Search results for "Richness"
showing 10 items of 447 documents
Updated checklist and distribution of large branchiopods (Branchiopoda: Anostraca, Notostraca, Spinicaudata) in Tunisia
2016
Temporary ponds are the most peculiar and representative water bodies in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world, where they often represent diversity hotspots that greatly contribute to the regional biodiversity. Being indissolubly linked to these ecosystems, the so-called “large branchiopods” are unanimously considered flagship taxa of these habitats. Nonetheless, updated and detailed information on large branchiopod faunas is still missing in many countries or regions. Based on an extensive bibliographical review and field samplings, we provide an updated and commented checklist of large branchiopods in Tunisia, one of the less investigated countries of the Maghreb as far as inland w…
Reducing the data-deficiency of threatened European habitats: Spatial variation of sabellariid worm reefs and associated fauna in the Sicily Channel,…
2017
Biogenic reefs, such as those produced by tube-dwelling polychaetes of the genus Sabellaria, are valuable marine habitats which are a focus of protection according to European legislation. The achievement of this goal is potentially hindered by the lack of essential empirical data, especially in the Mediterranean Sea. This study addresses some of the current knowledge gaps by quantifying and comparing multi-scale patterns of abundance and distribution of two habitat-forming species (Sabellaria alveolata and S. spinulosa) and their associated fauna along 190 km of coast on the Italian side of the Sicily Channel. While the abundance of the two sabellariids and the total number of associated t…
Defaunation and biomass collapse of mammals in the largest Atlantic forest remnant
2016
Large continuous rainforests are the main hope for sustaining the population of large-bodied vertebrates that cannot cope with fragmentation or unsustainable hunting. The Brazilian Atlantic forest is considered a biodiversity hotspot and although highly fragmented, it still contains large forest patches that may be important for the conservation of mammals that require large areas. Here, we estimated species richness, density and biomass of medium- and large-sized mammals along the largest remnant of the Atlantic rainforest, Brazil (the Serra do Mar bioregion), an estimated area of 8000 km2. We recorded 44 species based on 4090 km of diurnal line transects and camera traps, animal tracks an…
Different lineages of freshwater jellyfishes (Cnidaria, Olindiidae, Craspedacusta) invading Europe: another piece of the puzzle from Sicily, Italy
2018
Correctly identifying and mapping the distribution patterns of passively dispersing freshwater organisms is an important task to understand the mechanisms through which these organisms move across the world and to counteract the introduction of invasive alien species in a timely way; moreover, in the light of the growing evidence of the pervasiveness of cryptic species and cryptic biological invasions among all animal groups, the use of molecular identification tools is strongly advisable. In this context, we present the first record of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester, 1880 in the Mediterranean island of Sicily, Italy. This invasive species, native to China, was fo…
Distribution and diversity of fish species along the Sudanese Red Sea coast based on three combined trap and gillnet surveys
2021
Abstract On the western shore of the semi-enclosed coral-reef rich Red Sea, the 850 km coastline of the Red Sea State of the Republic of Sudan provides livelihoods to artisanal fishers, but the present state of the living natural resources and the impact of fisheries are poorly known. To provide a baseline on the biodiversity and fish abundance three fisheries research surveys spanning the entire Sudanese coast were carried out in 2012−13 designed around the seven Sudanese fisheries management areas. Baited traps and gillnets were employed to sample the various reef habitats and fish assemblages from inshore to deeper outer reef archipelagos. The highest species richness, functional diversi…
The relevance of urban agroforestry and urban remnant forest for avian diversity in a densely-populated developing country: the case of Port-au-Princ…
2021
9 pages; International audience; Urban green spaces can contribute to conserve some of the original avian diversity in urbanized landscapes. However, the relative contribution of urban agriculture vs. urban forest remnants to the preservation of the avifauna in large cities, particularly in developing countries in the tropics, remains poorly documented. We assessed bird assemblages in the densely-populated capital city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. From early January to late April 2018, 10 censuses per site were conducted in 16 urban green sites, consisting of 8 unexploited, private forest patches and 8 agroforestry plantations, embedded within the u…
Defoliation effects on plant and soil properties in an experimental low arctic grassland community – the role of plant community structure
2008
In Northern Fennoscandia, sub-arctic and arctic grasslands are commonly grazed by the semi-domesticated reindeer. Reindeer grazing is known to affect plant production and belowground processes, such as nutrient mineralization in these grasslands, but little is known of the role of plant community structure in the response of plant and soil properties to the defoliation of plants. Using soil and seeds from a low arctic meadow, we established a 23-week greenhouse experiment to test whether communities of different plant species richness (one, two or four species) and composition (three different replicated compositions within each richness level) respond to defoliation in a different way. We …
Role of Soil Organisms in the Maintenance of Species-Rich Seminatural Grasslands through Mowing
2009
To preserve species-rich grasslands, management practices such as mowing are often required. Mowing is known to promote aboveground conditions that help to maintain plant species richness, but whether belowground effects are important as well is not known. We hypothesized that if mowing decreases belowground carbon transfer by reducing root mass, this will reduce the abundance and activity of soil decomposers and lead to diminished nutrient availability in soil. In grasslands, this would provide a means to mitigate the negative effects of nitrogen enrichment on plant species richness. We established experimental plots on grassland with one-third of plots growing untouched, one-third mowed o…
Morphological traits predict host-tree specialization in wood-inhabiting fungal communities
2020
Tree species is one of the most important determinants of wood-inhabiting fungal community composition, yet its relationship with fungal reproductive and dispersal traits remains poorly understood. We studied fungal communities (total of 657 species) inhabiting broadleaved and coniferous dead wood (total of 192 logs) in 12 semi-natural boreal forests. We utilized a trait-based hierarchical joint species distribution model to examine how the relationship between dead wood quality and species occurrence correlates with reproductive and dispersal morphological traits. Broadleaved trees had higher species richness than conifers, due to discomycetoids and pyrenomycetoids specializing in them. Re…
Plant functional trait response to environmental drivers across European temperate forest understorey communities
2020
Functional traits respond to environmental drivers, hence evaluating trait-environment relationships across spatial environmental gradients can help to understand how multiple drivers influence plant communities. Global-change drivers such as changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition occur worldwide, but affect community trait distributions at the local scale, where resources (e.g. light availability) and conditions (e.g. soil pH) also influence plant communities. We investigate how multiple environmental drivers affect community trait responses related to resource acquisition (plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), woodiness, and mycorrhizal status) and regeneration (seed mass, lateral s…