Description of two new species of the genus Micranurida Börner, 1901 (Collembola: Neanuridae, Pseudachorutinae) from Russia, with notes on the genus Lanzhotia Rusek, 1985

Micranurida rassica sp. n. and Micranarida potapovi sp. n. from the Russian Far East are fully illustrated and described. Both new species belong to a small group of Micranurida species characterized by thick globular sensilla on thorax II and abdomen IV. Remarks on Lanzhotia braclzycera Rusek, 1985 are also included

Coecobrya sirindhornae sp. n., the most highly troglomorphic Collembola in Southeast Asia (Collembola, Entomobryidae)

The most highly troglomorphic Collembola of Southeast Asia, Coecobrya sirindhornae sp. n., is described from a cave in Satun province, Thai Peninsula. It is characterised by its large size, extremely elongated antennae, relatively long legs and furca, reduced macrochaetotaxy, very long and slender claw, pointed tenent hair, four sublobal hairs on outer maxillary lobe, and the absence of eyes and pigmentation. A checklist of Thai Coecobrya species and a key to the troglomorphic species of Thailand are provided. Troglomorphy and conservation of cave habitats in the area are discussed

Diversité, structure et endémicité des communautés de vers de terre et de collemboles dans une hêtraie peu aménagée des Pyrénées (France)

We assessed and compared patterns of biodiversity and the composition of two soil invertebrate communities (Collembola and Lumbricidae) in three slightly managed plots in a beech forest of the French Pyrenees. The plots were managed in three different ways: an even-aged (REG), a closed unevenaged stand (NAT ), and an open uneven-aged full-grown stand (IRR ). At each sampling point, earthworms and Collembola from litter, soil, and pitfall traps were collected, and nine edaphic and environmental parameters were measured. The fauna collected was rich in species, and endemic and rare taxa. No clear-cut differences in species richness appeared between plots. Nevertheless, (1) the less disturbed plot, i.e. NAT , hosted a slightly larger number of endemic and rare species than IRR and REG; (2) the structure of both communities in NAT, REG and IRR differed significantly depending on the site elevation and organic nitrogen content (higher in NAT ), soil surface temperature and soil pH level (higher in IRR ), and humus index and soil water content (higher in REG ). Those factors, except elevation, may be explained by the canopy opening partly controlled by management practices; (3) a side aspect of the study was to show that sampling exhaustiveness required more sampling effort for soil than for litter, and more for Lumbricidae than for Collembola. In a broader context, the case documented in this study suggests that management practices with limited clearing of forest cover affect soil biodiversity only slightly, which is in sharp contrast with the collapse in endemic biodiversity induced by reafforestationNous avons évalué et comparé les patrons de biodiversité et la composition de deux communautés d'invertébrés du sol (collemboles et lombrics) dans trois parcelles peu aménagées d'une hêtraie-sapinière dans les Pyrénées françaises. Ces parcelles sont gérées selon trois modalités différentes: une futaie régulière (REG), une futaie irrégulière fermée (NAT) et une futaie irrégulière ouverte (IRR). À chaque point d'échantillonnage les vers de terre et les collemboles ont été collectés dans la litière, le sol et au moyen de pièges Barber, et neuf paramètres édaphiques et environnementaux ont été mesurés. La faune récoltée était riche en espèces ainsi qu'en taxons rares et endémiques. Aucune différence marquée de la richesse spécifique n'est apparue entre les parcelles. Néanmoins (1) le site le moins perturbé, i.e. NAT, hébergeait un nombre légèrement plus élevé d'espèces endémiques et rares que IRR et REG; (2) la structure des deux communautés différait significativement entre NAT, REG et IRR selon l'altitude du site et la teneur en azote organique (plus forte dans NAT), la température à la surface du sol et le pH du sol (plus élevés dans IRR), ainsi que l'indice d'humus et la teneur en eau du sol (plus élevés en REG). Ces facteurs, à l'exception de l'altitude, peuvent s'expliquer par l'ouverture de la canopée partiellement contrôlée par les pratiques de gestion; (3) un à-côté de cette étude est d'avoir montré que l'exhaustivité de l'échantillonnage requiert plus d'efforts pour le sol que pour la litière, et plus pour les lombrics que pour les collemboles. Dans un contexte plus large, le cas traité dans cette étude suggère que des pratiques de gestion avec un éclaircissement limité du couvert forestier n'affectent que légèrement la biodiversité du sol, ce qui contraste fortement avec l'effondrement de la biodiversité endémique qu'induit la reforestation

DNA barcodes for soil animal taxonomy

A biodiversidade das comunidades do solo continua muito pouco conhecida e entendida. A biologia do solo é fortemente afetada pela crise taxonômica, e a maior parte dos grupos de animais dessa biota sofre forte impedimento taxonômico. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar como o código de barras de DNA – um método novo que usa uma etiqueta microgenômica para identificação e discriminação de espécies – permite uma melhor avaliação da taxonomia da biota edáfica. Foram analisadas 1.152 sequências de códigos de barras de dois grupos principais de animais, colêmbolos e minhocas, que apresentaram ampla amostragem taxonômica e geográfica. Além de refletir fortemente o impedimento taxonômico de ambos os grupos, com um grande número de linhagens divergentes no nível da espécie que ainda não está descrita, os resultados também destacam um alto (15%) nível de diversidade críptica dentro de espécies conhecidas de minhocas e colêmbolos. Esses resultados apóiam estudos locais recentes que usaram métodos similares. Considerando as dificuldades taxonômicas enfrentadas para identificar os animais de solo, ferramentas de identificação usando DNA podem facilitar e melhorar a exploração da biodiversidade e a sua descrição. As campanhas de código de barras de DNA estão se desenvolvendo rapidamente com animais do solo, e a comunidade de biólogos é incitada a adotar esses métodos.    The biodiversity of soil communities remains very poorly known and understood. Soil biological sciences are strongly affected by the taxonomic crisis, and most groups of animals in that biota suffer from a strong taxonomic impediment. The objective of this work was to investigate how DNA barcoding – a novel method using a microgenomic tag for species identification and discrimination – permits better evaluation of the taxonomy of soil biota. A total of 1,152 barcode sequences were analyzed for two major groups of animals, collembolans and earthworms, which presented broad taxonomic and geographic sampling. Besides strongly reflecting the taxonomic impediment for both groups, with a large number of species-level divergent lineages remaining unnamed so far, the results also highlight a high level (15%) of cryptic diversity within known species of both earthworms and collembolans. These results are supportive of recent local studies using a similar approach. Within an impeded taxonomic system for soil animals, DNA-assisted identification tools can facilitate and improve biodiversity exploration and description. DNA-barcoding campaigns are rapidly developing in soil animals and the community of soil biologists is urged to embrace these methods.   

New Species in the Old World: Europe as a Frontier in Biodiversity Exploration, a Test Bed for 21st Century Taxonomy

The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late

Cuticular Compounds Bring New Insight in the Post-Glacial Recolonization of a Pyrenean Area: Deutonura deficiens Deharveng, 1979 Complex, a Case Study

Background: In most Arthropod groups, the study of systematics and evolution rely mostly on neutral characters, in this context cuticular compounds, as non-neutral characters, represent an underexplored but potentially informative type of characters at the infraspecific level as they have been routinely proven to be involved in sexual attraction. Methods and Findings: The collembolan species complex Deutonura deficiens was chosen as a model in order to test the utility of these characters for delineating four infraspecific entities of this group. Specimens were collected for three subspecies (D. d. deficiens, D. d. meridionalis, D. d. sylvatica) and two morphotypes (D. d. sylvatica morphoype A and B) of the complex; an additional species D. monticola was added. Cuticular compounds were extracted and separated by gas chromatography for each individual. Our results demonstrate that cuticular compounds succeeded in separating the different elements of this complex. Those data allowed also the reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships among them. Conclusions: The discriminating power of cuticular compounds is directly related to their involvement in sexual attraction and mate recognition. These findings allowed a discussion on the potential involvement of intrinsic and paleoclimatic factors in the origin and the diversification of this complex in the Pyrenean zone. This character type brings the first advanc

Fundamental research questions in subterranean biology

Five decades ago, a landmark paper inSciencetitledThe Cave Environmentheralded caves as ideal natural experimental laboratories in which to develop and address general questions in geology, ecology, biogeography, and evolutionary biology. Although the 'caves as laboratory' paradigm has since been advocated by subterranean biologists, there are few examples of studies that successfully translated their results into general principles. The contemporary era of big data, modelling tools, and revolutionary advances in genetics and (meta)genomics provides an opportunity to revisit unresolved questions and challenges, as well as examine promising new avenues of research in subterranean biology. Accordingly, we have developed a roadmap to guide future research endeavours in subterranean biology by adapting a well-established methodology of 'horizon scanning' to identify the highest priority research questions across six subject areas. Based on the expert opinion of 30 scientists from around the globe with complementary expertise and of different academic ages, we assembled an initial list of 258 fundamental questions concentrating on macroecology and microbial ecology, adaptation, evolution, and conservation. Subsequently, through online surveys, 130 subterranean biologists with various backgrounds assisted us in reducing our list to 50 top-priority questions. These research questions are broad in scope and ready to be addressed in the next decade. We believe this exercise will stimulate research towards a deeper understanding of subterranean biology and foster hypothesis-driven studies likely to resonate broadly from the traditional boundaries of this field.Peer reviewe

Towards evidence-based conservation of subterranean ecosystems

Subterranean ecosystems are among the most widespread environments on Earth, yet we still have poor knowledge of their biodiversity. To raise awareness of subterranean ecosystems, the essential services they provide, and their unique conservation challenges, 2021 and 2022 were designated International Years of Caves and Karst. As these ecosystems have traditionally been overlooked in global conservation agendas and multilateral agreements, a quantitative assessment of solution-based approaches to safeguard subterranean biota and associated habitats is timely. This assessment allows researchers and practitioners to understand the progress made and research needs in subterranean ecology and management. We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature focused on subterranean ecosystems globally (terrestrial, freshwater, and saltwater systems), to quantify the available evidence-base for the effectiveness of conservation interventions. We selected 708 publications from the years 1964 to 2021 that discussed, recommended, or implemented 1,954 conservation interventions in subterranean ecosystems. We noted a steep increase in the number of studies from the 2000s while, surprisingly, the proportion of studies quantifying the impact of conservation interventions has steadily and significantly decreased in recent years. The effectiveness of 31% of conservation interventions has been tested statistically. We further highlight that 64% of the reported research occurred in the Palearctic and Nearctic biogeographic regions. Assessments of the effectiveness of conservation interventions were heavily biased towards indirect measures (monitoring and risk assessment), a limited sample of organisms (mostly arthropods and bats), and more accessible systems (terrestrial caves). Our results indicate that most conservation science in the field of subterranean biology does not apply a rigorous quantitative approach, resulting in sparse evidence for the effectiveness of interventions. This raises the important question of how to make conservation efforts more feasible to implement, cost-effective, and long-lasting. Although there is no single remedy, we propose a suite of potential solutions to focus our efforts better towards increasing statistical testing and stress the importance of standardising study reporting to facilitate meta-analytical exercises. We also provide a database summarising the available literature, which will help to build quantitative knowledge about interventions likely to yield the greatest impacts depending upon the subterranean species and habitats of interest. We view this as a starting point to shift away from the widespread tendency of recommending conservation interventions based on anecdotal and expert-based information rather than scientific evidence, without quantitatively testing their effectiveness.Peer reviewe