Distribution Of Individual Species Research Articles

To the distribution of the genus Negotinthia O. Gorbunov, 2001 (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) in the Crimea

Based on the analysis of quite extensive material collected in 57 habitats, data on the distribution of two species of the genus Negotinthia O. Gorbunov, 2001 in the Crimea are provided. It is shown that N. cingulata is widespread in the Mountain region of the Crimea and on the Hilly Kerch’ Peninsula, while Crimean endemic species N. efetovi turned out to be a representative of the fauna of the Plain region of the Crimea (with typical steppe vegetation), including the Tarkhankut Peninsula. The positive role of artificial sex attractants for the practice of clarifying the details of the distribution of individual species has been confirmed once again.

Quantification of the spatial distribution of individual mangrove tree species derived from LiDAR point clouds

AbstractMangrove forests have unquestionably high environmental and ecological value. Mangrove trees are believed to have habitat zonation that is controlled mainly by the relative sea level. However, earlier discussions of mangrove habitats have remained limited in terms of their quality and quantity because of a lack of high-resolution spatial information of microtopography and trees. To clarify mangrove habitability over a wide forest area, we compounded mobile laser scanning (MLS) and aerial laser scanning (ALS) LiDAR dataset of the Miyara River mangrove on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan. The MLS provided sub-canopy data, while the unmanned aerial vehicle ALS data mainly provided a point cloud of the canopy. We corrected point clouds and combined these data. The results indicated that ALS is unable to reconstruct the microtopography of the dense mangrove area well. Moreover, tree species were not identifiable from the ALS data. However, by applying MLS to the mangrove forest, we obtained high-resolution microtopography and tree information inside the forest, although the measurement area was limited to comparison with ALS. By combining ALS and MLS point clouds, 3D point clouds of the forest were well reconstructed. From these point clouds, a high-resolution digital elevation model was created. Subsequently, we segmented trees individually from composite MLS point clouds and identified each tree species. Consequently, the spatial distribution of thousands of mangrove trees was reconstructed at the Miyara River mouth. The spatial distribution of mangrove tree species together with earlier aerial photographs suggests that mangrove species have been segregated in accordance with changes in their elevation and environment over 40 years. Our findings suggest that the distribution of the species changed sensitively along with dynamic variation of the microtopography.

Global field collection data confirm an affinity of brown rot fungi for coniferous habitats and substrates.

Unlike 'white rot' (WR) wood-decomposing fungi that remove lignin to access cellulosic sugars, 'brown rot' (BR) fungi selectively extract sugars and leave lignin behind. The relative frequency and distribution of these fungal types (decay modes) have not been thoroughly assessed at a global scale; thus, the fate of one-third of Earth's aboveground carbon, wood lignin, remains unclear. Using c. 1.5 million fungal sporocarp and c. 30 million tree records from publicly accessible databases, we mapped and compared decay mode and tree type (conifer vs angiosperm) distributions. Additionally, we mined fungal record metadata to assess substrate specificity per decay mode. The global average for BR fungi proportion (BR/(BR + WR records)) was 13% and geographic variation was positively correlated (R2 = 0.45) with conifer trees proportion (conifer/(conifer + angiosperm records)). Most BR species (61%) were conifer, rather than angiosperm (22%), specialists. The reverse was true for WR (conifer: 19%; angiosperm: 62%). Global BR proportion patterns were predicted with greater accuracy using the relative distributions of individual tree species (R2 = 0.82), rather than tree type. Fungal decay mode distributions can be explained by tree type and, more importantly, tree species distributions, which our data suggest is due to strong substrate specificities.

Geographical distributions and ecological ranges of the dominant snail species in China and their palaeoclimatic implications

Fossil land snails in aeolian sediments are useful for reconstructing past environments, but quantitative knowledge about their geographical and climatic distribution is limited. We conducted a systematic survey of snails in 402 surface soil samples from China, spanning the climatic range from cold temperate to subtropical. The dominant snail species include Vallonia tenera, Gastrocopta armigerella, Pupilla aeoli, Cathaica richthofeni, Punctum orphana, Opeas striatissimum, and Macrochlamys angigyra. Using the Maximum Entropy model, we determined the geographical distribution of individual species. M. angigyra and O. striatissimum are abundant mainly in warm-temperate and subtropical regions, while P. aeoli and V. tenera occurred mainly in semi-arid regions. Quantitative estimates of the optimal climatic parameters and tolerance ranges for the snail species were obtained using weighted averaging. Cold aridiphilous species like V. tenera (MAT: ∼5.1–12.5 °C, MAP: ∼400–640 mm) and P. aeoli (∼6.2–10.9 °C, ∼390–580 mm) demonstrate greater adaptability and tolerance to lower temperatures compared to the thermo-humidiphilous M. angigyra (∼10.0–15.8 °C, ∼500–1100 mm), and O. striatissimum (∼9.9–15.3 °C, ∼490–960 mm). These quantitative climate ranges and geographical distributions can be applied to Quaternary snails in China to accurately quantify past climates.

Species occurrences of Mio-Pliocene horses (Equidae) from Florida: sampling, ecology, or both?

Abstract During the late Miocene and early Pliocene (latest Hemphillian, Hh4 interval, 5.7 to 4.75 Ma) a distinctive suite of four species of extinct horses (Family Equidae) were widespread in North America. This includes Nannippus aztecus, Neohipparion eurystyle, Astrohippus stocki, and Dinohippus mexicanus. In Florida, two additional equid species, Pseudhipparion simpsoni and Cormohipparion emsliei, are also typically found at Hh4 localities. Here we compare horses from four Hh4 Florida fossil sites, including three from the Bone Valley mines and a fourth from the recently discovered Montbrook site. Two of these sites have all six expected species, one has five species, and one has only four species present. To explain these differences, we used species counts from research databases and rarefaction simulation to clarify the relative abundances, species richness, and occurrences of these horses from these four sites. The Palmetto Mine (Agrico) site, with five equid species, appears to lack the sixth species owing to ecological reasons. This is different from Montbrook, the site with only four of the six species. Results indicate that Montbrook is likely lacking two missing equid species for a couple of reasons: sampling bias and biological/ecological causes. Our results demonstrate that sampling biases can account for observed equid species richness when the overall abundance of certain equid species is low. Nevertheless, other factors, including ecology and with sufficient resolution, perhaps also time, may also explain the distribution and occurrences of individual species at these and other fossil sites. In a broader perspective, analyses such as this example provide an opportunity to address a persistent challenge in paleontology, that is, how do we explain absences of extinct taxa from the fossil record?

Projected climate and canopy change lead to thermophilization and homogenization of forest floor vegetation in a hotspot of plant species richness.

Mountain forests are plant diversity hotspots, but changing climate and increasing forest disturbances will likely lead to far-reaching plant community change. Projecting future change, however, is challenging for forest understory plants, which respond to forest structure and composition as well as climate. Here, we jointly assessed the effects of both climate and forest change, including wind and bark beetle disturbances, using the process-based simulation model iLand in a protected landscape in the northern Alps (Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany), asking: (1) How do understory plant communities respond to 21st-century change in a topographically complex mountain landscape, representing a hotspot of plant species richness? (2) How important are climatic changes (i.e., direct climate effects) versus forest structure and composition changes (i.e., indirect climate effects and recovery from past land use) in driving understory responses at landscape scales? Stacked individual species distribution models fit with climate, forest, and soil predictors (248 species currently present in the landscape, derived from 150 field plots stratified by elevation and forest development, overall area under the receiving operator characteristic curve = 0.86) were driven with projected climate (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) and modeled forest variables to predict plant community change. Nearly all species persisted in the landscape in 2050, but on average 8% of the species pool was lost by the end of the century. By 2100, landscape mean species richness and understory cover declined (-13% and -8%, respectively), warm-adapted species increasingly dominated plant communities (i.e., thermophilization, +12%), and plot-level turnover was high (62%). Subalpine forests experienced the greatest richness declines (-16%), most thermophilization (+17%), and highest turnover (67%), resulting in plant community homogenization across elevation zones. Climate rather than forest change was the dominant driver of understory responses. The magnitude of unabated 21st-century change is likely to erode plant diversity in a species richness hotspot, calling for stronger conservation and climate mitigation efforts.

ПРОСТРАНСТВЕННАЯ СТРУКТУРА ЗАСОРЕННОСТИ ЗЕРНОТРАВЯНО-ПРОПАШНОГО СЕВООБОРОТА НА СЕВЕРО-ЗАПАДЕ РОССИИ

The study was carried out to analyze the spatial distribution of weeds in grain-grass-row crop rotation in the North-West region of the Russian Federation. Based on calculations of the index of pairwise species similarity and the coefficient of commonality of specific abundance, it was revealed, on the one hand, a high similarity in the species composition of weeds within the studied crop rotation (0.81...0.94), on the other hand, significant differences in the structure of weediness in fields (30, 4…70.6). The differences in weediness between some fields, both in terms of the number and above-ground mass of weeds, turned out to be statistically significant. Species abundance varied within 6...10 species/m2, numerical composition - 150...312 specimens/m2, phytomass - 51.2...272.5 g/m2 with an average value of this indicator for crop rotation fields of 8 species/m2, 251 ind./m2 and 161.7 g/m2, respectively. Uneven or aggregated distribution in the crop rotation territory, confirmed by high values of the coefficients of variation (151...567) and aggregation (2.1...16.2), turned out to be characteristic of all widespread species of weeds. Geostatic features of the distribution of their mass species in the area of grain-grass-row crop rotation were quite clearly visible on digital maps compiled using special programs. Significant differences in the weed structure of crop rotation fields and the distribution of individual weed species were a consequence of differences in the agrochemical characteristics of the soil, primarily acidity, the amount of exchangeable bases and the content of organic matter. When using herbicides in crop rotation, it is necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of weediness in each field and the spatial distribution of mass species of weeds, which have developed under the influence of long-term agricultural use.

Drought-adapted leaves are produced even when more water is available in dry tropical forest.

Species in dry environments may adjust their anatomical and physiological behaviors by adopting safer or more efficient strategies. Thus, species distributed across a water availability gradient may possess different phenotypes depending on the specific environmental conditions to which they are subjected. Leaf and vascular tissues are plastic and may vary strongly in response to environmental changes affecting an individual's survival and species distribution. To identify whether and how legumes leaves vary across a water availability gradient in a seasonally dry tropical forest, we quantified leaf construction costs and performed an anatomical study on the leaves of seven legume species. We evaluated seven species, which were divided into three categories of rainfall preference: wet species, which are more abundant in wetter areas; indifferent species, which are more abundant and occur indistinctly under both rainfall conditions; and dry species, which are more abundant in dryer areas. We observed two different patterns based on rainfall preference categories. Contrary to our expectations, wet and indifferent species changed traits in the sense of security when occupying lower rainfall areas, whereas dry species changed some traits when more water was available, such as increasing cuticle and spongy parenchyma thickness, or producing smaller and more numerous stomata. Trischidium molle, the most plastic and wet species, exhibited a similar strategy to the dry species. Our results corroborate the risks to vegetation under future climate change scenarios as stressed species and populations may not endure even more severe conditions.

Data error propagation in stacked bioclimatic envelope models.

Stacking is the process of overlaying inferred species potential distributions for multiple species based on outputs of bioclimatic envelope models (BEMs). The approach can be used to investigate patterns and processes of species richness. If data limitations on individual species distributions are inevitable, but how do they affect inferences of patterns and processes of species richness? We investigate the influence of different data sources on estimated species richness gradients in China. We fitted BEMs using species distributions data for 334 bird species obtained from (1) global range maps, (2) regional checklists, (3) museum records and surveys, and (4) citizen science data using presence-only (Mahalanobis distance), presence-background (MAXENT), and presence-absence (GAM and BRT) BEMs. Individual species predictions were stacked to generate species richness gradients. Here, we show that different data sources and BEMs can generate spatially varying gradients of species richness. The environmental predictors that best explained species distributions also differed between data sources. Models using citizen-based data had the highest accuracy, whereas those using range data had the lowest accuracy. Potential richness patterns estimated by GAM and BRT models were robust to data uncertainty. When multiple data sets exist for the same region and taxa, we advise that explicit treatments of uncertainty, such as sensitivity analyses of the input data, should be conducted during the process of modeling.

CO-OCCURRENCE OF MOSQUITO COMMUNITIES IN DISTURBED ENVIRONMENTS USING MARKOV RANDOM FIELDS (MRFs) IN ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FLORIDA

The distribution of mosquito communities is predicted by complex micro- and macrohabitat systems. While macrohabitat variables are significant in modeling the distribution of individual mosquito species, the distribution of mosquito communities in disturbed urban and semi-urban environmental gradients was overlooked in most of the previous models. In our study, we used conditional Markov Random Fields (CRF) to evaluate spatial co-occurrence patterns between mosquito vectors of eastern equine encephalitis (EEEV) and west Nile virus (WNV) in a disturbed urban environment in Saint John’s County, Florida. We aimed to 1) quantify the strength and direction of spatial unconditional and conditional correlations between mosquito assemblages in disturbed environments, and 2) evaluate whether the strength of correlations between mosquito assemblages is conditional on landscape or climate variables. We leveraged the longitudinal surveillance effort using Biogents sentinel traps (BGS) conducted by Anastasia Mosquito Control Districts in disturbed urban environments during 2017-2020. The distribution of high mosquito abundance, especially Aedes albopictus, Ae. aegypti, Ae. vexans, Ae. taeniorhynchus, Culex nigripalpus, Cx. salinarius, and Cx. quinquefasciatus, were conditionally correlated with other EEEV and WNV vector species in reduced woody and herbaceous wetlands and evergreen forests (-54.44%), and in urban developed landscapes (3.44%) during 2019 and 2020. Moreover, conditional correlations between mosquito species pairs were positively associated with increased total precipitation and in areas with high average minimum and maximum temperatures. Our results show that the micro- and macrohabitat characteristics demonstrated spatial effects on distribution and correlations between species pairs of EEEV and WNV mosquito vectors across disturbed environments. Our findings could be used to better understand the joint effects of drivers on mosquito diversity at a specific locality, interspecific interactions among mosquito assemblages, and how this diversity changes across environmental gradients.

Sea temperature is the primary driver of recent and predicted fish community structure across Northeast Atlantic shelf seas.

Climate change has strongly influenced the distribution and abundance of marine fish species, leading to concern about effects of future climate on commercially harvested stocks. Understanding the key drivers of large-scale spatial variation across present-day marine assemblages enables predictions of future change. Here we present a unique analysis of standardised abundance data for 198 marine fish species from across the Northeast Atlantic collected by 23 surveys and 31,502 sampling events between 2005 and 2018. Our analyses of the spatially comprehensive standardised data identified temperature as the key driver of fish community structure across the region, followed by salinity and depth. We employed these key environmental variables to model how climate change will affect both the distributions of individual species and local community structure for the years 2050 and 2100 under multiple emissions scenarios. Our results consistently indicate that projected climate change will lead to shifts in species communities across the entire region. Overall, the greatest community-level changes are predicted at locations with greater warming, with the most pronounced effects at higher latitudes. Based on these results, we suggest that future climate-driven warming will lead to widespread changes in opportunities for commercial fisheries across the region.

Current and Future Habitat Suitability Models for Four Ticks of Medical Concern in Illinois, USA.

The greater U.S. Midwest is on the leading edge of tick and tick-borne disease (TBD) expansion, with tick and TBD encroachment into Illinois occurring from both the northern and the southern regions. To assess the historical and future habitat suitability of four ticks of medical concern within the state, we fit individual and mean-weighted ensemble species distribution models for Ixodes scapularis, Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis, and a newly invading species, Amblyomma maculatum using a variety of landscape and mean climate variables for the periods of 1970-2000, 2041-2060, and 2061-2080. Ensemble model projections for the historical climate were consistent with known distributions of each species but predicted the habitat suitability of A. maculatum to be much greater throughout Illinois than what known distributions demonstrate. The presence of forests and wetlands were the most important landcover classes predicting the occurrence of all tick species. As the climate warmed, the expected distribution of all species became strongly responsive to precipitation and temperature variables, particularly precipitation of the warmest quarter and mean diurnal range, as well as proximity to forest cover and water sources. The suitable habitat for I. scapularis, A. americanum, and A. maculatum was predicted to significantly narrow in the 2050 climate scenario and then increase more broadly statewide in the 2070 scenario but at reduced likelihoods. Predicting where ticks may invade and concentrate as the climate changes will be important to anticipate, prevent, and treat TBD in Illinois.

Platyhelminth fauna of the Island of Sylt: a meta-analysis of distributional patterns and description of 19 new species

Over the past 70 years, numerous authors studied the platyhelminth fauna near the island of Sylt in the eastern North Sea, each with a specific focus on varying aspects of ecology, morphology or systematics, and most of them dealing with a single habitat type. These data are combined with new data to get a comprehensive view of species richness, the distribution of individual species across tidal levels and sediment types and the resulting communities. So far, 398 platyhelminth species have been recorded around Sylt island, plus a still growing number of unidentified or undescribed species, in particular from subtidal waters. The distribution over habitat types (as defined by sediment types and tidal level) is described for the known species. Neighbouring habitat types overlap in species composition, and faunal composition changes continuously over environmental gradients. The number of species recorded per habitat type mirrors the sampling intensity and varied between some 20 species in poorly studied habitats and 150 in the well-studied intertidal sand flats. Corrected for variations in sampling intensity, platyhelminth species richness showed no significant differences between sediment types and only moderate variation over tidal levels. On a larger spatial scale, three faunal assemblages can be differentiated: the supratidal harbours brackish-water species (mesohaline in the upper and polyhaline in the lower supratidal), the intertidal polyhaline-marine species with a wide tolerance of variations in physical factors and the subtidal marine (± stenohaline) species. With respect to sediment type, mud and sand dwellers are well separated in the supra- and subtidal belt but less in the intertidal. Provided these rules are general, I conclude platyhelminth species richness in a given section of coastline mainly depends on the ranges of environmental factors covered. Nineteen new species encountered during this study are described.

SPECIES DIVERSITY OF THE FLORA OF THE WESTERN HLYNIANSKA AREA OF THE DUBRIVSKE PRIMARY KAOLIN DEPOSIT

We describe the results of the study of the flora of regenerated and transformed vegetation on the territory of the Zahidno-Glynske section of the Dubrivske deposit of primary kaolin. The authors determined the species composition of higher vascular plants and mosses in the studied area. They made a brief analysis of the ecological features of the distribution of individual species or their systematic groups. They also made a short analysis of the ecological features of the distribution of individual species or their systematic groups. In particular, we established a connection between the features of the ecosystem structure and the ratios of representatives of different plant families, and also constructed a syntaxonomic scheme of plant groups based on the principles of the Brown- Blanke ecological and floristic school. During the research, we discovered 151 representatives of the flora. Among them are 143 species of higher vascular plants from 33 families and 9 species of mosses from 7 families. The most numerous are the families Poaceae (24 species), Asteraceae (21 species), Rosaceae (14 species), and Fabaceae (10 species). The vegetation of the studied area belongs to 13 classes, 19 orders, 35 unions, and 40 associations. There is an active restructuring of settlements with constant reformatting of the econiche packaging during the process of natural restoration of the vegetation cover with the help of primary autogenous successions. Empty econiches are formed here. They can potentially be inhabited, both by rare representatives of biota and habitats and by dangerous synanthropic species. For example, these habitats become vulnerable to the introduction of invasive species of transformers, which threaten rare biota components, ecosystem stability processes, agriculture, and human health. In this regard, territories, where active mineral extraction is carried out or restored after its termination, should be under constant monitoring regarding floristic and phytocenotic diversity. No species included in the IUCN Red List, the European Red List, annexes, and resolutions to the Berne Convention, Red Book of Ukraine, and to the list of regionally rare species were found on the territory. The invasive species-transformer Solidago canadensis was located on the territory. It is in the early stages of penetration and transformation of habitats of renewable natural vegetation.

Казахстанская орнитология в ХХ и первой четверти XXI века

The review is devoted to the development of ornithological science in the territory of present-day Kazakhstan over the last century, namely, from the expeditionary survey of the territory in the first third of the 20th century to systematic scientific research that began after 1932 with the formation of the primary academic center in Kazakhstan (later turned into the National Academy of Sciences). The history of the creation and development of the ornithological school in Kazakhstan («the School of Dolgushin»), the compilation and publication of the 5-volume ornithological summary “Birds of Kazakhstan” (1960–1974) and the subsequent formation of the main directions of ornithological research, faunistic, migratory, autecological, and environmental (foundation of protected areas, conservation of rare and endangered species, publication of Red Data books), are considered. The appearance and development of amateur ornithology and another social aspect of ornithology – the popularization of science and the objects of its study with the promotion of the protection of these objects at the boundary of the 20th and 21st centuries – are described. As weaknesses of ornithological science in Kazakhstan, there is a lack of knowledge on the study of bird communities, including their cartography; poor knowledge of the nutrition and winter ecology of birds; the lack of a general analysis of changes in landscapes of an anthropogenic nature in the second half of the 20th century and the impact of these changes on the composition of the avifauna, the number and distribution of individual bird species. Attention is drawn to the problems with the training of ornithological personnel in connection with the liquidation of the departments of zoology in the universities of the country.

ANALISIS INDEKS KESEHATAN MANGROVE DI DESA KERSIK DAN DESA KAMPUNG BARU

The function of the mangrove forest ecosystem to run optimally in the coastal area is very dependent on the health condition of the mangrove itself. This study aims to determine the percentage of canopy cover, the percentage of mangrove forest health conditions and to determine the distribution of individual mangrove species in Kersik Village and Kampung Baru Village. This research activity was carried out in October 2021 using the random sampling method to measure mangrove data parameters. All mangrove data parameters obtained at the location were inputted and analyzed using the MonMang application to determine the mangrove health index (MHI), the percentage of canopy cover, and the distribution of individual mangrove species. The results of the analysis show that the highest percentage of mangrove health index is in Kampung Baru Village, Station I is 57.35%, Station II is 55.20%, and Station III is 56.78%, including in the fairly healthy/good category with low threat. The results of the analysis of canopy cover showed that the highest canopy cover was found in Kampung Baru Village, Station I was 84.85%, Station II was 83.66%, Station III was 85.45% including good category with solid closure. The highest distribution of individual mangrove species is found in Kampung Baru Village, which has 9 distributions of mangrove species Rhizophora apiculata, Rhizophora mucronata, Soneratia alba, Ceriops tagal, Lumnitzera littorea, Lumnitzera racemosa, Avicennia alba, Avicennia marina, Aegiceras floridum.

Phenology and morphology of the invasive legume Lupinus polyphyllus along a latitudinal gradient in Europe

Plant phenology, i. e. the timing of life cycle events, is related to individual fitness and species distribution ranges. Temperature is one of the most important drivers of plant phenology together with day length. The adaptation of their phenology may be important for the success of invasive plant species. The present study aims at understanding how the performance and the phenology of the invasive legume Lupinus polyphyllus vary with latitude. We sampled data across a >2000 km latitudinal gradient from Central to Northern Europe. We quantified variation in phenology of flowering and fruiting of L. polyphyllus using >1600 digital photos of inflorescences from 220 individual plants observed weekly at 22 sites. The day of the year at which different phenological phases were reached, increased 1.3–1.8 days per degree latitude, whereas the growing degree days (gdd) required for these phenological phases decreased 5–16 gdd per degree latitude. However, this difference disappeared, when the day length of each day included in the calculation of gdd was considered. The day of the year of the earliest and the latest climatic zone to reach any of the three studied phenological phases differed by 23–30 days and temperature requirements to reach these stages differed between 62 and 236 gdd. Probably, the invasion of this species will further increase in the northern part of Europe over the next decades due to climate warming. For invasive species control, our results suggest that in countries with a large latitudinal extent, the mowing date should shift by ca. one week per 500 km at sites with similar elevations.

Modeling the geographical distributions of Chordodes formosanus and its mantis hosts in Taiwan, with considerations for their niche overlaps.

Species distribution models (SDMs) have conventionally been used for evaluating the distribution of individual species, but they can also be used, through comparing different SDMs, to evaluate the geographic similarity between taxa. In this study, we used a parasite and host system to infer the geographic overlaps between species with tight biological interaction, for example, parasites and their obligate host. Specifically, we used the horsehair worm Chordodes formosanus and its three mantis hosts to study the extent of niche overlap. We retrieved presence points for the host species and the parasite, and then we built SDMs with MaxEnt implemented in ENMeval using selected bioclim variables (based on variance inflation factor values) at 30s scale. The models showed that the hosts and parasite do not occur in the high elevation areas in Taiwan, which is expected based on their biology. Interestingly, the predicted parasite distribution included areas without collection records, implying local extinction or sampling bias. We subsequently evaluated niche overlap between hosts and the parasite according to five similarity indices (Schoener's D, I statistic, relative rank, Pearson correlation coefficient, and the rank correlation coefficient rho). Our models showed a high similarity of SDM predictions between hosts and the parasite. There were differences among metrics for which host shared the highest similarity with the parasite, but the majority of the results indicated that the Japanese boxing mantis had the highest niche similarity with the horsehair worm. The choice of the niche overlap metric to use can uncover information on the parasite's ecology, which can be important for endangered species. SDMs are reliable tools for host and parasite conservation management and could help improve our understanding of parasite biology and ecology.

ReSurveyGermany: Vegetation-plot time-series over the past hundred years in Germany

Vegetation-plot resurvey data are a main source of information on terrestrial biodiversity change, with records reaching back more than one century. Although more and more data from re-sampled plots have been published, there is not yet a comprehensive open-access dataset available for analysis. Here, we compiled and harmonised vegetation-plot resurvey data from Germany covering almost 100 years. We show the distribution of the plot data in space, time and across habitat types of the European Nature Information System (EUNIS). In addition, we include metadata on geographic location, plot size and vegetation structure. The data allow temporal biodiversity change to be assessed at the community scale, reaching back further into the past than most comparable data yet available. They also enable tracking changes in the incidence and distribution of individual species across Germany. In summary, the data come at a level of detail that holds promise for broadening our understanding of the mechanisms and drivers behind plant diversity change over the last century.

Soil Seed Bank Compatibility with Aboveground Plants under Different Topographical Parameters in The Zawita Mountains Forest

One of the strategies for survival and distribution of individual species in natural regeneration which is affected by environmental factors. The vegetation covers and seedling's emergence from the soil bank were studied by the effect of topographical factors (aspects, elevation, and slope gradient), in the forest` of Zawita mountains, and the Sorensen similarity index was estimated between vegetation cover and soil seed bank. The experiment was factorial with a strip-split plot design and four blocks. The results are summarized by the identification of 109 species belonging to 25 families with both vegetation and soil seed bank in the south aspect, while in the north aspect, 138 species combined with vegetation and soil seed bank, which were belongs to 29 families. The results recorded that the highest density of plants and species richness in the north aspect increased significantly with increasing elevation (214.92 and 246.72 plants.m-2), (20.79 and 19.94) respectively. While the highest density of seed banks emerged and species richness was recorded in the south aspect with increasing in the elevation and low slope gradient (3554.9, 2778.41, and 2692.59 plant.m-2), (16.75, 16.88, and 17.58) respectively. The degree of similarity with the Sorensen index between vegetation cover and soil seed bank was low under these topographical variables