Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Edwin Y. W. Tan, Mei Lin Neo, Danwei Huang
Summary: This study examines the relationships between different biodiversity measures and the conservation priorities for giant clam species. It finds positive correlations between species richness, functional diversity, and phylogenetic diversity, and identifies specific species and regions that contribute disproportionately to the overall diversity of giant clams.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Conor P. B. O'Malley, Gareth G. G. Roberts, Philip D. D. Mannion, Jan Hackel, Yanghua Wang
Summary: Understanding the connection between environment and biodiversity is crucial for conservation and predicting population responses. In this study, scales and locations where biodiversity is generated and correlates with environment were identified. Results showed that most species richness is generated at large scales and is influenced by topography, precipitation, and temperature.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Carlos Martinez-Nunez, Ricardo Martinez-Prentice, Vicente Garcia-Navas
Summary: Unveiling the processes that shape biodiversity patterns is crucial for ecology. Land-use diversity is considered an important environmental factor that promotes species richness. This study found strong support for the hypothesis that land-use diversity predicts bird taxonomic and functional richness globally.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Michael R. Willig, Steven J. Presley, Brian T. Klingbeil, Evsey Kosman, Tao Zhang, Samuel M. Scheiner
Summary: A key element of conservation action involves the incorporation of sites into networks of protected areas. Historically, most network-creation strategies have been based on considerations of species richness and site complementarity. Nonetheless, phylogenetic or functional biodiversity may be more critical to the maintenance of ecosystem resilience or functioning than is the number of species.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Hong Qian, Jian Zhang, Meichen Jiang
Summary: Species diversity of angiosperms varies greatly among regions, with high diversity in tropical regions and low diversity in temperate regions. Geographic patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity are similar, but differ from patterns of phylogenetic deviation. These metrics can be considered when selecting areas for biodiversity protection.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Irene Villalta, Christophe Bouget, Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde, Mathilde Baude
Summary: Urbanisation has varying effects on wild bee communities, negatively impacting species richness and taxonomical diversity, but not total abundance. Different bee species respond differently to urbanisation, with some being positively affected by urban landscape cover. Urban and peri-urban areas also have distinct bee assemblages. Species turnover is the main driver of community dissimilarities along the urban gradient. Urbanisation favors bees with small body sizes, social structure, and extended flight periods, but does not affect the phylogenetic or functional diversity of communities.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Karen De Pauw, Camille Meeussen, Sanne Govaert, Pieter Sanczuk, Thomas Vanneste, Markus Bernhardt-Romermann, Kurt Bollmann, Jorg Brunet, Kim Calders, Sara A. O. Cousins, Martin Diekmann, Per-Ola Hedwall, Giovanni Iacopetti, Jonathan Lenoir, Sigrid Lindmo, Anna Orczewska, Quentin Ponette, Jan Plue, Federico Selvi, Fabien Spicher, Hans Verbeeck, Pieter Vermeir, Florian Zellweger, Kris Verheyen, Pieter Vangansbeke, Pieter De Frenne
Summary: Forest edges harbor a significant amount of terrestrial biodiversity, especially in the understorey, but the functional and phylogenetic diversity of the edges have never been studied simultaneously at a continental scale. Research shows that taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of understorey communities in forest edges respond differently to environmental conditions, providing insights into different community assembly mechanisms and interactions. Therefore, looking beyond species richness with phylogenetic and functional diversity approaches is crucial when focusing on forest understorey biodiversity.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Andrea Paz, Jason L. Brown, Carlos L. O. Cordeiro, Julian Aguirre-Santoro, Claydson Assis, Renata Cecilia Amaro, Fabio Raposo do Amaral, Thuane Bochorny, Lucas F. Bacci, Mayara K. Caddah, Fernando d'Horta, Miriam Kaehler, Mariana Lyra, Carlos Henrique Grohmann, Marcelo Reginato, Karina Lucas Silva-Brandao, Andre Victor Lucci Freitas, Renato Goldenberg, Lucia G. Lohmann, Fabian A. Michelangeli, Cristina Miyaki, Miguel T. Rodrigues, Thiago S. Silva, Ana C. Carnaval
Summary: This study investigated the environmental correlates of diversity for multiple clades and diversity measures in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, finding that environmental variables, particularly current precipitation and precipitation stability over time, are strong predictors of species richness and phylogenetic diversity patterns across different taxa. However, the correlation with phylogenetic endemism varies across groups. Including climate stability over time is important when predicting historical components of diversity.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Anna K. Gdula, Szymon Konwerski, Izabella Olejniczak, Tomasz Rutkowski, Piotr Skubala, Bogna Zawieja, Dariusz J. Gwiazdowicz
Summary: Bracket fungi are primarily viewed as causing economic losses in forestry, with their role in creating biodiversity not well understood. This study explored how the degree of decay in the fruiting bodies of these fungi influences the invertebrate communities colonizing them. The research found that more decayed fruiting bodies tended to have a higher number of individuals and species, with cluster analysis showing differences in invertebrate assemblages based on decay level.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hong Qian, Tao Deng
Summary: Research shows that while taxonomic diversity (TD) within a region is often correlated with phylogenetic diversity (PD), relative PD (PDdev) can deviate significantly from TD. Areas with higher PDdev often do not overlap with those of high TD and PD, suggesting that protection strategies should consider areas with unusually high PDdev.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marie Zhai, Jindriska Bojkova, Denisa Nemejcova, Marek Polasek, Vit Syrovatka, Michal Horsak
Summary: Biotic homogenization is a global consequence of anthropogenic change that is difficult to identify due to interacting environmental factors. By analyzing macroinvertebrate assemblages in 65 minimally disturbed streams, we found a significant effect of temperature increase on macroinvertebrate compositional changes, but homogenization was only significant in certain types of streams. Surprisingly, native species predominated overall, suggesting that undisturbed conditions and temperature increase may benefit native species.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rodrigo Sarmiento-Garces, Malva Isabel Medina Hernandez
Summary: The study shows that habitats with tree strata have the capacity to preserve a larger proportion of species and functional diversity, while maintaining ecosystem functions such as the excrement removal rate. However, habitats dedicated to livestock often lead to significant losses in species and functional groups.
Article
Entomology
Peikun Li, Jian Zhang, Shunping Ding, Peisen Yan, Panpan Zhang, Shengyan Ding
Summary: This study investigates the spatial variation and causes of biotic turnover of soil fauna in five forest ecosystems in East Asia. The results suggest that environmental factors have a stronger effect on soil animal taxa turnover compared to spatial factors. Climate factors play a larger role in the turnover of phytophagic fauna, while soil and environment factors equally contribute to the turnover of predatory fauna.
Article
Biology
Shakeel Ahmed, Pritpal Singh Soorae, Eissa Al Hammadi, Rashed Al Zaabi, Anitha Saji, Shahid B. Khan, Sabitha Sakkir, Ahmed Ali, Imran Khaliq, Robert E. Gubiani, Salim Javed, Khaldoun Al Omari, Shaikha Al Dhaheri
Summary: Biodiversity is facing enormous pressure from multiple threats, and establishing protected areas is one way to mitigate these threats. A study conducted in the Houbara Protected Area in Abu Dhabi found that temperature has a positive impact on species richness, indicating the importance of protection measures in promoting biodiversity.
SAUDI JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Petr Zajicek, Ellen A. R. Welti, Nathan J. Baker, Kathrin Januschke, Oliver Brauner, Peter Haase
Summary: The study analyzed ground beetle community data to investigate the potential impacts of climate change in the future, revealing that taxonomic and functional diversity show different trends in different regions, and ground beetle activity density is influenced by changes in precipitation and land use.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
