Project description:A group of species of Cytisussect.Tubocytisus with strictly lateral inflorescences, commonly referred to as C.ratisbonensis s.l., is critically revised in Eastern Europe on the basis of morphology and comprehensive treatment of herbarium specimens and observations. Seven species and two presumed hybrids are recognised. Complete accounts are provided for each species, with synonyms, typifications, brief morphological descriptions, data on ecology and distributions, taxonomic and nomenclatural annotations. Cytisuspolonicus is described as new to science, separated from C.ratisbonensis on the basis of morphology and diploid (vs. tetraploid) chromosome count. The lectotype of C.elongatus is superseded and a new lectotype is designated; this name has priority for the species previously known as C.triflorus. Six species names are newly placed to the synonymy: Chamaecytisuspineticola under Cytisusruthenicus s. str., and Cytisusczerniaevii, C.leucotrichus, C.lindemannii, C.ponomarjovii and Chamaecytisuskorabensis under Cytisuselongatus. The presumed hybrid between C.ruthenicus and C.elongatus, which was incorrectly known as C.czerniaevii, is described here as C.semerenkoanus. Cytisuslithuanicus, which has been an obscure name since its original publication, is resurrected for a newly-recognised octoploid species, which is endemic to eastern Poland, western Belarus and north-western Ukraine. The name C.cinereus is re-instated for the species previously known as C.paczoskii, and C.horniflorus is added to its synonymy; its complete distribution area is circumscribed, and its occurrence in Austria, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia is documented. Cytisuskreczetoviczii and C.elongatus are reported for the first time from Belarus, and the latter species also from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Slovenia. Cytisusborysthenicus and C.elongatus are reported as new to some territories in European Russia. Cytisusratisbonensis s. str. is treated as absent from Eastern Europe. The neglected protologue of C.ruthenicus is discovered, and the nomenclature of all other names is verified and corrected when necessary. The original material of C.borysthenicus is re-discovered. Five further lectotypes and one neotype are designated. Distribution areas are circumscribed on the basis of numerous herbarium collections and documented observations, identified or verified by the authors. Chromosome counts published for nameless taxa from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia are assigned to the species according to their herbarium vouchers: C.borysthenicus, C.kreczetoviczii and C.lithuanicus are octoploid (2n = 100), C.ruthenicus is tetraploid (2n = 50) and octoploid (2n = 100), and C.semerenkoanus and C.elongatus are tetraploid (2n = 50).
Project description:A few species names in Cytisussect.Tubocytisus are re-assessed and taxonomically evaluated. Diagnostic characters are discussed and the species status of C.absinthioides Janka, C.eriocarpus Boiss., C.frivaldszkyanus Degen, C.jankae Velen. and C.smyrnaeus Boiss. is confirmed. The holotype of Cytisustriflorus Lam. was found to belong to C.hirsutus L. rather than to the C.ratisbonensis group as currently treated. Cytisuslasiosemius Boiss. is not the correct name for C.frivaldszkyanus Degen, but another synonym of C.hirsutus. Cytisuslitwinowii V.I.Krecz., which was known solely from the holotype, is a synonym of C.austriacus L. s.str. Chamaecytisuspseudojankae Pifkó & Barina, reported from a small area shared between Albania, Greece and North Macedonia, is treated as a subalpine variant of C.austriacus. Cytisustmoleus Boiss. is removed from the synonymy of C.eriocarpus and added to the synonymy of C.pygmaeus Willd. Cytisusfalcatussubsp.albanicus Degen & Dörfl. and C.pubescens Gilib. are synonymised with C.hirsutus. Cytisusmicrophyllus Boiss. is moved from C.austriacus s.l. to the synonymy of C.frivaldszkyanus, and C.pindicola (Degen) Halácsy to the synonymy of C.jankae. Chamaecytisuscalcareus (Velen.) Kuzmanov is accepted as Cytisuscalcareus (Velen.) Sennikov & Val.N.Tikhom., comb. nov., and its distribution is circumscribed. Cytisushirsutusvar.ciliatus (Wahlenb.) Hazsl. and C.polytrichusvar.subglabratus Val.N.Tikhom. & Sennikov, var. nov. are recognised as glabrous variants of the corresponding species. Lectotypes of C.ciliatus, C.hirsutissimus K.Koch, C.jankae, C.lasiosemius, C.pubescens, C.rhodopeus J.Wagner ex Bornm. and C.thirkeanus K.Koch are designated. Cytisuspolytrichus is reported from the Western Caucasus in place of C.wulffii auct.
Project description:Abstract Morphological characters currently used to differentiate Caraganaopulens as a species have been found to be insufficient and inconsistent. Through extensive research and comparisons of specimens, it has been revealed that C.opulens and its synonyms have overlapping geographical distributions, and that typification is necessary for C.opulens. Therefore, a lectotype is designated for the name C.opulens, with comments on its typification. Additionally, the current typification status is discussed for all its synonyms, accompanied by substantive notes.
Project description:Species distribution models (SDMs) are increasingly proposed to support conservation decision making. However, evidence of SDMs supporting solutions for on-ground conservation problems is still scarce in the scientific literature. Here, we show that successful examples exist but are still largely hidden in the grey literature, and thus less accessible for analysis and learning. Furthermore, the decision framework within which SDMs are used is rarely made explicit. Using case studies from biological invasions, identification of critical habitats, reserve selection and translocation of endangered species, we propose that SDMs may be tailored to suit a range of decision-making contexts when used within a structured and transparent decision-making process. To construct appropriate SDMs to more effectively guide conservation actions, modellers need to better understand the decision process, and decision makers need to provide feedback to modellers regarding the actual use of SDMs to support conservation decisions. This could be facilitated by individuals or institutions playing the role of 'translators' between modellers and decision makers. We encourage species distribution modellers to get involved in real decision-making processes that will benefit from their technical input; this strategy has the potential to better bridge theory and practice, and contribute to improve both scientific knowledge and conservation outcomes.
Project description:EuroDiad version 4.0 is a set of data tables that store information about the presences/absences and population functionality of diadromous species (lampreys and fish) populations in selected catchments in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa from 1750 to present time. This database contains distribution and life-history trait information for twenty-eight European diadromous species and geomorphological data for each of the selected catchments, though not every species has data for every catchment and time period. EuroDiad was originally created in 2005-2006 (EuroDiad 1.0 and 2.0), and contained data for 196 catchments and two time periods (1851-1950 and 1951-2010). It underwent a major update in 2009-2010 (EuroDiad 3.2) through a validation process by European fisheries experts. Version 3.2 included the addition of 63 small-sized catchments (< 10,000 km2) and an additional time period (1751-1850) for select species and catchments. This database underwent a second validation process in 2019-2020 and was updated to v 4.0, with the primary goal of providing information for a new generation of species distribution models, referred to as hybrid models, which incorporate both habitat suitability and population dynamics within their framework. Secondary objectives of this update were to: (a) incorporate new catchments for which information was provided by additional experts, (b) validate existing information about the presences or absences of diadromous species and categorize their population functionality within a catchment, and (c) perform data hygiene to prepare the database for broad dissemination. Information on the life history, morphology, and phenology of four emblematic species (i.e. eel, salmon, lamprey and shad) were added in this occasion. Data for this update were validated by DiadES project partners (www.diades.eu) and local experts. This update was focused on catchments located in the Atlantic Area for use in the DiadES project. Data were divided by country, and validation was performed for catchments in Ireland, the U.K., Spain, Portugal, and France under the supervision of national organisations in fisheries and environmental management. DiadES project partners were asked to validate geomorphological information for the catchment (location of the outlet, surface area of the drainage basin, length of the main watercourse, elevation at the headwaters), as well as the presences/absences information and population functionality categories for all species already present in EuroDiad for their country. If possible, verification was done for each of the three time periods. Partners were also asked to provide data for any other catchments for which they had access to information on fish population status. EuroDiad 4.0 now stores data for 350 catchments (of which 292 have population functionality records) and three time periods, though the precision of information varies and not every species has information for each time period. This validation process strengthened the usefulness of EuroDiad, which is now updated and available for use by the research community.
Project description:Two new Stenus species of the cirrus group collected from Zhejiang Province, East China, are described, S. wuyanlingus Liu, Tang & Luo, sp. n., S. yuyimingi Liu, Tang & Luo, sp. n. and a new distributional locality for S. ovalis Tang, Li & Zhao, 2005 was discovered. The diagnostic characters of the new species are illustrated, and a key to species of the group from Zhejiang Province is provided.
Project description:Athyrium haleakalae K.R. Wood & W.L. Wagner (Athyriaceae), a small lithophytic fern from East Maui, Hawaiian Islands, is described and illustrated. Notes on its distribution, ecology, and conservation status are also presented. The new species appears to be an obligate rheophyte, preferring sites of fast moving water along concave walls of streams and waterfalls. Athyrium haleakalae differs from the only other known Hawaiian Athyrium, Athyrium microphyllum (Sm.) Alston, in having rhizomes 1-3 cm long and lanceolate blades 1- to 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, 3-8(-11) × 1-3(-4) cm, as compared to Athyrium microphyllum having rhizomes (10-)15-30 cm long and ovate to ovate-triangular blades 3-pinnate-pinnatifid to 4-pinnate, 30-82 × 20-50 cm.
Project description:Recent studies suggest that species' life histories and ecology can be used to forecast future extinction risk. Threatened species often share similar traits such that if a trait predisposing a species to decline or extinction is evolutionarily conserved, then close relatives of threatened species are themselves likely to be at risk. The phylogenetic distribution of current threat has been argued to provide insight into the species that could be threatened in the future when trait data are not available. Conservation criteria are typically based on multiple indices that capture different symptoms of threat including population trends and range contraction. However, there is no reason to assume consistent phylogenetic distributions of different symptoms. I construct a molecular phylogeny of 249 species of British birds (more than 93% of the breeding and wintering species) and use this to show that the species that are threatened due to population declines are phylogenetically more closely related than expected by chance alone. However, species that are listed for other reasons, including range contraction, are distributed randomly with respect to phylogeny. I suggest that while phylogeny can be informative with respect to identifying clades that are susceptible to some measures of extinction risk, such patterns are likely to be idiosyncratic with respect to symptom and taxa.
Project description:The concept of the genome tree depends on the potential evolutionary significance in the clustering of species according to similarities in the gene content of their genomes. In this respect, genome trees have often been identified with species trees. With the rapid expansion of genome sequence data it becomes of increasing importance to develop accurate methods for grasping global trends for the phylogenetic signals that mutually link the various genomes. We therefore derive here the methodological concept of genome trees based on protein conservation profiles in multiple species. The basic idea in this derivation is that the multi-component "presence-absence" protein conservation profiles permit tracking of common evolutionary histories of genes across multiple genomes. We show that a significant reduction in informational redundancy is achieved by considering only the subset of distinct conservation profiles. Beyond these basic ideas, we point out various pitfalls and limitations associated with the data handling, paving the way for further improvements. As an illustration for the methods, we analyze a genome tree based on the above principles, along with a series of other trees derived from the same data and based on pair-wise comparisons (ancestral duplication-conservation and shared orthologs). In all trees we observe a sharp discrimination between the three primary domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. The new genome tree, based on conservation profiles, displays a significant correspondence with classically recognized taxonomical groupings, along with a series of departures from such conventional clusterings.