scholarly journals Spatial associations between plants and vegetation community characteristics provide insights into the processes influencing plant rarity

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260215
Author(s):  
Meena S. Sritharan ◽  
Ben C. Scheele ◽  
Wade Blanchard ◽  
David B. Lindenmayer

Determining the drivers of plant rarity is a major challenge in ecology. Analysing spatial associations between different plant species can provide an exploratory avenue for understanding the ecological drivers of plant rarity. Here, we examined the different types of spatial associations between rare and common plants to determine if they influence the occurrence patterns of rare species. We completed vegetation surveys at 86 sites in woodland, forest, and heath communities in south-east Australia. We also examined two different rarity measures to quantify how categorisation criteria affected our results. Rare species were more likely to have positive associations with both rare and common species across all three vegetation communities. However, common species had positive or negative associations with rare and other common species, depending on the vegetation community in which they occurred. Rare species were positively associated with species diversity in forest communities. In woodland communities, rare species were associated negatively with species diversity but positively associated with species evenness. Rare species with high habitat specificity were more clustered spatially than expected by chance. Efforts to understand the drivers of plant rarity should use rarity definitions that consider habitat specificity. Our findings suggest that examining spatial associations between plants can help understand the drivers of plant rarity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-377
Author(s):  
N. I. Borzov ◽  
F. M. Bortnikov ◽  
A. V. Matveev ◽  
V. I. Gmoshinskiy

The results of the first study of the species diversity of myxomycetes of the Rdeysky State Nature Reserve are presented. The 201 field specimens of sporophores belonging to 56 morphospecies from 27 genera, ten families, and six orders were collected from September 30 to October 5, 2020. Fifty-two species of these were new for the Novgorod Region. The most common species at the reserve were Arcyria affinis, Hemitrichia calyculata, Lycogala epidendrum, Metatrichia vesparia, Physarum album, Trichia decipiens, and T. varia. Additionally, detailed morphological descriptions of two rare species Amaurochaete trechispora and Trichia crateriformis are given.


2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Keppel ◽  
Marika V. Tuiwawa ◽  
Alifereti Naikatini ◽  
Isaac A. Rounds

Abstract:Island biotas often have lower species diversity and less intense competition has been hypothesized as a result. This should result in lower habitat specificity compared with mainland habitats due to larger realized niches. We investigate microhabitat associations of canopy trees with regard to differences in topography on an oceanic island (Viti Levu, Fiji) using twenty 10 × 60-m plots. We find high tree-species diversity (112 species with dbh ≥ 10 cm in a total of 1.08 ha) and high endemism (c. 60%), compared with other islands in Western Polynesia. Our sample plots aggregate into three distinct groups that are mostly defined by micro-topography: (1) ridges and steep slopes (well-drained sites), (2) moderate slopes and ridge flats (moderate drainage), and (3) flats (poor drainage). Associations with microhabitat are found for more than 50% of the 41 most common species but only one species is apparently restricted to a single habitat. These findings are similar to other rain forests and demonstrate considerable niche differentiation among island rain-forest tree species.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
JOKO KUSMORO ◽  
BETTY MAYAWATIE ◽  
RULLY BUDIONO ◽  
IIN SUPARTINAH NOER ◽  
RIRIN EKA PERMATASARI ◽  
...  

Abstract. Kusmoro J, Mayawatie B, Budiono R, Noer IS, Permatasari RE, Nurwahidah A, Satriawati R, Arum D, Saragih DE, Widya R, Jatnika MF, Makarim A, Partasasmita R. 2019. Short Communication: Species diversity of corticolous lichens in the arboretum of Padjadjaran University, Jatinangor, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20: 1606-1616. The lichen flora of tropical areas is still much under explored, Java in general and the Arboretum in West Java in particular, are no exceptions. The Arboretum of the main campus of Padjadjaran University, Jatinangor, Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia is representative of a typical man-made lowland tropical rain forest ecosystem in Java. It is planted with peculiar and rare species of plants, such as Antidesma bunius, Syzygium cumini, Durio zibethinus, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Tectona grandis, Albizzia falcataria, Swietenia mahagoni, Alstonia scholaris, Jatropha multifida, Sterculia foetida, Diospyrus blancoi, Hura crepitans and Rauvolfia serpentina. We explored the lichen flora of this Arboretum using species of corticolous macrolichens as indicator taxa. Lichen survey was performed by exploring the different zones, such as zones for rare species, industrial plants, medicinal plants and fruit plants. Lichen diversity on 23 trees spread in 12 ha area was documented based on morphological and anatomical features, and also chemical tests. A total of 68 species of lichens, distributed in 38 genera and 12 families, were enumerated during the study. The crustose and foliose forms contributed 62% (42 species) and 37% (25 species) of the total species, respectively. Graphidaceae with 28 species and Parmeliaceae with 15 species were the dominant families, which together constituted more than 50% of the lichen populations. Graphis librata and Parmeliopsis sp. were the dominant and co-dominant species and Drinaria picta was another common species.


2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-297
Author(s):  
L. A. Kolodochka ◽  
O. S. Shevchenko

Abstract In different types of substrate (soil, litter, lichens and mosses) collected at three memorial complexes (cemeteries) of Kyiv (Ukraine), 70 species from 57 genera, 34 families of oribatid mites were found. A few eurytopic species capable of tolerance to different types of pollution make up an essential part in each species complex. The species diversity and complexity of oribatid community structure at researched areas increased with distance from the city center. There was no direct relation between the degree of dominance of most common species and the cemetery’s relative remoteness from the center of the city.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 500 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-94
Author(s):  
JÉSSICA LEÃO BARBOSA TANAJURA ◽  
CAROLINA SANTOS PINHO ◽  
RILQUER MASCARENHAS DA SILVA ◽  
MARIA LUIZA SILVEIRA DE CARVALHO

This study aimed to assess the diversity of species in the Espinhaço Range (ER), eastern Brazil, using as a model the diverse plant family Gentianaceae and focusing on the Parque Municipal de Mucugê—Projeto Sempre Viva (PMM), a conservation unit with predominance of  “campo rupestre”. For this purpose, fieldwork expeditions were carried out between the years 2016–2018 along with a survey of species of this family recorded for this conservation unit in public databases. For comparative purposes, the listing of species from other five areas of the ER were also surveyed and we modeled the distribution of species endemic to these mountains, taking into account that they have their restrict distribution, high habitat specificity and importance to the ecosystem. The results indicated the presence of 33 species of Gentianaceae for the ER, eight of them occurring in the PMM. Comparatively, the results pointed to a greater floristic similarity between the PMM, Pico das Almas and Catolés, due to the presence of seven common species. Predictive distribution modeling supports high endemicity of the analyzed species, given their low environmental suitability outside the ER. The models also allowed us to identify possible areas showing high Wallacean shortfall for these species. Thus, the results reinforce the importance of field work, access to physical and digital botanical collections and the integrated use of tools for a more reliable survey of biodiversity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1694) ◽  
pp. 20150269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Soliveres ◽  
Peter Manning ◽  
Daniel Prati ◽  
Martin M. Gossner ◽  
Fabian Alt ◽  
...  

Species diversity promotes the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality). However, the relative functional importance of rare and common species in driving the biodiversity–multifunctionality relationship remains unknown. We studied the relationship between the diversity of rare and common species (according to their local abundances and across nine different trophic groups), and multifunctionality indices derived from 14 ecosystem functions on 150 grasslands across a land-use intensity (LUI) gradient. The diversity of above- and below-ground rare species had opposite effects, with rare above-ground species being associated with high levels of multifunctionality, probably because their effects on different functions did not trade off against each other. Conversely, common species were only related to average, not high, levels of multifunctionality, and their functional effects declined with LUI. Apart from the community-level effects of diversity, we found significant positive associations between the abundance of individual species and multifunctionality in 6% of the species tested. Species-specific functional effects were best predicted by their response to LUI: species that declined in abundance with land use intensification were those associated with higher levels of multifunctionality. Our results highlight the importance of rare species for ecosystem multifunctionality and help guiding future conservation priorities.


1987 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dora Feliciangeli

A study on the ecology of phlebotomine sandfly fauna in a restricted focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis in northern Venezuela was undertaken in order to investigate the species responsible for the transmission. The study area and catching methods for phlebotomine sandflies are described. A total of 9,061 females and 1,662 males were collected during a year-term study. 12 species of Lutzomya and 1 species of Brumptomya sp. were identified. Absolute and relative abundance and ocurrence for each species were determined. The rel ative occurrence allowed to distinguish the common species, viz. L. panamensis, L. ovallesi, L. gomezi, L. tinidadensis, L. atroclavata, L. cayennensis, L. shannoni and L. olmeca bicolor from the rare species vis., L. punctigeniculata, L. rangeliana, L. evansi and L. dubitans. General comments on the species composition of the sandfly fauna in this locality are made.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Boltacheva ◽  
M. V. Makarov ◽  
L. V. Bondarenko ◽  
M. A. Kovaleva

During 2015–2106 the macrozoobenthos under the clam farm located in the area of Sevastopol was investigated. The aim of the study is to consider species composition, density and biomass of macrozoobenthos in the area of the clam farm. The samples were taken using standard benthic techniques. Relatively low species diversity was observed, with 56 species of macrozoobenthos identified. The density was 500–975 ind. per m², the biomass varied from 0.8 to 381.1 g·m-2. The community of the bivalve mollusk Lucinella divaricata (Linnaeus, 1758) was found. Trophic structure of the community with high quantity of detritus feeders dominated by small polychaetes was determined. The dominating, typical and rare species were identified. Comparison with the data obtained in 1957 in Evpatoriya – Sevastopol area at the same depths and sediments was made.


Author(s):  
J. Mauchline

Schistomysis kervillei (G. O. Sars) is a common species in Loch Ewe, Gairloch and Gruinard Bay in north-west Scotland and a rare species in the Firth of Clyde. It breeds throughout the year but most intensely in the spring and summer, to produce a spring and summer generation of young. The maximum number of young found in a marsupium was 47. The species is omnivorous. Its biology is briefly compared with that of S. spiritus (Norman) and S. ornata (G. O. Sars).


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