Correction: Hidden species diversity in Sylvirana nigrovittata (Amphibia: Ranidae) highlights the importance of taxonomic revisions in biodiversity conservation.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192766.].
Correction: Hidden species diversity in Sylvirana nigrovittata (Amphibia: Ranidae) highlights the importance of taxonomic revisions in biodiversity conservation.
PloS one 20180417 4
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192766.]. ...[more]
Project description:Accurately delimiting species and their geographic ranges is imperative for conservation, especially in areas experiencing rapid habitat loss. Southeast Asia currently has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, is home to multiple biodiversity hotspots, and the majority of its countries have developing economies with limited resources for biodiversity conservation. Thus, accurately delimiting species and their ranges is particularly important in this region. We examined genetic and morphological variation in the widespread frog species Sylvirana nigrovittata (and its long-treated junior synonym S. mortenseni) with the goal of clarifying its taxonomic content and geographic range boundaries for conservation. We present evidence that the current concept of S. nigrovittata contains at least eight species, two of which are each known from only two localities, but that S. mortenseni is more geographically widespread than currently realized. Five of these species are described as new to science.
Project description:Lithobateswarszewitschii is a species of ranid frog distributed from southern Honduras to Panama. This species suffered severe population declines at higher elevations (above 500 m a.s.l.) from the 1980s to early 1990s, but there is more recent evidence of recovery in parts of its range. Here we advocate for the status of Lithobateswarszewitschii as a candidate cryptic species complex based on sequence data from mitochondrial genes CO1 and 16S. Using concatenated phylogenies, nucleotide diversity (K2P-?), net between group mean distance (NBGMD) (?net) and species delimitation methods, we further elucidate cryptic diversity within this species. All phylogenies display polyphyletic lineages within Costa Rica and Panama. At both loci, observed genetic polymorphism (K2P-?) is also high within and between geographic populations, surpassing proposed species threshold values for amphibians. Additionally, patterns of phylogeographic structure are complicated for this species, and do not appear to be explained by geographic barriers or isolation by distance. These preliminary findings suggest L.warszewitschii is a wide-ranging species complex. Therefore, we propose further research within its wider range, and recommend integrative taxonomic assessment is merited to assess species status.
Project description:Galerucinae is one of the most species-rich leaf beetle group with its greatest diversity occurring in tropical forests. There are 1680 nominal species of Afrotropical Galerucinae s. str. (without Alticini) described. Considering global diversity estimations, many unknown species can be presumed. Several taxa traditionally placed in "Monoleptites", have been revised in the last twenty years. To date 259 species have been re-examined, revealing in 139 valid species and 120 mainly newly recognized synonyms. This large number of synonyms can mainly be ascribed to highly variable colour patterns, a typical character used for the identification of many chrysomelid species. Genitalic structures and molecular work can support a more precise allocation to species. Within around 72,000 specimens of galerucines s. str. from 48 museums and private collections, only 107 species were newly described. After revising approximately 15% of the Afrotropical galerucine fauna their species richness decreased from 259 to 246 species, a pattern that appears to be similar to that for other African galerucine groups. Since the estimation of the extent of global diversity based mainly on insect species richness in tropical forests, our current study which is based on hard data suggests a much lower diversity than previously predicted.
Project description:The diskless-fingered odorous frog Odorrana grahami is widely distributed in the high-altitude mountains in the southwestern China and northern Indochina regions. In this study, a comparative analysis of the mitochondrial COI gene sequences was performed to examine the population genetic diversity of 76 individuals from 10 localities across the distributional range of the species. Haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity were 0.605 and 0.00199, respectively, in the total population. An AMOVA indicated that 47.3% of the total variation originated from variation within individual populations and 52.7% came from variation between the 10 geographic populations. Tests of neutral evolution indicated that a recent expansion occurred in total population. The findings provide useful information for the conservation of this species.
Project description:Nowadays we are seeing the largest biodiversity loss since the extinction of the dinosaurs. To conserve biodiversity it is essential to plan protected areas using a prioritization approach, which takes into account the current biodiversity value of the sites. Considering that in the Mediterranean Basin the agro-ecosystems are one of the most important parts of the landscape, the conservation of crops is essential to biodiversity conservation. In the framework of agro-ecosystem conservation, farmland birds play an important role because of their representativeness, and because of their steady decline in the last Century in Western Europe. The main aim of this research was to define if crop dominated landscapes could be useful for biodiversity conservation in a Mediterranean area in which the landscape was modified by humans in the last thousand years and was affected by the important biogeographical phenomenon of peninsula effect. To assess this, we identify the hotspots and the coldspots of bird diversity in southern Italy both during the winter and in the breeding season. In particular we used a scoring method, defining a biodiversity value for each cell of a 1-km grid superimposed on the study area, using data collected by fieldwork following a stratified random sampling design. This value was analysed by a multiple linear regression analysis and was predicted in the whole study area. Then we defined the hotspots and the coldspots of the study area as 15% of the cells with higher and lower value of biodiversity, respectively. Finally, we used GAP analysis to compare hotspot distribution with the current network of protected areas. This study showed that the winter hotspots of bird diversity were associated with marshes and water bodies, shrublands, and irrigated crops, whilst the breeding hotspots were associated with more natural areas (e.g. transitional wood/shrubs), such as open areas (natural grasslands, pastures and not irrigated crops). Moreover, the results underlined the negative effects of permanent crops, such as vineyards, olive groves, and orchards, in particular during the winter season. This research highlights the importance of farmland areas mainly for wintering species and the importance of open areas for breeding species in the Mediterranean Basin. This may be true even when the species' spatial distribution could be affected by biogeography. An important result showed that the hotspots for breeding species cannot be used as a surrogate for the wintering species, which were often not considered in the planning of protected areas.
Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on almost all aspects of human society and endeavor; the natural world and its conservation have not been spared. Through a process of expert consultation, we identified and categorized, into 19 themes and 70 subthemes, the ways in which biodiversity and its conservation have been or could be affected by the pandemic globally. Nearly 60% of the effects have been broadly negative. Subsequently, we created a compendium of all themes and subthemes, each with explanatory text, and in August 2020 a diverse group of experienced conservationists with expertise from across sectors and geographies assessed each subtheme for its likely impact on biodiversity conservation globally. The 9 subthemes ranked highest all have a negative impact. These were, in rank order, governments sidelining the environment during their economic recovery, reduced wildlife-based tourism income, increased habitat destruction, reduced government funding, increased plastic and other solid waste pollution, weakening of nature-friendly regulations and their enforcement, increased illegal harvest of wild animals, reduced philanthropy, and threats to survival of conservation organizations. In combination, these impacts present a worrying future of increased threats to biodiversity conservation but reduced capacity to counter them. The highest ranking positive impact, at 10, was the beneficial impact of wildlife-trade restrictions. More optimistically, among impacts ranked 11-20, 6 were positive and 4 were negative. We hope our assessment will draw attention to the impacts of the pandemic and, thus, improve the conservation community's ability to respond to such threats in the future.
Project description:A new species of the genus Amolops Cope, 1865 is described from Nyingchi, southeastern Tibet, China, based on morphological and molecular data. The new species, Amolops nyingchiensis sp. nov. is assigned to the Amolops monticola group based on its skin smooth, dorsolateral fold distinct, lateral side of head black, upper lip stripe white extending to the shoulder. Amolops nyingchiensis sp. nov. is distinguished from all other species of Amolops by the following combination of characters: (1) medium body size, SVL 48.5-58.3 mm in males, and 57.6-70.7 mm in females; (2) tympanum distinct, slightly larger than one third of the eye diameter; (3) a small tooth-like projection on anteromedial edge of mandible; (4) the absence of white spine on dorsal surface of body; (5) the presence of circummarginal groove on all fingers; (6) the presence of vomerine teeth; (7) background coloration of dorsal surface brown, lateral body gray with yellow; (8) the presence of transverse bands on the dorsal limbs; (9) the presence of nuptial pad on the first finger in males; (10) the absence of vocal sac in males. Taxonomic status of the populations that were previously identified to A. monticola from Tibet is also discussed.
Project description:Microstomidae (Platyhelminthes: Macrostomorpha) diversity has been almost entirely ignored within recent years, likely due to inconsistent and often old taxonomic literature and a general rarity of sexually mature collected specimens. Herein, we reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of the group using both previously published and new 18S and CO1 gene sequences. We present some taxonomic revisions of Microstomidae and further describe 8 new species of Microstomum based on both molecular and morphological evidence. Finally, we briefly review the morphological taxonomy of each species and provide a key to aid in future research and identification that is not dependent on reproductive morphology. Our goal is to clarify the taxonomy and facilitate future research into an otherwise very understudied group of tiny (but important) flatworms.
Project description:Island biogeography theory posits that species richness increases with island size and decreases with isolation. This logic underpins much conservation policy and regulation, with preference given to conserving large, highly connected areas, and relative ambivalence shown toward protecting small, isolated habitat patches. We undertook a global synthesis of the relationship between the conservation value of habitat patches and their size and isolation, based on 31 systematic conservation planning studies across four continents. We found that small, isolated patches are inordinately important for biodiversity conservation. Our results provide a powerful argument for redressing the neglect of small, isolated habitat patches, for urgently prioritizing their restoration, and for avoiding simplistic application of island biogeography theory in conservation decisions.
Project description:The genus Odorrana is widely distributed in the mountains of East and Southeastern Asia. An increasing number of new species in the genus have been recognized especially in the last decade. Phylogenetic studies of the O. schmackeri species complex with wide distributional range also revealed several cryptic species. Here, we describe a new species in the species complex from Guizhou Province of China. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA indicated the new species as a monophyly clustered into the Odorrana clade and sister to O. schmackeri, and nuclear DNA also indicated it as an independent lineage separated from its related species. Morphologically, the new species can be distinguished from its congeners based on a combination of the following characters: (1) having smaller body size in males (snout-vent length (SVL) <43.3 mm); (2) head longer than wide; (3) dorsolateral folds absent; (4) tympanum of males large and distinct, tympanum diameter twice as long as width of distal phalanx of finger III; (5) two metacarpal tubercles; (6) relative finger lengths: II < I < IV < III; (7) tibiotarsal articulation reaching to the level between eye to nostril when leg stretched forward; (8) disks on digits with circum-marginal grooves; (9) toes fully webbed to disks; (10) the first subarticular tubercle on fingers weak; (11) having white pectoral spinules, paired subgular vocal sacs located at corners of throat, light yellow nuptial pad on the first finger in males.