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In this paper, we address the weighted multi-objective re-entrant owshop scheduling problem considering release dates in order to minimize makespan, total completion time, total tardiness, maximum idle time, and number of tardy jobs. Each job is taken into account with deterministic processing times, and release dates. The flow-shop comprised of two workshops in whose jobs are entered to the main workshop and after the first part of the processing, they are transferred to the second workshop and after this stage, the jobs are returned to the main workshop for the last part of the processing. We model the problem by a new mixed integer programming based on formulating sum of idle time as a new concept. Moreover, a hybrid evolutionary algorithm is proposed based on some dispatching rules, ant colony optimization, and genetic algorithm. The performance of the proposed algorithm on some test instances is compared to the mixed integer linear programming model as well as the state-of-the-art algorithms called genetic algorithm, tabu search, bio-geography based optimization, and artificial bee colony. The computational experiments show that our proposed approach outperforms other algorithms and the results indicate efficiency and capability of the proposed algorithm in comparison with the traditional algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel attempt is made to incorporate the two effective algorithm strategies, where BBO has a strong exploration and Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA) is used for exploitation of the search space. The proposed algorithm is tested on IEEE CEC 2014 and statistical, convergence graphs are given. The proposed algorithm is also applied to 10 real life problems and compared with its counterpart algorithm. Results obtained by above experiments have demonstrated the outperformance of the hybrid version of BBO over other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Biology is the property of Instituto Internacional de Ecologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Through an in-depth study of the literature, as well as some other sources of information, geographical distribution maps of the various taxa of the European freshwater planarian genus Crenobia (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) are provided, which document their records and distributional ranges in a detail that was previously unavailable. The genus Crenobia ranges across Northern, Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe, including several islands in the Mediterranean region, but is absent from a major part of the Iberian Peninsula; it is distributed also in Turkey. The chromosome portrait of Crenobia is complex, as it exhibits chromosome numbers that are multiples of 7, such as 28, 35, 42, 56, and 63. Sexually reproducing populations are tetraploid or hexaploid, while asexually reproducing populations exhibit high chromosome numbers. All taxa of Crenobia are stenothermic, cold-loving species. Although historical biogeographic scenarios interpreting the taxonomic diversification of the genus as being the result of the vicissitudes of the Last Ice Age are still captivating, it may be the case that the genus already diversified 6-20 million years ago. The paper sketches in some detail the anatomy of the copulatory complex of the various taxa. Previously, it went unnoticed that in two of the taxa (Crenobia alpina and C. anophthalma) the two sperm ducts have different, asymmetrical trajectories. Further, it was largely undocumented that in several taxa the sperm ducts exhibit a pronounced recurvature, as well as a dorsal loop before entering the penis papilla. Neither did previous studies document that in C. montenigrina the mouth opening is not located at the most posterior end of the pharyngeal pocket, but has shifted anteriad for some distance. Polypharyngy is a stable, species-specific character, with C. montenigrina usually exhibiting 11-17 pharynges, while C. anophthalma has never more than three pharynges. Different views have been expressed on the taxonomic status of several geographic and anatomical forms of Crenobia. It is shown here that Crenobia comprises five, well-defined full species, viz., C. alpina , C. corsica , C. montenigrina , C. anophthalma , and C. bathycola. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biota Neotropica (Edicao em Iingles) is the property of Biota Neotropica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents the general organization of a Dugesiidae population from Dăbuleni locality (SW Romania) with emphasis on the anatomy of the copulatory apparatus. The copulatory apparatus is characterized by intermingled bursal canal musculature and two distinct penis bulbs with two large seminal vesicles. The copulatory apparatus is also characterised by the presence of an atrial fold, feature typical of Schmidtea mediterranea (Benazzi, Baguñà, Ballester, Puccinelli, Del Papa 1975). The characteristics of the copulatory apparatus of the investigated population are comparatively discussed with all the other Schmidtea species. Data on the reproductive biology are also given. The presence of Schmidtea mediterranea in SW Romania is discussed in relation with the paleogeographic evolution of land and aquatic basins of Europe. The possibility that the Schmidtea population from Dăbuleni (SW Romania) be a candidate for a new species is also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A "metapopulation" is a group of populations of the same species separated by space but linked by dispersal and migration. Metapopulations of macroscopic organisms tend to have geographically-restricted distributions, but this does not seem to be the case in microbial eukaryotes due to their astronomical abundance. The term "metapopulation" was first applied to protists' biogeography in the article Finlay and Fenchel (2004), published in PROTIST , which contributed to the popularity of the paper. The article considered protist species as consisting of a single, cosmopolitan population. Here, we recall this paper, and assess developments during the last 15 years with respect to the question of protist species distribution on the surface of the earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Estimating the geographical distribution of species has long been done in Ecology. • Appropriately measuring and showing uncertainty in the models is crucial. • In this paper we provide a method to map uncertainty using cartograms under a Bayesian framework. Predicting the geographical distribution of a species is a central topic in ecology, conservation and management of natural resources especially for invasive organisms. Invasive species can modify the structure and function of invaded ecosystems, altering their biodiversity, and causing significant economic losses locally and globally. Therefore, measuring and visualizing the uncertainty inherent in species' potential distributions is fundamental for effective biodiversity monitoring and planning conservation interventions. This paper discusses a new Bayesian approach to mapping this uncertainty using cartograms, previously published knowledge, and presence/absence data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contributii Botanice is the property of Contributii Botanice and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Emergency supplies pre-positioning is crucial to improve the speed of response and mitigate the effects of disasters. According to the requirements of emergency preparedness for both civilian and military operations in China, the paper presents a problem of integrated civilian–military emergency supplies pre-positioning, the aim of which is to maximize both the expected military operational efficiency and the expected civilian operational efficiency while minimizing the overall cost of pre-positioning. To solve the problem, the paper proposes a solution method that uses a multiobjective algorithm to evolve a population of main location solutions and uses another single-objective algorithm to search optimal allocation sub-solutions for each main solution. Among different heuristics, we select water wave optimization (WWO) to design a multiobjective algorithm for the main problem and select biogeography-based optimization (BBO) for the subproblem, and demonstrate that they have competitive performance advantage in comparison with a set of well-known algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classification of the family Compositae (Asteraceae) has been much improved in the last decades by the application of molecular methods culminating in the recompilation published in 2009, Systematics, evolution, and biogeography of Compositae. Additional evidence of relationships has come from the use of high‐throughput sequencing methods. Our late colleague Vicki Ann Funk (1947–2019) was a pioneer in this line of research. Together with her team, she contributed to the achievement of a mature classification of the family, which she left outlined. In this paper, we contribute this classification including all of the recent advances at the subtribal level and review in depth all contributions to Compositae classification made since the 2009 compilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology is the property of Urban & Fischer Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Biomédica: Revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud is the property of Instituto Nacional de Salud of Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Reconciling the long-standing debate on the importance of niche-related and neutral factors on community assembly, recent research suggests that both deterministic and stochastic processes operate simultaneously along a continuum in many biogeographical systems. In particular, stochastic processes seem to lose importance under stressful conditions, which results in the increasing influence of deterministic counterparts. In this paper, I show that, at local scales, this stochasticity-stress relationship can be reversed along the environmental stress gradients within a salt marsh: stochasticity manifested under harshness. Here, low-lying, more stressful sites contained all of the plant species of the local pool (i.e. a greater chance of ecological drift), whereas high-elevation, less stressful sites exhibited reduced species richness due to competitive exclusion (i.e. a lower chance of ecological drift). I conclude that determining whether the importance of stochasticity in shaping community structure is greater under benign or harsh conditions depends on the scale of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales is the property of Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper focuses on the ‘zoogeographic region’ and the ‘zoogeographical boundary-line’ as key biogeographical constructs of empire. More specifically, it investigates how army and navy officers stationed at Halifax and Bermuda on the North America and West Indies Station helped to create an imperial, militarized ‘New World’ region in the North Atlantic through zoogeography in the British post-emancipation era. The tracing of the boundary-line between the temperate (Nearctic) and tropical (Neotropical) North Atlantic involved designating Bermuda and Halifax as strategic winter and summer ‘homes’ on the Station, and highlighting the ‘natural’ connections between the two sites through mobile fauna, ocean currents, and weather systems. Making visible the geographic distribution of migratory animals, the Gulf Stream, and hurricanes – through maps, natural collections, sketches, and travel-writing – provided new ways of seeing and thinking about British imperial defence in the North Atlantic. This paper also considers the role of non-human mobilities in animating these regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the Biogeographic Assessment Framework (BAF), a decision support process for marine spatial planning (MSP), developed through two decades of close collaborations between scientists and marine managers. Spatial planning is a considerable challenge for marine stewardship agencies because of the need to synthesize information on complex socio-ecological patterns across geographically broad spatial scales. This challenge is compounded by relatively short time-frames for implementation and limited financial and technological resources. To address this pragmatically, BAF provides a rapid, flexible and multi-disciplinary approach to integrate geospatial information into formats and visualization tools readily useable for spatial planning. Central to BAF is four sequential components: (1) Planning; (2) Data Evaluation; (3) Ecosystem Characterization; and (4) Management Applications. The framework has been applied to support the development of several marine spatial plans in the United States and Territories. This paper describes the structure of the BAF framework and the associated analytical techniques. Two management applications are provided to demonstrate the utility of BAF in supporting decision making in MSP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Introduction of a novel symbolic regression method called BBP. • Predicting the climbing rate of slip formwork systems using the proposed BBP. • Comparing the performance of the developed BBP model with genetic programming. Abstract Nowadays, it is undeniable necessity to select a fast and appropriate method for construction of high rise concrete structures. Slip formwork technology, as an automatic formwork system, has many advantages for high rise buildings and can reduce the construction time and costs. However, the climbing rate of slip formwork systems is a challenging task and depends on different factors. In this paper, the potential factors in calculating the climbing rate were identified. Then, a comprehensive database including 81 slip formwork projects in Iran was gathered. Afterwards, a symbolic regression method called linear biogeography-based programming was introduced and applied for extracting a formula that obtains a good climbing rate of slip formwork systems. For evaluating the performance of the proposed method, artificial neural network and linear genetic programming were utilized as well. The results show that the proposed formulation has good agreement with actual values of climbing rate of slip forming systems with low error and complexity and find it to be quite confident. Moreover, weather conditions criteria is known as the most effective parameter in climbing the rate of slip formwork systems based on the performed sensitivity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews key aspects of the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity's Ecologically or Biologically Significant Area (EBSA) process to date, anticipating global marine coverage of that process in so far as is possible by the end of 2018. EBSAs merge marine and coastal physical, biological and biogeographical information held by States, diverse scientific institutions and individual experts to identify inherent value of marine biodiversity, as well as providing a focus for either States or international organisations with sectoral competences to apply potential management measures to protect and sustainably manage biodiversity. In assessing information made available at dedicated EBSA Regional Workshops, several common patterns emerged, both in the data made available and in the gaps in information. The latter include missing information, representation of taxa and features of interest, and specialist expertise. The review exercise detailed here has highlighted the value and efficacy of the EBSA process and the information it has generated, despite some recognised shortcomings. It further suggests that there is potential to strengthen the EBSA portfolio by (i) adding some selected new areas yet to be described, (ii) revisiting existing EBSAs to add both new and existing information, and (iii) reconsidering some areas previously deemed to not meet the EBSA criteria by incorporating both new and existing information. Improving the systematic assessment of areas against the EBSA criteria could be achieved using a combination of (i) spatially precise systematic conservation approaches, supported by (ii) predictive modelling and biogeographic multi-criteria approaches based on expert judgement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scheduling in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) is described as an NP-Hard problem. Its complexity has increased significantly in line with the development of FMS over the past years. This paper presents a non-dominated sorting biogeography-based optimization (NSBBO) for scheduling problem of FMS having multi loading-unloading and shortcuts infused in the reentrant characteristics. This model is formulated to identify the near optimal trade-off solutions capable of addressing the bi-objectives of minimization of makespan and total earliness. The goal is to simultaneously determine the best machine assignment and job sequencing to satisfy both objectives. We propose the development of NSBBO by substituting the standard linear function of emigration-immigration rate with three approaches based on sinusoidal, quadratic and trapezoidal models. A selection of test problems was examined to analyze the effectiveness, efficiency and diversity levels of the proposed approaches as compared to standard NSBBO and NSGA-II. The results have shown that the NSBBO-trapezoidal model performed favorably and is comparable to current existing models. We conclude that the developed NSBBO and its variants are suitable alternative methods to achieve the bi-objective satisfaction of reentrant FMS scheduling problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several international initiatives, including the European Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, promote the identification and mapping of ecosystems as basic tools for the conservation of biodiversity and related services. On coarse scales, the spatial representation of ecosystems is usually based on broad land cover categories that largely overlook important ecological and biogeographic features of the biotic communities they are meant to exemplify. This paper presents a nationwide ecosystem mapping approach that promotes a degree of thematic detail, which is more suited than that found in the continental maps to meeting biodiversity conservation targets in Italy. The approach is based on the rationale that current and potential vegetation cover are valuable proxies for outlining ecosystems. The resulting Ecosystem Map of Italy includes 43 types of forest ecosystems instead of the 5 woodland, forest and other wooded land types recognized at the European level. We outline the expected advantages of this enhanced thematic detail for a number of conservation purposes and highlight how the resulting maps may help to meet biodiversity conservation targets at the national level. In particular, we refer to the assessment of conservation status, the definition of restoration priorities, the planning of green infrastructure and the identification of collapse risks for the ecosystems identified. Comprehensively, the definition, characterization and assessment of ecosystem types represent the carrying structure of the recently launched national system of natural capital accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents the combination of differential evolution (DE) and Biogeography-based Optimization (BBO) algorithm to solve complex economic emission load dispatch (EELD) problems of thermal generators of power systems. Emission substances like NO X , SO X , CO X , power demand equality constraint and operating limit constraint are considered here. Differential evolution (DE) is one of the very fast and robust, accurate evolutionary algorithms for global optimization and solution of EELD problems. Biogeography-based Optimization (BBO) is another new biogeography inspired algorithm. Biogeography deals with the geographical distribution of different biological species. This algorithm searches for the global optimum mainly through two steps: migration and mutation. In this paper the combination of DE and BBO (DE/BBO) is proposed to accelerate the convergence speed of both the algorithm and to improve solution quality. To show the advantages of the proposed algorithm, it has been applied for solving multi-objective EELD problems in a 3 generator system with NO X and SO X emission, in a 6 generators system considering NO X emission, in a 6 generator system addressing both valve-point loading and NO X emission. The current proposal is found better in terms of quality of the compromising and individual solution obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Co-management between local communities and government agencies is promoted as a strategy to improve fisheries management. This paper considers the potential for co-management of sea turtle fisheries within four UK Overseas Territories (OTs) in the Caribbean, and for co-ordinated management among those territories. We focus on fisher incentives for engaging in co-management and on the potential to scale up co-management to a regional level. This paper presents data from Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands, where 110 turtle fishers participated in a socio-economic survey undertaken as part of the ‘Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean’ project. Based on three established criteria for co-management (perceived crisis in stock, willingness to participate and community cohesion), results suggest that fisher support for co-management exists within each OT, but the extent of support for and views of specific management interventions varies among OTs. The implications of results for co-management in each territory, and for establishing co-ordinated management regimes in the region, are discussed in the context of current debates about the nature of resources and scalar (mis)matches between resource and management regimes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a new equilibrium optimization method for supply chain network design (SCND) problem under uncertainty, where the uncertain transportation costs and customer demands are characterized by both probability and possibility distributions. We introduce cost risk level constraint and joint service level constraint in the proposed optimization model. When the random parameters follow normal distributions, we reduce the risk level constraint and the joint service level constraint into their equivalent credibility constraints. Furthermore, we employ a sequence of discrete possibility distributions to approximate continuous possibility distributions. To enhance solution efficiency, we introduce the dominance set and efficient valid inequalities into deterministic mixed-integer programming (MIP) model, and preprocess the valid inequalities to obtain a simplified nonlinear programming model. After that, a hybrid biogeography based optimization (BBO) algorithm incorporating new solution presentation and local search operations is designed to solve the simplified optimization model. Finally, we conduct some numerical experiments via an application example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed hybrid BBO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lactucinae or Lactuca alliance include approximately 200 species distributed across the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. They were not recognised as a separate lineage until the late 20th century and their circumscription is still not fully settled. The generic classification of no other group of the Cichorieae has faced as many controversies as the Lactuca alliance and competing taxonomies coexist. This paper provides the first molecular phylogeny of the subtribe on a global scale as a major step towards its revised systematics. The sampling includes almost 60% of the species-level diversity and spans all species groups. Two datasets were created, one including the nrDNA ITS region, the other five concatenated non-coding plastid DNA loci. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference were used to produce a robust phylogenetic backbone. The diversification and expansion of the Lactucinae in a geohistorical context was reconstructed by estimating the age of their lineages using relaxed molecular clock dating and by inferring the ancestral areas using Bayesian binary analysis. The redelimited monophyletic Lactucinae are composed of seven lineages that also include Prenanthes, which is confirmed to have a single species, P. purpurea. The positions of two further lineages shift between Lactucinae and Crepidinae in the nuclear and plastid DNA phylogenies. Incongruence between the phylogenies suggests events of ancient reticulation or incomplete lineage sorting in the formation of these latter two lineages and in two of the seven other Lactucinae lineages. The phylogenetic results show a dilemma for Lactucinae systematics: most generic concepts proposed to date are highly artificial but the resolved phylogenetic lineages do not constitute practicable taxonomic entities with our current knowledge. Diversification of the subtribe is inferred to have taken place since the Middle Miocene. Biogeographic analysis proposes that the clade originated in the mountains of the landmass mediating between the European and Asian continents and delimited in the south by the Tethys Sea and in the north by the Paratethys Sea. Several independent migrations have occurred into various parts of Asia, Europe, tropical Africa and North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Heterogeneous Network (HetNet), the femtocell (HeNB) has been deployed by the telecommunication industries to provide extensive coverage as well as capacity in an indoor. These HeNBs are Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) which is randomly used in co-channel with macrocell (MeNB) and causes the Co-Tier Interference (CTI) in OFDMA. The effect of CTI in OFDMA systems can lead the system throughput degradation and service disruption. Because of quick direct changing features in Rayleigh channel, it is compulsory to succeed the satisfactory performance. The signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR) is arbitrary which drives the highest capacity to be an irregular variable. However, this paper derives the expressions of outage probabilities based on the hybrid Genetic Algorithm (GA) with biogeography based dynamic subcarrier allocation (HGBBDSA) algorithm is implemented in reducing the outage probability. The outage probability countenance is expressed for the moment-generating function of the total SINR at the receivers end. The simulation results demonstrate that the HGBBDSA can lessen the outage to 45 % than existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper accounts for all names published in Argyreia Lour., Lettsomia Roxb., and Moorcroftia Choisy, reconciles the taxonomy and nomenclature for those names based on study of type specimens for nearly all of them. In total, 135 species and 5 varieties are accepted; a significant increase in the species-level diversity relative to previously published estimates in the literature. Concise summaries of the infrageneric relationships, distribution and biogeography, taxonomy, and nomenclatural complexities are provided; relevant literature is cited throughout. Excluded species and uncertain species are treated in separate sections. One new combination is made at varietal rank and one invalid name in current use is here validated. A comprehensive index is provided to all published names, cross-referenced to the accepted name. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically investigates the evolutionary drivers of between-population variation of the human DRD4 exon III locus, a particular gene associated with the human personality trait of novelty-seeking behavior. Providing a novel compilation of worldwide DRD4 exon III allele frequencies in a large sample of indigenous populations around the world, this study employs population-specific biogeographic indicators to test the hypothesis of natural selection acting on the set of DRD4 exon III allele variants. The estimates suggest that migratory distance from East Africa and various population-specific biogeographic indicators, such as latitude, land suitability for agriculture, pasture land, and terrain ruggedness, contributed significantly to overall between-population DRD4 exon III polymorphism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using standard methods, I describe Heterometopus meisterfeldi nov. gen., nov. spec., a new armophorean ciliate from dry soil of the bed of the Fogg Dam in northern Australia. It appeared in the non-flooded Petri dish culture three weeks after soil re-wetting, i.e., when the bottom zone of the culture became anaerobic. The new genus is characterized by a cylindroid body and a short, slightly oblique, J-shaped adoral zone extending only ventrally and about one third of body length. The species has an average size of 140 × 30 μm and has 23 ciliary rows, 30 adoral polykinetids, and 25 false kineties in the perizonal stripe. Metopus palaeformis , as redescribed by Foissner et al. (2002) and in the present paper, shows very similar characteristics and is thus transferred to the new genus: Heterometopus palaeformis ( Kahl, 1927 ) nov. comb. Heterometopus meisterfeldi and H. palaeformis differ by body size (∼140 × 30 vs. 100 × 20 in vivo), the shape of the macronucleus (ellipsoid, ∼2:1 vs. elongate ellipsoid, ∼3:1), the width of the side-stripe (12 μm vs. 4 μm), the number of false kineties in the perizonal stripe (25 vs. 14), and the number of adoral polykinetids (∼30 vs. ∼20). Very likely, several species from Kahl's Metopus groups II and III belong to Heterometopus but a transfer should await detailed redescriptions. Heterometopus meisterfeldi belongs very likely to the family Metopidae. The short, J-shaped adoral zone of polykinetids highly resembles the blepharismid genera Pseudoblepharisma and Blepharisma . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape assessment methods have traditionally valued the landscape through a panel of experts with little or no participation of the population. However, after the adoption of the European Landscape Convention (ELC), the perception and the participation of the population has played an increasingly important role in landscape evaluation and planning. In this regard, the goal of this paper is to develop a model able to evaluate and integrate both the objective and subjective landscape factors into a new concept: the Preservability. This model, as well as selecting and classifying the landscape attributes according to the bio-geographic features of the study area i.e., Ricote Valley (Region of Murcia, Spain), includes two online surveys: one to assess the populatiońs landscape preferences and the other to obtain the specific weight of each objective and subjective landscape factor from a panel of experts. These landscape factors were incorporated into a GIS. To obtain the best model, the Preservability was assessed from three different approaches: objective, objective-weighted and weighted. The final results demonstrate how the Preservability weighted method returns different thresholds appropriate to the landscape attributes, the population’s perceptual preference and the protected areas. The different thresholds allows for priority areas to be identified for protection, as well as the adoption of appropriate management and planning strategies according to the landscapes characteristics, current state and uniqueness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the legacy of isolation from the mainland and the influence of other factors on biodiversity, biogeography, and faunal and floral change on islands of Western Australia (WA). An empirical perspective from WA reveals numerous neglected insights and overlooked factual information, illustrating the need for improved synthesis of existing knowledge in order to understand the generality of biodiversity patterns and change on islands. A recent loss of direction in the discipline of island biogeography appears to have resulted from over-emphasis of island area, distance from mainland, and absence of competitor species as the key variables in explaining the nature and evolution of insular biodiversity. While these three factors are relevant, they are not always sufficient and should instead be considered as embedded in a more general set of 12 parameters, namely geographic location (including climatic conditions and geomorphological features); history (both geological and human); productivity (soil nutrient status); disturbance (including degree of exposure to salt-laden winds and the presence of Indigenous people); occurrence of breeding marine birds and mammals (particularly significant on small islands); and sampling compatibility. These nine factors are less unequal than is conceded in the literature. Furthermore, most of the 12 factors are interconnected and interdependent, and in combination provide a more satisfactory explanation of insular phenomena. However, the relative influence of these factors differs among species and among higher taxa. Baselines for the biotas of WA islands date from 1843 (for landbirds and seabirds), much earlier than for mammals (1906), plants (1950), and butterflies (1969). Most WA islands demonstrate no extinctions or immigrations of landbird species, evidence of a static equilibrium. On some other WA islands, immigrations of native landbird species exceed extinctions. Immigrations of seabird species also exceed extinctions. In contrast, the native mammal fauna of WA islands shows few immigrations or extinctions unrelated to human activities. The floras of WA islands show numerous immigrations of species, many of which involve plant species not native to WA. Island floras generally exhibit many extinctions and immigrations, with small islets having the most stable floras. Before Europeans settled WA, it appears that species turnover on islands was either non-existent or infrequent. The concept of punctuated equilibrium appears to provide a better explanation of ongoing biodiversity change on islands than dynamic equilibrium, with the intrusion of humans representing a turning point. Dynamic equilibrium is then a special case applicable to relatively short time scales and islands within the dispersal capabilities of species in a particular taxon. We are optimistic about the future of biodiversity on the islands of WA if current policies, management and monitoring are maintained and strengthened. Garden and Barrow islands, with their extensive naval or mining infrastructure, demonstrate successful coexistence for at least several decades between humans and biodiversity. The main challenge to protecting biodiversity on the islands of WA is to prevent the establishment of pest species, particularly of ants, rodents, cats (Felis catus), house mice (Mus musculus) and weeds, and plant and animal diseases. Continual and vigilant monitoring and public education are required. To facilitate this, we recommend that one management plan be prepared to apply to all islands of WA. Our review concludes with numerous suggestions for future research on the islands of WA, as well as on continental and oceanic islands globally. We advocate a systematic comparative approach, based on a comprehensive global synthesis of information already available on islands in the ecological and natural history literature. Fifteen themes are briefly outlined. Regional syntheses will remain important, but many more are needed in order to achieve effective global synthesis and a more complete and holistic understanding of island ecology. These suggestions should result in improved knowledge about insular biodiversity and more comprehensive protection and management of island life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alien plants pose a substantial threat to island ecosystems in Australia and worldwide. A better understanding of weed distributions is necessary to more effectively manage natural resources on islands. To address this for Western Australian islands, we assembled a database of all available records of alien plants on these islands. In the second paper in this series, we report on the distribution of records from all islands located along the west coast of Western Australia. We defined the west coast as the coastline within the boundaries of the South West, Swan and Midwest regions of the Department of Parks and Wildlife. This area of coastline stretches from Black Point (near Cape Leeuwin) in the south, to Waroora Station (near Coral Bay) in the north. From 4049 individual records, a total of 317 alien plant species were recorded on the 206 islands with existing weed records. A disproportionately large number of weed species were recorded on islands near Perth, estuarine islands, and islands with a history of intensive human activity. Some of the species recorded as present on the islands are known to be serious environmental weeds, including mother of millions (Bryophyllum delagoense), sea spurge (Euphorbia paralias), cleavers (Galium aparine), African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum), tree mallow (Malva arborea), ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum), common prickly pear (Opuntia stricta), sea spinach (Tetragonia decumbens), and golden crownbeard (Verbesina encelioides). The development of management plans to address these species and the survey of islands adjacent to known infestations should be conservation priorities for the west coast islands. Improved biosecurity procedures and enforcement could prevent the establishment of new weed populations on islands and reduce the future costs associated with the management of infestations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to effectively use limited funds and resources for conservation of biodiversity, the most valuable areas and contents have to be identified. Therefore, it is essential to identify the priority conservation areas (PCAs) and to explore the maximum conservation benefits for biodiversity conservation. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recommends that countries should conduct ‘Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) identification’, and adopt a scheme of using scientific criteria to identify the EBSAs, but in China Offshore Areas, this kind of work almost does not exist. This paper focuses on the method and application of PCAs identification in Offshore China. The first step is to carry out marine spatial classification according to biogeographical factors, and then to discuss the PCAs identification in regard to marine biodiversity in species, community and ecosystem levels, finally to take Offshore China as a case study. Through marine spatial classification, Offshore China is divided into 5 biological regions by climate and geography differences, and 12 ecological regions by typical, ecological and administrative factors, and 98 biogeographical units by biogeographical factors. As a result, among 98 geographical units, 43 units are identified as PCAs, 31 units are PCAs at focal level, 16 units are PCAs at community level, and 15 units are PCAs at ecosystem level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to solve the reliability redundancy allocation problems of series–parallel system under the various nonlinear resource constraints using the penalty guided based biogeography based optimization. In this type of problem both the number of redundant components and the corresponding component reliability in each subsystem are to be decided simultaneously so as to maximize the reliability of the system. A parameter-free penalty function has been taken which encourages the algorithm to explore within the feasible region and the near feasible region, and discourage the infeasible solutions. Four benchmark problems with the reliability, redundancy allocation problems are taken to demonstrate the approach and it has been shown by comparison that the solutions by the approach are better than that of solutions available in the literature. Finally statistical simulation has been performed for supremacy the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose two computationally efficient ‘range-free’ 3D node localization schemes using the application of hybrid-particle swarm optimization (HPSO) and biogeography based optimization (BBO). It is considered that nodes are deployed with constraints over three layer boundaries, in an anisotropic environment. The anchor nodes are randomly distributed over the top layer only and target nodes distributed over the middle and bottom layers. Radio irregularity factor, i.e., an anisotropic property of propagation media and heterogenous properties of the devices are considered. To overcome the non-linearity between received signal strength (RSS) and distance, edge weights between each target node and neighboring anchor nodes have been considered to compute the location of the target node. These edge weights are modeled using fuzzy logic system (FLS) to reduce the computational complexity. The edge weights are further optimized by HPSO and BBO separately to minimize the location error. Both the proposed applications of the two algorithms are compared with the earlier proposed range-free algorithms in literature, i.e., the simple centroid method and weighted centroid method. The results of our proposed applications of the two algorithms are better as compared to centroid and weighted centroid methods in terms of error and scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To attain large information rates, code division multiple access (CDMA) is a well-built aspirant for the downlink of cell phone communications. However, while transmitting any signal over fading channel, the performance of CDMA system is highly affected. For that reason, Multiuser detection (MUD) and channel estimation play a significant function for overcoming the interference and characterizing the channel. In this paper, biogeography base optimization (BBO) algorithm introduced for multiuser detection CDMA system. The objective of BBO algorithm is used to minimize the error rate of the user transmitting signal. According to immigration rate and emigration rate, the optimal solution of the detection problem is decided. Therefore, the user detection complexity and the interference of user transmitting signal are resolved. Proposed multiuser detection algorithm is appropriate for run time user identification process; since the detection complication and the required time are concentrated. The proposed approach is implemented in MATLAB working platform and the performance measures are examined. The error rate of proposed algorithm is compared with harmony search algorithm, enhanced harmony search algorithm, and without multiuser detection procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age estimation in forensic investigations may complement the prediction of externally visible characteristics and the inference of biogeographical ancestry, thus allowing a better description of an unknown individual. Multiple CpG sites that show linear correlation between age and degree of DNA methylation have been identified in the human genome, providing a selection of candidates for age prediction. In this study, we optimized an assay based on bisulfite conversion and pyrosequencing of 7 CpG sites located in the ELOVL2 gene. Examination of 303 blood samples collected from individuals aged 2–75 years allowed selection of the most informative site, explaining 83% of variation in age. The final linear regression model included two CpG sites in ELOVL2 and enabled age prediction with R 2 = 0.859, prediction error = 6.85 and mean absolute deviation MAD = 5.03. Examination of a testing set of 124 blood samples (MAD = 5.75) showed that 68.5% of samples were correctly predicted, assuming that chronological and predicted ages matched ±7 years. It was found that the ELOVL2 methylation status in bloodstains had not changed significantly after 4 weeks of storage in room temperature conditions. Analysis of 45 bloodstains deposited on tissue paper after 5, 10 and 15 years of storage in room conditions indicated that although a gradual decrease of positive PCR results was observed, the general age prediction success rate remained similar and equaled 60–78%. The obtained results show that the ELOVL2 locus provides a very good source of information about human chronological age based on analysis of blood, including bloodstains, and it may constitute a powerful and reliable predictor in future forensic age estimation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amphipod fauna of Moldova remains one of the least known in Europe with the most recent data upon species distribution being already almost 50 years old. In this paper, we summarize the knowledge upon the distribution of amphipods in Moldovan inland waters based on literature survey combined with our new original data and present a comprehensive checklist of recorded amphipod species. The new original data come from samples collected in 2012 at 25 sites across Moldova from a variety of freshwater habitats, ranging from springs and streams to rivers and artificial lakes. In the collected material, we identified only 4 species of gammarids – one, Gammarus kischineffensis, belonging to family Gammaridae and three species of Pontogammaridae: Pontogammarus robustoides, Obesogammarus crassus and Dikerogammarus haemobaphes. Presence of all these species has already been reported from Moldova. This number is surprisingly low if compared to the total number of amphipod species known to occur in the country, which is 18. However, 14 of these species are Ponto-Caspian elements and were reported only from the largest Moldovan rivers, Dniester and Prut. Further 12 Ponto-Caspian amphipod species may likely occur in the Moldovan section of the Dniester as they were found before in the lowest run of the river, already on the Ukrainian territory. Leaving out the Ponto-Caspian fauna, only five typically freshwater species were reported from Moldova so far: G. kischineffensis, G. balcanicus, Synurella ambulans, Niphargus birsteini and N. yaroshenkoi. This poverty is striking if compared to surrounding countries. Interpreting these results within a geological and palaeogeographical framework, we may suppose that it is due to the low landscape complexity combined with the relatively young age of the Moldavian Plateau and its hydrological network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In ecological studies it is widely accepted that the biogeographical subdivision of continents and regions simplifies and integrates the complexity of natural ecosystems and species range by separating variation or distinctions into biogeographical subdivisions that could be used as appropriate units for the conservation of biodiversity. In this paper we support the opinion that the biogeographical approach could be a unifying method for the analysis of the extinction risk of threatened species according to the IUCN Categories and Criteria at the regional level. We examined recent papers regarding the conservation assessment of species and discussed the advantages of incorporating convergence of conservation action plans between bordering countries, and financial issues, into the IUCN protocol. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Moving object tracking is one of the applied fields in artificial intelligence and robotic. The main objective of object tracking is to detect and locate targets in video frames of real scenes. Although various methods have been proposed for object tracking so far, tracking in challenging conditions remains an open issue. Recently, different evolutionary and heuristics algorithms like swarm intelligence have been used to address the tracking challenges, which have shown promising performance. In this paper, a new approach based on modified biogeography based optimization (mBBO) method is introduced. The BBO algorithm includes migration and mutation steps. In the migration phase, the search space is properly explored by sharing information between habitats and weaker solutions to improve their position. On the other hand, the mutation phase leads to diversity and change in solutions. In this algorithm, the elitist method has been also used to keep better solutions. The performance of modified BBO tracker has been evaluated on benchmark video datasets and compared with several other tracking methods. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method estimates the location of targets with high accuracy and achieves better performance and robustness compared to other trackers. • An objects tracking approach based on a biogeography algorithm is proposed. • The proposed method supports both the concept of exploration and exploitation using migration, mutation and elitist operators. • The results indicate the efficiency and accuracy of using the BBO algorithm in objects tracking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotic indices are mainly aimed at assessing levels of deterioration caused by chemical or organic pollution. However, no biotic index to date has been developed to detect impacts of alien species on benthic communities. In this paper, a new biotic index, namely ALEX, is proposed to address the objectives of the Water Framework Directive and was tested in Mersin Bay (Levantine Sea, Turkey). Species were divided into four biogeographic groups, namely native species, casual species, established species and invasive species, and the metric considers the relative importance of these groups in samples. The index classified the ecological status of some stations which are shallow, and close to harbor and river mouths as bad or poor in February and October. The ALEX values were positively and significantly correlated with total nitrogen, silicate and silt percentage in sediment, and negatively correlated with depth and the distance from the harbor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade's improvements in taxonomic methods led to a rapid exploration of biodiversity. Among the new species thus discovered there are many well outlined Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) which, however, have not yet been described in accord with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature . In this paper we revive Tetramorium indocile Santschi, 1927 stat. rev. from synonymy and propose its scientific name for the Western Palearctic OTU characterized earlier, Tetramorium sp. C sensu Schlick-Steiner et al. (2006) , based on evidences of molecular phylogeny combined with multivariate analyses of morphometric data. The type series of T. indocile was associated with the Molecular Operational Taxonomic Unit Tetramorium sp. C with high posterior probability ( p = 1.0) based on cumulative linear discriminant analysis of morphometric traits. Possible synonyms are excluded as names for it based on biogeographic, and worker-morphometric arguments. In order to avoid further uncertainties, a lectotype for Tetramorium indocile Santschi, 1927 is designated hereby. A diagnosis of T. indocile , the redescription of the worker caste and the first description of males including the male genital morphology are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Helichrysum-Anaphalis-Pseudognaphalium (HAP) clade is a major component of the tribe Gnaphalieae (Compositae) and includes the genera Helichrysum, Anaphalis, Achyrocline and Pseudognaphalium. Allopolyploid origins for at least two clades within the HAP clade have previously been suggested, one involving the genus Anaphalis and the Mediterranean-Asian Helichrysum species, and a second one involving part of Pseudognaphalium. In the present paper, with the use of two nuclear ribosomal and two plastid DNA markers and an extensive sampling of the HAP clade, further evidence relevant to the origin, composition and closest relatives of these clades is provided, and additional cases of incongruence are discussed. The superposition of distribution areas on the phylogeny suggests that the HAP clade originated in the Cape region of southern Africa and subsequently dispersed to and diversified in the Afromontane regions of east southern Africa, mainly the Drakensberg, before spreading northward and giving rise to several lineages in Afromontane and Afroalpine areas of central tropical Africa and in Madagascar. Allopolyploidy may have preceded the dispersal and diversification of the HAP lineage out of Africa to the Mediterranean area, and to the Americas and Asia. Finally, discussion on the distribution of several morphological characters in the phylogeny and their taxonomic relevance is also provided, with views on the need for a new generic delimitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We successfully developed an extension of the OBIS-SEAMAP database, a global biogeographic database specializing in marine mammals, seabirds and sea turtles, to integrate passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) data with other commonly collected data types (i.e. line-transect visual sightings, animal telemetry, and photo-identification). As part of this effort, we made significant improvements in mapping and visualization tools for PAM data, including spatially and temporally interactive summary statistics, diel plots, temporal effort representation, and the unique rendering of PAM data to distinguish them from other data types. In this paper, we summarize technical challenges we overcame, report the methodologies and implementation of the integration, and conduct case studies using visual sightings and PAM data from bowhead whales and Risso's dolphins to demonstrate how the integrated database facilitates in-depth ecological assessments that form the foundation for spatially-explicit conservation efforts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite their vital role in terrestrial ecosystem function, the distributions and dynamics of soil microbial communities (SMCs) are poorly understood. Vegetation and soil properties are the primary factors that influence SMCs. This paper discusses the potential effectiveness of remote sensing science and technologies for mapping SMC biogeography by characterizing surface biophysical properties (e.g., plant traits and community composition) strongly correlated with SMCs. Using remotely sensed biophysical properties to predict SMC distributions is extremely challenging because of the intricate interactions between biotic and abiotic factors and between above- and below-ground ecosystems. However, the integration of biophysical and soil remote sensing with geospatial information about the environment holds great promise for mapping SMC biogeography. Additional research needs involve microbial taxonomic definition, soil environmental complexity, and scaling strategies. The collaborative effort of experts from diverse disciplines is essential to linking terrestrial surface biosphere observations with subsurface microbial community distributions using remote sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Flow of species and spatial continuity of biological processes between geographically separated areas may be achieved using management tools known as Ecological Corridors (EC). In this paper we propose an EC composed of three highly threatened coral reef systems in the Southwest Gulf of Mexico: Sistema Arrecifal Lobos Tuxpan, Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano and Arrecifes de los Tuxtlas. The proposed EC is supported by the concept of Marine Protected Areas Networks, which highlights the biogeographical and habitat heterogeneity representations as the main criteria to the establishment of this kind of networks. These three reef systems represent the coral biodiversity of the western Gulf of Mexico. Nevertheless there are serious shortcomings in its protection. Under this approach, the challenges that Mexican government will face for management and conservation of this EC are discussed. There is an obvious lack of an adequate legal framework to establish networks of protected areas in Mexico, mainly because national legislation does not consider connectivity as an important factor in the selection of MPA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper presents the aphid species occurring in Europe which belong to the genus Pemphigus Hartig, 1839 of the family Eriosomatidae (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aphidomorpha). Some of these species can become a serious threat for agricultural and horticultural crops and can be deemed pests of economic importance. Information on the harmfulness of some species was provided. The genus was characterised along with the features that differentiate Pemphigus s. str. from the subgenus Pemphiginus Börner, 1930. The most significant biological features were compared and described (type of life cycle, host plants) as well as the distribution of particular species and their probable area of origin. For the species that occur in Europe (also the introduced ones) an original key was included to identify them on the basis of galls they form on poplars. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Feature selection plays a crucial role in applications where data consists of hundreds of features due to curse of dimensionality. This paper presents two feature selection methods by modifying the main operators of Biogeography-Based Optimization algorithm. The difference between these methods is in employing binary or integer coding. The simulations perform on datasets with different feature dimensions and classes. The results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed methods in comparison with other most frequently used meta-heuristic strategies in feature selection problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]