Community Similarity Index Research Articles

Short Communication: The diversity of butterflies (Superfamily Papilionoidea) as a success indicator of tin-mined land revegetation

Abstract. Wiranti D, Nurtjahya E, Dahelmi. 2019. Short Communication: The diversity of butterflies (Superfamily Papilionoidea) as a success indicator of tin-mined land revegetation. Biodiversitas 20: 1923-1928. Some former tin-mining areas in Belitung District have been revegetated. With the increase of vegetation age, the environmental quality changes, and so does the diversity of insects living in the vegetated areas. The objective of this study was to propose the use of butterfly diversity as a success indicator of tin-mined land revegetation. The research was conducted at six locations in Belitung District, consisting of one tin-mined land that had not been revegetated, four revegetated tin-mined lands with different ages of vegetation, namely 1-5 years, 5-10 years, 10-20 years, more than 20 years, and primary forest in Gunung Tajam. The research used the Pollard walk method and specimens were obtained using insect nets. The results showed that the highest diversity of butterflies was recorded in primary forest (31 species), followed by vegetated mined lands with the following ages of vegetation: > 20 years (21 species), 10-20 years (15 species), 5-10 years (14 species ), and 1-5 years (7 species), and the lowest diversity was found in tin-mined land that had not been revegetated (2 species). The Shannon-Wiener diversity index in tin- mined land that had not been revegetated was low, namely 0.56 while in the revegetated tin mined land was medium, i.e., 1.47 – 2.96 and in primary forest was high, i.e., 3.2. The diversity of butterflies in revegetated land increased with the increasing age of vegetation, and the community similarity index between revegetated land and forest also increased with the increasing age of vegetation. Therefore, the diversity of butterflies may be used as a success indicator of revegetation in former tin mining areas.

Kajian etnobotani pemanfaatan jenis-jenis pohon oleh masyarakat etnik kuri di kabupaten Teluk Wondama

The Kuri ethnic group is one of the largest tribes in the Teluk Wondama Regency which is now a group minority even though in the past they had vast forests and well-organized levels of civilization. The local knowledge of the Kuri ethnic group which is passed on to the next generation does not hold well. This can be proven by the fact that there are many people who no longer use forest functions in their entirety. Utilization of Trees by the Kuri Ethnic Community in Teluk Wondama Regency was carried out in 3 villages of Wombu, Werianggi and Dusner. Wombu Village Naekere District has 75 types, Werianggi Village Nikiwar District has 62 types, Dusner Village Kuri Wamesa District has 45 types. There are 9 (nine) forms of utilization of trees by the Kuri ethnic community in the villages of Wombu, Werianggi and Dusner, namely: building materials / houses, home furnishings, food, medicine, magic, crafts and arts, economy, customs and hunting / transportation tools. The average use of most forms for the needs of tools / hunting 25.33 species of trees. The most used trees are; Matoa trees (pometia sp), Genemo (Gnetum gnemon), langsat (lansium domestucum) and Albisia (paraseriantes falcataria). Species similarity was determined using the Jaccard community similarity index, the results showed there were differences in tree species in the three villages, Wombu-Dusner 16.4%, Wombu-Werianggi 8.62%, Dusner-Werianggi 58.51%. The part of the tree that is utilized is the root, trunk, bark, sap, fruit and leaves. The part that is mostly utilized by the Kuri Ethnic in three locations is the trunk of 49 species of trees for Wombu village, 36 species in Werianggi village and 35 species in Dusner village. Community knowledge is grouped into two young generations (15-25) years and older generations (60 years and older) and research locations. The research data is cascaded with a tiered scale starting from ever heard of, never seen and never used. The results of the study show that never heard of 36.35 and have seen 40.83 in the moderate category, never used 29.36 in the small category. Knowledge difference between generations is done by U-test. The results showed that in Wombu village there were no differences in knowledge between young and old groups. In the villages of Werianggi and Dusner there are differences in knowledge between old and young age. Kuri ethnic local wisdom as a form of conservation in the form of religious values ​​and social values, the existence of binding traditional rules such as sasi and places of pamali must be maintained and is a joint responsibility of both the government, NGOs and the community so that the availability of species that have economic value for the Kuri ethnic community is always available.

Marine Bacterial Diversity in Coastal Sichang Island, the Upper Gulf of Thailand, in 2011 Wet Season

Tha Wang coast in Sichang island, Chonburi province, Thailand, serves a major pier, cargo transportation and is populated with anthropogenic activities. Hence, monitoring of environmental status, in part by microbial diversity, is essential. Previously, the coastal marine microbiota of this area in a dry season (February 2011) had been reported, but the database for a wet season is none. As marine microbiota in several sites were reported fluctuate between dry and wet seasons, specifically in the 2011 that one of the largest flood in Thailand history even occurred from July 2011 to January 2012; the present study thereby first revealed the coastal Sichang water microbiota in the 2011 wet season (July 2011) using metagenomic derived 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Wet and dry seasons showed differences in prokaryotic community richness and evenness: community similarity indices by Jaccard, Lennon, and Yue & Clayton were 2.06-58.28%. This resulted in differences in metabolic potentials, for instances the lower metabolisms for energy and nutrient cycling but the greater in pathogenesis in wet season. Our data were also compared against the flooding water microbiota nearby to Chonburi province to observe any possible correlation; and the coastal Sichang was found distinct given diverse sources of flooding water and local contamination might affect the diversity. In conclusion, this wet-season microbiota supported the better knowledge on the seasonal microbiota of coastal Sichang island.

A novel approach to understanding bird communities using informed diversity estimates at local and regional scales in northern California and southern Oregon.

Assessment and preservation of biodiversity has been a central theme of conservation biology since the discipline's inception. However, when diversity estimates are based purely on measures of presence–absence, or even abundance, they do not directly assess in what way focal habitats support the life history needs of individual species making up biological communities. Here, we move beyond naïve measures of occurrence and introduce the concept of “informed diversity” indices which scale estimates of avian species richness and community assemblage by two critical phases of their life cycle: breeding and molt. We tested the validity of the “informed diversity” concept using bird capture data from multiple locations in northern California and southern Oregon to examine patterns of species richness among breeding, molting, and naïve (based solely on occurrence) bird communities at the landscape and local scales using linear regression, community similarity indices, and a Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). At the landscape scale, we found a striking pattern of increased species richness for breeding, molting, and naïve bird communities further inland and at higher elevations throughout the study area. At the local scale, we found that some sites with species‐rich naïve communities were in fact species‐poor when informed by breeding status, indicating that naïve richness may mask more biologically meaningful patterns of diversity. We suggest that land managers use informed diversity estimates instead of naïve measures of diversity to identify ecologically valuable wildlife habitat.

Weed Population Assessment in Wheat at Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Study was conducted on Weed Population Assessment in Wheat at Adea, Gimbichu, Minjar shenkora, Akaki, Boro and Lume Districts in Central Highlands of Ethiopia during, 2014/15 main cropping season to determine the distribution of weed species in wheat growing areas of central highlands of Ethiopia and to record the weed infestation level on wheat crop production. Depending on the area coverage of Wheat in each Districts seven to three kebeles, again in each kebele six to four from Wheat fields samples were taken using 0.5 x 0.5m quderate and GPS instrument. The frequency, abundance and dominance regarding different aspects of weeds were calculated. The result revealed that 45 weed species belonging to 33 families as weeds of wheat for each species was calculated. The 5 major families based on number of taxa were: Poaceae (14), Asteraceae (7), three species each under Polygonaceae and Solanaceae, and Papilionaceae (2), totally they contain 66% of the total weed flora. The most frequent, abundant and dominant weed species were found to be setaria pumila, Plantago lanceolata, Bromus pecpectinatus, Cyperus rotudus, Xanthium strumarium L. and Snowdenia polystachya. Greater than 60% similarity index of weed communities was registered across all locations sampled.

The biodiversity and community structure of soil ciliates of Talish forests in south-eastern Azerbaijan

New information on the fauna of the soil ciliates of south-eastern Azerbaijan is presented in this article. As a result of surveys conducted in 2017–2019, 65 species of soil ciliates assigned to 33 families were recorded. The highest diversity of pedobiont ciliates was observed in Masalli and Lankaran forest soils. On the other hand, the lowest species diversity was recorded in the Astara region. The highest species diversity was found for the family Colpodidae, of which 7 species were found. Four of them belong to the pedobiont genus Colpoda. Almost all representatives of this genus are typically soil species and euribionts with wide ecological plasticity. In addition, two species that are the representatives of the genus Tillina were found in soil, but they can be occasionally found in freshwater bodies. It should be noted that the special climatic conditions of south-eastern Azerbaijan impact on the distribution regularity of ciliates in the mountain-forest soils. The accumulation of ciliates in forest soils in spring was observed in the upper horizon of the 5 cm soil litter layer in summer. Due to the decrease in humidity in upper layers, pedobiont ciliate migrates to deeper layers (10–15 cm), and in autumn with the increase in precipitation and humidity in the upper soil horizons, the mass of soil ciliates is again localized in the forest litter and in the upper soil layer. It is also worth noting another specific complex of ciliates in the forest soils of south-eastern Azerbaijan. In early spring and autumn, with the maximum moisture content in the forest soil, we often observed ciliates, which usually dwell in fresh waters. Among them are representatives of such genera as Zosterodasys, Nassula, Aspidisca, Blepharisma, Frontonia, Urotricha etc. The species diversity and community similarity index of soil ciliates in Talish forests of Lankaran natural area were also calculated. The study attempts to compare the difference in ciliates community among five different regions of south-eastern Azerbaijan. The analysis showed that there are 3 clusters of the similarity of species diversity of ciliate communities. The similarity between the ciliate fauna of the high mountainous regions and fauna of the plain regions was 52.15–69.00 %.

Myxomycete communities occurring in fragmented forest patches in two municipalities of Laguna, Philippines

In spite of the increasing number of myxomycete studies in the tropical Southeast Asia over the last decades, many forest patches are still left unexplored for the region, in particular in the Philippine archipelago. Thus, an assessment of myxomycete diversity, occurrence, and composition was carried out in forest fragments from two municipalities of the province of Laguna, Philippines. From the 12 established 5 m × 5 m plots, a total of 240 moist chamber cultures were prepared for this study and yielded 42 myxomycete species belonging to 14 genera. Rarefaction curves and several heterogeneity indices revealed higher species diversity in Los Baños than in Calauan. Moreover, the taxonomic diversity index also showed that the taxonomic diversity of myxomycete in Los Baños is more intuitively diverse than in Calauan. In terms of community analysis between the two municipalities, it showed that myxomycete communities clustered between different microhabitats. High values of coefficient of community and percentage similarity indices possibly implicates that spore dispersal in forest fragments in closer proximities may cause high number of shared species (60%). With an addition of Cribraria lepida as a new record for the country, this study now updates the myxomycete profile for Laguna, Philippines.

Short Communication: The species diversity and composition of roadside trees in five cities in Sumatra, Indonesia

Wiryono, Yansen, Aditya, Lamhot DJ, Hutahaean J. 2018. Short Communication: The species diversity and composition of roadside trees in five cities in Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 1615-1621. Roadside trees make living in a city more enjoyable due to their aesthetic values and ecosystem services. The ecological benefits of roadside trees may be enhanced by increasing the species diversity and the proportion of native species. The objective of this study was to know the species diversity and composition of roadside trees in the cities of Palembang, Bengkulu, Curup, Pematang Siantar and Argamakmur, in Sumatra Island, Indonesia, varying in size and altitude. Data of trees were collected from selected streets and analyzed to determine the species richness (S), Shannon-Wiener index of diversity (Hʹ) and Ellenberg index of community similarity (ISE). The results showed that the species richness in a city ranged from 7 to 26, with the diversity index between 1.05 and 2.08. The large and medium cities had higher S and Hʹ. More introduced species were found, both in number of species and number of individuals, than the native ones. The similarity among cities in species composition ranged from 47 to 82%. Overall, Swietenia macrophylla, an introduced species, was the most abundant species. The S and Hʹ values of all cities were considered low and the composition of tree species did not support the conservation of native species. It is, therefore, essential to increase the species diversity of street trees, especially by planting native species.

Autosuccession in alpine vegetation: Testing the concept on an altitudinal bioclimatic gradient, Jotunheimen, southern Norway

Specific tests of autosuccession (equivalent to non-replacement change in species composition) are made, in which pioneer communities on roadside verges and areas of patterned ground disturbed by cryoturbation are compared with mature communities on a bioclimatic gradient from sub-alpine woodland (850 m a.s.l) to high-alpine fjellfield (2200 m a.s.l). Autosuccession is quantified for the first time using community similarity coefficients and indices of pioneer persistence and importance, which measure nominal- or ordinal-scale differences in species composition between 65 paired pioneer and mature communities. Linear relationships to altitude, with coefficient and index values of ~90–100% in the upper part of the high-alpine belt to ~10–20% in the sub-alpine zone, indicate a continuum from autosuccession to relay succession (the latter characterised by high species turnover and replacement change). Values based on ordinal-scale data are generally ~10% lower than those based on nominal-scale data and use of pioneer sites from roadside verges result in a ~20% offset relative to pioneer sites from sorted circles (the latter comparison reflecting the effect of substrate differences). Autosuccession appears to be characteristic only at altitudes >2000 m a.s.l. in the upper high-alpine belt. Replacement change increases in importance as a constituent of mixed-mode succession through the conventional mid- and low-alpine belts. Spatial variation in the nature of primary succession along the bioclimatic gradient supports a geo-ecological model of succession with predominantly allogenic controls (climatic stress and high levels of substrate disturbance by cryoturbation) at high altitudes and increasing autogenic controls (biological interactions and substrate stability) at lower altitudes.

The Diversity Amphibian (Order Anura) on Diefferent Habitat Types in Balik Bukit Resort Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park

Balik Bukit Resort Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) is a protected area where various amphibians habitat. The conditions and quality of habitat, of course determines the diversity of amphibians. This study aimed to analyze the diversity to detect that the amphibians (order Anura), comparing the diversity of amphibians (order Anura) based on different types of habitat and identifying amphibian habitat conditions (order Anura) in Resort Balik Bukit of Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. This study uses three replications in each habitat type (primary forest, bush and swamp) and using Visual Encounter Surveys in amphibian biodiversity data retrieval. The data have been analyzed using the Shannon Wiener index, and community similarity index by calculating the evenness. Research shows that the value of diversity is still classified as being on the three types of habitat with the highest diversity found in primary forest habitat that habitat conditions in Resort Behind the hill is still ensure the growth and proliferation of amphibians order Anura.Keywords: Anura, Amphibians, Environmental Indicators, Resort Balik Bukit TNBBS

新疆博格达山岩面生地衣群落结构特征

根据对新疆博格达山岩面生地衣群落20个样点（20m×20m）调查的数据，以各地衣种的盖度为指标结合双向指示种分析方法（TWINSPAN）和除趋势对应分析法（DCA）对博格达山岩面生地衣群落进行数量分类并分析了群落结构特征及其多样性和相似性。采用典范对应分析法（CCA）对各群落的物种分布格局与环境因子的关系进行研究。结果表明，TWINSPAN分析和DCA排序将分布在博格达山的37种岩面生地衣分为以下5个群丛。群丛1：斑纹网衣（Lecidea tessellate Florke）+粉芽盾衣（Peltula euploca（Ach.）Poelt）+杜瑞氏黄梅（Xanthoparmelia durietzii Hale）群丛，有25个种，总覆盖度为30.145%，多样性为4.025；群丛2：袋衣（Hypogymnia physodes（L.）Nyl.）+白边平茶渍（Aspicilia sublaqueata（H.Magn.）J.C.Wei）+砖孢胶衣（Collema subconveniens Nyl.）群丛，有17个种，地衣总盖度为15.885%，多样性为3.196；群丛3：聚茶渍（Lecanora accumulate H.Magn.）+丽石黄衣（Xanthoria elegans（Link）Th.Fr.）+亚洲平茶渍（Aspicilia asiatica（H.Magn.）Yoshim.）群丛，有30个种，地衣总盖度为37.87%，多样性为4.357；群丛4：中华石果衣（Endocarpon sinense H.Magn.）+伴藓大孢蜈蚣衣（Physconia muscigena（Ach.）Poelt.）+垫脐鳞衣（Rhizoplaca melanophthalma（DC.）Leuckert&Poelt）群丛，有24个种，地衣总盖度为30.458%，多样性为3.912；群丛5：石胶衣（Collema flaccidum（Ach.）Ach.）+短绒皮果衣（Dermatocarpon vellereum Zschacke）+绿黑地图衣（Rhizocarpon viridiatrum（Wulfen）Korber.）群丛，有18个种，地衣总盖度为19.331%，多样性为3.515。CCA排序结果反映，该地区岩面生地衣的分布与海拔高度、光照强度、岩石pH和人为干扰有关，其中影响最大的因素是海拔高度，其次为光照强度和干扰。坡向和岩石大小对地衣种类分布的影响不显著。;In this investigation of saxicolous lichen communities in the Bogda Mountains using 20 quadrats (20m×20m), the data were classified based on species coverage using two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). Community structure characteristics, species diversity, and similarity index were analyzed. The relationship between species distribution of saxicolous lichens and six different environmental factors was examined by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The results showed that the saxicolous lichen community can be divided into five associations according to the TWINSPAN analysis and DCA ordination:Association 1 (Lecidea tessellata Florke+Peltula euploca (Ach.) Poelt+Xanthoparmelia durietzii Hale), including 25 species with the total coverage of 30.145% and diversity of 4.025; Association 2 (Hypogymnia physodes (L.) Nyl. +Aspicilia sublaqueata (H. Magn.) J. C. Wei+Collema subconveniens Nyl.), including 17 species with the total coverage of 15.885% and diversity of 3.196; Association 3 (Lecanora accumulata H. Magn. +Xanthoria elegans (Link) Th. Fr. +Aspicilia asiatica (H. Magn.) Yoshim.), including 30 species with the total coverage of 37.87% and diversity of 4.357; Association 4 (Endocarpon sinense H. Magn. +Physconia muscigena (Ach.) Poelt. +Rhizoplaca melanophthalma (DC.) Leuckert & Poelt), including 24 species with the total coverage of 30.458% and diversity of 3.912; and Association 5 (Collema flaccidum (Ach.) Ach. +Dermatocarpon vellereum Zschacke+Rhizocarpon viridiatrum (Wulfen) Korber.), including 18 species with the total coverage of 19.331% and diversity of 3.515. The CCA ordination results showed that the species composition and distribution pattern of saxicolous lichens were most strongly influenced by altitude, then light intensity, rock pH, and human disturbance; the distribution pattern of the lichen communities did not significantly correlate with aspect and rock size.

黑龙江凉水和丰林保护区鸟类和兽类多样性

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 黑龙江凉水和丰林保护区鸟类和兽类多样性 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201608291760 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 中央高校基本科研业务费专项资金项目（DL13CA08）；国家林业局计资司拨珍稀濒危物种野外救护与人工繁育虎、东北豹生境恢复试点项目 Avian and mammalian biodiversity of Heilongjiang Liangshui and Fenglin Reserve Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:2013年12月至2015年5月、2014年4月至2015年5月利用红外相机分别对黑龙江凉水保护区和丰林保护区鸟兽多样性进行研究：凉水保护区累计10736个捕获日，获得有效照片总数14726张，兽类独立照片514张，共4目7科11种，鸟类独立照片107张，共4目8科11种；丰林保护区累计7460个捕获日，获得有效照片总数13677张，兽类独立照片638张，共3目6科9种，鸟类独立照片166张，共4目10科16种。凉水保护区实际监测到的鸟兽物种数约为全部鸟兽物种的70%-78%；丰林保护区实际监测到的鸟兽物种数目全部鸟兽物种的80%-89%，保护区内大部分物种被监测到。凉水和丰林保护区兽类相对丰富度最高的均为松鼠（Sciurus vulgaris）和花鼠（Eutamias sibiricus），其次为西伯利亚狍（Capreolus capreolu），鸟类相对丰富度最高的普通鳾（Sitta europaea）和白腹鸫（Turdus pallidus）；物种多样性指数显示鸟兽多样性无显著差异；鸟、兽群落相似性指数Cs=0.621，凉水和丰林保护区鸟兽物种有较多重叠。利用红外相机对凉水和丰林保护区鸟兽多样性进行研究发现，兽类中对夜行性小型啮齿类监测不足，监测到的鸟类以林下活动为主。 Abstract:Avian and mammalian biodiversity was monitored by camera traps in Heilongjiang Liangshui Reserve from December 2013 to May 2015 and at Fenglin Reserve from April 2014 to May 2015. In Liangshui Reserve, we collected 10,736 capture dates and 14726 effective photographs, including 514 independent mammal photos and 107 independent avian photos. The mammalian fauna identified belonged to four orders, seven families and 11 species, and the avian fauna belonged to four orders, eight families, and 11 species. In Fenglin Reserve, we collected 7460 capture dates and 13677 effective photos, including 638 independent mammal photos and 166 independent avian photos. The mammalian fauna identified belonged to three orders, six families, and nine species and the avian fauna belonged to four orders, 10 families, and 16 species. The number of avian and mammalian fauna monitored accounted for 70%-78% of the total number of species in Liangshui Reserve, whereas that in Fenglin Reserve accounted for 80%-89%. A larger number of avian and mammalian fauna were monitored in Liangshui Reserve and Fenglin Reserve, respectively. Sciurus vulgaris and Eutamias sibiricus possessed the highest Relative abundance index(RAI)among the mammals, followed by Capreolus capreolu; among the avians, Sitta europaea, and Turdus pallidus possessed the highest RAI. The biodiversity index revealed no significant difference in diversity between avian and mammalian fauna. In addition, the mammal community similarity index (Cs) was 0.621, suggesting that avian and mammalian fauna of Liangshui Reserve were largely similar to those in Fenglin Reserve. The present survey suggests that we lack data on nocturnal small rodents among mammals, and most of the avian fauna monitored mainly live ower the forest. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Microbial communities in the reef water at Kham Island, lower Gulf of Thailand.

Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse habitats on Earth, but knowledge of their associated marinemicrobiome remains limited. To increase the understanding of the coral reef ecosystem in the lower Gulf of Thailand, this study utilized 16S and 18S rRNA gene-based pyrosequencing to identify the prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbiota present in the reef water at Kham Island, Trat province, Thailand (N6.97 E100.86). The obtained result was then compared with the published microbiota from different coral reef water and marine sites. The coral reefs at Kham Island are of the fringe type. The reefs remain preserved and abundant. The community similarity indices (i.e., Lennon similarity index, Yue & Clayton similarity index) indicated that the prokaryotic composition of Kham was closely related to that of Kra, another fringing reef site in the lower Gulf of Thailand, followed by coral reef water microbiota at GS048b (Cooks Bay, Fr. Polynesia), Palmyra (Northern Line Islands, United States) and GS108b (Coccos Keeling, Australia), respectively. Additionally, the microbial eukaryotic populations at Kham was analyzed and compared with the available database at Kra. Both eukaryotic microbiota, in summer and winter seasons, were correlated. An abundance of Dinophysis acuminata was noted in the summer season, in accordance with its reported cause of diarrhoeatic shellfish outbreak in the summer season elsewhere. The slightly lower biodiversity in Kham than at Kra might reflect the partly habitat difference due to coastal anthropogenic activities and minor water circulation, as Kham locates close to the mainland and is surrounded by islands (e.g., Chang and Kut islands). The global marine microbiota comparison suggested relatively similar microbial structures among coral sites irrespective of geographical location, supporting the importance of coral-associated marine microbiomes, and Spearman’s correlation analysis between community membership and factors of shore distance and seawater temperature indicated potential correlation of these factors (p-values < 0.05) with Kham, Kra, and some other coral and coastal sites. Together, this study provided the second marine microbial database for the coral reef of the lower Gulf of Thailand, and a comparison of the coral-associated marine microbial diversity among global ocean sites.

Biotic impoverishment and trichoptera loss in a Pennsylvania trout stream: Benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages over 43 summers

Abstract Benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) are valued as proxies for water quality. Over 43 years, BMI samples were collected in the summers from Bushkill Creek Northampton County, PA. from the same site. The Bushkill is a high-quality cold water trout stream formerly surrounded by agricultural fields and forests, but the area is becoming increasingly urbanized. Data collected over the period indicate that BMI assemblages have undergone considerable changes. Despite no detectable change in water quality, taxa richness, total abundance, and wet weight (mg) have all decreased (p &amp;lt; 0.01). The Hydropsychidae (Trichoptera) family and Psychomyia (-Trichoptera: Psychomyiidae) have declined significantly (p &amp;lt; 0.01). At the same time, two BMI genera, Gammarus (Crustacea: Amphipoda) and Hydroptila (Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae), have increased modestly. Bray–Curtis Community Similarity indices demonstrate that 2015 assemblages were different from those in 1973. Possible explanations for these trends are stresses from land use changes and/or regrowth of riparian vegetation. These results suggest that although water pollutants are often considered when BMI assemblages change, land use and riparian zone changes are also of concern.

Importance of riparian forest in enhancing the avifaunal diversity of upland agricultural landscape

To understand the importance of riparian forest in enhancing the avifaunal diversity in upland agricultural landscape, this study compared the avifaunal community of riparian forest strip to avifaunal community of a swidden farm and a nearby primary forest in Aborlan, Palawan, Philippines from August to November 2010. Results revealed that the riparian forest strip has the highest species richness, diversity index and abundance compared to swidden farm and primary forest. Moreover, the bird assemblage found in it has high index of community similarity when compared to swidden farm and primary forest. This indicates that the bird community in the riparian forest is comprised of an assortment of species that thrive in the primary forest and in the swidden farm. Meanwhile, the low abundance, species richness and diversity index together with the concurrent decline of endemic and conservation priority birds in swidden farm uncovered the vulnerability of these birds to habitat degradation. On the contrary, the high abundance, species richness, and diversity index alongside with the presence of high number of endemic and conservation priority species in the riparian forest strip unfolded its significance in enhancing the avifaunal diversity in upland agricultural landscape. Moreover, the presence of endemic and high conservation priority bird species that are restricted only to primary forest highlights the need to conserve the remaining tracts of primary forest in the area. Preserving the networks of riparian forests in upland agricultural vegetation matrix is also recommended to improve the avifaunal ecosystem functions in the area.

Techniques for comparing and recommending conferences

This article defines, implements, and evaluates techniques to automatically compare and recommend conferences. The techniques for comparing conferences use familiar similarity measures and a new measure based on co-authorship communities, called co-authorship network community similarity index. The experiments reported in the article indicate that the technique based on the new measure performs better than the other techniques for comparing conferences, which is therefore the first contribution of the article. Then, the article focuses on three families of techniques for conference recommendation. The first family adopts collaborative filtering based on the conference similarity measures investigated in the first part of the article. The second family includes two techniques based on the idea of finding, for a given author, the strongest related authors in the co-authorship network and recommending the conferences that his co-authors usually publish in. The first member of this family is based on the Weighted Semantic Connectivity Score—WSCS, which is accurate but quite costly to compute for large co-authorship networks. The second member of this family is based on a new score, called the Modified Weighted Semantic Connectivity Score—MWSCS, which is much faster to compute and as accurate as the WSCS. The third family includes the Cluster-WSCS-based and the Cluster-MWSCS-based conference recommendation techniques, which adopt conference clusters generated using a subgraph of the co-authorship network. The experiments indicate as the best performing conference recommendation technique the Cluster-WSCS-based technique. This is the second contribution of the article. Finally, the article includes experiments that use data extracted from the DBLP repository and a web-based application that enables users to interactively analyze and compare a set of conferences.

A family of interaction-adjusted indices of community similarity

Interactions between taxa are essential drivers of ecological community structure and dynamics, but they are not taken into account by traditional indices of β diversity. In this study, we propose a novel family of indices that quantify community similarity in the context of taxa interaction networks. Using publicly available datasets, we assessed the performance of two specific indices that are Taxa INteraction-Adjusted (TINA, based on taxa co-occurrence networks), and Phylogenetic INteraction-Adjusted (PINA, based on phylogenetic similarities). TINA and PINA outperformed traditional indices when partitioning human-associated microbial communities according to habitat, even for extremely downsampled datasets, and when organising ocean micro-eukaryotic plankton diversity according to geographical and physicochemical gradients. We argue that interaction-adjusted indices capture novel aspects of diversity outside the scope of traditional approaches, highlighting the biological significance of ecological association networks in the interpretation of community similarity.

Diversity of Butterflies (Lepidoptera) in Manembo-Nembo Wildlife Reserve, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The degradation of a habitat will affect the population of butterflies living in it. This study aims to analyse the diversity of butterflies in the area of Manembo-Nembo Wildlife Reserve, North Sulawesi. Employing purposive sampling, the study was conducted for five months. The collection of butterflies was done by using the sweeping technique, following the transect line applied randomly along 1000 m to three types of habitat (the primary forest, riverside in the forest and agricultural land). The species diversity was determined by using diversity index (Shannon-Wiener). The study identified 4 families, 44 species and 748 individual butterflies. Nymphalidae was a family predominantly found (71.12%), while the species mostly found was Ideopsis juventa tontoliensis (10.16%). Abundance (76.50), richness (20.25), diversity (2.66) and species evenness (0.88) were mostly found in riverside habitats in the forest, while the lowest was found in the primary forest. The similarities of butterfly communities in the different types of habitats indicate that the highest similarity index of butterfly communities is in the habitats of the primary forest and riverside in the forest wi a value of 80%. The highest diversity of butterflies in all types of habitats found in riverside. The high diversity of butterflies in the river is strongly influenced by the presence of vegetation as food and host plants of butterflies and this habitat should be conserved for the survival of the butterfly in a wildlife reserve Manembo-Nembo, North Sulawesi. It is expected that the results of this study could become important data of the diversity of butterflies and effects of changes of habitats on the diversity of butterflies in Manembo-Nembo Wildlife Reserve, North Sulawesi.

Struktur komunitas laba-laba (Arachnida: Araneae) di Taman Nasional Bogani Nani Wartabone, Sulawesi Utara

Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park is a tropical low land rain forest. This region has high diversity of arthropods, i.e. spider. The aims of this study was to analyze the Community structure of spiders of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in various types of habitat at Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park North Sulawesi. Sampling was carried out at three habitat types, namely primary, secondary, and farm. The research was conducted from March to May 2014 by using pitfall trap (to collect spiders that move on the ground) and sweep net (to collect the spideron vegetation canopy). The number of spiders obtained during the study of was 1267 speciments. The specimens collected are consists 15 families, 71 genera, and 129 morphospecies. The Family which most individual abundance is family Tetragnathidae and the least was Ctenizidae. Salticidae were the most common family of species (30 species), while the least were Agelenidae, Ctenidae and Ctenizidae where each family has one species. Abundance, richness, diversity and evenness of species was higher in the farm, while the lowest in the secondary forest. The highest similarity index of spider communities was between primary forests and secondary forests. The results of this research can be used as a diversity database of spiders for conservation strategies in North Sulawesi.

Commonly Used Intercarcass Distances Appear to Be Sufficient to Ensure Independence of Carrion Insect Succession Pattern

Forensic entomology field researchers have typically placed experimental carcasses ≤50 m apart. Direct observations indicate that this intercarcass distance sufficiently prevents cross contamination by crawling larvae, but seems insufficient to prevent highly mobile adult insects from detecting or visiting more than one carcass. It would be valuable if minimum intercarcass distance ensured independence of replicates, because this is an assumption of common statistical analyses. For 32 domestic pig carcasses exposed during two consecutive summers (range of intercarcass distance 30 to >300 m), possible relationships between: 1) average distance to another carcass and aspects of the succession patterns of forensically important species and 2) intercarcass distance and community similarity indices were estimated with regression analyses. In addition, minimum intercarcass distance was investigated through semivariogram analyses of aspects of the succession interval as well as community similarity indices. Pairwise similarity of time to first occurrence was the only variable that displayed a consistent, in this case negative, relationship to intercarcass distance, although not statistically significant for any single analysis. Semivariogram analysis suggested that under the conditions used for our experiment commonly used intercarcass distances are satisfactory to ensure independence of carcasses.