Linda Katherine Escobar

En Santander, Colombia, asociado al valle del Magdalena Medio se presentan serranías con remanentes boscosos que contrastan con las zonas deforestadas de las partes bajas. Presentamos una serie (90 especímenes de 48 especies) de la Serranía de La Paz, Betulia, catalogada en la Colección de Ornitología del Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS-AV) y que proviene principalmente de una expedición en 2023 con el objetivo de estudiar su avifauna a partir de especímenes. La composición de especies de esta serie se comparó con la de otras series de UIS-AV recolectadas recientemente en el Magdalena Medio, y con una serie recolectada en la misma serranía en 1956 cuya información fue obtenida en el GBIF. Nuestra serie de la Serranía de La Paz comparte más especies con un área de bosque continuo en Bolívar que con fragmentos de bosque en Santander. Aunque varias especies de la Serranía de La Paz se registran en otros sitios del Magdalena Medio, nuestra serie incluye a Cotinga nattererii, Trogon rufus y Trogon caligatus que son especies con pocos especímenes para Santander que fueron recolectados hace más de 70 años, además de Euphonia concinna que representa un registro novedoso para el departamento. El 90 % de las especies recolectadas en 1956 están en UIS-AV o se registraron en 2023, pero Psarocolius wagleri, Cacicus cela y Falco sparverius, estuvieron ausentes. La Serranía de La Paz tiene especies de aves características de bosques del Magdalena Medio y puede ser un sitio apropiado para conservarlas.

The flowering phenology of many tropical mountain forest tree species remains poorly understood, including flowering synchrony and its drivers across neotropical ecosystems. We obtained herbarium records for 427 tree species from a long-term monitoring transect on the northwestern Ecuadorian Andes, sourced from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Herbario Nacional del Ecuador. Using machine learning algorithms, we identified flowering phenophases from digitized specimen labels and applied circular statistics to build phenological calendars across six climatic regions within the neotropics. We found 47 939 herbarium records, of which 14 938 were classified as flowering by Random Forest Models. We constructed phenological calendars for six regions and 86 species with at least 20 flowering records. Phenological patterns varied considerably across regions, among species within regions, and within species across regions. There was limited interannual synchronicity in flowering patterns within regions primarily driven by bimodal species whose flowering peaks coincided with irradiance peaks. The predominantly high variability of phenological patterns among species and within species likely confers adaptative advantages by reducing interspecific competition during reproductive periods and promoting species coexistence in highly diverse regions with little or no seasonality.

Herbarium specimens provide an important and central resource for biodiversity research. Making these records digitally available to end-users represents numerous challenges, in particular, transcribing metadata associated with specimen labels. In this study, we used the citizen science initiative ‘Les Herbonautes’ and the Récolnat network to transcribe specific data from all herbarium specimen labels stored at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris of the large tropical plant family Annonaceae. We compared this database with publicly available global biodiversity repository data and expert checklists. We investigated spatial and taxonomic advances in data availability at the global and country scales. A total of 20 738 specimens were transcribed over the course of more than two years contributing to and significantly extending the previously available specimen and species data for Annonaceae worldwide. We show that several regions, mainly in Africa and South East Asia not covered by online global datasets, are uniquely available in the P herbarium, probably linked to past history of the museum’s botanical exploration. While acknowledging the challenges faced during the transcription of historic specimens by citizen scientists, this study highlights the positive impact of adding records to global datasets both in space and time. This is illustrative for researchers, collection managers, policy makers as well as funders. These datasets will be valuable for numerous future studies in biodiversity research, including ecology, evolution, conservation and climate change science.

Wild food plants (WFPs) are important components of the diet and a source of income for local communities in semiarid regions, given that these populations are commonly characterized by high socioeconomic vulnerability and dependence on natural resources for subsistence. In periods of food scarcity and crop failure, WFPs emerge as strategic resources for ensuring food and nutrition security. However, these little-researched plants may also be affected by climate change. Here, our objective was to determine the spatiotemporal dynamics of WFPs in the Brazilian semiarid and evaluate their potential availability in future climate change scenarios. We constructed habitat suitability models for economically and nutritionally important WFPs used in this region and projected future scenarios (2041–2060). Furthermore, we determined the geographical distribution, species richness, and composition (on local and regional scales) of WFPs in current and future scenarios. Our results showed that WFPs exhibited varied responses to climate change. The more pessimistic the future scenario, the greater the negative effects. Most WFP species exhibited a reduction in climatically suitable areas in future scenarios, resulting in a shrinkage of geographical ranges, a reduction in species richness, and alterations in community composition. These changes could have important implications for economic development, subsistence, and food and nutrition security in the region. Our findings offer insights that can guide actions for adaptation and mitigating the effects of climate change and promoting species conservation not only in the Brazilian semiarid but also in other semiarid regions worldwide.

Aim To test the hypothesis that adaptive shifts leading to the assembly of tropical savannas involved coordination between bark and wood traits and to understand the underlying mechanisms.LocationTropical South America.TaxonAngiosperms (woody).MethodsWe compiled data on three bark traits (total, inner and outer relative bark thickness), wood density, maximum height, five secondary xylem traits and on species' habitat information (light environment, climate, soil and fire history) for Neotropical savanna, forest and generalist species (biome groups). We tested for pairwise and multivariate associations among traits across species and if biome group and habitat conditions explained species positions along the resulting strategy axes.ResultsTraits covaried along four different axes. The first axis was consistent with a trade‐off between fire (thick barks) and shade tolerance (low bark to diameter ratio, high vessel density) and contributed to differentiate the three biome groups according to the preference for shaded environments. Forest species also differed from savanna and generalist species in a separate axis by being more resource acquisitive. Maximum height and wood density did not strongly trade‐off with bark thickness, although maximum height was negatively covaried with relative outer bark thickness. Preference for shaded conditions was the main driver of variation in the two principal strategy axes, but temperature, fire and soil sand content also explained differences in plant stature between savanna and generalist species.Main ConclusionsAllocation to bark is constrained by trade‐offs with wood, opposing shade‐tolerant and acquisitive forest species to fire‐resistant and conservative savanna species. Rather than a single strategy axis, three axes are necessary to understand the functional differences among savanna, forest and generalist species. Because two of these axes are controlled by light availability, the associated traits tend to covary in space and time, but not across species.

Passiflora foetida is a climbing vine, native to the Neotropical Region that is causing major economic and ecological damage in Australia, where it is rapidly spreading. Traditional control options, such as cutting, manual uprooting, and herbicide applications are only effective for local management. Currently, the plant bug Engytatus passionarius is the most promising biological control agent. Specificity tests performed in its native range in Argentina suggest it is highly specific to the plant, and it has not been observed in the field associated with other plants. As climate determines the establishment of insects, knowing if the environmental conditions suit their requirements is key to introducing a species in a region. Also, an overlap between the climatic niches of species is an indicator of similar requirements. To explore the possibilities of a successful establishment of E. passionarius in Australia, ecological niche models (ENM) were built for the plant bug and for the vine and their overlap was measured. The ENM projected to Australia recognized suitable environmental conditions for the establishment of E. passionarius in several regions where P. foetida is present, both for current and future scenarios. Moreover, the niche of the plant bug is almost completely overlapped with that of the vine. All the aforementioned evidence seems to indicate that E. passionarius has a good chance to become an effective biological control agent of P. foetida.

The popularization of citizen-science platforms has increased the amount of data available in a fine spatial and temporal resolution, which can be used to fill distribution knowledge gaps through probabilistic maps. In this study, we gathered expert-based information and used species distribution models to produce two independent maps of the greater rhea ( Rhea americana , Rheiformes, Rheidae) distribution in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We integrated municipality level detection/non-detection data from five citizen-science datasets into a Bayesian site occupancy model, accounting for false negatives, sampling effort, habitat covariates, and spatial autocorrelation. We addressed whether habitat (grassland and crop field cover, number of rural properties) and spatial autocorrelation explains the realized occurrence of the species and compared model-based and expert-based occurrence maps. The mean estimated percentage of occupied municipalities was 48% (239 out of 497 municipalities), whereas experts declared 21% of the municipalities (103) as occupied by the species. While both mapping approaches showed greater rhea presence in most municipalities of the Pampa biome, they disagreed in the majority of the municipalities in the Atlantic Forest, where more fieldwork must be undertaken. The greater rhea distribution was exclusively explained by the spatial autocorrelation component, suggesting that the species expanded its distribution towards the north of the state, reaching the Atlantic Forest, following deforestation and agriculture expansion.

While area-based approaches continue to dominate biodiversity conservation, there is growing recognition of the importance of the human dimensions of biodiversity. We applied the Important Plant Areas (IPA) approach in Colombia to identify key sites for the conservation of plant species with reported human uses. Drawing on the Checklist of Useful Plants of Colombia, we collated 1,045,889 clean occurrence records for 5400 native species from global data repositories and digitized herbaria. Through analysis based on regionalized grid cells, we identified 980 sites meeting IPA thresholds. These are primarily located in forest habitats, with only 19.8 % within existing national natural parks or internationally designated conservation areas. Grid cells were transformed to polygons based on overlapping ecosystems and administrative boundaries to form more meaningful site boundaries. A subsequent two-stage ranking procedure based on conservation value and richness found 46 sites to be of high priority, with 10 selected as top priorities for further investigation and conservation action. These 10 sites support significant populations of 33 threatened useful plant species and represent six of the 13 bioregions of Colombia in just 0.27 % of its land area. To progress from potential to confirmed IPAs, targeted fieldwork is required alongside stakeholder engagement and consultation, crucially involving local resource users. As a megadiverse country ranked second in the world for its botanical richness, effective IPA management would not only contribute to Colombian targets for sustainable development and conservation but would also support global targets to recover biodiversity for both planet and people.

Mesoamerican mountains are important centers of endemism and diversity of epiphytes. The Sierra Madre of Chiapas in southeastern Mexico is a mountainous region of great ecological interest due to its high biological richness. We present the first checklist of epiphytes for this region based on a compilation of various information sources. In addition, we determined the conservation status for each species based on the Mexican Official Standard (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010), endemism based on geopolitical boundaries, spatial completeness with inventory completeness index, richness distribution with range maps, and the relationship between climatic variables (temperature and rainfall) with species richness using generalized additive models. Our dataset includes 9,799 records collected between 1896-2017. Our checklist includes 708 epiphytes within 160 genera and 26 families; the most species-rich family was Orchidaceae (355 species), followed by Bromeliaceae (82) and Polypodiaceae (79). There were 74 species within a category of risk and 59 species considered endemic. Completeness of epiphyte richness suggests that sampling is still largely incomplete, particularly in the lower parts of the mountain system. Species and family range maps show the highest richness at high elevations, while geographically richness increases towards the southeast. Epiphyte richness increases with increased rainfall, although a unimodal pattern was observed along the temperature gradient with a species richness peak between 16-20 C°. The Sierra Madre of Chiapas forms a refuge to more than 40% of all epiphytes reported for Mexico and its existing network of protected areas overlaps with the greatest epiphyte richness.

Paleoclimate reconstructions can provide a window into the environmental conditions in Earth history when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were higher than today. In the eastern USA, paleoclimate reconstructions are sparse, because terrestrial sedimentary deposits are rare. Despite this, the eastern USA has the largest population and population density in North America, and understanding the effects of current and future climate change is of vital importance. Here, we provide terrestrial paleoclimate reconstructions of the eastern USA from Miocene fossil floras. Additionally, we compare proxy paleoclimate reconstructions from the warmest period in the Miocene, the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO), to those of an MCO Earth System Model. Reconstructed Miocene temperatures and precipitation north of 35°N are higher than modern. In contrast, south of 35°N, temperatures and precipitation are similar to today, suggesting a poleward amplification effect in eastern North America. Reconstructed Miocene rainfall seasonality was predominantly higher than modern, regardless of latitude, indicating greater variability in intra-annual moisture transport. Reconstructed climates are almost uniformly in the temperate seasonal forest biome, but heterogeneity of specific forest types is evident. Reconstructed Miocene terrestrial temperatures from the eastern USA are lower than modeled temperatures and coeval Atlantic sea surface temperatures. However, reconstructed rainfall is consistent with modeled rainfall. Our results show that during the Miocene, climate was most different from modern in the northeastern states, and may suggest a drastic reduction in the meridional temperature gradient along the North American east coast compared to today.