Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 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 or ganism 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 ne glected 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 lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 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,18,19 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

FIGURE 7. A, C, E in Taxonomic review of Aegla marginata Bond-Buckup & Buckup, 1994 (Decapoda, Anomura, Aeglidae) with description of a new species

FIGURE 7. A, C, E. Aegla marginata sensu stricto, male holotype, CLE 18.80 mm (MHNCI 759). B, D, F. Aegla quilombola n. sp., CLE 15.70 mm (MZUSP 34809). (A) (B) Palmar crest of major cheliped. (C) (D) Carpus of the major cheliped. (E) (F) Ischium of major cheliped. Note: C and D, low carpal ridges of major cheliped in A. marginata compared to more pronounced condition in Aegla quilombola n. sp.; E and F, different density of tubercles on cheliped ischia (higher in A. marginata than in A. quilombola n. sp.). Scale bars = 1.0 mm

FIGURE 6. A, C, E. Aegla marginata sensu stricto, A, male topotype CLE 17.86 in Taxonomic review of Aegla marginata Bond-Buckup & Buckup, 1994 (Decapoda, Anomura, Aeglidae) with description of a new species

FIGURE 6. A, C, E. Aegla marginata sensu stricto, A, male topotype CLE 17.86 mm (MZUSP 34808). C, E, male holotype, CLE 18.80 mm (MHNCI 759). B, D, F. Aegla quilombola n. sp., male holotype CLE 15.70 mm (MZUSP 34809). (A) (B) Rostral region of the cephalothorax in lateral view. (C) (D) Epibranchial area. (E) (F) Third and fourth thoracic sternites. Note: A, long subrostral process (arrow) (markedly shorter in Aegla quilombola n. sp.). Scale bars: A, B, D, F = 0.5 mm; C = 0.2 mm; E = 1.0 mm

FIGURE 8. A–F. Sexual tube. A–C in Taxonomic review of Aegla marginata Bond-Buckup & Buckup, 1994 (Decapoda, Anomura, Aeglidae) with description of a new species

FIGURE 8. A–F. Sexual tube. A–C. Aegla marginata sensu stricto, male topotype, CLE 16.35 mm (MZUSP 34808). D–F. Aegla quilombola n. sp. male paratype, CLE 9.46 mm (MZUSP 34812). (A) (D) Dorsal view. (B) (E) Lateral view. (C) (F) Ventral view. Scale bars: A–C = 200µm; D–F = 100µm

Description of the newly-hatched juvenile of Aegla paulensis (Decapoda, Anomura, Aeglidae)

Moraes, Juliana Cristina Bertacini De, Bueno, Sérgio Luiz De Siqueira (2013): Description of the newly-hatched juvenile of Aegla paulensis (Decapoda, Anomura, Aeglidae). Zootaxa 3635 (5): 501-519, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3635.5.

A new species of stygobitic aeglid from lentic subterranean waters in southeastern Brazil, with an unusual morphological trait: short pleopods in adult males

Abstract Aegla charon n. sp. is endemic to the “Lago Subterrâneo” cave from the Alto Ribeira karst region, southeastern Brazil. The most remarkable morphological trait observed in the new species was the presence of partially developed pair of uniramous pleopods 2‒5 in adult male specimens, whereas the absence of these pleonal appendages is the general condition in this sex in Aegla Leach, 1820. Some of the pleopods are even morphologically similar to those typically observed in adult females in that they may also be two-segmented, only shorter in size. The pigmented area of the cornea is slightly reduced, which is probably a troglomorphic adaptation to subterranean habitats. Aegla charon n. sp. is also the only obligate cave-dwelling aeglid known to inhabit lentic subterranean waters. A key to all species from the Alto Ribeira karst area is provided

Infestation of two shrimp species of the genus Palaemon Fabricius, 1798 (Decapoda, Palaemonidae) by an isopod of the genus Probopyrus Giard & Bonnier, 1888 (Bopyridae) from the Brazilian southeast coast

Abstract We determined the infestation rate of Probopyrus sp. in populations of Palaemon pandaliformis (Stimpson, 1871) and P. northropi (Rankin, 1898) in the Ubatumirim River, localized in a mangrove ecosystem on Ubatumirim Beach, northern coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Samplings were carried out monthly from April 2003 to March 2004. Monthly prevalence varied from 0 to 4.94 % for P. pandaliformis, and from 0 to 4.54 % for P. northropi. This is the first record of Probopyrus sp. infesting the studied species in this region. Species of Probopyrus (Giard and Bonnier, 1888) seem to have a high plasticity with regard to palaemonid hosts, as they can be parasites of shrimps in both Palaemon (Fabricius, 1798) and Macrobrachium (Spence Bate, 1868). The linear relationships between the parasite and host sizes suggest that the parasite infests both hosts early in their development. We concluded that the infestation of Probopyrus sp. has little impact on Palaemon populations, mostly due to the low prevalence of infestation