Spinizonocolpites prominatus (McIntyre) Stover & Evans: fossil Nypa pollen, taxonomy, morphology, global distribution, and paleoenvironmental significance

Land use, habitat suitability, and seasonality can fundamentally shape small-mammal abundance, species richness, diversity, evenness, and composition. However, how these characteristics of small mammals are determined by land use, habitat type, and rainfall seasonality is still poorly understood for most ecosystems. We analyze how land use (protection in a national park, pastoralism, and crop agriculture), habitat type, and rainfall seasonality influence small-mammal relative abundance, species richness, and diversity in the Tanzania Serengeti Ecosystem. We used 141 live traps to capture 612 small mammals in the wet and dry seasons of 2017 and 2018. Relative abundance was higher in the pastoral land than in the park or agricultural land and in the dry season in all the three land use types. Species richness and diversity were highest in the park, middling in the agricultural land, and lowest in the pastoral land. The high relative abundance in the pastoral land was primarily due to the numerical dominance of two generalist species in the shrubland (grass rat Arvicanthis niloticus) and cropland (multimammate rat Mastomys natalensis), resulting in low species richness and diversity. High species richness and diversity in the park indicate high habitat heterogeneity, whereas high species diversity in the agricultural land during the dry season reflects high food availability during and soon after harvests. Thus, human activities apparently exert deleterious effects on some specialist small mammals as a result of reduced habitat heterogeneity while promoting the abundance of some generalist species in African savanna ecosystems. However, increased abundance of generalist species reduces small mammal species diversity while increasing the risk of human–small mammal conflicts. We offer several testable hypotheses motivated by our results.

(1) Background: Gamasid mites are a large group of arthropods, and some of them are of medical importance. Besides directly biting humans and causing dermatitis, some gamasid mites are the vector of rickettsialpox and potential vector of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). The Three Parallel Rivers Area of China is one of the hotspots of biodiversity research in the world, with complicated topographic landforms, different types of vegetation, special elevation gradients and high biodiversity. (2) Methods: Species richness (S): the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H), Simpson dominance index (D) and Pielou evenness index (E) were used to analyze the basic community structure. The β diversity (Cody index) was used to reflect the diversity difference between any two adjacent elevation gradients. The method based on Preston's lognormal model for species abundance distribution was used to estimate the total number of gamasid mite species. (3) Results: A total of 3830 small mammal hosts captured from the nine survey sites were identified as 44 species, 27 genera and nine families in five orders. Apodemus chevrieri, Eothenomys miletus and A. draco were the dominant host species with a total constituent ratio Cr = 52.037%. From the body surface of the hosts, 26,048 gamasid mites were collected and identified as 10 families, 21 genera and 82 species (excluding 847 unidentified specimens) with high species richness (S = 82) and diversity (H = 2.33). The three dominant mite species were Dipolaelaps anourosorecis, Laelaps nuttalli and L. echidninus, with a total Cr = 64.46% (16,791/26,048). There are significant differences in the species composition, species diversity and dominant species of gamasid mites on different hosts. The species diversity of the mite community fluctuated greatly in different elevation gradients. The highest peaks of species richness and β diversity appeared at altitudes of 3000-3500 m (S = 42) and 1500-2000 m (β = 17.5), respectively. The species abundance distribution of the mites was successfully fitted by Preston's lognormal model with S^(R)=19e-[0.22(R-0)]2 (α = 0.22, R2 = 0.9879). Based on fitting the theoretical curve by Preston's model, the total number of gamasid mite species was estimated to be 153 species. (4) Conclusions: Gamasid mites on small mammals are abundant with complex community structures and high species diversity in the Three Parallel Rivers Area of China. There is an apparent community heterogeneity of the mites on different hosts and in different environments.

Are there some relationships among species diversity and soil chemical properties of high altitude natural grasslands? Plant community composition and chemical properties of soil samples were compared to investigate the relationship between soil and species diversity, and the richness in Tibetan alpine grasslands. Results showed that species diversity was significantly positively related to soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), total phosphorus (TP), available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK) in the high alpine grasslands. Margalef’s species richness index was also significantly positively related to SOM, TN, AN, and TP. Most soil chemical properties showed significantly positive correlation with species diversity and Margalef’s richness index. Our results suggested that higher plant species richness index and diversity occurred in more fertile soil habitats in high altitude natural grassland community. In practice, fertilization management for the restoration of degraded grassland should be conducted with reference to the nutrient levels of natural grassland without the additional artificial fertilizer and with higher species-diversity and richness index.

Species coexistence is a result of biotic interactions, environmental and historical conditions. The Janzen-Connell hypothesis assumes that conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) is one of the local processes maintaining high species diversity by decreasing population growth rates at high densities. However, the contribution of CNDD to species richness variation across environmental gradients remains unclear. In 32 large forest plots all over the Japanese archipelago covering > 40,000 individual trees of > 300 species and based on size distributions, we analysed the strength of CNDD of individual species and its contribution to species number and diversity across altitude, mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation and maximum snow depth gradients. The strength of CNDD was increasing towards low altitudes and high tree species number and diversity. The effect of CNDD on species number was changing across altitude, temperature and snow depth gradients and their combined effects contributed 11–18% of the overall explained variance. Our results suggest that CNDD can work as a mechanism structuring forest communities in the Japanese archipelago. Strong CNDD was observed to be connected with high species diversity under low environmental limitations where local biotic interactions are expected to be stronger than in niche-based community assemblies under high environmental filtering.

Terrigenous sediment on Ceara Rise: a Cenozoic record of South American orogeny and erosion

We present a new source to sink study of the Zambezi system from the coastal plain to the deep sea fan since early Cretaceous times. Using new seismic data acquired in the Mozambique channel combined with a biochronostratigraphic and paleoclimatic study realised on the cuttings of three industrial wells we provide a new age model in a continuous paleoclimatic frame evolution. The evolution of the Zambezi system may be summarised in four steps : 1) Late Jurassic - Late Cretaceous (Albian): the Zambezi delta is defined by a slight slope with reduced height clinoforms, 2) Late Cretaceous - Cenozoic: the system Zambezi/Limpopo - Save prograded. The location of two main depocentres traduce the distinction of the Limpopo-Save basin from the Zambezi basin at the end of the early Cretaceous and two sedimentary supplies: from the Bushveld and the paleo Zambezi, 3) Early Paleocene - Late Eocene: a main transgression flooded the present day coast allowing the initiation of a carbonate platform, 4) Oligocene - Present day: birth of the modern Zambezi delta with low siliciclastic supply during Oligocene times, increasing during Miocene times linked to the East African Rift System.

Ostrya multinervis is an endangered species to China. To understand the O. multinervis plant community's structural characteristics and species diversity so as to protect this rare and endangered plant. A survey of the community structure and species diversity of O. multinervis was conducted through quadrat sampling at Shiyang Forest Farm, Wencheng County, Zhejiang Province. Using permanent plots and the technique of examining every individual, all trees in quadrats established in the community to quantify the community structural characteristics were identified and measured. Analysis included the Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, and Pielou indexes. Results showed 40 families, 52 genera, and 60 species of vascular plants with eight species of pteridophyte belonging to seven genera in six families, one species of gymnosperms belonging to one genus in one family, and 51 species of angiosperms belonging to 44 genera in 33 families. The vertical structure was composed of three layers:tree layer, shrub layer, and herb layer, in which O. multinervis was the dominant species in the tree layer, Illicium lanceolatum was the dominant species in the shrub layer, and Diplopterygium glaucum was the dominant species in the herb layer. Overall, phanerophytes accounted for the greatest number (41.7%). Species richness for the shrub layer was the largest of the three communities with the Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, and Pielou indexes larger than herb and tree layers(P < 0.05). Tree height distribution in the tree layer for whole trees was relatively uniform, the diameter order was an inverse J type species distribution, and tree height and diameter structure showed near normal distributions for O. multinervis. In summary, O. multinervis communities had a high species diversity and community stability, but were endangered by a lack of young individuals which could be overcome with closure of hillsides to facilitate afforestation, strengthening of research on highly efficient breeding technologies for O. multinervis, and implementation of artificial rearing measures to ensure a normal development of the population.

Determination of the abundance and diversity of Lepidoptera in the Andean Community of San Benito, Cajamarca, Peru. Several samplings were carried out, using the 500 linear m transect technique, with a monthly frequency throughout 2021, in the riparian areas and surrounding vegetation. The material was dissected and studied in the entomology laboratory of the National University of Trujillo. The analyzes of abundance and diversity of the Lepidoptera species were carried out. 206 individuals were registered, corresponding to 7 families, 9 subfamilies, 6 belonging tribes and 20 species. It is also reported that the families with the highest number of species are the Nymphalidae with 9 species and Pieridae with 5 species. it was determined that the Simpson index (0.94) represents a high diversity of species, the Shannon-Wiener index (2.81) represents a medium diversity of species and the Margalef index (5.06) represents a high diversity of lepidoptera species. The most abundant species are the representatives of the Nymphalidae family. The diversity indices represent a high, medium and high diversity of Lepidoptera species.

Understanding how the assemblage of present and recently extinct non-volant terrestrial vertebrates on the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico; Fig. 1) came to be is one of the most intriguing challenges in biogeography. Until the introduction of plate tectonic theory in the 1960s, explanations were dominated by over-water dispersal (e.g. Darlington, 1938). Critical evidence included the observation that the fauna was conspicuous for its limited high-order taxonomic composition; in a number of cases, those forms that crossed to the islands underwent large adaptive radiations as a consequence of filling an array of vacant niches; South America appears to be their principal source, which is consistent with Caribbean sea-surface flow. Maps of the Caribbean and adjacent regions showing (a) simplified bathymetry and (b) schematic development of the Caribbean plate during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Abbreviations: Cu., Cuba; Ja., Jamaica, Hisp., Hispaniola; P.R., Puerto Rico; Yuc., Yucatan Peninsula. Panel (b) depicts the Caribbean plate's eastward migration relative to North and South America (based on Escalona & Mann, 2011). Solid red lines represent the inferred leading edge of the Caribbean plate during: 1, mid–Late Cretaceous, c. 80 Ma; 2, Middle Palaeocene, c. 60 Ma; 3, Middle Eocene, c. 44 Ma; 4, mid-Oligocene, c. 30 Ma; 5, Middle Miocene, c. 14 Ma; 6, Early Pliocene, c. 5 Ma; and 7, Present. In the 1970s and 1980s, and riding on the back of plate tectonics, vicariance models rose to prominence (e.g. Rosen, 1975). It was argued that during the Late Cretaceous, New World animals were 'trapped' on the Greater Antilles as the proto-Caribbean plate migrated eastwards from a location corresponding to today's southern Central America (Fig. 1b; Rosen, 1975). In the early 1990s, over-water dispersal re-emerged as a result of the then newly developed molecular dating techniques being applied to the Greater Antillean faunas. Key was the discovery that the ancestors of the non-flying vertebrates, particularly the reptiles and amphibians, had arrived at ostensibly random times in the Cenozoic (e.g. Hedges et al., 1992). Furthermore that the endemics were relatively young circumvented the need for these lineages to have survived the direct blast and indirect effects (tsunamis, debris clouds) of the massive Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary-age bolide impact on the nearby Yucatan Peninsula (Fig. 1a). In 1999, the debate took another twist. Armed with a deep understanding of the Caribbean's geotectonic development, and sceptical of the efficacy of sweepstake colonization, Iturralde-Vinent & MacPhee (1999) introduced a radical explanation: the mid-Cenozoic GAARlandia (GAAR = Greater Antilles + Aves Ridge) land bridge. They proposed that many of the Greater Antilles' non-volant terrestrial vertebrates were descended from animals that had walked to the archipelago from South America. Colonization was via a quasi-continuous causeway atop the Aves Ridge during a 1–2 Myr interval close to the Eo-Oligocene boundary, c. 34 Ma. The proposal has since spurred a passionate discourse (e.g. Graham, 2003; MacPhee & Iturralde-Vinent, 2005; Hedges, 2006; and references therein). A new paper by Alonso et al. (2011) firmly favours GAARlandia. Their phylogenetic investigation of 10 species of the toad genus Peltophryne on Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico indicates that a common ancestor reached the islands c. 33 Ma, exactly when the purported land bridge is thought to have existed. On the basis that amphibians are largely (but not exclusively) salt-water intolerant, Alonso et al. (2011) argued that they could not have swum/rafted to the Great Antilles, arriving instead via the land bridge. With the hypothesis receiving a fillip, it is timely to re-appraise GAARlandia. The first step in such a process inevitably involves evaluating the elements underpinning Iturralde-Vinent & MacPhee's (1999) model. From their knowledge of the regional geology, they argued that the Greater Antilles and the broader area experienced a 1–2 Myr period of tectonic uplift around the Eo-Oligocene boundary. Critically, the Aves Ridge (Fig. 1a) is thought to have been involved; the bathymetric high then formed the volcanic arc to the east-advancing Caribbean plate (today the ridge sits c. 200 km 'behind' and to the west of the active Lesser Antilles arc, which in turn, relative to North America, South America and the Greater Antilles, is c. 1000 km east of its Late Eocene location, see Fig. 1b). Furthermore, the up-forcing coincided with a dramatic sea-level fall due to rapid ice-sheet growth on Antarctica. Thus the combination of tectonic compression and a lowered global ocean exposed large portions of Aves. A second aspect that Iturralde-Vinent & MacPhee dwelt upon was the assumed surface-water circulation of the western Atlantic–Caribbean Sea–eastern Pacific during the Late Eocene–Early Oligocene and the Early to Middle Miocene. At both instants, and effectively up until the Late Miocene, they inferred that the regional flows were unsuited for over-water dispersal between South America and the Greater Antilles. Curiously, the one feature we would anticipate from GAARlandia, namely a spike in terrestrial vertebrate arrivals at the Eo-Oligocene boundary, was never demonstrated by Iturralde-Vinent & MacPhee (1999). Alonso et al. (2011) have attempted to rectify this, listing various studies apparently supportive of the land-bridge model. These include investigations of non-volant terrestrial mammals, specifically megalonychid sloths, hystricognath rodents and primates, plus certain frogs, fishes, spiders and plants. However, the significance of some of the data is probably overplayed. For instance, of the listed mammals, the oldest are Early Miocene (c. 20 Ma) palaeontological finds, and are thus much younger than GAARlandia. Furthermore, only the rodents exist today, but they have not yet been subjected to molecular-clock dating. Whilst the Peltophryne toad study (Alonso et al., 2011) adds support for GAARlandia, I remain unconvinced about the causeway's role in shaping Greater Antillean biogeography. With a geology–geophysics background, my prime concern is the lack of ocean-floor drilling data demonstrating the extent to which Aves was sub-aerial in the mid-Cenozoic. Insights can, however, be gleaned from active island arcs around the globe, e.g. Marianas–Bonin (Western Pacific), Scotia (South Atlantic), Kermadec–Tonga (south-west Pacific), Sangihe (Molucca Sea), Luzon (western Philippine Sea), as well as the Lesser Antilles. Cursory inspection of these archipelagos renders it highly improbable that the Aves volcano chain ever formed an unbroken land bridge between South America and the Greater Antilles. None forms anything close to a continuous area of emergent land; even a major sea-level drop associated with a glacial maximum (say c. 130 m) would change the patterns only slightly. Indeed, if the system with the closest-spaced islands is used as a guide (curiously, the Lesser Antilles), then the largest gaps were c. 60 km, with many others of a similar magnitude. Such an arrangement must have acted as a strong impediment to gene flow along Aves; investigation of the frog Leptodactylus validus on northern South America, Trinidad, Tobago and the southern Lesser Antilles provides a pertinent example (Camargo et al., 2009), as does Henderson's (2004) wider-ranging snake survey. Furthermore, and like Hedges (2006), I am sceptical about Iturralde-Vinent & MacPhee's (1999) inferences regarding Caribbean surface-water currents being incorrectly configured to permit South America–Greater Antilles over-water dispersal. Their assertions concerning land–sea distributions, bathymetry and atmosphere–ocean interactions seem overly simplistic. Moreover, their analysis failed to incorporate computer-based palaeoceanographical simulations. Thus their original and re-stated view (Iturralde-Vinent & MacPhee, 1999; MacPhee & Iturralde-Vinent, 2005) that sweepstake colonization was highly unlikely is questionable. In fact, ocean–atmosphere modelling for various points in the Cenozoic invariably shows currents flowing from northern South America to the Greater Antilles (e.g. Huber & Caballero, 2003). Whilst GAARlandia might explain some of the biological data, I contend that the overwhelming majority of terrestrial vertebrates on the Greater Antilles have ancestors that arrived as over-water dispersalists; possibly a small number of forms are relictual (Cuban night lizard, solenodonid mammals: Hedges, 2006). As many others have recognized (e.g. Darlington, 1938; Hedges, 2006), the key question is, why do we not observe in both extant taxa and the fossil record a broad range of orders and families? Instead we see a restricted high-order taxonomic composition, plus at the lower levels several broad adaptive radiations due to species exploiting a wide range of unoccupied niches (e.g. ground sloths, capromyid rodents, eleutherodactyline frogs, and anoline and sphaerodactyline lizards). A second critical point concerns the estimated arrival times not clustering at c. 34 Ma (e.g. fig. 6 in Hedges, 2006). To provide perspective, since South America connected with Central and North America c. 3 Ma, there has been a massive biotic exchange between the two continents; based on GAARlandia, a not too dissimilar pattern, or at least influx, must be anticipated for the Great Antilles back in the mid-Cenozoic. In conclusion, GAARlandia is a thought-provoking hypothesis, but appreciably more data (geological, biological and to a lesser extent palaeoceanographical) are required before I will be persuaded of its importance in explaining Caribbean biogeography. I thank R.J. Whittaker for inviting me to write this commentary, M. Huber for sharing information, J.C. Aitchison and P. Cunich for reviewing various drafts, and A. de Queiroz and an anonymous referee for their constructive critiques. Editor: John Lambshead

A group of Asian Deltocephalinae leafhopper genera share one or more of the following features: head markings usually complex with a white diamond shaped marking apically, forewing with veins from outer apical cell (R1 and R2+3) not or variably strongly reflexed, subgenital plates moderately to greatly elongated to digitate apex, male pygofer with a dorsal or ventral process and aedeagus with one or two basal, lateral or ventral processes. This group, named here as the Monobazus group of genera, is treated in the present paper. The following genera are included: Banus Distant, Monobazus Distant, Osbornellus Ball, Mavromoustaca Dlabola, stat. nov., Phlogotettix Ribaut, Phlogothamnus Ishihara, Wanritettix Vilbaste and five new genera from the Indian subcontinent described in this paper. The new taxa recognized are: Banus curvatus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal), B. spiculatus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu), Chandibanus gen. nov. with its type species Chandibanus dorsospinosus sp. nov. (India: Chandigarh), Cicurbanus gen. nov. (type species. Thamnotettix greeni Melichar), C. serratus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu), Lankabanus gen. nov. with its type species, Lankabanus attenuatus sp. nov., L. bispinosus sp. nov. (both from Sri Lanka), Madhyabus gen. nov. with its type species, M. reticulatus sp. nov. (India: Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu), M. biligiris sp. nov. (India: Karnataka), Mavromoustaca brevispina sp. nov. (India: Punjab), M. channabasavanna sp. nov. (India: Karnataka), M. opressa sp. nov. (India: Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Uttarakhand), Monobazus angulatus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Uttarakhand), M. bannericus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka), M. biligiriensis sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu), M. bilineatus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu), M. deccanensis sp. nov. (India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala), M. longulus sp. nov. (India: Himachal Pradesh), M. nilgalaensis sp. nov. (Sri Lanka), M. paulus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Delhi), M. rotundus sp. nov. (Nepal), M. rubrostriatus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Kerala), M. sahyadricus sp. nov. (India: Karnataka, Kerala), M. shrunga sp. nov. (Nepal), M. sikkimensis sp. nov. (India: Sikkim), M. sudindicus sp. nov. (India: Tamil Nadu), Panghoella gen. nov. (type species, Banus maculosus Distant), P. nera sp. nov. (India: Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal. Myanmar. Nepal), P. sinuata sp. nov. (India: West Bengal) and Phlogothamnus umiamensis sp. nov. (India: Meghalaya). Osbornellus (Mavromoustaca) Dlabola is raised to genus level, Mavromoustaca Dlabola stat. nov. The following new combinations are proposed: Cicurbanus greeni (Melichar) comb. nov., C. cicur (Melichar) comb. nov. (both from Thamnotettix), C. notatus (Distant) comb. nov. (from Scaphoideus), Mavromoustaca arboropictus (Dlabola) comb. nov. (from Osbornellus), M. brunnescens (Pruthi) comb. nov. (from Thamnotettix), M. deviaticus (Dlabola) comb. nov. (from Osbornellus), M. macchiae (Lindberg) comb. nov. (from Circulifer), Monobazus aurantius (Xing & Li) comb. nov (from Osbornellus)., M. confuscus (Pruthi) comb. nov. (from Paralimnus), M. fanjingshanensis (Li) comb. nov. (from Phlogotettix), M. fuscovarius (Distant) comb. nov. (from Deltocephalus), M. fletcheri (Distant) comb. nov. (from Scaphoideus), M. circinatus (Yao, Zhang & Xing) comb. nov., M. acutaedeagus (Li) comb. nov., M. polymaculatus (Li & Song) comb. nov., M. productus (Li & Xing) comb. nov. and M. rugosus (Li) comb. nov. (all from Phlogothamnus), Panghoella conoidea (Xing & Li) comb. nov. (from Osbornellus), P. maculosa (Distant) comb. nov. (from Banus), P. suiyangensis (Xing & Li) comb. nov. (from Osbornellus), Phlogothamnus grimeus (Li & Wang) comb. nov. (from Phlogotettix). The following new synonyms are recognized: Thamnotettix cicur Melichar 1903 syn. nov. of T. greeni Melichar1903; Deltocephalus fuscovarius Distant 1918 syn. nov. of Monobazus dissimilis (Distant 1908). In addition, the Chinese genus Longicornus Li & Song is recorded from the Indian subcontinent for the first time (see Appendix) and its uncertain relationship to the Monobazus group is noted; two species from the Indian subcontinent are included: L. grandis (Pruthi) comb. nov. (from Monobazus) and L. longus Xing & Li. One species from China (Hainan Is.) is transferred to Monobazus, i.e., M. datianensis Xing, Dai & Li, 2008 (Scaphoidella) comb. nov. All taxa from the Indian subcontinent are diagnosed and/or described and illustrated and keys to genera and species are provided.

Efficiency of numerical and parametrical indices to determine biodiversity in mountain rangelands

Developing and understanding full potential of new tools for large scale reforestation programs has become essential nowadays. In this framework, stand structural complexity (SSC) has been identified as essential driver for multiple ecosystem services. Using terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) with light detection and ranging (LiDAR), I measured stand structural complexity index (SSCI) among four experimental reforestation sites in early development stage (three to eighteen years old) to identify impact of five potential SSC drivers: (1) water availability, (2) species diversity, (3) functional diversity, (4) tree density and (5) treatment applied on reforested sites. I find that (1) increased water availability enhances SSC as well as species diversity on lower level (up to six species) and (3) functional diversity. Contrastingly, no effect on SSC was observed for (2) high species diversity (twenty to one hundred fourteen species), (4) tree density and (5) treatment. SSC is likely to be enhanced by (1) water availability by promoting shade tolerant species abundance, and niche complementarity can explain positive impact on SSC by both (2) species and (3) functional diversity. On the other hand, competition for resources is likely to explain the limited impact on SSC by (4) increased tree density and (5) treatment. Finally, niche complementarity saturation is likely to explain saturating SSC on high species diversity plots. I conclude that (1) water availability plays a crucial role for improving stand structural complexity, being its main driver, (2) species diversity and (3) functional diversity (on lower level) improves it, but high tree density and species diversity as well as increased treatment play a neglectable role for enhancing stand structural complexity on forest’s early stage. Those results put forward the importance of species mixtures with various functional traits in reforestation programs, and the unnecessity of increasing tree density and treatments (resulting in additional costs) for enhancing stand structural complexity.

Developing and understanding full potential of new tools for large scale reforestation programs has become essential nowadays. In this framework, stand structural complexity (SSC) has been identified as essential driver for multiple ecosystem services. Using terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) with light detection and ranging (LiDAR), I measured stand structural complexity index (SSCI) among four experimental reforestation sites in early development stage (three to eighteen years old) to identify impact of five potential SSC drivers: (1) water availability, (2) species diversity, (3) functional diversity, (4) tree density and (5) treatment applied on reforested sites. I find that (1) increased water availability enhances SSC as well as species diversity on lower level (up to six species) and (3) functional diversity. Contrastingly, no effect on SSC was observed for (2) high species diversity (twenty to one hundred fourteen species), (4) tree density and (5) treatment. SSC is likely to be enhanced by (1) water availability by promoting shade tolerant species abundance, and niche complementarity can explain positive impact on SSC by both (2) species and (3) functional diversity. On the other hand, competition for resources is likely to explain the limited impact on SSC by (4) increased tree density and (5) treatment. Finally, niche complementarity saturation is likely to explain saturating SSC on high species diversity plots. I conclude that (1) water availability plays a crucial role for improving stand structural complexity, being its main driver, (2) species diversity and (3) functional diversity (on lower level) improves it, but high tree density and species diversity as well as increased treatment play a neglectable role for enhancing stand structural complexity on forest’s early stage. Those results put forward the importance of species mixtures with various functional traits in reforestation programs, and the unnecessity of increasing tree density and treatments (resulting in additional costs) for enhancing stand structural complexity.

The bryocorine genus Caulotops Bergroth (Miridae: Eccritotarsini), originally described to accommodate its only species C. puncticollis Bergroth, is shown not to be congeneric with all other species now included in the genus from North, Central, and northern South America. Consequently, four new genera are established for the following 20 species, including five new combinations and 14 species described as new: Agaveocoris n. gen. for Caulotops agavis Reuter (as the type species), n. comb.; C. barberi Knight, n. comb.; and C. distanti Reuter, n. comb. and the new species A. bimaculatus, n. sp.; A. barrerai, n. sp.; A. dimidiatus, n. sp.; A. marginalis, n. sp.; A. roseus, n. sp.; A. rostratus, n. sp.; A. schaffneri, n. sp.; and A. scutellatus, n. sp; Laterospinocoris, n. gen. for Caulotops cyaneipennis Reuter, new comb. (as the type species) and the new species L. mexicanus, n. sp.; Nigrotomocoris n. gen. for Caulotops nigrus Carvalho (as the type species), n. comb.; C. tibiopallidus Carvalho, n. comb.; and the new species N. keltoni, n. sp. and N. longirostris, n. sp.; and Schaffnerocoris, n. gen., for S. fuscotibialis, n. sp. (as the type species), S. pallipes, n. sp., and S. similis, n. sp. Lectotypes are designated for Caulotops agavis Reuter, Caulotops cyaneipennis Reuter, and Caulotops puncticollis Bergroth, and a neotype is designated for Eccritotarsus platensis Berg. Each genus and species is diagnosed and described; habitus images, illustration of male genitalia and selected female genitalia, and keys to genera and species are provided; and host use and the unique genitalic systems of these taxa are discussed. A phylogenetic analysis, based on 22 taxa and 39 characters, resulted in three trees supporting the monophyly of the four new genera proposed in this study.

To understand the impacts of reforestation on woody species composition, species diversity and community structure, seven plantation forests in dry-hot valley of the Jinsha River in Southwest China were investigated, with adjacent wastelands, natural shrub grassland and a natural forest as references. Species importance value, species richness, species heterogeneity and Sorenson similarity index between plantations and the natural forest were analyzed. Results indicated that compared to wastelands and natural shrub grassland, reforestation improved species diversity and community structure, and more forest woody species found suitable habitats in plantations. Species diversity in understory of plantations and Sorenson similarity index were significantly negatively correlated with stem density in mature plantations (26-31 years old). Higher species diversity and Sorenson similarity index existed in mature sparse plantations due to lower stem density and more tree species planted initially. In contrast, reference natural forest, with species heterogeneity of 2.28 for shrub layer, showed the highest species diversity. It would take a long time for species composition and diversity to recover through reforestation in a dry-hot valley. Therefore, it was essential to protect remnant natural forests strictly and reforest with suitable management such as lower stem density and increasing genetic diversity of trees planted.