Modern attempts to produce biogeographic maps focus on the distribution of species, and the maps are typically drawn without phylogenetic considerations. Here, we generate a global map of zoogeographic regions by combining data on the distributions and phylogenetic relationships of 21,037 species of amphibians, birds, and mammals. We identify 20 distinct zoogeographic regions, which are grouped into 11 larger realms. We document the lack of support for several regions previously defined based on distributional data and show that spatial turnover in the phylogenetic composition of vertebrate assemblages is higher in the Southern than in the Northern Hemisphere. We further show that the integration of phylogenetic information provides valuable insight on historical relationships among regions, permitting the identification of evolutionarily unique regions of the world.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/339/6115/74.full.pdf

An Update of Wallace’s Zoogeographic Regions of the World

In this paper a novel evolutionary algorithm, suitable for continuous nonlinear optimization problems, is introduced. This optimization algorithm is inspired by the life of a bird family, called Cuckoo. Special lifestyle of these birds and their characteristics in egg laying and breeding has been the basic motivation for development of this new evolutionary optimization algorithm. Similar to other evolutionary methods, Cuckoo Optimization Algorithm (COA) starts with an initial population. The cuckoo population, in different societies, is in two types: mature cuckoos and eggs. The effort to survive among cuckoos constitutes the basis of Cuckoo Optimization Algorithm. During the survival competition some of the cuckoos or their eggs, demise. The survived cuckoo societies immigrate to a better environment and start reproducing and laying eggs. Cuckoos' survival effort hopefully converges to a state that there is only one cuckoo society, all with the same profit values. Application of the proposed algorithm to some benchmark functions and a real problem has proven its capability to deal with difficult optimization problems.

Cuckoo Optimization Algorithm

Survival or extinction of an endangered species is inherently stochastic. We develop statistical methods for estimating quantities related to growth rates and extinction probabilities from time series data on the abundance of a single population. The statistical methods are based on a stochastic model of exponential growth arising from the biological theory of age- or stage-structured populations. The model incorporates the so-called en- vironmental type of stochastic fluctuations and yields a lognormal probability distribution of population abundance. Calculation of maximum likelihood estimates of the two un- known parameters in this model reduces to performing a simple linear regression. We describe techniques for rigorously testing and evaluating whether the model fits a given data set. Various growth- and extinction-related quantities are functions of the two param- eters, including the continuous rate of increase, the finite rate of increase, the geometric finite rate of increase, the probability of reaching a lower threshold population size, the mean, median, and most likely time of attaining the threshold, and the projected population size. Maximum likelihood estimates and minimum variance unbiased estimates of these quantities are described in detail. We provide example analyses of data on the Whooping Crane (Grus americana), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) in Yellowstone, Kirtland's Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii), California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus), Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata), Palila (Loxioides balleui), and Laysan Finch (Telespyza cantans). The model results indicate a favorable outlook for the Whooping Crane, but long-term unfavorable prospects for the Yellowstone grizzly bear population and for Kirtland's Warbler. Results for the California Condor, in a retrospective analysis, indicate a virtual emergency existed in 1980. The analyses suggest that the Puerto Rican Parrot faces little risk of extinction from ordinary environmental fluctuations, provided intensive management efforts continue. However, the model does not account for the possibility of freak catastrophic events (hurricanes, fires, etc.), which are likely the most severe source of risk to the Puerto Rican Parrot, as shown by the recent decimation of this population by Hurricane Hugo. Model parameter estimates for the Palila and the Laysan Finch have wide uncertainty due to the extreme fluctuations in the population sizes of these species. In general, the model fits the example data sets well. We conclude that the model, and the associated statistical methods, can be useful for investigating various scientific and management questions concerning species preservation.

Estimation of Growth and Extinction Parameters for Endangered Species

Oceanic Birds of South America

Chapter 1 – THE ADAPTIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF COLONIALITY IN BIRDS

Conservation of Hawaii's Vanishing Avifauna Hawaiian birds provide one of the best, and most spectacular, showcases of divergent evolution

A sociogram for the cranes of the world.

THE West Indies are among the best known of the world's tropical regions, and our knowledge of the distribution of indigenous land birds in the Greater Antilles has been thought to be nearly complete (Bond, 1956). The last new species from the Antilles were described in 19'27, the results of work in the Zapata Swamp of Cuba (Barbour and Peters, 1927) and the isolated Morne de la Selle in Haiti (Wetmore, 1927). No new species has been found in Puerto Rico in this century, and it would seem unlikely that a bird could escape detection on the island, which has a human population density now approaching 320 per square km, and less than 3,300 ha (0.4 percent of land area) of virgin forest remaining (Wadsworth, 1949). Nevertheless the discovery of extant populations of the Puerto Rican Whip-poor-will (Caprimulgus no.ctitherus) by Reynard (1962) and the Puerto Rican Plain Pigeon (Columba inornata wetmorel) by Leopold (1963), both previously presumed extinct (Bond, 1956, 1961), indicated that the inventory of the Puerto Rican avifauna might be incomplete. The largest remaining forest in Puerto Rico is in the Sierra de Luquillo at the island's eastern end. In September 1968 the senior author and his wife established residence within the forest at an elevation of 770 m, and began intensive studies of the Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata) and the Puerto Rican Tody (Todus mexicanus). These studies included a series of census routes through the forest to assess easonal and altitudinal distribution a d abundance of these and other species (Kepler and Kepler, 1970). Two census routes were established in Elfin Woodland (Figure 1), a distinctive forest type confined to the higher peaks and ridges. In this forest they occasionally noticed a warbler of peculiar appearance, but were unsure of its identity because of the difficulty of seeing small birds in this habitat. The bird (see Frontispiece) showed similarities both to the Blackand-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia), a common North American migrant to Puerto Rico, and the Arrow-headed Warbler (Den•oica pharetra), a

/pdf/a-new-species-of-warbler-parulidae-from-puerto-rico-28erkr20f8.pdf

A new species of warbler (Parulidae) from Puerto Rico

Many applied and theoretical investigations require information on how productivity varies in time and space (Temple and Wiens 1989, DeSante 1995). Examples include studies of habitat quality, population trends, life-history tactics, and metapopulation dynamics. From a demographic perspective, reproductivity is the number of young, counted at a given time of year, produced per adult (e.g. Caswell 1989). Various measures have been used to estimate productivity. One of the most attractive is mist neting during the summer after young have left the nest, but ideally before they have left the studv area. Several programs use this approach, including the Constant Effort Sites Scheme of the British Trust for Ornithology (Baillie et al. 1986 Bibby et al. 1992) and the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship {MAPS) program (DeSante et al. 1993) in North America.

https://www.birdpop.org/docs/pubs/Bart_et_al_1999_Evaluation_of_Mist_net_Sampling_in_KIWA.pdf

Cameron B. Kepler

Papers

Conservation of Hawaii's Vanishing Avifauna Hawaiian birds provide one of the best, and most spectacular, showcases of divergent evolution

A sociogram for the cranes of the world.

A new species of warbler (Parulidae) from Puerto Rico

Evaluation of Mist-net Sampling as an Index to Productivity in Kirtland's Warblers

The breeding ecology of sea birds on Monito Island, Puerto Rico