Walter Wilson Froggatt

Dynamic yet accurate species lists for protected areas are essential for conservation and biodiversity research. Even when such lists exist, changing taxonomy, ongoing species migrations and invasions, and new discoveries of historically overlooked species mean static lists can become rapidly outdated. Biodiversity databases such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and citizen science platforms such as iNaturalist, offer rapidly accessible, georeferenced data, but their accuracy is rarely tested. Here we compare species lists generated for two of the world's oldest, more famous protected areas – Yosemite National Park in California, United States and Royal National Park in New South Wales, Australia – using both automated data extraction techniques and extensive manual curation steps. We show that automated list creation without manual curation offers inflated measures of species diversity. Lists generated from herbarium vouchers required more curation than lists generated from iNaturalist, with both incorrect coordinates attached to vouchers and long-outdated names inflating voucher-based species lists. In comparison, iNaturalist data had relatively few errors, in part due to continual curation by a large community, including many botanical experts, and the frequent and automatic implementation of taxonomic updates. As such, iNaturalist will become an increasingly accurate supplementary source for automated biodiversity lists over time, but currently offers poor coverage of graminoid species and introduced species relative to showier, native taxa, and relies on continued expert contributions to identifications. At this point, researchers must manually curate lists extracted from herbarium vouchers or static park lists, and integrate these data with records from iNaturalist, to produce the most robust and taxonomically up-to-date species lists for protected areas.

Island ecosystems have significant conservation value owing to their higher endemic biotas. Moreover, studies of regional communities that compare differences in species composition (species dissimilarity) among islands and the mainland suggest that community assembly on islands is different from that on the mainland. However, the uniqueness of island biotic assembly has been little studied at the global scale, nor have phylogenetic information or alien species been considered in these patterns. We evaluate taxonomic and phylogenetic change from one community to the next, focusing on differences in species composition between mainland-mainland (M-M) pairs compared to differences between mainland-island pairs (M-I) and between island-island pairs (I-I), using herpetofauna on islands and adjacent mainland areas worldwide. Our analyses detect greater taxonomic and phylogenetic dissimilarity for M-I and I-I comparisons than predicted by M-M model, indicating different island herpetofauna assembly patterns compared with mainland counterparts across the world. However, this higher M-I dissimilarity has been significantly decreased after considering alien species. Our results provide global evidence on the importance of island biodiversity conservation from the aspect of both the taxonomic and phylogenetic uniqueness of island biotic assembly.

Predicting global change effects poses significant challenges due to the intricate interplay between climate change and anthropogenic stressors in shaping ecological communities and their function, such as pest outbreak risk. Termites are ecosystem engineers, yet some pest species are causing worldwide economic losses. While habitat fragmentation seems to drive pest-dominated termite communities, its interaction with climate change effect remains unknown. We test whether climate and habitat fragmentation interactively alter interspecific competition that may limit pest termite risk. Leveraging global termite co-occurrence including 280 pest species, we found that competitively superior termite species (e.g., large bodied) increased in large and continuous habitats solely at high precipitation. While competitive species suppressed pest species globally, habitat fragmentation drove pest termite risk only in humid biomes. Unfortunately, hu- mid tropics have experienced vast forest fragmentation and rainfall reduction over the past decades. These stressors, if not stopped, may drive pest termite risk, potentially via competitive release.

ABSTRACTAimFerns are globally distributed, yet the number of studies examining the historical evolution of African taxa is relatively low. Investigation of the evolution of African fern diversity is critical in order to understand patterns and processes that have global relevance (e.g., the pantropical diversity disparity [PDD] pattern). This study aims to examine when and from where a globally distributed fern lineage arrived in sub‐Saharan Africa, to obtain a better understanding of potential processes contributing to patterns of diversity across the region.LocationGlobal, sub‐Saharan Africa.TaxonAsplenium (Aspleniaceae).MethodsWe analysed five loci from 537 Asplenium taxa using a maximum likelihood (IQ‐Tree) phylogenetic framework. For age estimation, we performed penalised likelihood as implemented in treePL, and executed a Bayesian analysis using BEAST. Biogeographical analyses were carried out using BioGeoBEARS.ResultsMost dispersals into Africa occurred within the last ~55 myr, with the highest diversity of sub‐Saharan African taxa concentrated in two clades, each of which descended from an Asian ancestor. Additional dispersals to sub‐Saharan Africa can be found throughout the phylogeny. Lastly, potential cryptic species diversity exists within Asplenium as evidenced by several polyphyletic taxa.Main ConclusionsWe recover multiple dispersals of Asplenium to sub‐Saharan Africa, with two major lineages likely diversifying after arrival.

Premise Cleomaceae is an important model clade for studies of evolutionary processes including genome evolution, floral form diversification, and photosynthetic pathway evolution. Diversification and divergence patterns in Cleomaceae remain tangled as research has been restricted by its worldwide distribution, limited genetic sampling and species coverage, and a lack of definitive fossil calibration points.MethodsWe used target sequence capture and the Angiosperms353 probe set to perform a phylogenetic study of Cleomaceae. We estimated divergence times and biogeographic analyses to explore the origin and diversification of the family. Seed morphology across extant taxa was documented with multifocal image‐stacking techniques and morphological characters were extracted, analyzed, and compared to fossil records.ResultsWe recovered a well‐supported and resolved phylogenetic tree of Cleomaceae generic relationships that includes 236 (~86%) species. We identified 11 principal clades and confidently placed Cleomella as sister to the rest of the family. Our analyses suggested that Cleomaceae and Brassicaceae diverged ~56 mya, and Cleomaceae began to diversify ~53 mya in the Palearctic and Africa. Multiple transatlantic disjunct distributions were identified. Seeds were imaged from 218 (~80%) species in the family and compared to all known fossil species.ConclusionsOur results represent the most comprehensive phylogenetic study of Cleomaceae to date. We identified transatlantic disjunctions and proposed explanations for these patterns, most likely either long‐distance dispersals or contractions in latitudinal distributions caused by climate change over geological timescales. We found that seed morphology varied considerably but mostly mirrored generic relationships.

Biological invasions are among the threats to global biodiversity and social sustainability, especially on islands. Identifying the threshold of area at which non-native species begin to increase abruptly is crucial for early prevention strategies. The small-island effect (SIE) was proposed to quantify the nonlinear relationship between native species richness and area but has not yet been applied to non-native species and thus to predict the key breakpoints at which established non-native species start to increase rapidly. Based on an extensive global dataset, including 769 species of non-native birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles established on 4277 islands across 54 archipelagos, we detected a high prevalence of SIEs across 66.7% of archipelagos. Approximately 50% of islands have reached the threshold area and thus may be undergoing a rapid increase in biological invasions. SIEs were more likely to occur in those archipelagos with more non-native species introduction events, more established historical non-native species, lower habitat diversity and larger archipelago area range. Our findings may have important implications not only for targeted surveillance of biological invasions on global islands but also for predicting the responses of both non-native and native species to ongoing habitat fragmentation under sustained land-use modification and climate change.

Termites are amongst the most abundant and ecologically-important groups of insects in tropical forests. However, the destructive potential of some species amounts to billions of dollars in damage each year. Despite their economic and ecological impacts, only a limited number of invasive termite species have been studied using distribution modelling and no studies have taken trade, transport and demography variables into account. We used Species Distribution Models (SDMs) to investigate the potential distribution of 10 highly-invasive termites. Our study includes bioclimatic conditions, land-use patterns, elevation and connectivity predictors (i.e. urban areas, human population, accessibility to cities and private vessels), alongside different climatic and socioeconomic change scenarios. The distribution of the termite species hinges on bioclimatic and connectivity variables, highlighting the significance of these latter factors in invasive species analyses. Our models demonstrate the potential of these invasive termites to thrive in large urbanised and connected areas within tropical and subtropical regions and to a lesser extent within temperate regions. As climate changes and urbanisation intensifies, most species’ range could expand, particularly under a “fossil fuel-driven development” scenario. Furthermore, while some species may have a slightly reduced range, they could extend their presence into more urbanised and connected areas, increasing the risks and costs associated with termite damages. Our models highlight the anticipated role of growing connectivity and climate change dynamics in facilitating the widespread proliferation of invasive termites in the coming years.

Dense branching and spines are common features of plant species in ecosystems with high mammalian herbivory pressure. While dense branching and spines can inhibit herbivory independently, when combined, they form a powerful defensive cage architecture. However, how cage architecture evolved under mammalian pressure has remained unexplored. Here we show how dense branching and spines emerged during the age of mammalian radiation in the Combretaceae family and diversified in herbivore-driven ecosystems in the tropics. Phylogenetic comparative methods revealed that modern plant architectural strategies defending against large mammals evolved via a stepwise process. First, dense branching emerged under intermediate herbivory pressure, followed by the acquisition of spines that supported higher speciation rates under high herbivory pressure. Our study highlights the adaptive value of dense branching as part of a herbivore defence strategy and identifies large mammal herbivory as a major selective force shaping the whole plant architecture of woody plants. This study explores the evolution of two traits, branching density and spine presence, in the globally distributed plant family Combretaceae. These traits were found to have appeared in a two-step process in response to mammalian herbivory pressure, revealing the importance of large mammals in the evolution of plant architecture diversity.

Understanding how, and from where, invasive species were introduced is critical for revealing the invasive mechanism, explaining the invasion success, and providing crucial insights for effective management. Here, we combined a phylogeographic approach with ecological niche modeling comparisons to elucidate the introduction mode and source of Nicotiana glauca , a native South American species that is now invasive worldwide. We tested three different scenarios based on the invasion source—random native, restricted native, and bridgehead invasive—considering genetic diversity and climatic niche comparisons among native and invaded areas. We found three genetic lineages geographically and climatically differentiated within the native range. Only one of these genetic groups contained the invasive haplotypes, but showed no climatic niche overlap with any invaded area. Conversely, one invaded area located in western South America, with more genetic diversity than other invaded areas but less than the native range, showed climatic niche overlap with almost all other invaded areas worldwide. These findings indicate that N. glauca first likely invaded the southernmost areas beyond its native range, forming a bridgehead invasive source, from which the species subsequently invaded other regions around the world. Invasiveness would have been fostered by changes in the environmental preferences of the species in the bridgehead area, towards drier, colder and less seasonal climates, becoming the actual source of invasion to areas climatically similar throughout the world. The fine scale resolution analyses combining genetic and climatic approaches within the native range were essential to illuminating the introduction scenario of this invasive species.

Identifying areas at high risk of invasion is considered an important step for prioritization of phytosanitary measures to prevent biological invasions. Because climate change is likely to affect species' habitat suitability, ideally this should be considered in invasion risk assessments.We evaluated whether climate change affects habitat suitability and invasion risk of eight potentially invasive Eucalyptus pests in Brazil: Eucalyptolyma maideni, Mnesampela privata, Ophelimus maskelli, Orgyia postica, Paropsis atomaria, Paropsisterna beata, Paropsisterna cloelia and Trachymela sloanei.The shifts in the distribution range varied depending on the species, year and climate change scenario. While a decrease in the distribution range was predicted for four species, an increase was predicted for two species. Moreover, a decrease and/or increase in distribution depending on the climate change scenario was predicted for two species.Increases in invasion risk were predicted in major Eucalyptus‐producing areas near international airports and high cargo volume seaports.Our study provides an important contribution to knowledge on the effects of climate change on the distribution of eight potentially invasive Eucalyptus pests and reinforces the need to consider the changes in species' habitat suitability in invasion risk assessments.