An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e. at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa

Otterbein Towers Fall 2007

A New Era for Equine Science; Features: Cover Story: Equine Science to Get New Home; Hey Alumni, What are You Thinking? Regulars: From the Readers; College News: Word is Out on QPV; Ed Begley Jr. Coming to Campus; New Trustees Named; Who Wants to Ask a Professor? Science Committee Adds New Members; Communication has Open House; New Stadium Fence Dedicated at Homecoming; Spotlight on Faculty; Concert Choir Hoilday Tour; Internationally Acclaimed Artist Displays Works at Otterbein; ClassNotes; Milestones; Investing in Otterbein; Alumni Notes; Key Personnel, etc.https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/towers/1024/thumbnail.jp

Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) for regional and environmental planning: reflections on a decade of empirical research

The term public participation geographic information system (PPGIS) was conceived to describe how GIS technology could support public participation with the goal of including local or marginalized populations in planning and decision processes. Based on experience with more than 15 PPGIS studies, the central thesis of this paper is that PPGIS has not substantively increased the level of public impact in decision making because of multiple social and institutional constraints. Following a review of a decade of empirical PPGIS research, this paper explores why government and nongovernment organization (NGO) adoption of PPGIS for environmental planning decision support has lagged. Despite methodological advances in PPGIS, agency barriers to effective public participation have not been fundamentally altered by PPGIS. For PPGIS to have a sustained impact on regional and environmental planning, agencies must meaningfully encourage and involve the public in planning processes irrespective of the GIS component

Morphological and genetic analyses in the Melanoplus packardii group (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Melanoplus packardii Scudder was described in 1897. Three additional closely-related species were later described and their status as species has been questioned on numerous occasions. We examined morphology from specimens collected in Nebraska which fit descriptions of three of the four forms and specimens that appeared to be hybrids. We found distinct morphological characters suggesting species status for M. foedus and M. packardii, but not for M. foedus fluviatilis. Examination of aedeagi of these three forms suggests that M. foedus and M. packardii are each distinct, but that the aedeagi of M. f. fluviatilis and M. f. foedus cannot be distinguished. Molecular analyses of the three groups did not produce clear separations and suggest gene exchange between these three forms may be ongoing. Together, these data suggest that M. foedus and M. packardii should be recognized as sibling species, but M. foedus fluviatilis is best considered a form of M. foedus, typically found in low lying areas