Known Range Of Species Research Articles

Using community science data to help identify threatened species occurrences outside of known ranges

Predicting the occurrence of rare species is challenging, especially outside of their known ranges. However, this information is critical for assessing conservation status, guiding monitoring efforts, and directing conservation actions for species threatened with extinction. Furthermore, frequent updates are needed under changing climate and landscape and thus, shifting species' distribution. Data collected by community science projects may provide additional information about species occurrence, complementing standard surveys. We used data from a community science project, eBird, and species-specific environmental variables with Bayesian Networks (BNs) to predict the occurrence of 12 federally-protected birds in Canada outside archived known ranges. Our results indicate the number of presence records in the eBird database in the previous three years is a useful variable to include in models predicting species occurrence outside known ranges for 7 out of 12 species. Land cover variables were important predictors, but the distance between a given site and the known range of species was not. While low number and proportion of detections in input datasets were negatively correlated with model performance, our BNs correctly predicted more than half of the presences in independent datasets for 6 species. For these 6 species, BNs predicted additional 0.07 to 68.22% (mean 20.93%) area of occurrence beyond known ranges. This study suggests that community science data may help to fill some information gaps in standard surveys and could be used to update species occurrence information for rare species, particularly in combination with models (e.g., BNs) capable of making and updating predictions with limited data.

New records of ectoparasitic Acari (Arachnida) and Streblidae (Diptera) from bats in Jalisco, Mexico.

Ectoparasites of bats in the Neotropics are diverse and play numerous ecological roles as vectors of microbial pathogens and endoparasites and as food sources for other cave fauna living both on their hosts and in bat roosts. The ectoparasites of bats in Jalisco State of western Mexico have not been as well described as those of other states with recent checklists that have focused primarily on the Yucatan Peninsula. We captured bats from 2011-2015 on the south coast and Sierra de Amula, Jalisco using mist nets, and we removed ectoparasites by hand. We identified 24 species of streblid bat flies and six ectoparasitic mites from bats caught in mist nets. There were an additional eight possibly undescribed species of Streblidae. Our collections extend the known range of species into Jalisco.

Isolation and Characterization of Mycoplasma sphenisci sp. nov. from the Choana of an Aquarium-Reared Jackass Penguin ( Spheniscus demersus )

Strain UCMJ was isolated from the choana of a jackass penguin (Spheniscus demersus) with recurrent mucocaseous choanal discharge. Isolation of this mycoplasma expands the known range of species hosting mycoplasmas. The name Mycoplasma sphenisci sp. nov. is proposed for this new species, for which strain UCMJ is the type strain.

A limnological survey of the Ablation Point area, Alexander Island, Antarctica

The ice-free area around Ablation Point (70° 49' S, 68° 25' W) is of particular limnological interest. Numerous ponds and pools lie on coastal moraines and large, permanently ice-covered lakes lie in the valleys. Two of the lakes are unusual in that they are in contact with seawater from George VI Sound which is covered by an ice shelf, 100-500 m thick, and which separates Alexander Island from the Antarctic mainland. Evidence for the existence of a marine biome, 100 km from the open sea, was obtained from one lake. Freshwater biological samples added new genera to Antarctic lists, extended the known range of species, and illustrated the important role of isolation in the determination of antarctic biocoeneses.

The monsoon forests of the Admirality Gulf, Western Australia

Recent investigation has revealed the occurrence of patches of ‘monsoon forest’ (Semi-evergreen and Deciduous Vine Thickets sensu Webb 1959) in the north Kimberley District of Western Australia. Rainfall is much higher in this area than was previously assumed and reaches 1500 mm annually. As in southern Queensland these forests occur only on basic igneous rocks. A description is given of the general vegetation of the Mitchell Plateau and of the monsoon forests found there, based on study of seven sites, three of them ‘high-level’ on the scarps of the bauxite plateau, three ‘low-level’ on the lower basalt country and one riverain. Eleven species not previously listed in published records for Western Australia were found. All were known from the Northern Territory and represent an extension of the known range of species comprised in the Indo-Malaysian element of the Australian flora.