Science Enabled by Specimen Data
Chauhan, H. K., S. Oli, A. K. Bisht, C. Meredith, and D. Leaman. 2021. Review of the biology, uses and conservation of the critically endangered endemic Himalayan species Nardostachys jatamansi (Caprifoliaceae). Biodiversity and Conservation 30: 3315–3333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02269-6
The commercial demand for Nardostachys jatamansi in the global market has raised concern about its long-term sustainability. The genus Nardostachys is represented by the single species (Nardostachys jatamansi) endemic to the Himalayas. This study reviews biology, uses, threats, knowledge gaps, and c…
Mairal, M., S. L. Chown, J. Shaw, D. Chala, J. H. Chau, C. Hui, J. M. Kalwij, et al. 2021. Human activity strongly influences genetic dynamics of the most widespread invasive plant in the sub‐Antarctic. Molecular Ecology 31: 1649–1665. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16045
The link between the successful establishment of alien species and propagule pressure is well-documented. Less known is how humans influence the post-introduction dynamics of invasive alien populations. The latter requires studying parallel invasions by the same species in habitats that are differen…
Stone, B. W., and A. D. Wolfe. 2021. Phylogeographic analysis of shrubby beardtongues reveals range expansions during the Last Glacial Maximum and implicates the Klamath Mountains as a hotspot for hybridization. Molecular Ecology 30: 3826–3839. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15992
Quaternary glacial cycles often altered species' geographic distributions, which in turn altered the geographic structure of species' genetic diversity. In many cases, glacial expansion forced species in temperate climates to contract their ranges and reside in small pockets of suitable habitat (ref…
Kriticos, D. J., K. B. Ireland, L. Morin, N. Kumaran, M. A. Rafter, N. Ota, and S. Raghu. 2021. Integrating ecoclimatic niche modelling methods into classical biological control programmes. Biological Control 160: 104667. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2021.104667
Much of the success of a classical biological control programme hinges on identifying effective candidate agents, and once approved for release deploying them in the range invaded by the target organism at site-specific times of the year when they have the best chance of establishing. While suitable…
Bontrager, M., T. Usui, J. A. Lee‐Yaw, D. N. Anstett, H. A. Branch, A. L. Hargreaves, C. D. Muir, and A. L. Angert. 2021. Adaptation across geographic ranges is consistent with strong selection in marginal climates and legacies of range expansion. Evolution 75: 1316–1333. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14231
Every species experiences limits to its geographic distribution. Some evolutionary models predict that populations at range edges are less well‐adapted to their local environments due to drift, expansion load, or swamping gene flow from the range interior. Alternatively, populations near range edges…
Rock, B. M., and B. H. Daru. 2021. Impediments to Understanding Seagrasses’ Response to Global Change. Frontiers in Marine Science 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.608867
Uncertainties from sampling biases present challenges to ecologists and evolutionary biologists in understanding species sensitivity to anthropogenic climate change. Here, we synthesize possible impediments that can constrain research to assess present and future seagrass response from climate chang…
Briscoe Runquist, R. D., T. A. Lake, and D. A. Moeller. 2021. Improving predictions of range expansion for invasive species using joint species distribution models and surrogate co‐occurring species. Journal of Biogeography 48: 1693–1705. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14105
Aims: Species distribution models (SDMs) are often used to forecast potential distributions of important invasive or rare species. However, situations where models could be the most valuable ecologically or economically, such as for predicting invasion risk, often pose the greatest challenges to SDM…
Saldaña‐López, A., M. Vilà, F. Lloret, J. Manuel Herrera, and P. González‐Moreno. 2021. Assembly of species’ climatic niches of coastal communities does not shift after invasion Z. Botta‐Dukát [ed.],. Journal of Vegetation Science 32. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12989
Question: Do invasions by invasive plant species with contrasting trait profiles (Arctotheca calendula, Carpobrotus spp., Conyza bonariensis, and Opuntia dillenii) change the climatic niche of coastal plant communities? Location: Atlantic coastal habitats in Huelva (Spain). Methods: We identifi…
Géron, C., J. J. Lembrechts, J. Borgelt, J. Lenoir, R. Hamdi, G. Mahy, I. Nijs, and A. Monty. 2021. Urban alien plants in temperate oceanic regions of Europe originate from warmer native ranges. Biological Invasions 23: 1765–1779. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02469-9
When colonizing new areas, alien plant species success can depend strongly on local environmental conditions. Microclimatic barriers might be the reason why some alien plant species thrive in urban areas, while others prefer rural environments. We tested the hypothesis that the climate in the native…
Allstädt, F. J., A. Koutsodendris, E. Appel, W. Rösler, T. Reichgelt, S. Kaboth-Bahr, A. A. Prokopenko, and J. Pross. 2021. Late Pliocene to early Pleistocene climate dynamics in western North America based on a new pollen record from paleo-Lake Idaho. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 101: 177–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-020-00460-1
Marked by the expansion of ice sheets in the high latitudes, the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation across the Plio/Pleistocene transition at ~ 2.7 Ma represents a critical interval of late Neogene climate evolution. To date, the characteristics of climate change in North America duri…