Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Aidar A. Sumbembayev, Slawomir Nowak, Aleksandra Burzacka-Hinz, Adrianna Kosirog-Ceynowa, Dariusz L. Szlachetko
Summary: A critical study was conducted on the orchid genus Dactylorhiza in Kazakhstan in 2019-2020, resulting in the identification of new taxa and clarification of species composition. Distribution modeling was carried out for four taxa, revealing that global climate warming threatens the occurrence of Dactylorhiza in Kazakhstan. Some taxa may not occur in the country in the future, losing a significant portion of their current distribution. It is important to consider global changes and plan conservation activities accordingly.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christian R. Voolstra, Kate M. Quigley, Sarah W. Davies, John Everett Parkinson, Raquel S. Peixoto, Manuel Aranda, Andrew C. Baker, Adam R. Barno, Daniel J. Barshis, Francesca Benzoni, Victor Bonito, David G. Bourne, Carol Buitrago-Lopez, Tom C. L. Bridge, Cheong Xin Chan, David J. Combosch, Jamie Craggs, Joerg C. Frommlet, Santiago Herrera, Andrea M. Quattrini, Till Roethig, James D. Reimer, Esther Rubio-Portillo, David J. Suggett, Helena Villela, Maren Ziegler, Michael Sweet
Summary: Coral research is transitioning to the genomic era, where effective pairing of high-quality genomes with taxonomic characterizations and ecological relevance is needed. Lack of a formal framework calls for consensus guidelines to reconcile different types of data, especially for the metaorganism nature of the coral holobiont. While exhaustive taxonomic characterization of all coral holobiont member species is currently not feasible, guidelines on minimal, recommended, and ideal-case descriptions will aid in future referencing and comparative studies.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Ecology
Luiza Teixeira-Costa, J. Mason Heberling, Carol A. Wilson, Charles C. Davis
Summary: The digitization of natural history collections and the use of novel tools and methods are revolutionizing biodiversity science. Parasitic plant specimens provide valuable data for studying the impact of global change on host relationships, and improving specimen preparation and digitization can maximize their potential.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Simon B. Z. Gorta, Corey T. Callaghan, Fabrice Samonte, Mark K. J. Ooi, Thomas Mesaglio, Shawn W. Laffan, Will K. Cornwell
Summary: Conditions conducive to fires are becoming increasingly common and widespread under climate change, and recent fire events across the globe have had a significant impact on biodiversity. This study used citizen science data to quantify the effect of post-fire diversity responses in burnt and unburnt regions of eastern Australia. The findings showed an increase in species diversity up to 18 months after the fires, with dry sclerophyll forests driving this overall increase. However, areas exposed to extreme fire severity experienced a decrease in overall diversity.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Isaac W. Park, Tadeo Ramirez-Parada, Susan J. Mazer
Summary: In recent decades, the final frost dates of winter have advanced throughout North America, leading to earlier flowering times for many angiosperm taxa. This shift may reduce plant fitness, but the risk of floral exposure to frost has declined in 66% of sampled species due to last frost dates advancing more rapidly than flowering dates. Exotic species also exhibit lower frost risk than native species, as they typically inhabit warmer habitats with an earlier frost-free period.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Devin E. Gamble, Susan J. Mazer
Summary: This study investigates the impact of collection site uncertainty on the estimation of plant phenological sensitivity to climate. The results suggest that simulated site displacements weaken the estimates of phenological sensitivity, but the reported error distance magnitude has no significant effect on the estimates.
Article
Plant Sciences
William N. Weaver, Stephen A. Smith
Summary: LeafMachine2 is a machine learning and computer vision tool that can automatically extract leaf traits from digital plant data sets. It has been trained on a large number of annotated images and can efficiently extract trait data from various types of plant images, overcoming some of the limitations of traditional methods.
APPLICATIONS IN PLANT SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eric Post, Christian Pedersen, David A. Watts
Summary: This study investigates the impact of warming and exclusion of large herbivores on 14 tundra taxa, showing that experimental warming reduces commonness across all taxa, while herbivore exclusion has a stronger effect on rare taxa. The findings suggest that commonness itself may be a strong predictor of species' responses to climate change, but large herbivores may mediate such responses in rare taxa.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Sajid Khan, Kailash S. Gaira, Mohd Asgher, Susheel Verma, Shreekar Pant, Dinesh K. Agrawala, Saud Alamri, Manzer H. Siddiqui, Mahipal Singh Kesawat
Summary: Studies have shown that climate change affects plant phenology, but there is a lack of data for many regions and species, including the Himalayas. This study used real-time field observations and long-term herbarium records to investigate changes in the flowering phenology of Olea ferruginea in response to climate change. The results showed that the flowering dates of O. ferruginea have shifted earlier by 15-21 days over the past 100 years, which is significantly correlated with increasing temperatures.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Natalie Iwanycki Ahlstrand, Hannah M. Elvery, Richard B. Primack
Summary: The grass family is responsible for most pollen allergies. Climate change is expected to increase the severity of pollen-based asthma and allergies. Current pollen monitoring techniques have limitations in identifying grass species, resulting in grouping them all together. To address this issue, researchers used phenological data from herbarium specimens and pollen monitoring data to determine the response of flowering time to climate change for 12 allergenic grass species. They found that pollen season duration is lasting longer and starting earlier, and the maximum pollen loads are occurring earlier in response to climate warming.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Susan E. Everingham, Raymond A. J. Blick, Manon E. B. Sabot, Eve Slavich, Angela T. Moles
Summary: Southern hemisphere species are showing fewer advances in their flowering phenology through time, especially in comparison to northern hemisphere species.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cole Geissler, Allison Davidson, Richard A. Niesenbaum
Summary: Climate warming can affect plant flowering phenology, and herbarium collections provide historical plant data for documenting and understanding long-term shifts in flowering phenology. Our study found that plants flowered earlier with increasing temperatures, especially in spring, and woody species responded differently to annual temperatures compared to herbaceous species.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chia-Hua Lue, Matthew L. Buffington, Sonja Scheffer, Matthew Lewis, Tyler A. Elliott, Amelia R. Lindsey, Amy Driskell, Anna Jandova, Masahito T. Kimura, Yves Carton, Robert R. Kula, Todd A. Schlenke, Mariana Mateos, Shubha Govind, Julien Varaldi, Emilio Guerrieri, Massimo Giorgini, Xingeng Wang, Kim Hoelmer, Kent M. Daane, Paul K. Abram, Nicholas A. Pardikes, Joel J. Brown, Melanie Thierry, Marylene Poirie, Paul Goldstein, Scott E. Miller, W. Daniel Tracey, Jeremy S. Davis, Francis M. Jiggins, Bregje Wertheim, Owen T. Lewis, Jeff Leips, Phillip P. A. Staniczenko, Jan Hrcek
Summary: Molecular identification is increasingly used in biodiversity surveys and laboratory experiments, but many groups of organisms face challenges in reliable identification due to lack of sequenced voucher specimens or errors in available sequences. The introduction of the curated open-access molecular reference database DROP for Drosophila parasitoids is a significant step to address this problem, providing accurate identification and improving cross-referencing between studies in this model system. The effort in curating 154 laboratory strains, 856 vouchers, 554 DNA sequences, and other data for 183 operational taxonomic units demonstrates the underestimation of species richness in Drosophila parasitoids and provides an updated taxonomic catalogue for the community.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Veronica A. Hamilton, Sylvia S. S. Lee, Allison R. Rober, Paula C. Furey, Kalina M. Manoylov, Kevin H. Wyatt
Summary: Climate change and human activities may impact boreal peatlands by altering their structure and function through warming waters and changing hydrology. Diatoms can be used as indicators to track these changes, but consistent and reliable identification is crucial. This study developed a diatom voucher flora of species found in Alaskan peatlands to address this need. The voucher flora expands knowledge of regional diatom biodiversity and provides updated taxonomic information for effective monitoring of waterways in boreal regions sensitive to climate change and human impacts.
Review
Biology
Xinru Wan, Marcel Holyoak, Chuan Yan, Yvon Le Maho, Rodolfo Dirzo, Charles J. Krebs, Nils Chr Stenseth, Zhibin Zhang
Summary: Climate plays a key role in impacting the population dynamics of various organisms. Through a review of studies, it was found that populations of mammals, birds, and insects are significantly influenced by broad-scale climate indices like ENSO and NAO, particularly in the Pacific and Atlantic regions. The findings suggest that different taxa and regions exhibit varying vulnerabilities to climate fluctuations.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2022)
