Article
Ecology
Jason M. M. Gleditsch, Jocelyn E. E. Behm, Jacintha Ellers, Wendy A. M. Jesse, Matthew R. R. Helmus
Summary: Island biogeography theory is updated to incorporate the effects of land development and economic trade on species richness patterns in the Caribbean. The study built a database of native and introduced reptiles and amphibians for Caribbean islands and evaluated the relationships between species richness and habitat diversity and isolation. The contemporized theory explains the current patterns of biodiversity and will continue to predict the island biogeography of the Anthropocene.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Madli Joks, Holger Kreft, Patrick Weigelt, Meelis Partel
Summary: The study examined the impact of geological processes and eustatic sea-level fluctuations on biodiversity patterns in the Hawaiian, Galapagos, and Canary Islands. Findings suggested that both geological and eustatic processes have influenced biodiversity assembly in the Hawaiian and Galapagos Islands, while historical configurations only affected the proportion of single-island endemics in the Canary Islands. Overall, the results highlight the importance of past geological and eustatic processes in shaping modern insular biodiversity patterns.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Cong Liu, Evan P. Economo, Benoit Guenard
Summary: Island systems are critical for biodiversity conservation, but knowledge about their biodiversity value, especially for insects, is incomplete. To address this gap, we created a new database containing information on ants from 2678 islands globally, including 7010 species and information on their native or exotic status.
Review
Ecology
Isaac Overcast, Guillaume Achaz, Robin Aguilee, Carmelo Andujar, Paula Arribas, Thomas J. Creedy, Evan P. Economo, Rampal S. Etienne, Rosemary Gillespie, Claire Jacquet, Flora Jay, Susan Kennedy, Henrik Krehenwinkel, Amaury Lambert, Emmanouil Meramveliotakis, Victor Noguerales, Benoit Perez-Lamarque, George Roderick, Haldre Rogers, Megan Ruffley, Isabel Sanmartin, Alfried P. Vogler, Anna Papadopoulou, Brent C. Emerson, Helene Morlon
Summary: MacArthur and Wilson's theory of island biogeography has been important for predicting patterns of species diversity, abundance, and trait data. However, there is a need to incorporate the genetic component into these models and unify processes across different organizational scales. This review highlights the potential for developing a genetic theory of island biogeography and outlines two approaches for integrating genetic diversity patterns into community-scale models.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Michele Mugnai, Renato Benesperi, Daniele Viciani, Giulio Ferretti, Michele Giunti, Francesca Giannini, Lorenzo Lazzaro
Summary: This study demonstrates the detrimental effects of Carpobrotus spp. invasion on native communities in different habitats in the Mediterranean basin, including a decrease in species diversity, homogenization of plant composition, and replacement of native species by Carpobrotus spp.
Article
Microbiology
Ting Huang, Lin-Jie Su, Nian-Kai Zeng, Serena M. L. Lee, Su-See Lee, Bee Kin Thi, Wen-Hao Zhang, Jing Ma, Hong-Yan Huang, Shuai Jiang, Li-Ping Tang
Summary: This study reveals the presence of new fungal species in Hainan Island, one of the largest islands in China. Based on the research of 40 Amanita specimens, five new species belonging to Amanita section Validae are described. Two of these species are unique in this section, leading to a slight modification of the diagnosis for the section.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Wenhao Li, Tianjian Song, Xianglei Hou, Mingshuo Qin, Chunxia Xu, Yiming Li
Summary: In this study, eDNA metabarcoding was used to measure anuran diversity at 288 sites in 18 regions of Hainan Island, demonstrating that it can be a rapid and accurate method for large-scale surveys of anuran biodiversity.
Article
Environmental Sciences
R. Bassett, V. Janes-Bassett, J. Phillipson, P. J. Young, G. S. Blair
Summary: This study utilizes a generalized additive model to observe UHI intensity in central London, finding significant variability in UHII seasonally and annually. Extreme value analysis shows that monthly mean maximum UHIIs are likely to exceed 2.75 degrees C once every 11 years. Despite a warmer background climate, London's UHII has not significantly changed across the analysis period (1950-2019).
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carmelo Andujar, Paula Arribas, Heriberto Lopez, Yurena Arjona, Antonio Perez-Delgado, Pedro Oromi, Alfried P. Vogler, Brent C. Emerson
Summary: Most of the understanding of island diversity comes from aboveground systems, while the patterns and processes of diversification and community assembly for belowground biotas remain poorly understood. This study focuses on a young and dynamic oceanic island to advance our understanding of the processes driving community assembly of soil mesofauna. Through DNA metabarcoding and analysis, the study reveals the role of niche conservatism in community assembly and the importance of habitat specialization through colonization and preadapted species. The study also shows hierarchical patterns of distance decay and geographical structuring within the soil mesofaunal community.
Article
Ecology
Jihwan Kim, Youngkeun Song
Summary: The increasing development pressure on natural heritage areas poses a significant threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. This study evaluates ecological connectivity on Jeju Island, South Korea, using spatial conservation prioritization (SCP) and discusses strategies to enhance ecological connectivity. The results show ecological disconnection between coastal and mid-mountain areas, and provide specific SCP areas for protection and restoration.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Igor Popov, Anton Iurmanov, Evgeny Abakumov
Summary: Gogland Island, located in the Gulf of Finland, has been nearly abandoned since the Second World War. Recent research evaluated the self-restoration of wildlife on the island and found that the biodiversity is rather low, suggesting that abandoning land without management is insufficient for achieving maximum biodiversity conservation.
Article
Plant Sciences
Gonzalo Castillo-Campos, Jose G. Garcia-Franco, M. Luisa Martinez, J. Jesus Pale-Pale
Summary: This study investigated the aquatic vegetation and occurrence of alien and potentially invasive plants in four lagoons in southeastern Cozumel, Mexico. Out of the 43 herbaceous species found, some were identified as invasive species. Results showed that invasive plants dominated in three of the four lagoons, comprising 7% to 43% of the species. Two species were identified as among the 100 worst invasive species worldwide. Urgent control and management actions are necessary.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mario Barbato, Marco Masseti, Monica Pirastru, Nicolo Columbano, Monica Scali, Rita Vignani, Paolo Mereu
Summary: The use of multidisciplinary approaches is valuable in identifying and preserving biodiversity. This study focuses on the characterization and conservation of a mouflon population from the Mediterranean island of Giglio. The molecular data suggests that the Giglio mouflon likely originated from Sardinia, but it is not represented in the current Sardinian mouflon diversity. Actions such as culling and sterilization are causing the loss of ancestral genetic variants of the genus Ovis. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary for the conservation and management of anthropochorous populations of Mediterranean mammals.
Article
Plant Sciences
Kris A. G. Wyckhuys, Johanna Audrey Leatemia, Muhammad Zainal Fanani, Michael J. Furlong, Baogen Gu, Buyung Asmara Ratna Hadi, Jeffij Virgowat Hasinu, Maria C. Melo, Saartje Helena Noya, Aunu Rauf, Johanna Taribuka, Yubak Dhoj Gc
Summary: Islands provide unique settings for studying the interaction between biodiversity and ecosystem function. Observational and manipulative studies on Indonesian islands reveal the important role of generalist predators in biotic resistance against the cassava mealybug and fall armyworm. The magnitude of biotic resistance varies between island contexts, seasons, and ecological realms.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
John M. Green, Robert L. Dunbrack, Amanda E. Bates
Summary: The study found that fish communities in high-intertidal pools remained resilient between historical and recent sampling periods, with no evidence of invasion. However, changes were observed in fish communities in lower shore pools, with decreases in species richness, abundance, and community similarity. This suggests that ongoing ocean warming may lead to changes in these communities.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2021)
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Erez Aghion, David A. Kessler, Eli Barkai
CHAOS SOLITONS & FRACTALS
(2020)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Shubham Tripathi, David A. Kessler, Herbert Levine
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2020)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Celia Anteneodo, Lucianno Defaveri, Eli Barkai, David A. Kessler
Summary: This study investigates the overdamped Langevin motion in a deep potential well, where a regularized BG statistics equation can predict the values of dynamical and thermodynamic observables in a non-normalizable quasi-equilibrium state. By eigenfunction expansion of the Fokker-Planck equation, an approximate time-independent solution in BG form valid for long time intervals but short compared to the escape time is obtained. The escaped particles follow a general free-particle statistics with an error function solution shifted due to initial potential well barriers. The validity of regularized BG statistics in describing the time-independent regime despite the non-normalizable quasi-stationary state is demonstrated.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Felix Thiel, Itay Mualem, David Kessler, Eli Barkai
Summary: A classical random walker on a finite graph will always reach any other node, while quantum walks may exhibit non-ergodic features due to destructive interference. The final detection of the system is not guaranteed under repeated projective local measurements, as the Hilbert space is split into bright and dark subspaces. An uncertainty relation for detection probability deviations from the classical counterpart is found in terms of energy fluctuations.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Lior Zarfaty, Eli Barkai, David A. Kessler
Summary: This paper discusses the classic problem of extreme value statistics, showing that the distribution of maxima converges to one of three limiting forms through the Fisher-Tippett-Gnedenko theorem. Utilizing the Gumbel limit allows for accurate approximation of the extreme value distribution, with parameters represented as power series and the underlying distribution transformed. Functional corrections to the Gumbel limit are considered, obtainable through Taylor expansion, which also helps characterize extreme value statistics in cases where the underlying distribution is unknown.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS A-MATHEMATICAL AND THEORETICAL
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Eial Teomy, David A. Kessler, Herbert Levine
Summary: This study explores the use of notch-delta signaling in constructing ordered patterns of cellular differentiation in biology. Through a mathematical model, it analyzes the process of pattern formation and identifies different types of cellular patterns that can be produced under varying parameter conditions.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
David A. Kessler, Nadav M. Shnerb
Summary: This study aims to provide a comprehensive survey by examining a range of scenarios to understand the time distribution and fluctuations of population extinction. The researchers consider the impact of individual stochasticity on the extinction process and propose several generic criteria for classifying different experimental and empirical systems, thereby enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms governing extinction dynamics.
Article
Mathematics
David A. Kessler, Jeremy Schiff
Summary: This article presents a variety of not-well-known asymptotic series for factorials, binomial coefficients, and Catalan numbers, all of which only have even or odd powers. The significance of this property is discussed in terms of the asymptotic evenness or oddness of the underlying quantities.
JOURNAL OF INTEGER SEQUENCES
(2021)
Article
Optics
David A. Kessler, Eli Barkai, Klaus Ziegler
Summary: The study focuses on the detection of quantum systems at random time intervals, deriving statistical results such as probabilities and mean values. It is proven that the mean detection time is related to the average number of attempts and average time intervals. The study also explores various interval distributions and Hamiltonians in the detection process.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Felix Thiel, Itay Mualem, Dror Meidan, Eli Barkai, David A. Kessler
PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH
(2020)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Lucianno Defaveri, Celia Anteneodo, David A. Kessler, Eli Barkai
PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH
(2020)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Felix Thiel, Itay Mualem, David A. Kessler, Eli Barkai
PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH
(2020)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Dan Shafir, David A. Kessler
Article
Optics
Felix Thiel, David A. Kessler
Article
Optics
Felix Thiel, David A. Kessler, Eli Barkai