Global temperature increases are significantly altering species distributions and the structure of ecological communities. However, the impact of temperature increases on multi- species interactions ...is poorly understood. We used an ant-Hemiptera-plant interaction to examine the potential outcomes of predicted temperature increases for each partner and for the availability of honeydew, a keystone resource in many forest ecosystems. We re-created this interaction in growth cabinets using predicted mean summer temperatures for Melbourne, Australia, for the years 2011 (23°C), 2050 (25°C) and 2100 (29°C), respectively, under an unmitigated greenhouse gas emission scenario. Plant growth and ant foraging activities increased, while scale insect growth, abundance and size, honeydew standing crop per tree and harvesting by ants decreased at 29°C, relative to lower temperatures (23 and 25°C). This led to decreased scale insect infestations of plants and reduced honeydew standing crop per tree at the highest temperature. At all temperatures, honeydew standing crop was lower when ants harvested the honeydew from scale insects, but the impact of ant harvesting was particularly significant at 29°C, where combined effects of temperature and ants reduced honeydew standing crop to below detectable levels. Although temperature increases in the next 35 years will have limited effects on this system, by the end of this century, warmer temperatures may cause the availability of honeydew to decline. Decline of honeydew may have far-reaching trophic effects on honeydew and ant-mediated interactions. However, field-based studies that consider the full complexity of ecosystems may be required to elucidate these impacts.
Trigonopterus weevils are widely distributed throughout Melanesia and hyperdiverse in New Guinea. They are a dominant feature in natural forests, with narrow altitudinal zonation. Their use in ...community ecology has been precluded by the "taxonomic impediment".
We sampled >6,500 specimens from seven areas across New Guinea; 1,002 specimens assigned to 270 morphospecies were DNA sequenced. Objective clustering of a refined dataset (excluding nine cryptic species) at 3% threshold revealed 324 genetic clusters (DNA group count relative to number of morphospecies = 20.0% overestimation of species diversity, or 120.0% agreement) and 85.6% taxonomic accuracy (the proportion of DNA groups that "perfectly" agree with morphology-based species hypotheses). Agreement and accuracy were best at an 8% threshold. GMYC analysis revealed 328 entities (21.5% overestimation) with 227 perfect GMYC entities (84.1% taxonomic accuracy). Both methods outperform the parataxonomist (19% underestimation; 31.6% taxonomic accuracy). The number of species found in more than one sampling area was highest in the Eastern Highlands and Huon (Sørensen similarity index 0.07, 4 shared species); ⅓ of all areas had no species overlap. Success rates of DNA barcoding methods were lowest when species showed a pronounced geographical structure. In general, Trigonopterus show high α and β-diversity across New Guinea.
DNA barcoding is an excellent tool for biodiversity surveys but success rates might drop when closer localities are included. Hyperdiverse Trigonopterus are a useful taxon for evaluating forest remnants in Melanesia, allowing finer-grained analyses than would be possible with vertebrate taxa commonly used to date. Our protocol should help establish other groups of hyperdiverse fauna as target taxa for community ecology. Sequencing delivers objective data on taxa of incredible diversity but mostly without a solid taxonomic foundation and should help pave the road for the eventual formal naming of new species.
BACKGROUND: A so called “taxonomic impediment” has been recognized as a major obstacle to biodiversity research for the past two decades. Numerous remedies were then proposed. However, neither ...significant progress in terms of formal species descriptions, nor a minimum standard for descriptions have been achieved so far. Here, we analyze the problems of traditional taxonomy which often produces keys and descriptions of limited practical value. We suggest that phylogenetics and phenetics had a subtle and so far unnoticed effect on taxonomy leading to inflated species descriptions. DISCUSSION: The term “turbo-taxonomy” was recently coined for an approach combining cox1 sequences, concise morphological descriptions by an expert taxonomist, and high-resolution digital imaging to streamline the formal description of larger numbers of new species. We propose a further development of this approach which, together with open access web-publication and automated pushing of content from journal into a wiki, may create the most efficient and sustainable way to conduct taxonomy in the future. On demand, highly concise descriptions can be gradually updated or modified in the fully versioned wiki-framework we use. This means that the visibility of additional data is not compromised, while the original species description -the first version- remains preserved in the wiki, and of course in the journal version. A DNA sequence database with an identification engine replaces an identification key, helps to avoid synonyms and has the potential to detect grossly incorrect generic placements. We demonstrate the functionality of a species-description pipeline by naming 101 new species of hyperdiverse New Guinea Trigonopterus weevils in the open-access journal ZooKeys. Fast track taxonomy will not only increase speed, but also sustainability of global species inventories. It will be of great practical value to all the other disciplines that depend on a usable taxonomy and will change our perception of global biodiversity. While this approach is certainly not suitable for all taxa alike, it is the tool that will help to tackle many hyperdiverse groups and pave the road for more sustainable comparative studies, e.g. in community ecology, phylogeography and large scale biogeographic studies.
Weevils (Curculionoidea) comprise one of the most diverse groups of organisms on earth. There is hardly a vascular plant or plant part without its own species of weevil feeding on it and weevil ...species diversity is greater than the number of fishes, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals combined. Here, we employ ultraconserved elements (UCEs) designed for beetles and a novel partitioning strategy of loci to help resolve phylogenetic relationships within the radiation of Australasian smurf-weevils (Eupholini). Despite being emblematic of the New Guinea fauna, no previous phylogenetic studies have been conducted on the Eupholini. In addition to a comprehensive collection of fresh specimens, we supplement our taxon sampling with museum specimens, and this study is the first target enrichment phylogenomic dataset incorporating beetle specimens from museum collections. We use both concatenated and species tree analyses to examine the relationships and taxonomy of this group. For species tree analyses we present a novel partitioning strategy to better model the molecular evolutionary process in UCEs. We found that the current taxonomy is problematic, largely grouping species on the basis of similar color patterns. Finally, our results show that most loci required multiple partitions for nucleotide rate substitution, suggesting that single partitions may not be the optimal partitioning strategy to accommodate rate heterogeneity for UCE loci.
The geologically‐complex Indo–Australian–Melanesian archipelago (IAMA) hosts extraordinarily high levels of species richness and endemism and has long served as a natural laboratory for studying ...biogeography and evolution. Nonetheless, its geological history and the provenance and evolution of its biodiversity remain poorly understood. Here, we provide a geological scenario for the IAMA informed by a time‐calibrated molecular phylogeny of 1006 species of Trigonopterus weevils – an exceptionally diverse radiation of regionally‐endemic flightless beetles. Moreover, we performed a statistical biogeographic analysis and examined timing and patterns in the accumulation of lineages residing in a priori‐defined geographic units comprising the IAMA. We estimate that Trigonopterus originated in Australia during the early Paleogene. Subsequent rapid diversification in the area of the present‐day Papuan Peninsula suggests the presence of proto‐Papuan islands by the middle Eocene; the New Guinea North Coast Ranges were colonized in the late Eocene, followed by the New Guinea Highlands and the Bird's Head Peninsula. We inferred the presence of terrestrial habitat in the North Moluccas and Sulawesi in the late Oligocene and the subsequent rapid colonization of Sundaland and the Lesser Sunda Islands. New Caledonia and Samoa were colonized from the Papuan Peninsula, and their faunas also diverged in the late Oligocene. These biota‐informed time estimates are compatible with geological data from the region and shed new light on IAMA paleogeography, even where geological evidence has been lost to erosion. Beetle evolution thus appears to have closely tracked the geological evolution of the IAMA, revealing a uniquely well‐resolved view of regional biogeography.
In recent years the focus in ecology has shifted from species to a greater emphasis on functional traits. In tandem with this shift, a number of trait databases have been developed covering a range ...of taxa. Here, we introduce the GlobalAnts database.
Globally, ants are dominant, diverse and provide a range of ecosystem functions. The database represents a significant tool for ecology in that it (i) contributes to a global archive of ant traits (morphology, ecology and life history) which complements existing ant databases and (ii) promotes a trait‐based approach in ant and other insect ecology through a broad set of standardised traits.
The GlobalAnts database is unique in that it represents the largest online database of functional traits with associated georeferenced assemblage‐level data (abundance and/or occupancy) for any animal group with 9056 ant species and morphospecies records for entire local assemblages across 4416 sites.
We describe the structure of the database, types of traits included and present a summary of data coverage. The value of the database is demonstrated through an initial examination of trait distributions across subfamilies, continents and biomes.
Striking biogeographic differences in ant traits are highlighted which raise intriguing questions as to the mechanisms generating them.
Nineteen new species of
Exocelina
Broun, 1886 from New Guinea are described herein:
E.adelbertensis
sp. n.
,
E.ambua
sp. n.
,
E.bewani
sp. n.
,
E.cyclops
sp. n.
,
E.ibalimi
sp. n.
,
E.keki
sp. n.
,
...E.kumulensis
sp. n.
,
E.mendiensis
sp. n.
,
E.menyamya
sp. n.
,
E.okapa
sp. n.
,
E.piusi
sp. n.
,
E.pseudofume
sp. n.
,
E.pseudopusilla
sp. n.
,
E.pusilla
sp. n.
,
E.sima
sp. n.
,
E.simbaiensis
sp. n.
,
E.simbaijimi
sp. n.
,
E.sumokedi
sp. n.
, and
E.yoginofi
sp. n
. All of them, together with five already described species, have been united into the newly defined
casuarina
-group, a polyphyletic complex of related species with similar shape of the median lobe and paramere setation. An identification key to all known species of the group is provided, and important diagnostic characters (habitus, color, male protarsomeres 4–5, median lobes, and parameres) are illustrated. Data on the distribution of the species are given, showing that most of the species occur in the central, mountain part of Papua New Guinea.
The New Guinean archipelago has been shaped by millions of years of plate tectonic activity combined with long-term fluctuations in climate and sea level. These processes combined with New Guinea's ...location at the tectonic junction between the Australian and Pacific plates are inherently linked to the evolution of its rich endemic biota. With the advent of molecular phylogenetics and an increasing amount of geological data, the field of New Guinean biogeography begins to be reinvigorated.
We inferred a comprehensive dated molecular phylogeny of endemic diving beetles to test historical hypotheses pertaining to the evolution of the New Guinean biota. We used geospatial analysis techniques to compare our phylogenetic results with a newly developed geological terrane map of New Guinea as well as the altitudinal and geographic range of species ( https://arcg.is/189zmz ). Our divergence time estimations indicate a crown age (early diversification) for New Guinea Exocelina beetles in the mid-Miocene ca. 17 Ma, when the New Guinean orogeny was at an early stage. Geographic and geological ancestral state reconstructions suggest an origin of Exocelina ancestors on the eastern part of the New Guinean central range on basement rocks (with a shared affinity with the Australian Plate). Our results do not support the hypothesis of ancestors migrating to the northern margin of the Australian Plate from Pacific terranes that incrementally accreted to New Guinea over time. However, our analyses support to some extent a scenario in which Exocelina ancestors would have been able to colonize back and forth between the amalgamated Australian and Pacific terranes from the Miocene onwards. Our reconstructions also do not support an origin on ultramafic or ophiolite rocks that have been colonized much later in the evolution of the radiation. Macroevolutionary analyses do not support the hypothesis of heterogeneous diversification rates throughout the evolution of this radiation, suggesting instead a continuous slowdown in speciation.
Overall, our geospatial analysis approach to investigate the links between the location and evolution of New Guinea's biota with the underlying geology sheds a new light on the patterns and processes of lineage diversification in this exceedingly diverse region of the planet.
Nine new species groups of
Broun, 1886 from New Guinea are introduced with keys to their representatives. Four groups are monotypic and include three new species: the
group, the
group:
, the
group:
, ...and the
group:
The remaining five species groups include 18 species with 12 new species and one new subspecies: the
group:
,
,
, and
; the
group:
,
, and
; the
group:
; the
group:
; and the
group:
,
,
, and
Diagnoses of five already described species of these groups are provided, as well as comparatives notes on all species.
(Balke, 1998)
is a junior synonym of
(Balke, 1998). Data on the distribution of the species are given, showing that most of the species of these groups occur in the Papua New Guinea.
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