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A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 9557

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Prof. Dr. Michael Wink

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Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 329, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Interests: phytochemistry; molecular pharmacology of medicinal and toxic plants; alkaloids; evolution; chemical ecology; ornithology; phylogeny and evolution
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Dear Colleagues,

We wish to express our gratitude for all the support provided by our Editorial Board Members last year. The journal has made great progress as a result.

Last year we launched the 2024 Editor’s Special Issue and received many good submissions from our editors. This Special Issue attracted more than 50000 readers. You can read these publications at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity/special_issues/42T72472OP.

We have now launched the 2025 Editor Special issue titled “2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members” and hope to receive excellent submissions again this year. This Special Issue will publish high-quality papers written by the Editorial Board Members of Diversity, or those recommended and invited by the Editorial Board Members and the Editor-in-Chief, in open access format. Authors can submit their manuscripts through the Manuscript Tracking System at https://susy.mdpi.com/user/manuscripts/upload?journal=diversity.

Research topics are mainly focused on biodiversity conservation, molecular evolution and ecology, marine species, plant diversity, and animal diversity.

We hope that scholars from all over the world will publish high-quality papers based on their recent research in this Special issue.

Prof. Dr. Michael Wink
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

biodiversity conservation
plant diversity
animal population and involution
ecology

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Related Special Issue

2024 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members in Diversity (40 articles)

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

44 pages, 9263 KB

Open AccessArticle

Molecular Phylogeny of the Deep-Sea Predatory Octacnemidae (Ascidiacea, Tunicata, Chordata), with Seven New Species

by Peter Mandre and Greg W. Rouse

Diversity 2025, 17(12), 859; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17120859 - 15 Dec 2025

Viewed by 304

Abstract

Octacnemid ascidians inhabit the deep-sea and have evolved traits that facilitate the consumption of large prey (macrophagy). The deep ocean is difficult to sample, but with the combined efforts of several research cruises, supplemented by submersibles, a series of octacnemid specimens were acquired and appropriately subsampled for molecular and morphological analyses. Ascidian molecular phylogenies to date have included only a single species from the family Megalodicopia hians. This study presents the first molecular phylogenetic analyses within Octacnemidae, with 13 species represented, as well as attempts to resolve its position within Phlebobranchia. Previous phylogenies suggested a sister-group relationship between Octacnemidae and Corellidae. Our results further support their close relationship, though they were found to be non-monophyletic. One new genus and seven new species of Octacnemidae are formally described here, supported by molecular and morphological evidence. The new species are from deep sea, off California, Chile, and Western Australia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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16 pages, 11457 KB

Open AccessArticle

Web-Based Photography Documents the Evening Grosbeak’s (Hesperiphona vespertina) Highly Diverse Diet

by William M. Kirsch, Caleb T. Centanni, Matthew A. Young, Jack Hobe, Colton R. Veltkamp and W. Douglas Robinson

Diversity 2025, 17(12), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17120837 - 4 Dec 2025

Viewed by 418

Abstract

Community-sourced biodiversity imagery has expanded rapidly in the past decade, facilitating analyses of ecology on unprecedented spatial scales. Proliferation of these databases has also helped to reveal understudied or previously overlooked aspects of many species’ basic biology. The Evening Grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina) is considered to be a species of conservation concern, and many aspects of its diet have yet to be investigated, including how its diet varies seasonally and across its large North American range. The Evening Grosbeak’s striking plumage, frequent occurrences at bird feeders, and nomadic behavior all make them popular targets of bird photographers and a prime species for study using large community-sourced archives. We reviewed more than 50,000 photographs of Evening Grosbeaks archived in the Macaulay Library, a large public database, to gain a more detailed understanding of the diet of this species. While most Evening Grosbeak images found in the Macaulay Library depicted birds foraging at bird feeders, 1075 images were found to be of birds consuming natural (non-feeder) food items. We mapped the location of these natural dietary items to four distinct regions within the Evening Grosbeak’s geographical range and found a diet consisting of at least 96 species of plants from 25 families, 1 species of insect, and 2 species of lichen from 1 family. Despite the high diversity of dietary items we identified, richness estimators suggest even greater diversity of dietary foods exists, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Using these data and published literature on the Evening Grosbeak’s diet, we discuss the characteristics of preferred Evening Grosbeak dietary items, as well as the advantages and limitations of using community-science data for such analyses. To our knowledge, this is the first range-wide, descriptive study of a songbird species’ diet using photographs made publicly available in a community-sourced archive. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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19 pages, 3250 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Enigmatic Hadal Ophiuroid Has Found Its Place: A New Family Abyssuridae Links Ultra-Abyssal and Shallow-Water Fauna

by Alexander Martynov and Tatiana Korshunova

Diversity 2025, 17(12), 827; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17120827 - 28 Nov 2025

Viewed by 314

Abstract

Severely understudied and poorly known ultra-abyssal (hadal) brittle-stars of the genus Abyssura were collected during a recent expedition to the Japan Trench at depths between 6183 and 6539 m and were examined for the first time for both their molecular and detailed morphological data. To date, family-level assignment of the genus Abyssura remains a complete enigma, despite a recent major reorganization of ophiuroid classification. In this study, we infer an all-family level phylogeny of the class Ophiuroidea and find phylogenetic placement for Abyssura, which turns out to be a sister taxon of another little-known ophiuroid genus, Ophiambix, found in hot-vent and cold-seep environments in association with sunken wood at depths between 146 and 5315 m. The sister relationship between the hadal genus Abyssura and the shallow-water-to-abyssal genus Ophiambix is robustly supported by our molecular data, and both external and micromorphological data for these genera are highly consistent. No similar taxa have been found in any of the currently recognized 34 ophiuroid families. Therefore, the genera Abyssura and Ophiambix are assigned to the new family, Abyssuridae fam. nov. This new family shows features of paedomorphic reduction and elucidates the linkage between fauna from both the shallower and the deepest parts of the world’s oceans and provides new insights into the global bathymetric, biogeographic, and diversity patterns of organisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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11 pages, 1081 KB

Open AccessArticle

Large Parasites in a Crowded Space: Variation in Prevalence and Volumetric Effects of Sarcotaces arcticus (Collett, 1874) in Two Host Rockfish (Sebastes spp.) Species

by Raquel Wilson, Samantha A. Tilden, Catherine C. Snyder and Mark C. Belk

Diversity 2025, 17(10), 688; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17100688 - 30 Sep 2025

Viewed by 411

Abstract

Sarcotaces arcticus (Collett, 1874) is a relatively large, internal parasitic copepod that infects many marine fishes. Although its large size suggests it may have a negative effect on host reproduction by reducing space available in the abdominal cavity (i.e., volumetric effect), such quantitative aspects of host-parasite relationships for S. arcticus have never been documented. We compared the prevalence and the ratio of live to dead parasites among sizes and sexes of two species of rockfish hosts (Sebastes ciliatus, Tilesius, 1813, dark rockfish; and Sebastes variabilis, Pallas, 1814, dusky rockfish) and quantified the reduction of internal space available in infected hosts. Samples were collected in southeast Alaskan waters where the two host rockfish species coexist in sympatry. Both total prevalence and prevalence of live S. arcticus were significantly higher in S. variabilis compared to S. ciliatus, because of higher prevalence in female S. variabilis. The relationship between body cavity volume, volume available for reproduction, and total length was isometric for both host species combined. An average live S. arcticus with a volume of 8.1 milliliters occupied about 45% in smaller hosts and about 5% in larger hosts of the volume available for reproductive organs. The high prevalence and large size of this parasite could significantly reduce fecundity and fitness of rockfish hosts through reductions in internal volume available for reproduction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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59 pages, 16205 KB

Open AccessArticle

Taxonomic Revision of Pasiphaea (Pasiphaeidae: Crustacea) of the Southwest Tropical Pacific with a Description of Eight New Species

by Anton M. Tikhomirov, Dmitrii N. Kulagin, Anastasiia A. Lunina, Elodie Vourey and Alexander L. Vereshchaka

Diversity 2025, 17(9), 656; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17090656 - 19 Sep 2025

Viewed by 1642

Abstract

The genus Pasiphaea Savigny, 1816, comprises a diverse assemblage of meso- to bathypelagic shrimps, currently including 69 valid species. Taxonomic investigations have long been hampered by numerous synonymies and by species known only from their original, overly brief descriptions. Here, we address these deficiencies by examining Pasiphaea specimens collected in the Western and Central Pacific during multiple research cruises using mid-water trawls. Integrating traditional morphological characters (carapace carination, pleonal relief, telson end morphology, and pereopodal dentition) with a novel morphometric framework, we standardized terminology and defined a suite of quantitative measurements across the carapace, pleon, telson, and chelae. In order to corroborate species boundaries, we sequenced three mitochondrial gene markers (COI, 16S rDNA, and 12S rDNA) and calculated genetic distances under the Kimura two-parameter model. This combined approach extended or confirmed the geographic ranges of five described taxa, facilitated the formal description of eight new species, and demonstrated the synonymy of P. gracilis Hayashi, 1999, and P. fragilis Hayashi, 1999. Phylogenetic reconstructions further highlighted cases of pseudocryptic speciation in neighboring bathyal habitats. Our results expose substantial lacunae in the Southwest Pacific Pasiphaea fauna and substantiate the necessity for a comprehensive, genus-level revision. This study thereby contributes to both refining species diagnoses and advancing our understanding of deep-sea crustacean biodiversity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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20 pages, 2426 KB

Open AccessArticle

Unravelling the Role of Predator Diversity in Shaping Plankton Dynamics: Evidence from a Mesocosm Study

by Robyn Shaylee Fabian and William Froneman

Diversity 2025, 17(9), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17090591 - 22 Aug 2025

Viewed by 791

Abstract

Predation plays a key organizational role in structuring plankton communities. However, predator diversity can lead to emergent effects in which the outcomes of predator–prey interactions are modified. The response of the plankton community to three different predator regimes at natural densities was investigated over a 10-day mesocosm experiment in a temperate, temporarily open/closed estuary in South Africa. The regimes included: (1) predation by the mysid, Mesopodopsis wooldridgei; (2) predation by larval Rhabdosargus holubi and (3) a combination of the two predators. M. wooldridgei are primarily copepod feeders, and juvenile R. holubi consume a broader diet including zooplankton, algae and invertebrate fauna. In the absence of predators, zooplankton grazing contributed to a significant decline in the phytoplankton size structure and total chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration. The presence of the predators contributed to a decline in the total zooplankton abundances and biomass which dampened the grazing impact of the zooplankton on the total Chl-a, consistent with the expectations of a trophic cascade. There were no significant differences in the size structure of the phytoplankton community, total Chl-a concentration and the total zooplankton abundances and biomass between the different predator treatments, suggesting that the increase in predator diversity did not contribute to increased prey risk. These findings highlight both the direct and indirect ecological impacts of predators on plankton dynamics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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17 pages, 8868 KB

Open AccessArticle

Dual Influence of Rainfall and Water Temperature on Phytoplankton Diversity and Nutrient Dynamics in a Mountainous Riverine Reservoir

by Qihang Zhao, Lian Hu, Xinyue Ren, Xiang Hu, Tianchi Sun, Jun Zuo, Peng Xiao, He Zhang, Rongzhen Zhang and Renhui Li

Diversity 2025, 17(8), 573; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17080573 - 15 Aug 2025

Viewed by 906

Abstract

The combined effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change, particularly the increasing frequency of extreme rainfall events, continue to pose significant threats to the security of reservoir ecosystems and water quality. Effective prediction and management of aquatic ecosystems require a comprehensive understanding of how environmental factors influence the dynamics of phytoplankton communities. However, the response patterns of phytoplankton community diversity, niche breadth, and cell density to rainfall disturbances in complex mountainous riverine reservoirs remain poorly understood. In this study, we systematically investigated the phytoplankton community structure and its environmental drivers in Zhaoshandu Reservoir (China) via field surveys, morphological identification of samples, and multivariate statistical analyses. Water temperature (WT), rainfall, and phytoplankton cell density in the study area ranged from 11.4 °C to 35.6 °C, from 0 to 72.5 mm, and from 3.33 × 10³ to 7.95 × 10⁷ cells/L, respectively. Total phosphorus and total nitrogen concentrations ranged from 0.002 to 0.633 mg/L and from 0.201 to 5.06 mg/L, respectively. Canonical correspondence analysis found that rainfall and WT were the pivotal drivers of phytoplankton density and biomass and were significantly correlated with phytoplankton diversity. Importantly, structural equation modeling revealed that the direct effects of both rainfall and WT on phytoplankton diversity and niche width, as well as the indirect effects of rainfall on ammonium nitrogen concentration, significantly modulated algal density and biomass in Zhaoshandu Reservoir. Our study highlights the role of rainfall as a potential major regulator of phytoplankton communities in this riverine reservoir. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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26 pages, 3278 KB

Open AccessArticle

Marine Highways and Barriers: A Case Study of Limacina helicina Phylogeography Across the Siberian Arctic Shelf Seas

by Galina A. Abyzova, Tatiana V. Neretina, Mikhail A. Nikitin, Anna O. Shapkina and Alexander L. Vereshchaka

Diversity 2025, 17(8), 522; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17080522 - 27 Jul 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1302

Abstract

The planktonic pteropod Limacina helicina is increasingly studied as a bioindicator of climate-driven changes in polar marine ecosystems. Although broadly distributed across the Arctic Basin and the North Pacific, its population structure and dispersal pathways remain poorly understood, especially in the Siberian Arctic. We analyzed mitochondrial COI sequences from populations sampled in the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and White Seas, as well as adjacent Pacific regions. Three major haplogroups (H1, H2, H3) were identified with distinct spatial patterns. H1 is widespread, occurring across the Pacific and most Arctic seas except the White Sea. H2 is confined to the western Arctic shelves (Barents–Kara–Laptev), and H3 is unique to the White Sea. We found a pronounced genetic discontinuity corresponding to hydrographic barriers, particularly the strong freshwater inflow from the Lena River, which restricts eastward dispersal of H2 from the Laptev to the East Siberian Sea. These patterns suggest postglacial expansions from geographically separated populations that survived the Last Glacial Maximum in isolated marine regions. The White Sea population is highly isolated and genetically distinct. Our results highlight how both glacial history and modern oceanography shape Arctic plankton diversity and define biogeographic boundaries in a rapidly changing climate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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30 pages, 2062 KB

Open AccessArticle

Building a DNA Reference for Madagascar’s Marine Fishes: Expanding the COI Barcode Library and Establishing the First 12S Dataset for eDNA Monitoring

by Jean Jubrice Anissa Volanandiana, Dominique Ponton, Eliot Ruiz, Andriamahazosoa Elisé Marcel Fiadanamiarinjato, Fabien Rieuvilleneuve, Daniel Raberinary, Adeline Collet, Faustinato Behivoke, Henitsoa Jaonalison, Sandra Ranaivomanana, Marc Leopold, Roddy Michel Randriatsara, Jovial Mbony, Jamal Mahafina, Aaron Hartmann, Gildas Todinanahary and Jean-Dominique Durand

Diversity 2025, 17(7), 495; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17070495 - 18 Jul 2025

Viewed by 2009

Abstract

Madagascar harbors a rich marine biodiversity, yet detailed knowledge of its fish species remains limited. Of the 1689 species listed in 2018, only 22% had accessible cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences in public databases. In response to growing pressure on fishery resources, this study aims to strengthen biodiversity monitoring tools. Its objectives were to enrich the COI database for Malagasy marine fishes, create the first 12S reference library, and evaluate the taxonomic resolution of different 12S metabarcodes for eDNA analysis, namely MiFish, Teleo1, AcMDB, Ac12S, and 12SF1/R1. An integrated approach combining morphological, molecular, and phylogenetic analyses was applied for specimen identification of fish captured using various types of fishing gear in Toliara and Ranobe Bays from 2018 to 2023. The Malagasy COI database now includes 2146 sequences grouped into 502 Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) from 82 families, with 14 BINs newly added to BOLD (The Barcode of Life Data Systems), and 133 cryptic species. The 12S library comprises 524 sequences representing 446 species from 78 families. Together, the genetic datasets cover 514 species from 84 families, with the most diverse being Labridae, Apogonidae, Gobiidae, Pomacentridae, and Carangidae. However, the two markers show variable taxonomic resolution: 67 species belonging to 35 families were represented solely in the COI dataset, while 10 species from nine families were identified exclusively in the 12S dataset. For 319 species with complete 12S gene sequences associated with COI BINs (Barcode Index Numbers), 12S primer sets were used to evaluate the taxonomic resolution of five 12S metabarcodes. The MiFish marker proved to be the most effective, with an optimal similarity threshold of 98.5%. This study represents a major step forward in documenting and monitoring Madagascar’s marine biodiversity and provides a valuable genetic reference for future environmental DNA (eDNA) applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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10 pages, 950 KB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Temperature on Allelopathic Interactions Between Copepods (Copepoda) and Rotifers (Rotifera)

by Ana Nayeli López-Rocha, S. S. S. Sarma and S. Nandini

Diversity 2025, 17(7), 455; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17070455 - 27 Jun 2025

Viewed by 596

Abstract

The role of abiotic factors in the allelopathic interactions between copepods and rotifers is poorly documented. Temperature has a marked effect on the metabolism of zooplankton. Therefore, the release of allelochemicals by copepods and the response of rotifers to them may change as temperatures increase. Here, we tested the effect of two temperatures (20 and 25 °C) on the population growth of Brachionus havanaensis cultured on a conditioned medium (CM) of Arctodiaptomus dorsalis and Eucyclops sp. The CM was obtained daily, separately, for the males and females of both copepod species at a density of 0.1 ind. mL⁻¹ for 24 h prior to experiments. In the controls and CM treatments, higher temperatures had a stimulatory effect on the population growth and the rate of population increase (r) of B. havanaensis. At 25 °C, the CM from the females and males of A. dorsalis caused >30% increase in r, but for the CM from Eucyclops sp., this effect was lower (<21%). At 20 °C, the r in the controls and CM treatments was not significantly different. The morphometry of B. havanaensis varied depending on the treatments. Compared to controls, longer loricae were recorded in the CM of male A. dorsalis at both temperatures. However, in the CM of female calanoids, longer rotifers were observed only at higher temperatures. At 20 °C, the CM from Eucyclops produced smaller loricae. The relationship between the lorica length and width of rotifers showed a linear relation but the slope differed among the treatments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2025 Feature Papers by Diversity’s Editorial Board Members)

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