2019 April - 19 articles
Stochastic events can have catastrophic effects on island populations through a series of genetic stressors from reduced population size. We investigated five populations of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) from St. John, USVI, an UNESCO Biosphere Re...
Fragmentation caused by linear infrastructures is a threat to forest-dwelling wildlife globally. Loss of canopy connectivity is particularly problematic for highly arboreal species such as those of the Neotropics. We explored the use of both natural...
Ecological functions in marine sedimentary habitats are greatly influenced by bio-engineering organisms. Thalassinidean crustaceans are particularly important in this regard, given their density, spatial occupancy and burrowing depths. These features...
Genetic diversity and its distribution, both within and between populations, may be determined by micro-evolutionary processes, such as the demographic history of populations, natural selection, and gene flow. In plants, indices of genetic diversity...
In Europe, the interest in introducing megaherbivores to achieve ambitious habitat restoration goals is increasing. In this study, we present the results of a one-year monitoring program in a rewilding project in Germany (Doeberitzer Heide), where Eu...
Land-use change from natural to managed agricultural ecosystems significantly impacts soil bacterial diversity and function. The Eastern Free State (EFS) is one of the most productive agricultural regions in South Africa. However, no studies aiming t...
The amount of energy invested in sexual reproduction by scleractinian corals depends on their life history strategies (i.e., allocation of energy between growth, reproduction, and maintenance). However, energy allocated to reproduction will also be a...
The Paradise Parrot, Psephotellus pulcherrimus, was a charismatic Australian bird that became extinct around 1928. While many extrinsic factors have been proposed to explain its disappearance, it remains unclear as to what extent genetic erosion migh...
Lichens have important ecological functions in black pine forests, such as nitrogen fixation and nutrient cycling. Understanding lichen diversity could provide a better understanding of black pine ecosystems. The aim of this study was to identify the...
Southern bull kelps (Durvillaea spp., Fucales) are ‘primary’ foundation species that control community structures and ecosystem functions on temperate wave-exposed rocky reefs. However, these large foundation species are threatened by dis...
Coral communities display spatial patterns. These patterns can manifest along a coastline as well as across the continental shelf due to ecological interactions and environmental gradients. Several abiotic surrogates for environmental variables are h...
Urban environments are densely populated areas buzzing with a wide range of anthropic activities that cause disturbances like air pollution or the heat island effect, threatening both human and environmental health. Mitigating its impacts implies und...
This paper provides an overview of bioclimatic models applied to lichen species, supporting their potential use in this context as indicators of climate change risk. First, it provides a brief summary of climate change risk, pointing to the relevance...
Transitional areas between two or more different biomes—ecotones—are clearly visible due to the sudden changes in vegetation structures and patterns. However, much is still unknown about the crucial soil factors that control such vegetati...
Nematodes are ideal biological indicators to monitor soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. For this reason, they have been receiving increasing attention from a broad range of scientists. The main method to characterize soil nematode communiti...
Epiphytic richness is continuously declining due to forest fragmentation, logging, burning, agriculture, and livestock. The rate of species loss caused by habitat degradation and loss is more pronounced in Central and South America. Considering the e...
Chondrichthyes (sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras) are among the oldest extant predators and are vital to top-down regulation of oceanic ecosystems. They are an ecologically diverse group occupying a wide range of habitats and are thus, exploited by...
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an increasingly used non-invasive molecular tool for detecting species presence and monitoring populations. In this article, we review the current state of non-avian reptile eDNA work in aquatic systems, and present a fiel...
Climate change and the overall increase of seawater temperature are causing a poleward shift in species distribution, which includes a phenomenon described as the tropicalization of temperate regions. This work aims to report the first records of fou...
