John B. Iverson

Bio: John B. Iverson is an academic researcher from Earlham College. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Turtle (robot). The author has an hindex of 45, co-authored 172 publications receiving 6995 citations. Previous affiliations of John B. Iverson include University of Sydney & University of Florida.

Conservation biology of freshwater turtles and tortoises : a compilation project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group

Abstract: Chelonian Research Monographs is an international peer-reviewed scientific publication series for monograph-length manuscripts, collected proceedings of symposia, edited compilations, and other longer turtle-related research documents. Subjects covered include conservation biology, systemic relationships, chelonian diversity, geographic distribution, natural history, ecology, reproduction, morphology and natural variation, population status, husbandry, and human exploitation or conservation management issues.

Coefficient shifts in geographical ecology: an empirical evaluation of spatial and non-spatial regression

Abstract: A major focus of geographical ecology and macroecology is to understand the causes of spatially structured ecological patterns. However, achieving this understanding can be complicated when using multiple regression, because the relative importance of explanatory variables, as measured by regression coefficients, can shift depending on whether spatially explicit or non-spatial modeling is used. However, the extent to which coefficients may shift and why shifts occur are unclear. Here, we analyze the relationship between environmental predictors and the geographical distribution of species richness, body size, range size and abundance in 97 multi-factorial data sets. Our goal was to compare standardized partial regression coefficients of non-spatial ordinary least squares regressions (i.e. models fitted using ordinary least squares without taking autocorrelation into account; "OLS models" hereafter) and eight spatial methods to evaluate the frequency of coefficient shifts and identify characteristics of data that might predict when shifts are likely. We generated three metrics of coefficient shifts and eight characteristics of the data sets as predictors of shifts. Typical of ecological data, spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of OLS models was found in most data sets. The spatial models varied in the extent to which they minimized residual spatial autocorrelation. Patterns of coefficient shifts also varied among methods and datasets, although the magnitudes of shifts tended to be small in all cases. We were unable to identify strong predictors of shifts, including the levels of autocorrelation in either explanatory variables or model residuals. Thus, changes in coefficients between spatial and non-spatial methods depend on the method used and are largely idiosyncratic, making it difficult to predict when or why shifts occur. We conclude that the ecological importance of regression coefficients cannot be evaluated with confidence irrespective of whether spatially explicit modelling is used or not. Researchers may have little choice but to be more explicit about the uncertainty of models and more cautious in their interpretation.

Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.)

Abstract: ..........................................................9 Introduction ...........................................................9 Methodology .......................................................10 TTWG Guidelines for Taxonomic Changes ....13 Taxonomic Changes ......................................14 Distributions ..................................................15 GIS Maps ......................................................16 Conservation Status ......................................18 Results and Discussion ........................................19 Conservation Status ......................................19 Genetic Pollution ..........................................19 Request for Updates ............................................19 Acknowledgments ...............................................20 Photos and Photographers ..................................21 Checklist .........................................................23 Linnaean Classification Content ..........................23 Alternative Phylocode Classification ..................23 Testudines .........................................................24 Cryptodira .........................................................24 Chelydridae ............................................24 Chelydra ....................................24 Macrochelys ................................26 Chelonioidea .................................................27 Cheloniidae .............................................27 Carettinae .........................................27 Caretta ........................................27 Eretmochelys ...............................28 Lepidochelys ...............................29 Cheloniinae ......................................30 Chelonia ......................................30 Natator ........................................32 Dermochelyidae .....................................32 Dermochelys ...............................32 Kinosternoidea ..............................................34 Dermatemydidae ....................................34 Dermatemys ................................34 Kinosternidae .........................................34 Kinosterninae ...................................34 Kinosternon .................................34 Kinosternon or Cryptochelys ......35 Sternotherus ................................45 Staurotypinae or Staurotypidae ........47 Claudius ......................................47 Staurotypus .................................48 Testudinoidea ................................................49 Emydidae ................................................49 Deirochelyinae .................................49 Chrysemys ...................................49 Deirochelys .................................51 Graptemys ...................................51 Malaclemys .................................57 Pseudemys ...................................59 Trachemys ...................................62 Emydinae .........................................71 Clemmys ......................................71 TURTLES OF THE WORLD Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.) 6 Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises • Chelonian Research Monographs, No. 7 Emys ........................................ 72 Emys or Actinemys .................. 75 Emys or Emydoidea ................ 76 Glyptemys ............................... 77 Terrapene ................................ 77 Platysternidae ..................................... 82 Platysternon ............................ 82 Geoemydidae ...................................... 83 Geoemydinae ............................... 83 Batagur ....................................83 Cuora .......................................86 Cyclemys ..................................93 Geoclemys ................................96 Geoemyda ................................96 Hardella ...................................97 Heosemys .................................98 Leucocephalon .........................99 Malayemys .............................100 Mauremys ...............................101 Melanochelys .........................107 Morenia ..................................109 Notochelys ..............................109 Orlitia ....................................110 Pangshura ..............................110 Sacalia ...................................113 Siebenrockiella .......................114 Vijayachelys ...........................114 Rhinoclemmydinae .....................115 Rhinoclemmys ........................115 Testudinidae.......................................120 Aldabrachelys ........................120 Astrochelys .............................121 Centrochelys ..........................123 Chelonoidis ............................123 Chersina .................................132 Chersobius .............................132 Cylindraspis ...........................134 Geochelone ............................136 Gopherus ................................137 Homopus ................................140 Indotestudo ............................140 Kinixys ...................................141 Malacochersus .......................145 Manouria ...............................145 Psammobates .........................146 Pyxis .......................................149 Stigmochelys ..........................150 Testudo ...................................151 (Testudo) ...........................151 (Agrionemys) .....................155 (Chersine) .........................157 Trionychoidea ..........................................158 Carettochelyidae ................................158 Carettochelys .........................158 Trionychidae ......................................158 Cyclanorbinae .............................158 Cyclanorbis ............................158 Cycloderma ............................159 Lissemys .................................160 Trionychinae ...............................162 Amyda ....................................162 Apalone ..................................164 Chitra .....................................168 Dogania .................................169 Nilssonia ................................169 Palea ......................................171 Pelochelys ..............................172 Pelodiscus ..............................173 Rafetus ...................................175 Trionyx ...................................176 Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas (8th Ed.) – 2017 7 Pleurodira ....................................................177 Chelidae .............................................177 Chelinae ......................................177 Acanthochelys ........................178 Chelus ....................................179 Mesoclemmys .........................180 Phrynops ................................183 Platemys .................................185 Rhinemys ................................186 Hydromedusinae .........................186 Hydromedusa .........................186 Chelodininae ...............................187 Chelodina ...............................187 (Chelodina) .......................187 (Macrochelodina) .............191 (Macrodiremys) .................193 Elseya .....................................193 (Elseya) .............................193 (Hanwarachelys) ...............194 (Pelocomastes) ..................195 Elusor .....................................196 Emydura .................................197 Myuchelys ..............................200 Rheodytes ...............................201 Pseudemydurinae ........................202 Pseudemydura ........................202 Pelomedusidae ...................................202 Pelomedusa ............................202 Pelusios ..................................206 Podocnemididae ................................214 Erymnochelys .........................214 Peltocephalus .........................214 Podocnemis ............................214 Regional Species Richness Maps .......................218 Annotations ....................................................221 Current 2017 Checklist ...................................221 Previous Checklist Annotations ......................234 2007 Annotations .....................................234 2008 Annotations .....................................238 2009 Annotations .....................................239 2010 Annotations .....................................242 2011 Annotations .....................................246 2012 Annotations .....................................247 2014 Annotations .....................................251 Appendix – Distributional Data .........................256 Distribution Updates 2011 ..............................256 Distribution Updates 2012 ..............................256 Distribution Updates 2014 ..............................257 Literature Cited...................................................257 CRM 5 and CRM 7 Citations ............................290 TTWG, CBFTT, and TEWG Checklists ........290 CBFTT Species Accounts...............................290 8 Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises • Chelonian Research Monographs, No. 7 Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas (8th Ed.) – 2017 9 Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group A.G.J. Rhodin, J.B. Iverson, P.P. van Dijk, R.A. Saumure, K.A. Buhlmann, P.C.H. Pritchard, and R.A. Mittermeier, Eds. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 7, doi:10.3854/crm.7.checklist.atlas.v8.2017 © 2017 by Chelonian Research Foundation and Turtle Conservancy • Published 2 August 2017 Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.) TuRTle TaxonoMy WoRking gRoup* *Authorship of this article is by this working group of the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshw

Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities

Abstract: Conservationists are far from able to assist all species under threat, if only for lack of funding. This places a premium on priorities: how can we support the most species at the least cost? One way is to identify 'biodiversity hotspots' where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat. As many as 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups are confined to 25 hotspots comprising only 1.4% of the land surface of the Earth. This opens the way for a 'silver bullet' strategy on the part of conservation planners, focusing on these hotspots in proportion to their share of the world's species at risk.

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

Genetic consequences of climatic oscillations in the Quaternary.

Abstract: An appreciation of the scale and frequency of climatic oscillations in the past few million years is modifying our views on how evolution proceeds. Such major events caused extinction and repeated changes in the ranges of those taxa that survived. Their spatial effects depend on latitude and topography, with extensive extinction and recolonization in higher latitudes and altitudinal shifts and complex refugia nearer the tropics. The associated population dynamics varied with life history and geography, and the present genetic constitution of the populations and species carry attenuated signals of these past dynamics. Phylogeographic studies with DNA have burgeoned recently and studies are reviewed from the arctic, temperate and tropical regions, seeking commonalities of cause in the resulting genetic patterns. Arctic species show distinct shallow genetic clades with common geographical boundaries. Thus Beringia is distinct phylogeographically, but its role as a refugial source is complex. Arctic taxa do not show the common genetic pattern of southern richness and northern purity in north-temperate species. Temperate refugial regions in Europe and North America show relatively deep DNA divergence for many taxa, indicating their presence over several Ice Ages, and suggesting a mode of speciation by repeated allopatry. DNA evidence indicates temperate species in Europe had different patterns of postglacial colonization across the same area and different ones in previous oscillations, whereas the northwest region of North America was colonized from the north, east and south. Tropical montane regions contain deeply diverged lineages, often in a relatively small geographical area, suggesting their survival there from the Pliocene. Our poor understanding of refugial biodiversity would benefit from further combined fossil and genetic studies.

Accelerated modern human-induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction

Abstract: The oft-repeated claim that Earth’s biota is entering a sixth “mass extinction” depends on clearly demonstrating that current extinction rates are far above the “background” rates prevailing between the five previous mass extinctions. Earlier estimates of extinction rates have been criticized for using assumptions that might overestimate the severity of the extinction crisis. We assess, using extremely conservative assumptions, whether human activities are causing a mass extinction. First, we use a recent estimate of a background rate of 2 mammal extinctions per 10,000 species per 100 years (that is, 2 E/MSY), which is twice as high as widely used previous estimates. We then compare this rate with the current rate of mammal and vertebrate extinctions. The latter is conservatively low because listing a species as extinct requires meeting stringent criteria. Even under our assumptions, which would tend to minimize evidence of an incipient mass extinction, the average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is up to 100 times higher than the background rate. Under the 2 E/MSY background rate, the number of species that have gone extinct in the last century would have taken, depending on the vertebrate taxon, between 800 and 10,000 years to disappear. These estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way. Averting a dramatic decay of biodiversity and the subsequent loss of ecosystem services is still possible through intensified conservation efforts, but that window of opportunity is rapidly closing.

A new species

Abstract: We redescribe the only previously known species of Myrsidea from bulbuls, M. pycnonoti Eichler. Sixteen new species are described; they and their type hosts are: M. phillipsi ex Pycnonotus goiavier goiavier (Scopoli), M. gieferi ex P. goiavier suluensis Mearns, M. kulpai ex P. flavescens Blyth, M. finlaysoni ex P. finlaysoni Strickland, M. kathleenae ex P. cafer (L.), M. warwicki ex Ixos philippinus (J. R. Forster), M. mcclurei ex Microscelis amaurotis (Temminck), M. zeylanici ex P. zeylanicus (Gmelin), M. plumosi ex P. plumosus Blyth, M. eutiloti ex P. eutilotus (Jardine and Selby), M. adamsae ex P. urostictus (Salvadori), M. ochracei ex Criniger ochraceus F. Moore, M. borbonici ex Hypsipetes borbonicus (J. R. Forster), M. johnsoni ex P. atriceps (Temminck), M. palmai ex C. ochraceus, and M. claytoni ex P. eutilotus. A key is provided for the identification of these 17 species.