Microhabitat use and seasonality of the sexually dimorphic West African centaurus beetle Augosoma centaurus

The sexually dimorphic dynastine centaurus beetle, genus Augosoma (Coleoptera: Scarabeidae), is endemic to tropical Africa where two species are found (A. centaurus and A. hippocrates). These beetles are consumed by rural populations, cause damage in plantations and are targets of insect collectors and traders. We present information on size differences and analyzed intersexual niche divergence and seasonality of A. centaurus in seven study sites in three West African countries (Ivory Coast, Togo and Nigeria). We recorded 711 light-attracted and/or opportunistically encountered individuals, as well as another 97 beetles in standardized transect surveys. In the latter, we found the adult sex ratio was equal, but was significantly skewed towards females in light-attracted and/or opportunistically encountered individuals. In a sample of 298 adult beetles, males were significantly larger than females, with almost no size overlap between sexes. Beetle activity was highly seasonal with most animals observed in November, active from 19:00 h to 24:00 h. Differences in habitat use were not significant between sexes, with most individuals observed in secondary forest. Males were found higher on vegetation than females and beetles of both sexes were found on Pandanus and raffia palms. Beetles were larger in sites with more vegetation cover, and there was a significant effect of tree species on body size of both sexes. Study area or country had no effect on any of the studied parameters. Our study confirms that transect surveys without light trapping can be an effective tool for understanding large-sized tropical beetles of similar ecological characteristics

Contribution of spatially explicit models to climate change adaptation and mitigation plans for a priority forest habitat

Climate change will impact forest ecosystems, their biodiversity and the livelihoods they sustain. Several adaptation and mitigation strategies to counteract climate change impacts have been proposed for these ecosystems. However, effective implementation of such strategies requires a clear understanding of how climate change will influence the future distribution of forest ecosystems. This study uses maximum entropy modelling (MaxEnt) to predict environmentally suitable areas for cork oak (Quercus suber) woodlands, a socio-economically important forest ecosystem protected by the European Union Habitats Directive. Specifically, we use two climate change scenarios to predict changes in environmental suitability across the entire geographical range of the cork oak and in areas where stands were recently established. Up to 40 % of current environmentally suitable areas for cork oak may be lost by 2070, mainly in northern Africa and southern Iberian Peninsula. Almost 90 % of new cork oak stands are predicted to lose suitability by the end of the century, but future plantations can take advantage of increasing suitability in northern Iberian Peninsula and France. The predicted impacts cross-country borders, showing that a multinational strategy, will be required for cork oak woodland adaptation to climate change. Such a strategy must be regionally adjusted, featuring the protection of refugia sites in southern areas and stimulating sustainable forest management in areas that will keep long-term suitability. Afforestation efforts should also be promoted but must consider environmental suitability and land competition issues

Local and Landscape Factors Determining Occurrence of Phyllostomid Bats in Tropical Secondary Forests

Neotropical forests are being increasingly replaced by a mosaic of patches of different successional stages, agricultural fields and pasture lands. Consequently, the identification of factors shaping the performance of taxa in anthropogenic landscapes is gaining importance, especially for taxa playing critical roles in ecosystem functioning. As phyllostomid bats provide important ecological services through seed dispersal, pollination and control of animal populations, in this study we assessed the relationships between phyllostomid occurrence and the variation in local and landscape level habitat attributes caused by disturbance. We mist-netted phyllostomids in 12 sites representing 4 successional stages of a tropical dry forest (initial, early, intermediate and late). We also quantitatively characterized the habitat attributes at the local (vegetation structure complexity) and the landscape level (forest cover, area and diversity of patches). Two focal scales were considered for landscape characterization: 500 and 1000 m. During 142 sampling nights, we captured 606 individuals representing 15 species and 4 broad guilds. Variation in phyllostomid assemblages, ensembles and populations was associated with variation in local and landscape habitat attributes, and this association was scale-dependent. Specifically, we found a marked guild-specific response, where the abundance of nectarivores tended to be negatively associated with the mean area of dry forest patches, while the abundance of frugivores was positively associated with the percentage of riparian forest. These results are explained by the prevalence of chiropterophilic species in the dry forest and of chiropterochorous species in the riparian forest. Our results indicate that different vegetation classes, as well as a multi-spatial scale approach must be considered for evaluating bat response to variation in landscape attributes. Moreover, for the long-term conservation of phyllostomids in anthropogenic landscapes, we must realize that the management of the habitat at the landscape level is as important as the conservation of particular forest fragments

Plant DNA barcodes and assessment of phylogenetic community structure of a tropical mixed dipterocarp forest in Brunei Darussalam (Borneo)

DNA barcoding is a fast and reliable tool to assess and monitor biodiversity and, via community phylogenetics, to investigate ecological and evolutionary processes that may be responsible for the community structure of forests. In this study, DNA barcodes for the two widely used plastid coding regions rbcL and matK are used to contribute to identification of morphologically undetermined individuals, as well as to investigate phylogenetic structure of tree communities in 70 subplots (10 × 10m) of a 25-ha forest-dynamics plot in Brunei (Borneo, Southeast Asia). The combined matrix (rbcL + matK) comprised 555 haplotypes (from ≥154 genera, 68 families and 25 orders sensu APG, Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, 2016), making a substantial contribution to tree barcode sequences from Southeast Asia. Barcode sequences were used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships using maximum likelihood, both with and without constraining the topology of taxonomic orders to match that proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. A third phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the program Phylomatic to investigate the influence of phylogenetic resolution on results. Detection of non-random patterns of community assembly was determined by net relatedness index (NRI) and nearest taxon index (NTI). In most cases, community assembly was either random or phylogenetically clustered, which likely indicates the importance to community structure of habitat filtering based on phylogenetically correlated traits in determining community structure. Different phylogenetic trees gave similar overall results, but the Phylomatic tree produced greater variation across plots for NRI and NTI values, presumably due to noise introduced by using an unresolved phylogenetic tree. Our results suggest that using a DNA barcode tree has benefits over the traditionally used Phylomatic approach by increasing precision and accuracy and allowing the incorporation of taxonomically unidentified individuals into analyses

A coalescent-based estimator of genetic drift, and acoustic divergence in the Pteronotus parnellii species complex

Dávalos, Liliana M., Lancaster, Winston C., Núñez-Novas, Miguel S., León, Yolanda M., Lei, Bonnie, Flanders, Jon, Russell, Amy L. (2018): A coalescent-based estimator of genetic drift, and acoustic divergence in the Pteronotus parnellii species complex. Heredity 122 (4): 417-427, DOI: 10.1038/s41437-018-0129-3, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41437-018-0129-

Rediscovery of the enigmatic solifuges (Arachnida: Solifugae) at Lampedusa Island (Italy)

Solifuges were recorded in Italy for the first time in 1956, on the island of Lampedusa (Strait of Sicily), and classified as Biton ehrenbergi Karsch, 1880 and Biton velox Simon, 1885. More than 60 years later, we carried out the first targeted investigation of these little-known animals. A survey conducted during both spring and autumn 2017 confirmed the presence of solifuges on Lampedusa Island. We identified all specimens as B. velox and not B. ehrenbergi. We concluded that B. ehrenbergi is absent from the island, on the basis of both newly collected data and a re-evaluation of the past records. Morphology and taxonomic position of the examined specimens are discussed in light of the unresolved state within the family Daesiidae Kraepelin 1899. Fifteen potentially suitable habitats were investigated across the entire island during 240 transects with standardised time-constrained searches (TCSs) of 30 minutes each. The survey documented a current habitat specificity of the solifuge population, as they were recorded only in the south-eastern coasts, where the local phrygana association, rich in endemic plant species, is still intact