Extreme habitats are not refuges: poeciliids suffer from increased aerial predation risk in sulphidic southern Mexican habitats

Extreme environments are often considered a predation refuge for organisms living in them. In southern Mexico several species of poeciliid fishes are undergoing incipient speciation in a variety of extreme (i.e. permanently dark and/or sulphidic) freshwater systems, and previous research has demonstrated reproductive isolation between populations from sulphidic and adjacent benign habitats. In the present study, we investigated bird predation rates (measured as successful captures per minute) in two sulphidic surface and several benign surface habitats, to test the hypothesis that extreme habitats are predation refuges. We found capture rates to be approximately 20 times higher in sulphidic environments: probably facilitated by extremophile poeciliids spending most of their time at the water surface, where they engage in aquatic surface respiration as a direct response to hypoxia. Even birds that are usually not considered major fish predators regularly engage in fish predation in the toxic habitats of southern Mexico. Our results demonstrate that extreme environments do not necessarily represent a refuge from predation, and we discuss the general importance of predation in driving incipient speciation in these systems. Finally, we hypothesize that natural selection via avian predation may play an important role in maintaining reproductive isolation between divergent poeciliid populations. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101 , 417–426.     

Hybridization and polyploidy as drivers of continuing evolution and speciation in Sorbus

Interspecific hybridization and polyploidy are pivotal processes in plant evolution and speciation. The fate of new hybrid and polyploid taxa is determined by their ability to reproduce either sexually or asexually. Hybrids and allopolyploids with odd chromosome numbers are frequently sterile but some establish themselves through asexual reproduction (vegetative or apomixis). This allows novel genotypes to become established by isolating them from gene flow and leads to complex patterns of variation. The genus Sorbus is a good example of taxonomic complexity arising from the combined effects of hybridization, polyploidy and apomixis. The Avon Gorge in South‐west Britain contains the greatest diversity of Sorbus in Europe, with three endemic species and four putative endemic novel hybrids among its 15 native Sorbus taxa. We used a combination of nuclear microsatellite and chloroplast DNA markers to investigate the evolutionary relationships among these Sorbus taxa within the Avon Gorge. We confirm the genetic identity of putative novel taxa and show that hybridization involving sexual diploid species, primarily S. aria and S. torminalis and polyploid facultative apomictic species from subgenus Aria, has been responsible for generating this biodiversity. Importantly our data show that this creative evolutionary process is ongoing within the Avon Gorge. Conservation strategies for the rare endemic Sorbus taxa should therefore consider all Sorbus taxa within the Gorge and must strive to preserve this evolutionary process rather than simply the individual rare taxa that it produces.     

Using species distribution models to locate animal aggregations: a case study with Hippodamia undecimnotata (Schneider) overwintering aggregation sites

1. The protection of animals' aggregation sites is increasingly seen as a key conservation strategy. However, to efficiently protect aggregation sites, they need to be accurately located. Species distribution models (SDMs) are an important tool in biological conservation to predict spatial distribution of species and they are used here to predict the distribution of the aggregation sites of a ladybird (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) species. 2. Hippodamia undecimnotata forms spectacular overwintering aggregations at the same locations every year across southern and eastern Europe. In this study, an SDM was developed and its performance tested for H. undecimnotata aggregations in southwest France. Moreover, the study looked at how environmental variables correlate with ladybirds' abundance in the aggregation sites. 3. The occurrence of aggregations was best described by one model including isolated prominent object, pesticide risk, altitude and vegetation coverage. Furthermore, ladybird abundance at the aggregation sites is positively correlated with altitude. The SDM occurrence model performance was found to be high (area under the curve = 0.92 and true skill statistic = 0.78). 4. It is suggested that H. undecimnotata may be an umbrella species, because some aggregation sites were also used by other ladybird species. Therefore, the protection of the aggregation sites of this species may benefit several other species. 5. This study provides nature conservation stakeholders with a tool to locate overwintering aggregations, a first step towards the protection of these sites.     

Evaluation of assisted colonization strategies under global change for a rare,fire‐dependent plant

As a clear consensus is emerging that habitat for many species will dramatically reduce or shift with climate change, attention is turning to adaptation strategies to address these impacts. Assisted colonization is one such strategy that has been predominantly discussed in terms of the costs of introducing potential competitors into new communities and the benefits of reducing extinction risk. However, the success or failure of assisted colonization will depend on a range of population‐level factors that have not yet been quantitatively evaluated – the quality of the recipient habitat, the number and life stages of translocated individuals, the establishment of translocated individuals in their new habitat and whether the recipient habitat is subject to ongoing threats all will play an important role in population persistence. In this article, we do not take one side or the other in the debate over whether assisted colonization is worthwhile. Rather, we focus on the likelihood that assisted colonization will promote population persistence in the face of climate‐induced distribution changes and altered fire regimes for a rare endemic species. We link a population model with species distribution models to investigate expected changes in populations with climate change, the impact of altered fire regimes on population persistence and how much assisted colonization is necessary to minimize risk of decline in populations of Tecate cypress, a rare endemic tree in the California Floristic Province, a biodiversity hotspot. We show that assisted colonization may be a risk‐minimizing adaptation strategy when there are large source populations that are declining dramatically due to habitat contractions, multiple nearby sites predicted to contain suitable habitat, minimal natural dispersal, high rates of establishment of translocated populations and the absence of nonclimatic threats such as altered disturbance regimes. However, when serious ongoing threats exist, assisted colonization is ineffective.     

Tree diversity promotes predator but not omnivore ants in a subtropical Chinese forest

1. Epigeic ants are functionally important arthropods in tropical and subtropical forests, particularly by acting as predators. High predation pressure has been hypothesised to be a mechanism facilitating high diversity across trophic levels. 2. In this study, standardised pitfall traps were used in a highly diverse subtropical forest to test if and how ant species richness is related to tree species richness and a comprehensive set of other environmental variables such as successional age, soil properties or elevation. 3. A total of 13 441 ant individuals belonging to 3839 species occurrences and 71 species were collected, of which 26 species were exclusive predators and 45 species were omnivores. 4. Occurrence and species richness of total and omnivore ants were positively related to soil pH. Predator ant occurrence was unrelated to all environmental variables tested. 5. The species richness of predator ants increased with tree species richness but decreased with leaf functional diversity and shrub cover. Elevation negatively influenced only total ant species richness. 6. The evenness of predators increased with tree species richness, while the evenness of all ants decreased with shrub cover. Omnivore ant evenness decreased with tree evenness, but increased with successional age. 7. The results highlight the value of diverse forests in maintaining species richness and community evenness of a functionally important predator group. Moreover, the results stress the importance of analysing trophic groups separately when investigating biodiversity effects.     

ASPECTS OF LIFE CYCLE, POPULATION DYNAMICS, GROWTH AND SECONDARY PRODUCTION OF THE PULMONATE SNAIL CEPAEA VINDOBONENSIS (FERUSSAC, 1821) IN NORTHERN GREECE

The life cycle, population dynamics, growth and secondary productionof the land snail C. vindobonensis were studied in northernGreece. Demographic analysis of the populations of C. vindobonensisrevealed that a) three cohorts were present in the field throughoutthe year, b) the reproductive period started in late April-Mayand the newly hatched snails appeared in the beginning of June,and c) increased growth rates were observed during spring andearly summer, but also during autumn for the newly hatched snails. According to von Bertalanffy's method C. vindobonensis needs7 years to attain its maximum size measured in the field. Mortalityrate is very high during the first year of life, while lifeexpectancy is higher during the second year of life and decreasesafterwards. Net reproductive rate (R_o) was equal to 3.1 andthe finite capacity for increase (antilog_er_c) was equal to 1. Estimated annual secondary production with Hynes' frequencymethod revealed a mean standing crop (B) of 0.99 g/m²/year anda production (P) of 1.3 ± 0.11 g/m²/year. Annual turnoverratio (P/B) was equal to 1.31. (Received 7 April 1997; accepted 2 October 1997)     

Will European soil-monitoring networks be able to detect changes in topsoil organic carbon content?

Within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, articles 3.3 and 3.4 stipulate that some voluntary activities leading to an additional carbon (C) sequestration in soils could be accounted as C sinks in national greenhouse gas inventories. These additional C stocks should be verifiable. In this work, we assess the feasibility of verifying the effects of changes in land use or management practice on soil organic carbon (SOC), by comparing minimum detectable changes in SOC concentration for existing European networks suitable for soil monitoring. Among the tested scenarios, the minimum detectable changes differed considerably among the soil-monitoring networks (SMNs). Considerable effort would be necessary for some member states to reach acceptable levels of minimum detectable change for C sequestration accounting. For SOC, a time interval of about 10 years would enable the detection of some simulated large changes in most European countries. In almost all cases, the minimum detectable change in SOC stocks remains greater than annual greenhouse gases emissions. Therefore, it is unlikely that SMNs could be used for annual national C accounting. However, the importance of organic C in soil functions, and as an indicator of soil condition and trends, underlines the importance of establishing effective national SMNs.