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The most popular sources of information on species distributions are the expert-derived maps and georeferenced occurrences, mainly those compiled by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). These sources have been constantly used with biogeographical and conservation goals. However, their degree of accuracy in representing geographical biodiversity patterns remains poorly understood. Here, we compared both sources of information on species distributions to estimate global patterns of richness and species composition of threatened vertebrates on marine islands.

Linnean shortfalls, or the discrepancy between formally described species and the number of existing species, imply noteworthy biodiversity conservation constraints. The case of Argentinian reptiles is unique in this context. The genus Liolaemus represents ~60% of the Argentine reptile fauna and has a current species description rate of 3.25 spp./year, leading to a significant increase in the number of known species. Filling Linnean shortfalls within this genus has revealed an extraordinary recent evolutionary radiation that strongly modifies the spatial accumulation patterns of richness and endemism, mainly in the Patagonian steppe and Monte ecoregions of Argentina. Thus, while 40 years ago none of the studied species was considered endemic at the ecoregional level, today the genus represents an essential element to define the southernmost terrestrial ecoregions of the world. Furthermore, the remarkable decrease in the average extent of occurrence (EOO) of Liolaemus species implies an increased extinction risk in light of threats caused by humans. Based on the thresholds for the IUCN Red List B1 criteria, and 11 well-studied clades of Liolaemus, we show that, while in 1980 87% of the described species would not qualify as threatened based on EOO, today 80% of the species have an EOO smaller than 20 000 km2. Therefore, they may qualify as threatened based on the B1 EOO thresholds, which demonstrates the importance of the recent increase of knowledge regarding the taxonomy, systematics and genetics of the group.

The study of the species’ climatic niche is an excellent proxy of their vulnerability to global climate change. It is well known that species with greater niche marginality or a smaller niche breadth are most vulnerable to global climate change. However, these measures have never been contextualized regarding the shortfalls in biogeography: Linnean and Darwinian shortfalls. Here based on the study of Liolaemidae, one of the most diverse families of tetrapods, we showed that as phylogenetic and taxonomic knowledge accumulated across time and shortfalls filled up, the split of species complexes (previously recognized as single species) generates new species much more vulnerable to the effect of global climate change. We calculated and compared via Ecological Niche Factor Analyses (ENFA), Climate-Niche Factor Analysis (CNFA), and ellipsenm the marginality and breadth of climatic niches of five monophyletic groups of lizards, considering two stages in their taxonomic knowledge: the original described species (past period), and currently the updated species (2020 period). For both stages, we also estimated their climate change exposure and vulnerability. The climatic niche of the updated species (current, 2020) was significantly more marginal and smaller, and therefore their exposure and vulnerability to global climate change significantly more remarkable, than the originally described species (past periods). Our findings evidence that the real vulnerability of biodiversity to global climate, could be masked for the lack of taxonomic and phylogenetic knowledge, highlighting the great importance of these disciplines for species’ risk assessments. This fact is especially exacerbated in those poorly known or unstudied diverse groups and countries.

Ecological niche modeling (ENM) is a technique widely used in many disciplines of science. Recently, the extent of using the environmental background for ENM calibration has been pointed out as playing a crucial role in determining model outcomes. However, when modeling freshwater species, the need for a background refinement has been ignored and its consideration possesses important implications not taken into account before. Here, using Maxent algorithm and global occurrence data characterizing the distribution of the invasive freshwater turtle, Trachemys scripta, we performed ENM transfer and compared native and invasive niche estimates for the species in the environmental space. We used two environmental backgrounds: (a) a traditional area, based on the current distribution and dispersal capacity of the species, and (b) a more restricted area, which corresponds exclusively to freshwater bodies. Our analysis revealed strong differences between the traditional and the restricted backgrounds in niche transferability, with differences in Maxent probability values ranging from − 0.59 to 0.41. Also, during comparisons between native and invasive niches, the niches were more similar when the traditional approach was used, compared to the restricted approach. Our results highlight the importance of considering the biological restriction of the species when establishing the extent of the background in ecological niche modeling; in this case, a more restricted area represented by freshwater environments.

AIM: Lack of biological information is a silent but strong impediment for planning how to rescue amphibians from extinction. Currently, 24% of all amphibian species are assigned to the Data Deficient (DD) category of IUCN. Here, we aim to identify priority areas for amphibian research that could help gather information on these species and overcome such knowledge gap. LOCATION: Global. TAXON: Amphibians. METHODS: We mapped the distribution of 1578 DD amphibian species and then defined priority research areas as those areas with high and complementary concentration of amphibian DD species that could be considered important areas for studying (and therefore conserving) such species. To evaluate the performance of the proposed priority research areas, we calculated the percentage of species overlapping these areas, considering all amphibian DD species; recently described species and geographically restricted DD species. We also determined the proportion of priority research areas falling inside each continent and country of the world. Finally, we estimated the level protection of these species and of human pressure on natural ecosystems found within our priority research areas. RESULTS: We showed that gathering biological information of species from just 0.4% of the world area could clarify the conservation status of more than 80% of DD amphibians. Most identified priority research areas overlap with regions under high human pressure and only a small percentage of DD amphibian species might cope with those altered conditions. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge shortfalls represent a major issue for amphibian conservation globally, however, the picture could radically change if research efforts and investments are geographically strategically distributed. This study brings the first application of a complementary‐based tool, which has been originally designed and implemented in conservation planning, aimed at generating information that help researchers to fill knowledge gaps as efficiently as possible.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T02:02:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-05-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações Secretaria de Ciencia y Tecnología - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica In anurans, habitat requirements strongly influence morphological evolution, resulting in ecomorphological groups. Current policy for amphibian conservation usually builds on species, without considering to the distinct vulnerability among ecomorphs. With nearly 40% of the amphibian species currently threatened with extinction, different conservation perspectives are essential to protect them. Here, we provide a global overview and future forecast of the threat level imposed on amphibian microhabitat-related ecomorphs. We analyzed the patterns of distribution of seven ecomorphs totaling 3138 species (aquatic, semi-aquatic, arboreal, semi-arboreal, burrowing, terrestrial, and torrential), related these patterns with current and likely future human-dominated landscapes, and estimated the overlap of ecomorph distribution with existing protected areas (PAs). Our results evidence key regions for amphibian conservation under the ecomorphological perspective. In these key regions, coexist more than a half of the world's ecomorphs, some of them in imperiled regions such as the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Our results also showed that current PAs are inefficient to represent all amphibian life forms. In fact, 53% of the species have less than 1% of their distribution occurring inside PAs. This picture seems to be alarming to the most restricted and endemic ecomorph (Torrential species), which are limited to areas where increasing human-driven land transformation are expected. Considering these results, the future of some amphibian life forms may be uncertain unless urgent conservation actions are taken, such as the establishment of new conservation areas that encompasses all levels of amphibian diversity. Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP) Campus São José do Rio Preto Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA-CONICET) and Centro de Zoología Aplicada Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Rondeau 798 Laboratório de Biogeografia da Conservação Departamento de Ecologia Universidade Federal de Goiás Fundação Brasileira para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP) Campus São José do Rio Preto Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás: 201810267000023 CNPq: 306694/2018-2 CNPq: 465610/2014-5 Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica: PICT 2017-2666

Ecologists commonly use ecological niche models (ENMs) to undertake invasive species risk assessments; however, knowledge shortfalls introduce bias in these models and increase uncertainty while addressing questions in biogeography. Therefore, our objective was to investigate how the lack of information related to population viability impairs invasive species risk assessments. We built ENMs for the invasive slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) and compared the native and invaded portions of its niches. Both analyses were generated based on two approaches: a conservative one, which excluded occurrence records where the establishment of invasive populations was not confirmed; and a non-conservative one, which encompassed all occurrence records. Under the conservative approach, the niche similarity test revealed that the similitude between native and invasive populations was not different than the expected by chance. Conversely, under the non-conservative approach, the test revealed that native and invasive populations use a similar ecological niche, despite that the occupied portion of the species’ niche during the invasion was quite larger than the native one. In fact, non-conservative models projected wider areas with high risk of invasion that were not detected by the conservative approach. While models’ outcomes were markedly different, both provide valuable information in terms of evolution and conservation. We found that information about population viability is really valuable and should be incorporated in risk assessment, invasive records without this information should not be discarded under any point of view. Finally, we discussed the best way to consider this kind of information to assess the management of invasive species. Fil: Cordier, Javier Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Loyola, Rafael. Universidade Federal de Goiás; Brasil Fil: Rojas-Soto, Octavio. Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Red de Biología Evolutiva; México Fil: Nori, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina

Bivalves are among the main groups of invasive freshwater species, with the Asian clam genus Corbicula in particular being widely distributed. While global studies have focused on Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774), the invasive potential of Corbicula largillierti (Philippi, 1844) and Corbicula fluminalis (Müller, 1774) is still unknown. The spread of invasive species may be intensified by climate change. We estimated and compared environmentally suitable areas for these species under hypothetical climate scenarios, generating global maps of invasion risk. We found large climatically suitable areas for C. largillierti and C. fluminalis (under species distribution models) and that their invasive potential is currently underestimated. The analysis revealed many areas in which changing climate may favour the invasion of Corbicula spp. Fil: Reyna, Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Nori, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Ballesteros, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Hued, Andrea Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Tatian, Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina

Increasing evidence indicates that distribution of Neotropical seasonally dry forests (NSDFs) and the survival of the species and communities that inhabit them have been negatively affected by land-use modifications and global climate change (GCC). Protected Areas (PAs) in the region are inefficient and insufficient, and these human-driven threats are expected to further diminish their effectiveness. Research on the long-term effectiveness of these areas for NSDFs protection is therefore a high priority. Here, using birds as a study group, we combined both species distribution modelling and systematic conservation planning techniques to delineate priority areas where species are predicted to persist into the 2050's in the face of GCC and land conversion across the NSDFs distribution. These analyses showed an imperative need to improve the performance of PAs, which covered only ~11% of the NSDFs area and included on average just 13% of species' remaining distributions in the 2050's. The most important opportunity for improving NSDFs conservation status is provided by protecting ~6% more surface area, which could increase the level of protection in the near future: 24.8–28.2% of species distributions on average and 36.9–39.5% for those threatened and Data Deficit species. Besides, 21.6% for these proposed areas coincide with areas currently defined as priority for NSDFs, and 22.8% coincides with priority areas for conservation and research of terrestrial vertebrates. The priority areas identified are mainly distributed in Mexico (70.8%). Our findings pinpoint major opportunities for efficient conservation planning in the region, if there is political will to do so.

In recent years, decision-makers in Argentina have allowed the legal import of thousands of specimens of freshwater turtles. Given their invasive potential, many of the imported species have become established and have spread to other countries. The three most commonly imported species recently have been Graptemys pseudogeographica, Trachemys scripta, and Pseudemys nelsoni, all of them native to North America. This study assessed the invasive potential of these species in Argentina based on (i) bioclimatic envelope models, (ii) distribution of water bodies, (iii) location of the most populated cities, (iv) comparisons between their alien and native climatic niches, and (v) the main ecological traits of those species. The results showed that these species are able to establish viable populations in Argentina, especially T. scripta and G. pseudogeographica. This is because the country offers a large amount of suitable climatic space for these species, in which there are large areas with rivers and other water bodies. The situation is especially problematic in freshwater ecosystems of the north east, as well as in the most populated portion of the country. A range of regulatory policies are suggested, which could help to reduce biodiversity loss and economic impacts in the future.

Aim: To evaluate the representativeness of the current network of protected areas (PAs) of one of the most threatened ecoregions in the world, the South American Gran Chaco, and determine priority conservation areas for endemic (and nearly endemic) terrestrial vertebrates of the region. Location: South America. Methods: We identified all those amphibians, mammals and birds whose distributions were at least 70% within the Gran Chaco. Then, we refined and corrected species’ distributional ranges, first, using records from collections and expert knowledge, and second, by incorporating environmental and topographic data using a technique for range polygon refinement. Lastly, we used Zonation, a spatial conservation prioritization software, to evaluate representativeness of the current protected areas (PAs) network of the region and to define forest remnants to strategically expand PAs while maximizing the representativeness of the selected groups and considering human activities. Results: Current PAs cover 9% of the region and represent 9.1% of the total distribution of endemic species. Considering our prioritization, increasing the coverage to 17% to match the Aichi targets would substantially increase the representativeness of the PA network, covering on average more than 30% of the ranges of all endemic species and 77% of the distributions of threatened and DD endemic species. Main conclusions: Our results highlight that the need for well-informed decisions in the Gran Chaco is imperative. While the current PA network in the region ensures a very poor representation of endemic terrestrial vertebrates, opportunities to efficiently expand the PAs network are really high. This emphasizes the potential of complementarity-based systematic conservation planning tools as an essential support for conservation decisions. Given the great information gaps regarding biodiversity and human activities in the region, similar studies with updated data would improve conservation planning in the Gran Chaco in the future. Fil: Nori, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Torres, Ricardo Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Museo de Zoología; Argentina Fil: Lescano, Julián Norberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Cordier, Javier Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Periago, Maria Eugenia. Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Baldo, Juan Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; Argentina

Effective conservation policies require comprehensive knowledge of biodiversity. However, knowledge shortfalls still remain, hindering possibilities to improve decision making and built such policies. During the last 2 decades, conservationists have made great efforts to allocate resources as efficiently as possible but have rarely considered the idea that if research investments are also strategically allocated, it would likely fill knowledge gaps while simultaneously improving conservation actions. Therefore, prioritizing areas where both conservation and research actions could be conducted becomes a critical endeavor that can further maximize return on investment. We used Zonation, a conservation planning tool and geographical distributions of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles to suggest and compare priority areas for conservation and research of terrestrial vertebrates worldwide. We also evaluated the degree of human disturbance in both types of priority areas by describing the value of the human footprint index within such areas. The spatial concordance between priority conservation and research areas was low: 0.36% of the world's land area. In these areas, we found it would be possible to protect almost half of the currently threatened species and to gather information on nearly 42% of data-deficient (DD) species. We also found that 6199 protected areas worldwide are located in such places, although only 35% of them have strict conservation purposes. Areas of consensus between conservation and research areas represent an opportunity for simultaneously conserving and acquiring knowledge of threatened and DD species of vertebrates. Although the picture is not the most encouraging, joint conservation and research efforts are possible and should be fostered to save vertebrate species from our own ignorance and extinction.Áreas Prioritarias para la Conservación e Investigación Enfocadas en Vertebrados Terrestres Resumen Las políticas efectivas de conservación requieren del conocimiento integral de la biodiversidad. Sin embargo, la deficiencia de conocimiento todavía obstaculiza las posibilidades de mejorar la toma de decisiones y construir dichas políticas. Durante las últimas dos décadas, los conservacionistas han realizado un gran esfuerzo por asignar los recursos de la manera más eficiente posible, pero en pocas ocasiones han considerado la idea de que, si las inversiones para la investigación también se asignan estratégicamente, probablemente llenarían los vacíos de conocimiento a la vez que mejoran las acciones de conservación. Por lo tanto, la priorización de las áreas en donde podrían realizarse acciones de conservación y de investigación se convierte en un esfuerzo importante que puede avanzar todavía más la maximización del rendimiento de la inversión. Usamos Zonation, una herramienta de planeación de la conservación, junto con las distribuciones geográficas de anfibios, aves, mamíferos y reptiles para sugerir y comparar las áreas prioritarias para la conservación e investigación de los vertebrados terrestres en todo el mundo. También evaluamos el grado de perturbación humana en ambos tipos de áreas prioritarias mediante la descripción del valor del índice de la huella ecológica humana dentro de dichas áreas. La concordancia espacial entre las áreas prioritarias para la conservación y para la investigación fue baja: 0.36% del área total de suelo mundial. Encontramos que en estas áreas sería posible proteger a casi la mitad de las especies que se encuentran actualmente amenazadas, así como recopilar información sobre casi el 42% de las especies cuya información es deficiente. También descubrimos que 6199 áreas protegidas a nivel mundial están localizadas en dichos lugares, aunque sólo el 35% de ellas tiene propósitos estrictos de conservación. Las áreas de consenso entre la conservación y la investigación representan una oportunidad para simultáneamente conservar y adquirir conocimiento sobre las especies amenazadas de vertebrados y cuya información es deficiente. Aunque el futuro no es alentador, los esfuerzos conjuntos de conservación e investigación son posibles y deberían fomentarse para salvar a las especies de vertebrados de nuestra propia ignorancia y extinción.有效的保护政策依赖于对生物多样性的全面认识。然而, 目前仍存在认识不足, 这阻碍了进一步提升政策的制定和建立。在过去的二十年里, 保护主义者为尽可能有效地分配资源做出了巨大努力, 但是他们很少考虑这样一个想法, 即如果战略性地分配研究的投入, 可能会同时填补知识空缺并推动保护行动。因此, 确定应同时进行优先保护和研究的地区是促进投资回报最大化的一项重要工作。我们利用 Zonation 软件这种保护规划工具以及两栖动物、鸟类、哺乳动物和爬行动物的地理分布数据, 分析并比较了世界范围内应优先保护和研究陆生脊椎动物的区域。我们还利用人类足迹指数 (human footprint index) 评估了这两类优先区域的人类干扰的程度。结果显示, 优先保护区域和优先研究区域之间的空间一致性很低, 仅占世界陆地面积的 0.36%; 但这些地区, 有可能保护几乎 一半的濒危物种, 并收集近 42% 的数据缺乏物种的信息。我们还发现, 全世界有 6199 个保护地在这样的地区, 尽管其中只有 35% 有着严格的保护目的。优先保护和优先研究需求相一致的地区将为在保护的同时获得那些受威胁且数据缺乏的脊椎动物知识提供了机会。尽管目前的情况不是十分乐观, 但我们仍有可能开展联合保护和研究工作, 以防止这些脊椎动物在我们的无知中灭绝。【翻译: 胡怡思; 审校: 聂永刚】.

[ES] El conjunto de ideas, métodos y programas informáticos que se conoce como “Modelado de Nicho Ecológico” (MNE) el relacionado “Modelado de Distribución de Especies” (MDS)— han sido objeto de intensa exploración e investigación en las últimas décadas. A pesar de existir al menos cuatro síntesis publicadas, este campo ha crecido tanto en complejidad, que la formación de nuevos investigadores es difícil. Hasta ahora, dicha formación se ha hecho de manera presencial en cursos organizados por universidades o centros de investigación, de los que hemos formado parte como instructores. Sin embargo, el acceso a este tipo de cursos especializados es restringido, por un lado, porque los cursos no se ofrecen en todas las universidades, y por otro, porque normalmente se imparten en inglés. Para facilitar el acceso a una mayor comunidad de científicos de habla hispana, presentamos un curso en español, completamente digital y de acceso gratuito, que se realizó vía Internet durante 23 semanas consecutivas en 2018. Aunque las barreras intrínsecas al uso de Internet pueden dificultar la accesibilidad a los materiales del curso, hemos usado diversos formatos para la divulgación de los contenidos académicos (video, audio, pdf) con el objetivo de eliminar la mayor parte de estos problemas., [EN] The suite of ideas, protocols, and software tools that has come to be known as “Ecological Niche Modeling” (ENM)—as well as those for the related “Species Distribution Modeling” (SDM)—has seen intensive exploration and research attention in recent decades. In spite of at least four syntheses, the field has grown so much in complexity that it is rather difficult to access for newcomers. Until now, accessibility to this field was achieved by in-person courses organized by universities or research centers, in some of which we have participated as instructors. However, the access to these specialized courses is limited, on one hand because they are not offered in all universities, and on the other because normally they are taught in English. To expand the access to a wider community of Spanish-speaking researchers, here we offer an entirely digital and free-of-charge course in Spanish, which was presented over 23 weeks via Internet in 2018. Although intrinsic Internet-related barriers may limit access to course materials, we have made them available in diverse formats (video, audio, pdf) in order to eliminate most of these problems, Las presentes contribuciones representan difusión científica por parte de varias instituciones y agencias de financiamiento (incluyendo U.S. NSF DBI-1661510 para R.P. Anderson y Virginia Tech Startup Funds para L.E. Escobar).

For much of the twentieth century, many or most scholarly journals in biodiversity, ecology, biogeography and conservation were owned and published by scientific societies and made available to the broader scientific community at relatively low cost. However, the past several decades have seen a dominant process of commercialization of the publication process in this field, either by commercial publishing firms taking over publication of journals owned by a society (e.g., Evolution), or by commercial publishers starting new journals to fill “niches” that were until then empty in the scholarly publishing ecosystem. Diversity and Distributions is an example of this latter category of journals, having been created by Wiley Publishers in 1993 (as Biodiversity Letters). Being a journal owned by a commercial publisher, it has always been accessed by readers via subscription, but the publication process has been free to potential authors whose work has passed peer review.

Neotropical dry forests (NDF) are widely distributed and possess important levels of species richness and endemism; however, they are considered a highly endangered ecosystem. Today, the protected areas network (PAs) located within NDF covers 36% the ranges of all species and, particularly, 62% for the most-priority species. Priority conservation areas identified are mainly distributed in Peru (23.1%), Brazil (21.3%), Ecuador (18.8%), and Bolivia (11.4%). Our novel results represent an important step to guide future establishment of new and efficient conservation areas across the NDF. Fil: Prieto Torres, David Alexander. Instituto de Ecología. Laboratorio de Bioclimatología. Red de Biología Evolutiva; México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma. Facultad de Ciencias. Departamento de Biología Evolutiva. Museo de Zoología; México Fil: Nori, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Rojas Soto Octavio R. Instituto de Ecología. Laboratorio de Bioclimatología. Red de Biología Evolutiva; México

Human land-use changes represent the most important drivers of biodiversity loss, and amphibians and reptiles represent the most threatened groups of vertebrates globally. However, today there is a general lack of knowledge and little consensus on how land-use changes affect amphibians and reptiles. In order to fill this gap, here we conduct the most comprehensive systematic quantitative review of primary research to date. By means of hierarchical meta-analyses we assessed the effects of the most common land-use changes (agriculture, cattle-raising, urbanization, deforestation, silviculture and selective logging) on the richness of amphibian and reptile communities. Our results show that almost all of the analyzed types of land-use changes have negative effects on these groups, but with different degree of magnitude. We also show that the time elapsed in disturbed conditions does not ameliorate the effects on species richness, indicating a low recovery capacity of herp communities. Another important finding is that the richest communities are the most negatively affected ones, varying the response according to the type of biome. Our synthesis provides updated empirical evidence indicating that current prevalent human land-use changes strongly reduce the richness of amphibian and reptile species as well as revealing important knowledge gaps in certain biomes of the world. These results should help providing a basis for the development of future research and contextualizing the need for effective conservation measures for these two vertebrate groups.

As a result of their ecological traits, woodpeckers (Picidae, Aves) are highly sensitive to forest cover change. We explored the current land cover in areas of high species richness of woodpeckers to determinate regions where urgent conservation actions are needed. In addition, we identified woodpecker species that are sensitive to forest loss and that have high levels of human habitat modification and low levels of protection (through protected areas) in their distribution ranges. Location: Global. Methods: We joined available range maps for all extant 254 woodpecker species with information of their conservation status and tolerances to human habitat modifications and generated a richness map of woodpecker species worldwide. Then, we associated this information (the richness pattern and individual species’ maps) with land cover and protected areas (PAs) maps. We found that the foremost woodpecker species richness hotspot is in Southeast Asia and is highly modified. At the second species richness hotspot in the eastern Andes, we observed a front of deforestation at its southern extreme and a greater deforested area in its northern extreme but most of its area remains with forest coverage. At the species level, 17 species that are sensitive to forest modification experience extensive deforestation and have low extents of PAs in their ranges.The most diverse woodpecker hotspots are mostly occupied by human-modified landscapes, and a large portion of the species there avoids anthropogenic environments. The level of representation of woodpecker species in PAs is low as a global general pattern, although slightly better in Asia. Our global analysis of threats to woodpecker from land use patterns reiterates the urgent conservation needs for Southeast Asian forests. Finally, based on our results, we recommend a re-evaluation for inclusion in the Red List of five woodpecker species. Fil: Vergara Tabares, David Lautaro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Lammertink, J. Martjan. Cornell University; Estados Unidos. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina Fil: Verga, Ernesto Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina Fil: Schaaf, Alejandro Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Jujuy. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Jujuy; Argentina Fil: Nori, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina

Protected areas have been established historically in residual places where the potential for extractive uses is low, implying that places at risk are usually under-protected. Argentina is no exception, with few protected areas established in productive regions that are prone to conversion. Here, using reptiles as a study group and considering the most important human threats in north-western Argentina, we estimated priority conservation areas where we expect species to persist in the face of climate change and land conversion. Protected areas cover no more than 9% of the study region, but represent less than 15% of reptile distributions. There are great opportunities for improving the conservation status in the region by protecting only 8% more of north-western Argentina, with the level of species protection inside the protected area network increasing almost four-fold, reaching 43% of species distributions on average and 59% of the distributions of threatened reptiles. Fortunately, the highest diversity of reptiles in the region does not match the places targeted for agriculture expansion. Our findings suggest that future prioritization schemes should embrace other groups that are especially diverse in the Chaco ecoregion, which overlaps with our study area. Fil: Nori, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Leynaud, Gerardo Cristhian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Volante, José Norberto. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina Fil: Abdala, Cristian Simón. Fundación Miguel Lillo; Argentina Fil: Scrocchi Manfrini, Gustavo Jose. Fundación Miguel Lillo; Argentina Fil: Rodríguez-Soto, Clarita. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México Fil: Pressey, Robert L.. James Cook University; Australia Fil: Loyola, Rafael. Universidade Federal de Goias. Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas; Brasil

Global climate change affects the distributions of ectotherms and may be the cause of several conservation problems, such as great displacement of climatic suitable spaces for species and, consequently, important reductions of the extent of liveable places, threatening the existence of many of them. Species exposure (and hence vulnerability) to global climate change is linked to features of their climatic niches (such as the relative position of the inhabited localities of each species in the climatic space), and therefore to characteristics of their geographic ranges (such as the extent of the distributions or altitudinal range inhabited by the species). In order to analyze the pattern of response of Argentine reptiles to global climate change, we ran phylogenetic generalized least squares models using species exposure to global climate change as a response variable, and (i) niche properties (breadth and position of the species in the climate space) and (ii) general features of the distribution of species (maximum latitude, altitudinal range, maximum elevation, distributional range and proximity to the most important dispersal barrier) as predictors. Our results suggest that the best way to explain climate change exposure is by combining breadth and position of climatic niche of the species or combining geographic features that are indicators of both niche characteristics. Our best model shows that in our study area, species with the narrowest distributional ranges that also inhabit the highest elevations are the most exposed to the effects of global climate change. In this sense, reptile species from Yungas, Puna and Andes ecoregions could be especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. We believe that these types of models may represent an interesting tool for determining species and places particularly threatened by the effects of global climate change, which should be strongly considered in conservation planning.

En 2016 implementamos un sistema de seminarios de enseñanza en formato de videos libres y accesibles desde internet, con la finalidad de dar a conocer de forma sencilla y en castellano, las bases conceptuales y aplicaciones de la ecología espacial y los modelos de nicho ecológico en estudios de ecología, conservación biológica, epidemiología y agrobiodviersidad, así como su implementación para el diseño de políticas públicas de los recursos naturales. Cada seminario fue desarrollado por uno o varios expertos y se discutieron conceptos, métodos y diferentes herramientas disponibles para elaborar modelos de distribución de especies. Este manuscrito reúne los resúmenes de los seminarios en línea, dando referencias clave para cada tema y el enlace al video correspondiente. Los videos están disponibles de forma libre en YouTube o en formato .mp4 bajo solicitud.

Snakebite envenoming is an important public health problem worldwide and addressing this issue has turned into a challenge for applied science. In this sense, the study of the distributional patterns of problematic snakes is central in terms of public health. Global Climate Change is affecting the distributional ranges of snakes, so that decisions regarding treatment of ophidism (poisoning by snake venom) may also change spatially and/or temporally. Here, we assessed suitable climate spaces at present conditions and estimated potential future changes in the distributions of the five southernmost venomous snakes, responsible for almost 99 % of accidents in Argentina, by implementing an ensemble of forecasts between different algorithms and scenarios for 2030 and 2080. Present suitable climate spaces showed high concordance with known distribution of the species. Future projections show moderate “north to south” displacements of the snakes’ suitable climate spaces, implying potential increments of suitable spaces in human populated areas in Argentina. Our results suggest the necessity of considering ophidism as a dynamic problem. In this regard, the analyses implemented here are useful tools in improving the assessment of snakebite envenoming in light of global climate change.

Agricultural expansion generates problems to ecosystems and hinders conservation efforts. Although several researchers worldwide are working to develop efficient approaches for conserving biodiversity adequately, certain decisions should be taken urgently. Here, by using two entire classes of vertebrates (amphibians and reptiles), we calculated optimal conservation area networks (CANs) under nine different scenarios (including three different degrees of land-use and three different degrees of ambition in conservation objectives), in a highly deforested province of central Argentina. We show that if conservation decisions are delayed further, not only will more land be necessary to meet a given conservation objective, but also that optimal CANs will have to have a much greater perimeter, a larger number of fragments and a less appropriate shape. Therefore, as agricultural frontiers continue to advance without designating specific sites for conservation, we are losing the possibility to conserve biodiversity adequately.

Amphibians are undergoing a global conservation crisis, and they are one of the most underrepresented groups of vertebrates in the global network of protected areas (PAs). In this study, we evaluated the ability of the world's PAs to represent extant amphibian species. We also estimated the magnitude of the human footprint along the geographic distributions of gap species (i.e., those with distributions totally outside PAs). Twenty-four percent of species (n=1535) are totally unrepresented, and another 18% (n=1119) have less than 5% of their distribution inside PAs. Nearly half of all species with ranges under 1000km2 do not occur inside any PA. Furthermore, more than 65% of the distribution of gap species is in human-dominated landscapes. Although the Earth's PAs have greatly increased during the last ten years, the number of unprotected amphibians has also grown. Tropical countries in particular should strongly consider (1) the importance of using amphibians to drive conservation policies that eventually lead to the implementation and management of PAs, given amphibians' extinction risk and ability to act as bioindicators; (2) the effectiveness of national recovery plans for threatened amphibian species; and (3) the need for increased funding for scientific research to expand our knowledge of amphibian species. Meanwhile, data-deficient amphibian species should receive a higher priority than they usually receive in conservation planning, as a precautionary measure. Throughout this paper, we point out several challenges in creating more comprehensive amphibian conservation strategies and opportunities in the next decade. Fil: Nori, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Lemes, Priscila. Universidade Federal de Goiás; Brasil Fil: Urbina Cardona, Nicolás. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Colombia Fil: Baldo, Juan Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; Argentina Fil: Lescano, Julián Norberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina Fil: Loyola, Rafael. Universidade Federal de Goiás; Brasil

Regionalization studies attempt to divide an area into regions by studying the distribution of its biota. Here we used snake distribution in Central Argentina to recognize distribution patterns, and then compared two methods (cluster analysis and endemism analysis) and the patterns found with previously defined regions. Both analyses recovered Chaco and, within Chaco, the subregion Chaco Serrano, as well as all the snake species that are threatened or range-restricted occurring only in the Chaco region, which has been severely deforested in the last decades. The Espinal region was not recovered by cluster analysis or NDM software, and may be considered an “impoverished” Chaco or a transition zone. The Pampas was only recovered by cluster analysis. NDM appears to be more robust than cluster analysis, whereas the latter seems to be very sensitive to sampling problems, sometimes identifying spurious areas or areas characterized by having no exclusive species.

Argentina is the country with the most geographically extended biological invasion of the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in South America after Brazil. Here, we used a maximum entropy ecological niche modeling algorithm (using records of the native range of American bullfrog) to project the model onto the whole of Argentina. We determined the most suitable habitats for this invasive alien species and where we consider urgent measures should be taken. Our projections showed good agreement with known feral populations of American bullfrog in Argentina. By implementing the “Multivariate Environmental Similarity Surface” analysis, we be able to determine that factors such as low precipitations or highest altitudes could be limiting the species’ ability to invade the west and south of the country. We suggest that strategies should focus on detecting established feral populations of the American bullfrog and preventing further introductions or range expansion of feral populations in the northeast portion of the country. Lastly, we report a new feral population of bullfrogs in Argentina.

The ‘Data Deficient’ (DD) category of the IUCN Red List assembles species that cannot be placed in another category due to insufficient information. This process generates uncertainty about whether these species are safe or actually in danger. Here, we give a global overview on the current situation of DD amphibian species (almost a quarter of living amphibians) considering land-use change through habitat modification, the degree of protection of each species and the socio-political context of each country harboring DD species. We found that DD amphibians have, on average, 81% of their ranges totally outside protected areas. Worryingly, more than half of DD species have less than 1% of their distribution represented in protected areas. Furthermore, the percentage of overlap between species’ range and human-modified landscapes is high, at approximately 58%. Many countries harboring a large number of DD species show a worrying socio-political trend illustrated by substantial, recent incremental increases in the Human Development Index and lower incremental increases in the establishment of protected areas. Most of these are African countries, which are located mainly in the central and southern regions of the continent. Other countries with similar socio-political trends are in southeastern Asia, Central America, and in the northern region of South America. This situation is concerning, but it also creates a huge opportunity for considering DD amphibians in future conservation assessments, planning, and policy at different levels of government administration.

Background Biological invasion and climate change pose challenges to biodiversity conservation in the 21st century. Invasive species modify ecosystem structure and functioning and climatic changes are likely to produce invasive species' range shifts pushing some populations into protected areas. The American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is one of the hundred worst invasive species in the world. Native from the southeast of USA, it has colonized more than 75% of South America where it has been reported as a highly effective predator, competitor and vector of amphibian diseases. Methodology/Principal Findings We modeled the potential distribution of the bullfrog in its native range based on different climate models and green-house gases emission scenarios, and projected the results onto South America for the years of 2050 and 2080. We also overlaid projected models onto the South American network of protected areas. Our results indicate a slight decrease in potential suitable area for bullfrog invasion, although protected areas will become more climatically suitable. Therefore, invasion of these sites is forecasted. Conclusion/Significance We provide new evidence supporting the vulnerability of the Atlantic Forest Biodiversity Hotspot to bullfrog invasion and call attention to optimal future climatic conditions of the Andean-Patagonian forest, eastern Paraguay, and northwestern Bolivia, where invasive populations have not been found yet. We recommend several management and policy strategies to control bullfrog invasion and argue that these would be possible if based on appropriate articulation among government agencies, NGOs, research institutions and civil society.

The genus Liolaemus is a widely distributed and very diverse natural group of lizards. The L. boulengeri group is characterized by the presence of a patch of enlarged scales on the posterior medial surface of the thigh. Liolaemus goetschi, which belongs to this group, was described by Müller and Hellmich in 1938 based on few specimens collected from Laguna Playa (Río Negro Province, Argentina). Those specimens were deposited in museums in Munich(Germany) and Breslau (Poland). The type material of L. goetschi deposited in Poland was lost and because the material in Germany is of difficult access, many populatios of other species have been confused with L. goetschi in subsequent works. In this work, L. goetschi was redescribed by using the characters currently designated for the group and the known distribution of the species was extended. The taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of L. goetschi within the L. boulengeri clade was also analyzed, especially with respect to L. melanops and L. martorii. Fil: Nori, Javier. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Zoología Aplicada; Argentina Fil: Abdala, Cristian Simón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentina Fil: Scrocchi Manfrini, Gustavo Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentina

Liolaemus goetschi Müller and Hellmich, 1938 is a poorly known Patagonian lizard. Two specimens were collected in the central-western portion of Río Negro Province, Argentina, located 82 km west and 110 km south of the known distribution for the species in its type locality.