scholarly journals Marine Species Traits in the LifeWatch Taxonomic Backbone

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Dekeyzer ◽  
Wim Decock ◽  
Kevin Verfaille ◽  
Bart Vanhoorne ◽  
Thomas Lanssens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Red List ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Ecological Traits ◽  
Size Information ◽  
Feeding Type ◽  
Red List Species

Describing species patterns and their underlying processes are essential to assessing the status and future evolution of marine ecosystems. This effort requires biological information on functional and structural species traits, such as feeding ecology, body size, reproduction, and life history. Basic trait information was already available within the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), for a limited number of taxa: Biological and ecological traits (e.g., body size, feeding type) Taxonomic traits (e.g., paraphyletic groups) Human-defined traits (e.g., Red List species) Biological and ecological traits (e.g., body size, feeding type) Taxonomic traits (e.g., paraphyletic groups) Human-defined traits (e.g., Red List species) Within the EMODnet Biology project and the LifeWatch Taxonomic Backbone, this initiative was taken one step further, and ten traits were prioritized to document: taxonomy, environment, geography, depth, body size, substratum, mobility, skeleton, diet, and reproduction. Criteria for selecting these traits were: applicability to most taxa, easy availability, and the fact that their inclusion would result in new research and/or management applications. Taxonomy- and environment-related information are available within WoRMS, whereas geography data are available through the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS). During 2018, the skeleton information was added to WoRMS. Currently, almost 4,000 accepted marine species have information regarding their supporting structure, enclosures, and composition. Body size information wascollected for distinct (taxonomic) groups, which resulted in more than 6,000 accepted marine species having quantitative body size information included in WoRMS. An ongoing traits data mining exercise is combining body size with benthos-plankton information, extracted both from WoRMS and the European Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS), to assign functional groups such as macrobenthos, microplankton, etc. to the taxa in WoRMS. All trait information collected in WoRMS is made available through a dedicated thematic traits portal.

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 Distribution and illegal killing of the Endangered Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata on the Potohar Plateau, Pakistan

Oryx ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tariq Mahmood ◽  
Faraz Akrim ◽  
Nausheen Irshad ◽  
Riaz Hussain ◽  
Hira Fatima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Geographical Information System ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Red List ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Illegal Hunting ◽  
Iucn Red List Assessment ◽  
Iucn Assessment ◽  
Illegal Killing

AbstractThe Endangered Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata, a burrowing, armoured mammal, plays an important role in the food web by consuming insects and termites. In Pakistan the species’ range includes the 22,000 km2 Potohar Plateau, where it is under pressure from illegal hunting for its scales and requires conservation attention. We used a geographical information system to quantify the range of the Indian pangolin on the Plateau and to compare this with the range estimated in the IUCN Red List assessment of the species. We found that the species occupies c. 89% of the Plateau, in eight of the 10 protected areas, compared with the IUCN estimate of 71%, and we recorded the species at 40 locations on the Plateau outside the range predicted by the IUCN assessment. We collected data on the illegal capture and killing of the species, recording 412 individuals that had been killed at 48 locations between January 2011 and the end of April 2013. The highest number of killings was recorded in Chakwal District (n = 156, at 13 sites) followed by the Attock District (n = 149, at eight sites). Although the Indian pangolin's range on the Potohar Plateau is c. 18% larger than that estimated in the IUCN assessment, the species is under pressure from illegal killing and requires urgent conservation measures to save the small remaining population and avoid the extirpation of this vital insectivorous predator from the area.

scholarly journals Mammalian body size is determined by interactions between climate, urbanization, and ecological traits

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie M. Hantak ◽  
Bryan S. McLean ◽  
Daijiang Li ◽  
Robert P. Guralnick
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Body Size Variation ◽  
Resource Availability Hypothesis ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Thermal Buffering

AbstractAnthropogenically-driven climate warming is a hypothesized driver of animal body size reductions. Less understood are effects of other human-caused disturbances on body size, such as urbanization. We compiled 140,499 body size records of over 100 North American mammals to test how climate and human population density, a proxy for urbanization, and their interactions with species traits, impact body size. We tested three hypotheses of body size variation across urbanization gradients: urban heat island effects, habitat fragmentation, and resource availability. Our results demonstrate that both urbanization and temperature influence mammalian body size variation, most often leading to larger individuals, thus supporting the resource availability hypothesis. In addition, life history and other ecological factors play a critical role in mediating the effects of climate and urbanization on body size. Larger mammals and species that utilize thermal buffering are more sensitive to warmer temperatures, while flexibility in activity time appears to be advantageous in urbanized areas. This work highlights the value of using digitized, natural history data to track how human disturbance drives morphological variation.

scholarly journals Conservation Status of Marine Biodiversity in Oceania: An Analysis of Marine Species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth A. Polidoro ◽  
Cristiane T. Elfes ◽  
Jonnell C. Sanciangco ◽  
Helen Pippard ◽  
Kent E. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Threatened Species ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Red List ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Conservation Action

Given the economic and cultural dependence on the marine environment in Oceania and a rapidly expanding human population, many marine species populations are in decline and may be vulnerable to extinction from a number of local and regional threats. IUCN Red List assessments, a widely used system for quantifying threats to species and assessing species extinction risk, have been completed for 1190 marine species in Oceania to date, including all known species of corals, mangroves, seagrasses, sea snakes, marine mammals, sea birds, sea turtles, sharks, and rays present in Oceania, plus all species in five important perciform fish groups. Many of the species in these groups are threatened by the modification or destruction of coastal habitats, overfishing from direct or indirect exploitation, pollution, and other ecological or environmental changes associated with climate change. Spatial analyses of threatened species highlight priority areas for both site- and species-specific conservation action. Although increased knowledge and use of newly available IUCN Red List assessments for marine species can greatly improve conservation priorities for marine species in Oceania, many important fish groups are still in urgent need of assessment.

A Cost Benefit Analysis for Distribution of Threatened Species Based on Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Nandhi Kesavan ◽  
Latha K
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Endangered Species ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Ecological Traits ◽  
Species List ◽  
Critically Endangered Species ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
The Cost

Abstract Among all the threats to global diversity, climate change is the most severe cause. According to the world’s biodiversity conservation organization, reptile species are affected mostly because the biological and ecological traits of the reptiles are strongly linked with climate. To prevent species extinction, we tried to develop a decision support system that incurs the costs and benefits of reintroducing a taxon from its origin to adapt environmental conditions to conserve it from its extinction. The model was developed by applying multiple linear regressions that take the climatic variables and species traits to determine the cost and benefits for the distribution of species. The effectiveness of the model was evaluated by applying it to the Indian Black Turtle, which is an endangered species list in India evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature list. The model recommends moving the species, which is endangered, to the location where it can save itself from climate change. However, the framework demonstrates huge differences in the estimated significance of climate change, and the model strategy helps to recognize the probable risk of increased revelation to critically endangered species.

scholarly journals Body size information in large-scale acoustic bat databases

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caterina Penone ◽  
Christian Kerbiriou ◽  
Jean-François Julien ◽  
Julie Marmet ◽  
Isabelle Le Viol
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Acoustic Signals ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Climatic Variables ◽  
Characteristic Frequencies ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Forearm Length ◽  
Broad Scale

Background Citizen monitoring programs using acoustic data have been useful for detecting population and community patterns. However, they have rarely been used to study broad scale patterns of species traits. We assessed the potential of acoustic data to detect broad scale patterns in body size. We compared geographical patterns in body size with acoustic signals in the bat species Pipistrellus pipistrellus. Given the correlation between body size and acoustic characteristics, we expected to see similar results when analyzing the relationships of body size and acoustic signals with climatic variables. Methods We assessed body size using forearm length measurements of 1,359 bats, captured by mist nets in France. For acoustic analyses, we used an extensive dataset collected through the French citizen bat survey. We isolated each bat echolocation call (n = 4,783) and performed automatic measures of signals, including the frequency of the flattest part of the calls (characteristic frequency). We then examined the relationship between forearm length, characteristic frequencies, and two components resulting from principal component analysis for geographic (latitude, longitude) and climatic variables. Results Forearm length was positively correlated with higher precipitation, lower seasonality, and lower temperatures. Lower characteristic frequencies (i.e., larger body size) were mostly related to lower temperatures and northern latitudes. While conducted on different datasets, the two analyses provided congruent results. Discussion Acoustic data from citizen science programs can thus be useful for the detection of large-scale patterns in body size. This first analysis offers a new perspective for the use of large acoustic databases to explore biological patterns and to address both theoretical and applied questions.

scholarly journals Adding fossil occupancy trajectories to the assessment of modern extinction risk

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 20150813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Kiessling ◽  
Ádám T. Kocsis
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Latent Extinction ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Temporal Trajectory

Besides helping to identify species traits that are commonly linked to extinction risk, the fossil record may also be directly relevant for assessing the extinction risk of extant species. Standing geographical distribution or occupancy is a strong predictor of both recent and past extinction risk, but the role of changes in occupancy is less widely assessed. Here we demonstrate, based on the Cenozoic fossil record of marine species, that both occupancy and its temporal trajectory are significant determinants of risk. Based on extinct species we develop a model on the additive and interacting effects of occupancy and its temporal changes on extinction risk. We use this model to predict extinction risk of extant species. The predictions suggest a moderate risk for marine species on average. However, some species seem to be on a long-term decline and potentially at a latent extinction risk, which is not considered in current risk assessments.

scholarly journals Odonates from Bodoquena Plateau: checklist and information about endangered species

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Koroiva ◽  
Marciel Elio Rodrigues ◽  
Francisco Valente-Neto ◽  
Fábio de Oliveira Roque
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Red List ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Number Of Species ◽  
Red List Species ◽  
Data Deficient ◽  
First Time ◽  
Species Being ◽  
Mato Grosso Do Sul

Abstract Here we provide an updated checklist of the odonates from Bodoquena Plateau, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil. We registered 111 species from the region. The families with the highest number of species were Libellulidae (50 species), Coenagrionidae (43 species) and Gomphidae (12 species). 35 species are registered in the IUCN Red List species, four being Data Deficient, 29 of Least Concern and two species being in the threatened category. Phyllogomphoides suspectus Belle, 1994 (Odonata: Gomphidae) was registered for the first time in the state.

scholarly journals Body size is negatively correlated with trophic position among cyprinids

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 150652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward D. Burress ◽  
Jordan M. Holcomb ◽  
Karine Orlandi Bonato ◽  
Jonathan W. Armbruster
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Mechanical Constraints ◽  
Web Structure ◽  
Significant Negative Relationship ◽  
Multiple Levels

Body size has many ecological and evolutionary implications that extend across multiple levels of organization. Body size is often positively correlated with species traits such as metabolism, prey size and trophic position (TP) due to physiological and mechanical constraints. We used stable isotope analysis to quantify TP among minnows across multiple assemblages that differed in their species composition, diversity and food web structure. Body size significantly predicted TP across different lineages and assemblages, and indicated a significant negative relationship. The observed negative relationship between body size and TP is contrary to conventional knowledge, and is likely to have arisen owing to highly clade-specific patterns, such that clades consist of either large benthic species or small pelagic species. Cyprinids probably subvert the physiological and mechanical constraints that generally produce a positive relationship between body size and TP using anatomical modifications and by consuming small-bodied prey, respectively. The need for herbivorous cyprinids to digest cellulose-rich foods probably selected for larger bodies to accommodate longer intestinal tracts and thereby to facilitate digestion of nutrient-poor resources, such as algae. Therefore, body size and TP are likely to have coevolved in cyprinids in association with specialization along the benthic to pelagic resource axis.

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