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The very specific environment of peat bogs determines their highly specialized biota, including subarctic and boreal species. Nowadays we can observe habitat loss due to human activities for many cold adapted species in the temperate zone of Europe. Therefore, there is an urgent need to study the consequences of different levels of degradation of peatland biodiversity. We have investigated the effects of small ditches on habitat conditions for ground beetle and butterfly assemblages as compared to intact habitats in large peat bogs. In the sites along small ditches, the humidity is slightly higher than in natural sites, the sphagnum carpet and many specialized plant species are preserved. However, the plant cover was lower. Using pitfall trapping and standardized transect walks we have found that mean species richness and abundance were higher in intact habitats than in degraded sites. We found significant variation in species composition between habitat types for two studied taxonomic groups. Generalized linear mixed-effects models showed that vegetation cover structure was the main determinants of ground beetle and butterfly habitat quality in the studied peat bog sites. Implications for insect conservation: This study suggests that even moderate degradation of peat bogs caused a decrease in abundance and species richness in two taxa with rather different environmental preferences such as carabids and butterflies. These findings are important for understanding the small-scale impact on animal communities in degraded peatlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The skin fungal communities of animals play a crucial role in maintaining host health and defending against pathogens. Because fungal infections can affect the skin microbiota of bats, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of healthy bat skin fungal communities and the ecological processes driving them provides valuable insights into the interactions between pathogens and fungi. Methods: We used Kruskal-Wallis tests and Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA) to clarify differences in skin fungal community structure among bat species. A Generalized Linear Model (GLM) based on a quasi-Poisson distribution and partial distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) was performed to assess the influence of variables on skin fungal communities. Using community construction models to explore the ecological processes driving fungal community changes, t-tests and Wilcoxon tests were used to compare the alpha diversity and species abundance differences between the fungal structure on bat species' skin and the environmental fungal pool. Results: We found significant differences in the composition and diversity of skin fungal communities among bat species influenced by temperature, sampling site, and body mass index. Trophic modes and skin fungal community complexity also varied among bat species. Null model and neutral model analysis demonstrated that deterministic processes dominated the assembly of skin fungal communities, with homogeneous selection as the predominant process. Skin fungal communities on bat species were impacted by the environmental fungal reservoir, and actively selected certain amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) from the environmental reservoir to adhere to the skin. Conclusion: In this study, we revealed the structure and the ecological process driving the skin fungal community across bat species in northern China. Overall, these results broaden our knowledge of skin fungal communities among bat species, which may be beneficial to potential strategies for the protection of bats in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of habitats associated with the emergence of C4 grasslands during the Neogene had a massive influence on the evolution of plant and animal communities. Strikingly, the impacts of grassland expansion on species diversification in Africa, where the largest surface of grasslands and savannas in the world is located, are not well understood. To explore the impact of habitat opening, we investigate the evolution of noctuid stemborers, a group of moths mostly associated with open habitats, and whose diversity is centered in the Afrotropics. We generate a dated molecular phylogeny for ca 80% of the known stemborer species, and assess the role of habitat opening on the evolutionary trajectory of the group through a combination of parametric historical biogeography, ancestral character state estimation, life history traits and habitat‐dependent diversification analyses. Our results support an origin of stemborers in Southern and East Africa ca 20 million years ago (Ma), with range expansions linked to the increased availability of open habitats to act as dispersal corridors, and closed habitats acting as potent barriers to dispersal. Early specialization on open habitats was maintained over time, with shifts towards closed habitats being rare and invariably unidirectional. Analyses of life history traits showed that habitat changes involved specific features likely associated with grassland adaptations, such as variations in larval behavior and color. We compare these findings to those previously inferred for an Afrotropical butterfly group that diversified roughly in parallel with the stemborers but distributed predominantly in closed habitats. Remarkably, these two groups show nearly opposite responses in relation to habitat specialization, whether in terms of biogeographical patterns, or in terms of rates of transition between open and closed habitats. We conclude that habitat opening played a major role in the evolutionary history of Afrotropical lineages through dispersal and adaptation linked to habitat shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: A challenge in grassland conservation is to maintain both the openness and the heterogeneity of the habitat to support the diversity of their animal communities, including birds—a taxon that is known to be sensitive to disturbance. An increasingly used management tool in European grassland conservation, especially in rewilding projects, is grazing by large herbivores such as horses and cattle. These grazers are believed to create and maintain patchy landscapes that promote diversity and richness of other species, but their influence on birds is often debated by conservationists, who raise concerns about the impact of disturbance by the grazers. Objectives: Our aim was to examine the relationship between the abundance and species richness of birds across four foraging guilds and the area utilization patterns of Highland cattle and Konik horses in an alluvial grassland in France. We also aimed to examine the influence of land cover and season on the spatial distribution, including abundance and species richness, of different bird guilds present in the grazed area. Methods: We used GPS-collars on all grazers and recorded their positions on an hourly basis over a study period of 1.5 years, assessing patterns of area usage. We counted birds weekly along three transects to describe their distribution within the grazed area and carried out land-cover surveys to describe the habitat. To assess how species richness and abundance of birds of different guilds were related to grazer density, season, and habitat characteristics, we used GAMM models in a spatially explicit framework. We also compared bird numbers at our main study site with a nearby non-grazed control area. Results: The number of birds in the grazed area was about twice the number in the non-grazed control area. Within the grazed area, the abundance of open-area foraging birds increased with increasing grazer density. The number of woodland-foraging birds was also positively correlated with grazer density but less so than open-area foraging birds. The number of individuals in the aerial and wetland bird guilds was not correlated with the density of grazers. Most bird species and individuals were observed on open landscapes scattered with woody patches and waterbodies, and on areas with moderate grazer density. Conclusions: Low-intensity grazing represents a potentially important management tool in creating heterogeneity in alluvial grasslands, thereby promoting suitable habitat for a diverse assemblage of bird species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental perturbations over the late Quaternary were similar in magnitude and scope to those predicted under scenarios of anthropogenic climate shifts. Paleoecological records from this time frame, such as the midden record created by rodents in the Americas, have contextualized our understanding of biological responses to environmental change. Recent technological advances have expanded the scope of midden research to investigate eco-evolutionary hypotheses and the adaptive potential of ecological systems. However, ongoing human disturbances and climate change could jeopardize the preservation of middens and their surroundings for neoecological studies. Integrating paleoecology with modern experimental studies is essential for understanding the impacts of environmental change. Achieving this goal will require a community of midden researchers focused on collaborative, cross-cutting questions. Rodent middens provide a fine-scale spatiotemporal record of plant and animal communities over the late Quaternary. In the Americas, middens have offered insight into biotic responses to past environmental changes and historical factors influencing the distribution and diversity of species. However, few studies have used middens to investigate genetic or ecosystem level responses. Integrating midden studies with neoecology and experimental evolution can help address these gaps and test mechanisms underlying eco-evolutionary patterns across biological and spatiotemporal scales. Fully realizing the potential of middens to answer cross-cutting ecological and evolutionary questions and inform conservation goals in the Anthropocene will require a collaborative research community to exploit existing midden archives and mount new campaigns to leverage midden records globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Protozoa are the most abundant phagotrophic group in the biosphere and play an important ecological role in aquatic ecosystems. However, the effects of environmental stressors such as temperature changes, eutrophication, and pesticide pollution, on the protozoan communities in fresh waters remain poorly understood. The results of our study show that warming and eutrophication considerably promote an increase in protozoan biomass, and the combination of warming and pesticides can remarkably reduce the abundance, biomass and diversity of protozoa. Warming, eutrophication, and pesticide pollution affect protozoan diversity, community structure, and functional groups, either independently or interactively. To explore the impacts of multiple environmental stressors on animal communities in aquatic ecosystems, we selected protozoa—a highly sensitive group of organisms—to assess the effect of environmental change. To conduct this simulation we conducted a three-factor, outdoor, mesocosm experiment from March to November 2021. Changes in the community structure and functional group composition of protozoan communities under the separate and combined effects of these three environmental stressors were investigated by warming and the addition of nitrogen, phosphorus, and pesticides. The results were as follows: (1) Both eutrophication and pesticides had a considerable promotional effect on the abundance and biomass of protozoa; the effect of warming was not considerable. When warming was combined with eutrophication and pesticides, there was a synergistic effect and antagonistic effect, respectively. (2) Eutrophication promoted α diversity of protozoa and affected their species richness and dominant species composition; the combination of warming and pesticides remarkably reduced the α diversity of protozoa. (3) Warming, eutrophication, and pesticides were important factors affecting the functional groups of protozoa. Interaction among different environmental factors could complicate changes in the aquatic ecological environment and its protozoan communities. Indeed, in the context of climate change, it might be more difficult to predict future trends in the protozoan community. Therefore, our results provide a scientific basis for the protection and restoration of shallow lake ecosystems; they also offer valuable insights in predicting changes in shallow lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pterobranchs are rare in Cambrian strata of North America despite discoveries of more than 30 exceptionally preserved fossil biotas. Miaolingian pterobranchs from this continent typically form low‐diversity and low‐abundance assemblages. Here we describe an abundant pterobranch material from the Drumian Marjum Formation recently collected at the Gray Marjum Quarry in the House Range of Utah, USA. The faunule is composed of two new species: Sphenoecium marjumensis, an encrusting representative forming compact bushy colonies of more than 80 tubes with poorly developed rhizomes, and Tarnagraptus cupidus, an erect growing taxon characterized by intertwining stems and a monopodial colonial growth. Known in extant rhabdopleurids, this mode of colonial growth had hitherto never been observed in fossil pterobranchs. Its documentation in a c. 500‐myr‐old taxon attests to its deep origin in the evolutionary history of the group. Although the new species almost exclusively occur in the Marjum strata, this pterobranch faunule is broadly similar to those recovered from other Miaolingian Burgess Shale‐type deposits of North America in terms of genus‐level composition, species richness, and ecological structure. This may indicate that pterobranchs were poorly diverse components of animal communities at that time, or that they mostly thrived in more proximal shelf environments where conditions conducive to their preservation rarely developed. The common co‐occurrence of taxa with fundamentally different ecomorphotypes in the Miaolingian Series of North America strongly suggests an earlier phase of morphological diversification of benthic pterobranchs during the early Cambrian, which remains insufficiently documented by fossils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non‐native ants can cause ecosystem‐wide ecological change, and these changes are generally assumed to be negative. Despite this, the evidence base has never been holistically synthesised to quantify whether and to what degree non‐native ants impact native species diversity.In this study, we performed a meta‐analysis of the effects of ant invasion on animal communities. We extracted data from 46 published articles investigating abundance (156 effect sizes) and richness (53 effect sizes) responses of animal taxa to ant invasion in locations relatively unimpacted by other stressors (e.g. human disturbance, other non‐native species) to help isolate the effects of invasion.Overall, local animal diversity declined severely, with species abundance and richness lower by 42.79% and 53.56%, respectively, in areas with non‐native ants compared with intact uninvaded sites. We then combined responses of individual animal taxa extracted from an article into a single response to represent the 'community' abundance (40 effect sizes) or richness (28 effect sizes) response to non‐native ants represented in each article. Local communities decreased substantially in total abundance (52.67%) and species richness (53.47%) in invaded sites.These results highlight non‐native ants as the drivers, rather than passengers, of large net‐negative reductions to animal community diversity in relatively undisturbed systems around the world, approximately halving local species abundance and richness in invaded areas. Improved international prevention processes, early detection systems harnessing emerging technologies, and well‐designed control measures deployable by conservation practitioners are urgently needed if these effects are to be mitigated, prevented or reversed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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World natural heritage sites are some of the most important and valuable protected areas in the world, and their designation aims to give recognition to the uniqueness and protect the integrity of the sites, which are ofglobal outstanding universal value. Understanding the global uniqueness and value of natural heritage will help to better manage and protect them, support the functioning of ecosystems, and promote sustainable development of humans and nature. A systematic review was conducted to determine the potential for the Hainan tropical rainforest to become a world natural heritage site. Based on a large number of literatures,we took the native plants, animals and vegetation communities of Hainan's potential natural world heritage site(Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park)as the research objects, and evaluated the global outstanding universal value of Hainan's potential natural world heritage site from the aspects of biological ecological processes such as vegetation types, species diversity, fauna composition and endemic species. The results are as follows:(1)Hainan potential world natural heritage site has 3 653 vascular plant species. There are 540 species of terrestrial vertebrates, which account for 10%-30% of the wild animal species in the country. This indicates that biodiversity in this area is extremely high.(2)The flora found in the Hainan tropical rainforest is unique. Vegetation on Hainan Island can be categorized in the Indo-Malay rainforest group, and within the Malay region, and vegetation is tropical in nature and has a common origin with the South China mainland. This is indicative of the transition between the South China flora into the Asian rainforest.(3)The plant species specificity of flora is lower, there are only seven endemic genera in the flora, and about one out of every 10 species is endemic to the island. Lower specificity shows some characteristics of continental origin and the flora on the island are an irreplaceable element of biodiversity, and make up a valuable ecosystem. This study clarifies the outstanding universal values of the Hainan tropical rainforest and makes the case using empirical scientific evidence for nominating this area as a world natural heritage site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Protected areas are important in mitigating threats to biodiversity, including land conversion. Some of the largest protected areas are located in biodiverse savanna systems where a mosaic of land-uses exist beyond their borders. The protected areas located in such systems are often host to threatened species and diverse animal communities. In spite of the ecosystem services birds provide, we do not know how functionally and evolutionary diverse the community is in north-eastern South Africa, or what the drivers of such diversity are inside and outside one of the world's largest savanna protected areas: Kruger National Park (KNP). Objectives: Firstly, we aimed to investigate how bird species richness, functional richness, phylogenetic and beta diversity (including its components), and rarity differed across the KNP protected area and its adjacent mosaic. Secondly, we aimed to investigate the habitats and proximity to the KNP boundary that drove patterns across three biodiversity metrics. We also investigated whether differences in sample sizes of the citizen science data we employed, impacted results in a significant manner. Methods: To investigate our aims, we used bird species records from the Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2 (a citizen science project that collects data at a 5 min latitude by 5 min longitude resolution), and for elucidating drivers of community composition, we used a finer scale remotely sensed product. Results: Human infrastructure, water sources and tree cover were overall the most significant and strongest drivers of bird diversity in the region; however, the patterns were complex. Specifically, we found that species richness was strongly and positively influenced by seasonal water and infrastructure mostly inside the protected area (KNP). Most significantly and somewhat concerning, though, were the strong negative effects that infrastructure had on bird functional and phylogenetic diversity inside KNP and, to a lesser extent, inside the mosaic. Seasonal water had a similarly strong but positive effect on species richness in the protected area, a random sub-sample of the former and the mosaic. Tree cover also had a negative and significant effect across the region on phylogenetic diversity and was the strongest driver of this diversity metric. Conclusions: Our results displayed the significant but negative influence that relatively little infrastructure had on bird functional- and phylogenetic diversity inside the KNP protected area despite its positive effect on species richness. Water sources across the protected area-mosaic landscapes also significantly affected regional savanna bird community richness. An increase in tree cover negatively affected phylogenetic diversity inside and outside the protected area as well as the mosaic: a similar finding to other studies in South African savanna systems. We showed the importance of habitat heterogeneity, specifically its components such as infrastructure, freshwater systems and tree cover, and how these impact independently and differently on bird communities across a large biogeographical savanna region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing disconnect between children and nature has led to concerns around the loss of ecological knowledge and reduced nature connection. Understanding children's perceptions of nature is vital for engaging them with local wildlife and mitigating this growing disconnect. This study investigated children's perceptions of nature by analysing 401 drawings made by children (aged 7–11) of their local green spaces, collected from 12 different English schools, including state-funded and privately funded. We assessed which animal and plant groups were drawn the most and least often, quantified each drawing's species richness and community composition, and identified all terms used in the drawings to the highest taxonomic resolution possible. The most commonly drawn groups were mammals (80.5% of drawings) and birds (68.6% of drawings), while herpetofauna were the least commonly drawn (15.7% of drawings). Despite not explicitly being asked about plants, 91.3% of drawings contained a plant. Taxonomic resolution was highest for mammals and birds, with 90% of domestic mammals and 69.6% of garden birds identifiable to species, compared to 18.5% of insects and 14.3% of herpetofauna. No invertebrates other than insects were identifiable to species. Within plants, trees and crops were the most identifiable to species, at 52.6% and 25% of terms respectively. Drawings from state-school children had higher plant richness than those from private-school children. Animal community composition differed between school funding types, with more types of garden birds drawn by private-school than state-school children, and more types of invertebrates drawn by state-school than private-school children. Our findings indicate that children's perceptions of local wildlife are focused on mammals and birds. While plants feature prominently, plant knowledge is less specific than animal knowledge. We suggest that this skew in children's ecological awareness be addressed through better integration of ecology within national curricula and more funding for green space within schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Ecological theory has predicted that species richness should stabilize communities, with mechanisms including species synchrony and population variability determining the net impacts. While these theories have been supported empirically, results can be sensitive to taxonomic bias as studies are often focussed on plants. Trophic differences between consumers and primary producers can lead to varying stabilizing effects of species richness. Here, we compared the impact of species richness on community variability in four taxonomic groups: terrestrial birds, mammals, invertebrates and plants. Location: Global. Method: Using data from 6763 time series globally (BioTIME) for four terrestrial taxa, we quantified community and population variability and species synchrony based on abundance fluctuations over time. Results: Species richness destabilized communities through increasing synchrony and stabilized communities through reducing population variability in all taxa. Such opposing effects weakened the net impacts of species richness on communities. Population variability had higher importance relative to synchrony in plant communities. By contrast, synchrony had more comparable (or even higher) importance compared with population variability in animal communities. When synchrony and population variability were not controlled, stabilizing impacts of species richness were detected in plant communities only. Main Conclusions: Our results highlight how species richness drives stabilizing and destabilizing mechanisms simultaneously across all taxa, with strong taxonomic variation in the relative importance of these mechanisms in regulating community variability. This questions the generality of previous findings on stabilizing impacts of species richness based on limited taxonomic coverage. Additionally, our results indicate the need to understand how the importance of stabilizing and destabilizing mechanisms differs in determining community variability across organisms and environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alteration of environmental conditions has two major outcomes on the demographics of living organisms: population decline of the common species and extinction of the rarest ones. Halting the decline of abundant species as well as the erosion of biodiversity require solutions that may be mismatched, despite being rooted in similar causes. In this study, we demonstrate how rank abundance distribution (RAD) models are mathematical representations of a dominance-diversity dilemma. Across 4,375 animal communities from a range of taxonomic groups, we found that a reversed RAD model correctly predicts species richness, based solely on the relative dominance of the most abundant species in a community and the total number of individuals. Overall, predictions from this RAD model explained 69% of the variance in species richness, compared to 20% explained by simply regressing species richness on the relative dominance of the most abundant species. Using the reversed RAD model, we illustrate how species richness is co-limited by the total abundance of a community and the relative dominance of the most common species. Our results highlight an intrinsic trade-off between species richness and dominance that is present in the structure of RAD models and real-world animal community data. This dominance-diversity dilemma suggests that withdrawing individuals from abundant populations might contribute to the conservation of species richness. However, we posit that the positive effect of harvesting on biodiversity is often offset by exploitation practices with negative collateral consequences, such as habitat destruction or species bycatches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recovering biodiversity is a common goal of restoration, yet outcomes for animal communities are highly variable. A major reason for this variability may be that active restoration efforts typically target plant communities, with the assumption that animal communities will passively recover in turn. However, this assumption remains largely unvalidated experimentally making it unclear how plant‐focused restoration strategies influence animal communities. We evaluated how the diversity of seed mixes used to restore tallgrass prairies (a common plant‐focused technique) influenced the recovery of ant community diversity and composition. Our study took place within a large‐scale restoration experiment in southwest Michigan, where 12 former agricultural fields are being restored to tallgrass prairie by sowing seeds of prairie plant species native to our region. Half of each field was seeded with 12 prairie species and the other half with 72 prairie species. Sites restored with high diversity seed mixes increased plant species richness, but did not consistently influence ant richness or community composition. Instead, ant species richness and composition were related to an interaction between realized plant species richness (which was only partly structured by seeding treatments) and environmental structure. Specifically, ant richness increased more with higher realized plant richness when vegetation cover was lower and soil‐surface temperatures were higher. Our findings illustrate how plant and animal communities can respond differently to plant‐focused restoration efforts. Despite this, plant community restoration can structure animal community responses, in concert with environmental factors. Layering additional restoration strategies onto existing plant‐focused approaches may further benefit biodiversity across taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cormorant colonies are often viewed negatively by fishermen and foresters due to their extremely high impact on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In forests, the habitats of nesting territories are destroyed, with concomitant impacts on the animal communities. In 2011–2022, investigating three colonies of Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo), we aimed to test whether their effect on small mammals depends on colony size. In the largest colony in Lithuania, a low species richness, lower diversity and relative abundance, as well as poorer body conditions of the most abundant species was found in the nesting zone. However, once the cormorants left the nesting site, all the parameters recovered. Two small colonies had a positive impact, with higher species richness in the territory of the colony (seven and ten species), diversity (H = 1.56 and 1.49), and relative abundance (27.00 ± 2.32 and 25.29 ± 2.91 ind. per 100 trap days) compared with the control habitat (three and eight species; H = 1.65 and 0.99; 12.58 ± 1.54 and 8.29 ± 1.05 ind./100 trap-days). We conclude that up to a certain colony size, cormorant pressure is a driver of habitat succession and has similar effects on the small mammal community as other successions in disturbed habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Areas used for military training have a typical character of open sites with a varied mosaic of habitats and a significant representation of early successional stages. The diversity of habitats creates favorable conditions for species-rich plant and animal communities. This paper presents the results of a repeated inventory survey of Orthoptera species at 42 abandoned military sites in the Czech Republic conducted in 2008–2009 and 2021– 2022, respectively. In total, 61 species were recorded, representing 68 % of all Orthoptera species with recent occurrence in the Czech Republic. Seventeen of the identified species are listed in the recent Red List of Threatened Species of the Czech Republic. The most important records include Dociostaurus brevicollis, Montana montana, Ephippiger ephippiger, Chorthippus pullus, Aiolopus thalassinus, Acrida ungarica and Oedaleus decorus. The high species diversity of grasshoppers and bush-crickets with a significant proportion of endangered and rare species underscores the crucial importance of abandoned military sites for the conservation of this insect group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planned burning generates different types of pyrodiversity, however, experimental tests of how alternative spatial patterns of burning influence animal communities remain rare. Field tests are needed to understand the mechanisms through which spatial variation in planned fire affects fauna, and how fire can be applied to benefit biodiversity.We tested five hypotheses of how fire‐driven variation in habitat composition and configuration affects fauna at fine scales. Small mammal, reptile and invasive predator activity was monitored at 12 burnt and eight unburnt sites through the year following a large, planned burn in semi‐arid 'mallee' woodlands of southern Australia. We explored measures of burnt or unburnt habitat ('habitat status'); amount of unburnt vegetation ('habitat amount'); interspersion of burnt and unburnt patches ('habitat complementation'); distance to external or internal unburnt vegetation ('habitat connectivity'); and unburnt patch size and local vegetation cover ('habitat refuge'). Generalized linear models were used to test the influence of each variable on capture rates of three small mammal and 11 reptile species; activity of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes); and species richness of native animals.We found strong support for the habitat status hypothesis and moderate support for four hypotheses relating to spatial patterns of fire. Reptile assemblages varied between burnt and unburnt sites, and relationships were identified between abundance of one or more reptile species and each measure of spatial variation. Reptile species richness was higher at unburnt sites and at sites with more unburnt vegetation in the surrounding area. Sites that were less connected to unburnt vegetation had fewer reptile species. Mammals did not have clear relationships with fine‐scale fire patterns.Synthesis and applications. Application of planned fire to promote biodiversity is globally important. We show that retaining unburnt areas and well‐connected habitat refuges is important for reptile diversity. We also found that several species of small mammals and reptiles appear resilient to the fine‐scale patterns of planned fire experienced in this study, despite activity of introduced predators. The diversity of animals can remain relatively high in areas subject to planned fire, provided that internal and external habitat refuges are retained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Many plants rely on interactions with frugivores for dispersal, suggesting that animal communities may affect plant occupancy and diversity. However, the contribution of these interaction‐led biotic variables on plant diversity is poorly understood, especially in archipelagic hotspots such as the Caribbean. In island ecosystems, biogeographic theories suggest that island configurations drive colonization‐extinction dynamics, while macroecology argues for the importance of climatic drivers of biodiversity. Within this context, we examine how frugivore‐driven biotic factors are associated with fruiting plant species richness in relation to abiotic (climatic and geologic) and island configuration characteristics. Location: Caribbean archipelagos. Methods: We compiled a review of the diversity and distributions of 6039 plants and 326 vertebrate frugivores across 105 islands within the Caribbean. We then identified characteristics related to plant‐frugivore interactions and assigned each species as having either abiotic (wind, water, etc.) or zoochoric (frugivory‐dependent) dispersal syndromes. We related plant richness and dispersal syndromes to the regional diversity and characteristics of frugivorous animals, abiotic environments and island configuration characteristics through stepwise multivariate regression with generalized linear models and model selection. Results: We found that 44.6% of Caribbean plants are dispersed through frugivory (endozoochory). Frugivore‐related characteristics, namely accumulated body mass of island bird assemblages, were the best predictors of the diversity of seed dispersal syndromes. To a lesser degree, reptile richness and soil variety were also considered important predictors for zoochoric plant distribution, while island areas affected abiotically‐dispersed plants. Main conclusion: We found that biotic characteristics of frugivore communities are important predictors of plant diversity in the Caribbean archipelagos. However, this may also be influenced by climate and colonization history. Given the importance of biotic metrics in explaining plant diversity, we suggest that fruit‐frugivore interactions are important components of island biogeography and that frugivorous communities should be accounted for plant biodiversity predictions and forecast models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because DNA metabarcoding typically employs sequence diversity among mitochondrial amplicons to estimate species composition, nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (NUMTs) can inflate diversity. This study quantifies the incidence and attributes of NUMTs derived from the 658‐bp barcode region of cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) in 156 marine animal genomes. NUMTs were examined to ascertain if they could be recognized by their possession of indels or stop codons. In total, 309 NUMTs ≥150 bp were detected, with an average of 1.98 per species (range = 0–33) and a mean length of 391 ± 200 bp. Among this total, 75 (24.3%) lacked indels or stop codons. NUMTs appear to pose the greatest interpretational risk when short (<313 bp) amplicons are used, such as in environmental DNA studies, dietary analyses or processed fish identification. Employing the standard amplicon length (313 bp) for marine metabarcoding, NUMTs could potentially inflate the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) count by 21% above the true species count while also raising intraspecific variation at COI by 15%. However, when both amplicon length and position are considered, inflation in OTU counts and in barcode variation were just 9% and 10%, respectively, suggesting NUMTs will not seriously distort biodiversity assessments. There was a weak positive correlation between genome size and NUMT count but no variation among phyla or trophic groups. Until bioinformatic advances improve NUMT detection, the best defence involves targeting long amplicons and developing reference databases that include both mitochondrial sequences and their NUMT derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of animal communities along habitat gradients are useful in understanding the ecologicsl factors affecting species diversity and richness. Almost no investigations have been carried out on the community structure of vertebrate groups along habitat gradients modified by humans in historical or prehistoric times. Here, we analyze the community structures of lizards in suburban Lomé (Togo) and compare these with nearby savannah and forest sites using various statistical methods. We recorded a total of 25 lizard species in all sites. There was a heavy reduction in species richness from forest (18 taxa) to savannah (13) to suburbs (9); 24% of the species occurred in all habitat types, 40% solely in forest, and only two were found exclusively in suburban habitats. Suburban habitat types were relatively homogeneous in the number of observed species (maximum number of taxa per habitat = 6). There were significant interspecific differences in substratum type preferences and vertical spatial niche among species, but no evidence of nonrandom niche partitioning. There was a nonrandom "clustered" distribution of the various species along the available resource categories, indicating that species-specific preferences instead of community-driven mechanisms are more likely to explain the observed patterns. We conclude that lizard communities in tropical cities are (i) less species-rich than in the surrounding more natural habitats, (ii) usually clustered into specific habitat/substratum types (often artificial ones), and (iii) not assembled through competitive interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of urbanization on biodiversity had been studied mainly in northern hemisphere. Therefore, biodiversity analysis in tropical cities is urgently required for a full understanding of the how animal and plant communities react to urbanization. Parrots are iconic tropical birds and considered particularly vulnerable to urbanization impacts. Here we describe patterns of diversity and abundance of a parrot assemblage in Manaus, a major Amazonian city. We made standardized censuses of parrots in 12 Manaus neighborhoods, covering a wide range of environmental and socioeconomic profiles. The Manaus parrot assemblage (urban plus rural areas) is composed of 23 species, of which 14 were recorded in urbanized areas. Most species found in Manaus are associated with seasonally flooded vegetation. In contrast, species that needs large and continuous areas of upland forests appears to avoid urban environment. Parrot species richness and relative abundance were relatively stable across the year with only the two most frequent species increasing their abundances during dry season. Green area cover and monthly variation in rainfall did not affect parrot relative abundance. However, distinctive parrot assemblages with higher species richness were found in neighborhoods with high percentage of green cover. Manaus is a city with remarkable parrot diversity and this diversity is related to the availability of green areas. The adequate managing and protection of these green areas could be benefit for parrot conservation in Manaus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is a natural agent with a paramount role in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity maintenance. Still, it can also act as a negative force against many ecosystems. Despite some knowledge of the interactions of fire and vegetation, there is no clear understanding of how different components of fire regimes (i.e., severity, history, or frequency) influence known patterns of animal communities. Therefore, we performed a systematic review on the global responses of arthropods, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians to different fire regimes. Specifically, we focused on assessing how fire severity, history, and frequency modulate the effect of fire on the richness and abundance of faunal communities. We conducted a systematic review of 566 papers retrieved from the Scopus database. We also scrutinized all the documents included in the meta-analysis of Pastro et al. (Pastro et al. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 23:1146–1156, 2014). Our selection criteria excluded studies without data on species richness or abundance. We also excluded studies without adequate controls and those without information about the fire regime of the study zone. After careful examination, we used data from 162 studies to perform a quantitative meta-analysis. From the 162 studies meeting our selection criteria, nearly 60% of the studies are from North America, 25% from Australia, 11% from Europe, and 4% from the tropics. According to the ecological role of fire, 90% of the studies were carried out in fire-dependent ecosystems (i.e., conifer forests, natural savannas, pastures). Finally, 40% of the studies analyzed birds, 22% mammals, and 20% arthropods. The meta-analysis of the available evidence indicates that fire history is an important modulator of animal richness and abundance. Whether negative or positive, animal responses depended on the time since the last fire event. Considering that short-term studies may not capture such a long-term effect on fauna, this translates to more challenges at implementing fire management strategies. Whether or not we can anticipate the impact of the fire will then depend on future efforts to implement long-term research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The community dynamics of organisms that exhibit multi‐scale responses to habitat change are poorly understood. We quantified changes in species diversity and the functional composition of a waterbird community over two iterations of a repeated transition, the annual drying‐down of arid‐region Lake Ngami, Botswana. We used our data to test three theoretical predictions: simplification of the bird community over time due to a reduction in habitat area and concurrent niche loss; large fluctuations in densities of mobile, opportunistic species; and high variance in predator and prey abundance. Despite temporal variance in species accumulation, we observed no obvious simplification and distinct but consistent groupings of abundance and composition across transitional stages. There were some rapid shifts in functional composition, such as loss of deepwater foragers; winners and losers also occurred within foraging guilds. We conclude that understanding community‐level trends during transitional periods will require stronger theoretical frameworks that more effectively integrate unique species traits and functional groups. For conservation managers, our study offers a cautionary tale of the importance of understanding connectivity, trajectories of change, and the potential for large fluctuations in animal communities independent of management actions during periods of ecological transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring the multidimensional diversity properties of a community is of great importance for ecologists, conservationists and stakeholders. Diversity profiles, a plotted series of Hill numbers, simultaneously capture the common diversity indices. However, diversity metrics require information on species abundance, often relying on raw count data without accounting for imperfect and varying detection. Hierarchical occupancy models account for variation in detectability, and Hill numbers have been expanded to allow estimation based on occupancy probability. But the ability of occupancy‐based diversity profiles to reproduce patterns in abundance‐based diversity has not been investigated. Here, we fit community occupancy models to simulated animal communities to explore how well occupancy‐based diversity profiles reflect patterns in true abundance‐based diversity. Because we expect occupancy‐based diversity to be overestimated, we further tested a occupancy thresholding approach to reduce potential biases in the estimated diversity profiles. Finally, we use empirical bird community data to present how the framework can be extended to consider species similarity. The simulation study showed that occupancy‐based diversity profiles produced among‐community patterns in diversity similar to true abundance diversity profiles, although within‐community diversity was generally overestimated. Applying an occupancy threshold reduced positive bias, but resulted in negative bias in richness estimates and slightly reduced the ability to reproduce true differences among the simulated communities; thus, we do not recommend application of this threshold. Application of our approach to a large bird dataset indicated differential species diversity patterns in communities of different habitat types. Accounting for phylogenetic and ecological similarities between species reduced variability in diversity among habitats. Our framework allows investigating the complexity of diversity from species detection data, while accounting for imperfect and varying detection probabilities, as well as species similarities. Visualizing results in the form of diversity profiles facilitates comparison of diversity between sites or across time. The approach offers opportunities for further development, for example by using local abundances estimated using the Royle–Nichols or N‐mixture models and further exploration of thresholding methods. In spite of some challenges, occupancy‐based diversity profiles are useful for studying and monitoring patterns in biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial evidence now suggests that a positive diversity–stability relationship exists. Yet few studies examine the facets of biodiversity that contribute to this relationship, and empirical research is predominantly conducted on grassland communities under controlled conditions. We investigate the roles of species richness, environmental condition (vegetation cover), asynchrony, and weighted population stability in driving community stability across multiple taxa. We used data from a Long-term Ecological Research project to investigate temporal stability of annual plants, beetles, reptiles, and rodents in Nizzanim Coastal Sand Dune Nature Reserve in Israel. All four taxa had a strong positive relationship between asynchrony and community stability. Only rodents showed a positive richness–stability relationship. Perennial plant cover had a significant relationship with community stability for three taxa, but the direction of the correlation varied. Asynchrony had a stronger relationship with perennial plant cover than it did with richness for both plants and beetles. We suggest that community stability is driven by asynchrony for flora as well as fauna. Stability appears to be determined by species' interactions and their responses to the environment, and not always by diversity. This has important consequences for understanding the effects of environmental degradation on ecosystem stability and productivity, which have destabilizing consequences beyond biodiversity loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As local and global disturbances reshape African savannas, an understanding of how animal communities recover and respond to landscape features can inform conservation and restoration. Here, we explored the spatial ecology of a wildlife community in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, where conservation efforts have fostered the recovery of large mammal populations after their near‐extirpation during Mozambique's civil war. We deployed a grid of 60 camera traps and used a hierarchical, multi‐species occupancy modeling approach to examine patterns of occupancy and its environmental and anthropogenic correlates for different functional groups and species. Our survey provides strong evidence that wildlife in Gorongosa is recovering. Throughout the study area, modeled species richness was comparable to richness in less‐disturbed savanna systems in Tanzania and Botswana, and exceeded estimates of richness from a mixed‐use landscape outside the park and from postwar (1997–2002) aerial surveys. However, the mammal community in Gorongosa differs from prewar conditions and from those of more intact systems, with few large carnivores, low occupancy probabilities for large ungulate species that were dominant prior to the war, and high occupancy for other ungulates that are now ubiquitous. Associations with tree cover varied among species and guilds. Contrary to our expectation, there was no effect of lake proximity on community and group‐level occupancy, and previously dominant floodplain ungulate species now occupy more wooded areas. Mammals were more likely to occupy areas that burned frequently, as post‐fire vegetation regrowth provides high‐quality forage, highlighting the importance of Gorongosa's fire regime. Occupancy was lower in areas with more illegal hunting, and higher closer to roads, potentially because roads were established in areas of high wildlife density and facilitate animal movement. Continued multi‐species monitoring in Gorongosa can shed light on the different recovery trajectories of ungulate species and the consequences of ongoing large carnivore restoration, guiding conservation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A colonization model provides a useful basis to investigate a role of interspecific competition in species diversity. The model formulates colonization processes of propagules competing for spatially distinct habitats, which is known to result in stable coexistence of multiple species under various trade‐off, for example, competition–colonization and fecundity–mortality trade‐offs. Based on this model, we propose a new theory to explain patterns of species abundance, assuming a trade‐off between competitive ability and fecundity among species. This model makes testable predictions about species positions in the rank abundance diagram under a discrete species competitiveness. The predictions were tested by three data of animal communities, which supported our model, suggesting the importance of interspecific competition in community structure. Our approach provides a new insight into understanding a mechanism of species diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Received 18 May 2020, accepted 9 September 2020 Complex environments often have diverse animal communities. The structural complexity of plants has been directly and indirectly responsible for the abundance and diversity of spiders, allowing the establishment of different types of webs and influencing prey availability. Piptadenia gonoacantha and Croton floribundus trees are native species of the Atlantic Forest and have trunks with different structural complexities. The structural characteristics of the former vary according to the stem diameter, while the latter has a relatively simple trunk. This variation makes these plant species a good natural model for natural experiments designed to study how the structural components of trunks can affect the arthropod community, especially spiders. For this purpose, we sampled 30 trees of each species to determine their structural complexity and the abundance and richness of associated spiders. We classified the trees by level of complexity based on the abundance of their structural categories. As expected, the structural complexity of tree trunks explained almost 50% of the variation in species richness and abundance of spiders. Spider diversity, evaluated by the Shannon-Wiever index, was higher in trunks of P. gonoacantha included in the groups of higher complexity. This pattern however, was not observed in relatively simpler trunks of C. floribundus. On the other hand, the species-area relationship pattern was not supported by our data as we observed a nonlinear relationship between trunk surfaces and species richness. Differences in spider richness in the trunks appeared to be caused mainly by their specific microhabitat demands, which differed between groups according to their complexity. For some spiders, the overall trunk structure may play an essential role in the establishment of individuals. For others, specific structures such as loose bark or branches may be essential variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal scale in animal communities is often associated with seasonality, despite the large variation in species activity during a diel cycle. A gap thus remains in understanding the dynamics of short‐term activity in animal communities.Here we assessed calling activity of tropical anurans and addressed how species composition varied during night activity in assemblages along gradients of local and landscape environmental heterogeneity.We investigated 39 anuran assemblages in the Pantanal wetlands (Brazil) with passive acoustic monitoring during the peak of one breeding season, and first determined changes in species composition between night periods (early, mid and late) using two temporal resolutions (1‐ and 3‐hr intervals). Then, we addressed the role of habitat structure (local and landscape heterogeneity variables from field‐based and remote sensing metrics) and ecological context (species richness and phylogenetic relatedness) in determining changes in species composition (a) between night periods and (b) across days.Nocturnal calling activity of anuran assemblages varied more within the 1‐hr resolution than the 3‐hr resolution. Differences in species composition between early‐ and late‐night periods were related to local habitat structure and phylogenetic relatedness, while a low variation in compositional changes across days was associated with low‐heterogeneous landscapes. None of these relationships were observed using the coarser temporal resolution (3 hr).Our findings on the variation of calling activity in tropical anuran assemblages suggest potential trade‐offs mediated by fine‐temporal partitioning. Local and landscape heterogeneity may provide conditions for spatial partitioning, while the relatedness among co‐signalling species provides cues on the ecological overlap of species with similar requirements. These relationships suggest a role of niche dimensional complementarity on the structuring of these anuran assemblages over fine‐temporal scales. We argue that fine‐temporal differences between species in breeding activity can influence the outcome of species interaction and thus, addressing temporal scaling issues can improve our understanding of the dynamics of animal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant and animal community composition changes at higher elevations on mountains. Plant and animal species richness generally declines with elevation, but the shape of the relationship differs between taxa. There are several proposed mechanisms, including the productivity hypotheses; that declines in available plant biomass confers fewer resources to consumers, thus supporting fewer species. We investigated resource availability as we ascended three aspects of Helvellyn mountain, UK, measuring several plant nutritive metrics, plant species richness and biomass. We observed a linear decline in plant species richness as we ascended the mountain but there was a unimodal relationship between plant biomass and elevation. Generally, the highest biomass values at mid-elevations were associated with the lowest nutritive values, except mineral contents which declined with elevation. Intra-specific and inter-specific increases in nutritive values nearer the top and bottom of the mountain indicated that physiological, phenological and compositional mechanisms may have played a role. The shape of the relationship between resource availability and elevation was different depending on the metric. Many consumers actively select or avoid plants based on their nutritive values and the abundances of consumer taxa vary in their relationships with elevation. Consideration of multiple nutritive metrics and of the nutritional requirements of the consumer may provide a greater understanding of changes to plant and animal communities at higher elevations. We propose a novel hypothesis for explaining elevational diversity gradients, which warrants further study; the 'nutritional complexity hypothesis', where consumer species coexist due to greater variation in the nutritional chemistry of plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Although patterns of biodiversity across the globe are well studied, there is still a controversial debate about the underlying mechanisms and their generality across biogeographic scales. In particular, it is unclear to what extent diversity patterns along environmental gradients are directly driven by abiotic factors, such as climate, or indirectly mediated through biotic factors, such as resource effects on consumers. Location: Andes, Southern Ecuador; Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Methods: We studied the diversity of fleshy‐fruited plants and avian frugivores at the taxonomic level, that is, species richness and abundance, as well as at the level of functional traits, that is, functional richness and functional dispersion. We compared two important biodiversity hotspots in mountain systems of the Neotropics and Afrotropics. We used field data of plant and bird communities, including trait measurements of 367 plant and bird species. Using structural equation modeling, we disentangled direct and indirect effects of climate and the diversity of plant communities on the diversity of bird communities. Results: We found significant bottom‐up effects of fruit diversity on frugivore diversity at the taxonomic level. In contrast, climate was more important for patterns of functional diversity, with plant communities being mostly related to precipitation, and bird communities being most strongly related to temperature. Main conclusions: Our results illustrate the general importance of bottom‐up mechanisms for the taxonomic diversity of consumers, suggesting the importance of active resource tracking. Our results also suggest that it might be difficult to identify signals of ecological fitting between functional plant and animal traits across biogeographic regions, since different species groups may respond to different climatic drivers. This decoupling between resource and consumer communities could increase under future climate change if plant and animal communities are consistently related to distinct climatic drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Although caves are generally perceived as isolated habitats, at the local scale, they are often interconnected via a network of fissures in the bedrock. Accordingly, caves in close proximity are expected to host the same, or very similar, animal communities. 2. We explored the extent to which subterranean arthropod communities are homogenous at a local spatial scale of less than 1 km2, along with which cave‐specific environmental features result in a departure from the expected homogeneous pattern. We approached this question by studying richness and turnover in terrestrial invertebrate communities of 27 caves in a small karst massif in the Western Italian Alps. 3. Specialised subterranean species were homogeneously distributed among caves and were not influenced by seasonality. The only factor driving their distribution was the distance from the cave entrance, with deeper caves yielding a greater diversity of species. 4. Significant spatio‐temporal turnover in species not specialised to subterranean life was observed. In summer, there was a significant homogenisation of the community and a more even distribution of species among sites; in winter, these species were missing or found exclusively at greater depths, where environmental conditions were more stable. Furthermore, caves at lower elevations yielded, on average, a greater diversity and abundance of these species. 5. This study demonstrated that the theoretical expectation of no turnover in community composition in caves in close proximity is not always met. Turnover can be mostly attributed to seasonal patterns and sampling depth; thus, our findings have implications for planning sampling and monitoring activities in caves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing concern over consequences of global changes, we still know little about potential interactive effects of anthropogenic perturbations and diversity loss on the stability of local communities, especially for taxa other than plants. Here we analyse the relationships among landscape composition, biodiversity and community stability looking at time series of three types of communities, i.e., bats, birds and butterflies, monitored over the years by citizen science programs in France. We show that urban and intensive agricultural landscapes as well as diversity loss destabilize these communities but in different ways: while diversity loss translates into greater population synchrony, urban and intensive agricultural landscapes mainly decrease mean population stability. In addition to highlight the stabilizing effects of diversity on ecologically important but overlooked taxa, our results further reveal new pathways linking anthropogenic activities to diversity and stability. Environmental change and species diversity could jointly affect the stability of animal communities. Here the authors use citizen science data on bats, birds, and butterflies along urbanization and agricultural intensification gradients in France to show that both environmental change and diversity loss destabilise communities, but in different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We used various metrics to explore amphibian diversity in Polish cities. • On average, 9.05 species were recorded per city. • The number of species was positively correlated with functional evenness, followed by evolutionary distinctiveness sum and functional richness. • The most evolutionarily unique species in the study assemblages are Pelobates fuscus and Bombina bombina. As a process affecting animal communities, urbanization has been the subject of numerous studies. However, amphibians are still among the least studied vertebrate groups in urbanized landscapes. Generally, it has been found that the process of loss of amphibian diversity is nonrandom, with species from older evolutionary lines at greater risk. Regional data on amphibian assemblages in urban areas is a very useful tool for assessing how these assemblages react to changes. The aim of the present paper is to assess the diversity of amphibians in Polish cities based on data in the relevant literature, exploring different metrics (e.g., taxonomic, functional, and evolutionary diversity) calculated in amphibian species assemblages. We used data from 18 articles (including grey literature), characterized by comparable research methods and published between 1999 and 2017. Overall, amphibian species richness (ASR) amounted to an average of 9 species, ranging from 5 to 11 species per city. The higher species richness occurred in Białystok in North-west of Poland. Functional evenness (FEve), evolutionary distinctiveness (ED sum), and functional richness (FRic) were strongly positively correlated with ASR. However, ED mean was not significantly correlated with the total number of species in the community. Three taxa, the hybridogenetic water frogs Pelophylax esculentus complex, the common toad Bufo bufo , and the common frog Rana temporaria , occurred in all analyzed amphibian assemblages. Our study is one of the first attempts to compare urban amphibian assemblages, using different and complementary diversity metrics on a large spatial scale. In conclusion, we highlight that urban areas play an important role for conservation of amphibians, because they support amphibian assemblages characterized by a high level of overall diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the quality and quantity of natural habitats decrease, pressure increases to better understand species–habitat interactions and how animal communities respond to habitat changes. We assessed the relative importance of local habitat heterogeneity and productivity measures as predictors of avian species richness and compared these results to models for species of conservation concern (SCC). We derived three‐dimensional habitat heterogeneity and productivity measures from light detection and ranging data and hyperspectral imagery, and then used a Bayesian multi‐species hierarchical framework to model avian species richness and occupancy. We found both habitat heterogeneity and productivity were important factors for determining avian community richness. Three‐dimensional habitat heterogeneity and productivity metrics accurately predicted species richness at a local scale and were especially important to use within habitat guilds (i.e., alpha diversity). When scaling up to community richness across multiple habitat types (i.e., gamma diversity), two‐dimensional (surface level) productivity and heterogeneity metrics became important additions to the three‐dimensional metrics when estimating total avian richness. We also tested the utility of these metrics for predicting occupancy of SCC and compared community‐level relationships to species‐specific relationships. Species of conservation concern differed from the broader avian community with regard to local habitat heterogeneity and productivity measures. Species of conservation concern had different relationship habitat metrics than the greater avian community. Three‐dimensional measures of habitat heterogeneity and productivity predicted avian richness across the landscape, yet also highlighted the different habitat structure needs of SCC compared with the greater avian community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (LRGV) contains a unique, subtropical, semiarid floodplain with most of the few remaining Tamaulipan thorn forests in the United States. Less than 2% of Tamaulipan thorn forest remains, with urban and agricultural conversion potentially threatening diverse plant and animal communities native to the habitat. We performed vegetative community surveys and conducted a comprehensive survey of terrestrial snail communities in intact (refugia sites, minimally altered in recent times) and altered (previously cleared and regrown or restored) Tamaulipan thorn forest habitats of the LRGV. In a comparison of intact and altered sites that have comparable vegetation (paired sites), we found that intact sites had a less species-rich snail community than their altered counterparts, but this difference was not statistically significant. This counterintuitive result, in part reflects the fact that the most species-rich, intact snail communities (i.e., Sabal Palm Forest) have no altered (restored or regrown) counterparts and so were not included in the paired comparisons. A nestedness analysis supports this, finding that these unique intact sites, which have the highest species richness and no comparable restored sites, contain the largest pool of species in South Texas. Species richness of snails significantly correlated with a precipitation gradient. A general linear model incorporating mean canopy cover, mean plant height, plant abundance, and plant species richness shows a significant correlation with snail communities. This study is the only comprehensive survey of the snail communities of the lower Rio Grande Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trait‐based approaches and functional diversity have been previously used to enlighten our knowledge on the structure of community assemblages which are driven by species interactions or abiotic factors. We assess what amphibian functional diversity implies for the community assembly of amphibians of Europe and whether the use of different Functional Trait Groups (FTGs) affects the results. We used presence/absence atlas with 50 km × 50 km grain size and three functional diversity indices (FRic, RaoQ and FDiv) which reflect functional richness and divergence to estimate functional diversity patterns calculated for three FTGs: Morphological, Habitat‐related, Reproductive and the complete set of traits. To identify the two key processes (environmental filtering and limiting similarity) that may shape amphibian communities and how the relative importance of these processes could change using different FTGs, we used null models to test for non‐random patterns of functional diversity accounting or not for the difference in regional species pool. We show that for the same grid cell, for one FTG we might observe lower than randomly expected functional diversity (i.e., trait convergence or environmental filtering as the dominant community assembly process) while for another FTG or for the complete set of traits, higher than randomly expected functional diversity (i.e., trait divergence or limiting similarity as the dominant community assembly process). This highlights the role of trait selection on the inference drawn regarding community assembly. Furthermore, the number of traits (complete set vs. FTGs) used to quantify functional diversity also affects the conclusions regarding community assembly. We assess what amphibian functional diversity implies for the community assembly of amphibians of Europe and whether the use of different Functional Trait Groups (FTGs) affect the results. We show that for the same grid cell, for one FTG we might observe lower than randomly expected functional diversity (i.e. trait convergence or environmental filtering as the dominant community assembly process) while for another FTG or for the complete set of traits, higher than randomly expected functional diversity (i.e. trait divergence or limiting similarity as dominant community assembly process). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How we measure diversity can have important implications for understanding the impacts of anthropogenic pressure on ecosystem processes and functioning. Functional diversity quantifies the range and relative abundance of functional traits within a given community and, as such, may provide a more mechanistic understanding of ecosystems. Here, we use a novel approach to examine how lepidopteran richness and diversity, weighted by species abundance, differ between habitats under different disturbance regimes (highly disturbed non‐native plantations and less disturbed broadleaf woodlands), both with and without constraining by similarity due to shared taxonomy or functional traits. Comparisons of diversity between the two habitats differed according to which metric was being used; while species richness was 58% greater in broadleaf woodlands, after accounting for species similarity due to shared functional traits, there was little difference between woodland types under two different disturbance regimes. Functional diversity varied within the landscape but was similar in paired broadleaf and plantation sites, suggesting that landscape rather than local factors drive biotic homogenization in plantation dominated landscapes. The higher richness in broadleaf sites appears to be driven by rare species, which share functional traits with more common species. Moth populations in disturbed, plantation sites represent a reduced subset of moth species compared to broadleaf sites, and may be more vulnerable to disturbance pressures such as clear‐felling operations due to low community resilience. Functional diversity provides a mechanistic understanding of the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on animal communities. Using a novel approach to assess diversity weighted by abundance we compare functional richness, diversity, and redundancy of lepidopteran communities under different disturbance regimes. While raw species richness was lower in disturbed sites, functional richness did not vary. Biotic functional homogenisation in both broadleaf and plantation sites suggests that landscape rather than local factors drive reduced functional diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To withstand the pressures of a rapidly changing world, resilient ecosystems should exhibit compensatory dynamics, including uncorrelated temporal shifts in population sizes. The observation that diversity is maintained through time in many systems is evidence that communities are indeed regulated and stabilized, yet empirical observations suggest that positive covariance in species abundances is widespread. This paradox could be resolved if communities are composed of a number of ecologically relevant sub-units in which the members compete for resources, but whose abundances fluctuate independently. Such modular organization could explain community regulation, even when the community as a whole appears synchronized. To test this hypothesis, we quantified temporal synchronicity in annual population abundances within spatial guilds in an estuarine fish assemblage that has been monitored for 36 years. We detected independent fluctuations in annual abundances within guilds. By contrast, the assemblage as a whole exhibited temporal synchronicity--an outcome linked to the dynamics of guild dominants, which were synchronized with each other. These findings underline the importance of modularity in explaining community regulation and highlight the need to protect assemblage composition and structure as well as species richness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much work in ecology has focused on understanding how changes in community diversity and composition will affect the temporal stability of communities (the degree of fluctuations in community abundance or biomass over time). While theory suggests diversity and dominant species can enhance temporal stability, empirical work has tended to focus on testing the effect of diversity, often using synthetic communities created with high species evenness. We use a complementary approach by studying the temporal stability of natural plant communities invaded by a dominant exotic, Erodium cicutarium. Invasion was associated with a significant decline in community diversity and change in the identity of the dominant species allowing us to evaluate predictions about how these changes might affect temporal stability. Community temporal stability was not correlated with community richness or diversity prior to invasion. Following invasion, community stability was again not correlated with community richness but was negatively correlated with community diversity. Before and after invasion, community stability was positively correlated with the stability of the most dominant species in the community, even though the identity of the dominant species changed from a native (prior to invasion) to an exotic species. Our results demonstrate that invasion by a dominant exotic species may reduce diversity without negatively affecting the temporal stability of natural communities. These findings add support to the idea that dominant species can strongly affect temporal stability, independent of community diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuous survey examined short-term variations in the zooplankton community and physical ocean environment from the northeastern Izu Islands to Boso Peninsula in Japan. High copepod abundance and small upwellings in the surface layer and salinity minimum layer in the subsurface were observed on the north side of coastal fronts in the westernmost transect, moving southward as the Kuroshio Current left the Boso Peninsula. Thus, the salinity minimum layer might be a key factor forming upwelling and the fronts, leading to large abundance of coastal copepods off the northeastern Izu Islands. A community structure analysis of calanoid copepods revealed an intermediate belt assemblage between coastal and offshore (Kuroshio) assemblages. Copepod abundance was remarkably low and Ctenocalanus vanus dominated (nearly 37%) in the intermediate belt zone, indicating that C. vanus has a relatively high tolerance to adverse environments for calanoid copepods. As the Kuroshio Current left the Boso Peninsula, the coastal assemblage expanded in the same direction, and the intermediate belt assemblage off the northeastern Izu Islands disappeared. The largest population of Calanus sinicus was found along the two western transects off the northeastern Izu Islands (>1000 m depth), which was assumed to be transported from Sagami Bay and advanced southwestward while growing from copepodite stages CIII to CV. Larvae of C. sinicus would be an important food for fish larvae in addition to Paracalanus parvus s.l., the numerically dominant species in the coastal assemblage, and C. vanus under the adverse conditions for coastal copepods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut microbiota of mammals is a complex ecosystem, which is essential for maintaining gut homeostasis and the host's health. The high throughput sequencing allowed us to gain a deeper insight into the bacterial structure and diversity. In order to improve the health status of the endangered golden takins, we first characterized the fecal microbiota of healthy golden takins using high throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes V3-V4 hypervariable regions. Our results showed that, Firstly, the gut microbiota community comprised 21 phyla, 40 classes, 62 orders, 96 families, and 216 genera. Firmicutes (67.59%) was the most abundant phylum, followed by Bacteroidetes (23.57%) and Proteobacteria (2.37%). Secondly, the golden takin maintained higher richness in spring than in the winter while community diversity and evenness was not significantly different. Thirdly, four female golden takins demonstrated highly similar microbiota and the five golden takin males had relatively highly similar microbiota. All of our results might indicate that the fecal microbiota of golden takins were influenced by the season and the animal's sex. The findings provided theoretical basis regarding the gut microbiota of golden takins and may offer new insights to protect this endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utility and concordance of application of taxonomic-based (diversity, richness and composition) and functional-based (biological traits analysis and functional diversity indices) metrics to distinguish anthropogenic disturbance or stress gradients (e.g., nutrient enrichment) on intertidal rocky shores were explored using macroinvertebrate communities. Metrics from both approaches showed similar trends in the variation of communities along the gradients, in which higher ecological health was found in less disturbed sites (farthest from the disturbance source), with the converse at more stressful sites (close to the disturbance source). The functional-based approach, using biological traits analysis and functional diversity indices, showed potential to be included in monitoring programmes at rocky shores alongside taxonomic-based metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional trait diversity is increasingly used to model future changes in community structure despite a poor understanding of community disassembly's effects on functional diversity. By tracking the functional diversity of the North American large mammal fauna through the End-Pleistocene megafaunal extinction and up to the present, I show that contrary to expectations, functionally unique species are no more likely to go extinct than functionally redundant species. This makes total functional richness loss no worse than expected given similar taxonomic richness declines. However, where current species sit in functional space relative to pre-anthropogenic baselines is not random and likely explains ecosystem functional changes better than total functional richness declines. Prehistoric extinctions have left many extant species functionally isolated and future extinctions will cause even more rapid drops in functional richness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of stream anurans in Southeast Asia is highly endangered by habitat loss and fragmentation. To optimise conservation planning, their distribution patterns and habitat requirements need to be better understood. In this study, we investigated the distribution and habitat requirements of stream-associated anurans across four sites in north-western Borneo. The sites showed differences in species richness and composition. At a local scale, only microhabitat parameters and stream dynamics had a significant explanatory power on species composition. At a regional scale, environmental variables and geographical distances were both correlated with species composition, with adjacent locations having more similar species assemblages than distant locations. In order to protect the diversity of riparian anurans of north-western Borneo, protected areas need to include distant sites within the same region in addition to a diversity of habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The French experiments of artificial reefs started in the 60's, mainly on the Mediterranean coast. This study focused on two main sites along the Atlantic coast (Aquitaine): the Porto artificial reef, located at Mimizan (1989) and the artificial reefs of Capbreton (1999). Both have been placed off the sandy coast at depths of 12–25 m. A standardized monitoring by visual censuses has been performed since 2009–2010 with 4 sampling points placed on different substrates (barge and concrete pipes) to cover the whole Porto site and 2 sampling points on concrete pipes and Typi unit at Capbreton. Twenty-two taxa were recorded on the Porto artificial reef, dominated by benthic fishes. First results indicated differences in taxa richness between the sampling points: the barge had a more important diversity than the assemblage of concrete modules. Hence, a gradient of habitat complexity is discussed in light of results on taxa richness and biomass assessments. Visual censuses revealed a specific richness of 36 taxa on artificial reefs of Capbreton with a significant difference between concrete pipes and Typi unit. Five taxa were counted every year on both sites and could be considered as more representative of these artificial reefs: Trachurus trachurus, Umbrina sp., Trisopterus luscus, Conger conger, Blenniidae. Despite sharing common species, each site had its own species showing their complementarity. Different temporal variations were found on both sites, in particular at Capbreton where pelagic fishes in 2010 have been replaced in 2013 by benthic fauna. These pioneering analyses on the Aquitaine coast require further research, particularly on the temporal evolution of abundances and biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]