From climate change predictions to actions – conserving vulnerable animal groups in hotspots at a regional scale

Current climate change is a major threat to biodiversity. Species unable to adapt or move will face local or global extinction and this is more likely to happen to species with narrow climatic and habitat requirements and limited dispersal abilities, such as amphibians and reptiles. Biodiversity losses are likely to be greatest in global biodiversity hotspots where climate change is fast, such as the Iberian Peninsula. Here we assess the impact of climate change on 37 endemic and nearly endemic herptiles of the Iberian Peninsula by predicting species distributions for three different times into the future (2020, 2050 and 2080) using an ensemble of bioclimatic models and different combinations of species dispersal ability, emission levels and global circulation models. Our results show that species with Atlantic affinities that occur mainly in the North‐western Iberian Peninsula have severely reduced future distributions. Up to 13 species may lose their entire potential distribution by 2080. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that the most critical period for the majority of these species will be the next decade. While there is considerable variability between the scenarios, we believe that our results provide a robust relative evaluation of climate change impacts among different species. Future evaluation of the vulnerability of individual species to climate change should account for their adaptive capacity to climate change, including factors such as physiological climate tolerance, geographical range size, local abundance, life cycle, behavioural and phenological adaptability, evolutionary potential and dispersal ability.     

A new Spanish species of the genus Ononis L.(Fabaceae)

The name Ononis rentonarensis is proposed for a new Spanish species belonging to Ononis section Matrix subsection Rhodanlhae, whose distribution is restricted to a few localities in northeastern Alicante Province (E.Spain). Its morphological features, ecology and main relationships and differences with other Spanish species in the subsection are discussed.     

Bottled Mineral Waters Polluted by Protozoa in Mexico

A survey of protozoa polluting bottled mineral water in Mexico was carried out using samples obtained from the three best-selling brands of bottled mineral water in the country. The organisms were concentrated through filtration procedures and subsequently cultured in sterile media. The cultures were observed over four weeks, with identification to the level of genus and species. Most commonly found were the amoebae Naegleria gruberi, Acanthamoeba astronyxis, and Vahlkampfia vahlkampfi (trophic as well as cystic stages) plus one flagellate, Bodomorpha minima. No ciliates were detected. The public health importance of the findings is obvious, since some strains of Naegleria and Acanthamoeba have the potential to cause human disease that may lead to death.     

Parmelina quercina (Parmeliaceae, Lecanorales) includes four phylogenetically supported morphospecies

Morphological and phylogenetic relationships of the worldwide Mediterranean lichen forming fungus, Parmelina quercina , have been studied. Specimens from western Europe, western North America and southern Australia were analysed using molecular data (nuITS rDNA, nuLSU rDNA and mtSSU rDNA) and selected morphological features (upper cortex maculae, scanning electron microscopy examination of the epicortex, ascospores and conidia shape and size, and amphithecial retrorse rhizines). The results conclusively reveal that: (1) there is not one single species but four separate species in the Mediterranean or sub Mediterranean areas of the world. Parmelina quercina and Parmelina carporrhizans (Euroasiatic species), Parmelina coleae sp. nov. (North America) and Parmelina elixia sp. nov. (Australia); (2) largely debated P. carporrhizans is not a synonym of P. quercina but supported as a valid species circumscribed to Macaronesic relict sites; (3) the geographical isolation of the Australian population is correlated with a large genetic distance; (4) morphological characters (ascospores and conidial variability and thallus epicortex) correlate with the phylogenetic hypothesis; (5) the new or revalidated species within Parmelina quercina are not cryptic species but morphologically recognizable taxa.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 91 , 455–467.     

Ultrastructure of Enteromyxum leei (Diamant, Lom, & Dyková, 1994) (Myxozoa), an Enteric Parasite Infecting Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) and Sharpsnout Sea Bream (Diplodus puntazzo)

ABSTRACT. The ultrastructure of the developmental stages of the myxozoan Enteromyxum leei parasitizing gilthead seabream ( Sparus aurata ) intestine and sharpsnout sea bream ( Diplodus puntazzo ) intestine and gallbladder are described. The earliest stage observed was a small dense trophozoite located among enterocytes. Proliferative stages, observed intercellularly in the epithelium of the intestine and gallbladder as well as in the lumen, possessed the typical cell-in-cell configuration throughout their development. Secondary cells were seen undergoing division within a common vacuolar membrane that also encompassed pairs of tertiary cells. Cytochemical studies showed that primary cells stored mainly lipids whereas secondary cells stored abundant β-glycogen granules. Sporogonic development resembled that described for other disporous myxozoans. Within sporogonic stages, nonsporogonic secondary cells were observed accompanying two developing spores. Mature spores had a binucleated sporoplasm in which glycogen stores were abundant and no sporoplasmosomes were found. Our observations are discussed in relation to our knowledge on other myxozoans of the genus Enteromyxum .     

Life‐history traits in a parasitoid dipteran species with free‐living and obligate parasitic immature stages

The robber fly Mallophora ruficauda Weidemann (Diptera: Asilidae) is an important pest of apiculture in the Pampas of Argentina. As adults, they prey on honey bees and other insects, whereas the larvae are ectoparasitoids of Scarabaeidae grubs. Females of M. ruficauda lay eggs in grassland where the larvae drop to the ground after being wind‐dispersed and burrow underground searching for their hosts. A temporal asynchrony exists between the appearance of the parasitoid larvae and the host, with the parasitoid appearing earlier than the host. The present study investigates whether a strategy of synchronization with the host exists in M. ruficauda and determines which of the larval instars are responsible for it. Survival patterns and duration of the immature stages of the parasitoid are investigated to determine whether there is a modulation in the development at any time that could reduce the asynchrony. Experiments are carried out to determine the survival and duration of free‐living larval stadia in the absence of cues associated with the host. It is established that the first instar is capable of moulting to the second instar without feeding and in the absence of any cues related to the host, a unique event for parasitoids. Also, the first instar of M. ruficauda moults to the second stage within a narrow temporal window, and the second instar never moults in the absence of the host. After parasitizing a host, the second instar has the longest lifespan and is the most variable with respect to survival compared with the rest of the instars. All larval instars, except for those in the last (fifth) stadium, have a similar rate of mortality to that of second‐instar larvae. Additionally, it is established that the host is killed during the fourth (parasitoid) stadium and that the first‐ and fifth‐larval instars develop independently of the host. Finally, possible mechanisms that could aid in compensating for the asynchrony between the parasitoid and the host, promoting the host–parasitoid encounter, are discussed.     

Structure and vertical stratification of plant galler–parasitoid food webs in two tropical forests

Abstract 1. Networks of feeding interactions among insect herbivores and natural enemies such as parasitoids, describe the structure of these assemblages and may be critically linked to their dynamics and stability. The present paper describes the first quantitative study of parasitoids associated with gall‐inducing insect assemblages in the tropics, and the first investigation of vertical stratification in quantitative food web structure. 2. Galls and associated parasitoids were sampled in the understorey and canopy of Parque Natural Metropolitano in the Pacific forest, and in the understorey of San Lorenzo Protected Area in the Caribbean forest of Panama. Quantitative host–parasitoid food webs were constructed for each assemblage, including 34 gall maker species, 28 host plants, and 57 parasitoid species. 3. Species richness was higher in the understorey for parasitoids, but higher in the canopy for gall makers. There was an almost complete turnover in gall maker and parasitoid assemblage composition between strata, and the few parasitoid species shared between strata were associated with the same host species. 4. Most parasitoid species were host specific, and the few polyphagous parasitoid species were restricted to the understorey. 5. These results suggest that, in contrast to better‐studied leaf miner–parasitoid assemblages, the influence of apparent competition mediated by shared parasitoids as a structuring factor is likely to be minimal in the understorey and practically absent in the canopy, increasing the potential for coexistence of parasitoid species. 6. High parasitoid beta diversity and high host specificity, particularly in the poorly studied canopy, indicate that tropical forests may be even more species rich in hymenopteran parasitoids than previously suspected.     

A new species of Vella L. (Brassicaceae) from the south-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula

CRESPO, MB., 1992. A new species of Vella L. (Brassicaceae) from the south-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula . Vella lucenlina is described from the coastal, low, dry areas of Alicante Province (south-eastern Spain). This plant is a spineless shrub, woody at the base, with narrowly linear, entire leaves, and an acute tongue-shaped stylar part of the fruit. Affinities and differences with the other taxa in the genus are discussed, and ecological data and conservation proposals are reported.