Pattern and process of biotic homogenization in the New Pangaea

Human activities have reorganized the earth''s biota resulting in spatially disparate locales becoming more or less similar in species composition over time through the processes of biotic homogenization and biotic differentiation, respectively. Despite mounting evidence suggesting that this process may be widespread in both aquatic and terrestrial systems, past studies have predominantly focused on single taxonomic groups at a single spatial scale. Furthermore, change in pairwise similarity is itself dependent on two distinct processes, spatial turnover in species composition and changes in gradients of species richness. Most past research has failed to disentangle the effect of these two mechanisms on homogenization patterns. Here, we use recent statistical advances and collate a global database of homogenization studies (20 studies, 50 datasets) to provide the first global investigation of the homogenization process across major faunal and floral groups and elucidate the relative role of changes in species richness and turnover. We found evidence of homogenization (change in similarity ranging from −0.02 to 0.09) across nearly all taxonomic groups, spatial extent and grain sizes. Partitioning of change in pairwise similarity shows that overall change in community similarity is driven by changes in species richness. Our results show that biotic homogenization is truly a global phenomenon and put into question many of the ecological mechanisms invoked in previous studies to explain patterns of homogenization.     

A parametric diversity measure combining the relative abundances and taxonomic distinctiveness of species

Most ecological diversity indices summarize the information about the relative abundances of species without reflecting taxonomic differences between species. Nevertheless, in environmental conservation practice, data on species abundances are mostly irrelevant and generally unknown. In such cases, to summarize the conservation value of a given site, so‐called ‘taxonomic diversity’ measures can be used. Such measures are based on taxonomic relations among species and ignore species relative abundances. In this paper, bridging the gap between traditional biodiversity measures and taxonomic diversity measures, I introduce a parametric diversity index that combines species relative abundances with their taxonomic distinctiveness. Due to the parametric nature of the proposed index, the contribution of rare and abundant species to each diversity measure is explicit.     

The insular herpetofauna of Mexico: Composition,conservation, and biogeographic patterns

We compile a Mexican insular herpetofaunal checklist to estimate endemism, conservation status, island threats, net taxonomic turnover among six biogeographic provinces belonging to the Nearctic and Neotropical regions, and the relationships between island area and mainland distance versus species richness. We compile a checklist of insular herpetofaunal through performing a literature and collection review. We define the conservation status according to conservation Mexican law, the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Environmental Vulnerability Scores. We determine threat percentages on islands according to the 11 major classes of threats to biodiversity. We estimate the net taxonomic turnover with beta diversity analysis between the Nearctic and Neotropical provinces. The Mexican insular herpetofauna is composed of 18 amphibian species, 204 species with 101 subspecies of reptiles, and 263 taxa in total. Endemism levels are 11.76% in amphibians, 53.57% in reptiles, and 27.91% being insular endemic taxa. Two conservation status systems classify the species at high extinction risk, while the remaining system suggests less concern. However, all systems indicate species lacking assessment. Human activities and exotic alien species are present on 60% of 131 islands. The taxonomic turnover value is high (0.89), with a clear herpetofaunal differentiation between the two biogeographic regions. The species–area and species–mainland distance relationships are positive. Insular herpetofauna faces a high percentage of threats, with the Neotropical provinces more heavily impacted. It is urgent to explore the remaining islands (3,079 islands) and better incorporate insular populations and species in ecological, evolutionary, and systematic studies. In the face of the biodiversity crisis, islands will play a leading role as a model to apply restoration and conservation strategies.     

Biodiversity of traits and species both show weak responses to hydromorphological alteration in lowland river macroinvertebrates

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镰刀菌属分类学研究历史与现状

镰刀菌是农作物和经济作物的重要病原菌,其产生的真菌毒素可危及人畜健康。近十几年来欧美的科学家在研究技术上有新的突破,使镰刀菌属种的概念在认识上有迅速的发展,尤其是那些引起谷类作物严重病害,并产生毒素的种类。在我国,从谷类粮食、饲料中检出镰刀菌毒素的现象屡有报道,我们对镰刀菌属种以及产生这些毒素的菌种(菌株)的认识还有待进一步加强。     

Mosquito control actions affect chironomid diversity in temporary wetlands of the Upper Rhine Valley

The Upper Rhine Valley, a “hotspot of biodiversity” in Germany, has been treated with the biocide Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) for mosquito control for decades. Previous studies discovered Bti nontarget effects in terms of severe chironomid abundance reductions. In this study, we investigated the impact of Bti on species level and addressed the community composition of the nontarget family Chironomidae by use of community metabarcoding. Chironomid emergence data were collected in three mosquito‐control relevant wetland types in the Upper Rhine Valley. For all three sites the chironomid species composition, based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs), was different to varying degrees in the Bti‐treated samples versus control samples, ranging from a significant 63% OTU reduction to an OTU replacement. We assumed that predatory chironomids are less prone to Bti than filter feeders, as the latter feed on floating particles leading to direct ingestion of Bti. However, a comparable percentage of predators and filter feeders (63% and 65%, respectively) was reduced in the Bti samples, suggesting that the feeding strategy is not the main driver for Bti sensitivity in chironomids. Finally, our data was compared to a three‐year‐old data set, indicating possible chironomid community recovery due to species recolonization a few years after the last Bti application. Considering the currently discussed worldwide insect decline we recommend a rethinking of the usage of the biocide Bti, and to prevent its ongoing application especially in nature protection reserves to enhance ecological resilience and to prevent boosting the current biodiversity loss.     

Differential temporal beta‐diversity patterns of native and non‐native arthropod species in a fragmented native forest landscape

An important factor that hinders the management of non‐native species is a general lack of information regarding the biogeography of non‐natives, and, in particular, their rates of turnover. Here, we address this research gap by analysing differences in temporal beta‐diversity (using both pairwise and multiple‐time dissimilarity metrics) between native and non‐native species, using a novel time‐series dataset of arthropods sampled in native forest fragments in the Azores. We use a null model approach to determine whether temporal beta‐diversity was due to deterministic processes or stochastic colonisation and extinction events, and linear modelling selection to assess the factors driving variation in temporal beta‐diversity between plots. In accordance with our predictions, we found that the temporal beta‐diversity was much greater for non‐native species than for native species, and the null model analyses indicated that the turnover of non‐native species was due to stochastic events. No predictor variables were found to explain the turnover of native or non‐native species. We attribute the greater turnover of non‐native species to source‐sink processes and the close proximity of anthropogenic habitats to the fragmented native forest plots sampled in our study. Thus, our findings point to ways in which the study of turnover can be adapted for future applications in habitat island systems. The implications of this for biodiversity conservation and management are significant. The high rate of stochastic turnover of non‐native species indicates that attempts to simply reduce the populations of non‐native species in situ within native habitats may not be successful. A more efficient management strategy would be to interrupt source‐sink dynamics by improving the harsh boundaries between native and adjacent anthropogenic habitats.     

A genetic approach to the species problem in wild potato

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Morphological variation of species through time

Ten measurements, taken from each of 700 shells or four biologically distinct shallow marine gastropod species, were used to define the appropriate phenotypes in multidimensional space. Canonical discriminant analysis was performed on the data and a set of allocatory rules was derived. These allocatory rules, derived from extant specimens, were than applied to 644 fossil specimens of three of these biological species. Fossil individuals occupy the appropriate phenotypic space as defined by their modern descendants. The variation of fossil sample means about the modern means is illustrated. This variation is in the form of oscillations around the modern mean values and is correlated with climate. The distinction between taxonomic and biological species is discussed. The results of a number of previous studies are re-examined in the light of this discussion. It is argued that biological groupings can only be reliably determined when the appropriate data are available for extant organisms. Extant organisms, which have good fossil records, should therefore from the basis of paleontological evolutionary studies.     

中国柳莺属分类现状

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Comparison of morphological,DNA barcoding,and metabarcoding characterizations of freshwater nematode communities

Biomonitoring approaches and investigations of many ecological questions require assessments of the biodiversity of a given habitat. Small organisms, ranging from protozoans to metazoans, are of great ecological importance and comprise a major share of the planet's biodiversity but they are extremely difficult to identify, due to their minute body sizes and indistinct structures. Thus, most biodiversity studies that include small organisms draw on several methods for species delimitation, ranging from traditional microscopy to molecular techniques. In this study, we compared the efficiency of these methods by analyzing a community of nematodes. Specifically, we evaluated the performances of traditional morphological identification, single‐specimen barcoding (Sanger sequencing), and metabarcoding in the identification of 1500 nematodes from sediment samples. The molecular approaches were based on the analysis of the 28S ribosomal large and 18S small subunits (LSU and SSU). The morphological analysis resulted in the determination of 22 nematode species. Barcoding identified a comparable number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on 28S rDNA (n = 20) and fewer OTUs based on 18S rDNA (n = 12). Metabarcoding identified a higher OTU number but fewer amplicon sequence variants (AVSs) (n = 48 OTUs, n = 17 ASVs for 28S rDNA, and n = 31 OTUs, n = 6 ASVs for 18S rDNA). Between the three approaches (morphology, barcoding, and metabarcoding), only three species (13.6%) were shared. This lack of taxonomic resolution hinders reliable community identifications to the species level. Further database curation will ensure the effective use of molecular species identification.     

Strong requirements for weak diversities

Weikard et al . ( Diversity and Distributions , 12 , 215–217) show that the taxonomic diversity measure proposed by Ricotta (2004) violates 'weak species monotonicity'. This condition requires that the addition of a species to a given species set should always increase diversity if abundances change only marginally. They further propose a new taxonomic diversity index that overcomes this drawback. In this paper, some statistical properties of this new diversity index are briefly analysed.     

13种竹类植物的果实形态特征

对9属13种竹类植物的果实形态特征进行了观察和描述,并对果实形态指标(包括带稃长、带稃宽、带稃长宽比、去稃长、去稃宽、去稃长宽比以及千粒质量)进行了方差分析和变异系数( CV)分析。结果表明：13种竹类植物果实均为基本型颖果,外带内、外稃,果皮质薄不开裂;外稃顶端多数不具芒;果实多具明显的腹部纵沟槽;稃片颜色多呈灰褐色、黄褐色、棕色、灰色或灰绿色;成熟果实颜色多为棕色、棕黑色、棕红色、黄棕色、灰色、灰褐色、黄褐色、黑褐色或褐色;果实形状基本为椭圆形类、卵圆形类和长圆柱形类。供试13种竹类植物间的果实带稃长、带稃宽、带稃长宽比、去稃长、去稃宽、去稃长宽比以及千粒质量均有极显著差异,并且这7个指标的种间CV值分别为34.60%、28.19%、54.63%、21.22%、27.96%、38.19%和57.38%,但各指标的种内CV值明显小于其种间CV值。综合分析结果显示：果实竹类植物果实外稃顶端是否具芒、稃片颜色、稃片对果实的包裹程度、稃片长度与果实长度的关系、去稃果实形状、成熟果实颜色、腹部纵沟槽是否明显和花柱是否宿存等特征可作为竹类植物属和种分类的参考依据;其中,果实千粒质量、带稃长宽比和去稃长宽比较果实长和宽更适合作为竹类植物种的分类依据。此外,13种竹类植物中,刚竹属( Phyllostachys Sieb. et Zucc.)刚竹组( Sect. Phyllostachys)的毛竹﹝Phyllostachys edulis ( Carr.) J. Houz.﹞、淡竹( P. glauca McClure)和乌哺鸡竹( P. vivax McClure)的果实形态极其相似,均具有较长的宿存花柱,明显异于其他竹类植物的果实,可将此特征作为刚竹属种类的识别特征之一。     

Utilization of species checklist data in revealing the spatial distribution of fish diversity

Marine fish species checklists from six Chinese coastal waters were combined for the analysis of taxonomic diversity. The Genus-Family index (G-F index) ranged between 0.39 and 0.84, which generally indicated a decreasing trend with increasing latitude, with the exception of the southernmost area. Average taxonomic distinctness showed a slight increasing trend from northern to central study areas, but whether the taxonomic distinctness indices represent a latitudinal gradient of biodiversity requires further study. The multivariate analysis revealed a distinct latitudinal variation in fish assemblages. These results indicate that species checklist data are helpful in understanding the diversity distribution of fish species in the coastal zone. The potential of a species inventory should be exploited to fully understand biodiversity.