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A. Townsend Peterson

Bio: A. Townsend Peterson is an academic researcher from University of Kansas. The author has contributed to research in topics: Environmental niche modelling & Ecological niche. The author has an hindex of 91, co-authored 521 publications receiving 51524 citations. Previous affiliations of A. Townsend Peterson include California Academy of Sciences & University of Chicago.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors combined occurrences and environment data in ecological niche models to assess suitable areas for the two species of African bush mango trees (Irvingia gabonensis and I. wombolu).
Abstract: Cultivation of priority plant species ensures their sustainable management. African bush mango trees (Irvingia gabonensis and I. wombolu) are the most exploited Irvingiaceae species. Experts disagree on the status of these very similar taxa, as taste remains the only character by which they can be distinguished in the field. We combined occurrences and environment data in ecological niche models to assess suitable areas for the two species. Irvingia gabonensis presented a wider occurrence area due to cultivation across contrasting ecological areas. Irvingia wombolu does not appear to be cultivated and only occurred in southwestern Togo. These differences in range is likely determined by phenological limitations of I. wombolu, reinforced by differences in local management systems, thus confirming the failure of market development to impact useful plant species’ conservation significantly. Highly suitable areas for I. wombolu were in the Volta Forest, where I. gabonensis saw low suitability, while out of this inverse situation was observed, as regard environmental suitability. These differences are significant, implying different ecological adaptation. However, anthropogenic influences, related to domestication history, are also important. Therefore, updated genetic investigations and field trials in contrasting ecological areas are required for understanding the origin of differences between these two forms.

7 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: TownPeterson, Robert G. MOYLE, Fumin LEI, Luke CAMPILLO, Peter A. KLICKA, Haw C. NYÁRI,Yanhua QU, Sushma REDDY, Frederick H. SHELDON, FashengZou as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A. Townsend PETERSON, Robert G. MOYLE, Fumin LEI, Luke C. CAMPILLO, Peter A. HOSNER, Luke B. KLICKA, Haw C. LIM, Árpád S. NYÁRI,Yanhua QU, Sushma REDDY, Frederick H. SHELDON, FashengZOU 1 Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA 2 Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China 3 Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA 4 Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC20560, USA 5 Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA 6 Biology Department, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, USA 7 Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA 8 Guangdong Entomological Institute, Guangzhou, 510260, China * Guest editors of special column; other authors listed alphabetically. E-mail: town@ku.edu, moyle@ku.edu, leifm@ioz.ac.cn

7 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work validates ecological niche modeling as a means by which to predict occurrence of parasites when not all facets of the life cycle are confirmed, and gives credence to the idea that this group shares similar life cycle requirements despite phylogenetic distance.
Abstract: The ecological niche of a parasite exists only at the nexus of certain abiotic and biotic conditions suitable for both the definitive and intermediate hosts. However, the life cycles of most parasites are not known , or are poorly known, and using known ranges of hosts to find endemic parasitic infections has been difficult. However, with ecological niche modeling, we can create potential range maps using known localities of infection. Testing the validity of such maps requires knowledge of the localities of other parasites with common history. Here, we find that the ecological niche of a tapeworm parasite of voles, Paranoplocephala macrocephala (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae), allows prediction of the presence (in ecological and geographic space) of 19 related parasite species from 3 genera in 23 different hosts throughout the Nearctic. These results give credence to the idea that this group shares similar life cycle requirements despite phylogenetic distance. This work further validates ecological niche modeling as a means by which to predict occurrence of parasites when not all facets of the life cycle are confirmed. Such inductive methods create the opportunity for deducing potential reservoir or intermediate hosts, and complementing studies of parasite biodiversity and community ecology.

7 citations

DOI
01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of the possibilities of using data from world scientific collections to understand the distribution, systematics, and conservation of Mexican birds is presented, where information was gathered on specimens from Mexico housed in scientific collections in Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Abstract: The present contribution is a case study of the possibilities of using data from world scientific collections to understand the distribution, systematics, and conservation of Mexican birds. Information was gathered on specimens from Mexico housed in scientific collections in Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Europe. This information was compiled in a centralized data base; ArcView was used to visualize general geographic patterns, and predictive distributional models were generated using the GARP algorithm to address potential distributional areas of the species, patterns of species richness, endemism, and conservation applications. The avifaunal inventory of Mexico is complete, but many areas are still poorly represented in collections. These results suggest the possibility to do new research based on point occurrence data held in the specimens of the collections.

6 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
05 Oct 2009-Zootaxa
TL;DR: A test is developed in which well-known and broadly distributed species are used to predict the distributional areas of poorly-known congener species, indicating that all of the ‘unknown’ species chosen for testing were predicted significantly better than random expectations.
Abstract: Recent studies have explored the possible utility of ecological niche modeling as a tool for species discovery, with promising initial results, but no detailed test has as-yet evaluated the success or failure rates of the method. We use a comprehensive distributional summary for the birds of Mexico to develop a test, in which well-known and broadlydistributed species are used to predict the distributional areas of poorly-known congener species. The results indicated that all of the ‘unknown’ species chosen for testing were predicted significantly better than random expectations by the ecological characteristics of at least one well-known congener species. These results bode well for broader applications of using biodiversity informatics tools to guide species discovery, but further testing and development of protocols is still needed.

6 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Abstract: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

14,171 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the use of the maximum entropy method (Maxent) for modeling species geographic distributions with presence-only data was introduced, which is a general-purpose machine learning method with a simple and precise mathematical formulation.

13,120 citations

Journal Article
Fumio Tajima1
30 Oct 1989-Genomics
TL;DR: It is suggested that the natural selection against large insertion/deletion is so weak that a large amount of variation is maintained in a population.

11,521 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis by Sampling Trees (BEAST) software package version 1.7 is presented, which implements a family of Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms for Bayesian phylogenetic inference, divergence time dating, coalescent analysis, phylogeography and related molecular evolutionary analyses.
Abstract: Computational evolutionary biology, statistical phylogenetics and coalescent-based population genetics are becoming increasingly central to the analysis and understanding of molecular sequence data. We present the Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis by Sampling Trees (BEAST) software package version 1.7, which implements a family of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms for Bayesian phylogenetic inference, divergence time dating, coalescent analysis, phylogeography and related molecular evolutionary analyses. This package includes an enhanced graphical user interface program called Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis Utility (BEAUti) that enables access to advanced models for molecular sequence and phenotypic trait evolution that were previously available to developers only. The package also provides new tools for visualizing and summarizing multispecies coalescent and phylogeographic analyses. BEAUti and BEAST 1.7 are open source under the GNU lesser general public license and available at http://beast-mcmc.googlecode.com and http://beast.bio.ed.ac.uk

9,055 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Range-restricted species, particularly polar and mountaintop species, show severe range contractions and have been the first groups in which entire species have gone extinct due to recent climate change.
Abstract: Ecological changes in the phenology and distribution of plants and animals are occurring in all well-studied marine, freshwater, and terrestrial groups These observed changes are heavily biased in the directions predicted from global warming and have been linked to local or regional climate change through correlations between climate and biological variation, field and laboratory experiments, and physiological research Range-restricted species, particularly polar and mountaintop species, show severe range contractions and have been the first groups in which entire species have gone extinct due to recent climate change Tropical coral reefs and amphibians have been most negatively affected Predator-prey and plant-insect interactions have been disrupted when interacting species have responded differently to warming Evolutionary adaptations to warmer conditions have occurred in the interiors of species’ ranges, and resource use and dispersal have evolved rapidly at expanding range margins Observed genetic shifts modulate local effects of climate change, but there is little evidence that they will mitigate negative effects at the species level

7,657 citations