Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

New Records And Geographic Distribution Map Of Elachistocleis Magnus Toledo, 2010 (anura: Microhylidae)

New locality records and distribution map for the recently described Elachistocleis magnus are here presented. Originally described from Rondônia state, western Brazil (Amazonia), E. magnus was until now recorded for only two additional localities in the same state. The new records presented herein, which considerably enlarge the known range of the species, include three additional Brazilian states - Amazonas, Pará, and Mato Grosso (including records in the Brazilian Cerrado). We provide color description of the species in life, and discuss variation in habitats used by this species. © 2012 Check List and Authors.82317320Bernarde, P.S., Ambientes e temporada de vocalização da anurofauna no Município de Espigão do Oeste, Rondônia, Sudoeste da Amazônia - Brasil (Amphibia: Anura) (2007) Biota Neotropica, 7 (2), pp. 87-92Brandão, R.A., Avaliação Ecológica Rápida da Herpetofauna nas Reservas Extrativistas de Pedras Negras e Curralinho, Costa Marques, RO (2002) Brasil Florestal, 74, pp. 61-73(1982) Cuiabá: Geologia, Geomorfologia, Pedologia, Vegetação E Uso Potencial Da Terra, p. 544. , BRASIL, Rio de Janeiro: Ministério de Minas e Energia. Secretaria Geral. Projeto RADAMBRASIL. Folha SD 21 (Levantamento de Recursos Naturais, 26)Caramaschi, U., Notes on the taxonomic status of Elachistocleis ovalis (Schneider, 1799) and description of five new species of Elachistocleis Parker, 1927 (Amphibia, Anura, Microhylidae) (2010) Boletim Do Museu Nacional. Nova Série, Zoologia, 527, pp. 1-30Toledo, L.F., A new species of Elachistocleis (AnuraMicrohylidae) from the Brazilian Amazon (2010) Zootaxa, 2496, pp. 63-6