First report of the Southern Gulf Coast Toad (Incilius valliceps Wiegmann), Common House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus Duméril and Bibron), Schmidt’s Black-Striped Snake (Coniophanes schmidti Bailey), and Cozumel Whiptail (Aspidoscelis cozumela Gadow), on Turneffe Atoll, Belize

Each year from 2012 to 2019, during a 12-day period in November or December, we photographed common herpetofauna on Calabash Caye, a small mangrove-dominated island on the eastern edge of Turneffe Atoll, Belize. Turneffe Atoll is home to the newest, largest, and most biodiverse marine protected area in Belize. Calabash Caye exemplifies the islands on Turneffe’s eastern edge whose elevated beach ridges enable the development of coastal strand plain and littoral forest habitats, which are among the most threatened habitats in the world. As no herpetofaunal survey has been published for Turneffe in over twenty years, and as the herpetofauna is a conspicuous indicator of the health of terrestrial ecological communities on islands, we leveraged our annual field excursions to Calabash Caye to compile a photographic record of the island’s reptiles and amphibians. In multiple years, we documented the presence of five lizards (Anolis sagrei mayensis, Aspidoscelis cozumela, Ctenosaura similis, Phyllodactylus tuberculosus, and the invasive species Hemidactylus frenatus), three snakes (Boa imperator, Leptophis mexicanus hoeversi, and Coniophanes schmidti), and one amphibian (Incilius valliceps). This represents the first report of A. cozumela, H. frenatus, C. schmidti, and I. valliceps on Calabash Caye or on any island in Turneffe Atoll; H. frenatus, C. schmidti, and I. valliceps have never been reported on any of the Belizean cayes. We did not observe four species that have previously been reported on Calabash Caye: Brown Basilisk (Basiliscus vittatus), Mesoamerican Cane Toad (Rhinella horribilis), Mayan Skink (Marisora lineola; formerly Mabuya unimarginata), or a blindsnake, provisionally identified as Indotyphlops braminus. We also include photos of Anolis allisoni, Ctenosaura similis, and Anolis sagrei mayensis obtained during four single-day excursions to Half Moon Caye on Lighthouse Atoll; this represents three of four species reported from that location during the 1990s.

Trends in yeast diversity discovery

Yeasts, usually defined as unicellular fungi, occur in various fungal lineages. Hence, they are not a taxonomic unit, but rather represent a fungal lifestyle shared by several unrelated lineages. Although the discovery of new yeast species occurs at an increasing speed, at the current rate it will likely take hundreds of years, if ever, before they will all be documented. Many parts of the earth, including many threatened habitats, remain unsampled for yeasts and many others are only superficially studied. Cold habitats, such as glaciers, are home to a specific community of cold-adapted yeasts, and, hence, there is some urgency to study such environments at locations where they might disappear soon due to anthropogenic climate change. The same is true for yeast communities in various natural forests that are impacted by deforestation and forest conversion. Many countries of the so-called Global South have not been sampled for yeasts, despite their economic promise. However, extensive research activity in Asia, especially China, has yielded many taxonomic novelties. Comparative genomics studies have demonstrated the presence of yeast species with a hybrid origin, many of them isolated from clinical or industrial environments. DNA-metabarcoding studies have demonstrated the prevalence, and in some cases dominance, of yeast species in soils and marine waters worldwide, including some surprising distributions, such as the unexpected and likely common presence of Malassezia yeasts in marine habitats.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN BLACK RACER (COLUBER CONSTRICTOR CONSTRICTOR) IN SOUTH-CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

Long-term species surveys are effective tools for identifying changes in population demography which is of particular importance for those in threatened habitats such as grasslands. Due to their cryptic nature, snakes can benefit greatly from these types of surveys but multiyear surveys for snakes are rare in Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. We conducted coverboard surveys of the grassland specialist Northern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor constrictor) over eight years separated into two sampling periods (2008-2012 and 2015-2017) across a habitat-mosaic in south-central Pennsylvania. We recorded information on their body size, demography, and monthly activity. We compared these traits between the sampling periods to determine how they vary over time. A total of 70 Northern Black Racers were captured during this project. As expected, grasslands were heavily exploited by Northern Black Racers highlighting their importance to this species. There was a shift from relatively larger-bodied, older individuals towards relatively smaller-bodied, younger individuals between the sampling periods, but the sex ratio remained unchanged. Monthly activity of adults was unimodal in both sampling periods, but the month of peak activity varied and there was a possible effect of precipitation on this difference. The change in age structure between the sampling periods suggested that a widespread mortality event, possibly from exceedingly cold overwintering conditions, may have culled older individuals resulting in a younger cohort to fill the void. As Northern Black Racers are an important grassland predator, our data show the benefits of long-term surveys through detecting changes in demographics that could potentially influence long-term survival of a population.

Taxonomy, Conservation, and the Future of Native Aquatic Snails in the Hawaiian Islands

Freshwater systems are among the most threatened habitats in the world and the biodiversity inhabiting them is disappearing quickly. The Hawaiian Archipelago has a small but highly endemic and threatened group of freshwater snails, with eight species in three families (Neritidae, Lymnaeidae, and Cochliopidae). Anthropogenically mediated habitat modifications (i.e., changes in land and water use) and invasive species (e.g., Euglandina spp., non-native sciomyzids) are among the biggest threats to freshwater snails in Hawaii. Currently, only three species are protected either federally (U.S. Endangered Species Act; Erinna newcombi) or by Hawaii State legislation (Neritona granosa, and Neripteron vespertinum). Here, we review the taxonomic and conservation status of Hawaii’s freshwater snails and describe historical and contemporary impacts to their habitats. We conclude by recommending some basic actions that are needed immediately to conserve these species. Without a full understanding of these species’ identities, distributions, habitat requirements, and threats, many will not survive the next decade, and we will have irretrievably lost more of the unique books from the evolutionary library of life on Earth.

Metabarcoding to establish freshwater indicators of environmental degradation in the Indo-Burmese biodiversity hotspot

Biodiversity hotspots of the world are increasingly exposed to anthropogenic pressures and resulting ecosystem breakdowns. However, biotic surveys for ecological status assessment are rarely conducted in poorly characterised, yet highly diverse ecosystems in the tropics and subtropics. Here, we addressed the challenge of developing a monitoring system for the highland streams of the Indo-Burmese biodiversity hotspot in Bangladesh, using a meta-barcoding approach to investigate the impacts of growing anthropogenic pressures on poorly studied invertebrate communities. Species richness and beta diversity in the region were correlated with anthropogenic stressors that varied greatly between sampling sites. A partial-network approach allowed us to identify potential indicator species for either a good or poor ecological status. Overall, our results document high species richness and pronounced responses to disturbance in these unexplored, but threatened habitats. In combination with classical taxonomy approaches, metabarcoding can therefore serve as a valuable tool to rapidly generate lacking baseline information facilitating the conservation of vulnerable ecosystems.

Thermal UAS Imaging to Monitor Restored Peatlands

<p>Globally peatlands are degrading due to drainage and intensified land use e.g. for forestry, agriculture and peat extraction. Peatland restoration can recover biodiversity of the threatened habitats, reestablish the natural hydrological role of the peatland as retaining water and nutrients and diminish greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p>Restoration monitoring for peatlands is urgent in order to reveal the peatland hydrological recovery and ecological succession after restoration, needs for corrective actions and to enable further method development. Restoration monitoring with conventional approaches is laborious, time-consuming and does not cover large areas. Visual evaluation is biased, and the traditional systematic methods give only focused information while conditions for most of the site remain hidden.</p><p>Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) imaging produces large coverage information on restoration success in high spatial resolution. Aerial perspective with superior resolution alone extends the monitoring aspect together with the photogrammetric high-precision digital elevation models (DEMs) allowed by the Structure from Motion (SfM) technology.</p><p>Additionally, external instruments such as thermal cameras attached in the drone allow revealing temperature anomalies and moisture patterns. We used thermal infrared (TIR) imaging to monitor changes at a boreal rewetted peatland site. The uncalibrated thermal data alone turned out to be useful showing near-surface flow routes recovered in restoration. We further applied a variety of processing methods for the data to explore their applicability on boreal peatlands. The results show the thermal UAS imaging to have great potential in monitoring the hydrological changes due to peatland restoration in high spatial resolution.</p>

Floristic Diversity in the Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley, Central Nepal

Wetlands support exceptionally high biodiversity and provide valuable ecosystem services, yet they are among the most threatened habitats due to anthropogenic activities. Conservation and management planning of wetlands requires, among others, a comprehensive floristic account. In this study, we prepared a checklist of the flowering plants found in the wetlands of the Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley (LCPV), a Ramsar site of Nepal, located in a rapidly urbanizing capital city of Gandaki Province in Central Nepal. Voucher specimens were collected from the study sites through multiple visits during the monsoon (June-August) and autumn (September-November) seasons. Species were categorized based on their life forms (Raunkiaer’s classification) and native distribution range (native, naturalized, invasive). Ethno-botanical uses of the plant species were compiled from the published literature. We identified 230 plant species belonging to 70 families and 177 genera. Asteraceae (25 species), Poaceae (22 species), Fabaceae (18 species), Cyperaceae (16 species), and Lamiaceae (11 species) were species-rich families. Therophytes (30%) were the dominant life form followed by Hemicryptophytes (27%). Among 230 species, 183 species were native and 47 species naturalized; among the naturalized species, 21 species were invasive. Most of the plant species (61%) have medicinal values while others have food (24%) and fodder values (13%).

Characterization of habitat requirements of European fishing spiders

Wetlands are among the most threatened habitats in the world, and so are their species, which suffer habitat loss due to climate and land use changes. Freshwater species and arthropods receive little attention in research and conservation, and the goals to stop and reverse the destruction of wetlands published 25 years ago in a manifesto by the Union of Concerned Scientists have not been reached. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and habitat requirements at two spatial scales of two species of European fishing spiders Dolomedes, which rely heavily on declining wetland habitats in Sweden and southern Norway. We collected occurrence data for Dolomedes plantarius and Dolomedes fimbriatus, using a live-determination-method. We modelled the placement of nursery webs to describe fine scaled habitat requirements related to vegetation and microclimate. Using a machine learning approach, we described the habitat features for each species, and for co-occurrence sites, to provide insight into variables relevant for the detectability of Dolomedes. We found that habitat requirements were narrower for D. plantarius compared to D. fimbriatus; that the detection of nursery webs can be affected by weather conditions and that nursery placement is mostly dependent on the proximity to water, the presence of Carex sp. (Sedges) and of crossing vegetation structures, and on humidity. Furthermore, co-occurring sites were more similar to D. plantarius sites than to D. fimbriatus sites, whereby surrounding forest, water type and velocity, elevation and latitude were of importance for explaining which species of Dolomedes was present. We provide a detailed field protocol for Dolomedes studies, including a novel live-determination method, and recommendations for future field protocols.

Anthropogenic disturbances and conservation of coastal environments in an oceanic archipelago

Oceanic islands are biotically fragile environments prone to suffer irreversible anthropogenic disturbances. The growth of the human population and the intensive occupation of the coastline are the cause of great ecological pressure on global insular coastal ecosystems. We review the current situation and future scenarios on a paradigmatic oceanic archipelago (Canary Islands, NE Atlantic Ocean), as a case study of the human footprint on marine coastal communities. The role of humans is pivotal, as we directly affect patterns of coastal occupation, pollution, invasive species or fishing. Here we synthesize the information that describes the current situation of the coastal ecosystems of the Canary Islands, indicating the main sources of environmental conflict and impacts. In addition, we review the state of the most relevant or threatened habitats and the taxonomic groups as actors of the main disturbances in the coastal ecosystems of the archipelago. We propose future general scenarios about expected changes, and foreseeable interactions that could occur to transform the coastal environments of the islands, in order to indicate areas susceptible to improvement for the conservation of these ecosystems. Integrative coastal actions are urgently needed for sustainable future scenarios to oppose deleterious trends such as tropicalization, fisheries collapse and extensive coastal degradation due to urbanization and infrastructure construction.