Variation In Biodiversity Research Articles

Review of the Taxonomic Status of the Most Frequent Orthoptera Species (Caelifera: Acrididae)in the Middle Atlas of Morocco

Located between the coast and the desert, the Moroccan Middle Atlas Mountains are strongly affected by these two climatic averages, resulting in very complex and diverse biodiversity patterns in Orthoptera fauna. This instability in locusts (Orthoptera, Acrididae), is mainly due to the ambiguity of definitions for each level of classification above the species level. These changes necessitate a review of the literature on the Moroccan Middle Atlas locust orthopterans. This review focuses on the suborder Caelifera, encountered at five stations in the Middle Atlas, and includes the three families of Acridoîdea, of which the Acrididae is the most diversified. A comparative reading of the various taxa frequently met with and their recent systematic controversies are reviewed herein.

Spatiotemporal variations and correlation factors of species habitat appropriateness in China from a satellite-based perspective

For development planning and biodiversity management in China, it is crucial to understand the past and present patterns of biodiversity. Using satellite data has proven to be an effective means of characterizing the spatial distribution of species based on the species energy hypothesis, thereby supporting the conservation of biodiversity. This study’s specific purposes included assessing different surrogates for annual species richness in China using MODIS as input for the Dynamic Habitat Indices (DHIs) and analyzing the trend and triggers of variation in DHI from 2003 to 2018. We evaluated the linear relationships between the species richness and different DHIs (containing DHI Cum, cumulative productivity; DHI Min, minimum productivity; DHI Var, intra-annual variation of productivity) in China. Further, we conducted a least squares linear regression analysis to investigate the long-term trend of the best performed DHI, as well as an analysis of correlation factors. Our results demonstrated that both DHI Cum and DHI Min had strong explanatory power for estimating species richness, while DHI Var had a poor performance. Among all individual DHIs, GPP-DHI Cum performed the best. The trend analysis showed that the species habitat appropriateness in the areas with high species habitat appropriateness tended to decrease over time, while that in the areas with low species habitat appropriateness tended to increase over time. We also found that the correlation factors for the variation of biodiversity varied spatially. The decrease of biodiversity in the south and eastern coast of China was associated with the decrease of the solar radiation, the increases of the temperature and precipitation, and the expansion of human footprint. By comparison, the increase of biodiversity in the Tibetan Plateau was associated with the increases of the temperature while that in the Loess Plateau was associated with the increases of the precipitation. In addition to climatic factors, the implementations of ecological restoration projects have also driven increased diversity. Besides an improved understanding of biodiversity dynamics, these findings may help to promote biodiversity conservation and policy making.

Temporal comparison of land-use changes and biodiversity in differential IUCN protected-area categories of Bangladesh in the context of co-management

ABSTRACT Protected areas (PA) have been considered as biodiversity conservation hub across the globe. The conventional “top-down” management approach has been failed to ensure resource sustainability in many PA. Therefore, co-management was introduced to secure the PA of Bangladesh and started with legal framework in 2008 (IPAC Project) until 2018 (CREL Project). Thus, land-use and biodiversity change analysis from a decade before and after 2008 has generated comparison of previous and after scenario of co-management. Hence for evaluating effects of co-management on temporal biodiversity and land-use change in Bangladesh, two PA, Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) under IUCN Protected Area Category IV and Lawachara National Park (LNP) under IUCN Protected Area Category II, were selected. Community structure of both vascular plants and avifauna species was used to determine current biodiversity variations with habitat influence. Land-use change analysis revealed deforestation and settlements expansion in CWS but decrease in LNP. Trend analysis forecasted good future of LNP in terms of forest cover till 2038. Biodiversity analysis revealed that CWS is slightly more diverse and even than LNP. Comparative analysis recognized prominent loss of biodiversity before co-management period. Therefore, co-management system can be employed in the rest of reserve-forest areas of Bangladesh for conservation betterment.

Spatial non-stationarity effect of determinants regulates variation in amphibian species richness

Despite the variation in amphibian biodiversity being often explained through environmental variables, the effects of spatial non-stationarity factors are too-often ignored as significant geographic characteristics, especially at large scales. Here, using a spatial regression approach through a multiscale analysis, we explored the spatial heterogeneity and scale effects in the impacts of environments on amphibian species richness across China. We showed that the impacts of variables varied with regions, and the individual scales specific to each variable were negatively correlated with effect sizes. We then demonstrated that climate variables, followed by topography, showed a high explanatory power for species richness in most areas, while the effects of precipitation and temperature were characterized by high geographical heterogeneity. In addition, elevation was positively related to local species richness in most plains, while being a main negative variable to species richness in the western highlands. The analysis of geographic heterogeneity showed that the explanatory power of most variables declined with increasing elevation. Although anthropogenic impacts contributed less than climatic variables, they significantly increased the sensitivity of amphibian species to environmental variations. Finally, to measure the aggregation pattern of heterogeneous effects of variables on species richness, we used a neural network to identify ecoregions regulated by similar variables and determined the presence of four ecologically consistent regions. Our findings provide further evidence supporting spatially variables regulators of amphibian diversity.

High compositional dissimilarity among small communities is decoupled from environmental variation

Communities composed of small populations are predicted to be strongly influenced by stochastic demographic events and, thus, less affected by environmental selection than those composed of large populations. However, this prediction has only been tested with computer simulations, simplified controlled experiments, and limited observational data. Here, using multiple datasets on fish abundance in 541 streams we tested 1) if communities composed of small populations are more spatially variable and 2) less related to the environment variation than communities composed of large populations. We used process‐based simulations to identify β‐diversity metrics and community–environment measures that were appropriate to investigate the role of assembly processes along a gradient of community size. We show that variation in species composition among small communities is higher than among large communities and that the strength of community–environment relationships is weaker in small communities. Our results indicate that community size affects the strength of ecological drift and environmental selection in metacommunities. We thus suggest that further declines in the size of populations and ecosystems can make spatial variation in biodiversity more unpredictable.

Global beta-diversity of angiosperm trees is shaped by Quaternary climate change.

As Earth's climate has varied strongly through geological time, studying the impacts of past climate change on biodiversity helps to understand the risks from future climate change. However, it remains unclear how paleoclimate shapes spatial variation in biodiversity. Here, we assessed the influence of Quaternary climate change on spatial dissimilarity in taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional composition among neighboring 200-kilometer cells (beta-diversity) for angiosperm trees worldwide. We found that larger glacial-interglacial temperature change was strongly associated with lower spatial turnover (species replacements) and higher nestedness (richness changes) components of beta-diversity across all three biodiversity facets. Moreover, phylogenetic and functional turnover was lower and nestedness higher than random expectations based on taxonomic beta-diversity in regions that experienced large temperature change, reflecting phylogenetically and functionally selective processes in species replacement, extinction, and colonization during glacial-interglacial oscillations. Our results suggest that future human-driven climate change could cause local homogenization and reduction in taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of angiosperm trees worldwide.

Identifying Acoustic Features to Distinguish Highly and Moderately Altered Soundscapes in Colombia

Numerous acoustic features have been proposed as useful measures to characterize natural soundscapes, which can be employed to examine the impact of land transformation on the audible properties of a location. The extensive collection of available features demands an examination to identify the most informative and discriminative ones for a given problem. In this study, we conduct an empirical investigation into the selection of acoustic features for discriminating between highly and moderately transformed versions of four Colombian soundscapes: Moorlands, coffee plantations, dry tropical forests, and pastures. We employ classical supervised feature selection techniques along with exploratory tools such as correlation matrices and scatter plots. Our results indicate that a few acoustic features are sufficient to differentiate between the classes. Specifically, those features that estimate acoustic complexity via intrinsic variability of sound intensities or biodiversity through species richness or abundance in specific frequency bands are the most discriminative ones. These findings suggest that the selection of acoustic features can assist in analyzing and distinguishing between different soundscapes.

Temporal variation of aquatic insects biodiversity in selected rice fields of Saran district of Bihar

Rice is a major food crop of India. The rice cultivation has maintained its priority status in the agricultural sector of the country. The intensive management practices adopted by the practitioners have resulted in genetic erosion, thus affecting the species composition of the rice field ecosystems. There is obvious difference in species composition and community structure in upland and lowland rice fields and lowland fields has minimum pests affecting production of yield per hectare. This paper presents a work carried out on the biological diversity of lowland rice field ecosystems of India, and proposes the need for conservation strategies to ensure the sustainability of these rice growing ecosystems in the long run.

Spatial Patterns of Species Diversity of Amphibians in a Nature Reserve in Eastern China

Elevational gradients provide an excellent opportunity to assess biodiversity patterns and community structure. Previous studies mainly focus on higher elevations or are limited to small areas in mountainous regions. Little information can be found on amphibian biodiversity in middle- and low-elevational areas, hence our study was devoted to filling up the current gaps in these research areas. To understand the variability of biodiversity of amphibian species in the Fujian Junzifeng National Nature Reserve in eastern China, our study included taxonomic and phylogenetic components to describe the various patterns of regional and elevational distribution. The results showed that (1) most of the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity metrics were correlated; with regard to the surveyed area, Faith's phylogenetic diversity index (PD) and net relatedness index (NRI) were positively correlated with the Shannon-Wiener index (H'), Margalef index (DMG), and species richness (S), while negatively with the Pielou index; whereas for elevation, only the Pielou index was positively correlated with the nearest taxon index (NTI), but negatively with other indices; (2) taxonomic and phylogenetic diversities did not differ among the three survey locations but differed significantly along the elevational gradient; Simpson index, H', S, and DMG had a hump-shaped relationship with elevations, and PD decreased gradually with the increase in elevation, whereas NRI and NTI sharply increased at the elevation above 900 m; (3) the species range size and the corresponding midpoint of amphibians were affected by a strong phylogenetic signal, which supports the elevational Rapoport's rule upon removal of Pachytriton brevipes and Boulenophrys sanmingensis from the study.

Biodiversity transformations in the global ocean: A climate change and conservation management perspective.

Understanding the biological diversity of different communities and evaluating the risks to biological sustainability in a time of rapid environmental change is a key challenge for providing an adapting management approach for biodiversity transformations in the ocean linked to human well-being. (Photo credit: Andrea Belgrano).

Pengembangan Desa Wisata Melalui Pelatihan Pembuatan Kerajinan Tangan Sebagai Souvenir Di Desa Denai Lama Kecamatan Pantai Labu Kabupaten Deli Serdang

Denai Lama Village is one of 19 villages in Pantai Labu District, Deli Serdang Regency, which is known as a tourist village with a diversity of biodiversity, including garden ornamental plants that can be used to make handicrafts with economic value. To further develop the potential of yard ornamental plants, through the Medan Area University Community Service Program, the team offered the idea of making oshibana crafts, which is the art of flower arrangement using unused leaves or flowers. Partners in the activity are young women and local PKK mothers. The purpose of the activity is to provide information on the potential of yard ornamental plants to become creative products that have economic value. Implementation of activities with the method of presentation of material and information related to the potential of ornamental plants and the practice of making oshibana directly. It is hoped that this training will increase insight into the utilization of yard ornamental plants into products of economic value. This craft art can be used as decoration for various souvenir products such as bags, frames, key chains and bookmarks.

In plateaus, land cover replaced climate as the vital environmental factor on the spatial composition of bumblebees with the altitude rising

Abstract Bumblebees show a series of advantages over other pollinating insects in offering pollination services for both the ecosystem and agricultural production, especially in high‐altitude areas. With climate warming, their diversity at high altitudes will be threatened. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the management of bumblebee resources at high altitudes to prevent their decline here. Discovering drivers responsible for the spatial variation of biodiversity is a benefit for developing appropriate management. Here, based on the bumblebee diversity on three plateau areas with an altitude gradient, the roles of different environmental factors, the climate, land cover, topography, habitat heterogeneity and soil, in the bumblebee composition were assessed by generalised dissimilarity modelling. And the relative importance of variables was evaluated by the impact on the magnitude of total biological change and the per cent change in deviance explained by models. According to the results, in the low‐altitude area, the climate played a vital role and the most important variable was the climate variable. Then, with the altitude rising, the effect of land cover continually increased. In the medium‐altitude area, the effects of different factors were detected to be similar, and the most important variables were a climate variable and a land cover variable. In the high‐altitude area, land cover finally replaced the climate as the most important factor, and one land cover variable was assessed as the most important variable. Our study revealed that the relative importance of different environmental factors on the biodiversity of bumblebees can differ as the altitude rises.

Long‐term responses to large‐scale disturbances: spatiotemporal variation in gastropod populations and communities

The Anthropocene is characterized by complex, primarily human‐generated, disturbance regimes that include combinations of long‐term press (e.g. climate change, pollution) and episodic pulse (e.g. cyclonic storms, floods, wildfires, land use change) disturbances. Within any regime, disturbances occur at multiple spatial and temporal scales, creating complex and varied interactions that influence spatiotemporal dynamics in the abundance, distribution and biodiversity of organisms. Moreover, responses to disturbance are context dependent, with the legacies of previous disturbances affecting responses to ensuing perturbations. We use three decades of annual data to evaluate the effects of repeated pulse disturbances and global warming on gastropod populations and communities in Puerto Rico at multiple spatial scales. More specifically, we quantify 1) the relative importance of large‐scale and small‐scale aspects of disturbance on variation in abundance, biodiversity and species composition; and 2) the spatial scales at which populations and communities integrate information in the spatially heterogenous environments created by disturbances. Gastropods do not exhibit consistent decreases in abundance or biodiversity in association with global warming: abundance for many species has increased over time and species richness does not evince a temporal trend. Nonetheless, gastropods are sensitive to hurricane severity, spatial environmental variation and successional trajectories of the flora. In addition, they exhibit context dependent (i.e. legacy effects) responses that are scale dependent. The Puerto Rican biota has evolved in a disturbance‐mediated system. This historical exposure to repeated, severe hurricane‐induced disturbances has imbued the biota with high resistance and resilience to the current disturbance regime, resulting in an ability to persist or thrive under current environmental conditions. Nonetheless, these ecosystems may yet be threatened by worsening direct and indirect effects of climate change. In particular, more frequent and severe hurricanes may prevent the establishment of closed canopy forests, negatively impacting populations and communities that rely on these habitats.

Spatio-temporal patterns of the crustacean demersal fishery discard from the south Humboldt Current System, based on scientific observer program (2014-2019).

This study summarises six years of spatio-temporal patterns of the discarded demersal community fauna recorded by onboard scientific observer program for both artisanal and industrial crustacean fisheries between 2014 and 2019, from mesophotic to aphotic depths (96 to 650 m) along the southern Humboldt Current System (28-38°S). In this period, one cold and two warm climatic events were observed during the austral summer 2014, 2015-2016 (ENSO Godzilla), and 2016-2017 (coastal ENSO), respectively. Satellite information showed that Chlorophyll-a concentration varied seasonally and latitudinally, associated with upwelling centres, while equatorial wind stress decreased southward of 36°S. Discards were composed of 108 species, dominated by finfish and molluscs. The Chilean hake Merluccius gayi was dominant and ubiquitous (occurrence, 95% of 9104 hauls), being the most vulnerable species of the bycatch. Three assemblages were identified: assemblage 1 (~200 m deep), dominated by flounders Hippoglossina macrops and lemon crabs Platymera gaudichaudii, assemblage 2 (~260 m deep), dominated by squat lobsters Pleuroncodes monodon and Cervimunida johni and assemblage 3 (~320 m depth), dominated by grenadiers Coelorinchus aconcagua and cardinalfish Epigonus crassicaudus. These assemblages were segregated by depth, and varied by year, and geographic zone. The latter represented changes in the width of the continental shelf, increasing southward of 36°S. Alpha-diversity indexes (richness, Shannon, Simpson, and Pielou) also varied with depth and latitude, with higher diversity in deeper continental waters (>300 m), between 2018-2019. Finally, at a spatial scale of tens of kilometres, and a monthly basis, interannual variations of biodiversity occurred in the demersal community. Surface sea temperature, chlorophyll-a, or wind stress did not correlate with discarded demersal fauna diversity of the crustacean fishery operating along central Chile.

Canopy Composition and Spatial Configuration Influences Beta Diversity in Temperate Regrowth Forests of Southeastern Australia

Structural features of the overstorey in managed and unmanaged forests can significantly influence plant community composition. Native Acacia species are common in temperate eucalypt forests in southeastern Australia. In these forests, intense disturbances, such as logging and wildfire, lead to high densities of regenerating trees, shrubs, and herbs. The tree layer is dominated by Acacia and Eucalyptus, that compete intensely for resources in the first decades after stand establishment. The relative abundance and size of Acacia and Eucalyptus varies widely due to stochastic factors such as dispersal, microsite variability, and weather and climatic conditions. This variability may influence the structure and composition of the herbaceous and shrub species. In the temperate forests of southeastern Australia, understorey plant diversity is assumed to be influenced by Acacia species density, rather than Eucalyptus density. To quantify the influence of Acacia and Eucalyptus density on plant community composition, we used remote sensing and machine learning methods to map canopy composition and then compare it to understorey composition. We combined unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) imagery, supervised image classifications, and ground survey data of plant composition from post-logging regrowth forests in the Central Highlands of southeastern Australia. We found that aggregation and patch metrics of Eucalyptus and Acacia were strongly associated with understorey plant beta diversity. Increasing aggregation of Acacia and the number of Acacia patches had a significant negative effect on plant beta diversity, while the number of Eucalyptus patches had a positive influence. Our research demonstrates how accessible UAV remote sensing can be used to quantify variability in plant biodiversity in regrowth forests. This can help forest managers map patterns of plant diversity at the stand-scale and beyond to guide management activities across forested landscapes.

Diversifying modelling techniques to disentangle the complex patterns of species richness and diversity in the protected afromontane grasslands

Ecological research has focused on the importance of environmental factors on spatial biodiversity variations and organisation. This is important because of scant conservation resources. We used stepwise backward selection and random feature selection (RFE) to identify a parsimonious model that can predict species richness and diversity metrics in response to three models; biotic, abiotic, and topo-edaphic. Our results show that both metrics are good predictors of one another, mainly because species diversity is a combination of species richness and abundance, and further highlights the importance of biotic variables in predicting species distribution. The two modelling techniques selected soil texture and its interactions with topographic variables as the most important variables. However, random forest performed worse than multiple linear regression in the prediction of diversity metrics. This research highlights the importance of topographically controlled edaphic factors as drivers of species richness and diversity in mountainous grasslands where topography inherently controls the geomorphic, hydrological, and, as a result, ecological processes.

Why we should be looking for longitudinal patterns in biodiversity

Our understanding of global diversity patterns relies overwhelmingly on ecological and evolutionary correlates of latitude, and largely ignores longitude. However, the two major explanations of biodiversity patterns – energy and stability – are confounded across latitudes, and longitude offers potential solutions. Recent literature shows that the global biogeography of the Cenozoic world is structured by longitudinal barriers. In a few well-studied regions, such as South Africa’s Cape, the Himalayas and the Amazon-Andes continuum, there are strong longitudinal gradients in biodiversity. Often, such gradients occur where high and low past climatic velocities are juxtaposed, and there is clear evidence of higher biodiversity at the climatically-stable end. Understanding longitudinal biodiversity variations more widely can offer new insights towards biodiversity conservation in the face of anthropogenic climatic change.

Spatial scale-dependent dilution effects of biodiversity on plant diseases in grasslands.

The rapid biodiversity losses of the Anthropocene have motivated ecologists to understand how biodiversity affects infectious diseases. Spatial scale is thought to moderate negative biodiversity-disease relationships (i.e., dilution effects) in zoonotic diseases, whereas evidence from plant communities for an effect of scale remains limited, especially at local scales where the mechanisms (e.g., encounter reduction) underlying dilution effects actually work. Here, we tested how spatial scale affects the direction and magnitude of biodiversity-disease relationships. We utilized a 10-year-old nitrogen addition experiment in a Tibetan alpine meadow, with 0, 5, 10, and 15 g/m2 nitrogen addition treatments. Within the treatment plots, we arranged a total of 216 quadrats (of either 0.125 × 0.125 m, 0.25 × 0.25 m or 0.5 × 0.5 m size) to test how the sample area affects the relationship between plant species richness and foliar fungal disease severity. We found that the dilution effects were stronger in the 0.125 × 0.125 m and 0.25 × 0.25 m quadrats, compared with 0.5 × 0.5 m quadrats. There was a significant interaction between species richness and nitrogen addition in the 0.125 × 0.125 m and 0.25 × 0.25 m quadrats, indicating that a dilution effect was more easily observed under higher levels of nitrogen addition. Based on multigroup structural equation models, we found that even accounting for the direct impact of nitrogen addition (i.e., "nitrogen-disease hypothesis"), the dilution effect still worked at the 0.125 × 0.125 m scale. Overall, these findings suggest that spatial scale directly determines the occurrence of dilution effects, and can partly explain the observed variation in biodiversity-disease relationships in grasslands. Next-generation frameworks for predicting infectious diseases under rapid biodiversity loss scenarios need to incorporate spatial information.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Indonesia Biodiversity Identification through DNA Barcoding Research from 2004-2021

Abstract Indonesia is well-known for having a vast and rich endowment of unique and genetically diverse biodiversity resources. Currently, initiatives are taking place around the world to generate DNA barcode libraries to make these data available to better understand biodiversity. The objectives of this study are to document DNA barcode research trends and detect the extent to which its application has evolved in Indonesia. The analysis was investigated using a compilation of 446 published papers, obtained from Harzing's Publish or Perish 8. The number of DNA barcode publication records has increased by a geometric average of 15.4/year. The number of studies involving molecular identification (30.1%), species and genetic diversity (10%), and evolutionary or phylogenetic studies (10%) appears to have driven much of the publication activity. The top three taxa studied include fishes (32.7%), plants (24.8%), and invertebrates (12.5%; except insects). We discovered that using a single molecular marker is still dominant (62.8%). We conclude that the practices of DNA barcoding data are likely to become a valuable resource in many sectors and focuses. However, the number of Indonesian DNA barcode records in public databases is relatively lower than in other mega biodiversity countries. The establishment of DNA barcoding initiatives and a national DNA barcode reference library in Indonesia would promote DNA barcoding applications to help conserve Indonesia biodiversity. Keywords: Biodiversity, DNA barcode, Indonesia, Research trends

Seasonal variation of diatom biodiversity with relation to environmental factors in Northern Arabian Sea

Seasonal variation of diatom biodiversity with relation to environmental factors in Northern Arabian Sea