Basil V. Iannone

Bio: Basil V. Iannone is an academic researcher from University of Florida. The author has contributed to research in topics: Species richness & Ecosystem. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 43 publications receiving 827 citations. Previous affiliations of Basil V. Iannone include University of Illinois at Chicago & Purdue University.

Global distribution of earthworm diversity

Abstract: Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide.

Automated content analysis: Addressing the big literature challenge in ecology and evolution

Abstract: Summary 1.The exponential growth of scientific literature—which we call the “big literature” phenomenon—has created great challenges in literature comprehension and synthesis. The traditional manual literature synthesis processes are often unable to take advantage of big literature due to human limitations in time and cognition, creating the need for new literature synthesis methods to address this challenge. 2.In this paper, we discuss a highly useful literature synthesis approach, Automated Content Analysis (ACA), which has not yet been widely adopted in the fields of ecological and evolutionary biology. ACA is a suite of machine-learning tools for the qualitative and quantitative synthesis of big literature commonly used in the social sciences and in medical research. 3.Our goal is to introduce ecologists and evolutionary biologists to ACA and illustrate its capacity to synthesize overwhelming volumes of literature. First, we provide a brief history of the ACA method and summarize the fundamental process of ACA. Next, we present two ACA studies to illustrate the utility and versatility of ACA in synthesizing ecological and evolutionary literature. Finally, we discuss how to maximize the utility and contributions of ACA, as well as potential research directions that may help to advance the use of ACA in future ecological and evolutionary research. 4.Unlike manual methods of literature synthesis, ACA is able to process high volumes of literature at substantially shorter timespans, while helping to mitigate human biases. The overall efficiency and versatility of this method allows for a broad range of applications for literature review and synthesis, including both exploratory reviews and systematic reviews aiming to address more targeted research questions. By allowing for more extensive and comprehensive review of big literature, ACA has the potential to fill an important methodological gap and to therefore contribute to the advancement of ecological and evolutionary research. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Exposure of Protected and Unprotected Forest to Plant Invasions in the Eastern United States

Abstract: Research Highlights: We demonstrate a macroscale framework combining an invasibility model with forest inventory data, and evaluate regional forest exposure to harmful invasive plants under different types of forest protection. Background and Objectives: Protected areas are a fundamental component of natural resource conservation. The exposure of protected forests to invasive plants can impede achievement of conservation goals, and the effectiveness of protection for limiting forest invasions is uncertain. We conducted a macroscale assessment of the exposure of protected and unprotected forests to harmful invasive plants in the eastern United States. Materials and Methods: Invasibility (the probability that a forest site has been invaded) was estimated for 82,506 inventory plots from site and landscape attributes. The invaded forest area was estimated by using the inventory sample design to scale up plot invasibility estimates to all forest area. We compared the invasibility and the invaded forest area of seven categories of protection with that of de facto protected (publicly owned) forest and unprotected forest in 13 ecological provinces. Results: We estimate approximately 51% of the total forest area has been exposed to harmful invasive plants, including 30% of the protected forest, 38% of the de facto protected forest, and 56% of the unprotected forest. Based on cumulative invasibility, the relative exposure of protection categories depended on the assumed invasibility threshold. Based on the invaded forest area, the five least-exposed protection categories were wilderness area (13% invaded), national park (18%), sustainable use (26%), nature reserve (31%), and de facto protected Federal land (36%). Of the total uninvaded forest area, only 15% was protected and 14% had de facto protection. Conclusions: Any protection is better than none, and public ownership alone is as effective as some types of formal protection. Since most of the remaining uninvaded forest area is unprotected, landscape-level management strategies will provide the most opportunities to conserve it.

Evaluating the evolution of forest restoration research in a changing world: a “big literature” review

Abstract: In a rapidly changing world, characterized by novel ecological scenarios and fluctuating socioeconomic and ecological demands, ecological restoration practices must constantly adapt to emerging issues and circumstances. Restoration ecology, the scientific discipline that informs ecological restoration, must therefore evolve and expand its focus to address this need. To describe and evaluate the evolution of research pertaining to the ecological restoration of forests within the field of forestry, we performed a review of all 29,766 abstracts published over the last 35 years (1980–2014) in 15 leading forestry journals using automated content analysis, a machine learning-based tool for automated review of large volumes of literature (“big literature”). We found not only a 50-fold increase in the prominence of restoration ecology in forestry literature from 2000 to 2013, but also an evolution in the focus of forest restoration research. This evolution is likely in response to emerging topics and issues affecting forest restoration, such as exotic species, altered disturbance regimes, degraded tropical forests, and ecosystem services. Our results also revealed a pattern of “cyclic development,” in which research in the 1990s was focused on constructing theoretical frameworks, in the 2000s research appeared to be concentrated on restoration practices and programs, while in the 2010s research revisited established theoretical frameworks, possibly indicating a conceptual expansion. Our study highlighted gaps in research on important topics and emerging challenges, such as global climate change, genetic considerations, landscape-level factors, and restoring degraded systems, thus pointing the way for new and necessary research directions.

A unified approach for quantifying invasibility and degree of invasion.

Abstract: Habitat invasibility is a central focus of invasion biology, with implications for basic ecological patterns and processes and for effective invasion management. "Invasibility" is, however, one of the most elusive metrics and misused terms in ecology. Empirical studies and meta-analyses of invasibility have produced inconsistent and even conflicting results. This lack of consistency, and subsequent difficulty in making broad cross-habitat comparisons, stem in part from (1) the indiscriminant use of a closely related, but fundamentally different concept, that of degree of invasion (DI) or level of invasion; and (2) the lack of common invasibility metrics, as illustrated by our review of all invasibility-related papers published in 2013. To facilitate both cross-habitat comparison and more robust ecological generalizations, we clarify the definitions of invasibility and DI, and for the first time propose a common metric for quantifying invasibility based on a habitat's resource availability as inferred from relative resident species richness and biomass. We demonstrate the feasibility of our metric using empirical data collected from 2475 plots from three forest ecosystems in the eastern United States. We also propose a similar metric for DI. Our unified, resource-based metrics are scaled from 0 to 1, facilitating cross-habitat comparisons. Our proposed metrics clearly distinguish invasibility and DI from each other, which will help to (1) advance invasion ecology by allowing more robust testing of generalizations and (2) facilitate more effective invasive species control and management.

The Theory of Island Biogeography

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

The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants

Abstract: Much as Rachel Carson's \"Silent Spring\" was a call to action against the pesticides that were devastating bird populations, Charles S. Elton's classic \"The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants\" sounded an early warning about an environmental catastrophe that has become all too familiar today-the invasion of nonnative species. From kudzu to zebra mussels to Asian long-horned beetles, nonnative species are colonizing new habitats around the world at an alarming rate thanks to accidental and intentional human intervention. One of the leading causes of extinctions of native animals and plants, invasive species also wreak severe economic havoc, causing $79 billion worth of damage in the United States alone. Elton explains the devastating effects that invasive species can have on local ecosystems in clear, concise language and with numerous examples. The first book on invasion biology, and still the most cited, Elton's masterpiece provides an accessible, engaging introduction to one of the most important environmental crises of our time. Charles S. Elton was one of the founders of ecology, who also established and led Oxford University's Bureau of Animal Population. His work has influenced generations of ecologists and zoologists, and his publications remain central to the literature in modern biology. \"History has caught up with Charles Elton's foresight, and \"The Ecology of Invasions\" can now be seen as one of the central scientific books of our century.\"-David Quammen, from the Foreword to \"Killer Algae: The True Tale of a Biological Invasion\

Mathematical Methods Of Statistics

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Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 (GMTED2010)

Abstract: For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report. 10. Diagram showing the GMTED2010 layer extents (minimum and maximum latitude and longitude) are a result of the coordinate system inherited from the 1-arc-second SRTM