Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Biodiversity
Phenological and life history/form idiosyncraticity of facultatively annual Cistanthe philhershkovitziana Hershk. (C. sect. Cistanthe; Montiaceae) in Chile’s southern Central Littoral Zone, with comments on the incidence of the facultative annual condition among “Portullugo” (Caryophyllales) and o
Published: 2024-12-09
Subjects: Biodiversity
Cistanthe philhershkovitziana Hershk. was described from the north-central Chilean coast in 2018. Based on the apparent absence of plants during drought years, it was described as the only species of C. sect. Cistanthe with a putatively annual life history (~therophytic life form). The species occurs primarily in coastal habitats, but also in some seasonally moist sites up to perhaps 50 km [...]
Different sources of wind turbine data produce sharp differences in collision risk estimates for foraging vultures
Published: 2024-12-06
Subjects: Biodiversity, Environmental Monitoring, Systems Biology, Zoology
Multiple studies assessed the collision risk of different vulture species with wind turbines. However, they relied on different sources of wind turbine data, and the effect of this data heterogeneity, on the estimated collision risk and the comparability of these assessments, has not been investigated. We used GPS and accelerometer data, collected from 6 adult Griffon Vultures living in Sardinia [...]
Unbaited underwater video evidences the presence of previ-ously unrecorded fish species, sea krait (Laticauda sp.) and a high frequency of sharks at a remote reef complex (Coral Sea Marine Park, Southwest Pacific)
Published: 2024-12-06
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
The Chesterfield-Bellona atolls and reefs are a vast reef complex located in the Coral Sea Marine Park, estab-lished in 2014 in the New Caledonian Economic Exclusive Zone. In 2013, the New Caledonia government supported the first assessment of fish and benthic habitats conducted in all habitats and over the entire area. The assessment provided a primary knowledge base for establishing the [...]
Enhancing Canopy Research in Africa: Insights from Tree Climbing Workshop in Ghana
Published: 2024-11-28
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology
The report shares the background and experience executing a tree climbing workshop in Ghana. In most cases, canopy research in Africa is conducted under the umbrella of parachute science, leaving local scientists deprived of canopy access skills and equipment. Consequently, tropical Africa experiences a closed canopy so far as canopy ecology is concerned. In May 2024, ten (10) early career [...]
Overcoming the disconnect between interaction networks and biodiversity conservation and management
Published: 2024-11-27
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Decision-makers need to act now to halt biodiversity loss, and ecologists must provide them with relevant species interaction indicators to inform on community- and ecosystem-level changes. Yet, the integration of ecological networks into conservation is still virtually nonexistent. Here, we discuss challenges and opportunities related to uncertainty, interpretability and relevance of network [...]
Individual foraging specialization and success change with experience in a virtual predator-prey system
Published: 2024-11-27
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The capacity of predators to match their tactic to their prey and to optimize their skills at implementing a given tactic are expected to drive the outcome of predator-prey interactions. Hence, successive interactions of predators with their prey may result in increased flexibility in tactic use or in individual foraging specialization. Yet, there are limited empirical assessments showing links [...]
Traditional water structures in villages support amphibian populations within a protected landscape
Published: 2024-11-25
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
Amphibians are among the most globally threatened vertebrates, with habitat loss and degradation being the primary drivers of their decline. While natural wetlands are essential for amphibian survival, artificial habitats can also play a significant role as refuges, especially in human-altered landscapes. This study examines the role of artificial waterbodies in supporting amphibian populations [...]
Effect of bulb type on moth trap catch and composition in UK gardens
Published: 2024-11-15
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Abstract 1. A wide variety of light sources are employed to trap moths, differing in brightness and spectrum. Relatively little is known about how these factors affect the resulting sample. 2. We analyse 7 moth trap bulb types using 10 years of records from the Garden Moth Scheme to provide the largest and most comprehensive comparison of moth trap bulb types to date. 3. 125W Mercury Vapour (MV) [...]
An integrated approach to above- and below-ground ecological monitoring for nature-based solutions
Published: 2024-11-12
Subjects: Agricultural Science, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
1. As the development of nature-based solutions (NbS) increases globally, it is important to ensure that projects meet the objective of benefiting biodiversity, alongside tackling societal challenges. However, most NbS projects do not directly monitor ecological outcomes, and those that do often focus on a limited set of metrics. It is therefore challenging to assess whether projects fulfil the [...]
¿Cretaceous Montiaceae? Reevaluation of the classification of Kuprianovaites deccanensis Nambudiri & Thomas (Caryophyllales)
Published: 2024-11-11
Subjects: Biodiversity
Kuprianovaites deccanensis Nambudiri & Thomas is a form species referring to fossil ovule/seed-bearing fructifications from the Cretaceous/Paleocene boundary of central India. It has been classified in Montiaceae based on similarities to fruits of Phemeranthus Raf. species, in particular a 3- valvate unilocular loculicidal capsule with free-central placentation and seeds with campylotropous [...]
Beyond the concrete jungle: The value of urban biodiversity for regional conservation efforts
Published: 2024-11-04
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Urbanization deletes and degrades natural ecosystems, contributing to the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Yet, on the local scale, well-managed cities can host significant biodiversity, including endemic and threatened species. Understanding the trade-off between local and regional biodiversity outcomes is limited, primarily due to the lack of comprehensive sampling across heterogeneous urban areas [...]
BON in a Box: An Open and Collaborative Platform for Biodiversity Monitoring, Indicator Calculation, and Reporting
Published: 2024-10-28
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Plant Sciences
The Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global BiodiversityFramework (GBF) sets ambitious goals to protect and restore biodiversity. It includes a Monitoring Framework that mandates countries to track progress toward these goals using indicators that summarize biodiversity trends. Calculating indicators is challenging for countries due to technical barriers, lack of available [...]
Beyond single invaders: Disentangling the effects of co-invading alien herbs on sandy old-fields
Published: 2024-10-27
Subjects: Biodiversity, Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Aims Invasive alien plants can severely impact ecosystem diversity and function. While individual species’ effects are often studied, the interaction between multiple invasive species is less understood. This study examines how Asclepias syriaca and Solidago spp. (including Solidago gigantea and S. canadensis) influence taxonomic and functional diversity in sandy old-fields. The aims are to: (1) [...]
Patterns of fruit production in tropical forests are shifting with negative outnumbering positive trends
Published: 2024-10-25
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences
The impacts of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance are increasingly evident in the structure and demographics of tropical forests, yet the response of tree reproduction remains poorly understood. As fruit and seed production is the first step in forest recruitment, this gap is critical to understanding tropical forest resilience. Tropical fruits are important in diets of numerous [...]
Scientific evidence in biodiversity conservation rarely crosses language barriers in citation networks
Published: 2024-10-21
Subjects: Biodiversity, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Using relevant scientific evidence is crucial to effectively conserve species and ecosystems worldwide. Currently, evidence that is available only in non-English languages is severely underutilised. To understand most underutilised languages of evidence and factors that facilitate the use of non-English-language evidence, this study analyses the citation patterns of articles testing the [...]