Alexander von Frantzius

Changes in climate and land cover have substantially modified the geographic range of several species, particularly those with specific ecological requirements, such as woodcreepers. Most woodcreeper species are associated with primary humid tropical forests due to their feeding and nesting habits, which depend on tree bark for foraging and locating nest cavities. We used species distribution models to analyze the effects of climate change (CC) until 2050 and land-use change (to detect primary habitat loss [PHL]) on the suitability areas of 15 woodcreeper species across Mexico. Optimistic and pessimistic scenarios show that by 2050, the projected suitability areas for these species will tend to be reduced by 60% and 74%, respectively. When we consider past changes in PHL for woodcreepers’ ranges were factored into CC future scenarios, suitability areas showed a reduction of up to 97% for restricted-range species, such as Xiphocolaptes emigrans and X. omiltemensis . Overall, the combined effects of CC and PHL on all woodcreeper species reduced their ranges, even if temperate, cloud, and evergreen forests showed slight future gain in suitability areas. Our findings revealed that most woodcreeper species could face severe declines. Given the ecological role of these birds and the at-risk status of several species, our findings should be considered when making conservation decisions in this important group.

An ongoing challenge in evolutionary and ecological research focuses on testing biogeographic hypotheses for the understanding of both species' distributional patterns and of the factors influencing range limits. In this study, we described the climatic niches of Neotropical humid montane forest birds through the analysis of factors driving their evolution at inter‐ and intraspecific levels; and tested for differences among allopatric lineages within Aulacorhynchus, Chlorospingus, Cardellina, and Eupherusa. We employed ecological niche models (ENMs) along with an ordination approach with kernel smoothing to perform niche overlap analyses and test hypotheses of niche equivalence/similarity among lineages. In addition, we described the potential distributions of each lineage during the Late Pleistocene climate fluctuations, identifying historical range expansions, connectivity, and stability. Overall, we observed differences in environmental variables influencing climatic requirements and distributional patterns for our selected species. We detected the highest values of niche overlap mainly between Eupherusa and some Chlorospingus lineages. At both interspecific and intraspecific levels, sister lineages showed non‐identical environmental niches. Our results offer weak support to a moist forest model, in which populations followed the expansion and contraction cycles of montane forests, leading to a lack of niche conservatism among lineages (they tend to occupy not identical climatic environments) throughout Mesoamerica. Therefore, historical climatic conditions may act as ecological barriers determining the distributional ranges of these species.

The maintenance, restoration, and improvement of habitat structure are critical for biodiversity conservation. Under this context, studies assessing habitat connectivity become essential, especially those focused on anthropized regions holding high species richness. We calculated the habitat connectivity of four species of insectivorous bats with different dispersal capacity and habitat preferences in a highly anthropized region in central Mexico, Idionycteris phyllotis and Myotis thysanodes , with a high dispersal capacity and forest-dependency, and Eptesicus fuscus with a low dispersal capacity, and Tadarida brasiliensis with a high dispersal capacity, as the more tolerant bat species to anthropogenic disturbance. We developed niche-based species distribution models to identify suitable habitat patches for each species. We then assessed habitat connectivity and the importance of suitable habitat patches for maintaining connectivity using a graph theory approach. Our results showed that forest dependency was most important than dispersal capacity for connectivity. We also found that the Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl mountain, a National Park comprising 4.2% of natural vegetation in the study area, was the most critical patch for maintaining connectivity for most of the study species. Our study demonstrates the importance of conserving the remnants of natural vegetation for maintaining habitat connectivity within a fragmented landscape and demonstrates the importance of conserving protected areas as well as other remnants of vegetation for the maintenance of habitat connectivity within a fragmented landscape.

Hummingbirds are one of the most threatened bird groups in the world. However, the extent to which global climate change (GCC) and habitat loss compromise their conservation status remains unclear. Herein, we proposed to: (1) assess how predicted GCC impacts the distribution of non-migrant hummingbi…

During the Quaternary, large climate oscillations impacted the distribution and demography of species globally. Two approaches have played a major role in reconstructing changes through time: Bayesian Skyline Plots (BSPs), which reconstruct population fluctuations based on genetic data, and Species …

Although vanilla is one of the most popular flavours in the world, there is still uncertainty concerning the native distribution of the species that produces it, Vanilla planifolia. To circumscribe the native geographical extent of this economically important species more precisely, we propose a new…

Aim: To assess the representativeness values of Mesoamerican endemic birds within the current network of protected areas (PAs) to determine high‐priority and complementary conservation areas to maximize the long‐term protection of species. Location: From central Mexico to southern Panama. Methods:…

Understanding the spatial and temporal evolution of biota in the tropical Andes is a major challenge, given the region’s topographic complexity and high beta diversity. We used a network approach to find biogeographic regions (bioregions) based on high-resolution species distribution models for 151 …

La distribución del loro frente blanca, Amazona albifrons, en México incluye la vertiente del Pacífico y del golfo, desde Sonora y el sur de Veracruz, respectivamente, y continúa hasta Costa Rica. Recientemente, se ha registrado más allá de su área de distribución histórica conocida, aparentemente p…

Aim: Estimating the strength of niche conservatism is key for predictions of invasion risk. Most studies consider only the climatic niche, but other factors, such as human disturbance, also shape niches. Whether occupation of human habitats in the alien range depends on the native tolerances of spec…