Species-people correlations and the need to account for survey effort in biodiversity analyses

Aim Positive regional correlations between biodiversity and human population have been detected for several taxonomic groups and geographical regions. Such correlations could have important conservation implications and have been mainly attributed to ecological factors, with little testing for an artefactual explanation: more populated regions may show higher biodiversity because they are more thoroughly surveyed. We tested the hypothesis that the correlation between people and herptile diversity in Europe is influenced by survey effor

Seasonal variation in the diet of Lontra longicaudis in the Paraná River basin, Argentina

We studied the Neotropical otter ( Lontra longicaudis ) seasonal diet variations in the middle Paran á River valley, in central-northern Argentina, at the southern limit of its global range. We recorded 745 prey items in 320 scats collected over the course of 1 year in a tributary stream of the Paran á River. Fish, crustaceans, mammals, and insects were the most important items in frequency of occurrence among items. Other items, like mollusks, birds, amphibians, and reptilians were presented in low frequency in all seasons. We recorded seasonal variation in the frequency of the principal categories items: fish, mammals, crustaceans, and insects and in reptilian that had low frequency. Although fish were the most common items consumed by the otter, other groups such as crustaceans, mammals, and insects, were also important in the diet of the Neotropical otter throughout the seasons. Mammals and insects showed a higher frequency in the Neotropical otter diet in our study than in Brazil, Mexico, and even northern Argentina. We noted a marked variation throughout the Neotropical region in the niche breadth indices among studies of Neotropical otter ’ s diet. The Shannon H ′ diversity index showed a higher value in our study than in most of previous diet analyses of this species.Fil: Vezzosi, Raúl Ignacio. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; ArgentinaFil: Eberhardt, María Ayelen Teresita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Cs.veterinarias. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - CONICET - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral; Argentina. Laboratorio de Ecología de Enfermedades; ArgentinaFil: Raimondi, Vanina Belén. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias exactas, Ingeniería y Agrimensura. Museo "Florentino y Carlos Ameghino"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Gutierrez, Marìa Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Pautasso, Andrés A.. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias exactas, Ingeniería y Agrimensura. Museo "Florentino y Carlos Ameghino"; Argentin

Is the human population a large-scale indicator of the species richness of ground beetles?

Aim Positive regional correlations between biodiversity and human population have been detected for several taxonomic groups and geographical regions. Such correlations could have important conservation implications and have been mainly attributed to ecological factors, with little testing for an artefactual explanation: more populated regions may show higher biodiversity because they are more thoroughly surveyed. We tested the hypothesis that the correlation between people and herptile diversity in Europe is influenced by survey effor

Positive regional species-people correlations: A sampling artefact or a key issue for sustainable development?

Many studies are documenting positive large-scale species– people correlations (Luck, 2007; Schuldt & Assmann, 2010). The issue is scale dependent: the local association of species richness and people is in many cases a negative one (Pautasso, 2007; Pecher et al., 2010). This biogeographical pattern is thus important for conservation. If species-rich regions are also densely populated, preserving biodiversity becomes more difficult, ceteris paribus, than if species-rich regions were sparsely populated. At the same time, positive, regional species–people correlations are an opportunity for the biodiversity education of the majority of the human population and underline the importance of conservation in human-modified landscapes (e.g. Sheil & Meijaard, 2010; Ward, 2010)

The 'rotiferologist' effect and other global correlates of species richness in monogonont rotifers

Global biodiversity patterns are often driven by diff erent environmental variables at diff erent scales. However, it is still controversial whether there are general trends, whether similar processes are responsible for similar patterns, and/or whether confounding eff ects such as sampling bias can produce misleading results. Our aim is twofold: 1) assessing the global correlates of diversity in a group of microscopic animals little analysed so far, and 2) inferring the infl uence of sampling intensity on biodiversity analyses. As a case study, we choose rotifers, because of their high potential for dispersal across the globe. We assembled and analysed a new worldwide dataset of records of monogonont rotifers, a group of microscopic aquatic animals, from 1960 to 1992. Using spatially explicit models, we assessed whether the diversity patterns conformed to those commonly obtained for larger organisms, and whether they still held true after controlling for sampling intensity, variations in area, and spatial structure in the data. Our results are in part analogous to those commonly obtained for macroorganisms (habitat heterogeneity and precipitation emerge as the main global correlates), but show some divergence (potential absence of a latitudinal gradient and of a large-scale correlation with human population). Moreover, the eff ect of sampling eff ort is remarkable, accounting for 50% of the variability; this strong eff ect may mask other patterns such as latitudinal gradients. Our study points out that sampling bias should be carefully considered when drawing conclusions from large-scale analyses, and calls for further faunistic work on microorganisms in all regions of the world to better understand the generality of the processes driving global patterns in biodiversity

Revisión de la situación del oso hormiguero gigante (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) en la provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina: estado de conocimiento actual y medidas de conservación adoptadas y propuestas

El oso hormiguero gigante (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) es una de las especies más amenazadas de Argentina. En este artículo se revisan los antecedentes históricos y actuales de esta especie en la provincia de Santa Fe. Se incluyen todos los registros publicados y novedosos. El análisis de los mismos permitió identificar a grandes rasgos amenazas directas e indirectas, tanto confirmadas como potenciales. Finalmente basados en esta revisión se categoriza a la especie regionalmente y de manera preliminar, y se incluye un listado de sugerencias de acción para fortalecer su conservación.Fil: Pautasso, Andrés A.. Provincia de Santa Fe. Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales “Florentino Ameghino”; ArgentinaFil: Pérez Jimeno, Guillermo. Artis Royal Zoo. Proyecto de conservación oso hormiguero gigante; ArgentinaFil: Raimondi, Vanina Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Medrano, María Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Ciencias Antropológicas; Argentin

Observations on the nesting of scissor-tailed nightjar Hydropsalis torquata in eastern Santa Fe province, Argentina

Se hace una contribución al conocimiento de la biología reproductiva de Hydropsalis torquata sobre la base de cuatro nidos hallados en el valle aluvial del río Paraná medio, provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina. Tres nidos tenían huevos y uno tenía pichones emplumados. Tres de los cuatro nidos estaban ubicados en hábitats naturales. Los huevos presentaron forma elíptica u ovoidal, siendo la coloración de base rosa o crema claro, salpicados con pequeñas manchas, líneas y/o pintitas ocres y pardas. El período de incubación en uno de los nidos fue de 18 días. El plumón de los pichones era acanelado con sectores oscuros distribuidos por toda la superficie. El plumaje de los juveniles fue similar al de los machos adultos. Las hembras se encargaron de la incubación y cría de los pichones; los machos no fueron observados en los nidos. Se describen comportamientos de defensa y distracción.We offer a contribution to the knowledge of the reproductive biology of Hydropsalis torquata based on four nests from middle Paraná river floodplain, Santa Fe province, Argentina. Three nests had eggs and one nest had juveniles. Three out of the four nests were located in natural habitats. Eggs were elliptical or ovoid, light pink or creamy- white, spotted and scrawled with ochre and brownish grey. The incubation period lasted 18 days in one nest. Chicks were covered by cinnamon coloured down with dark spots distributed on its surface. Juvenile plumage was similar to adult male plumage. Eggs and chicks were incubated and bred by females; males were not seen on the nest. Defense and distraction displays are also described