Selecting indicator taxa for the quantitative assessment of biodiversity

Setting priorities and evaluation of habitats for the conservation of orthopterans: case study in the Aggtelek National Park (N Hungary)

The biodiversity conservation needs recent high-quality data and efficient methods for prioritizing species and sites for conservation. Here we prioritized Orthoptera habitats of the Aggtelek National Park, based on revised and actualized distribution data of 69 Orthoptera species living at 98 sites. The simple ranking and complementary areas methods were used with species richness (S), rarity weighted species richness (SR), and number of rare species (SQ). Additionally, the Grasshopper Conservation Indexes (GCI" and GCIn") combining European and local rarity and dispersal capacity of the species were also tested. Contrary to simple ranking the complementary areas method represented the whole fauna and significant part of the species-site data records. All the used indices performed similar except the standardized GCIn" which is highly affected by the differences in study intensity of sites. High-priority areas of the Aggtelek National Park were designated in the plateau above Jósvafő and Aggtelek villages and in the small, isolated hill near Jósvafő (Szőlő-hegy) covered with remained mosaic of former vineyards, orchards and hayfields. The combined use of the efficient indices provides additional ranking that allows the best selection of hotspots to support efficient use of limited resources in nature conservation.

New Parasitic Records of Aves: Phasianidae (Alectoris Chukar) in Malakand Division Northern, Pakistan

More than 24,000 species of helminth parasitize wild birds worldwide, and this number is expanding as interest in wildlife parasitology increases. The objective of the current study was to update the baseline of helminthological surveys conducted on chukar partridges (Alectoris chukar) in northern Pakistan. After reviewing the available literature, a parasite-host association checklist was developed. Nematodes (53.8 %) were the most commonly reported parasite, followed by cestodes (15.3 %) and trematodes (15.3 %) respectively. Seventy (70) chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar) distributed across the Malakand division of northern Pakistan were screened for parasitosis during the period from October 2020 to the end of December 2021. Blood samples of all the specimens were screened for haemoprotozoa, the digestive tract was examined for protozoans and helminths. The examined birds were infected with nine different helminth parasite species identified as cestodes (4 species), trematodes (2 species) and 3 species of nematodes. 29 out of 70 birds were infected, with the male and female infection rates being 36 % and 52.1 %, respectively, with a total prevalence of 41.3 %. Among the infected birds 10 (34.4 %) contained cestodes, 2 (6.8 %) contained trematodes and 17 (58.6 %) contained nematodes. Of which Ascaridia galli and Capillaria phasianina recorded the highest prevalence (10 %). While Amoebotaenia cuneate, Choanotaenia infundibulum, Hypoderaeum conoideum, Lyperosomum longicauda recorded the least (1.4 %) respectively. Reporting of Raillietina echinobothrida, Amoebotaenia cuneate and Lyperosomum longicauda constitute new host records. A. cuneate is a new record in the parasitological list in the country. In terms of host's sexuality, the overall figures show no significant changes in infection indices.

Long-term abundance trends of insect taxa are only weakly correlated

Changes in the abundances of animals, such as with the ongoing concern about insect declines, are often assumed to be general across taxa. However, this assumption is largely untested. Here, we used a database of assemblage-wide long-term insect and arachnid monitoring to compare abundance trends among co-occurring pairs of taxa. We show that 60% of co-occurring taxa qualitatively showed long-term trends in the same direction-either both increasing or both decreasing. However, in terms of magnitude, temporal trends were only weakly correlated (mean freshwater r = 0.05 (±0.03), mean terrestrial r = 0.12 (±0.09)). The strongest correlation was between trends of beetles and those of moths/butterflies (r = 0.26). Overall, even though there is some support for directional similarity in temporal trends, we find that changes in the abundance of one taxon provide little information on the changes of other taxa. No clear candidate for umbrella or indicator taxa emerged from our analysis. We conclude that obtaining a better picture of changes in insect abundances will require monitoring of multiple taxa, which remains uncommon, especially in the terrestrial realm.

A role for lakes in revealing the nature of animal movement using high dimensional telemetry systems

Movement ecology is increasingly relying on experimental approaches and hypothesis testing to reveal how, when, where, why, and which animals move. Movement of megafauna is inherently interesting but many of the fundamental questions of movement ecology can be efficiently tested in study systems with high degrees of control. Lakes can be seen as microcosms for studying ecological processes and the use of high-resolution positioning systems to triangulate exact coordinates of fish, along with sensors that relay information about depth, temperature, acceleration, predation, and more, can be used to answer some of movement ecology's most pressing questions. We describe how key questions in animal movement have been approached and how experiments can be designed to gather information about movement processes to answer questions about the physiological, genetic, and environmental drivers of movement using lakes. We submit that whole lake telemetry studies have a key role to play not only in movement ecology but more broadly in biology as key scientific arenas for knowledge advancement. New hardware for tracking aquatic animals and statistical tools for understanding the processes underlying detection data will continue to advance the potential for revealing the paradigms that govern movement and biological phenomena not just within lakes but in other realms spanning lands and oceans.

Metabarcoding From Microbes to Mammals: Comprehensive Bioassessment on a Global Scale

Global biodiversity loss is unprecedented, and threats to existing biodiversity are growing. Given pervasive global change, a major challenge facing resource managers is a lack of scalable tools to rapidly and consistently measure Earth's biodiversity. Environmental genomic tools provide some hope in the face of this crisis, and DNA metabarcoding, in particular, is a powerful approach for biodiversity assessment at large spatial scales. However, metabarcoding studies are variable in their taxonomic, temporal, or spatial scope, investigating individual species, specific taxonomic groups, or targeted communities at local or regional scales. With the advent of modern, ultra-high throughput sequencing platforms, conducting deep sequencing metabarcoding surveys with multiple DNA markers will enhance the breadth of biodiversity coverage, enabling comprehensive, rapid bioassessment of all the organisms in a sample. Here, we report on a systematic literature review of 1,563 articles published about DNA metabarcoding and summarize how this approach is rapidly revolutionizing global bioassessment efforts. Specifically, we quantify the stakeholders using DNA metabarcoding, the dominant applications of this technology, and the taxonomic groups assessed in these studies. We show that while DNA metabarcoding has reached global coverage, few studies deliver on its promise of near-comprehensive biodiversity assessment. We then outline how DNA metabarcoding can help us move toward real-time, global bioassessment, illustrating how different stakeholders could benefit from DNA metabarcoding. Next, we address barriers to widespread adoption of DNA metabarcoding, highlighting the need for standardized sampling protocols, experts and computational resources to handle the deluge of genomic data, and standardized, open-source bioinformatic pipelines. Finally, we explore how technological and scientific advances will realize the promise of total biodiversity assessment in a sample—from microbes to mammals—and unlock the rich information genomics exposes, opening new possibilities for merging whole-system DNA metabarcoding with (1) abundance and biomass quantification, (2) advanced modeling, such as species occupancy models, to improve species detection, (3) population genetics, (4) phylogenetics, and (5) food web and functional gene analysis. While many challenges need to be addressed to facilitate widespread adoption of environmental genomic approaches, concurrent scientific and technological advances will usher in methods to supplement existing bioassessment tools reliant on morphological and abiotic data. This expanded toolbox will help ensure that the best tool is used for the job and enable exciting integrative techniques that capitalize on multiple tools. Collectively, these new approaches will aid in addressing the global biodiversity crisis we now face.

The study of biotic interactions in the Brazilian Cerrado as a path to the conservation of biodiversity

As a focus for conservation efforts, biodiversity has received increased attention in the last fifty years. Searching for patterns in biodiversity, researchers have suggested studies including: ecological communities, cladistics classifications, hierarchical compositions of different levels of organization, and groups of taxonomically related species. Here, we propose that the study of the biodiversity of interactions may present a new perspective in the efforts to conserve biodiversity, especially in endangered ecosystems like the tropical savannas. We suggest that Cerrado, like other tropical savannas, is a particularly important ecosystem in which we can direct efforts to explain what determines the major part of variation in the outcomes of species interactions.

Cross Taxon Congruence Between Lichens and Vascular Plants in a Riparian Ecosystem

Despite that congruence across taxa has been proved as an effective tool to provide insights into the processes structuring the spatial distribution of taxonomic groups and is useful for conservation purposes, only a few studies on cross-taxon congruence focused on freshwater ecosystems and on the relations among vascular plants and lichens. We hypothesized here that, since vascular plants could be good surrogates of lichens in these ecosystems, it would be possible to assess the overall biodiversity of riparian habitats using plant data only. In this frame, we explored the relationship between (a) species richness and (b) community composition of plants and lichens in a wetland area located in central Italy to (i) assess whether vascular plants are good surrogates of lichens and (ii) to test the congruence of patterns of species richness and composition among plants and lichens along an ecological gradient. The general performance of plant species richness per se, as a biodiversity surrogate of lichens, had poor results. Nonetheless, the congruence in compositional patterns between lichens and vascular plants varied across habitats and was influenced by the characteristics of the vegetation. In general, we discussed how the strength of the studied relationships could be influenced by characteristics of the data (presence/absence vs. abundance), by the spatial scale, and by the features of the habitats. Overall, our data confirm that the more diverse and structurally complex the vegetation is, the more diverse are the lichen communities it hosts.

Congruence and the Biomonitoring of Aquatic Ecosystems: Are Odonate Larvae or Adults the Most Effective for the Evaluation of Impacts

Odonata have been widely used as indicators for the biomonitoring of terrestrial and aquatic habitats due to their sensitivity to environmental impacts. We aimed to determine whether the larval or adult phases of these insects were the best predictors of variation in habitat parameters and the loss of environmental integrity. Specimens were collected during three seasons (dry, rainy, and ebb) from 12 points in the Suiá-missu River basin, at the headwaters of the Xingu River in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Protest analysis indicated a high degree of congruence between the assemblages of larvae and adults in streams with varying degrees of habitat integrity (R = 0.832, p < 0.001, m ² = 0.307). When the congruence with environmental factors was analyzed, a significant association was found only for the larval phase (R = 0.318, p = 0.03, m ² = 0.888). When the suborders were analyzed separately, congruence was confirmed for anisopteran adults (R = 0.338, p = 0.031, m ² = 0.885) and larvae (R = 0.417, p = 0.003, m ² = 0.826) and for the zygopteran adults (R = 0.345, p = 0.027, m ² = 0.881) and larvae (R = 0.405, p = 0.011, m ² = 0.836). These results indicate that both larvae and adults respond systematically to environmental impacts. We suggest that either life phase can be used for biomonitoring, given their effectiveness for the interpretation of disturbance in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. These findings further reinforce the effectiveness of this insect order for the detection of modifications to the environment, showing that they are good indicators of environmental conditions.

Using bioacoustics to examine shifts in songbird phenology

Monitoring patterns in biodiversity and phenology have become increasingly important given accelerating levels of anthropogenic change. Long-term monitoring programs have reported earlier occurrence of spring activity, reflecting species response to climate change. Although tracking shifts in spring migration represents a valuable approach to monitoring community-level consequences of climate change, robust long-term observations are challenging and costly. Audio recordings and metrics of bioacoustic activity could provide an effective method for monitoring changes in songbird activity and broader biotic interactions. We used 3 years of spring and fall recordings at six sites in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, an area experiencing rapid warming and glacial retreat, to examine the utility of bioacoustics to detect changes in songbird phenology. We calculated the Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI), an algorithm representing an index of bird community complexity. Abrupt changes in ACI values from winter to spring corresponded to spring transition, suggesting that ACI may be an effective, albeit coarse metric to detect the arrival of migrating songbirds. The first peak in ACI shifted from April 16 to April 11 from 2012 to 2014. Changes in ACI were less abrupt in the fall due to weather events, suggesting spring recordings are better suited to indicate phenology. To ensure changes in ACI values were detecting real changes in songbird activity, we explored the relationship between ACI and song of three species: varied thrush (Ixoreus naevius), Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus), and ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula). ACI was positively related to counts of all species, but most markedly with song of the varied thrush, the most common species in our recordings and a known indicator of forest ecosystem health. We conclude that acoustic recordings paired with bioacoustic indices may be a useful method of monitoring shifts in songbird communities due to climate change and other sources of anthropogenic disturbance.

Disentangling effects of abiotic factors and biotic interactions on cross-taxon congruence in species turnover patterns of plants, moths and beetles

High cross-taxon congruence in species diversity patterns is essential for the use of surrogate taxa in biodiversity conservation, but presence and strength of congruence in species turnover patterns, and the relative contributions of abiotic environmental factors and biotic interaction towards this congruence, remain poorly understood. In our study, we used variation partitioning in multiple regressions to quantify cross-taxon congruence in community dissimilarities of vascular plants, geometrid and arciinid moths and carabid beetles, subsequently investigating their respective underpinning by abiotic factors and biotic interactions. Significant cross-taxon congruence observed across all taxon pairs was linked to their similar responses towards elevation change. Changes in the vegetation composition were closely linked to carabid turnover, with vegetation structure and associated microclimatic conditions proposed causes of this link. In contrast, moth assemblages appeared to be dominated by generalist species whose turnover was weakly associated with vegetation changes. Overall, abiotic factors exerted a stronger influence on cross-taxon congruence across our study sites than biotic interactions. The weak congruence in turnover observed particularly between plants and moths highlights the importance of multi-taxon approaches based on groupings of taxa with similar turnovers, rather than the use of single surrogate taxa or environmental proxies, in biodiversity assessments.

Leaf beetle (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) assemblages in a mosaic of natural and altered areas in the Brazilian cerrado

In landscape mosaics, species may use different vegetation types or be restricted to a single vegetation type or land-use feature highlighting the importance of the interaction of species requirements and environmental heterogeneity. In these systems, the determination of the overall pattern of β-diversity can indicate the importance of the environmental heterogeneity on diversity patterns. Here, we evaluate leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) as habitat quality bioindicators in a system with varying intensities of human impacts and different phyto-physiognomies (from open field to forests). We collected 1117 leaf beetles belonging to 245 species, of which 12 species and 5 genus were considered possible bioindicators based on IndVal measures. Higher species richness was observed in forests and regenerating fields, and habitats with lower species richness included pastures, mines, and veredas. Natural fields, regenerating fields, natural cerrado, and forest had higher values of β-diversity. Bioindicator systems that include not only species richness and abundance but also assemblage composition are needed to allow for a better understanding of Chrysomelidae response to environmental disturbance.

Cerambycinae (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) em Mato Grosso, Brasil

Um inventário dos Cerambycinae para o Estado de Mato Grosso, em especial a região de Sinop e Claudia, é apresentado neste trabalho. Trinta e quatro espécies, distribuídas em 32 gêneros, são registradas para o estado. Entre elas, quatro são novos registros para o Mato Grosso: Anoplomerus rotundicollis G.-Méneville, 1844; Juiaparus mexicanus (Thomson, 1861); Poeciloxestia ochrotaenia (Bates, 1870); Thoracibidion ruficaudatum (Thomson, 1865).

Differences among major taxa in the extent of ecological knowledge across four major ecosystems

Existing knowledge shapes our understanding of ecosystems and is critical for ecosystem-based management of the world's natural resources. Typically this knowledge is biased among taxa, with some taxa far better studied than others, but the extent of this bias is poorly known. In conjunction with the publically available World Registry of Marine Species database (WoRMS) and one of the world's premier electronic scientific literature databases (Web of Science®), a text mining approach is used to examine the distribution of existing ecological knowledge among taxa in coral reef, mangrove, seagrass and kelp bed ecosystems. We found that for each of these ecosystems, most research has been limited to a few groups of organisms. While this bias clearly reflects the perceived importance of some taxa as commercially or ecologically valuable, the relative lack of research of other taxonomic groups highlights the problem that some key taxa and associated ecosystem processes they affect may be poorly understood or completely ignored. The approach outlined here could be applied to any type of ecosystem for analyzing previous research effort and identifying knowledge gaps in order to improve ecosystem-based conservation and management.

Unite research with what citizens do for fun: "recreational monitoring" of marine biodiversity

Institutes often lack funds and manpower to perform large-scale biodiversity monitoring. Citizens can be involved, contributing to the collection of data, thus decreasing costs. Underwater research requires specialist skills and SCUBA certification, and it can be difficult to involve volunteers. The aim of this study was to involve large numbers of recreational divers in marine biodiversity monitoring for increasing the environmental education of the public and collecting data on the status of marine biodiversity. Here we show that thousands of recreational divers can be enrolled in a short time. Using specially formulated questionnaires, nonspecialist volunteers reported the presence of 61 marine taxa encountered during recreational dives, performed as regular sport dives. Validation trials were carried out to assess the accuracy and consistency of volunteer-recorded data, and these were compared to reference data collected by an experienced researcher. In the majority of trials (76%) volunteers performed with an accuracy and consistency of 50-80%, comparable to the performance of conservation volunteer divers on precise transects in other projects. The recruitment of recreational divers involved the main diving and tour operators in Italy, a popular scientific magazine, and mass media. During the four-year study, 3825 divers completed 18757 questionnaires, corresponding to 13539 diving hours. The volunteer-sightings-based index showed that in the monitored area the biodiversity status did not change significantly within the project time scale, but there was a significant negative correlation with latitude, suggesting improved quality in the southernmost areas. This trend could be related to the presence of stressors in the northern areas and has been supported by investigations performed by the Italian Ministry of the Environment. The greatest limitation with using volunteers to collect data was the uneven spatial distribution of samples. The benefits were the considerable amounts of data collected over short time periods and at low costs. The successful development of citizen-based monitoring programs requires open-mindedness in the academic community; advantages of citizen involvement in research are not only adding large data sets to the ecological knowledge base but also aiding in the environmental education of the public.

Identifying conservation areas on the basis of alternative distribution data sets

Distribution data on biodiversity features is a major component of conservation planning that are often inaccurate; thus, the true distribution of each feature is commonly over- or underrepresented. The selection of distribution data sets may therefore lead to variability in the spatial configuration and size of proposed reserve networks and uncertainty regarding the extent to which these networks actually contain the biodiversity features they were identified to protect. Our goals were to investigate the impact on reserve selection of choosing different distribution data sets and to propose novel methods to minimize uncertainty about target attainment within reserves. To do so, we used common prioritization methods (richness mapping, systematic reserve design, and a novel approach that integrates multiple types of distribution data) and three types of data on the distribution of mammals (predicted distribution models, occurrence records, and a novel combination of the two) to simulate the establishment of regional biodiversity reserves for the state of Arizona (U.S.A.). Using the results of these simulations, we explored variability in reserve placement and size as a function of the distribution data set. Spatial overlap of reserve networks identified with only predicted distribution data or only occurrence distribution data never exceeded 16%. In pairwise comparisons between reserves created with all three types of distribution data, overlap never achieved 50%. The reserve size required to meet conservation targets also varied with the type of distribution data used and the conservation goal; the largest reserve system was 10 times the smallest. Our results highlight the impact of employing different types of distribution data and identify novel tools for application to existing distribution data sets that can minimize uncertainty about target attainment.

Alpha and beta diversity of plants and animals along a tropical land-use gradient

Assessing the overall biological diversity of tropical rain forests is a seemingly insurmountable task for ecologists. Therefore, researchers frequently sample selected taxa that they believe reflect general biodiversity patterns. Usually, these studies focus on the congruence of alpha diversity (the number of species found per sampling unit) between taxa rather than on beta diversity (turnover of species assemblages between sampling units). Such approaches ignore the potential role of habitat heterogeneity that, depending on the taxonomic group considered, can greatly enhance beta diversity at local and landscape scales. We compared alpha and beta diversity of four plant groups (trees, lianas, terrestrial herbs, epiphytic liverworts) and eight animal groups (birds, butterflies, lower canopy ants, lower canopy beetles, dung beetles, bees, wasps, and the parasitoids of the latter two) at 15 sites in Sulawesi, Indonesia, that represented natural rain forest and three types of cacao agroforests differing in management intensity. In total, we recorded 863 species. Patterns of species richness per study site varied strongly between taxonomic groups. Only 13-17% of the variance in species richness of one taxonomic group could be predicted from the species richness of another, and on average 12-18% of the variance of beta diversity of a given group was predicted by that in other groups, although some taxon pairs had higher values (up to 76% for wasps and their parasitoids). The degree of congruence of patterns of alpha diversity was not influenced by sampling completeness, whereas the indicator value for beta diversity improved when using a similarity index that accounts for incomplete sampling. The indication potential of alpha diversity for beta diversity and vice versa was limited within taxa (7-20%) and virtually nil between them (0-4%). We conclude that different taxa can have largely independent patterns of alpha diversity and that patterns of beta diversity can be more congruent. Thus, conservation plans on a landscape scale need to put more emphasis on the high heterogeneity of agroforests and the overarching role of beta diversity shaping overall diversity patterns.

Relationships between sensitivity to agricultural intensification and ecological traits of insectivorous mammals and arthropods

We tested the hypothesis that variation in the sensitivity of animals to habitat change is explained by ecological traits (life-history traits, trophic level, and mobility). We measured the sensitivity of insectivorous mammals (shrews and bats) and their prey (arthropods active at the soil surface and nocturnal aerial arthropods) to three aspects of agricultural intensification in a matched-pair experimental design: increased use of agrochemicals (comparison of organic and conventional cereal crops, with pairing for the size of the boundary hedge), change in grassland management from hay to silage (with pairing for the size of the boundary hedge), and increased field size due to hedgerow loss (with boundary-field comparisons as a proxy). We assessed the sensitivity of taxa as the difference in their relative abundance between pairs of high- and low-intensity sites for each aspect of agricultural intensification. We used phylogenetically informed analyses to explore cross-species relationships between our measures of sensitivity and seven ecological traits of animals (e.g., trophic level, mobility, and reproductive rate). Several traits were related to the sensitivity of animals to agricultural intensification. These traits were mainly associated with fast life histories (high reproductive output and low trophic level) and low mobility. Trophic level of adults was related to sensitivity to habitat change for all three aspects of agricultural intensification, but the direction of the relationship differed between the three aspects of intensification. The significance of the relationship between other ecological traits and sensitivity to intensification varied for the three aspects of agricultural intensification. Our results show that some ecological traits can be used to preselect taxa that are predicted to be sensitive to habitat change, and their sensitivity can be tested empirically for use as biotic indicator taxa. Understanding which traits are related to sensitivity to habitat change is vital because sensitivity is important in determining a taxon's ability to survive in dynamic environments.

Conservation assessment of southern South American freshwater ecoregions on the basis of the distribution and genetic diversity of crabs from the genus Aegla

We assessed the conservation priority of 18 freshwater ecoregions in southern South America on the basis of Aegla (genus of freshwater crabs) genetic diversity and distribution. Geographical distributions for 66 Aegla species were taken from the literature and plotted against ecoregions and main river basins of southern South America. Species richness and number of threatened and endemic species were calculated for each area. To assess taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, we generated a molecular phylogeny based on DNA sequences for one nuclear (28S) and 4 mitochondrial (12S, 16S, COI, and COII) genes. All species richness and phylogenetic methods agreed, to a large extent, in their rankings of the importance of conservation areas, as indicated by the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (p < 0.01); nonetheless, some of the lowest correlations were observed between taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity indices. The 5 ecoregions of the Laguna dos Patos Basin (Eastern Brazil), Central Chile, South Brazilian Coast, Chilean Lakes, and Subtropical Potamic Axis (northern Argentina and southern Uruguay and Paraguay) had the highest biodiversity scores. Conservation of these regions will preserve the largest number of species and the greatest amount of genetic diversity within the South American freshwater Aegla fauna. Biodiversity across rivers and within areas was heterogeneously distributed in the ecoregions of Upper Paraná, Ribeira do Iguape, Upper Uruguay, and South Brazilian Coast (i.e., one river showed significantly more biodiversity than any other river from the same ecoregion), but homogeneously distributed in the other ecoregions. Hence, conservation plans in the former regions will potentially require less effort than plans in the latter regions.

Rapid acoustic survey for biodiversity appraisal

Biodiversity assessment remains one of the most difficult challenges encountered by ecologists and conservation biologists. This task is becoming even more urgent with the current increase of habitat loss. Many methods–from rapid biodiversity assessments (RBA) to all-taxa biodiversity inventories (ATBI)–have been developed for decades to estimate local species richness. However, these methods are costly and invasive. Several animals–birds, mammals, amphibians, fishes and arthropods–produce sounds when moving, communicating or sensing their environment. Here we propose a new concept and method to describe biodiversity. We suggest to forego species or morphospecies identification used by ATBI and RBA respectively but rather to tackle the problem at another evolutionary unit, the community level. We also propose that a part of diversity can be estimated and compared through a rapid acoustic analysis of the sound produced by animal communities. We produced α and β diversity indexes that we first tested with 540 simulated acoustic communities. The α index, which measures acoustic entropy, shows a logarithmic correlation with the number of species within the acoustic community. The β index, which estimates both temporal and spectral dissimilarities, is linearly linked to the number of unshared species between acoustic communities. We then applied both indexes to two closely spaced Tanzanian dry lowland coastal forests. Indexes reveal for this small sample a lower acoustic diversity for the most disturbed forest and acoustic dissimilarities between the two forests suggest that degradation could have significantly decreased and modified community composition. Our results demonstrate for the first time that an indicator of biological diversity can be reliably obtained in a non-invasive way and with a limited sampling effort. This new approach may facilitate the appraisal of animal diversity at large spatial and temporal scales.

Species prioritization for monitoring and management in regional multiple species conservation plans

Successful conservation plans are not solely achieved by acquiring optimally designed reserves. Ongoing monitoring and management of the biodiversity in those reserves is an equally important, but often neglected or poorly executed, part of the conservation process. In this paper we address one of the first and most important steps in designing a monitoring program - deciding what to monitor. We present a strategy for prioritizing species for monitoring and management in multispecies conservation plans. We use existing assessments of threatened status, and the degree and spatial and temporal extent of known threats to link the prioritization of species to the overarching goals and objectives of the conservation plan. We consider both broad and localized spatial scales to capture the regional conservation context and the practicalities of local management and monitoring constraints. Spatial scales that are commensurate with available data are selected. We demonstrate the utility of this strategy through application to a set of 85 plants and animals in an established multispecies conservation plan in San Diego County, California, USA. We use the prioritization to identify the most prominent risk factors and the habitats associated with the most threats to species. The protocol highlighted priorities that had not previously been identified and were not necessarily intuitive without systematic application of the criteria; many high-priority species have received no monitoring attention to date, and lower-priority species have. We recommend that in the absence of clear focal species, monitoring threats in highly impacted habitats may be a way to circumvent the need to monitor all the targeted species.

Headwater riparian forest-floor invertebrate communities associated with alternative forest management practices

Headwater streams and their riparian zones are a common, yet poorly understood, component of Pacific Northwest, USA, landscapes. We describe the ecological importance of headwater stream riparian zones as habitat for forest-floor invertebrate communities and assess how alternative management strategies for riparian zones may impact these communities. We compared community composition of forest-floor invertebrates at increasing distances along trans-riparian (stream edge to upslope) transects in mature forests, clearcuts, and riparian buffers of approximately 30-m width with upslope clearcuts. Invertebrates were collected using pitfall traps in five replicate blocks of three treatments each in the Willamette National Forest, Oregon, USA. We measured microclimate and microhabitat variables at pitfall locations. Despite strong elevation and block effects on community composition, community analyses revealed a distinct "riparian" invertebrate community within 1 m of the stream edge in mature forest treatments, which was strongly related to cool, humid microclimate conditions. Invertebrate community composition in buffer treatments was far more similar to that of mature forests than to clearcuts; a pattern mirrored by microclimate. These results suggest that, within our study sites, forest-floor invertebrate distributions are strongly associated with microclimate and that riparian buffers of approximately 30-m width do provide habitat for many riparian and forest species. Riparian reserves may serve as effective forest refugia and/or dispersal corridors for invertebrates and other taxa, and their incorporation into watershed management plans likely will contribute to meeting persistence and connectivity objectives.

Developing a monitoring program for invertebrates: guidelines and a case study

Invertebrates provide the majority of ecosystem services; thus, it is important that they be inventoried, monitored, and protected. Nevertheless, inventories, monitoring, and management generally focus on vertebrates and flowering plants. Consequently, there are few guidelines or case studies for invertebrates. We present a procedure for developing a monitoring program for species-rich invertebrates that entails (1) characterizing the community; (2) identifying surrogates for biodiversity; and (3) establishing efficient methods to monitor surrogates and any ecologically important or sensitive taxa. We used these procedures, biodiversity-based statistical advances, and a survey of arthropods to develop a monitoring plan for the forests of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (U.S.A.). Our case study revealed that mixed hardwood and hemlock forests had significantly different compositions of arthropods in their soil and understory strata. Of the 10 orders tested Coleoptera and Hymenoptera were the only two to pass most of the five surrogate tests, and their combination improved predictions of overall arthropod diversity. Because arthropods represent the majority of macroscopic species in most ecosystems, the ability of this assemblage to predict overall arthropod diversity makes it a powerful surrogate. Of the 11 collecting methods used, the beat-sheet method was the most efficient for monitoring this surrogate assemblage. To complement this coarse-filter approach to monitoring at-risk, invasive, or other important taxa (fine filter), we used ordination analyses to match 66 taxa with the methods that most effectively sampled them. Our methods serve as a model for developing an invertebrate monitoring plan and should facilitate linking such monitoring with ecosystem functions and management.

Using staphylinid and tenebrionid beetles as indicators of sustainable landscape management in Australia: a review

The review examines a range of global literature concerning the beetle families Staphylinidae and Tenebrionidae, to evaluate their potential as indicators of sustainable landscape management in the Australian context. Both beetle families are diverse, widespread, easily collected and functionally important in a wide range of habitats in Australia. Both families are responsive to changes in environmental conditions, although the nature of the response depends on the environmental condition and often on the individual species. The response of staphylinids and tenebrionids to environmental change has reflected that of other invertebrate species or groups in some instances. Sustainability indicators need to be linked to management objectives and land managers need to be involved in the indicator selection process. Sampling, identification and assessment methods designed to match land managers’ capabilities should result in an increase in the use of staphylinids and tenebrionids as sustainability indicators.

RELATIONSHIP AMONG THE SPECIES RICHNESS OF DIFFERENT TAXA

Spatially explicit forecasting of changes in species richness is key to designing informative scenarios on the development of diversity on our planet. It might be possible to predict changes in the richness of inadequately investigated groups from that of groups for which enough information is available. Here we evaluate the reliability of this approach by reviewing 237 richness correlations extracted from the recent literature. Of the 43 taxa covered, beetles, vascular plants, butterflies, birds, ants, and mammals (in that order) were the most common ones examined. Forests and grasslands strongly dominated the ecosystem types studied. The variance explanation (R2) could be calculated for 152 cases, but only 53 of these were significant. An average correlation effect size of 0.374 (95% CI = +/- 0.0678) indicates positive but weak correlations between taxa within the very heterogeneous data set; None of the examined explanatory variables (spatial scale, taxonomic distance, trophic position, biome) could account for this heterogeneity. However, studies focusing on 10-km2 grid cells had the highest variance explanation. Moreover, within-phylum between-class comparisons had marginally significantly lower correlations than between-phylum comparisons. And finally, the explanatory power of studies conducted in the tropics was significantly higher than that of studies conducted in temperate regions. It is concluded that the potential of a correlative approach to species richness is strongly diminished by the overall low level of variance explanation. So far, no taxon has proved to be a universal or even particularly good predictor for the richness of other taxa. Some suggestions for future research are inclusion of several taxa in models aiming at regional richness predictions, improvement of knowledge on species correlations in human dominated systems, and a better understanding of mechanisms underlying richness correlations.

Terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates as bioindicators for environmental monitoring, with particular reference to mountain ecosystems

The use of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates as a management tool for monitoring change in ecosystems is reviewed and critically evaluated. Their suitability and value for assessing a range of environmental problems from pollution impacts, through habitat evaluation for conservation to the long-term degradation and recovery of ecosystems, is critically discussed. Guidelines are provided for the choice of appropriate bioindicators. Examples of the use of a broad spectrum of invertebrates to assess a variety of environmental problems are summarized. The particular potential of invertebrates for monitoring montane ecosystems is highlighted.