On the North American invasion of the House Sparrow and its absence in the Yucatan Peninsula
Biological invasions occur when individuals of alien species establish and colonize new locations. The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is one of the most widespread invasive birds, native to Eurasia and North Africa, and has successfully invaded many regions from across the world. The House Sparro…
Modelling potential Pleistocene habitat corridors between Afromontane forest regions
The unusually high floral and faunal similarity between the different regions of the Afromontane archipelago has been noted by biogeographers since the late 1800s. A possible explanation for this similarity is the spread of montane habitat into the intervening lowlands during the glacial periods of …
The bees of Lebanon (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
The study of wild bees has markedly increased in recent years due to their importance as pollinators of crops and wild plants, and this interest has been accentuated by increasing evidence of global declines in their abundance and species richness. Though best studied in Europe and North America, kn…
Predicting Phenological Anomaly: a Case Study of Yucca in the Southwestern United States
Yucca in the American desert Southwest typically flowers in early spring, but a well-documented anomalous bloom event occurred during an unusually cold and wet late fall and early winter 2018–2019. We used citizen science photographs as a means to generate flowering presence and absence data. We fit…
Static species distribution models in the marine realm: The case of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean
Aim: Information on the spatio-temporal distribution of marine species is essential for developing proactive management strategies. However, sufficient information is seldom available at large spatial scales, particularly in polar areas. The Southern Ocean (SO) represents a critical habitat for vari…
ILORA: A database of alien vascular flora of India
Plant invasions pose an unprecedented threat to biodiversity and ecosystems at different spatial scales, especially for a biodiversity-rich developing nation like India. While country-level checklists are considered as the first step for effective management of plant invasions, databases having biol…
Dynamics and predicted distribution of an irrupting ‘sleeper’ population: fallow deer in Tasmania
Sleeper populations of non-native species can remain at low abundance for decades before irrupting. For over a century, fallow deer ( Dama dama ) in the island state of Tasmania, Australia, remained at low abundance and close to the region in which they were released. Recently, there are indications…
Prevention is better than cure: Integrating habitat suitability and invasion threat to assess global biological invasion risk by insect pests under cl…
BACKGROUND: Invasive alien species cause substantial impacts on ecosystem, economy, and public health. Therefore, identifying areas at risk of invasion and establishment is essential for the development and implementation of preventive measures. In this study, we integrated information on species ha…
Climate Niche Evolution in C4+ CAM Portulaca and Closely Related C3+ CAM Lineages
With at least a hundred independent origins among land plants, the CAM and C4 photosynthetic pathways represent one of the most notable examples of global convergent evolution of a complex trait. While biochemically similar, CAM and C4 are generally understood to be two distinct ecological adaptatio…
Functional connectivity of an endemic tree frog in a highly threatened tropical dry forest in Mexico
The increase in anthropogenic activities that lead to fragmentation and habitat loss, could result in a reduction of connectivity among habitat patches of terrestrial species. We used ecological niche models, circuit and graph theories to evaluate functional connectivity among home-range patches and…
Species with insufficient data and red lists: The dilemma of the beach trigonal clam Tivela mactroides
Endangered species lists (or red lists) are important tools for species conservation, but if they are not supported by data and they are inappropriately applied, they can be sources of conflict. Here, we present and discuss the dilemma of the trigonal clam Tivela mactroides, a beach bivalve used as …
Phylogeny, Phenology, and Foraging Breadth of Ashmeadiella (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)
Ashmeadiella Cockerell (Megachilidae: Osmiini) is a bee genus endemic to North America, with greatest richness in arid and Mediterranean regions of the southwestern United States. Species relationships of Ashmeadiella were last analyzed in the 1950s, when Robert Sokal and Charles Michener developed …
The Pacific Tree-Parasitic Fungus Cyclocybe parasitica Exhibits Monokaryotic Fruiting, Showing Phenotypes Known from Bracket Fungi and from Cyclocybe …
Cyclocybe parasitica is a wood-destroying parasitic edible mushroom growing on diverse broad-leafed trees in New Zealand and other Pacific areas. Recent molecular systematics of European Cyclocybe aegerita, a newly delimited Asian phylum and of related species, corroborated the distinction of the ch…
Potential distribution of two lynx species in europe under paleoclimatological scenarios and anthropogenic climate change scenarios
Today's European fauna was formed under the influence of Paleoclimatic climate change. The distribution of two wild cat species of Europe, Lynx pardinus and Lynx lynx, 22000 and 6000 years ago were determined by the MaxEnt method in relation to the Paleoclimtological scenarios (LGM and Mid-Holocene)…
The Phylogenetics and Biogeography of the Central Asian Hawkmoths, Hyles hippophaes and H. chamyla: Can Mitogenomics and Machine Learning Bring Clarit…
The western Palaearctic species of the hawkmoth genus Hyles (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) have long been the subject of molecular phylogenetic research. However, much less attention has been paid to the taxa inhabiting the central and eastern Palaearctic, particularly Central Asia, where almost 50% of t…
Invasive shrimp Cinetorhynchus erythrostictus (Decapoda: Caridea) misidentified in the marine aquarium trade: Niche overlap with a native congeneric s…
An integrative taxonomic approach was adopted to confirm that the shrimp Cinetorhynchus erythrostictus was introduced into the Western Atlantic Ocean and it is for sale in the marine aquarium trade in Brazil, misidentified as C. rigens, a representative of the Atlantic fauna. The MaxEnt modeling tec…
Linking Habitat and Associated Abiotic Conditions to Predict Fish Hotspots Distribution Areas within La Paz Bay: Evaluating Marine Conservation Areas
Hotspots are priority marine or terrestrial areas with high biodiversity where delineation is essential for conservation, but equally important is their linkage to the environmental policies of the overall region. In this study, fish diversity presences were linked to abiotic conditions and differen…
Landscape analyses using eDNA metabarcoding and Earth observation predict community biodiversity in California
Ecosystems globally are under threat from ongoing anthropogenic environmental change. Effective conservation management requires more thorough biodiversity surveys that can reveal system-level patterns and that can be applied rapidly across space and time. Using modern ecological models and communit…
Assessing the Genetic Diversity of Ilex guayusa Loes., a Medicinal Plant from the Ecuadorian Amazon
Ilex guayusa Loes. is a shrub native to the Neotropics, traditionally consumed as an infusion. Despite its cultural value and extensive use, genetic research remains scarce. This study examined the genetic and clonal diversity of guayusa in three different Ecuadorian Amazon regions using 17 species-…
BIEN database version 4.2
(no abstract available)
Assessing the Australian Termite Diversity Anomaly: How Habitat and Rainfall Affect Termite Assemblages
Termites are important ecosystem engineers in tropical habitats, with different feeding groups able to decompose wood, grass, litter, and soil organic matter. In most tropical regions, termite abundance and species diversity are assumed to increase with rainfall, with highest levels found in rainfor…
Assessment of the Potential Risk of Rock-Climbing for Cliff Plant Species and Natural Protected Areas of Spain
In recent years, the popularity of rock-climbing has grown tremendously, setting an increasing pressure on cliff habitats. Climbing may be particularly harmful in the Mediterranean biome due to its appropriate environmental conditions for climbing. A few studies have identified the effect of climbin…
Ensemble Models Predict Invasive Bee Habitat Suitability Will Expand under Future Climate Scenarios in Hawai’i
Climate change is predicted to increase the risk of biological invasions by increasing the availability of climatically suitable regions for invasive species. Endemic species on oceanic islands are particularly sensitive to the impact of invasive species due to increased competition for shared resou…
Responses of Southern Ocean Seafloor Habitats and Communities to Global and Local Drivers of Change
Knowledge of life on the Southern Ocean seafloor has substantially grown since the beginning of this century with increasing ship-based surveys and regular monitoring sites, new technologies and greatly enhanced data sharing. However, seafloor habitats and their communities exhibit high spatial vari…
Modelling the Distribution of the Red Macroalgae Asparagopsis to Support Sustainable Aquaculture Development
Fermentative digestion by ruminant livestock is one of the main ways enteric methane enters the atmosphere, although recent studies have identified that including red macroalgae as a feed ingredient can drastically reduce methane produced by cattle. Here, we utilize ecological modelling to identify …