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 Theory of Island Biogeography

Statistical method for testing the neutral mutation hypothesis by DNA polymorphism.

Background A principal function of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is to “perform regular and timely assessments of knowledge on biodiversity.” In December 2013, its second plenary session approved a program to begin a global assessment in 2015. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and five other biodiversity-related conventions have adopted IPBES as their science-policy interface, so these assessments will be important in evaluating progress toward the CBD’s Aichi Targets of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020. As a contribution toward such assessment, we review the biodiversity of eukaryote species and their extinction rates, distributions, and protection. We document what we know, how it likely differs from what we do not, and how these differences affect biodiversity statistics. Interestingly, several targets explicitly mention “known species”—a strong, if implicit, statement of incomplete knowledge. We start by asking how many species are known and how many remain undescribed. We then consider by how much human actions inflate extinction rates. Much depends on where species are, because different biomes contain different numbers of species of different susceptibilities. Biomes also suffer different levels of damage and have unequal levels of protection. How extinction rates will change depends on how and where threats expand and whether greater protection counters them. Different visualizations of species biodiversity. ( A ) The distributions of 9927 bird species. ( B ) The 4964 species with smaller than the median geographical range size. ( C ) The 1308 species assessed as threatened with a high risk of extinction by BirdLife International for the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. ( D ) The 1080 threatened species with less than the median range size. (D) provides a strong geographical focus on where local conservation actions can have the greatest global impact. Additional biodiversity maps are available at www.biodiversitymapping.org. Advances Recent studies have clarified where the most vulnerable species live, where and how humanity changes the planet, and how this drives extinctions. These data are increasingly accessible, bringing greater transparency to science and governance. Taxonomic catalogs of plants, terrestrial vertebrates, freshwater fish, and some marine taxa are sufficient to assess their status and the limitations of our knowledge. Most species are undescribed, however. The species we know best have large geographical ranges and are often common within them. Most known species have small ranges, however, and such species are typically newer discoveries. The numbers of known species with very small ranges are increasing quickly, even in well-known taxa. They are geographically concentrated and are disproportionately likely to be threatened or already extinct. We expect unknown species to share these characteristics. Current rates of extinction are about 1000 times the background rate of extinction. These are higher than previously estimated and likely still underestimated. Future rates will depend on many factors and are poised to increase. Finally, although there has been rapid progress in developing protected areas, such efforts are not ecologically representative, nor do they optimally protect biodiversity. Outlook Progress on assessing biodiversity will emerge from continued expansion of the many recently created online databases, combining them with new global data sources on changing land and ocean use and with increasingly crowdsourced data on species’ distributions. Examples of practical conservation that follow from using combined data in Colombia and Brazil can be found at www.savingspecies.org and www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3zjeJW2NVk.

The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection

A positive temperature coefficient is the term which has been used to indicate that an increase in solubility occurs as the temperature is raised, whereas a negative coefficient indicates a decrease in solubility with rise in temperature.

Effect of Temperature

The link between species invasions and the extinction of natives is widely accepted by scientists as well as conservationists, but available data supporting invasion as a cause of extinctions are, in many cases, anecdotal, speculative and based upon limited observation. We pose the question, are aliens generally responsible for widespread extinctions? Our goal is to prompt a more critical synthesis and evaluation of the available data, and to suggest ways to take a more scientific, evidence-based approach to understanding the impact of invasive species on extinctions. Greater clarity in our understanding of these patterns will help us to focus on the most effective ways to reduce or mitigate extinction threats from invasive species.

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Are invasive species a major cause of extinctions

A new genus, Limatium gen. n., and two new species, L. pagodula sp. n. and L. aureum sp. n. are described, found on outer slopes of barrier reefs and fringing reefs in the South Pacific. They are rare for cerithiids, which typically occur in large populations. The two new species are represented by 108 specimens sampled over a period of 30 years, only 16 of which were collected alive. Three subadults from the Philippines and Vanuatu likely represent a third species. In addition to their rarity, Limatium species are atypical for cerithiids in their smooth, polished, honey to golden brown shells with distinctive white fascioles extending suture to suture. The radula presents a unique morphology that does not readily suggest an affinity to any of the cerithiid subfamilies. Two live-collected specimens, one of each species and designated as holotypes, were preserved in 95% ethanol and sequenced. Bayesian analysis of partial COI and 16S rDNA sequences demonstrates a placement in the Bittiinae, further extending our morphological concept of the subfamily.

/pdf/a-rare-and-unusual-new-bittiine-genus-with-two-new-species-2mltt2wxcy.pdf

A rare and unusual new bittiine genus with two new species from the South Pacific (Cerithiidae, Gastropoda).

The cerithioid Supplanaxis nucleus (Bruguiere, 1789) is widespread in the Caribbean, where it lives in often dense aggregates on hard surfaces in the middle-high intertidal. Molecular evidence shows that it comprises two species that are in fact morphologically diagnosable. We fix the nomenclature of Supplanaxis nucleus by designating a sequenced neotype from Bruguiere's historical locality of Barbados, and identify the second, cryptic species as S. nancyae (Petuch, 2013). The two live syntopically across the Caribbean and form a closely related species group with the Panamic S. planicostatus (G.B. Sowerby I, 1825). Planaxis nucleola Morch, 1876, described from St Croix, in the Virgin Islands, never again recorded in the literature but listed as a synonym of S. nucleus in taxonomic authority lists, is recognized as a valid species of Hinea Gray, 1847. Proplanaxis Thiele, 1929 and Supplanaxis Thiele, 1929, are synonyms and the latter is given precedence over the former.

/pdf/hidden-in-plain-sight-two-co-occurring-cryptic-species-of-4bf23segje.pdf

Hidden in plain sight: two co-occurring cryptic species of Supplanaxis in the Caribbean (Cerithioidea, Planaxidae).

The Random Cladist: A Review of the Software Package RANDOM CLADISTICS

Non-native apple snails: systematics, distribution, invasion history and reasons for introduction.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM "NEOGASTROPOD ORIGINS, PHYLOGENY, EVOLUTIONARY PATHWAYS AND MECHANISMS" HELD DURING THE 2007 WORLD CONGRESS OF MALACOLOGY, ANTWERP, BELGIUM, 15-20 JULY 2007 GUEST EDITORS MG HARASEWYCH AND ELLEN E. STRONG Preface

Ellen E. Strong

Papers

A rare and unusual new bittiine genus with two new species from the South Pacific (Cerithiidae, Gastropoda).

Hidden in plain sight: two co-occurring cryptic species of Supplanaxis in the Caribbean (Cerithioidea, Planaxidae).

The Random Cladist: A Review of the Software Package RANDOM CLADISTICS

Non-native apple snails: systematics, distribution, invasion history and reasons for introduction.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM "NEOGASTROPOD ORIGINS, PHYLOGENY, EVOLUTIONARY PATHWAYS AND MECHANISMS" HELD DURING THE 2007 WORLD CONGRESS OF MALACOLOGY, ANTWERP, BELGIUM, 15-20 JULY 2007 GUEST EDITORS MG HARASEWYCH AND ELLEN E. STRONG Preface