biodiversity material in college is generally still local action, it is badly needed follow-up as a global perspective. Citizen science is one of the activities that have the potential to be applied. This descriptive study aims to investigate the implementation of student project assignments related to biodiversity studies and to propose the potential of citizen science as a global perspective and follow-up to project assignments in studying biodiversity to enhance its meaningfulness. Several students of the Biology Department in one university in East Java-Indonesia were involved as respondents (n = 74) and several scientific articles were used as sources of potential information of citizen science (n = 15). A questionnaire collected through Google form. The potential of citizen science data was obtained and combined with a literature review using descriptive qualitative data analysis. The conclusion of this study indicates that student project assignments in biodiversity studies were with field practice assignments or conducting research and reports performed in scientific articles. Citizen science has the potential as a follow-up to project assignments in studying biodiversity to be a global perspective and more meaningful.

AimThe objectives of this study were to relate species density, richness and relative abundance of grasshoppers to habitat vegetation and to detect variations in these variables among native and exotic plant communities which reflected disturbance history.LocationTwenty‐seven sites were selected in 2000 representing a variety of native and exotic plant communities, with different degrees of disturbance history, in south‐east Buenos Aires province, Argentina.MethodsGrasshopper mean density, species relative abundance and species composition were estimated at each site via standard flushing and sweep net techniques. Plant associations at each site were estimated by evaluating the percentage canopy of ground cover of native perennial grasses, introduced perennial forbs, annual pastures, halophilous species, perennial pastures, native perennial forbs, introduced annual forbs and plant species richness. Based on vegetation variables, sites were classified into five disturbance categories: native grasslands, halophilous grasslands, pastures, moderately disturbed pastures and highly disturbed pastures.ResultsGrasshopper communities from sites dominated by introduced plant species (forbs, sown grasses and dicots), were characterized by relatively high densities and a high proportion of potential pest species. Native grassland sites showed lower grasshopper densities, while halophilous grassland had high densities, but with low proportion of potential pest species.Main conclusionsResults from this study suggest that the most abundant and economic important species of the pampas, Dichroplus elongatus, was associated with sown pasture plants (grasses and dicots) and introduced forbs, and negatively correlated with natural communities (native vegetation and halophilous species). These relationships imply that appropriate management practices that leave more areas with natural vegetation and include perennial pastures and native species in the rotations could show beneficial in reducing the overall density and the proportion of the primary pest species in south‐eastern Buenos Aires province.

Citizen science is an important vehicle for democratizing science and promoting the goal of universal and equitable access to scientific data and information. Data generated by citizen science groups have become an increasingly important source for scientists, applied users and those pursuing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Citizen science data are used extensively in studies of biodiversity and pollution; crowdsourced data are being used by UN operational agencies for humanitarian activities; and citizen scientists are providing data relevant to monitoring the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This article provides an International Science Council (ISC) perspective on citizen science data generating activities in support of the 2030 Agenda and on needed improvements to the citizen science community's data stewardship practices for the benefit of science and society by presenting results of research undertaken by an ISC-sponsored Task Group.