Biases in global effects of exotic species on local invertebrates: a systematic review

Historical gaps and biases in the literature may have influenced the current knowledge of the impacts of invaders on global biodiversity. We performed a systematic review and compiled the main gaps and biases in the literature and the reported negative, neutral and positive effects of exotic species on local invertebrates worldwide. We analysed the relation of these reported effects to the biogeographical origin of the exotic species, the environmental characteristics of the invaded area, the trophic level of the exotic species and of the invaded local fauna, and the elapsed time after first introduction. We analysed 1276 publications comprising 2984 study cases. From these, 1786 cases included “control” situations (without exotics) and provided quantitative supporting evidence of the effects of exotic species on local invertebrates. The main gaps in the literature included tropical and arid climates, estuaries and marine ecosystems, as well as exotic species coming from Neotropical, Australian, Oriental, Ethiopian and Antarctic regions. Carnivorous and herbivorous species were underreported as exotic species and as impacted invertebrates. The considered variables were mostly unrelated to the reported effects, suggesting that the effects of exotic species on local invertebrates are heterogeneous and not unidirectional. Many impacted invertebrates were assemblages of undefined composition in terms of the native or exotic nature of the invaded organisms. Further avenues to reduce the identified biases in the current knowledge about the effects of exotic species on local invertebrates are also indicatedThe MF’s grant was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı´fico e Tecnológico-CNPq (401045/2014-5), program Ciência sem Fronteiras, and by the Universidad de Alcala´. LMB has been supported by the National Institutes for Science and Technology (INCT) in Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation (MCTIC/CNPq, 465610/2014-5, FAPEG) and by a CNPq Grant (304314/2014-5

Exploring patterns in macroecological traits using sequential phylogenetic eigenvector regression

Diferentes métodos han sido propuestos para evaluar el grado de señal filogenética (autocorrelación) en los rasgos macroecológicos. Estos métodos son útiles para desarrollar maneras alternativas de evitar el problema de la falta de independencia entre especies y, actualmente, han demostrado ser importantes para inferir la velocidad de evolución de un rasgo al compararlo con modelos evolutivos alternativos, tales como el movimiento Browniano o el proceso Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU). Recientemente, desarrollamos un método llamado Curva de Señal-Representación Filogenética (PSR, por sus siglas en inglés), una expansión de la regresión de autovectores filogenéticos (PVR, por sus siglas en inglés) propuesto en 1998, que consiste en estimar diferentes coeficientes de determinación mediante la regresión de un rasgo de interés contra los autovectores extraídos de una matriz de distancias filogenéticas. El primer modelo únicamente utiliza los primeros de estos autovectores como variable explicativa, el segundo modelo utiliza tanto los primeros como los segundos autovectores y así sucesivamente. Posteriormente, los coeficientes de determinación resultantes son graficados contra los autovalores acumulados y la forma de esta curva es relacionada con modelos evolutivos determinando la variación del rasgo (i.e. un patrón lineal es esperado bajo movimiento Browniano). Aquí, aplicamos la curva PSR para estudiar los patrones de variación interespecífica en la talla corporal y tamaño de área de distribución de los carnívoros a nivel mundial y comparamos dichas curvas con aquellas simuladas bajo diferentes modelos de evolución. Nuestros resultados apoyan inequívocamente nuestras expectativas basadas en estudios previos acerca de la talla corporal presentando una fuerte señal filogenética, aproximada por un patrón OU con baja restricción, mientras el tamaño de área de distribución es más variable y mejor ajustado por un modelo nulo sugiriendo la ausencia de señal filogenética.A number of methods have been proposed to estimate the level of phylogenetic signal (autocorrelation) in macroecological traits. These methods are useful to devise alternative ways to circumvent the problem of lack of independence among species and, recently, they have also proved valuable to infer how fast a trait has evolved in comparison with alternative evolutionary models, such as a Brownian motion or Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Recently, we developed a method called phylogenetic signal-representation (PSR) curve, an expansion of the phylogenetic eigenvector regression (PVR) proposed in 1998, which consists in estimating different coefficients of determination by regressing a trait of interest on the eigenvectors extracted from a phylogenetic distance matrix. The first model uses only the first of these eigenvectors as an explanatory variable; the second model uses both the first and the second and so on. After, the resultant coefficients of determination are plotted against the cumulative eigenvalues, and the shape of this curve is related to evolutionary models driving trait variation (i.e., a linear pattern is expected under Brownian evolution). Here, we used the PSR curve to study patterns of interspecific variation in Carnivora body size and geographical range size, and compared them with simulated curves under distinct evolutionary processes. Our results unequivocally support our expectations based on previous studies that body size has a strong phylogenetic signal, approximated by an OU pattern with low restraining force, whereas geographic range size is more labile and better fits the null expectations (i.e., absence of phylogenetic signal)

Can information from citizen science data be used to predict biodiversity in stormwater ponds?

Citizen science data (CSD) have the potential to be a powerful scientific approach to assess, monitor and predict biodiversity. Here, we ask whether CSD could be used to predict biodiversity of recently constructed man-made habitats. Biodiversity data on adult dragonfly abundance from all kinds of aquatic habitats collected by citizen scientists (volunteers) were retrieved from the Swedish Species Observation System and were compared with dragonfly abundance in man-made stormwater ponds. The abundance data of dragonflies in the stormwater ponds were collected with a scientific, standardized design. Our results showed that the citizen science datasets differed significantly from datasets collected scientifically in stormwater ponds. Hence, we could not predict biodiversity in stormwater ponds from the data collected by citizen scientists. Using CSD from past versus recent years or from small versus large areas surrounding the stormwater ponds did not change the outcome of our tests. However, we found that biodiversity patterns obtained with CSD were similar to those from stormwater ponds when we restricted our analyses to rare species. We also found a higher beta diversity for the CSD compared to the stormwater dataset. Our results suggest that if CSD are to be used for estimating or predicting biodiversity, we need to develop methods that take into account or correct for the under-reporting of common species in CSD

Agriculture, habitat loss and spatial patterns of human occupation in a biodiversity hotspot

O bioma Cerrado é o segundo maior da região Neotropical e é formado por mosaico de diferentes tipos de hábitats, desde campos abertos até florestas densas. Um recente e intensivo processo de ocupação humana tem transformado essa eco-região em uma das mais importantes regiões para agropecuária no Brasil. Uma abordagem macroecológica foi utilizada para elucidar padrões em amplas escalas espaciais de perdas de hábitat no Cerrado brasileiro, implementando técnicas de autocorrelação espacial e análises de regressão parcial para entender como a proporção de remanescentes de vegetação natural está correlacionada com variáveis socioeconômicas, expressando diferentes dimensões de ocupação humana e com variações climáticas. Em média, 59% da área é ocupada por remanescentes de vegetação, na escala da análise, mesmo que os padrões de perda de hábitat estejam fortemente estruturados no espaço, com o coeficiente de autocorrelação espacial de I de Moran igual a 0,825 ± 0,055 (p < 0 ,001). As análises de regressão parcial explicaram 89% da variação no percentual de remanescente de vegetação. A maior proporção da variância é explicada pela sobreposição múltipla entre a ocupação humana, variação climática e a estrutura geográfica (67%), bem como pelo componente estruturado climaticamente da ocupação humana (8%). Baseado no processo interativo no tempo e no espaço da ocupação humana no bioma, cenários futuros devem ser mais pessimistas. Se o movimento de ocupação continuar em direção a região Norte do bioma, como esperado, nós podemos predizer que as proporções de remanescente de vegetação natural irão declinar rapidamente, indicando assim uma forte perda da biodiversidade nas escalas do bioma.The Cerrado biome, the second largest biome in Neotropical region, consists of a mosaic of different habitat types, ranging from open grasslands to dense woodlands and dry forests. An intensive recent occupation process has transformed it into the most important region for cattle ranching and intensive commodity crops in Brazil. In this study, a macroecological approach was used to evaluate broad-scale spatial patterns of habitat loss in the Brazilian Cerrado, applying a series of spatial autocorrelation and partial regression analyses to understand how the proportion of remaining natural habitats is correlated with socio-economic variables, expressing different dimensions of human occupation and climatic variation. On average, 59% of the area is occupied by natural remnants at the spatial scale analyzed, although patterns of habitat loss are strongly spatially structured, with a Moran's I spatial autocorrelation coefficient equal to 0.825 ± 0.055 (p < 0.001). The partial regression analysis explains 89% of variation in percentage of natural remnants. The highest proportion of variance is explained by the multiple overlap between human occupation, climatic variation and geographic structure (67%), as well as by the climatically structured component of human occupation (8%). Based on the space-time interactive process of human occupation in the biome, future scenarios should be rather pessimistic. If the wave of human occupation continues towards the northern parts of the biome, as expected, we can predict that percentages will decline rapidly including even stronger losses of habitat at the biome scale

CARACTERIZAÇÃO DO PERFIL DOS VISITANTES DOS PARQUES NACIONAIS DE APARADOS DA SERRA (RS) E BRASÍLIA (DF)

o presente trabalho visa caracterizar o perfil dos visitantes de dois parques nacionais (Parque Nacional de Aparados da Serra - RS e Parque Nacional de Brasllia - DF), levantando assim informações para subsidiar e adequar os planos de uso público dessas unidades de conservação. Nestes dois parques foram aplicados questionários a uma amostra dos visitantes, e os resultados foram tabulados e analisados. Os resultados obtidos nos mostram novamente a necessidade de se pedir urgência na atenção que deve ser dada aos planos de visitação dos parques