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Temperature is known to influence many aspects of organisms and is frequently linked to geographical species distributions. Despite the importance of a broad understanding of an animal's thermal biology, few studies incorporate more than one metric of thermal biology. Here we examined an elevational assemblage of Habronattus jumping spiders to measure different aspects of their thermal biology including thermal limits (CTmin, CTmax), thermal preference, V̇CO2 as proxy for metabolic rate, locomotor behavior and warming tolerance. We used these data to test whether thermal biology helped explain how species were distributed across elevation. Habronattus had high CTmax values, which did not differ among species across the elevational gradient. The highest-elevation species had a lower CTmin than any other species. All species had a strong thermal preference around 37 °C. With respect to performance, one of the middle elevation species was significantly less temperature-sensitive in metabolic rate. Differences between species with respect to locomotion (jump distance) were likely driven by differences in mass, with no differences in thermal performance across elevation. We suggest that Habronattus distributions follow Brett's rule, a rule that predicts more geographical variation in cold tolerance than heat. Additionally, we suggest that physiological tolerances interact with biotic factors, particularly those related to courtship and mate choice to influence species distributions. Habronattus also had very high warming tolerance values (> 20 °C, on average). Taken together, these data suggest that Habronattus are resilient in the face of climate-change related shifts in temperature.

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 80 species of rove beetles were recorded between 1992 and 2020. Distribution and abundance of various species are discussed. Five species are new to the fauna of the federal state: Atheta aquatilis (Thomson, 1867), A. clientula (Erichson, 1839), A. sodermani Bernhauer, 1931, Paederus caligatus (Erichson, 1840) and Xantholinus elegans (Olivier, 1795). For selected rare species, the community of accompanying species is characterized from sieve samples of most varied habitats or structures. A comparison of the species inventory proves the ecological value of wet to dry habitats, and shows the effort that needs to be made to register both the current species inventory of the area and its changes in time. The complexity of this task lies, on the one hand, in an expansion of the range of species and, on the other hand, in a simultaneous disappearance of species, mainly caused by the loss of various habitat types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: Most Central European grasslands crucially depend on land use, and thus there is a need to comparatively analyse the impacts of different types of land use management on grassland biota. Aims and methods: We use grasshoppers (Orthoptera), which are the most important insect herbivores in grasslands, and assess the differences of grazing (sheep) and mowing on species abundance, richness, and composition. We use a river embankment in the National Park Donau Auen as study site, where we have established 28 transects. Orthoptera abundance was surveyed 13 times between May and September 2019 in each transect. Results: We recorded 24 Orthoptera species, of which 12 species are listed in the national Red List. The most abundant non-threatened species is Pseudochorthippus parallelus in mown transects, while in grazed transects Euchorthippus declivus is most abundant. Eight of the ten most abundant Orthoptera species differed significantly in abundance between mown and grazed transects. Total abundance of Orthoptera was higher in mown transects, while grazed transects had higher species richness. Most xero-thermophilic species were more abundant in grazed transects, while some species of mesic grassland were more abundant in mown transects. These species-level differences resulted in clearly separated Orthoptera species assemblages between grazed and mown transects. Our findings suggest that the less dense vegetation in grazed transects better fulfilled the habitat requirements of xero-thermophilic species compared to mown transects Discussion: Given that mown and grazed transects are located adjacent to each other, that the complete study site was mown for many decades and grazing was only started one year before field data collection, the scale of differences in species richness, composition and abundances between grazed and mown transects is surprising. Thus, our findings indicate that grasshoppers respond rapidly to changing land use. Implications for insect conservation: We conclude that river embankments can be important secondary habitats for species-rich grasshopper communities. We recommend that grazing should be continued at the river embankment, ideally as rotational pasture as currently done. Mowing should be changed towards mowing parts of the river embankment at different times and leaving small strips of vegetation unmown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Urban forests are under increased pressure from invasion by exotic (alien) species. The vegetation present in the matrix of urban sites is a rich source of alien invasive propagules, which increases the risk of alien invasion in forests within an urban space, leading to a decline in indigenous species. Therefore, determining the distribution patterns of native and exotic species as influenced by environmental factors can assist in quantifying the impact of exotic species at broad scales based on responses on a finer scale. Quantifying the effects of multiple environmental factors on the distribution patterns of both indigenous and alien species in the ecosystem may help in prescribing suitable management efforts. Methods Fifteen forest patches were sampled in the eThekwini (Durban) Municipality and data collected from 74 100-m2 plots with different degrees of invasion. Indigenous and alien species of trees, shrubs and climbers occurring in ten and more plots were considered for analysis and the CANOCO 5.1 package was used to run various constrained ordination analyses. Variation partitioning analysis was used to assess the impact of environmental variables at different spatial scales, namely the plot and patch scales. Results Canopy gaps are the major controlling factor for invasive alien plants (IAPs) occurrence at fine scale. At patch level, residential and industry areas outside the boundaries (buffer area) of forest patches have a high influence on the distribution of IAPs. Communities dominated by the invasive Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King are most common on the lowland coastal forests while communities dominated by either Litsea glutinosa (Lour.) C.B.Rob. or Cardiospermum grandiflorum Sw. can prevail in both lowland coastal and scarp forests. Conclusions Canopy gaps in lowland forests can facilitate the transition of native forests to novel communities containing a variety of alien plant species. Communities of shrub, climber and tree IAPs occur in lowland coastal forests while climber and tree IAPs dominate the high-elevation scarp forests. The resilience shown by some native species to the tree, shrub and climber IAPs by remaining when IAPs establish makes these species very suitable for restoration projects. Forest patches surrounded by a high incidence of residential and industrial areas in the buffer matrix are likely to have a high diversity of IAPs. Larger patch size and high connectivity to nearby native forests are key in reducing invasion by IAPs.

African rainforest is severely impacted by human activities, ranging from resource collection, selective logging to fragmentation and scale deforestation. Consequently, large mammal communities occurring therein are strongly modified. Here, we present a study conducted in Taï National Park (TNP), which characterises the spatial distribution and differential response of seven duiker species to human activities. Based on extensive survey data recorded between 2005 and 2015, we used a maximum entropy modelling approach for predicting duiker species distribution and a hierarchical clustering approach to identify potential subgroups in the duiker community. The seven duiker species clearly differed in their spatial distribution, with Cephalophus dorsalis and Philantomba maxwellii being the most common and widely distributed with no clear response towards gradients of impact from human activities. In contrast, Cephalophus ogilbyi, Cephalophus jentinki, Cephalophus sylvicultor and Cephalophus zebra showed increasing responses towards anthropogenic impact gradients, with the latter two being particularly sensitive. These duikers are not found in areas of illegal human activities. The restricted distribution of Cephalophus niger seems artificial and may indicate species misidentification. The strong spatial signature of human activities in the duiker community of TNP is of concern. Effective park management, including extensive ranger patrols, is vital for ensuring the persistence of this unique duiker community in West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 80 species of rove beetles were recorded between 1992 and 2020. Distribution and abundance of various species are discussed. Five species are new to the fauna of the federal state: Atheta aquatilis (Thomson, 1867), A. clientula (Erichson, 1839), A. sodermani Bernhauer, 1931, Paederus caligatus (Erichson, 1840) and Xantholinus elegans (Olivier, 1795). For selected rare species, the community of accompanying species is characterized from sieve samples of most varied habitats or structures. A comparison of the species inventory proves the ecological value of wet to dry habitats, and shows the effort that needs to be made to register both the current species inventory of the area and its changes in time. The complexity of this task lies, on the one hand, in an expansion of the range of species and, on the other hand, in a simultaneous disappearance of species, mainly caused by the loss of various habitat types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peat fires in boreal and tundra regions can potentially cause a high CO 2 release, because of their large soil carbon stocks. Under current and future climate warming the frequency and intensity of droughts are increasing and will cause the plant community and organic soil to become more susceptible to fire. The organic soil consumption by fire is commonly used as a proxy for fire severity and is a large source of carbon release. However, the role of organic soils in both above- and belowground fire behavior has only rarely been studied. In this study we collected soil and branches from Betula pubescens, Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies / obovata from the taiga/tundra ecotone across a large spatial scale. In laboratory fire experiments we burned different fuel type combinations to examine the fire spread through fuel ladders both from branches to soil and vice versa . We found that the tree species identity influences the fire spread from branches to soil and vice versa . The combination of chemical and structural plant traits could explain the stronger interaction between soil and coniferous spruce and pine fuels in a fire ladder compared to the deciduous birch. Therefore, total carbon emission from a boreal forest fire may not only depend on burned plant fuel, but also on the species-specific potential of the trees to ignite the soil. Carbon emission models and forest management could be improved if not only the aboveground plant fuel consumption is considered, but also the interaction between fuels in a fuel ladder and the probability of soil ignition by a forest crown fire and vice versa . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study of Biology, Morphology and Taxonomy of the Nematode Stephanofilaria assamensis (Filariina, Stephanofilariidae). Saparov K. A., Akramova F. D., Azimov D. A., Golovanov V. I. - Biological characters of Stephanofilaria assamensis Pande, 1936, a parasite of cattle, were studied under environmental conditions of Uzbekistan with the emphasis on morphology of all developmental stages. Bloodsucking flies Haematobia atripalpis Bezzi, 1895, Lyperosia titillans Bezzi, 1907 and L.irritans Linnaeus, 1758 were established as intermediate hosts. Prevalence of the nematode larvae in the flies constituted 2.1, 1.5, and 1.2 %, respectively. Characters for the species identification were revised. On that basis S. zaheeri Singh, 1958 is regarded as a synonym of S. assamensis. The place of Stephanofilaria genus in the system of Stephanofilariidae is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species Composition and Structure of the Communities of Plant-Parasitic and Free-Living Soil Nematodes in the Greenhouses of Botanical Gardens of Ukraine. Gubin, A. I., Sigareva, D. D. - In greenhouses of botanical gardens of Ukraine 81 species of nematodes were found. The richest by the number of species was Tylenchida order that was presented by 25 species (31 % of species composition). The dominant group of nematodes was plant-parasitic (most frequent was Rotylenchus robustus (de Man, 1876) Filipjev, 1936 and Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid et White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949). The group of saprobiotic nematodes, which was presented by 52 species (64 %), appeared to be the richest by the number of species. It is shown, that formation of nematode communities in greenhouses of botanical gardens was caused by the interaction of many related factors, crucial of which is the composition of plant collections. The structure of communities is quite constant and almost independent of the quantity of nematodes species. Plant-parasitic species dominate by the number and frequency of detection, and represent a kind of a core of nematode communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little information is available on long-term changes in bird communities following fire in the unmanaged forest. We have evaluated and compared bird species communities along two long-term chronosequences after fire (0 to >200 years post-fire) in the eastern Quebec boreal forest, which is known for its long fire-return intervals. By characterizing forest habitat in stands of different ages (time since fire), we were able to model species richness and bird community characteristics in three habitat types: mature forests, forest-edge, and open-forests. Although bird species richness did not vary greatly, our results show changes in species composition following successional stages and highlight the need to protect the forest at all stages, especially old-growth, which provides a heterogeneous environment suitable for several species. Keeping a mosaic composed of all-age, fire-disturbed forests should facilitate the conservation of bird diversity in the eastern boreal forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community ecologists and conservation biologists often work with data that are too sparse for achieving reliable inference with species-specific approaches. Here we explore the idea of combining species-specific models into a single hierarchical model. The community component of the model seeks for shared patterns in how the species respond to environmental covariates. We illustrate the modeling framework in the context of logistic regression and presence-absence data, but a similar hierarchical structure could also be used in many other types of applications. We first use simulated data to illustrate that the community component can improve parameterization of species-specific models especially for rare species, for which the data would be too sparse to be informative alone. We then apply the community model to real data on 500 diatom species to show that it has much greater predictive power than a collection of independent species-specific models. We use the modeling approach to show that roughly one-third of distance decay in community similaritycan be explained by two variables characterizing water quality, rare species typically preferring nutrient-poor waters with high pH, and common species showing a more general pattern of resource use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signals of species interactions can be inferred from survey data by asking if some species occur more or less often together than what would be expected by random, or more generally, if any structural aspect of the community deviates from that expected from a set of independent species. However, a positive (or negative) association between two species does not necessarily signify a direct or indirect interaction, as it can result simply from the species having similar (or dissimilar) habitat requirements. We show how these two factors can be separated by multivariate logistic regression, with the regression part accounting for species-specific habitat requirements, and a correlation matrix for the positive or negative residual associations. We parameterize the model using Bayesian inference with data on 22 species of wood-decaying fungi acquired in 14 dissimilar forest sites. Our analyses reveal that some of the species commonly found to occur together in the same logs are likely to do so merely by similar habitat requirements, whereas other species combinations are systematically either over- or underrepresented also or only after accounting for the habitat requirements. We use our results to derive hypotheses on species interactions that can be tested in future experimental work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• High elevation species is more cold-tolerant. • All species very heat tolerant (average over 50 °C); no differences between species. • No differences in performance (locomotion or respiration) between species. • All species have same thermal preference (average of 37 °C). • Desert Habronattus are likely tolerant increased temperatures due to climate change. Temperature is known to influence many aspects of organisms and is frequently linked to geographical species distributions. Despite the importance of a broad understanding of an animal's thermal biology, few studies incorporate more than one metric of thermal biology. Here we examined an elevational assemblage of Habronattus jumping spiders to measure different aspects of their thermal biology including thermal limits (CT min , CT max), thermal preference, V̇CO 2 as proxy for metabolic rate, locomotor behavior and warming tolerance. We used these data to test whether thermal biology helped explain how species were distributed across elevation. Habronattus had high CT max values, which did not differ among species across the elevational gradient. The highest-elevation species had a lower CT min than any other species. All species had a strong thermal preference around 37 °C. With respect to performance, one of the middle elevation species was significantly less temperature-sensitive in metabolic rate. Differences between species with respect to locomotion (jump distance) were likely driven by differences in mass, with no differences in thermal performance across elevation. We suggest that Habronattus distributions follow Brett's rule, a rule that predicts more geographical variation in cold tolerance than heat. Additionally, we suggest that physiological tolerances interact with biotic factors, particularly those related to courtship and mate choice to influence species distributions. Habronattus also had very high warming tolerance values (> 20 °C, on average). Taken together, these data suggest that Habronattus are resilient in the face of climate-change related shifts in temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]