Patterns Of Species Diversity Research Articles

Evolutionary factors and habitat filtering affect the pattern of Gerbillinae diversity

Abstract How ecological and evolutionary factors affect small mammal diversity in arid regions remains largely unknown. Here, we combined the largest phylogeny and occurrence dataset of Gerbillinae desert rodents to explore the underlying factors shaping present-day distribution patterns. In particular, we analyzed the relative contributions of ecological and evolutionary factors on their species diversity using a variety of models. Additionally, we inferred the ancestral range and possible dispersal scenarios and estimated the diversification rate of Gerbilliane. We found that Gerbillinae likely originated in the Horn of Africa in the Middle Miocene and then dispersed and diversified across arid regions in northern and southern Africa and western and central Asia, forming their current distribution pattern. Multiple ecological and evolutionary factors jointly determine the spatial pattern of Gerbillinae diversity, but evolutionary factors (evolutionary time and speciation rate) and habitat filtering were the most important in explaining the spatial variation in species richness. Our study enhances the understanding of the diversity patterns of small mammals in arid regions and highlights the importance of including evolutionary factors when interpreting the mechanisms underlying large-scale species diversity patterns.

Diversity and eco-geographical distribution pattern of some Aegilops species from the Zagros and Alborz Mountain ranges of Iran

Diversity and eco-geographical distribution pattern of some Aegilops species from the Zagros and Alborz Mountain ranges of Iran

Land-use homogenization reduces the occurrence and diversity of frugivorous birds in a tropical biodiversity hotspot.

Understanding how human-modified landscapes maintain biodiversity and provide ecosystem services is crucial for establishing conservation practices. Given that responses to land-use are species-specific, it is crucial to understand how land-use changes may shape patterns of species diversity and persistence in human-modified landscapes. Here, we used a comprehensive data set on bird distribution from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest to understand how species richness and individual occurrences of frugivorous bird species responded to land-use spatial predictors and, subsequently, assess how ecological traits and phylogeny modulated these responses. Using Bayesian hierarchical modeling, we reveal that the richness of frugivorous birds was positively associated with the amount of native forest and negatively with both agriculture and pasture amount at the landscape scale. Conversely, the effect of these predictors on species occurrence and ecological traits was highly variable and presented a weak phylogenetic signal. Furthermore, land-use homogenization (i.e., the conversion of forest to pasture or agriculture) led to pervasive consequences for forest-dependent bird species, whereas several generalist species thrived in deforested areas, replacing those sensitive to habitat disturbances.

Molecular Surveillance, Prevalence, and Distribution of Cacao Infecting Badnavirus Species in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.

The cacao swollen shoot disease (CSSD) caused by a complex of badnavirus species presents a major challenge for cacao production in West Africa, especially Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. In this study, CSSD species detection efficiency, diversity, and geographic distribution patterns in cacao plantations in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire were investigated through field surveillance, PCR detection assays, sequencing of positive amplicons, and phylogeographic clustering. Cumulatively, the detection efficiency of the tested CSSD primer sets that were targeting the movement protein domain of the virus ranged from 0.15% (CSSD-3 primer) to 66.91% (CSSD-1 primer) on all the symptomatic cacao leaf samples assessed. The identified CSSD species differed phylogenetically and overlapped in distribution, with the cacao swollen shoot Togo B virus (CSSTBV) (n = 588 sequences) being the most prevalent and widely distributed compared to the other CSSD species that were encountered in both countries. Geographically, the cacao swollen shoot CE virus (CSSCEV) species (n = 124 sequences) that was identified was largely restricted to the bordering regions of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. These results provide updated knowledge of the geographic distribution of the key CSSD species and their diagnostic efficiency and, thus, provide guidance in identifying locations for structured testing of cacao germplasm and optimal diagnostics for the predominant CSSD species in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.

Cryptic diversity and phylogeographic patterns of Mediodactylus species in the Eastern Mediterranean region

Cryptic diversity poses a great obstacle in our attempts to assess the current biodiversity crisis and may hamper conservation efforts. The gekkonid genus Mediodactylus, a well-known case of hidden species and genetic diversity, has been taxonomically reclassified several times during the last decade. Focusing on the Mediterranean populations, a recent study within the M. kotschyi species complex using classic mtDNA/nuDNA markers suggested the existence of five distinct species, some being endemic and some possibly threatened, yet their relationships have not been fully resolved. Here, we generated genome-wide SNPs (using ddRADseq) and applied molecular species delimitation approaches and population genomic analyses to further disentangle these relationships. Τhe most extensive nuclear dataset, so far, encompassing 2,360 loci and ∼ 699,000 bp from across the genome of Mediodactylus gecko, enabled us to resolve previously obscure phylogenetic relationships among the five, recently elevated, Mediodactylus species and to support the hypothesis that the taxon includes several new, undescribed species. Population genomic analyses within each of the proposed species showed strong genetic structure and high levels of genetic differentiation among populations.

Systematics, distribution patterns and historical biogeography of the Central America wandering spider genus Kiekie Polotow & Brescovit, 2018 (Araneae: Ctenidae).

Kiekie Polotow & Brescovit, 2018 is a Neotropical genus of Ctenidae, with most of its species occuring in Central America. In this study, we review the systematics of Kiekie and describe five new species and the unknown females of K. barrocolorado Polotow & Brescovit, 2018 and K. garifuna Polotow & Brescovit, 2018, and the unknown male of K. verbena Polotow & Brescovit, 2018. In addition, we described the female of K. montanense which was wrongly assigned as K. griswoldi Polotow & Brescovit, 2018 (both species are sympatric). We provided a modified diagnosis for previously described species based on the morphology of the newly discovered species and in situ photographs of living specimens. We inferred a molecular phylogeny using four nuclear (histone H3, 28S rRNA, 18S rRNA and ITS-2) and three mitochondrial genes (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I or COI, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA) to test the monophyly of the genus and the evolutionary relationships of its species. Lastly, we reconstruct the historical biogeography and map diversity and endemism distributional patterns of the different species. This study increased the number of known species of Kiekie from 13 to 18, and we describe a new genus, Eldivo which is sister lineage of Kiekie. Most of the diversity and endemism of the genus Kiekie is located in the montane ecosystems of Costa Rica followed by the lowland rainforest of the Pacific side (Limon Basin). Kiekie originated in the North America Tropical region, this genus started diversifying in the Late Miocene and spread to Lower Central America and South America. In that region, Kiekie colonized independently several times the montane ecosystems corresponding to periods of uplifting of Talamanca and Central Cordilleras.

Patterns of forest community diversity, regeneration potential and carbon storages along an altitudinal gradient in Eastern Himalaya, India

This study showed changing patterns in the plant species composition, diversity, and carbon storage potential of different forests along altitudinal gradients (i.e. 100 – 1900 m) in Eastern Himalayan India. Different tree, shrub and herb species were sampled along the altitudinal gradients ranging from tropical to temperate forests through Nested Plot design. In each forest, vegetation sampling was made by establishing a permanent plot of 250 m × 250 m as per ISRO-GBP/NCP-VCP protocol. Individuals of trees ≥10 cm girth at breast height (GBH), shrubs and herbs were recorded in 4, 8 and 16 subplots of 31.62 m × 31.62 m, 5 m × 5 m and 1 m × 1 m, respectively. Community attributes such as species richness, density, basal area, diversity indices and biomass and carbon storages were computed for each study site. A total of 5 forest communities (2 each from tropical and subtropical and one from temperate forest) were identified. The woody species diversity was highest in the subtropical forest followed by tropical and temperate forest. Altitude played an important role in the Eastern Himalayan Mountains in the establishment and distribution of forest community. Forest community composition changes with elevation, for instance, the dominant communities like Dipterocarpus retusus–Phoebe goalparensis–Schima wallichii (D-P-S), Gmelina arborea–Schima wallichii-Duabanga grandiflora (G-S-D), Schima wallichii–Duabanga grandiflora–Alstonia scholaris (S-D-A), Alstonia scholaris–Terminalia myriocarpa–Bischofia javanica (A-T-B) and Acer thomsonii–Rhodendron arboreum–Quercus lamellose (A-R-Q) were present at elevational ranges of 100–300 m, 300–700 m, 700–1100 m, 1100–1500 m and 1500–1900 m, respectively. The study showed that about 41–57% of the tree species exhibited good regeneration followed by 23–30% as fair, 6–16% as poor, and 6–21% species did not show regeneration along the altitudinal gradient. The total biomass carbon (Mg C ha−1) varied from 84.74 to 163.56 in tropical, 103.12 – 156.41 in subtropical and 133.05 in temperate forest. In conclusion, community composition, regeneration pattern and biomass carbon storage changes along altitude because of altered biophysical characteristics. However, despite variations in elevation, factors for forest disturbance at different altitudes significantly contributed to the community attributes and overall accumulation of biomass carbon. Hence, the traditional management practices carried out by local communities also play a crucial role in shaping the structure, composition, and carbon dynamics of forest ecosystems. Understanding the impacts of these practices is essential for promoting sustainable forest management by conserving forests and preserving carbon stocks for mitigating climate change in future. This study emphasizes the importance of long-term forest monitoring to promote biodiversity conservation and formulate conservation strategies that support sustainable forest management policies to which ensure continuous provision of ecosystem services in the region.

MetaIBM: A Python-based library for individual-based modelling of eco-evolutionary dynamics in spatial-explicit metacommunities

Individual-based modelling (IBM) is a powerful tool for simulating complex biological communities. By defining a population as comprising individuals that differ from one another, IBM can simulate the assembly and organisation of complex communities under various eco-evolutionary processes in a large spatial scale, with tremendous variables or parameters considered simultaneously. IBM disentangles a complex system into various sub-systems interacting with each other, allowing us to develop a unified library with a modular design for a wide range of complex scenarios in community assembly. In such a library, a number of parameters-controlled processes can be primitively coded as the sub-systems (or sub-models). Here, we released a Python-coded library as a framework for Metacommunity Individual-based Modelling (MetaIBM). As an open-source library, the MetaIBM has several merits, including: (a) it can be used to simulate a wide range of ecological problems of metacommunities. The metacommunity landscape and its environment gradients can be designed flexibly by users. Users can selectively turn off or on and set up parameters-controlled ecological processes according to their needs. (b) It adopts optimised algorithms and adapts to the high-performance computing devices, so that the users can explore a wide range of parameters space synchronously within a reasonable time. (c) It can be used to simulate a group of communities with up to millions of unique individuals, which is an originally plain portrayal of natural communities. To guide potential users, we provided the source codes of the library and a user manual. In the present article, we gave four examples to demonstrate how to design and model a metacommunity using the MetaIBM, simulating the community assembly in an islands-mainland model under the metacommunity framework with (a) neutral assumptions, (b) niche assumptions, (c) slow evolution scenarios, (d) rapid evolution scenarios. The examples showed that the MetaIBM can efficiently fit the community assembly, and reveal several intrigued species diversity patterns under the interaction of evolutionary processes and dispersal processes at multiple scales. The MetaIBM will be continuously maintained and updated to provide more functions in the future.

Diversity pattern of insects from Macao based on an updated species checklist after 25 years.

Insects represent one of the most diverse groups in the organism world with extremely rich species and morphological diversity, playing important roles in natural and city ecosystems. Regional compilation of insect species lists helps to clarify the richness of insect species in a region, enhances our understanding the structure and function of a local ecosystem and promotes the protection and development of insect resources. Moreover, it also serves as a valuable reference for cities with small area, large population and high urbanisation like Macao. Macao (Macau) Special Administrative Region (SAR) is situated at the Pearl River Delta on the southeast coast of mainland China. With urban development accelerating at great rate in a quite restricted area, Macao still has rich fauna, within which the insect diversity is surprisingly high. In this study, we systematically sorted out major references items of manuals or handbooks, monographs, articles, dissertations, official websites and other publicly available information sources about the insects recorded in Macao and, thus, generated a checklist of 15 orders, 166 families, 868 genera, 1,339 species and 118 subspecies. During this process, the preliminarily summarised list was re-examined to eliminate synonyms and invalid species, based on many more extensive literature reviews. Besides, spelling errors of scientific names, authors and years were corrected. Meanwhile, the catalogue revealed a different composition pattern of species diversity between orders from those of the world and China. Even based on the most conservative estimates, the number of insect species in Macao should not be lower than 3,340 species, which hints at the necessity of deeper investigations with adequate collecting in the future to achieve more comprehensive recognition and understanding of Macao's insect biodiversity.

A new species of the genus Amolops (Amphibia: Ranidae) and the first national record of Amolops vitreus from China

Abstract The torrent frogs of the genus Amolops represent a great anuran diversification in southern China and Southeast Asia. Previous studies have shown that, the diversity of this genus still remains underestimated. During herpetological surveys from 2021 to 2022, several Amolops specimens were collected from the international border regions of southwestern Yunnan Province, China. Herein, we utilized molecular phylogenetic and morphological data to identify these specimens. Our findings indicate the presence of a separate and previously unknown lineage in the A. viridimaculatus group, which we formally describe as a new species. Furthermore, the specimen from Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve clustered with A. vitreus from the paratype, supporting the morphological diagnosis. Therefore, we describe a new species and a new species record for China. Our study contributes to the species richness of the genus Amolops as well as the diversity of amphibians in China. Notably, our discovery brings the total number of Amolops species to 85 and the total number of torrent frog species known to occur in China to 53. In addition, our study further confirmed that Yunnan and Indochina Peninsula have similar faunal composition, implying that more studies are needed to achieve a complete understanding of the species diversity and distribution pattern.

Altitudinal variation in soil nematode communities in an alpine mountain region of the eastern Tibetan plateau

Distribution patterns of species diversity in high mountains have received considerable attention in scientific research and conservation efforts. However, our understanding of the corresponding altitudinal patterns of soil fauna across spatial scales, particularly on high-altitude plateaus, remains limited. To address this gap, we conducted a case study on Balang Mountain, located at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Our focus was on soil nematodes within an altitudinal range of approximately 3000 to 4000 m. We collected climate, soil, and vegetation data to test multiple hypotheses, including the effects of energy, water availability, productivity, soil resource availability, and pH constraints on nematode communities. Dominance analysis and commonality analysis were employed to determine the relative support of these hypotheses in explaining nematode abundance, diversity, and composition. Beta-diversity, which links local alpha-diversity and regional gamma-diversity, was decomposed into distinct components to elucidate ecological processes along altitude and across diversity facets. Our findings revealed distinct yet significant altitudinal patterns in nematode abundance (concave-down), richness (monotonous decrease), and evenness (concave-up). Water and soil resource availability emerged as dominant factors influencing nematode abundance, while energy and pH played pivotal roles in determining nematode richness. Additionally, water and productivity were identified as the most significant drivers shaping nematode community composition. Furthermore, a significant influence of pH on gamma- and beta-diversities was observed, surpassing the impact of other predictors at a coarse level. Upon decomposing beta-diversities into different components, we discovered that taxa substitution (turnover) and individual substitution (balance-variation) were the primary contributors to community dissimilarity among altitudes, indicating strong effects of environmental sorting or spatial and historical constraints on soil nematode communities. These findings contribute to our understanding of the distribution patterns and processes of soil nematode communities along altitude in alpine ecosystems. Moreover, they offer valuable insights into soil biodiversity distribution and conservation in high-mountain environments.

Diversity and growth patterns of woody species in the Mediterranean Coastal range of Chile: A case study in Altos de Cantillana

Background: The Altos de Cantillana mountain range (ACMR) in central Chile is composed of different vegetation communities, and is currently a priority site for conservation, due to its high endemism, high anthropogenic pressure and vulnerability to climate change. Research on biodiversity and carbon stocks in ACMR is essential to comprehend the resilience of these forests and to define conservation strategies. This study examines the spatial variability of biodiversity and tree biomass patterns along the entire altitudinal gradient of the ACMR. Methods: Six tree species communities were studied in Altos de Cantillana Nature Sanctuary, along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 415 to 2010 m. Woody species regeneration and inventory plots, as well as dendrochronological sampling in ~150 trees were carried out. Diversity patterns were analyzed using the Jaccard index and alpha index. Growth patterns of dominant trees species were analyzed by ring-width and trunk biomass chronologies, focusing on the recent megadrought period since 2010. Results: The forest inventory revealed a notable decline in alfa diversity patterns with increasing elevation. The moist sclerophyllous forest exhibited the highest diversity. However, we did not find a pattern between elevation and diversity (and abundance) at the seed regeneration inventory level. Additionally, we identified three clusters of woody species similarity: (i) sclerophyllous, shrubs and hygrophilous forest (<1,000 m.a.s.l.); (ii) high-elevation sclerophyllous forest (>1,500 m.a.s.l); and (iii) deciduous forests (~ 2,000 m.a.s.l). Furthermore, declining growth rates were observed in all communities studied beginning in the 1980s, with even a stronger reduction in radial growth (35% on average) and biomass accumulation (56% on average) when comparing the megadrought with six decades earlier. Conclusions: We concluded that there is a negative correlation between woody species diversity and elevation. However, there are no altitudinal patterns in seedling regeneration diversity and abundance, which puts the natural succession in ACMR at risk. Additionally, we have determined that the accumulation of trunk biomass in dominant woody species has been significantly impacted by the recent megadrought period. This has affected the sink capacity of forest communities in ACMR. Therefore, our findings can significantly contribute to more efficient and timely decision-making processes regarding the conservation and restoration of this globally unique ecosystem.

Environment and management jointly shape the spatial patterns of plant species diversity of moist grasslands in the mountains of Northeastern Yunnan

Grasslands account for about a quarter of the Earth’s land area and are one of the major terrestrial ecosystems, with significant ecological and economic value. The influence of environmental factors and management types on grassland biodiversity has garnered considerable attention. This study investigated how patterns of species richness are influenced by geographical distance, environmental gradients, and management type in the grasslands of northeastern Yunnan, China. We used structural equation modeling to disentangle the impacts of environment and management on phylogenetic community structure, and partial Mantel tests to estimate the roles of dispersal limitation and environmental filtering on taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity of three types of grasslands. Our results show that taxonomic alpha diversity increased in grazed grasslands and decreased in mowed grasslands, compared with protected grasslands. However, the phylogenetic structure of both grazed and mowed grassland communities was clustered, whereas that of protected communities was random. Moreover, both grazing and mowing significantly reduced the taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity of grasslands, with the lowest values observed in mowed grasslands. Both taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity were dominated by species turnover under different management types. The taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversities of protected and grazed grasslands were simultaneously affected by environmental filtering and dispersal limitation, with the later playing a stronger role. In addition, mowing and related management measures had a stronger filtering effect on grassland community structure, as reflected by changes in community composition.

Island biogeography theory and the habitat heterogeneity jointly explain global patterns of Rhododendron diversity

Mountain biodiversity is of great importance to biogeography and ecology. However, it is unclear what ecological and evolutionary processes best explain the generation and maintenance of its high levels of species diversity. In this study, we determined which of six common hypotheses (e.g., climate hypotheses, habitat heterogeneity hypothesis and island biogeography theory) best explain global patterns of species diversity in Rhododendron. We found that Rhododendron diversity patterns were most strongly explained by proxies of island biogeography theory (i.e., mountain area) and habitat heterogeneity (i.e., elevation range). When we examined other relationships important to island biogeography theory, we found that the planimetric area and the volume of mountains were positively correlated with the Rhododendron diversity, whereas the ‘mountains-to-mainland’ distance was negatively correlated with Rhododendron diversity and shared species. Our findings demonstrate that Rhododendron diversity can be explained by island biogeography theory and habitat heterogeneity, and mountains can be regarded as islands which supported island biogeography theory.

Climate and soil stressed elevation patterns of plant species to determine the aboveground biomass distributions in a valley-type Savanna.

Extreme environments such as prolonged high temperatures and droughts can cause vulnerability of vegetation ecosystems. The dry-hot valleys of Southwestern China, known for their extremely high annual temperature, lack of water, and unique non-zonal "hot island" habitat in the global temperate zone, provide exceptional sites for studying how plant adapts to the prolonged dry and hot environment. However, the specific local biotic-environment relationships in these regions remain incompletely elucidated. The study aims to evaluate how valley-type Savanna vegetation species and their communities adapt to long-term drought and high-temperature stress environments. The study investigated the changes in species diversity and communities' aboveground biomass of a valley-type Savanna vegetation along an elevation gradient of Yuanmou dry-hot valley in Jinsha River basin, southwest China. Subsequently, a general linear model was utilized to simulate the distribution pattern of species diversities and their constituent biomass along theelevation gradient. Finally, the RDA and VPH mothed were used to evaluate the impacts and contributions of environmental factors or variables on the patterns. The field survey reveals an altitudinal gradient effect on the valley-type Savanna, with a dominant species of shrubs and herbs plants distribution below an elevation of 1700m, and a significant positive relationship between the SR, Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, and Pielou indices and altitudes. Relatively, the community aboveground biomass did not increase significantly with elevation, which was mainly due to a decreased biomass of herbaceous plants along the elevation. Different regulators of shrub-herbaceous plant species and their functional groups made different elevation patterns of species diversity and aboveground biomass in valley-type Savannas. Herbaceous plants are responsible for maintaining species diversity and ensuring stability in the aboveground biomass of the vegetation. However, the influence of shrubs on aboveground biomass became more pronounced as environmental conditions varied along the altitudinal gradient. Furthermore, species diversity was mainly influenced by soil and climatic environmental factors, whereas community biomass was mainly regulated by plant species or functional groups. The study demonstrates that the spatial pattern of valley-type Savanna was formed as a result of different environmental responses and the productive capacity of retained plant species or functional groups to climate-soil factors, highlighting the value of the Yuanmou dry-hot Valley as a microcosm for exploring the intricate interactions between vegetation evolution and changes in environmental factors.

Actual diversity and distribution of charal algae of the genus <i>Nitella</i> C.Agardh (Charophyta) in Ukraine)

The results of the analysis of literature and original data on the species diversity and distribution patterns of algae of the genus Nitella C.Agardh (Charophyta, Charales) in Ukraine are presented. Now, the diversity of the genus Nitella in Ukraine is represented by 9 species out of 13, known in the Europe flora of Charales, namely: Nitella capillaris (Krock.) J.Groves et Bull.-Webst., N. confervacea (Bréb.) A.Braun ex Leonh., N. gracilis (Sm.) C.Agardh, N. flexilis (L.) C.Agardh, N. mucronata (A.Braun) Miq., N. opaca (C.Agardh ex Bruz.) C.Agardh, N. syncarpa (Thuill.) Chev., N. tenuissima (Desv.) Kütz. and N. translucens (Persoon) C.Agardh. An annotated list of Ukrainian species in Ukraine. A total of 78 locations have been registered, including historical, lost, and modern ones. Most of them were found within the Pripyat-Desnianska (PpDSAP) (50) and Serednyodniprovska (SDpAP) (21), much less  within the Dnieper-Black Sea (DpAp) (3) and Carpathian-Danube (CpDnAP) (4) algofloristic subprovinces. It is suggested that main limiting factors influencing on diversity and distribution patterns of the Nitella species in Ukraine are the type of waterbodies, temperature, a degree of minimalization as well as chemical main ionic composition of water and active reaction (pH) of water.

Seed bank and aboveground vegetation of Atlantic Forest re‐growing on mining tailings in Mariana: Highlighting diversity patterns of functional groups

AbstractNatural regeneration after mining activities depends largely on the soil seed bank (SSB) and aboveground vegetation (AGV) richness and composition. We evaluated the species diversity pattern of the SSB and AGV on soil and technosol across second‐growth Atlantic Forests (SGFs) after mining tailings deposition in Mariana, southeastern Brazil. Two second‐growth Atlantic seasonal semideciduous forests of different stand ages were selected: a 3‐year‐old stand of SGF re‐growing on tailings (SGF tailings) and a 30‐year‐old stand of native reference forest not affected by tailings (SGF nontailings). Overall, the results showed significant differences in forest attributes (species richness and composition) in the SSB and AGV between the two forest patches evaluated (SGF tailings and SGF nontailings). Moreover, both nonzoochoric and zoochoric dispersed species of AGV showed significant differences between second‐growth forests, with higher variability of community‐weighted mean in SGF tailings. The result shows smaller differences in species richness between forest types for both SBB (ranging 85 and 90 species) and AGV (~55 species). Despite the time difference between the secondary forest and the absence of zoochoric species in the tailings seed bank, the AGV that are re‐growing on mining tailings presented a high proportion of zoochoric species. This pattern of species richness and community composition variability observed in the technosol seed bank, and AGV that are re‐growing after the deposition of mining tailings are important recovery indicators for plant communities affected.

Species Diversity and Conservation of Typhlocybinae (Heteroptera: Cicadellidae) in China

Abstract Species diversity is undergoing rapid reductions globally. Identifying the causes underlying species diversity patterns and biodiversity hotspots is critical for developing conservation strategies. In this study, the 4,594 occurrence records of 854 Typhlocybinae (Heteroptera: Cicadellidae) species in China were used to investigate the factors affecting species richness and endemism patterns as well as identify species diversity hotspots to establish their conservation status. Generalized linear models and hierarchical partitioning were used to assess the effects of 6 environmental factors on species richness and endemism. Species diversity hotspots were obtained by integrating the 10 grids with highest levels of species richness and endemism; the conservation status of these hotspots was assessed via gap analysis. We found that species richness and endemism distribution of Typhlocybinae in China were heterogeneous, mainly concentrated in southern and central areas. The results also showed that plants were the most important environmental factors affecting species richness and endemism patterns, followed by niche conservatism. The 10 hotspots were identified; however, they were not fully protected by the existing nature reserves. This study highlights the importance of plants and niche conservatism in shaping species richness and endemism patterns of Typhlocybinae. Moreover, establishment of new nature reserves in hotspot areas with a conservation gap is required.

Global patterns and determinants of multiple facets of plant diversity

AbstractAimCombining different biodiversity dimensions can reveal new diversity patterns disclosing the relative roles of historical, environmental and anthropogenic factors in shaping global seed plant diversity.LocationGlobal.Time periodPresent.Major taxa studiedVascular plants.MethodsWe collated a database encompassing taxonomic (249,000 species), functional and phylogenetic information (34,694 species) of seed plants across different regions of the world. Species richness in each region was weighted accounting for their phylogenetic and functional distinctiveness, obtaining a new metric—μ‐diversity—which was modelled to disentangle the relative roles of historical factors such as climate variability since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), environmental features (e.g. actual evapotranspiration—AET) and anthropogenic factors (past and current).ResultsHigher μ‐diversity was observed in Papuasia, South East Asia, Australia and Central America, whereas the lowest values were primarily located in the Northern Hemisphere. Climate variability and AET were the most important determinants of μ‐diversity and individual diversity facets, whereas the importance of past human impacts (i.e. the onset of pastoralism) equated or exceeded those of the present ones.Main conclusionsOur integrative approach proved more sensitive in describing species diversity patterns. Few areas on Earth host high and unique proportions of multiple diversity facets and individual diversity facets contribute differently to μ‐diversity across continents. Historical climate stability and water‐energy dynamics strongly affect species diversity, but we also observed that past land‐use legacy may have influenced current plant diversity, which is under intense anthropogenic pressure, especially in Asia as well as in Central and South America.

Macrofloral biostratigraphy reflects late Carboniferous vegetation dynamics in the Nord‐Pas‐de‐Calais Coalfield, France

AbstractThe Nord‐Pas‐de‐Calais Coalfield is formed by an almost continuous succession of upper Carboniferous deposits, from which an extremely diverse macroflora has historically been described. Recent evidence has highlighted a clear pattern of changing species diversity, showing some differences from what is seen in other coalfields of Variscan Euramerica. We further study this significant macroflora, focusing on the biostratigraphical changes and their palaeoecological implications. Clustering and ordination analyses have indicated key floral discontinuities that enable the standard regional macrofloral biozones to be recognized in the Nord‐Pas‐de‐Calais Coalfield. By combining these results with the previous diversity studies, six distinct phases in the evolution of the coal swamp vegetation in north‐eastern France can be identified: (1) an initial invasion of peat substrate vegetation in the earliest Langsettian; (2) a rapid diversification of the clastic substrate vegetation in the early–middle Langsettian; (3) a more gradual diversification of the vegetation of both clastic and peat substrates during the late Langsettian to middle Duckmantian glacial phase C3; (4) the appearance of more characteristically late Westphalian, but less diverse floras during the late Duckmantian to early Bolsovian C3–C4 interglacial phase; (5) a marked increase in species diversity in the middle–late Bolsovian, coinciding with the onset of the C4 glacial phase; and (6) a marked reduction in species diversity, and the appearance of new medullosaleans and marattialeans in the Asturian, possibly linked to climate change. The evidence clearly shows how this palaeotropical swamp vegetation was responding to climate change and orogenic landscape changes during Westphalian times.