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

A huge road network with vehicles ramifies across the land, representing a surprising frontier of ecology. Species-rich roadsides are conduits for few species. Roadkills are a premier mortality source, yet except for local spots, rates rarely limit population size. Road avoidance, especially due to traffic noise, has a greater ecological impact. The still-more-important barrier effect subdivides populations, with demographic and probably genetic consequences. Road networks crossing landscapes cause local hydrologic and erosion effects, whereas stream networks and distant valleys receive major peak-flow and sediment impacts. Chemical effects mainly occur near roads. Road networks interrupt horizontal ecological flows, alter landscape spatial pattern, and therefore inhibit important interior species. Thus, road density and network structure are informative landscape ecology assays. Australia has huge road-reserve networks of native vegetation, whereas the Dutch have tunnels and overpasses perforating road barriers to enhance ecological flows. Based on road-effect zones, an estimated 15‐20% of the United States is ecologically impacted by roads.

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Roads and their major ecological effects

Global declines in insects have sparked wide interest among scientists, politicians, and the general public. Loss of insect diversity and abundance is expected to provoke cascading effects on food webs and to jeopardize ecosystem services. Our understanding of the extent and underlying causes of this decline is based on the abundance of single species or taxonomic groups only, rather than changes in insect biomass which is more relevant for ecological functioning. Here, we used a standardized protocol to measure total insect biomass using Malaise traps, deployed over 27 years in 63 nature protection areas in Germany (96 unique location-year combinations) to infer on the status and trend of local entomofauna. Our analysis estimates a seasonal decline of 76%, and mid-summer decline of 82% in flying insect biomass over the 27 years of study. We show that this decline is apparent regardless of habitat type, while changes in weather, land use, and habitat characteristics cannot explain this overall decline. This yet unrecognized loss of insect biomass must be taken into account in evaluating declines in abundance of species depending on insects as a food source, and ecosystem functioning in the European landscape.

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More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas.

Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers

Climate change is predicted to become a major threat to biodiversity in the 21st century, but accurate predictions and effective solutions have proved difficult to formulate. Alarming predictions have come from a rather narrow methodological base, but a new, integrated science of climate-change biodiversity assessment is emerging, based on multiple sources and approaches. Drawing on evidence from paleoecological observations, recent phenological and microevolutionary responses, experiments, and computational models, we review the insights that different approaches bring to anticipating and managing the biodiversity consequences of climate change, including the extent of species' natural resilience. We introduce a framework that uses information from different sources to identify vulnerability and to support the design of conservation responses. Although much of the information reviewed is on species, our framework and conclusions are also applicable to ecosystems, habitats, ecological communities, and genetic diversity, whether terrestrial, marine, or fresh water.

Beyond Predictions: Biodiversity Conservation in a Changing Climate

Abstract The hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius presents an exemplary non-model species that is both locally threatened and whose genetic status is not fully understood owing to insufficient resolution of the currently available molecular tools. We performed normalized Genotyping-by-Sequencing (nGBS) on 48 hazel dormouse samples collected across the species European distribution, aiming at discovering useful single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for the assessment of population structure and genomic diversity. The analyses of &gt; 24,000 SNPs showed a high divergence between the Eastern and Western lineage of the species with high rates of SNP allele fixation, consistent with previous studies suggesting the divergence of lineages occurred over 2 mya. These results indicate that investigating inter-lineage as well as within-lineage genetic composition will be a conclusive approach for identifying conservation strategies in the future. Results presented here indicate the highest genetic divergence in the Italian and Lithuanian populations. We document how nGBS allows the discovery of SNPs that can characterize patterns of genetic variation at multiple spatial scales in a non-model organism. We document how nGBS allows the discovery of SNPs that can characterize patterns of genetic variation at multiple spatial scales in a non-model organism, potentially informing monitoring and conservation strategies. 

/pdf/genotyping-by-sequencing-based-snp-discovery-in-a-non-model-lksy9ldh.pdf

Genotyping-by-sequencing based SNP discovery in a non-model rodent, the endangered hazel dormouse

El principal objectiu del programa de seguiment d’ocells reproductors d’Holanda (BMP) es avaluar els canvis de mida poblacional de les especies reproductores comunes i escasses en aquest pais. Tot i que aquest programa de seguiment disposa d’un gran nombre de punts de mostreig, les tendencies poden estar esbiaixades perque els punts no estan igualment distribuits en el pais. En aquest article es presenta un procediment d’estratificacio i ponderacio a posteriori per corregir aquesta desigualtat en la presa de dades. Els indexs i les tendencies es van calcular primerament per a un nombre d’especies especifiques d’estrats (combinacions de regio, tipus principal d’habitat i categoria de densitat d’ocells). Posteriorment, els indexs per estrat van ser ponderats per les mides poblacionals (tal com es despren d’un conjunt de dades d’atles que van ser extrets de forma independent) i esforc de mostreig per estrat. El procediment te un petit pero substancial efecte sobre les tendencies nacionals, tendencies que, en general, solen ser menys conservadores (es mes facil trobar diferencies significatives). S’espera que per a la majoria de les especies reproductores el procediment impliqui una suficient i substancial millora de les tendencies i, per tant, es continuara amb el BMP en els proxims anys.

Monitoratge d’espècies nidificants comunes i escasses a Holanda: aplicació dels procediments d’estratificació i ponderació per obtenir tendències poblacionals menys esbiaixades

In recent years, evidence has accumulated about the impacts of climate change on different aspects of bird life. In the spatial dimension, climate change has been shown to induce pole ward and upward shifts of species’ distributional ranges. Switzerland is a small country situated in western Europe and is characterized by an important elevational gradient; main distributional changes are therefore expected in the vertical dimension. This aspect has been addressed by the first phase of the project ClimBird 1 recently developed at the Swiss Ornithological Institute. In particular, this phase aimed at assessing ongoing changes in the elevational distribution of common breeding birds in Switzerland (Maggini et al . unpubl. data ). The analysis was performed on data gathered by the Swiss national common breeding bird survey (MHB ; Schmid et al ., 2004), a monitoring program me started in 1999 and conducted on an annual basis. The survey encompasses 267 1 - km 2 squares that are distributed across Switzerland as a grid and hence are representative of different biogeographical zones, elevation bands and habitats. Each square is surveyed three times – twice for squares above the treeline – per breeding season (15 April to 15 July) by qualified volunteers who map all birds seen or heard along a square - specific route. At the end of the season, territories are identified from the mapped points. Shifts were assessed between a first (1999 – 2002) and a second period of monitoring (2004 – 07). For each period, the observed number of territories per km 2 was modelled as a function of elevation using generalize d additive models (GAMs). Significant changes in the shape of the regression curve were evaluated at five reference points. The comparison showed an upward shift for at least one - third of the 95 species considered. This was rarely a complete shift, but mainly a partial shift with either an expansion of the leading edge or a retraction of the trailing edge. Due to the short period covered by the analysis, the different patterns are assumed to represent successive steps in the process of an upward shift. However, similar patterns may result from factors other than climate such as the encountering of barriers, a change in habitat suitability, competition with other species or different warming rates along the gradient

Modelling range shifts for Swiss breeding birds

Als onderdeel van het door het ministerie van LNV gefinancierde onderzoek “Voedselaanbod voor Vogels” (bestek 5a) is er door SOVON in samenwerking met Alterra een pilotstudy uitgevoerd naar de mogelijkheden om een reproductiemeetnet in het Waddengebied op te zetten. Die studie had betrekking op zes soorten die algemeen voorkomen in het Nederlandse Waddengebied (Eider, Scholekster, Kluut, Kokmeeuw, Zilvermeeuw en Visdief). Deze soorten zijn aangewezen op verschillende belangrijke voedselbronnen in de Waddenzee: vis, schelpdieren, garnalen of bodemdieren als Wadpier en Zeeduizendpoot). Voor de zes soorten is beschreven welke informatie over de reproductie kan worden verzameld en welke methoden hiervoor gebruikt kunnen worden.

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Naar een reproductiemeetnet voor broedvogels in de Waddenzee

Sinds 1990 worden in Nederland op grote schaal beheersovereenkomsten met boeren afgesloten. Ook binnen de Europese Unie zijn deze 'agri-environment schemes' een belangrijk speerpunt van het landbouwbeleid geworden. De grote vraag is of de weidevogels van dit beleid profiteren

Ruud P. B. Foppen

Papers

Genotyping-by-sequencing based SNP discovery in a non-model rodent, the endangered hazel dormouse

Monitoratge d’espècies nidificants comunes i escasses a Holanda: aplicació dels procediments d’estratificació i ponderació per obtenir tendències poblacionals menys esbiaixades

Modelling range shifts for Swiss breeding birds

Naar een reproductiemeetnet voor broedvogels in de Waddenzee

De effectiviteit van het Nederlandse weidevogelbeleid