Search results for "Asia"

Reproductive site selection: evidence of an oviposition cue in a highly adaptive dipteran, Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

2020

Abstract Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) is a vinegar fly species that originates from Eastern Asia and has spread throughout Europe and the Americas since its initial detection in United States in 2008. Its relatively large, sclerotized, and serrated ovipositor enables the ability to penetrate ripening fruits, providing a protected environment for its egg and larval stages. Because the mechanism of oviposition site selection of D. suzukii is a matter of hypothesis, the aim of the present study was to elucidate behavioral and chemical aspects of short-range ovipositional site selection within the context of D. suzukii reproductive biology. The preference of D. suzukii to lay eggs on artifici…

Classification of steppe vegetation in the eastern Pamir Alai and southwestern Tian-Shan Mountains (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan)

2018

Aims: To complete the syntaxonomical scheme for the steppe vegetation of the montane and alpine zones in the Pamir Alai and southwestern Tian-Shan Mountains in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with some remarks on its environmental predictors. Location: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Methods: A total of 274 relevés were sampled in 2016–2017 using the seven-degree cover-abundance scale of Braun-Blanquet. They were classified with modified TWINSPAN with cut-off levels of 0%, 5%, 10% and 25% and total inertia as a measure of cluster heterogeneity. Diagnostic species were identified using the phi coefficient as a fidelity measure. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and canonical correspondence analys…

Dwarf shrub vegetation of rock ledges and clefts in the Pamir Alai Mountains (Middle Asia: Tajikistan)

2016

AbstractThe paper presents the results of phytosociological researches on rocky slope vegetation in Tajikistan with the aim to establish a comprehensive syntaxonomical classification system. Field studies were conducted in 2010-2014 in Pamir Alai ranges and Pamirian plateau. Nearly 500 relevés documenting rock and scree vegetation were made according to the Braun-Blanquet method. Numerical analyses of selected 58 relevés representing dwarf shrub vegetation on rock ledges made it possible to distinguish: Ephedro glaucae- Spiraeion baldschuanicae and Ephedrion regeliano-fedtschenkoi alliances, as well as Spiraeetum baldschuanicae, Rhamnetum coriaceae, Pentaphylloidetum parvifoliae and Pentaph…

Vegetation of Middle Asia – the project state of art after ten years of survey and future perspectives

2017

Middle Asia is one of the most diverse regions on earth with high endemism of vascular plants and remarkable habitat richness, mainly due to the considerable altitudinal range (300-7,500 m a.s.l.). The region is considered as one of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots. This paper presents the Vegetation of Middle Asia database (VMA; GIVD ID: AS-00-003; http://www.givd.info/ID/AS-00-003) which is the regional database that covers the area of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The database contains phytosociological relevés collected between the years 2006 and 2016 in different vegetation types with the use of the Braun-Blanquet method. The covered vegetation types include: deciduous fore…

2020

The Mediterranean Basin represents a Global Biodiversity Hotspot where many organisms show high inter- and intraspecific differentiation. Extant phylogeographic patterns of terrestrial circum-Mediterranean faunas were mainly shaped through Pleistocene range shifts and range fragmentations due to retreat into different glacial refugia. Thus, several extant Mediterranean bird species have diversified by surviving glaciations in different hospitable refugia and subsequently expanded their distribution ranges during the Holocene. Such a scenario was also suggested for the Eurasian Wren (Nannus troglodytes) despite the lack of genetic data for most Mediterranean subspecies. Our phylogenetic mult…

Towards understanding isotope variability in elephant ivory to establish isotopic profiling and source-area determination

2016

Abstract We present here new isotopic data (δ 13 C, δ 15 N, δ 18 O, δ 2 H, and δ 34 S) from pulverised ivory powder, measured by continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry from an unprecedented large dataset of 507 ivory samples, derived from twenty-eight African and six Asian elephant range states. The aim of this study is to assess the accuracy of isotopic fingerprinting and to evaluate its forensic potential and limitations to predict the provenance of ivory of unknown origin. We constructed a nominal assignment framework for the African reference samples, consisting of 208 different sites and applied the weighted k -Nearest Neighbor Classifier with reference site as classifier and …

Late Cretaceous-Early Eocene origin of yams (Dioscorea, Dioscoreaceae) in the Laurasian Palaearctic and their subsequent Oligocene-Miocene diversific…

2015

Aim: Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae) is a predominantly pantropical genus (< 600 species) that includes the third most important tropical tuber crop and species of pharmacological value. Fossil records from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres were used to test hypotheses about the origin of the genus Dioscorea, and to examine potential macroevolutionary processes that led to its current distribution. Location: Pantropical distribution. Methods: Divergence times were estimated using the most comprehensive phylogeny of the group published to date based on plastid sequences and fossil calibrations, applying a relaxed-clock model approach. Ancestral areas and range shifts were reconstructed us…

Vegetation of feather grass steppes in the western Pamir Alai Mountains (Tajikistan, Middle Asia)

2016

Aims: To propose the first syntaxonomical scheme for the graminoid steppe vegetation of the montane and alpine zones in the Pamir-Alai Mts. in Tajikistan with some remarks on its environmental gradients. Location: Tajikistan. Methods: A total of 155 relevés were sampled in 2015 using the seven-degree cover-abundance scale of Braun-Blanquet and subsequently 148 of these relevés were selected and classified by the modified TWINSPAN method using the four step interval scale with cutoff levels of 0%, 5%, 10% and 25% and total inertia as a measure of cluster heterogeneity. Diagnostic species were identified using the phi coefficient as a fidelity measure. The detrended correspondance analysis wa…

Distribution, diversity patterns and faunogenesis of the millipedes (Diplopoda) of the Himalayas

2018

The Himalayas support a highly rich, diverse, multi-layered, mostly endemic diplopod fauna which presently contains &amp;gt;270 species, 53 genera, 23 families and 13 orders. This is the result of mixing the ancient, apparently Tertiary and younger, Plio-Pleistocene elements of various origins, as well as the most recent anthropochore (= man-mediated) introductions. At the species and, partly, generic levels, the fauna is largely autochthonous and sylvicolous, formed through aboundingin situradiation and vicariance events. In general, the species from large genera and families tend to occupy a wide range of altitudes, but nearly each of the constituent species shows a distribution highly lo…

Two new varieties in Stipa (Poaceae) from Central Asia

2016

Abstract The paper presents descriptions of two new taxa, Stipa ×brevicallosa var. hissarensis and Stipa orientalis var. ladakhorum. Both of them differ from the nominal varieties in having densely pubescent (not glabrous or scabrous) leaves of vegetative shoots. First of the above mentioned taxa occurs in Tajikistan (Pamir Alai Mts) whereas the second in India (Western Himalayas). Images of type specimens of both taxa are provided.