Prevalence patterns of avian haemosporida on Hispaniola

We used PCR to screen for the presence of haemosporidian parasites (Phylum: Apicomplexa; Order: Haemosporida) in avian blood samples, and sequenced the parasite mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from infected hosts, to study patterns in the prevalence of haemosporidians in 1,166 individuals of 50 species in four habitats along an elevation gradient in the Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic, island of Hispaniola. We found an overall prevalence of 0.44 among species with ≥10 individuals sampled per year, but this varied considerably among species. We found no difference in infection rates between years, between males and females, between second‐year (<1 y old) and older birds, or among members of different foraging guilds. Prevalence differed significantly among migratory, endemic resident, and non‐endemic resident species, with endemics having the highest rates of infection. Prevalence also varied among habitats, decreasing with increasing elevation, but the pattern was confounded by variation in the host species present at each elevation. From 215 sequenced parasites from 17 species of avian hosts, we recovered multiple examples of 12 lineages of Haemoproteus (Parahaemoproteus), two lineages of a Columbiformes‐specific clade of H. (Haemoproteus), and 10 lineages of Plasmodium, with an additional seven lineages sampled only once. A single parasite lineage was responsible for 34.4% of all infections, but five more lineages made up 41.8% of all infections. Several lineages were broadly distributed across multiple host species, but six lineages, all H. (Haemoproteus) or H. (Parahaemoproteus), were recorded from at least five individuals of a single host, suggesting host specialization. The number of host species from which each parasite lineage was recovered varied from one to nine; several host species harbored as many as 5–9 parasite lineages. Longitudinal data suggest that while hosts might harbor the same parasite lineage for more than a year, some hosts appear to clear infections from their circulating blood, while others manifested infections by a different parasite lineage.     

The price of conserving avian phylogenetic diversity: a global prioritization approach

The combination of rapid biodiversity loss and limited funds available for conservation represents a major global concern. While there are many approaches for conservation prioritization, few are framed as financial optimization problems. We use recently published avian data to conduct a global analysis of the financial resources required to conserve different quantities of phylogenetic diversity (PD). We introduce a new prioritization metric (ADEPD) that After Downlisting a species gives the Expected Phylogenetic Diversity at some future time. Unlike other metrics, ADEPD considers the benefits to future PD associated with downlisting a species (e.g. moving from Endangered to Vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List). Combining ADEPD scores with data on the financial cost of downlisting different species provides a cost–benefit prioritization approach for conservation. We find that under worst-case spending $3915 can save 1 year of PD, while under optimal spending $1 can preserve over 16.7 years of PD. We find that current conservation spending patterns are only expected to preserve one quarter of the PD that optimal spending could achieve with the same total budget. Maximizing PD is only one approach within the wider goal of biodiversity conservation, but our analysis highlights more generally the danger involved in uninformed spending of limited resources.     

New linkages for protected areas: Making them worth conserving and restoring

In an increasingly human-dominated world, more realistic, holistic and durable linkages need to be created for protected areas (PAs), for the sake of long-term conservation of species and habitats, and of ecosystem goods and services for serving the local people, as well as societies at large. In conjunction, geographical, physical and biological concepts of linkages need to be extended to embrace socio-economic factors. This paper develops a conceptual approach to this task, employing the nascent notions of ‘emerging ecosystems’, restoring natural capital and ‘socio-ecological systems’. We employ the value notion generally used by economic science, i.e. monetary value, as a conceptual tool in the unavoidable assessment process that modern societies must undertake to decide about conserving or restoring PAs, and ecosystems in general. We also draw attention to the importance of ecological and socio-economic thresholds of irreversibility in the evaluation and decision-making process concerning PAs and their linkages with other PAs, and especially with the unprotected world beyond their boundaries.     

The role of roadsides in conserving Cerrado plant diversity

The structure of Cerrado vegetation (sensu stricto) along roadsides was compared with that of protected areas (reserves). The superior stratum of reserves had 2.7 times more individuals and 1.4 times more species than on roadsides, while in the intermediate stratum there were 1.7 times more individuals and 25 % more species in reserves. Additionally, roadsides had a lower prevalence of tree species with thin bark and from forest physiognomies. In the intermediate stratum of roadsides there was a lower proportion of forest species, and also fewer species dispersed by animals. These differences occur, possibly because the vegetation of their edges is cleared during the construction of the roads and part of the soil is taken as landfill. Later, they suffer from a higher fire frequency and high coverage of exotic grasses (80 % average). Moreover, it is likely that the absence of some dispersers on roadsides may affect the recruitment of young plants. Despite these differences, the roadsides are able to maintain at least 70 % of tree species and 72 % of shrub species found in reserves. These results show that roadside vegetation can contribute to the conservation of the flora of Cerrado. This is particularly important considering that over 60 % of the original area of this ecosystem has been destroyed and that less than 4 % is protected. With 32,012 km of roads in the Cerrado alone, the roadside vegetation may represent a cumulative area of 96,000 of hectares, an area larger than many of the Cerrado’s national parks.     

Protected areas: mixed success in conserving East Africa's evergreen forests

In East Africa, human population growth and demands for natural resources cause forest loss contributing to increased carbon emissions and reduced biodiversity. Protected Areas (PAs) are intended to conserve habitats and species. Variability in PA effectiveness and 'leakage' (here defined as displacement of deforestation) may lead to different trends in forest loss within, and adjacent to, existing PAs. Here, we quantify spatial variation in trends of evergreen forest coverage in East Africa between 2001 and 2009, and test for correlations with forest accessibility and environmental drivers. We investigate PA effectiveness at local, landscape and national scales, comparing rates of deforestation within park boundaries with those detected in park buffer zones and in unprotected land more generally. Background forest loss (BFL) was estimated at -9.3% (17,167 km(2)), but varied between countries (range: -0.9% to -85.7%; note: no BFL in South Sudan). We document high variability in PA effectiveness within and between PA categories. The most successful PAs were National Parks, although only 26 out of 48 parks increased or maintained their forest area (i.e. Effective parks). Forest Reserves (Ineffective parks, i.e. parks that lose forest from within boundaries: 204 out of 337), Nature Reserves (six out of 12) and Game Parks (24 out of 26) were more likely to lose forest cover. Forest loss in buffer zones around PAs exceeded background forest loss, in some areas indicating leakage driven by Effective National Parks. Human pressure, forest accessibility, protection status, distance to fires and long-term annual rainfall were highly significant drivers of forest loss in East Africa. Some of these factors can be addressed by adjusting park management. However, addressing close links between livelihoods, natural capital and poverty remains a fundamental challenge in East Africa's forest conservation efforts.     

Urbanisation effects on the functional diversity of avian agricultural communities

Urbanisation is affecting ecological communities worldwide. Despite the disproportionate impact on farmland over other habitats, the effect on farmland bird communities has been poorly studied. Considering the still-alarming conservation status of farmland birds, investigations into the effects of pressures such as urbanisation on those communities could be of great interest for their conservation. We studied the urbanisation effects on functional diversity using existing indices designed for the purpose of standardisation. This study uses a functional character measuring species habitat specialisation for indices calculation. A bird survey was conducted on 92 plots of 1 × 1 km chosen after stratification on the proportion of urban area and farmland habitat (either 0, 25, 50, 75%), with the focus on farmland habitat. Two aspects of urbanisation were studied: the intensity and the age of the urbanisation. Functional richness was found to decrease with urbanisation, while functional evenness and divergence increased in a nonlinear way. No significant difference was observed in functional richness and evenness with urbanisation age, however extreme ages of urbanisation (young and old) showed higher niche differentiation concerning specialisation. This implies less important resource competition for species and a more vulnerable state for the ecosystem. Using functional diversity indices based on specialisation allows a better insight in the consequences of urbanisation on diversity/ecosystem–community functioning, which is of crucial importance in the face of global changes.     

Complementary monoclonal antibody-based dot ELISA for universal detection of H5 avian influenza virus

Background  

Rapid diagnosis and surveillance for H5 subtype viruses are critical for the control of H5N1 infection.     

Prospects for Malaria Elimination in Mesoamerica and Hispaniola

Malaria remains endemic in 21 countries of the American continent with an estimated 427,000 cases per year. Approximately 10% of these occur in the Mesoamerican and Caribbean regions. During the last decade, malaria transmission in Mesoamerica showed a decrease of ~85%; whereas, in the Caribbean region, Hispaniola (comprising the Dominican Republic [DR] and Haiti) presented an overall rise in malaria transmission, primarily due to a steady increase in Haiti, while DR experienced a significant transmission decrease in this period.The significant malaria reduction observed recently in the region prompted the launch of an initiative for Malaria Elimination in Mesoamerica and Hispaniola (EMMIE) with the active involvement of the National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs) of nine countries, the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) for Mesoamerica, and the Council of Health Ministries of Central America and Dominican Republic (COMISCA). The EMMIE initiative is supported by the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) with active participation of multiple partners including Ministries of Health, bilateral and multilateral agencies, as well as research centers. EMMIE’s main goal is to achieve elimination of malaria transmission in the region by 2020. Here we discuss the prospects, challenges, and research needs associated with this initiative that, if successful, could represent a paradigm for other malaria-affected regions.     

The importance of conserving biodiversity outside of protected areas in mediterranean ecosystems

Mediterranean-type ecosystems constitute one of the rarest terrestrial biomes and yet they are extraordinarily biodiverse. Home to over 250 million people, the five regions where these ecosystems are found have climate and coastal conditions that make them highly desirable human habitats. The current conservation landscape does not reflect the mediterranean biome's rarity and its importance for plant endemism. Habitat conversion will clearly outpace expansion of formal protected-area networks, and conservationists must augment this traditional strategy with new approaches to sustain the mediterranean biota. Using regional scale datasets, we determine the area of land in each of the five regions that is protected, converted (e.g., to urban or industrial), impacted (e.g., intensive, cultivated agriculture), or lands that we consider to have conservation potential. The latter are natural and semi-natural lands that are unprotected (e.g., private range lands) but sustain numerous native species and associated habitats. Chile has the greatest proportion of its land (75%) in this category and California-Mexico the least (48%). To illustrate the potential for achieving mediterranean biodiversity conservation on these lands, we use species-area curves generated from ecoregion scale data on native plant species richness and vertebrate species richness. For example, if biodiversity could be sustained on even 25% of existing unprotected, natural and semi-natural lands, we estimate that the habitat of more than 6,000 species could be represented. This analysis suggests that if unprotected natural and semi-natural lands are managed in a manner that allows for persistence of native species, we can realize significant additional biodiversity gains. Lasting biodiversity protection at the scale needed requires unprecedented collaboration among stakeholders to promote conservation both inside and outside of traditional protected areas, including on lands where people live and work.     

Putting the plants back into plant ecology: six pragmatic models for understanding and conserving plant diversity

BACKGROUND: There is a compelling need to protect natural plant communities and restore them in degraded landscapes. Activities must be guided by sound scientific principles, practical conservation tools, and clear priorities. With perhaps one-third of the world's flora facing extinction, scientists and conservation managers will need to work rapidly and collaboratively, recognizing each other's strengths and limitations. As a guide to assist managers in maintaining plant diversity, six pragmatic models are introduced that are already available. Although theoretical models continue to receive far more space and headlines in scientific journals, more managers need to understand that pragmatic, rather than theoretical, models have the most promise for yielding results that can be applied immediately to plant communities. SIX PRAGMATIC MODELS: For each model, key citations and an array of examples are provided, with particular emphasis on wetlands, since "wet and wild" was my assigned theme for the Botanical Society of America in 2003. My own work may seem rather prominent, but the application and refinement of these models has been a theme for me and my many students over decades. The following models are reviewed: (1) species-area: larger areas usually contain more species; (2) species-biomass: plant diversity is maximized at intermediate levels of biomass; (3) centrifugal organization: multiple intersecting environmental gradients maintain regional landscape biodiversity; (4) species-frequency: a few species are frequent while most are infrequent; (5) competitive hierarchies: in the absence of constraints, large canopy-forming species dominate patches of landscape, reducing biological diversity; and (6) intermediate disturbance: perturbations such as water level fluctuations, fire and grazing are essential for maintaining plant diversity. CONCLUSIONS: The good news is that managers faced with protecting or restoring landscapes already have this arsenal of tools at their disposal. The bad news is that far too few of these models are appreciated.     

Statutory protected areas and avian species richness in Britain

An effective portfolio of protected areas should, all else being equal, give rise to positive relationships between the amount of protected land in a region and the numbers of species present. Tests of this prediction are, however, extremely scarce, and most do not control for the potentially confounding effects of environmental factors that influence broad geographic trends in biodiversity. Here, we document the form of the relationship between species richness and coverage by protected areas using the British avifauna as a case study. We contrast relationships that arise for breeding and wintering assemblages, considering both all species collectively and threatened species only. We use spatially explicit multiple regression analyses that take into account environmental factors previously shown to exert a marked influence on avian species richness in Britain (temperature and altitude). Avian species richness and the amount of protected land are consistently positively correlated with each other, and the slopes of these relationships do not differ between assemblages (breeding/wintering and all species/threatened species). Explanatory power is, however, very weak which may be indicative of the ability of conservation measures in the wider landscape to maintain avian species richness, reducing any distinctive influence of protected areas. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Effects of habitat fragmentation and black-tailed prairie dogs on urban avian diversity

Urbanization and habitat fragmentation have the potential to influence bird communities. In addition, these phenomena, as well as ongoing lethal control measures, have also greatly reduced the range of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) since the beginning of the 20th century. Although prairie dogs are highly interactive species that can influence avian communities, few studies have investigated whether these interactions persist in urban settings. Our goal was to investigate the relative impacts of habitat fragmentation and prairie dogs on bird communities within an urban matrix. We performed bird surveys on 20 habitat fragments (10 colonized by prairie dogs, 10 uncolonized by prairie dogs) distributed throughout the Denver metropolitan area, and calculated Shannon–Weiner diversity and richness of all birds and native species, as well as total counts of grassland birds and raptors. Diversity, richness, and counts of many species increased with increasing fragment connectivity, and decreased on fragments isolated for longer periods of time. Avian diversity and richness did not differ between fragments with and without prairie dogs, suggesting that this element of the ecological role of prairie dogs is not fully retained in urban habitat. Future studies of the role of prairie dogs as keystone species in urban systems should include other taxa as well as consider the influence of the urban matrix surrounding prairie dog habitat. Our results emphasize that conservation of urban avian diversity should focus on landscape connectivity as well as local habitat features.     

International cooperation in conserving biological diversity: a world strategy,international convention,and framework for action

Stimulated by the growing awareness of deforestation at all latitudes, the loss of species, declines in several fisheries, pollution, and other environmental threats, governments, citizen groups, academics, and indigenous peoples have been actively seeking ways to reverse current trends of impoverishment and achieve sustainable development. This paper considers the problems which confront managers of protected areas and proposes a six-point agenda for management based upon improved international policies, funding initiatives and other support mechanisms.     

Effects of recreation areas on avian communities in coastal New South Wales' parks

Summary Information on the impacts of outdoor recreation on wildlife within national parks and reserves can be useful to natural area managers. This study aimed to (i) investigate the density, diversity and species composition of avian communities in recreation areas in bushland settings in comparison to surrounding natural habitats, and (ii) determine the influence of the presence of people on avian assemblages in such recreation areas. Avian density, species richness and community composition were compared between six high‐visitation bushland camping and picnic areas (recreation areas) and surrounding undisturbed habitats to examine the effect of recreation areas on avian assemblages. While total numbers of birds detected was found to be higher in recreation areas, species richness trends indicated that a greater diversity of birds was associated with the surrounding natural habitats, which were found to support a taxonomically different avian assemblage to the recreation areas. Interestingly, species previously shown to distinguish urban avian communities were commonly present and often more abundant in the recreation areas than the surrounding natural habitats. We investigated the effect of the intermittent presence of people (rather than clearing alone) and addressed changes in the diurnal distribution of species, by comparing avian assemblages at 22 picnic areas in the morning, at midday and in the afternoon between days of high and low human visitation. Observations of the availability of anthropogenic food resources and subsequent utilization by avifauna were recorded. Generally, avian assemblages appeared to be independent of the presence of people, although the provision of anthropogenic foods is thought to have the potential to adversely affect individual birds. The findings of this study suggest that even small‐scale habitat clearance to create picnic areas adversely affects the avian assemblage present, with temporal changes in visitation levels of humans in these areas appearing to have had no additional influence unless through indirect impacts from anthropogenic foods.     

Protected areas and regional avian species richness in South Africa

Protected areas are generally regarded as essential for the long-term maintenance of biodiversity. Evidence for their effectiveness in this regard is, however, somewhat equivocal. Here, we document the relationship between the proportion of protected land and species richness in a region, both with and without taking spatial variation in environmental energy availability into account. Using the South African avifauna as a case study, we find that total and threatened species richness exhibit modest increases with the proportion of protected land. While the protected area network should be expanded, it is essential that conservation efforts also focus on maintaining biodiversity in the wider unprotected landscape that supports high species richness.     

Low functional diversity and no redundancy in British avian assemblages

1. Spatial and temporal patterns in functional diversity can reveal the patterns and processes behind community assembly and whether ecological redundancy exists. Here, we analyse functional diversity in British avian assemblages over a period of about 20 years. 2. Functional diversity is generally lower than expected by chance, indicating that assemblages contain species with relatively similar functional traits. One potential explanation is filtering for traits suitable to particular habitats, though other explanations exist. 3. There was no evidence of ecological redundancy over the 20 years. In fact, changes in functional diversity were almost exactly proportional to changes in species richness. 4. The absence of functional redundancy results from little redundancy intrinsic to the species' functional relationships and also because compositional change was nonrandom. Observed extinction and colonization events caused greater changes in functional diversity than if these events were random. 5. Our findings suggest that community assembly is influenced by the traits of species and that observed changes in functional diversity provide no reason to believe that the functioning of natural systems is buffered against change by ecological redundancy.     

Contrasting levels of nucleotide diversity on the avian Z and W sex chromosomes

Sex chromosomes may provide a context for studying the local effects of mutation rate on molecular evolution, since the two types of sex chromosomes are generally exposed to different mutational environments in male and female germ lines. Importantly, recent studies of some vertebrates have provided evidence for a higher mutation rate among males than among females. Thus, in birds, the Z chromosome, which spends two thirds of its time in the male germ line, is exposed to more mutations than the female-specific W chromosome. We show here that levels of nucleotide diversity are drastically higher on the avian Z chromosome than in paralogous sequences on the W chromosome. In fact, no intraspecific polymorphism whatsoever was seen in about 3.4 kb of CHD1W intron sequence from a total of >150 W chromosome copies of seven different bird species. In contrast, the amount of genetic variability in paralogous sequences on the Z chromosome was significant, with an average pairwise nucleotide diversity (d) of 0.0020 between CHD1Z introns and with 37 segregating sites in a total of 3.8 kb of Z sequence. The contrasting levels of genetic variability on the avian sex chromosomes are thus in a direction predicted from a male-biased mutation rate. However, although a low gene number, as well as some other factors, argues against background selection and/or selective sweeps shaping the genetic variability of the avian W chromosome, we cannot completely exclude selection as a contributor to the low levels of variation on the W chromosome.