Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

Diversity and conservation of saproxylic beetles in 42 European tree species: an experimental approach using early successional stages of branches

Correction: In the original version of this dataset, the non‐native Prunus serotina was incorrectly interchanged with the native Prunus padus, and eight individuals of saproxylic beetles were incorrectly removed from the data when splitting beetles in saproxylic and non‐saproxylic species. The correct tree species is Prunus serotina, and results refer to a total of 113 species of saproxylic beetles and 30,550 individuals. 1. Tree species diversity is important to maintain saproxylic beetle diversity in managed forests. However, knowledge about the conservational importance of single tree species and implications for forest management and conservation practices are lacking. 2. We exposed freshly cut branch-bundles of 42 tree species, representing tree species native and non-native to Europe, under sun-exposed and shaded conditions for one year. Afterwards, communities of saproxylic beetles were reared ex-situ for two years. We tested for the impact of tree species and sun exposure on alpha-, beta-, and gamma diversity as well as composition of saproxylic beetle communities. 3. Tree species had a lower impact on saproxylic beetle communities compared to sun exposure. The diversity of saproxylic beetles varied strongly among tree species, with highest alpha- and gamma-diversity found in Quercus petraea. Red-listed saproxylic beetle species occurred ubiquitously among tree species. We found distinct differences in the community composition of broadleaved and coniferous tree species, native and non-native tree species as well as sun-exposed and shaded deadwood. 4. Our study enhances the understanding of the importance of previously understudied and non-native tree species for the diversity of saproxylic beetles. To improve conservation practices for saproxylic beetles and especially red-listed species, we suggest a stronger incorporation of tree species diversity and sun exposure into forest management strategies, including the enrichment of deadwood from native tree species and with a specific focus on locally rare or silvicultural less important tree species.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2020View details →

Data from: Contrasting vulnerability of monospecific and species-diverse forests to wind and bark beetle disturbance: The role of management

The published dataset contains the results of the paper titled Contrasting vulnerability of monospecific and species-diverse forests to wind and bark beetle disturbance: The role of management, in Ecology and Evolution. Results are based on the output of the model iLand (http://iland.boku.ac.at/startpage). contact: Laura Dobor; dobor.laura@gmail.com

opencc-zeroNov 2020View details →

Multiple lineages of hyper-diverse Zopheridae beetles survived the New Zealand Oligocene Drowning

Aim: During the late Oligocene (23 mya) the New Zealand landmass was reduced to approximately 18% of its current area. It has been hypothesized that this event, known as the Oligocene Drowning, caused population bottlenecking and mass extinction. Using phylogenetic methods, we examine the effect of this and other environmental events on the hyper-diverse Zopheridae beetles (162 morpho-species), which largely inhabit leaf litter and dead wood. Location: New Zealand Taxon: Zopheridae, Coleoptera Methods: Here we use a fossil-calibrated phylogenetic tree estimated from mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and nuclear large subunit rRNA genes to identify monophyletic New Zealand zopherid lineages and date the age of these lineages. We used Bayesian diversification models (compound Poisson process on mass-extinction times) to test the hypothesis that the New Zealand zopherids underwent a mass extinction in the late Oligocene followed by an increase in speciation rate in the Miocene. We also used these data to estimate the age of these lineages in New Zealand. Results: We demonstrate that 15 to 20 zopherid lineages survived the Oligocene Drowning depending on the calibration scheme. Of these lineages from three to 11 have posterior intervals that encompass the rifting of New Zealand from Gondwana in the late Cretaceous, again depending on the calibration scheme. The diversification model shows no evidence of an increase in extinction rate during the Oligocene Drowning or during any other period since the Cretaceous. Furthermore, rather than recovering an increase in speciation rate during the Miocene and Pliocene, due to environmental changes, we instead recovered a large drop in the speciation rate during this time. Main conclusion: The New Zealand zopherid fauna is a combination of lineages, some of which may have existed on New Zealand since the rifting from Gondwana and other more recent arrivals. The late-Oligocene reduction in land area was insufficient to cause a mass extinction in the Zopheridae. This suggests the amount of emergent land was great enough to support a diverse invertebrate fauna. Our study demonstrates the different biogeographic patterns evident in cryptic, hyperdiverse, and poorly dispersing invertebrate species relative to more mobile plants and animals.

opencc-zeroJan 2021View details →

Diversity and phylogenetic community structure across elevation during climate change in a family of hyperdiverse neotropical beetles (Staphylinidae)

Environmental stress from abiotic conditions imposes physiological limits on individuals within communities, and these stressful conditions can act as a filter on the species present in any given environment. Such abiotic stressors can reduce a community's diversity and make its composition more phylogenetically clustered. Using a decade of staphylinid beetle (Staphylinidae, Coleoptera, rove beetles) collections made across a 1,500 m elevation gradient in northwestern Costa Rica (2008-2017) we asked what species lived there, how large and overlapping were the communities across this gradient, and what relationship was there between elevation and diversity. Using DNA barcodes for identification and phylogenetic estimates of community structure, we found high turnover across elevation, and that staphylinid diversity increased linearly with elevation. Because of this, we found staphylinid diversity was negatively related to surface area and temperature, and positively with precipitation. We suggest that historical biogeography and contemporary environmental stress have combined to produce these observed patterns. The forests in which these beetles are found are heating and drying rapidly and our finding that diversity increases with elevation suggests that there will be catastrophic biodiversity loss in the coming decades.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Conservation value of low-productive forests measured as the amount and diversity of dead wood and saproxylic beetles

In many managed landscapes, low-productive land comprises most of the remaining relatively untouched areas, and is often over-represented within protected areas. The relationship between the productivity and conservational value of a site is poorly known; however, it has been hypothesized that biodiversity increases with productivity due to higher resource abundance or heterogeneity, and that the species communities of low-productive land are a nested sub-set of communities from more productive land. We tested these hypotheses for dead wood-dependent beetles by comparing their species richness and composition, as well as the amount and diversity of dead wood, between low-productive (potential forest growth < 1 m3 ha-1 year-1) and productive Scots pine-dominated stands in Sweden. We included four stand types: stands situated on (i) thin soils and (ii) mires (both low-productive), (iii) managed stands, and (iv) unmanaged stands set aside for conservation purposes (both productive). Beetle species richness and number of red-listed species were highest in the productive set-asides. Species richness was positively correlated with the volume and diversity of dead wood, but volume appeared to be a better predictor than diversity for the higher species richness in set-asides. Beetle species composition was similar among stand types, and the assemblages in low-productive stands were largely subsets of those in productive set-asides. However, 11% of all species and 40% of red-listed species only occurred in productive stands, while no species were unique to low-productive stands. We conclude that low-productive forests are less valuable for conservation than productive forest land. Given the generally similar species composition among stand types, a comparable conservational effect could be obtained by setting aside a larger area of low-productive forest in comparison to the productive. In terms of dead wood volumes, 1.8–3.6 ha of low-productive forest has the same value as 1 ha of unmanaged productive forest. This figure can be used to estimate the conservation value of low productive forests; however, as productive forests harbored some unique species, they are not completely exchangeable.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Edge effects and beta diversity in ground and canopy beetle communities of fragmented subtropical forest

Clearing of dry forests globally creates edges between remnant forest and open anthropogenic habitats. We used flight intercept traps to evaluate how forest beetle communities are influenced by distance from such edges, together with vertical height, spatial location, and local vegetation structure, in an urbanising region (Brisbane, Australia). Species composition (but not total abundance or richness) differed greatly between ground and canopy. Species composition also varied strongly among sites at both ground and canopy levels, but almost all other significant effects occurred only at ground level, where: species richness declined from edge to interior; composition differed between positions near edges (<10 m) and interiors (> 50 m); high local canopy cover was associated with greater total abundance and richness and differing composition; and greater distances to the city centre were associated with increased total abundances and altered composition. Analyses of individual indicator species associated with this variation enabled further biological interpretations. A global literature synthesis showed that most spatially well-replicated studies of edge effects on ground-level beetles within forest fragments have likewise found that positions within tens of metres from edges with open anthropogenic habitats had increased species richness and different compositions from forest interior sites, with fewer effects on abundance. Accordingly, negative edge effects will not prevent relatively small compact fragments (if >10-20 ha) from supporting forest-like beetle communities, although indirect consequences of habitat degradation remain a threat. Retention of multiple spatially scattered forest areas will also be important in conserving forest-dependent beetles, given high levels of between-site diversity.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Undocumented beetle diversity in the Southeastern United States: a case study of the minute clubbed beetles (Coleoptera: Monotomidae)

Studies of the saproxylic and predatory beetle family Monotomidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) in the southeastern USA increased the known diversity for the family in the state of Georgia by one genus and nine species. Online records of Monotomidae from Georgia increased from 0 to 885. This work highlights the lack of basic diversity information about small beetles that inhabit wood, leaf litter, and other decaying plant matter in this region.

FIGURE 22 in Paroster baylyi sp. n., P. ursulae sp. n. (Col. Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae) and the water beetle diversity of pan-gnammas on isolated granite outcrops in the Mallee of south-western Australia

FIGURE 22. Distribution of P. michaelseni (dots) P. baylyi sp. n. (diamonds) and P. ursulae sp. n. (star). The map was made by using MS ENCARTA 2000.

FIGURES 2–7 in Paroster baylyi sp. n., P. ursulae sp. n. (Col. Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae) and the water beetle diversity of pan-gnammas on isolated granite outcrops in the Mallee of south-western Australia

FIGURES 2–7. Habitus of 2) Paroster baylyi sp. n. (male); 3) P. baylyi sp. n. (female); 4) P. u r s u l a e sp. n. (male); 5) P. ursulae sp. n. (female); 6) P. michaelseni (holotype, male); 7) P. michaelseni (female).

FIGURES 8–19 in Paroster baylyi sp. n., P. ursulae sp. n. (Col. Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae) and the water beetle diversity of pan-gnammas on isolated granite outcrops in the Mallee of south-western Australia

FIGURES 8–19. Median lobe of aedeagus in ventral and lateral view: 8) Paroster michaelseni (holotype), 9) P. baylyi sp. n., 10) P. u r s u l a e sp. n.; Left paramere: 11) P. michaelseni (holotype), 12) P. baylyi sp. n., 13) P. u r s u l a e sp. n.; Gonocoxae: 14) P. michaelseni, 15) P. baylyi sp. n., 16) P. u r s u l a e sp. n.; Gonocoxosternum: 17) P. michaelseni, 18) P. baylyi sp. n., 19) P. u r s u l a e sp. n.

FIGURES 23–28 in Paroster baylyi sp. n., P. ursulae sp. n. (Col. Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae) and the water beetle diversity of pan-gnammas on isolated granite outcrops in the Mallee of south-western Australia

FIGURES 23–28. Habitats of Paroster baylyi sp. n. and P. ursulae sp. n., various pan-gnammas: 23) Type locality of P. ursulae sp. n., granite outcrop 80 km WSW Coolgardie {10}; 24) Stephan Gottwald searching for P. ursulae sp. n. {10}; 25) Type localities of P. baylyi sp. n., "Bilya Rock", 25 km ENE Morawa {1}; 26, 27) "Camel Soak", 31 km E Perenjori {2}; 28) "Rockpools", 10 km E Wubin {3}.

FIGURE 2 in Cryptic diversity in the Azorean beetle genus Tarphius Erichson, 1845 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): An integrative taxonomic approach with description of four new species

FIGURE 2. Bayesian inference tree for Tarphius beetles of the Azores based on 915 bp of nuclear DNA (Elongation Factor 1 alpha). Clade credibility values are shown for nodes with a posteror probability ± 0.95.

FIGURE 10 in Cryptic diversity in the Azorean beetle genus Tarphius Erichson, 1845 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): An integrative taxonomic approach with description of four new species

FIGURE 10. Detail on the number of seta on the external row of the lateral margin of pronotum in Tarphius relictus sp. nov.. Scale 0.25 mm (Photo: Erno-Endre Gergely).

FIGURE 1 in Cryptic diversity in the Azorean beetle genus Tarphius Erichson, 1845 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): An integrative taxonomic approach with description of four new species

FIGURE 1. Bayesian inference tree for Tarphius beetles of the Azores based on 1,383 bp of mitochondrial DNA (COI, tRNA- Leu, COII). Clade credibility values are shown for nodes with a posterior probability ± 0.95. Colored circles with lower case letters (a–g) indicate nodes, encompassing the same species on multiple islands and/or different species, for which most likely ancestral ranges were inferred. Color code for ancestral range matches that of current species distribution (see colored bar underneath island name and island colors in inset map). Inset map also shows island maximum geological age in millions of years (Ma).

FIGURE 5 in Cryptic diversity in the Azorean beetle genus Tarphius Erichson, 1845 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): An integrative taxonomic approach with description of four new species

FIGURE 5. Details of setae in elytra for the species in of the complex "azoricus-wollastoni-depressus": T. azoricus (restricted to São Miguel and Flores) (A); Tarphius wollastoni (restricted to Faial) (B); Tarphius gabrielae sp. nov. (restricted to Pico) (C); and Tarphius floresensis sp. nov. (restricted to Flores) (D). Scale 0.1 mm (Photos: Erno-Endre Gergely).

FIGURE 12 in Cryptic diversity in the Azorean beetle genus Tarphius Erichson, 1845 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): An integrative taxonomic approach with description of four new species

FIGURE 12. Detail on the number of seta on the external row of the lateral margin of pronotum in Tarphius furtadoi sp. nov.. Scale 0.25 mm (Photo: Erno-Endre Gergely).

FIGURE 4 in Cryptic diversity in the Azorean beetle genus Tarphius Erichson, 1845 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): An integrative taxonomic approach with description of four new species

FIGURE 4. Details of setae in elytra for the species in complex "tornvalli": T. tornvalli (restricted to São Miguel) (A); Tarphius relictus sp. nov. (restricted to Terceira) (B); and Tarphius furtadoi sp. nov. (restricted to São Jorge, Pico and Faial) with a specimen of São Jorge (C) and Faial (D). Scale 0.05 mm (Photos: Erno-Endre Gergely).

FIGURE 3 in Cryptic diversity in the Azorean beetle genus Tarphius Erichson, 1845 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): An integrative taxonomic approach with description of four new species

FIGURE 3. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination based on Euclidean distances calculated among logtransformed morphological variables. Symbols represent ten different Tarphius species while colours indicate species complex, with blue for "tornvalli", green for "azoricus-wollastoni-depressus" and grey for the endemic species of Santa Maria. Ordinations were done on all individuals simultaneously, but species complex are illustrated separately for clarity. Statistical tests between species were performed using the PerMANOVA; NMDS two-dimensional stress: 0.17.