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- The proper middle class: assessing the importance of subordinate species on plant community assembly and functional diversityPublication . Ulrich, Werner; Matthews, Thomas; Biurrun, Idoia; Aleksanyan, Alla; Borovyk, Dariia; Burrascano, Sabina; Campos, Juan Antonio; Chusova, Olha; Czarniecka-Wiera, Marta; Czortek, Patryk; Dembicz, Iwona; Essl, Franz; Janišová, Monika; Labadessa, Rocco; Napoleone, Francesca; Pielech, Remigiusz; Vynokurov, Denys; Puchałka, Radosław; Peres-Neto, PedroABSTRACT: The local species abundance distribution (SAD) and the associated distributions of species functional traits (TADs) both result from the process of plant community assembly. Community assembly has been extensively studied for dominant and rare plants, while subordinates, the species of intermediate abundance in a community, have received less research attention although this group is comparatively species rich and important for community functioning. Here, we study the functional role of subordinate species (those covering the intermediate 50% of abundance ranks) using a large data set of Palearctic dry and semi-dry grassland plant communities and data on specific leaf area, seed mass and plant height. Our findings indicate that species rank orders of SADs and TADs tend to be negatively correlated, causing the TAD to have higher evenness than the associated SAD. Subordinate species represented on average less than 15% of total plant abundance and trait space. Functional diversity of subordinates was lower than expected by a null model that assumed an equiprobable random distribution of trait values among plant species. Climate seasonality and elevation appeared to be the most important drivers of subordinate abundance and functional diversity. We conclude that subordinates differ from dominants in trait composition, leading to their partial functional independence from dominants.
- Heightened extinction risk due to tropical cyclones in insular biodiversity hotspotsPublication . Valle, Simon; Pereira, David; Matthews, Thomas; Martin, ThomasABSTRACT: Tropical Cyclones (TCs) represent a serious and potentially growing threat to global biodiversity, although spatial patterns in the severity of this threat are poorly explored. We provide the first global-scale analysis of TC-related extinction risk by examining both their frequency and the number of species they directly threaten in insular biodiversity hotspots; widely recognized spatial units representing both exceptional biodiversity and elevated threat. We first identified which insular hotspots possessed a theoretically high TC-related extinction risk by plotting 50 years of storm tracks for severe (category 4 and 5) TCs (STCs) and determined the frequency with which they occur within each insular hotspot. We then used IUCN Red List data to determine numbers of terrestrial vertebrates in each ‘high risk’ insular hotspot considered to be directly threatened with extinction by STCs. Five insular hotspots (Japan, Polynesia-Micronesia, Philippines, Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands, Caribbean Islands) were identified as being ‘high risk’, together accounting for >95 % of STCs falling within insular hotspots. However, the numbers of TC-threatened species in these hotspots varied greatly, from 128 in the Caribbean Islands (which encountered the fewest STCs of all ‘high risk’ hotspots) to eight in Japan (which received the most STCs). Results therefore indicate that TC-related extinction risk is not related to STC frequency, and other ecological and geographical factors are likely to be important drivers of risk. Regardless, our results show that several insular hotspots, particularly the Caribbean Islands, support many species at immediate risk of TC-driven extinction, and these require urgent conservation action. We advocate for the creation of an IUCN task force to oversee conservation strategies aimed at preventing extinctions of severely range-restricted storm-threatened species. We provide a watchlist of 60 such species with a particularly high risk of extinction which should be the initial focus for such a working group.
- BioTIME 2.0: Expanding and Improving a Database of Biodiversity Time SeriesPublication . Dornelas, Maria; Matthews, Thomas; Zvuloni, Assaf; Davies, JonathanABSTARCT: Motivation - Here, we make available a second version of the BioTIME database, which compiles records of abundance estimates for species in sample events of ecological assemblages through time. The updated version expands version 1.0 of the database by doubling the number of studies and includes substantial additional curation to the taxonomic accuracy of the records, as well as the metadata. Moreover, we now provide an R package (BioTIMEr) to facilitate use of the database. Main Types of Variables Included - The database is composed of one main data table containing the abundance records and 11 metadata tables. The data are organised in a hierarchy of scales where 11,989,233 records are nested in 1,603,067 sample events, from 553,253 sampling locations, which are nested in 708 studies. A study is defined as a sampling methodology applied to an assemblage for a minimum of 2 years. Spatial Location and Grain - Sampling locations in BioTIME are distributed across the planet, including marine, terrestrial and freshwater realms. Spatial grain size and extent vary across studies depending on sampling methodology. We recommend gridding of sampling locations into areas of consistent size. Time Period and Grain - The earliest time series in BioTIME start in 1874, and the most recent records are from 2023. Temporal grain and duration vary across studies. We recommend doing sample-level rarefaction to ensure consistent sampling effort through time before calculating any diversity metric. Major Taxa and Level of Measurement - The database includes any eukaryotic taxa, with a combined total of 56,400 taxa. Software Format - csv and. SQL.
- The what, how, and why of trait-based analyses in ecologyPublication . Guilherme, Thomas; Cardoso, Pedro; Jørgensen, Maria Wagner; Mammola, Stefano; Matthews, Thomas; Brook, BarryABSTRACT: Functional diversity is increasingly used alongside taxonomic diversity to describe populations and communities in ecology. Indeed, functional diversity metrics allow researchers to summarise complex occupancy patterns in space and/or time across communities and/or populations in response to various stressors. In other words, investigating what, how, and why something is changing in an ecosystem by looking at changes of patterns under a certain process through a specific mechanism. However, as the diversity of functional diversity metrics and methods increases, it is often not directly clear which metric is more readily appropriate for which question. We studied the ability of different functional diversity metrics to recover patterns and signals from different processes linked to common assembly mechanisms in community ecology, such as environmental filtering, competitive exclusion, equalising fitness, and facilitation. Using both simulated data and an empirical dataset affected by more complex and nuanced mechanisms, we tested the effectiveness of different space occupancy metrics to recover the simulated or empirical changes. We show that different metrics perform differently when trying to capture signals from different approximations of common mechanisms relative to no mechanism at all (null). For example, competition was harder to disentangle from the null mechanisms compared to facilitation in our simulations. This emphasises the importance of not using a one-size-fits-all metric. Instead, researchers should carefully consider and test whether a particular metric will be effective in capturing a pattern of interest.
- Species inventory and morphological measurements of spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) and ants (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Formicidae) collected in northern GhanaPublication . Yrjölä, Veikko; Crespo, Luís Carlos; Saussure, Stephanie; Asamoah, Francis; Soukainen, Arttu; Badii, Benjamin; Sihvonen, Pasi; Cardoso, Pedro; Prebus, MatthewABSTRACT: Agricultural expansion, a leading driver of biodiversity loss, has widespread effects on ecosystem services, particularly in tropical regions. In West Africa, the impact of intensified agriculture on local biodiversity – especially predator and decomposer species like spiders and ants – is understudied. This study aims to provide a checklist of terrestrial spiders and ants associated with savannahs and mango orchards in northern Ghana thus creating a baseline for further ecological studies on the community composition of these groups.
- Quantifying the unrecorded loss of avian phylogenetic diversityPublication . Faurby, Søren; Matthews, Thomas; Triantis, K.; Sayol, F.; Heisen, Julia; Araújo, MiguelABSTRACT: Humans have drastically reduced avian diversity, with the majority of extinctions occurring on islands. Previous studies have quantified various aspects of this decline, including both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity loss due to recorded extinctions. Other studies have estimated that unrecorded island bird extinctions – those that left no known fossil evidence – may represent hundreds of additional losses. However, these analyses have only focused on species diversity. In this paper, we bridge these two research efforts by estimating the phylogenetic diversity lost due to unrecorded island bird extinctions. Our findings suggest that the loss of phylogenetic diversity may be substantially smaller than expected, given the number of extinctions. Our results suggest that while unrecorded extinctions probably represented around 60% of all species extinctions, the majority of the phylogenetic diversity loss was likely caused by the recorded extinctions. The reason for this is that while extant island endemics are on average slightly more phylogenetically distinct than expected by chance, a disproportionate number of unrecorded extinctions are predicted to have been from islands in the eastern Pacific. Extant birds from this region generally have lower phylogenetic distinctiveness than other birds and the extinct species therefore likely did as well.
- A comprehensive trait dataset for Terrestrial Arthropods of the Azores: insights for conservation, island ecology and species invasionPublication . Oyarzabal da Silva, Guilherme; Rigal, François; Cardoso, Pedro; Amorim do Rosário, Isabel; Costa, Ricardo; Lhoumeau, Sébastien Georges André; Wallon, Sophie; Macías-Hernández, Nuria; Terzopoulou, Sofia; Triantis, Kostas; Borges, P.A.V.; Silva, DanielABSTRACT: Species functional traits provide critical insights into how organisms interact with and respond to their environment. Key characteristics, such as body size, dispersal ability and trophic specialisation influence species' survival, reproduction and adaptability. Island ecosystems, particularly oceanic archipelagos like the Azores, serve as ideal natural laboratories for studying these traits due to their unique biogeographic history and high endemism. Arthropods, as dominant colonisers and ecosystem engineers, exhibit rapid adaptation and trait diversification in these isolated settings. However, island arthropods face escalating threats from habitat loss, climate change and invasive species, which disrupt ecological functions and increase extinction risks. Under the scope of BALA (Biodiversity of Arthropods from the Laurisilva of Azores) project (1999-2021) and SLAM (Long Term Ecological Study of the Impacts of Climate Change in the natural forest of Azores) project (2012-2025), we obtained a comprehensive and standardised dataset of arthropods functional traits currently known to occur in the Azores Archipelago.
- New spatial records of vascular plants in the Azores Archipelago: the PRIBES project and the Azorean Biodiversity Portal (ABP) initiatives - I. São Jorge Island (Azores)Publication . Petrone, Andrea; Borges, P.A.V.; Pereira, Fernando; Pires Bento da Silva Elias, Rui Miguel; Mergen, PatriciaABSTRACT: The Azores Archipelago is known for its important natural heritage, yet its ecosystems face a “green tsunami” in the form of numerous exotic and invasive species. This influx has wrought serious biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystem services, representing one of the greatest threats to conservation across the islands. Originating from accelerated global trade and travel, these invasions impact human activities, public health and economic sectors alike. The PRIBES project intends to contribute to "The Regional Strategy for the Management of Terrestrial and Freshwater Exotic and Invasive Species in the Azores" (PRIBES-LIFE-IP- Estratégia regional para o controlo e prevenção de espécies exóticas invasoras - no âmbito do projeto LIFE IP AZORES NATURA, LIFE17 IPE/PT/000010). Recently, a plan was delivered to the Azorean government that proposes as key strategy: an unified Azores Invasive Species Task Force, a central coordination unit and island‐level focal points defined clear leadership roles for agencies and stakeholders (Axis 1), while stringent pre‐export controls, quarantine measures and risk analyses blocked new arrivals (Axis 2); parallel early‐detection teams and citizen‐science networks screened ports, airports and nurseries and triggered rapid eradication protocols (Axis 3), guided by a tiered framework of eradication, containment, control and mitigation chosen on feasibility and cost–benefit grounds (Axis 4). Simultaneously, national and international partnerships with IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) ISSG (Invasive Species Specialist Group), CABI (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International) and other island regions fostered data exchange (Axis 5), targeted scientific research investigated invasion pathways and management efficacy (Axis 6) and a central observatory consolidated occurrence records and risk assessments (Axis 7). Meanwhile, outreach campaigns, industry training and school programmes rallied public awareness (Axis 8). The AZORES BIOPORTAL (ABP) is a regional e-infrastructure dedicated to the mobilisation, curation and dissemination of biodiversity data from the Azores. It provides centralised data repository for researchers, policy-makers and educators; validated species checklists, including endemic, native and introduced species; integration with national and international biodiversity networks, including PORBIOTA, GBIF and LifeWatch ERIC; and tools for data visualisation and access, supporting conservation, ecological research and environmental management. ABP follows the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and supports open science. Mapping the occurrence of both native (endemic and non endemic) and exotic species is of key importance for the PRIBES project and the ABP intiative.
- Landscape to microhabitat: Uncovering the multiscale complexity of native and exotic forests on Terceira Island (Azores, Portugal)Publication . Lhoumeau, Sébastien Georges André; Pires Bento da Silva Elias, Rui Miguel; Seidel, Dominik; Gabriel, Rosalina; Borges, P.A.V.; Boscutti, FrancescoABSTRACT: This study aims to identify the structural and compositional differences between native and exotic woodlands on Terceira Island, Azores. Based on landscape, habitat, and microhabitat analyses, remnants of native forests appeared to be associated with less accessible terrains. A more homogeneous structural complexity is exhibited, derived from the numerous branching patterns of the endemic vascular plant species. In contrast, exotic forests exhibit structural heterogeneity driven by mixed non-indigenous vascular plant species as a result of human actions such as afforestation and latter invasion of exotic tree species, after abandonment of the agricultural use. The ground and canopy layers in exotic forests were more invaded by non-indigenous species, while the understory demonstrated greater resilience by being mostly composed of indigenous species. Our findings highlight the structural and ecological differences between native and exotic woodlands, reflecting the historical transformation of forest cover in the Azores. These insights emphasize the importance of long-term monitoring and structural assessments in informing conservation efforts aimed at preserving native forests and managing invasive species in exotic woodlands.
- Life-history attributes and biocontrol potential of the Purple coccidophagous ladybird, Rhyzobius lophanthae (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae)Publication . Alloush, Asem; Omkar; Raposo, Vera; Costa Miranda Soares, António Onofre; Burgio, GiovanniABSTRACT: Rhyzobius lophanthae (Blaisdell) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is an Australian coccidophagous ladybird, that preys on several species Diaspididae and others soft scale insects. It is widely distributed and has been successfully introduced and established in many temperate regions around the world. This article aims to review the literature on R. lophanthae, focusing on its taxonomy and nomenclature, prey range and geographical distribution, biology and ecology (including, life-history, morphological description and identification, effects of temperature on survival and mortality rate, predation rate and fecundity, growth, development and life tables), impact of chemical pesticides and successful application as biocontrol agent. Additionally, this review identifies key aspects (areas) where future research should be focused, including molecular identification and phylogenetic relationships, intraguild predation and cannibalism, cold storage and artificial diets, impact of climate change, effects of pesticides at various life stages, optimal release strategies and role of functional diversity on its maintenance and conservation.