Article
Ecology
Erika Garcez da Rocha, Edgardo Brigatti, Bernardo Brandao Niebuhr, Milton Cezar Ribeiro, Marcus Vinicius Vieira
Summary: The study emphasizes the importance of stepping stones in increasing species dispersal success and highlights the importance of scattered trees for the protection of small non-flying vertebrates. However, it also points out that small patches stepping stones may act as ecological traps.
Review
Plant Sciences
Jonathan O. O. Hernandez, Muhammad Naeem, Wajid Zaman
Summary: The ability of plants to find tolerable climatic ranges through seed dispersal varies greatly depending on their life-history traits and habitat characteristics. A systematic review on seed dispersal mechanisms was conducted to understand plant seed movements in changing environments. The review found that the majority of studies were conducted in Spain, Brazil, and the USA, while there was limited data from megadiverse countries and Africa. The effects of land use changes, habitat degradation/disturbances, climate, and extreme weather conditions had the most significant impact on seed dispersal mechanisms and agents.
Article
Ecology
Felix Pellerin, Elvire Bestion, Laurane Winandy, Lucie Di Gesu, Murielle Richard, Robin Aguilee, Julien Cote
Summary: Contemporary climate change has varying effects on population dynamics depending on landscape structure. This study investigates the impacts of warm climates on lizard traits and population dynamics in habitats with different connectivity. The results show that warm climates have different effects on lizard populations depending on the connectivity among thermal habitats, and landscape fragmentation can drastically alter population responses to climate change.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Hugo Robles, Carlos Ciudad, Zeno Porro, Julien Fattebert, Gilberto Pasinelli, Matthias Tschumi, Marta Vila, Martin U. Grueebler
Summary: The study investigates the influence of phenotypic and environmental factors on dispersal movements of juvenile woodpeckers in fragmented landscapes. The results show that larger and healthier individuals tend to emigrate earlier and have shorter transfer durations. Female woodpeckers disperse earlier, move shorter distances, and have longer transfer durations compared to males. Patch size, patch quality, and population density also affect emigration age, transfer duration, and distance. The study highlights the importance of early-life conditions and edge hardness in shaping dispersal behavior and reveals the previously overlooked effect of habitat isolation on sex-biased dispersal.
Article
Ecology
Christopher R. Warneke, T. Trevor Caughlin, Ellen I. Damschen, Nick M. Haddad, Douglas J. Levey, Lars A. Brudvig
Summary: Habitat loss and fragmentation have significant impacts on species decline due to reduced dispersal, with isolation effects and edge effects intertwining. Results from this experiment show that for five plant species, dispersal distances are longer when seeds are further from habitat edges and dispersed towards the nearest edge. Connectivity and patch edge-to-area ratio have minimal effects on local dispersal.
Article
Ecology
Laurane Winandy, Felix Pellerin, Lucie Di Gesu, Delphine Legrand, Julien Cote
Summary: Using a semi-natural experiment, this study investigated the potential synergetic effects of climate warming and habitat connectivity on a single amphibian species. The results showed that warmer climates decreased the abundance of adult newts and altered the phenotypic composition of populations, but connectivity between climates cancelled out these effects. Additionally, the study found that population isolation disrupted the relationship between emigration propensity and certain morphological traits. These findings highlight the importance of microclimatic refuges and their accessibility in buffering the impacts of climate change on amphibian populations.
Article
Ecology
Fernando Cesar Goncalves Bonfim, Pavel Dodonov, Eliana Cazetta
Summary: This study evaluated the impact of landscape composition and configuration on taxonomic and functional diversity of frugivorous birds in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Results showed that landscape composition was more important than configuration in explaining diversity, highlighting the need to maintain high habitat amount for these birds.
Article
Ecology
Pablo Y. Huais, Gabriel Grilli, Leonardo Galetto
Summary: This study evaluated the impact of forest connectivity loss on pollen dispersal in the self-incompatible plant Nierembergia linariifolia. The results showed that connected plants had a higher deposition rate per plant compared to unconnected plants, and the deposition rate decreased exponentially with increasing distance from a source population. The study also highlighted the essential role of native pollinators in maintaining pollen flow among unconnected plant populations in fragmented landscapes.
Article
Ecology
Guillaume Decocq, Annie Guiller, Thomas Kichey, Katrien Van de Pitte, Emilie Gallet-Moron, Olivier Honnay, Deborah Closset-Kopp
Summary: The study found that when landscape permeability is above a certain threshold, SD and GD are influenced by the same processes, resulting in a positive SD-GD correlation in fragmented forests. This permeability threshold is species-specific, depending on species' dispersal traits and niche width. The SD-GD correlation also depends on current and past landscape permeability, with a lack of correlation being the rule in weakly permeable landscape matrices, especially when fragments are small.
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Cendrine Mony, Lea Uroy, Fadwa Khalfallah, Nick Haddad, Philippe Vandenkoornhuyse
Summary: Land use changes have led to a decrease in global biodiversity, and increasing landscape connectivity is proposed as a key strategy to counterbalance the negative effects of habitat fragmentation. However, the existing framework on connectivity has overlooked microorganisms, which represent a significant proportion of Earth's biodiversity. This review explores the influence of connectivity on microorganisms and highlights the need for further research to understand their response to connectivity and its implications for microbial communities and ecosystem services.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Julia Emi de Faria Oshima, Maria Luisa S. P. Jorge, Thadeu Sobral-Souza, Luca Borger, Alexine Keuroghlian, Carlos A. Peres, Mauricio Humberto Vancine, Ben Collen, Milton Cezar Ribeiro
Summary: Mammals are significantly affected by climate change, habitat loss, and human activities. Habitat suitability models can provide insights into optimizing conservation efforts for key species and addressing the current biodiversity crisis.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Teja P. Muha, Deiene Rodriguez-Barreto, Richard O'Rorke, Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, Sofia Consuegra
Summary: Artificial instream barriers have negative effects on fish migration and gene flow, and removing these barriers can improve the ecological environment. However, monitoring of barrier removal projects is still lacking. The use of eDNA metabarcoding is an effective technique to monitor the effects of barrier removal on fish community composition, but sampling season may also have an impact on the results.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jie Hu, Philippe Vandenkoornhuyse, Fadwa Khalfallah, Romain Causse-Vedrines, Cendrine Mony
Summary: This study investigates the effect of corridors on the dynamics of plant root endospheric fungal assemblages, and finds that connected plants have higher species richness, lower beta-diversity, and more deterministic assembly compared to isolated plants, with these effects becoming more pronounced as host plants develop.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Luis G. Quijano-Cuervo, Dinesh Rao, Federico Escobar Sarria, Wesley Dattilo, Simoneta Negrete-Yankelevich
Summary: In Mexico, forest habitats have been lost and replaced by agroecosystems like coffee plantations and cattle pastures. This study found that the alpha diversity of epiphyte-dwelling spiders was higher in isolated trees in pastures compared to shade trees in coffee plantations. Isolated trees also had higher epiphyte biomass and played an important role in preserving spider communities in agrolandscapes.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Maximilian Axer, Robert Schlicht, Rico Kronenberg, Sven Wagner
Summary: The study found that there are differences in the regeneration distribution of European beech and European oak compared to their overstorey distribution, with oak regeneration expanding in the cold-wet range and beech regeneration decreasing in the dry-warm range. While oak has a higher dispersal potential than beech, many areas cannot be colonized despite climatic suitability due to large dispersal distances.
Article
Zoology
Matthew Robinson, Scott E. Nielsen, Brian Eaton, Cynthia Paszkowski
Summary: Variable retention forest harvesting has minimal long-term effects on wood frog abundance 17 years post-harvest, with interactions between retention level and forest type influencing capture rates during the late summer. Soil moisture and proximity to breeding sites also play a role in wood frog abundance, with higher capture rates in conifer forests and positive correlation with lower depth-to-water.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dingliang Xing, Jian Zhang, Fangliang He
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sydney R. R. Mohr, John H. H. Acorn, Philip J. Currie
Summary: Isolated bird teeth from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta are common but lack distinguishing features. They resemble teeth of non-avian theropods and crocodilians. Quantitative analysis showed limited overlap with known Cretaceous birds, crocodilians, and non-avian theropods. The reassignment of these teeth to crocodilians has significant implications for understanding Cretaceous bird evolution.
Article
Forestry
Meichen Jiang, Jiaxin Kong, Zhaochen Zhang, Jianbo Hu, Yuchu Qin, Kankan Shang, Mingshui Zhao, Jian Zhang
Summary: The complex topography of subtropical montane forests makes them a priority for biodiversity monitoring and conservation. In this study, the use of high-resolution UAV remote sensing imagery was tested for accurately mapping tree species in a specific phenological period. The results showed its potential for mapping species in these complex forests.
Article
Forestry
Jinming Yang, Mengfan Zhang, Jian Zhang, Huicui Lu, Richard J. Hauer
Summary: Allometric growth equations help estimate tree dynamics by describing the relationship between tree characteristics variables (such as diameter and height, diameter and canopy width). The development of allometric models for common tree species in urban forests is important for relating ecosystem services to tree measurements. This study developed allometric growth models for urban greening tree species in Qingdao, China, and found that the correlation and influence of tree species characteristics on allometry varied. The analysis provides theoretical models for urban forestry management and the evaluation of tree functions and ecosystem services.
Article
Microbiology
Yifan Feng, Jianbin Wang, Jian Zhang, Xuming Qi, Wenxing Long, Yi Ding, Lan Liu
Summary: Tropical montane ecosystems have high biodiversity and the variability of mountain climate is important for sustaining this diversity. In this study, we tested this hypothesis for soil bacteria and fungi along an elevational gradient in Hainan Island, China. We found that bacterial and fungal diversity decreased with increasing elevation, and their dissimilarities increased with greater separation in elevation. Soil moisture and pH were the major drivers of fungal and bacterial diversity respectively, while soil temperature was the main driver of dissimilarities in bacterial and fungal communities. Our findings indicate that local-climate variability plays a crucial role in structuring soil microbial communities along tropical montane gradients, and they may shift in response to future climate scenarios.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xinyang Wang, Xavier Morin, Jian Zhang, Guoke Chen, Lingfeng Mao, Yuheng Chen, Zhuqiu Song, Yanjun Du, Keping Ma
Summary: Biodiversity is an important issue in ecological research and is generally highest in tropical regions. By studying reproductive phenology data of over 20,000 plant species in China, we found that the duration of reproductive phenology decreased with latitude, with temperature seasonality playing a significant role in woody plant phenology.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Lee J. Hecker, Mark A. Edwards, Scott E. Nielsen
Summary: Habitat selection in wildlife management and conservation is important. Different behaviors require different habitat components. Considering behavioral states is necessary to avoid overlooking factors influencing selection. The study on female wood bison revealed the influence of behavioral states on habitat selection and the importance of considering multiple states for assessing habitat suitability.
Article
Ecology
Jiale Chen, Li Wang, Tommaso Jucker, Hongzhi Da, Zhaochen Zhang, Jianbo Hu, Qingsong Yang, Xihua Wang, Yuchu Qin, Guochun Shen, Li Shu, Jian Zhang
Summary: Accurate and efficient detection of canopy gaps is crucial for understanding forest dynamics. This study compared four methods for detecting canopy gaps in a subtropical forest using UAV imagery. The HSTAC method outperformed the others, achieving high detection efficiency, accuracy, and speed. It also overcame limitations in spectral complexity and topographic shadowing, making it a reliable tool for mapping canopy gaps in diverse forests.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Rachel Pizante, John H. Acorn, Sydney H. Worthy, Carol M. Frost
Summary: Planting flowers for pollinator conservation is challenging due to the time and resource investment required for flower establishment. Researchers have proposed a mathematical method to determine the preferred flower species for pollinators based on plant-pollinator interaction data. However, different preference metrics show inconsistencies in controlling for flower abundance and providing relevant information compared to the number of pollinator visits. Therefore, more empirical testing and research on factors affecting pollinator floral preference are needed.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lan Liu, Zhaochen Zhang, Xin Wang, Ran Zhang, Meng Wang, Nina Wurzburger, Junxiang Li, Jian Zhang
Summary: Urbanization strongly alters the topological features of soil microbial co-occurrence networks, leading to less connected and more isolated structures. Urbanized land-use and impervious land cover dominate the network structures, with a loss in efficiency and connectivity compared to remnant land-use. Soil properties and urbanization jointly shape the microbial networks, highlighting the clear direct and indirect effects of urbanization on microbial communities.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Yongchao Liu, Ruyun Zhang, Chen-Feng Lin, Zhaochen Zhang, Ran Zhang, Kankan Shang, Mingshui Zhao, Jingyue Huang, Xiaoning Wang, You Li, Yulin Zeng, Yun-Peng Zhao, Jian Zhang, Dingliang Xing
Summary: Tree species diversity is crucial for ecosystem functions, but traditional field-based approaches limit our ability to map it. However, recent advances in spaceborne remote sensing provide new opportunities. In this study, using Sentinel-2 satellite data and forest plot inventory data, we developed regression models to predict tree diversity in an eastern Chinese natural reserve.
Article
Plant Sciences
Qinfeng Guo, Hong Qian, Jian Zhang
Summary: This study tested plant data and found that regional native plant diversity is inversely related to the range size of exotic species in three continental regions in the Northern Hemisphere (Europe, Eastern Asia, and North America). This result may be due to stronger species interactions such as competition in species-rich habitats that limit the establishment and spread of exotic species.
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
Plant Sciences
Jian Zhang, Hong Qian
Summary: The scientific names of organisms are crucial for biodiversity research and documentation. 'U.Taxonstand' is an R package that can efficiently standardize and harmonize scientific names in plant and animal species lists. Unlike other similar packages, U.Taxonstand can work with any properly formatted taxonomic databases.