More Like this

1. New taxa and new records of Erythroneurini from China (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae)

   https://doi.org/10.2478/aemnp-2019-0017  

   Cao, Yanghui ; Dmitriev, Dmitry A. ; Dietrich, Christopher H. ; Zhang, Yalin ( June 2019 , Acta entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae)

   Two new genera of the leafhopper tribe Erythroneurini, Hamata gen. nov. and Levigata gen. nov., are established based on type species from Yunnan, China: Hamata coralliformis sp. nov. and Levigata arborea sp. nov., respectively. Two additional new species, Gladkara bifi da sp. nov. from Yunnan and Thapaia tibetensis sp. nov. from Tibet, are described and illustrated and amended descriptions of their respective genera are provided. A new synonymy is suggested: Elbelus tripunctatus Mahmood, 1967 = Elbelus melianus Kuoh, 1992, syn. nov. Eleven species of nine erythroneurine genera are newly recorded from China: Arboridia (Arboridia) kakogawana (Matsumura, 1932), A. (A.) suputinkaensis (Vilbaste, 1968), Balanda kara Dworakowska, 1979, Dorycnia vietnamica Dworakowska, 1979, Gambialoa (Gambialoa) borealis Dworakowska, 1981, Gladkara albida Dworakowska, 1995, Seriana dentata Sohi & Mann, 1992, S. malaica Dworakowska, 1978, Tautoneura mukla Dworakowska, 1981, Yakuza sumatrana Dworakowska, 2002, and Ziczacella lyrifora (Dlabola, 1968). Additional faunistic data and illustrations are provided for the following species from China: Arboridia (Arboridia) agrillacea (Anufriev, 1969), A. (A.) lunula Song & Li, 2013, A. (A.) maculifrons (Vilbaste, 1968), A. (A.) suzukii (Matsumura, 1916), Arboridia (Arborifera) surstyli Cai & Xu, 2006, Gambialoa (Gambialoa) asiatica Dworakowska, 1979, Kaukania anser Dworakowska, 1972, Seriana indefi nita Dworakowska, 1971, S. ochratamore »Dworakowska, 1971, Ziczacella dworakowskae (Anufriev, 1970), Z. heptapotamica (Kusnezov, 1928), and Z. steggerdai (Ross, 1965).« less
2. Eocene Araucaria Sect. Eutacta from Patagonia and floristic turnover during the initial isolation of South America

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1467  

   Rossetto‐Harris, Gabriella ; Wilf, Peter ; Escapa, Ignacio H. ; Andruchow‐Colombo, Ana ( May 2020 , American Journal of Botany)

   Eocene floras of Patagonia document biotic response to the final separation of Gondwana. The conifer genusAraucaria, distributed worldwide during the Mesozoic, has a disjunct extant distribution between South America and Australasia. Fossils assigned to AustralasianAraucariaSect.Eutactausually are represented by isolated organs, making diagnosis difficult.Araucaria pichileufensisE.W. Berry, from the middle Eocene Río Pichileufú (RP) site in Argentine Patagonia, was originally placed in Sect.Eutactaand later reported from the early Eocene Laguna del Hunco (LH) locality. However, the relationship ofA. pichileufensisto Sect.Eutactaand the conspecificity of theAraucariamaterial among these Patagonian floras have not been tested using modern methods.

   We review the type material ofA. pichileufensisalongside large (n= 192) new fossil collections ofAraucariafromLHandRP, including multi‐organ preservation of leafy branches, ovuliferous complexes, and pollen cones. We use a total evidence phylogenetic analysis to analyze relationships of the fossils to Sect.Eutacta.

   We describeAraucaria huncoensissp. nov. fromLHand improve the whole‐plant concept forAraucaria pichileufensisfromRP. The two species respectively resolve in the crown and stem of Sect.Eutacta.

   Our results confirm the presence and indicate the survival of Sect.Eutactain South America during early Antarctic separation. The exceptionally complete fossils significantly predate several molecular age estimates for crownEutacta. The differentiation of twoAraucariaspecies demonstrates conifer turnover during climatemore »change and initial South American isolation from the early to middle Eocene.

   « less
3. An index for measuring functional extension and evenness in trait space

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7577  

   Zhang, Tao ; Domke, Grant M. ; Russell, Matthew B. ; Lichstein, Jeremy W. ( May 2021 , Ecology and Evolution)

   Most existing functional diversity indices focus on a single facet of functional diversity. Although these indices are useful for quantifying specific aspects of functional diversity, they often present some conceptual or practical limitations in estimating functional diversity. Here, we present a new functional extension and evenness (FEE) index that encompasses two important aspects of functional diversity. This new index is based on the straightforward notion that a community has high diversity when its species are distant from each other in trait space. The index quantifies functional diversity by evaluating the overall extension of species traits and the interspecific differences of a species assemblage in trait space. The concept of minimum spanning tree (MST) of points was adopted to obtain the essential distribution properties for a species assembly in trait space. We combined the total length of MST branches (extension) and the variation of branch lengths (evenness) into a raw FEE₀metric and then translated FEE₀to a species richness‐independent FEE index using a null model approach. We assessed the properties of FEE and used multiple approaches to evaluate its performance. The results show that the FEE index performs well in quantifying functional diversity and presents the following desired properties: (a) Itmore »allows a fair comparison of functional diversity across different species richness levels; (b) it preserves the essence of single‐facet indices while overcoming some of their limitations; (c) it standardizes comparisons among communities by taking into consideration the trait space of the shared species pool; and (d) it has the potential to distinguish among different community assembly processes. With these attributes, we suggest that the FEE index is a promising metric to inform biodiversity conservation policy and management, especially in applications at large spatial and/or temporal scales.

   « less
4. Variable retention harvesting influences belowground plant-fungal interactions of Nothofagus pumilio seedlings in forests of southern Patagonia

   https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5008  

   Hewitt, Rebecca E. ; Taylor, Donald Lee ; Hollingsworth, Teresa N. ; Anderson, Christopher B. ; Martínez Pastur, Guillermo ( January 2018 , PeerJ)

   Background The post-harvest recovery and sustained productivity of Nothofagus pumilio forests in Tierra del Fuego may be affected by the abundance and composition of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF). Timber harvesting alters EMF community structure in many managed forests, but the impacts of harvesting can vary with the management strategy. The implementation of variable retention (VR) management can maintain, increase, or decrease the diversity of many species, but the effects of VR on EMF in the forests of southern Patagonia have not been studied, nor has the role of EMF in the regeneration process of these forests. Methods We evaluated the effects of VR management on the EMF community associated with N. pumilio seedlings. We quantified the abundance, composition, and diversity of EMF across aggregate (AR) and dispersed (DR) retention sites within VR managed areas, and compared them to primary forest (PF) unmanaged stands. EMF assemblage and taxonomic identities were determined by ITS-rDNA sequencing of individual root tips sampled from 280 seedlings across three landscape replicates. To better understand seedling performance, we tested the relationships between EMF colonization, EMF taxonomic composition, seedling biomass, and VR treatment. Results The majority of EMF taxa were Basidiomycota belonging to the families Cortinariaceae ( n  = 29),more »Inocybaceae ( n  = 16), and Thelephoraceae ( n  = 8), which was in agreement with other studies of EMF diversity in Nothofagus forests. EMF richness and colonization was reduced in DR compared to AR and PF. Furthermore, EMF community composition was similar between AR and PF, but differed from the composition in DR. EMF community composition was correlated with seedling biomass and soil moisture. The presence of Peziza depressa was associated with higher seedling biomass and greater soil moisture, while Inocybe fibrillosibrunnea and Cortinarius amoenus were associated with reduced seedling biomass and lower soil moisture. Seedling biomass was more strongly related to retention type than EMF colonization, richness, or composition. Discussion Our results demonstrate reduced EMF attributes and altered composition in VR treatments relative to PF stands, with stronger impacts in DR compared to AR. This suggests that VR has the potential to improve the conservation status of managed stands by supporting native EMF in AR. Our results also demonstrate the complex linkages between retention treatments, fungal community composition, and tree growth at individual and stand scales.« less
5. Sorted gene genealogies and species-specific nonsynonymous substitutions point to putative postmating prezygotic isolation genes in Allonemobius crickets

   https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1678  

   Noh, Suegene ; Marshall, Jeremy L. ( February 2016 , PeerJ)

   In theAllonemobius sociuscomplex of crickets, reproductive isolation is primarily accomplished via postmating prezygotic barriers. We tested seven protein-coding genes expressed in the male ejaculate for patterns of evolution consistent with a putative role as postmating prezygotic isolation genes.Our recently diverged species generally lacked sequence variation. As a result,ω-based tests were only mildly successful. Some of our genes showed evidence of elevatedωvalues on the internal branches of gene trees. In a couple genes these internal branches coincided with both species branching events of the species tree, betweenA. fasciatusand the other two species, and betweenA. sociusandA. sp. nov.Tex. In comparison, more successful approaches were those that took advantage of the varying degrees of lineage sorting and allele sharing among our young species. These approaches were particularly powerful within the contact zone. Among the genes we tested we found genes with genealogies that indicated relatively advanced degrees of lineage sorting across both allopatric and contact zone alleles. Within a contact zone between two members of the species complex, only a subset of genes maintained allelic segregation despite evidence of ongoing gene flow in other genes. The overlap in these analyses wasarginine kinase(AK) andapolipoprotein A-1 binding protein(APBP). These genes represent two of the firstmore »examples of sperm maturation, capacitation, and motility proteins with fixed non-synonymous substitutions between species-specific alleles that may lead to postmating prezygotic isolation. Both genes express ejaculate proteins transferred to females during copulation and were previously identified through comparative proteomics. We discuss the potential function of these genes in the context of the specific postmating prezygotic isolation phenotype among our species, namely conspecific sperm precedence and the superior ability of conspecific males to induce oviposition in females.

   « less