Habitat specialization by wildlife reduces pathogen spread in urbanizing landscapes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Teitelbaum ◽  
Sonia Altizer ◽  
Richard J Hall
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Specialization

Estimating the exposure of carnivorous plants to rapid climatic change

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Aaron M. Ellison
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Change ◽  
Habitat Suitability ◽  
Species Distributions ◽  
Dispersal Limitation ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Carnivorous Plant ◽  
Carnivorous Plants ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Suitable Habitats

Climatic change likely will exacerbate current threats to carnivorous plants. However, estimating the severity of climatic change is challenged by the unique ecology of carnivorous plants, including habitat specialization, dispersal limitation, small ranges, and small population sizes. We discuss and apply methods for modeling species distributions to overcome these challenges and quantify the vulnerability of carnivorous plants to rapid climatic change. Results suggest that climatic change will reduce habitat suitability for most carnivorous plants. Models also project increases in habitat suitability for many species, but the extent to which these increases may offset habitat losses will depend on whether individuals can disperse to and establish in newly suitable habitats outside of their current distribution. Reducing existing stressors and protecting habitats where numerous carnivorous plant species occur may ameliorate impacts of climatic change on this unique group of plants.

scholarly journals Biological and extrinsic correlates of extinction risk in Chinese lizards

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxi Zhong ◽  
Chuanwu Chen ◽  
Yanping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Extrinsic Factors

Abstract China is a country with one of the most species rich reptile faunas in the world. However, nearly a quarter of Chinese lizard species assessed by the China Biodiversity Red List are threatened. Nevertheless, to date, no study has explicitly examined the pattern and processes of extinction and threat in Chinese lizards. In this study, we conducted the first comparative phylogenetic analysis of extinction risk in Chinese lizards. We addressed the following three questions: 1) What is the pattern of extinction and threat in Chinese lizards? 2) Which species traits and extrinsic factors are related to their extinction risk? 3) How can we protect Chinese lizards based on our results? We collected data on ten species traits (body size, clutch size, geographic range size, activity time, reproductive mode, habitat specialization, habitat use, leg development, maximum elevation, and elevation range) and seven extrinsic factors (mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, mean annual solar insolation, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), human footprint, human population density, and human exploitation). After phylogenetic correction, these variables were used separately and in combination to assess their associations with extinction risk. We found that Chinese lizards with small geographic range, large body size, high habitat specialization, and living in high precipitation areas were vulnerable to extinction. Conservation priority should thus be given to species with the above extinction-prone traits so as to effectively protect Chinese lizards. Preventing future habitat destruction should also be a primary focus of management efforts because species with small range size and high habitat specialization are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss.

scholarly journals Local-scale determinants of arboreal spider beta diversity in a temperate forest: roles of tree architecture, spatial distance, and dispersal capacity

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiongdao Zhang ◽  
Dong He ◽  
Hua Wu ◽  
Wei Shi ◽  
Cong Chen
Keyword(s):  
Beta Diversity ◽  
Environmental Gradient ◽  
Dispersal Limitation ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Tree Architecture ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Spatial Distance ◽  
Species Variation ◽  
Dispersal Capacity ◽  
Canopy Volume

Spiders are a functionally important taxon in forest ecosystems, but the determinants of arboreal spider beta diversity are poorly understood at the local scale. We examined spider assemblages in 324 European beech (Fagus sylvatica) trees of varying sizes across three forest stands in Würzburg (Germany) to disentangle the roles of tree architecture, spatial distance, and dispersal capacity on spider turnover across individual trees. A large proportion of tree pairs (66%) showed higher compositional dissimilarity in spider assemblages than expected by chance, suggesting prominent roles of habitat specialization and/or dispersal limitation. Trees with higher dissimilarity in DBH and canopy volume, and to a lesser extent in foliage cover, supported more dissimilar spider assemblages, suggesting that tree architecture comprised a relevant environmental gradient of sorting spider species. Variation partitioning revealed that 28.4% of the variation in beta diversity was jointly explained by tree architecture, spatial distance (measured by principal coordinates of neighbor matrices) and dispersal capacity (quantified by ballooning propensity). Among these, dispersal capacity accounted for a comparable proportion as spatial distance did (6.8% vs. 5.9%). Beta diversity did not significantly differ between high- and low-vagility groups, but beta diversity in species with high vagility was more strongly determined by spatially structured environmental variation. Altogether, both niche specialization, along the environmental gradient defined by tree architecture, and dispersal limitation are responsible for structuring arboreal spider assemblages. High dispersal capacity of spiders appears to reinforce the role of niche-related processes.

Differences in foraging habitat result in contrasting fisheries interactions in two albatross populations

2021 ◽  
Vol 663 ◽  
pp. 197-208
Author(s):  
A Corbeau ◽  
J Collet ◽  
A Pajot ◽  
R Joo ◽  
T Thellier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Encounter Rate ◽  
Automatic Identification ◽  
Identification System ◽  
Diomedea Exulans ◽  
Exclusive Economic Zones ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Fisheries Interactions ◽  
Economic Zones

Albatrosses attend fishing boats to feed on fishing discards but are often at risk of accidental bycatch. To examine whether populations (same species) and sexes differ in their overlap with fisheries due to differences in habitat use, we combined the use of recently developed loggers equipped with GPS and boat radar detectors with Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Our study indicates that incubating wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans from Crozet and Kerguelen foraged in different habitats although the duration of trips was similar. Both female and male Kerguelen birds took advantage of the large and productive surrounding shelf, whereas Crozet birds used the small shelf around the islands to a lesser extent. In Crozet, there was segregation between males and females, the latter favouring deeper and warmer waters. The 2 strategies of habitat use led to different overlap and attraction to boats, with Kerguelen birds encountering and attending boats for longer and at closer proximity to the colony than Crozet birds. Crozet females encountered boats at greater distances from the colony than males. Because of their different habitat use and foraging outside exclusive economic zones (EEZ) and further from the colony, Crozet birds attended more non-declared boats (without AIS) than Kerguelen birds. Albatrosses were more attracted by fisheries than cargo vessels and were especially attracted by fishing discards that led them to attend vessels for longer periods for both sexes and populations. The differences found between populations and individuals in terms of habitat specialization and encounter rate of fisheries should be considered for future assessments of risk of bycatch.

Life on the edge: the ecology and life history of the tropidurine iguanid lizard Uranoscodon superciliosum

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1366-1373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Howland ◽  
Laurie J. Vitt ◽  
Pamela T. Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Tropical Wet Forest ◽  
History Of ◽  
Forest Streams ◽  
Small Forest

An Amazonian population of the iguanid lizard Uranoscodon superciliosum was studied in lowland tropical wet forest in central Pará, Brazil. These nonheliothermic lizards are restricted to densely vegetated habitats near (often over) water, particularly riverbanks and small forest streams, where they utilize small-diameter perches and feed on a wide variety of invertebrates, apparently at the water's edge. They mature at moderate to large size at an age of about 1.5 years. Production of moderate-sized clutches of eggs is seasonal, and reproduction and fat storage both cycle in association with rainfall and flooding. Although they occur in fairly high densities, social interaction is uncommon and sexual dimorphism is not pronounced. The ecology and life history of this lizard seem to be strongly influenced by the unusual habitat specialization.

scholarly journals Niche evolution across spatial scales: climate and habitat specialization in CaliforniaLasthenia(Asteraceae)

Ecology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 93 (sp8) ◽  
pp. S151-S166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy C. Emery ◽  
Elisabeth J. Forrestel ◽  
Ginger Jui ◽  
Michael S. Park ◽  
Bruce G. Baldwin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Niche Evolution

Spatial patterns in habitat specialization of European bird communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 57-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Rivas-Salvador ◽  
David Hořák ◽  
Jiří Reif
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Bird Communities ◽  
Habitat Specialization

scholarly journals Chromosomal Differentiation in Genetically Isolated Populations of the Marsh-Specialist Crocidura suaveolens (Mammalia: Soricidae)

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisca Garcia ◽  
Luis Biedma ◽  
Javier Calzada ◽  
Jacinto Román ◽  
Alberto Lozano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Chromosomal Variation ◽  
Gulf Of Cadiz ◽  
Habitat Specialist ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
Distributional Range ◽  
Gulf Of Cádiz ◽  
Chromosomal Differentiation

The genus Crocidura represents a remarkable model for the study of chromosome evolution. This is the case of the lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), a representative of the Palearctic group. Although continuously distributed from Siberia to Central Europe, C. suaveolens is a rare, habitat-specialist species in the southwesternmost limit of its distributional range, in the Gulf of Cádiz (Iberian Peninsula). In this area, C. suaveolens is restricted to genetically isolated populations associated to the tidal marches of five rivers (Guadiana, Piedras, Odiel, Tinto and Guadalquivir). This particular distributional range provides a unique opportunity to investigate whether genetic differentiation and habitat specialization was accompanied by chromosomal variation. In this context, the main objective of this study was to determinate the chromosomal characteristics of the habitat-specialist C. suaveolens in Southwestern Iberia, as a way to understand the evolutionary history of this species in the Iberian Peninsula. A total of 41 individuals from six different populations across the Gulf of Cádiz were collected and cytogenetically characterized. We detected four different karyotypes, with diploid numbers (2n) ranging from 2n = 40 to 2n = 43. Two of them (2n = 41 and 2n = 43) were characterized by the presence of B-chromosomes. The analysis of karyotype distribution across lineages and populations revealed an association between mtDNA population divergence and chromosomal differentiation. C. suaveolens populations in the Gulf of Cádiz provide a rare example of true karyotypic polymorphism potentially associated to genetic isolation and habitat specialization in which to investigate the evolutionary significance of chromosomal variation in mammals and their contribution to phenotypic and ecological divergence.

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