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

Questions sur la monophylie du taxon Pachycondyla Smith, 1858 : approche cytogénétique sur le sous-genre Pachycondyla sensu Emery, 1901 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae)

Questions on the monophyly of the taxon Pachycondyla Smith, 1858 : a cytogenetic approach on the sub-genus Pachycondyla sensu Emery, 1901 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae). The metaphasic chromosomes of three species of Neotropical Ants of the genus are analyzed for the first time. All three have a singularly high number of chromosomes, which are all extremely small. This characteristic is convergent with what is known on similar studies that have been carried oui on Indian-Australian species of Pachycondyla of the ex-genus Bothroponera. Our data suggest that the terricolous neotropical Pachycondyla (Pachycondyla) sensu Emery, 1901, that have a great number chromosomes of small size and mainly acrocentric, represent an evolutive lineage independent of the other ants of the genus.Les chromosomes métaphasiques de trois espèces de Fourmis néotropicales du genre Pachycondyla (Formicidae : Ponerinae) sont étudiés pour la première fois. Toutes trois possèdent un nombre singulièrement élevé de chromosomes, tous extrêmement petits. Cette caractéristique est convergente avec ce qui est connu d'études similaires réalisées sur des espèces indo-australiennes de Pachycondyla appartenant à l'ancien genre Bothroponera. Nos données suggèrent que les espèces néotropicales terricoles de Pachycondyla (Pachycondyla) sensu Emery, 1901, qui possèdent un grand nombre de chromosomes de petite taille et majoritairement acrocentriques, représentent une lignée évolutive indépendante des autres fourmis du genre.Mariano C.S.F., Pompolo S.G., Lacau Sébastien, Delabie J.H.C. Questions sur la monophylie du taxon Pachycondyla Smith, 1858 : approche cytogénétique sur le sous-genre Pachycondyla sensu Emery, 1901 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 111 (3), septembre 2006. pp. 299-304

Questions sur la monophylie du taxon Pachycondyla Smith, 1858 : approche cytogénétique sur le sous-genre Pachycondyla sensu Emery, 1901 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae)

Questions on the monophyly of the taxon Pachycondyla Smith, 1858 : a cytogenetic approach on the sub-genus Pachycondyla sensu Emery, 1901 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae). The metaphasic chromosomes of three species of Neotropical Ants of the genus are analyzed for the first time. All three have a singularly high number of chromosomes, which are all extremely small. This characteristic is convergent with what is known on similar studies that have been carried oui on Indian-Australian species of Pachycondyla of the ex-genus Bothroponera. Our data suggest that the terricolous neotropical Pachycondyla (Pachycondyla) sensu Emery, 1901, that have a great number chromosomes of small size and mainly acrocentric, represent an evolutive lineage independent of the other ants of the genus.Les chromosomes métaphasiques de trois espèces de Fourmis néotropicales du genre Pachycondyla (Formicidae : Ponerinae) sont étudiés pour la première fois. Toutes trois possèdent un nombre singulièrement élevé de chromosomes, tous extrêmement petits. Cette caractéristique est convergente avec ce qui est connu d'études similaires réalisées sur des espèces indo-australiennes de Pachycondyla appartenant à l'ancien genre Bothroponera. Nos données suggèrent que les espèces néotropicales terricoles de Pachycondyla (Pachycondyla) sensu Emery, 1901, qui possèdent un grand nombre de chromosomes de petite taille et majoritairement acrocentriques, représentent une lignée évolutive indépendante des autres fourmis du genre.Mariano C.S.F., Pompolo S.G., Lacau Sébastien, Delabie J.H.C. Questions sur la monophylie du taxon Pachycondyla Smith, 1858 : approche cytogénétique sur le sous-genre Pachycondyla sensu Emery, 1901 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 111 (3), septembre 2006. pp. 299-304

Competition, Resources And The Ant (hymenoptera: Formicidae) Mosaic: A Comparison Of Upper And Lower Canopy

A canopy crane was used to assess ant defensive behaviour and recruitment at baits in the Parque Natural Metropolitano, Panama. Sardine-honey baits were set within a grid of 25 paired upper and lower canopy points, for which coordinates and height were recorded. We tested the hypothesis that interactions in the ant mosaic become stronger as one moves from the lower to the upper canopy. We sampled 23 ant species, with Azteca (A. trigona, A. velox, Azteca nr. chartifex, and A. snellingi) being by far the most abundant genus, recruiting to 63% of baits and excluding all other ant genera. Camponotus (Myrmobrachys) sp. 1 also showed a statistically significant exclusion of other ant species over 95% of its occurrence. Cephalotes umbraculatus and Dolichoderus bispinosus had exclusive occurrences in smaller areas. Exclusion between dominant or subdominant species was more frequent in the upper than lower canopy. Permeable borders and territory-free spaces are important for ant species diversity, and were more frequent in the lower canopy. Here, a combination of more costly patrolling conditions and less profitable resources, such as extra-floral nectaries and trophobionts, may be the most likely cause of this pattern. 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(Ed.) Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, BogotáDejean, A., Corbara, B., Orivel, J., Leponce, M., Rainforest canopy ants: The implications of territoriality and predatory behavior (2007) Functional Ecosystems and Communities, 1, pp. 105-120Delabie, J.H.C., Trophobiosis between formicidae and hemiptera (sternorrhyncha and auchenorrhyncha): An overview (2001) Neotropical Entomology, 30 (4), pp. 501-516Del Claro, K., Oliveira, P.S., Ant-Homoptera interaction: Do alternative sugar sources distract tending ants? 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Landscape and farm scale management to enhance biodiversity conservation in the cocoa producing region of southern Bahia, Brazil

Bib. p.600-60