Population structure and conservation status of Leptocereus nudiflorus, an endemic cactus from Cuba

Eulychnia ritteri is endemic to Peru, restricted to the northern coast of the department of Arequipa. The lack of knowledge of this species, and threats such as human activities and climate change, put the populations at risk. In this research, we examined the geographical distribution and conservation status of E. ritteri in the coastal area of the Caravelí province. In addition, the population structure and phenology in the Quebrada Vizcachani population were evaluated using plots of 10x100 m. Data on the accompanying flora and local fauna were also obtained. Eulychnia ritteri showed five populations distributed from 15°43’ to 15°47’S, with a total area of 63.62 ha (0.63 km2). The Quebrada Vizcachani population is the largest (24.5 ha) and the Cementerio population the smallest (0.018 ha). The population density evaluated is 0.06 ind/m2, where seedlings, juveniles, adults, and dead plants were 3.61, 24.09, 56.63 and 15.67% respectively. The phenology was asynchronous, the flower buds, flowers and fruits appear in the same period. The flowers and fruits were food for insects and rodents respectively, and 18 accompanying species have been recorded. Finally, E. ritteri is categorised as endangered (EN), given its geographical distribution and identified threats.

The aim of this study was to develop microsatellite markers as a tool to study population structure, genetic diversity and effective population size of Echinopsis chiloensis, an endemic cactus from arid and semiarid regions of Central Chile. We developed 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers for E. chiloensis using next-generation sequencing and tested them in 60 individuals from six sites, covering all the latitudinal range of this species. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 8, while the observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity ranged from 0.0 to 0.80 and from 0.10 to 0.76, respectively. We also detected significant differences between sites, with FST values ranging from 0.05 to 0.29. Microsatellite markers will enable us to estimate genetic diversity and population structure of E. chiloensis in future ecological and phylogeographic studies.

Desert plants have several adaptations to cope with harsh environmental conditions; these adaptations range from the ability to store water to the diversification of reproductive modes, displaying sexual reproduction and clonality. Grusonia bradtiana is an endemic cactus from Coahuila which dominates vegetation at bajada landforms of Cuatro Cienegas. The species reproduces sexually by seeds and clonally by fission of stems, allowing the parent plant to create genetically identical offspring. The type of recruitment influences the structure and dynamics of the population as well as the life history attributes that determine population growth. Negative environmental impacts can modify the reproductive success of plants; genotypic variation and sexual reproduction are reduced under stressful conditions while clonality is favored. Furthermore, the amount and quality of offspring via sexual reproduction decreases with high clonality, as inbreeding has negative genetic effects or if species are self-incompatible. However, clonality allows population growth or stability in harsh environments, although it may limit genotypic diversity. We studied the effect of sexual and clonal reproductive modes on the population structure and dynamics of G. bradtiana in two contrasting populations with different management history. The populations were located at Sierra de la Fragua [FRA-disturbed site], and at Sierra de San Marcos y Pinos [SMP-conserved site] in Cuatro Cienegas Basin. Population structure of G. bradtiana is similar between studied populations, despite their management history. In contrast, we found a higher density of individuals of G. bradtiana at SMP population, where clonal reproduction predominated, compared to FRA. According to our predictions, sexual fecundity was higher in individuals of all reproductive categories in SMP, where the sexual reproductive strategy predominates, while production of seeds was lower at FRA population due to strong inbreeding depression in the species. Interestingly, combination of both reproductive strategies allows populations to remain numerically stable.

Eastern Brazil is a vast tropical area known to be rich in cactus diversity and endemism. Early explorers documented little of this due to the difficulty cacti present for preservation and description of living and museum specimens. Most taxa now known were discovered in the past 100 years, the majority being named and classified by horticulturists, whose activities greatly distorted their number and geographical range. Extensive literature, field and herbarium studies enabled better determination of generic and specific limits, correct nomenclature and details of distribution and ecology. Keys have been written to facilitate identification of the 30 genera, 134 species and 43 heterotypic subspecies here recognised. <br><br>In Eastern Brazil cactus biodiversity is concentrated in Bahia and Minas Gerais - each having &gt; 90 taxa and 30 or more state endemics. The most likely explanation for this is greater complexity and discontinuity of habitats, leading to isolation of taxa and increased speciation. Cactus phytogeography lends support to recent hypotheses on historical plant migration routes in South America, while analysis of distribution patterns indicates &gt; 94% of taxa as ± restricted to one of 3 major vegetation categories: (1) <i>Mata atlântica</i>, (2)<i> Caatingas</i> &amp; Northern <i>campos rupestres</i>s and (3) <i>Cerrados</i> &amp; South-eastern <i>campos rupestres</i>. Significantly, the <i>campos rupestres</i> are rich in endemic cacti, but divisable into two areas on the basis of cactus diversity. Of taxa included in category (2), &gt; 70% belong to one of three major geographical-ecological areas, ranged west to east. <br><br>Conservation status has been determined usmg information gathered for the above inventory and applying IUCN 1994 'Red List Categories' combined with Farjon &amp; Page criteria (,phylogenetic distinction', 'ecological importance', 'genetic diversity'). As guidance to conservationists, prioritised shortlists of threatened taxa and Area Hotspots are provided. The South-eastern <i>campos rupestres</i> are of the greatest concern in terms of threatened taxa.

Austrocylindropuntia pachypus (K.Schum.) Backeb. it is an endemic cactus whose distribution was restricted to the western slopes of La Libertad, Ancash, Lima; and based on botanical expeditions through the Andean foothills of Ica, new records are reported with reduced populations of A. pachypus, which makes it possible to extend its known distribution to southern Peru by more than 260 km; in addition, based on 35 georeferenced records, information is presented on their locations, populations, potential distribution, habitats, threats, and the conservation status was analyzed. The potential distribution model shows high predictive or suitability levels with AUC values = 0.96 based on seven climatic variables (Bio17, Bio2 and Bio7 being the ones with the greatest contribution), with the departments with the highest suitability values being: Lima, Ancash, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Huancavelica and Ica. The localities where they are most concentrated and in turn are seriously disturbed by anthropogenic activities are the valleys of the Chillon river (Santa Rosa de Quives - Canta) and Rimac (Santa Eulalia - Huarochiri) in Lima; due to this, almost 70% of the records and populations of A. pachypus are threatened by mining rights, hydrocarbon extraction, overgrazing, and urban or agricultural expansion, which increases the fragmentation of their habitats and isolates the few populations of A. pachypus, therefore, it is proposed to categorize this endemic cactus as Endangered (EN).

The leafhoppers, planthoppers and their allies (collectively known as the Auchenorrhyncha) are presented as a group of insects that are highly appropriate for studying grassland ecology and conservation, evaluating the conservation status of sites and monitoring environmental and habitat change. Semi-natural grasslands typically support dense populations and a wide range of species with diverse ecological strategies. Their numerical dominance in many grasslands means that they have considerable functional significance, both as herbivores and as prey for higher trophic levels. Population and assemblage studies are supported by good ecological knowledge about most species and modern identification keys. Hitherto, most studies have focused on the composition and structure of assemblages and how they are affected by conservation management. However, grasslands support many rare species with small and fragmented populations which deserve conservation attention in their own right, and recent work has started to reflect this. The effects of management on the composition and structure of grassland leafhopper populations and assemblages are described and an assessment is given of the main threats facing individual species and overall diversity. There is a need to synthesise the scattered literature on grassland leafhoppers, to provide a model for how the composition and structure of populations and assemblages respond to major environmental and anthropogenic gradients across large biogeographic areas. Such an analysis could help predict the impact of likely future changes in land use and climate.

Indigenous woody plant species play a significant role in sustaining pastoral production systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Outside protected areas in Uganda, populations of useful naturally growing woody species are threatened with extinction. Moreover, little is known about the population structure of woody plant species in such unprotected sites to guide conservation strategies. The objective of this study was to identify indigenous woody plant species utilised by the pastoralists in the dry lands of south western Uganda and assess the population structure of the species utilized. A survey involving 100 households was conducted to inventorise woody plants in 55 nested plots of 50 m × 50 m. A total of 70 indigenous woody plant species were utilised by the pastoralists to serve nine purposes. High utilisation of the plant species was in the order of medicine for humans and livestock, firewood, fodder, timber, poles, shade, food and least in crafts. The major woody plant species utilised included Vernonia ammygdalina, Acacia sieberriana, Acacia hockii, Carissa edulis and Albizia coriaria. Allophylus sp was valuable for all the nine purposes, though particularly for human medicine and poles. In terms of conservation status, trees conformed to inverse J shape and bimodal patterns of population structure, indicating current sustainable conservation in some species and an imbalance in pecies with a bimodal pattern. Most shrubs reflected irregular population structure indicative of unsustainable conservation status. Seedlings for both trees and shrubs were in the low level of abundance, according to Braun- Blanquette cover scale. Sustainable conservation of indigenous woody plant species in a sedentary pastoral system requires aided regeneration that involves supplementing natural regeneration with similar plant species, as well as zoning sites with high woody species diversity. Promotion of community based conservation platforms where pastoralists can be trained on sustainable plant conservation is recommended.Key words: Population structure, Vernonia ammygdalina, woody plants

Population ecology of Crocodylus acutus (Reptilia: Crocodylidae) in Palmasola lagoon, Oaxaca, Mexico. Abundance and population structure are important parameters to evaluate and compare the conservation status of a population over time in a given area. This study describes the population abundance and structure of Crocodylus acutus in Palmasola lagoon, Oaxaca. The field works consisted of night surveys during the new moon phase, between the 21:00 and 24:00h. These were conducted during the dry and wet seasons and counted the number of individuals to obtain population estimates. Recorded encounter rates ranged from 32 to 109.3ind./ km in 40 journeys deployed with an average time of 18 minutes browsing. The estimated population size using the Messel's model ranged from 32.7 to 93 individuals. For both seasons, there was a marked dominance of subadults, followed by juveniles and to a lesser extent adult individuals, as well as undetermined individuals (i.e. unknown body/size/length), in both seasons. There was also a significant association with mangrove areas (26.1%) by juveniles; the subadults's individual use of superficial water (22.7%) and mangrove areas (15.7%); meanwhile the adults were observed on superficial water (9.7%). This information contributes to our understanding of the population ecology of C. acutus in the Palmasola lagoon where the estimated population size seems to show higher values when compared to other reports in the country.

The importance of indigenous fruit tree species for people living around protected areas is widely acknowledged. There is then a need to assess their conservation status in the current context of increasing human population and pressure around reserves. We investigated the population structure of Sclerocarya birrea, a multiple-use tree species in two land use systems in Northern Benin. Adult density was about nine times higher in the protected area (p < 0.001) compared to agroforestry systems (agro-systems). Seedling occurrence was similar in both land use type even though seed germination was best favoured in agro-systems. Saplings and adults with 5 - 20 cm dbh were almost absent in agro-systems. The mean diameter in agroforestry systems was about twice higher than in the protected area. Although a log-linear analysis showed a difference in the size class distributions between land use types (p < 0.0001), they were all positively skewed. Green’s index showed a clumped distribution in the protected area (0.48) compared to agro-systems (0.05). Population structure variation could mainly be explained by agricultural pressure. Saplings conservation is required in agro-systems to ensure sustainable use. Key words: Population structure, Sclerocarya birrea, land use, agroforestry systems, protected area.

Acanthocereus paradoxus sp. nov., an endemic narrow cylindrical cactus from the state of Jalisco is described and illustrated. The species can be distinguished by its narrow cylindrical mature stems, stem epidermis dull green with some dark green margins, the presence of four central spines, and a greater number of ribs and spines in young stems. A morphological comparison with the other cylindrical members of Acanthocereus and sympatric species of the genus is provided. Data about its habitat and the conservation status are also given.

Austrolebias genus comprises about 40 small annual killifishes endemic to South America and their highest diversity occurs in southern Brazil and Uruguay, especially in drainages of Patos-Mirim system. Austrolebiasspecies are severely threatened with extinction because their life cycle and restricted ranges. Low dispersal ability and the extensive loss and fragmentation of freshwater wetlands contribute to this threat. Accurate information on the geographic distribution and ecology of the species, vital to plan conservation and management strategies, are scarce. In order to provide basic knowledge for annual fish conservation this paper reports the presence of Austrolebias cheradophilus and present data about its population structure (CPUA, size, sex ratio, length-weight relationships and condition factor) and conservation status in southern Brazil. The estimated CPUA of populations was 0.86 fish/m2. Standard length (SL) of males ranged between 32.14 and 49.17 mm and for females between 25.11 and 41.6 mm. There were no differences in SL between the sexes (t-test = - 1.678; P = 0.105), and Chi-squared test demonstrated marginal differences in proportions of sexes (2.25:1; χ2 = 3.846; P= 0.07). Allometric coefficient of the LWR was slightly hyperallometric (b = 3.08) and K of the specimens ranged from 1.84 to 2.42 (mean ± S.E. = 2.12 ± 0.04). Populations have low density and their biotopes are under critical threat, mainly due to suppression by agriculture, pastures for livestock and increase housing. The species is considered "Critically Endangered" in Brazil, furthermore is strongly recommended its inclusion on lists of endangered fauna and ensures the protection of their remaining habitats.

Population structure, behavior, and current threats to the sarus crane (Grus antigone antigone) in Nepal

The conservation of species should be based on knowledge of habitat requirements, population structure and conservation status. This knowledge is quite important to design conservation areas for species and to promote long-term persistence. In this study, we investigated habitat suitability, population size structure and conservation status of Pinanga arinasae in Bali. Plots with palms and adjacent areas with no palms were sampled to characterize key habitat variables. Habitat suitability was modeled using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Random Forest (RF) methods. The population size structure was characterized by counting and measuring the height and reproductive status of the individuals found in plots. Furthermore, we assessed the extinction risk of the species using the IUCN Red List Criteria. The ANN variables that best explained occurrence were litter depth, elevation, canopy openness and slope. The RF variables that best explained the data were elevation, litter depth, slope, and aspect. Both ANN and RF are robust models that can be used to predict the occurrence of P. arinasae. The population size structure included many seedlings, but juvenile and mature individuals were found in relatively small numbers. Based on the findings, we proposed Endangered B1+B2ab(i,ii,iii,v); D as the conservation status of P. arinasae.

While dairy goat production, characterized by traditional production on small farms, is an important source of income in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, locally adapted breeds have not been fully consolidated over the last 100 years due to large fluctuations in population size and inconsistent breeding programs that allowed for different crossbreeding strategies. Our main objective in this study was therefore to assess the conservation status of 4 Czech (Alpine Goat, White Shorthair, Brown Shorthair and Czech Landrace) and one Slovak (Slovak White Shorthair) local goat breeds, to analyze their population structure and admixture, and to estimate their relatedness to several neighboring breeds. Our analyses included 142 goats belonging to 5 local breeds genotyped with the Illumina 50K BeadChip and 618 previously genotyped animals representing 15 goat breeds from Austria and Switzerland (all analyses based on 46,862 autosomal SNPs and 760 animals). In general, the conservation status of the Czech and Slovak local goat breeds was satisfactory, with the exception of the Brown Shorthair goat, as the analyzed parameters (heterozygosity, haplotype richness, ROH-based inbreeding and effective population size) were mostly above the median of 20 breeds. However, for all 5 Czech and Slovakian breeds, an examination of historical effective population size indicated a substantial decline about 8 to 22 generations ago. In addition, our study revealed that the Czech and Slovakian breeds are not fully consolidated; for instance, White Shorthair and Brown Shorthair were not clearly distinguishable. Considerable admixture, especially in Czech Landrace (effective number of parental clusters equal to 4.2), and low but numerous migration rates from other Austrian and Swiss breeds were found. These results provide valuable insights for future breeding programs and genetic diversity management of local Czech and Slovak goat breeds.

Baird's tapir, Tapirus bairdii, is an endangered, large, Central American mammal whose shy behaviour, solitary social structure and preference for deep tropical forests make it difficult to study using traditional field biology techniques. Despite great concern regarding its conservation status, very little is known about its population structure, mating system or dispersal patterns, information needed for designing appropriate management plans. Molecular genetic approaches can be of use in obtaining such information. In this study, we developed six polymorphic microsatellite genetic markers from genomic libraries of T. bairdii and T. terrestris. Using these markers, we completed the first assessment of genetic variability and population genetic structure in Baird's tapirs. Populations from southern Costa Rica and southern Panama were found to have low levels of genetic variability (allelic content, heterozygosity) but no indication of a recent population bottleneck. Bayesian and standard (F‐statistic) analyses of genotype data indicate that the southern Costa Rican and southern Panamanian populations of Baird's tapirs were connected by some (at least one migrant per generation) gene flow prior to the destruction of intermittent habitat. These results indicate that the connection of these two populations by a MesoAmerican Biological Corridor (MBC) would be appropriate.