Diversity, Volume 12, Issue 2

Comprehensive biodiversity assessment of moths in Nigeria rely greatly on accurate species identification. While most of the Nigerian moths are identified effortlessly using their morphological traits, some taxa are morphologically indistinguishable,...

Wind energy siting to minimize impacts to bats would benefit from impact predictions following pre-construction surveys, but whether pre- or even post-construction activity patterns can predict fatalities remains unknown. We tested whether bat passag...

Johnston Atoll is isolated in the Central Pacific Ocean (16°45′ N 169°31′ W) about 1287 km (800 miles) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii and 1440 km (900 miles) north of the equatorial Line Islands, Kiribati. The labrid species, Thala...

The flora and vegetation of the archipelago of Cabo Verde is dominated by Macaronesian, Mediterranean, and particularly by African tropical elements, resulting from its southernmost location, when compared to the other islands of the Macaronesia (i.e...

Assessing spider diversity remains a great challenge, especially in tropical habitats where dozens of species can locally co-occur. Pitfall trapping is one of the most widely used techniques to collect spiders, but it suffers from several biases, and...

Species invasions are changing aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Submerged aquatic macrophytes control lake ecosystem processes through their direct and indirect interactions with other primary producers, but how these interactions may be altered by macr...

Continued declines in North American bat populations can be largely attributed to habitat loss, disease, and wind turbines. These declines can be partially mitigated through actions that boost reproductive success; therefore, management aimed at prom...

This special issue points to the necessity to continue actively working on biological invasions, as invasive species remain a main and global threat for biodiversity through a global homogenization process. This issue includes six research papers, co...

Some plant species possess structures known as leaf domatia, which house mites. The association between domatia-bearing plants and mites has been proposed to be mutualistic, and has been found to be important in species of economic value, such as gra...

Green fluorescence is a common phenomenon in marine invertebrates and is caused by green fluorescent proteins. Many hydrozoan species display fluorescence in their polyps and/or medusa stages, and in a few cases patterns of green fluorescence have be...

The world’s largest rhodolith beds have been reported from the Brazilian continental shelf. Highly biodiverse beds are located in Southeast Brazil, but ecological aspects of these beds remain unknown. Despite their ecological importance, rhodolith be...

Of the 345 million people in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), 30.6% are severely food insecure, 8% malnourished and 50% live with less than US $1 per day, respectively. Livelihood, food and nutrition security have, therefore, become...

Understanding the capacity of estuarine organisms to acclimate to stressful conditions provides insights into how communities cope within fluctuating environments. The opportunistic spionid polychaete, Streblospio gynobranchiata Rice and Levin, 1998,...

Priority effects can be used to promote target species during restoration. Early planting can provide an advantage over later-arriving species, increasing abundance of these early-arrivers in restored communities. However, we have limited knowledge o...

Human activities like urbanization and agriculture affect spatial biodiversity patterns. The presence and activities of humans richly benefit alien species, but native species usually decline in human-impacted areas. Considering that the richness of...

The change in the distribution range is a common response of various species facing the effects of anthropogenic global change. We used new distribution records of birds reported during the last two decades from the Ecuadorian part of the Tumbesian r...

Vertical stratification is a key component of the biological complexity of rainforests. Understanding community- and species-level responses to disturbance across forest strata is paramount for evidence-based conservation and management. However, eve...

The integration of state-of-the-art molecular techniques and analyses, together with a broad taxonomic sampling, can provide new insights into bird interrelationships and divergence. Despite their evolutionary significance, the relationships among se...

Venomous snakes are among the main sources of mortality for humans in rural regions, especially in tropical countries. In this study, a meta-analysis of quantitative community ecology studies on snake assemblages throughout the world was conducted in...

Pig genetic resources in Africa originate from different regions and were introduced through several migration pathways. Genetic analysis has shown a strong phylogeographic pattern, with pigs on the eastern parts showing a high frequency of alleles f...

Two-hundred and twenty-six old avocado trees (Persea americana Mill) derived from seeds were selected from eight districts of the Mbeya, Njombe and Songwe regions in Tanzania. The tree, leaf, fruit and seed characteristics were studied using the desc...

Increased salinity caused by saltwater intrusion or runoff from de-icing salts can severely affect freshwater vegetation and deteriorate aquatic ecosystems. These habitats can be restored with freshwater ecotypes (locally adapted populations) that to...

Three new marine tardigrade species from the deep-sea genus Coronarctus are described from the South-Western Atlantic Ocean: Coronarctus dissimilis sp. nov., C. neptunus sp. nov., and C. yurupari sp. nov. These, and C. laubieri Renaud-Mornant, 1987,...

Populations of Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis) are declining in Canada’s Atlantic Northern Forest. Land conservancies and government agencies are interested in identifying areas to protect populations, while some timber companies wish to...

Biosphere reserves, designated under The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Man and Biosphere Programme, aim to sustainably integrate protected areas into the biological and economic landscape around them...

Encystment in tardigrades is relatively poorly understood. It is seen as an adaptive strategy evolved to withstand unfavorable environmental conditions. This process is an example of the epigenetic, phenotypic plasticity which is closely linked to th...

The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a medium-sized carnivore distributed throughout Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Turkmenistan, and India. However, available information on its ecology is very scarce. We studied its feeding ecology in t...

Increased attention is being paid to the ecological drivers and conservation measures which could mitigate climate change-induced pressures for species survival, potentially helping populations to remain in their present-day locations longer. One imp...

Soil microorganisms are critical factors of plant productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Coptis chinensis Franch is one of the most important medicinal plants in China. Soil types and cropping systems influence the diversity and composition of the r...

One of the main aims of the University of Pavia mycology laboratory was to collect wood decay fungal (WDF) strains in order to deepen taxonomic studies, species distribution, officinal properties or to investigate potential applications such as bioco...

Endophytic bacteria are relevant symbionts that contribute to plant growth and development. However, the diversity of bacteria associated with the roots of terrestrial orchids colonizing Andean ecosystems is limited. This study identifies and examine...

Invasive species are a growing threat to conservation in marine ecosystems, yet we lack a predictive understanding of ecological factors that influence the invasiveness of exotic marine species. We used surveys and manipulative experiments to investi...

Seasonal hypoxia (≤2 mg dissolved oxygen L⁻¹) can have detrimental effects on marine food webs. Recent studies indicate that some jellyfish can tolerate low oxygen and may have a competitive advantage over other zooplankton and fishes in tho...

Severe and persistent bottom-water hypoxia (≤2 mg O₂ L⁻¹) occurs on the Louisiana/Texas continental shelf from mid-May through mid-September over a large area (up to 23,000 km² in mid-summer). Benthic infauna are less mobile than demersal or...

The validity of Genolopa Linton, 1910 has been controversial because the observation of presently recognized critical diagnostic morphological features (spines in the genital atrium and a bipartite, anteriorly spined terminal organ) were omitted from...

Studies of biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) have long focused on the role of nitrogen (N)-fixing legumes as a functional group that occupies a distinct and important niche relative to other plants. Because of their relationship with N-fixing...

As ephemeral, benthic, secondary consumers usually associated with sessile coral reef organisms, marine heterobranchs are good indicators of the health of marine tropical habitats. Thus, marine Heterobranchia have recently become a major target for m...

Mangrove forests are ecologically and economically valuable resources composed of trees morphologically and physiologically adapted to thrive across a range of habitats. Although, mangrove trees have high dispersion capacity, complexity of hydrologic...

We describe a partial skeleton of a stem group penguin from the Waipara Greensand in New Zealand, which is tentatively assigned to Muriwaimanu tuatahi. The fossil includes the first complete wing of a Paleocene penguin and informs on previously unkno...

The concept of generic diversity expresses the ‘diversification’ of species into genera in a community. Since niche overlap is assumed to be higher in congeneric species, competition should increase generic diversity. On the other hand, g...

The ectomycorrhizal fungus Tuber magnatum produces the white truffle appreciated worldwide for its unique aroma. With respect to other Tuber spp. of economic interest, T. magnatum presents a narrower geographical range. This species has, in fact, lon...

The extinction of ecological functions is increasingly considered a major component of biodiversity loss, given its pervasive effects on ecosystems, and it may precede the disappearance of the species engaged. Dispersal of many large-fruited (>4 c...

Captive-bred organisms are widely used in ecology, evolution and conservation research, especially in scenarios where natural populations are scarce or at risk of extinction. Yet, it is still unclear whether captivity may alter thermal tolerances, cr...

In the last decade, Botryosphaeria dothidea has been steadily reported as an associate of gall midges (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) in a variety of host plants and ecological settings. This cosmopolitan fungus is well-known for its ability to colonize man...

The family Turbanellidae includes Paraturbanella and five other genera. Despite the fact that the monophyly of these genera were not satisfactorily tested, species belonging to the genus Paraturbanella are distinguished from turbanellids by sharing a...