Biodiversity and Conservation最新文献

No other group of animals typifies the uniqueness of Antarctic life more than Pycnogonida (sea spiders), with 20% of all known species found in the Southern Ocean, and 64% of these endemic to the Antarctic. Despite nearly 200 years of research into pycnogonids and other benthic phyla in Antarctica, the parameters which drive the distribution and diversity of benthic fauna are still poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the diversity and connectivity of pycnogonid communities on either side of the Antarctic Polar Front, with an emphasis on the role of water depth, using an occurrence dataset containing 254 pycnogonid species from 2187 sampling locations. At depths shallower than 1000 m, communities to the north and south of the Antarctic Polar Front were distinct, while below this depth this geographic structure disintegrated. The Polar Front, or the expanse of deep ocean it bisects, seemingly acts as a semipermeable barrier to species exchange between well-sampled shallow communities. The less sampled and less understood deep sea appears to be better connected, with high levels of shared species following the northward flow of Antarctic Bottom Water. The exceptionally high diversity and endemism of Antarctic pycnogonids may reflect an apparent competitive advantage in cold waters which leaves them vulnerable to ongoing ocean warming, with increased competition and predation pressures.

More than half of Brazil’s Cerrado has been converted to agricultural land use, threatening its rich biodiversity that includes > 200 anuran species, most of which have aquatic larvae and are thus doubly susceptible to the environmental impacts of agriculture. Past research has largely focused on how land-use change affects adult anurans, which ignores potential impacts on the critical larval stage. We therefore investigated how agricultural land use (250–1000 m scale) and the local pond environment affect the diversity and distribution of tadpole assemblages across the central Cerrado. Tadpole richness declined significantly with increasing cropland within 250 m of ponds and with increasing water pH in permanent ponds. Permanent ponds are more prevalent in agricultural areas where streams are impounded to provide water for irrigation and livestock, and water pH increases with increasing agriculture, likely due to the widespread use of agricultural lime in the Cerrado. Tadpole communities exhibited high beta diversity (81–86% dissimilarity), with species replacement rather than nestedness accounting for 90–97% of species differences between ponds, which was largely driven by hydroperiod. Six species accounted for 70% of the dissimilarity, with most species either more abundant or found only in temporary ponds. Increased lentification, a corollary of agricultural land use, is profoundly altering tadpole assemblages, which has consequences for overall anuran diversity in the Cerrado given that permanent ponds support a different and less-diverse larval assemblage than ephemeral wetlands. Anuran conservation in the Cerrado should therefore additionally consider maintaining or restoring wetland hydrology and native-vegetation buffers around wetlands.

Bats are often considered to be objects of biophobia, i.e., the tendency to respond with a negative emotion, such as fear or disgust, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, existing studies have rarely compared both positive and negative emotions towards bats, leading to a potential negativity bias. This is crucial given the importance of emotions to bat-related human behaviours, such as in bat conservation-related actions. Via two online surveys conducted among German residents, we aimed to (i) assess positive and negative emotions towards bats, (ii) examine emotional shifts during the pandemic and (iii) explore how emotions, along with socio-demographics, predict the intent to perform bat-conservation actions. The first survey was undertaken ten months after the official declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2020 - January 2021), when bats gained societal attention due to speculation about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the second one ran twelve months later (January 2022). Overall, respondents held higher positive emotions than negative ones towards bats in both surveys, with no significant emotional shift observed. Positive emotions positively correlated with intentions to perform bat-conservation actions, while negative emotions showed no such relationship. Although our findings might be context-specific to populations in Germany or Europe, given European-Union legislation protecting bats and their habitats, they highlight the nuanced and complicated emotions that can be associated with certain species. Understanding these emotions can guide targeted conservation strategies and public outreach. Our results caution against overly generalising discussions of biophobia in conservation.

Human emotions had a significant impact on the survival of our ancestors throughout our evolutionary history. Nowadays, it is possible that our emotions still influence our attitudes in favor or against wildlife conservation. To analyze this hypothesis, we designed a study using eight iconic vertebrate species (two birds, five mammals, and a snake) with different ecological roles, some of which are threatened. The study was directed to 238 inhabitants of communities within El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico. We built a Conservation Effort factor (CE) based on questions related to participants’ attitudes toward the focal species. We analyzed the influence of variables (predictors) through a Sequential Canonical Analysis (SEQCA) using the next sequence: (1) participants’ experiences with animals; (2) negative emotions; (3) positive emotions; and (4) CE. The model also considered the influence of sociodemographic variables (age, gender, participation in conservation activity, religion, and region). The model was significant and explained 25% of the variance. Although sociodemographic predictors had an influence on the participants’ experiences with the focal species, these variables did not have an effect on the CE. The CE was significantly influenced by positive (happiness) and negative (fear) emotions. Our study revealed the importance of human emotions in conservation management strategies, especially with species such as large carnivores and snakes. We conclude that personality predictors could explain the remaining variance in the model. We propose further studies to examine the role of emotions and other personal predictors in human-wildlife interactions.

Monitoring of environmental impacts of mining activities typically focuses on the main operation footprint, neglecting exploration infrastructure like tracks, roads, and drill pads. These areas are cleared of native vegetation and impacts on the surrounding environment can be both cumulative and enigmatic. Here, we study the impacts of mining exploration infrastructure on habitat characteristics and ground-dwelling arthropod communities in the Midwest region of Western Australia. The study was conducted at three mine sites, each with three infrastructure types: maintained tracks, unmaintained tracks, and drill pads along transects extending 100 m away from the disturbance into remnant vegetation. Habitat characteristics were measured, and arthropods collected from pitfall traps along these transects and identified using COI metabarcoding. The overall arthropod community and two indicator groups, ants (Formicidae) and springtails (Collembola) - were used to measure arthropod responses to changes in response to habitat disturbance. Whilst changes in habitat were only visible to 10 m from the disturbance, impacts on arthropod communities could be detected up to 100 m into the remnant vegetation, and these responses were more complex. In general, we found similar patterns expressed in the compositional changes for arthropods overall and between our chosen indicator groups, but they were not the same across all sites and infrastructure types. Our results demonstrate the utility of bulk arthropod metabarcoding and different arthropod indicator groups for documenting the effects of fine-scale habitat destruction, degradation, or disturbance. They also highlight the need to monitor the negative impacts of mineral exploration on the environment.

Changing environmental conditions and land use are threatening biodiversity on a large scale, making successful conservation and restoration essential for maintaining biodiversity. Planning of such efforts profits from information about where conditions are suitable for biotopes, to evaluate how likely successful conservation or restoration is at these sites. This study uses the distribution model Maxent to identify varying levels of conservation and restoration potential for 29 different biotopes in the central European region of Bavaria, Germany, by comparing the environmentally suitable areas identified by models with the current distribution of each biotope. We identified a conservation potential when a biotope occurred under suitable environmental conditions and a restoration potential when suitable environmental conditions were present at a site where the biotope was not observed. We found that 69.57% of biotope observations occurred under suitable environmental conditions representing a large conservation potential. Also, 22 biotopes showed more restoration potential than their current distribution and both conservation and restoration potential showed a similar geographical distribution. The approach used in this study can provide valuable insights for conservation and restoration decision-making by suggesting priority areas for the conservation and restoration of multiple biotopes. Further, it could be applied in other regions globally and by incorporating future climate projections it could identify particularly resilient locations for biotope conservation or restoration.

Captive breeding programs working to avoid the loss of threatened wild species are often working with a limited gene pool of founder individuals which can only be increased with difficulty. As usually hybridization with common species is seen as a threat to rare species, this commentary proposes the hybridization and recurrent backcrossing of common species with rare ones to turn this threat into an asset. After several generations of backcrossing, the backcrossed individuals would be virtually indistinguishable from the rare species, therefore performing the same ecosystem functions.

This commentary presents where common species can be backcrossed with rare species to obtain an animal which is essentially and functionally the rare, threatened species to preserve biodiversity. To do so without threatening the rare species, surplus or non-reproducing males of the rare species must be used on females of common species, and only the female crossbred offspring reproduced. By further backcrossing the crossbred females to pure rare males, the offspring becomes indistinguishable from purebred individuals.

The Himalaya is known for its unique and rich endemic plants. Diversity of endemic plants is considered for prioritizing areas including delineating the Biodiversity Hotspots and conservation implications. In view of limited authentic dataset on endemic plants, the study investigated the diversity and distribution patterns of endemic vascular plants of Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) and recorded a total of 1076 endemic plant taxa including 1061 angiosperms, 03 gymnosperms and 12 pteridophytes belonging to 432 genera and 100 families. Richness of endemic plants was found maximum in the Arunachal Pradesh (294), followed by Meghalaya (213) and Sikkim (212). Maximum number of endemic taxa was found in family Orchidaceae (115) followed by Asteraceae (79) and Poaceae (63). More than 81% endemic are recorded in mid elevation (1001–1500 m) altitude range. Among the recorded taxa, 28 species of IUCN viz. Critically endangered (9), Endangered (13), and Vuln-erable (3) categories. Endemic taxa having narrow distribution range, high use-value and low population density were prioritized for conservation implications. Amentotaxus assamica, Gymnocladus assamicus, Ilex venulosa, Pittosporum eriocarpum are recorded highest threat categories due to timber harvesting, unsustainable harvesting of fruits, habitat destruction, large-scale lime quarrying etc. Total 1258 grid cells (15′ × 15′) representing IHR were analysed to identify the endemic rich areas in the region. Based on the set criterion, 20 endemic rich areas were identified and maximum congruence of endemics recorded in Eastern Himalaya. Of the total, 69% endemic rich areas were covered under the Protected Areas and Biosphere Reserve Networks, however, remaining 31% were unprotected. Further, the conservation related studies are available only for 7% (88) and 2% (29) are having the propagation protocols (tissue culture and seed germination). In view of importance of conservation of endemic plants, the study recommends location-specific population assessment, in-situ and ex-situ conservation approaches, climate and anthropogenic impacts, reproductive biology for identifying the bottleneck and improving germination are required, before vanishing the endemic plant assets in Himalaya.

In the aftermath of 2019’ tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth, we assessed ground beetle communities of the Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in Mozambique. The influence of habitat shelters, namely the buffering role of closed microhabitat conditions on Alpha diversity and community trait values during a long period of drought, was evaluated across the main habitat types of the park: miombo forests, mixed forests, transitional forests, and grasslands (open savannas). These habitat types comprised a distance gradient in relation to lake Urema, in the center of GNP. Miombo forests were farther from the lake while grasslands and transitional forests were in the floodplain area. Ground beetle communities were sampled using pitfall traps set up at 25 sites of each habitat type along an environmental gradient of tree canopy cover during the last twenty days of the dry season. Higher species richness of ground beetles was found in closed habitat shelters along the distance gradient to lake Urema. A higher functional diversity was also found along the canopy gradient, with larger sized and wingless species being more abundant in closed habitats than in open areas. This result highlights the crucial role of habitat closedness in the protection of sensitive ground beetles. In particular, the buffer effect of tree canopy and the protection of the understory plants and the litter layer was critical for the survival of hygrophilous species and will be key in conservation strategies to face climate aridification and habitat fragmentation.

Halting and reversing the ongoing insect decline requires in-depth knowledge on key drivers. Due to their sensitivity to habitat quality, butterflies are valuable indicators for grassland management intensity, including mowing. However, most studies examining mowing regime impacts on butterflies are limited to small spatial extents. Here, we tested the potential of citizen science butterfly monitoring data for assessing landscape-level effects of mowing regimes (number of mowing events and timing of the first event) and edge density (density of boundaries between different land-cover types) on butterfly richness, abundance, and community composition. We used generalised linear mixed-effects models to relate nationwide data from the German Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (DEBMS) to high-resolution satellite imagery on mowing events in permanent grasslands (grasslands excluded from crop rotation). As butterfly transects may not consistently be located within grasslands, we ran our models for different thresholds from 0 to 50%, representing increasing shares of the transect route situated within permanent grasslands (10% intervals). We did not find significant associations between mowing regimes and butterflies when focussing on species richness and abundance of all species inhabiting open land. However, we found strong positive associations of delayed mowing with the abundance of grassland specialists with increasing grassland shares per transect. Further, we found negative associations of delayed mowing with the annual number of generations and of more frequent mowing with the abundance of specialists, depending on the share of grassland per transect. Edge density had a positive association with species richness and abundance of species inhabiting open land, as well as abundance of grassland indicator species and grassland specialists in landscapes with a low grassland share per transect. Our findings underscore the importance of low-intensity managed permanent grasslands at the landscape scale for specialised butterflies. Additionally, we highlight the importance of a high density of boundaries for open-land and specialised butterflies, particularly in landscapes with highly fragmented permanent grasslands. To improve future analyses of grassland management impacts, we recommend expanding DEBMS monitoring sites to cover a larger grassland management intensity gradient and to place more transects within grasslands.