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Figure 6 in Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago

Figure 6. Relative warps analysis (RWA) of 13 dorsal cranial landmarks from 22 individuals of R. hildebrandtii s.l. belonging to two molecular clades and two lineages of Clade 1 (see Fig. 3). Revised taxon names are provided in parentheses (see Taxonomic Conclusions). Skulls which were included in this analysis are indicated in Table S1. Symbols as in Fig. 5. Thin plate splines (grids) show landmark distortions represented by extremes of variation on RW1 (left = negative; right = positive) and RW2 (bottom = negative; top = positive) axes. The two skull photographs at the bottom are of actual specimens representing the negative (left: TM 41997ı smithersi from Pafuri) and positive (right: DM 11560ı cohenae from Mayoı Mpumalanga Province) extremes of variation on RW1. Landmark positions (filled circles) are shown in the photograph in the centre. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041744.g006

Figure 9 in Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago

Figure 9. Dorsal (D), ventral (V) and lateral (L) view of bacula (tips on right) from four individuals (a–d) from Mpumalanga (Clade 1a = cohenae sp. nov.), two (e–f) from lowland sites in Mozambique (Clade 2 = mossambicus sp. nov.) and one (g) from Mt Mabu in Mozambique (Clade 1b = mabuensis sp. nov.). a = DM 11558 (Sudwala); b = DM 11620 (Barberton Tunnel; Topotype of cohenae); c = DM 11560 (Mayo); d = DM 11618 (Barberton Tunnel); e = DM 8580 (Gorongosa); f = DM 8578 (Niassa GR; Holotype of mossambicus); g = DM 10842 (Mt Mabu; Holotype of mabuensis). Bacula of Clade 1a (cohenae sp. nov.) have spatulate tip (rounded in Clades 2 (mossambicus sp. nov.) and 1b (mabuensis sp. nov.))ı typically emarginated basal portion (less so in Clades 2 and 1b) and shaft laterally compressed (cylindrical in Clades 2 and 1b) and sloping downwards in lateral view (horizontal in Clades 2 and 1b). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041744.g009

Figure 5 in Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago

Figure 5. Canonical variates analysis (CVA) (a) of 10 cranial variables in five groups of the Rhinolophus hildebrandtii complex defined by molecular analysis; and PCA (b) of five cranial variables for sample in (a) with type series of hildebrandtii (''H¹'') and eloquens (''E¹'') added. Open circles = Clade 1a (= cohenae sp. nov.); closed circles = Clade 1b (= mabuensis sp. nov.); shaded circles = Clade 1d (= smithersi sp. nov.; Pafuri); asterisk enclosed in circle = Clade 1e (= smithersi sp. nov.; Zimbabwe); open squares = Clade 2 (mossambicus sp. nov.; Mozambique); shaded squares = Clade 2 (mossambicus sp. nov.; Lutopeı Zimbabwe); open diamonds = R. eloquens type series (Clade 3); crosses in circles = R. hildebrandtii type and co-type (Clade 1c). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041744.g005

Figure 1 in Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago

Figure 1. Portraits of (a) Rhinolophus smithersi species novo, and (b) Rhinolophus mossambicus species novo, two of four new cryptic species described herein within the R. hildebrandtii complex. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041744.g001

Figure 4 in Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago

Figure 4. Morphometric variation in a series representing the R. hildebrandtii complex from Lutope-Ngolangola, Zimbabwe: a) biplot of forearm length versus noseleaf width and b) PCA of five craniometric variables (M3M3, CM3, IOC, NW, NH) in 26 individuals of known (37 or 46 kHz) and unknown (?) frequency. Females indicated by open circlesı males by closed circles or crosses or asterisk. Voucher specimens for molecular sequencing study indicated by asterisk (Clade 1e: = smithersii sp. nov.; see Taxonomic Conclusions) and crosses (Clade 2: = mossambicus sp. nov.; see Taxonomic Conclusions). Hereafterı all individuals with a frequency of 37 kHz were assumed to belong to Clade 2 (mossambicus sp. nov.) and the 46 kHz individual was assumed to belong to Clade 1e (smithersi sp. nov.). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041744.g004

Figure 3. Consensus tree for the cytochrome b in Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago

Figure 3. Consensus tree for the cytochrome b dataset for representative genotyped specimens of the Rhinolophus hildebrandtii complex. The topology represents the consensus topology from a 20 million MCMC run implemented in BEAST. Estimates of divergence times (million years ago; Mya) are indicated adjacent to nodes or above branches and grey bars indicate 95% HPD values. The split between the Hipposideridae and Rhinolophidae was used as the calibration point. Taxa names include museum/field numbers which correspond to Appendix S1 or GenBank accession numbers and abbreviations are: RcfH - R. cf. hildebrandtiiı RD - R. darlingiı RE - R. eloquensı RF - R. fumigatusı RH - R. hildebrandtii s.l.ı RL - R. landeri and RR - R. ruwenzorii. Localitiesı where availableı are providedı abbreviations include SA - South Africaı MZ - Mozambiqueı and ZW - Zimbabweı and the numbers in parentheses correspond with place names in Table S1 and Fig. 2 for Clade 1 and 2 individuals. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041744.g003

Figure 7 in Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago

Figure 7. Relative warps analysis (RWA) of 12 lateral cranial landmarks from 23 individuals of R. hildebrandtii s.l. belonging to two molecular clades and two lineages of Clade 1 (see Fig. 3). Revised taxon names are provided in parentheses (see Taxonomic Conclusions). Skulls which were included in this analysis are indicated in Table S1. Symbols as is in Fig. 5. Thin plate splines (grids) show landmark distortions represented by extremes of variation on RW1 (left = negative; right = positive) and RW2 (bottom = negative; top = positive) axes. The two skull photographs at the bottom are of actual specimens representing the negative (left: DM 8577ı mossambicus from Namapaı Mozambique) and positive (right: DM 11560ı cohenae from Mayoı Mpumalanga Province) extremes of variation on RW1. Landmark positions (filled circles) are shown in the photograph in the centre. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041744.g007

opencc-zeroJan 2024View details →

Linked collectors and determiners for: Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago.

Natural history specimen data linked to collectors and determiners held within, "Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago". Claims or attributions were made on Bionomia by volunteer Scribes, <a href="https://bionomia.net/dataset/eb1f92d6-b231-49e8-942a-23a304304304">https://bionomia.net/dataset/eb1f92d6-b231-49e8-942a-23a304304304</a> using specimen data from the dataset aggregated by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, <a href="https://gbif.org/dataset/eb1f92d6-b231-49e8-942a-23a304304304">https://gbif.org/dataset/eb1f92d6-b231-49e8-942a-23a304304304</a>. Formatted as a Frictionless Data package.

dryad40/100

Community characteristics of forest understory birds along an elevational gradient in the Horn of Africa: A multi-year baseline of Afromontane birds

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publicMay 2021View details →

dryad40/100

Data from: The great rift valley is a greater biogeographic barrier than the blue Nile Valley for six Ethiopian highland passerines in the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot

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publicAug 2024View details →

opencc-zeroDec 2023View details →

Afromontane understory birds increase in body size over four decades

Of the myriad responses to climate change, an emerging trend is the widespread decrease in animal body size with warming temperatures. Birds, in particular, have been shown to be decreasing in body size in several areas – most notably the Amazon Basin and temperate North America – but trends in much of the world remain unexplored. Here, we analyze temporal trends in and climatic associations of body mass for 42 resident bird species over 36 years in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania, a tropical montane global biodiversity hotspot. In addition, we assess trends in wing length and mass:wing ratio over 21 years. Finally, we examine whether species-specific trends in body mass are related to average body size or to trends in apparent survival. Overall, species' average body mass in the Usambara Mountains increased by 0.023 g/decade, amounting to increases of 4.1% over 36 years. These long-term shifts in body mass were strongly and positively associated with annual mean temperature but showed no relationship with precipitation. Wing length increased on average by 2.0% over the most recent 21-year period, yet there was mixed evidence for trends in mass:wing ratio, suggesting that body size, in general, is increasing. While percentage trends in body mass were not related to trends in apparent annual survival, smaller species did display greater proportional increases in body mass. Although the drivers of increased body size remain unclear – and climate change cannot be ruled out – such increases among Afrotropical montane birds provide an intriguing counterpoint to observed declines in body mass elsewhere and suggest that trends in body mass in tropical birds may be mediated by biogeography or other abiotic or biotic drivers.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Landscape genetics Afromontane forest birds - microsatellite data

<a name="_Hlk61564128"></a>Species confined to naturally fragmented habitats may exhibit intrinsic population complexity which may challenge interpretations of species response to anthropogenic landscape transformation. In South Africa, where native forests are naturally fragmented, forest‐dependent birds have undergone range declines since 1992, most notably among insectivores. These insectivores appear sensitive to the quality of natural matrix habitats, and it is unknown whether transformation of the landscape matrix has disrupted gene flow in these species. We undertook a landscape genetics study of four forest‐dependent insectivorous songbirds across southeast South Africa. Microsatellite data were used to conduct a priori optimization of landscape resistance surfaces (land cover, rivers and dams, and elevation) using cost‐distances along least‐cost pathway (LCP), and resistance distances (IBR). We detected pronounced declines in effective population sizes over the past two centuries for the endemic forest specialist Cossypha dichroa and Batis capensis, alongside recent gene flow disruption in B. capensis, C. dichroa and Pogonocichla stellata. Landscape resistance modelling showed both native forest and dense thicket configuration facilitates gene flow in P. stellata, B. capensis and C. dichroa. Facultative dispersal of P. stellata through dense thicket likely aided resilience against historic landscape transformation, whereas combined forest‐thicket degradation adversely affected the forest generalist B. capensis. By contrast, Phylloscopus ruficapilla appears least reliant upon landscape features to maintain gene flow and was least impacted by anthropogenic landscape transformation. Collectively, gene flow in all four species is improved at lower elevations, along river valleys, and riparian corridors— where native forest and dense thicket better persist. Consistent outperformance of LCP over IBR land‐cover models for P. stellata, B. capensis and C. dichroa demonstrates the benefits of wildlife corridors for South African forest‐dependent bird conservation, to ameliorate the extinction debts from past and present anthropogenic forest exploitation.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Data from: Multiple lines of evidence indicate ongoing allopatric and parapatric diversification in an Afromontane sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi)

Africa's montane ecosystems are noteworthy not only for their isolation, but for their morphologically similar bird populations that inhabit geographically disparate localities. Many species possess range disjunctions in excess of 2,000 km and appear to represent populations that have been isolated since at least the last Ice Age, including the Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). Recent work on other Afromontane birds has demonstrated substantial phylogeographic structure can exist in phenotypically similar populations, with cryptic species occurring parapatrically within the same mountain range. We explored genetic, morphological, and ecological diversity within C. reichenowi to assess whether cryptic regional diversification occurs across the disjunct portions of this species' range. Within C. reichenowi, we find consistent patterns of morphological disparity that coincide with genetic diversification between xeric and wet montane populations within the Cameroon Line in the Western population, and clear genetic differentiation between Western and Eastern populations. Our research demonstrates that the geographically isolated populations of Cinnyris reichenowi represent different species, and that ecological diversification is shaping populations within Central Africa. We show here that two named populations should be recognized as members of a western species in the Northern Double-collared Sunbird complex: nominate Cinnyris preussi preussi in the Cameroon Line montane forests, and C. p. genderuensis in the more xeric hinterland of Cameroon and the Central African Republic, likely occurring in adjacent Nigeria as well.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

Spatial variation in human disturbances and their effects on forest structure and biodiversity across an Afromontane forest

Context Human disturbances can have large impacts on forest structure and biodiversity, and thereby result in forest degradation, a property difficult to detect by remote sensing. Objectives To investigate spatial variation in anthropogenicdisturbances and their effects on forest structure and biodiversity. Methods In 144 plots of 20 x 20 m distributed across a forest area of 750 km2 in Southwest Ethiopia, we recorded: landscape variables (e.g., distance to forest edge), different human disturbances, forest structure variables, and species composition of trees and epiphyllous bryophytes. We then first assessed if landscape variables could explain the spatial distribution of disturbances. Second, we analysed how forest structure and biodiversity were influenced by disturbances. Results Human disturbances, such as coffee management and grazing declined with distance to forest edges and penetrated at least a kilometer into the forest. The slope was not related to disturbance levels, but several types of disturbances were less common at higher elevations. Among human disturbance types, coffee management reduced liana cover and was associated with altered species composition of trees. The presence of large trees and basal areas was not related to any of the disturbance gradients. Conclusions Although most anthropogenic disturbances displayed clear edge effects, surprisingly the variation in the chosen forest degradation indices was only weakly related to these disturbances. We suggest that the intersection between edge effects and forest degradation is very context-specific and relies much on how particular societies use the forests. For example, in this landscape coffee management seems to be a key driver.

opencc-zeroSep 2023View details →

Environment differentially affects the functional and phylogenetic structures of plant communities in a dry evergreen Afromontane tropical forest

Testing how local environmental conditions influence plant community assembly is important to understand the underlying mechanisms that promote and/or maintain biodiversity. Functional traits are used to find the broad spectrum of resource use strategies that plants use to respond to environmental variation. The patterns and drivers of plant community assembly through the lens of traits and phylogeny, however, remain to be studied in a uniquely biodiversity rich but poorly known fragmented dry Afromontane forest of Ethiopia. Here, we combined trait and community phylogenetic data from thirty sampling plots of 20 × 20 m size to determine the functional and phylogenetic structures and their drivers in a fragmented, human-dominated dry evergreen Afromontane forest. We found phylogenetic and functional clustering of plants in which the effect of environment was found to be trait specific. A weak phylogenetic signal for traits was detected suggesting that species resource use strategies may not be inferred using species phylogenetic distance. Additionally, we found functional traits to be weak in predicting species abundance distribution. Overall, while this study shows a non-random community assembly pattern, it also highlights the importance of deterministic processes being trait specific.

publicNov 2021View details →

Data from: Multiple lines of evidence indicate ongoing allopatric and parapatric diversification in an Afromontane sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi)

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publicSep 2023View details →

Environment differentially affects the functional and phylogenetic structures of plant communities in a dry evergreen Afromontane tropical forest

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publicDec 2023View details →

Afromontane understory birds increase in body size over four decades

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publicApr 2022View details →

Spatial variation in human disturbances and their effects on forest structure and biodiversity across an Afromontane forest

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