Biotropica

Abiotic and biotic factors are known to be key in limiting the geographical distribution of species. However, our understanding on the influence of habitat heterogeneity on ecological interactions and behavior in tropical animals is limited. We studied groups of Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus flavigula) in urban and rural areas in northern South America to understand how habitat and resource requirements (food storage structures) influences patterns of distribution across the Aburra Valley, in the northern area of the Central Andes of Colombia. Using focal observations of 10 different groups over nearly a two-year period, we estimated territory size, habitat use, and described the use and presence of granaries. We found that territory size, tree diversity, and the use of granaries varied among groups. Accordingly, Acorn Woodpeckers use a wide variety of tree species to make cavities, to feed and to build granaries for social interactions. Our study supports the hypothesis that Acorn Woodpeckers do not rely on the Colombian Oak (Quercus humboldtii Bonpl.) for feeding, nesting or foraging in the Aburra Valley, and that the construction of granaries to store food is present in urban populations, despite the lack of strong seasonal changes in tropical areas. We suggest that the distribution of the Acorn Woodpecker in our study area is strongly associated with one particular species of tree, Albizia carbonaria Britton, and the behavior of granaries construction might be hardwired in this species for the maintenance and cohesion of family groups.

Global declines in pollinators pose serious risks for biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and human well-being. Understanding how landscape structure and climate shape pollinator communities is critical, yet studies that jointly assess these factors in human-dominated tropical landscapes remain scarce. Here, we investigate how forest cover, distance to forest patches, flower abundance, and temperature influence pollinator communities in monoculture cashew plantations that are rapidly expanding in the northern Western Ghats, part of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka global biodiversity hotspot. We conducted 210 half-hour observation sessions across 30 cashew orchards in Dodamarg, India. At the community level, flower abundance and forest cover positively influenced pollinator richness, number of pollinators, and number of visits. The number of visits showed a unimodal response to temperature, with peaks occurring within narrow, taxon-specific ranges, lower temperatures for birds and higher for insects, likely reflecting physiological constraints. At the species level, flower abundance and temperature emerged as key predictors of occurrence, while three butterfly species occurred more frequently near forest patches. Contrary to expectations, proximity to forest did not reduce ambient orchard temperatures, suggesting limited forest-mediated thermal buffering in our site. Together, these findings highlight the vulnerability of pollination services to both land-use change and rising temperatures. Ongoing conversion of natural forests to cashew monocultures, coupled with climate warming, may erode pollinator communities and jeopardize crop yields in tropical agroecosystems. More broadly, our results underscore the importance of conserving remnant forests and accounting for thermal sensitivity of pollinators to sustain ecosystem services in changing landscapes worldwide.

Oceanic islands, due to their evolutionary history and isolation, hold a disproportionately high proportion of endemic species. However, their evolutionary history also makes them vulnerable to extinctions, with most known extinctions occurring on islands. Plant-animal interactions are particularly important on islands, as island systems generally have low redundancy and are more vulnerable to disruption either via extinction or by invasive species. Here, we examined the fruit removal and seed predation of a keystone palm, Caryota mitis, on the remote oceanic island of Narcondam. The island endemic Narcondam hornbill (Rhyticeros narcondami), was the sole seed disperser of the Caryota mitis (90 hours; N = 15 trees), indicating a lack of redundancy in seed dispersal of the palm on this island. While the invasive rodent, Rattus cf. tiomanicus was the sole predator of the Caryota mitis seeds in the forest (N = 15 individual fruiting palms, 416 trap nights). Overall, 17.1% of the seeds placed (N = 375 seeds) were removed. Seeds placed under and away from the canopy, and at different densities (2 plots with 10 seeds each; 1 plot with 5 seeds, respectively), showed similar removal rates. This is indicative of ambient seed predation and the lack of safe sites for the regeneration of Caryota mitis, with potential deleterious effects on the subsequent stages of the "seed dispersal cycle". Here, from a data deficient site, we provide baseline information on the plant-frugivore interaction of a keystone palm and the potential impacts by an invasive rodent.

(1) Cacti are key components of arid ecosystems and, being mostly self-incompatible, rely on animal pollination. Although bee pollination is ancestral, systems supported by birds, moths, bats, and mixed strategies have evolved. Despite the ecological uniqueness and extreme seasonality of the fog-dependent Lomas of coastal Peru, cacti pollination remains unstudied. This work examines Haageocereus acranthus, a characteristic columnar cactus of this ecosystem, in a population where individuals produce either white or pink-red flowers. It was hypothesized that white flowers would be associated with bat pollination and pink-red flowers with hummingbird pollination, reflected in differences in floral morphology, phenology and pollinator visitation. (2) Year-round monitoring of the population was conducted to characterize flowering phenology. Floral morphology, daily anthesis patterns, and nectar production were quantified and compared between color morphs. Floral visitor frequency and behavior were recorded using camera traps to test for pollinator preference. (3) Floral phenology, morphology, and nectar characteristics were broadly consistent with vertebrate pollination, showing traits associated primarily with bat pollination but also compatible with hummingbird pollination. These floral traits did not differ between color morphs. Hummingbirds were the most frequent visitors, followed by bats; yet, neither group showed preference for a specific flower color. (4) Findings support a mixed pollination system involving both hummingbirds and bats in an ecosystem where the availability of pollinators can shift over geographic or temporal scales. This pollinator unpredictability may ensure consistent reproductive success and reduce vulnerability to the absence or decline of specific pollinator groups. Key messageIn a Lomas desert ecosystem of coastal Peru, the columnar cactus Haageocereus acranthus shows traits and interactions consistent with a mixed-vertebrate pollination system (hummingbirds and bats), with no detectable differences between flower color morphotypes in either traits or interactions.

Piper is a mega-diverse genus of pioneer plants that contributes to the maintenance and regeneration of tropical forests. With deforestation and climate change threatening forest ecosystems, understanding the mutualism between Piper and its seed dispersers becomes especially important. In the Neotropics, Carollia bats use olfaction to forage for Piper fruit and are a main disperser of Piper seeds via consumption and subsequent defecation during flight. In return, Piper fruits provide essential nutrients for Carollia year-round. There is evidence that the types and diversity of Piper frugivores are influenced by the primary habitat of different Piper species (forest, gap), with forest Piper depending more on bats for seed dispersal; however, this pattern has not been tested broadly. We aimed to characterize and compare the interactions between Carollia and Piper across forested and gap habitats, and further investigate whether differences in fruit traits relevant to bat foraging (i.e., scent) could underlie differences in Carollia-Piper interactions. We collected nightly acoustic ultrasonic recordings and 24h camera trap data in La Selva, Costa Rica across 12 species of Piper (6 forest, 6 gap) and integrated this information with data on Carollia diet and Piper fruit scent. Merging biomonitoring modalities allowed us to characterize ecological interactions in a hierarchical manner: from general activity and presence of bats, to visitations and inspections of plants, to acquisition and consumption of fruits. We found significant differences in Carollia-Piper interactions between forested and gap habitats; however, the type of biomonitoring modality (camera trap, acoustics, diet) influenced our ability to detect these differences. Forest Piper were exclusively visited by bats, whereas gap Piper had a more diverse suite of frugivores; the annual diet of Carollia, however, is dominated by gap Piper since these plants produce fruit year-round. We found evidence that fruit scent composition significantly differs between forest and gap Piper, which highlights the possibility that bats could be using chemical cues to differentially forage for gap versus forest Piper. By integrating studies of Piper fruit scent, plant visitation patterns, and Carollia diet composition, we paint a clearer picture of the ecological interactions between Piper and Carollia, and plant-animal mutualisms more generally.

AimHuman land-use has dramatically altered the amount, quality, and connectivity of habitat for species worldwide. Understanding how these changes affect individual species is essential for predicting the overall consequences of land-use change for biodiversity. LocationThe Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. Forest cover on the island increased from about 18 to 45% from the late 1940s to the early 2000s. MethodsUsing data on geographic distributions and functional traits for 454 tree species, we evaluated how gain of potential habitat was related to species-specific climatic associations and life-history strategies. We estimated species-specific potential habitat (climatically suitable and forested) with species distribution models and data on forest cover. We characterized each species niche breadth (the range of environmental conditions it occupies) and niche position (the environmental conditions it prefers) to compare with the conditions in reforested areas. ResultsSpecies with relatively more potential habitat in 1951 (climatically suitable and forested) also had relatively larger gains in potential habitat from 1951 to 2000. Species that tend to occupy conditions different from those common in reforested areas (i.e., more marginal habitats) gained relatively less potential habitat and species with broad environmental niches gained more potential habitat. Additionally, species with relatively acquisitive functional traits gained more suitable habitat than those with relatively conservative traits. Main conclusionsOur results show that Puerto Ricos reforestation preferentially increased habitat for species that (1) already had suitable habitat in the landscape, (2) tolerate a wide range of climatic conditions, and (3) exhibit fast, acquisitive functional strategies. These findings illustrate how land-use change in heterogeneous tropical landscapes can generate non-uniform habitat gains across species, potentially favoring generalist over specialist species and reshaping community composition.

The relative abundance patterns of tropical trees have been of interest since the expeditions of Alfred Russel Wallace, but little is known about how differences in relative abundance relate to reproductive patterns. Flowering is resource-dependent and fitness differences as well as differences in the quality of the abiotic and biotic neighborhood may contribute to the variation in reproductive status responsible for population-level flowering patterns. This variation determines the density and distance between flowering conspecifics and may alter relative abundance extremes among species during reproduction, factors known to influence pollination success. We collected flowering status data for a guild of twenty-three co-occurring tree species that flower in the understory of the Korup Forest Dynamics Plot in Cameroon. We examined how the occurrence and location of reproductive events were related to spatial patterns of adult abundance, focal tree size, neighborhood crowding, and habitat, while accounting for the influence of shared ancestry. Across species, the probability of flowering was higher for individuals of rarer species and for larger individuals but was unrelated to neighborhood crowding or habitat differences. Relative abundance extremes were reduced when only flowering individuals were considered, leading to a negative relationship between plot abundance and flowering probability at the species level that was not structured by shared ancestry. Spatially, flowering conspecifics tended to be overdispersed relative to all adult conspecifics. Rare species are predicted to suffer Allee effects or reduced fitness due to the difficulty of finding mates at low densities and frequencies. Here, however, rare species appear to maximize the size of their mate pool, compared to abundant species. If this partial leveling of the playing field during reproduction is typical, it has consequences for our understanding of biodiversity maintenance and species coexistence in tropical forests.

Habitat quality is a key determinant of wildlife distribution and persistence. Any disturbance such as fire degrades forest habitats by increasing canopy openness, reducing tree basal area, and eliminating large, cavity-bearing trees providing shelter for many species. In Madagascar, fire has become a prominent disturbance, yet the mechanisms linking fire disturbance to lemur habitat occupation remain poorly understood. Using Generalized Linear Mixed Models, we assessed the effects of forest humidity, temperature, vegetation structural gradients, and tree species richness on lemur occurrence, and evaluated the impact of fire regime parameters on significant abiotic and structural vegetation gradients. Lemur responses varied by body size and ecological specialization. Eulemur fulvus most likely occurred in humid habitats with high floristic diversity. The latter also explained best the presence of Avahi occidentalis and Cheirogaleus medius, while Lepilemur edwardsi was rather connected to dense stands of overstory trees. Small-bodied Microcebus species displayed a higher structural and floristic tolerance. Tree species richness declined sharply in burnt areas and was highest in unburnt forest. Fires impacted vegetation structural gradients, increasing openness and understory density, while old burnt and unburnt forests maintained complex vertical layering. Tree species richness emerged as the strongest predictor of lemur species richness. These results indicate that fire primarily affects lemurs through floristic and structural pathways rather than microclimatic shifts, emphasizing the need to preserve intact forest refugia with mature canopies and species-rich tree communities to sustain lemur diversity under increasing fire pressure in dry forest landscapes of Madagascar. SummaryO_LIForest fires alter lemur habitats by reducing tree species richness and mature tree density. C_LIO_LIEulemur fulvus, Avahi occidentalis and Cheirogaleus medius preferentially occupied floristically diverse forests, suggesting the relevance of a diverse spectrum of food resources for species of divergent body size. C_LIO_LIThe medium-sized Lepilemur edwardsi was sensitive to fire-induced loss of canopy integrity, limiting their persistence in burnt forests, while small-bodied mouse lemurs (Microcebus ravelobensis and M. murinus) exhibited high resilience to fire-modulated habitat changes. C_LIO_LILemur species richness was strongly linked to tree species diversity, underscoring the role of floristic richness in post-fire lemur and habitat recovery. C_LI

Interactions between flowers and flower-visiting insects play central roles in ecosystem functioning. In addition to ensuring pollination, flower-visiting insects are also crucial for numerous other biotic interactions, using floral resources as fuel in their search for prey, hosts, breeding sites, and other resources. Studying insect-flower interactions may thus be strategic to conserve and restore biotic interactions in ecosystems heavily degraded by intensive land use and climate change, such as the arid savannas of the northern Sahel. We aimed to document for the first time the diversity of flower-visiting insects in this region and to examine whether restoration efforts of the Great Green Wall initiative have affected insect abundance and diversity. Using two capture methods, hand netting and pan traps, we inventoried insects visiting flowers of Balanites aegyptiaca. This is the most abundant tree species in the region and is also of economic importance. We sampled three sites in a single locality: a "Restored" site from which livestock are excluded, an "Unrestored" site in intensively grazed rangeland, and a topographical "Depression" site in a grazed area but with high tree density. Each site was sampled at three different periods to examine variation in this extremely harsh and seasonal environment. The open-access flowers of Balanites aegyptiaca are produced in multiple flowering events each year. We found a surprisingly high diversity of insects visiting its flowers, comprising 371 morphospecies from 10 insect orders, with a predominance of Hymenoptera and Diptera. Insect abundance, diversity and species composition differed markedly between seasons. Bees appear to be important pollinators, particularly solitary bees of the family Halictidae, which were abundant in all seasons. Diptera, in particular several families of small flies, were also frequent visitors and were especially abundant and diverse in the wet season. Ants were especially abundant at flowers in the dry season, when few resources other than flowers and flower-visiting insects were likely available to them. Insect abundance and observed diversity differed only little between sites, but estimated total diversity (Chao1 richness) was highest in the Depression site. Insects visiting flowers of B. aegyptiaca included herbivores, decomposers, and parasitoids and predators of diverse arthropods, underlining the role of these floral resources in numerous facets of ecosystem functioning. The floral resources of B. aegyptiaca and other trees, which can flower throughout the year, are likely critical to assure the persistence of numerous insect species. Integrating biotic interactions into ecosystem management is crucial for conservation and restoration in Sahelian ecosystems.

Current climate and land cover change threaten global mountaintops with increased spread of invasive species. Long-established plantations of exotic and invasive trees on these mountaintops can alter their surroundings, further increasing invader-facilitated or secondary invasion. Identifying the ecological conditions that promote such specific associations can help develop better management interventions. The Western Ghatss Shola Sky Islands (>1400m MSL) host vast stretches of exotic and invasive tree plantations that sustain colonisation of other invasive woody, herbaceous and fern species in their understories. Here we analysed vegetation and landscape variables from 232 systematically-placed plots in randomly selected grids using NMDS and Phi Coefficient approaches, to examine patterns of association (positive interactions) between secondary understory invasive species with specific exotic and invasive overstory species. We also conducted GLMM with zero inflation to determine the influence of environmental variables where such associations occur. We find that secondary invasion of multiple species under the canopy of other exotic invasives is widespread across the Shola Sky Islands. Stands of Eucalyptus host the colonisation of 70% of non-native invasive species surveyed across the Shola Sky Islands. In particular, Lantana camara invasion is strongly associated with Eucalyptus stands. We also found that climatic variables affect the colonisation of understorey woody invasive species, while invasion by exotic herbaceous species is associated with the density of road networks.. Canopy cover impacts all invasives negatively, while incidence of fire was negatively associated with invasion by Lantana spp and the Pteridium spp. While the restoration of natural habitats largely targets the highly invasive Acacia, less invasive Eucalyptus and Pine are often not included. Our study suggests that retaining such exotic species in natural habitats, particularly protected areas, can hinder ongoing restoration efforts by facilitating further invasions by multiple woody and herbaceous species.

The Madrean Sky Island Archipelago is a system of 54 mountains with isolated woodland habitat above 1,600 meters, primarily in the Sonoran Desert. These mountains harbor a wide variety of native small mammals spanning 11 families of bats, rodents and shrews. Improved understanding of Madrean Sky Island biodiversity will potentially advance studies of biogeography, phylogenetic relationships, host-symbiont interactions, and processes of community assembly in this ecoregion. However, which species are found in each sky island and how their populations are genetically related remain open questions. To establish the current knowledge baseline, we used voucher specimen geocoordinates and elevations to summarize the extent and timing of past collecting efforts for small mammals in woodland habitats across the Madrean Sky Islands. In total, 97 species of small mammals (39 bats, 54 rodents, 4 shrews) from 9,541 specimens were collected from 1884 to 2023. Of these historical specimens, 79% come from five sky islands (Chiricahuas, Pinalenos, Huachucas, Animas, and Santa Catalinas) and only 25 sky islands in the Madrean system have any recorded specimens. Mexicos 25 sky islands are mostly unsampled (only the San Luis, Sierra dos Ajos, and Sierra La Mariquita have any specimens) and several of Arizonas larger sky islands have fewer than 40 specimens (Galiuros, Canelo Hills, Santa Teresas, Mules, and Dragoons). A large majority of small mammal specimens (87%) were collected prior to 1980, meaning they were collected without DNA/RNA preservation as a priority. This distributional summary is the current basis for all derived biodiversity knowledge of Madrean Sky Island small mammals, illustrating clear gaps regarding most species of woodland-dwelling bats, rodents, and shrews. This work lays the foundation for future fieldwork and voucher specimen preservation in the Madrean Sky Islands, especially from undersampled mountains where biodiversity assumptions are unconfirmed.

Bees play a key role in maintaining healthy terrestrial ecosystems by pollinating plants. Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are a diverse clade of social bees (>500 species) with a pantropical distribution spanning South and Central America, Africa, India, Australia and Asia. They are garnering increasing attention as commercially-beneficial pollinators of some crops, yet their contribution to the pollination of native plants in the tropics and subtropics remains poorly understood. Here we conduct a global review of the plants visited by stingless bees. We compile a database of reported associations (flower visits) between stingless bees and plants, from studies that have made either direct observations of foraging bees or analysed the pollen stored in nests. Worldwide, we find stingless bees have been reported to visit the flowers of plants from at least 220 different families and 1465 genera, with frequently reported interactions for many of the tropics most species-diverse plant families including Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Rubiaceae, Malvaceae, Lamiaceae, Arecaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Poaceae, Apocinaceae, Bignoniaceae, Melastomataceae and Myrtaceae. The list of commonly-visited plant families was similar for the stingless bee fauna of each of three major biogeographic regions (Neotropical, Afrotropical and Indo-Malayan-Australasian), though we detected differences in the proportional use of plant families by the stingless bees of the Indo-Malayan-Australasian and Neotropical regions, likely reflecting differences in the available flora of those regions. Stingless bees in all regions visit a range of exotic species in their preferred plant families (crops, ornamental plants and weeds), in addition to native plants. Although most reports of floral visitation on wild plants do not confirm effective pollen transfer, it is likely that stingless bees make at least some contribution to pollination for the majority of plants they visit. In all, our database supports the view that stingless bees play an important role in the ecosystems of the global tropics and subtropics as pollinators of an exceptionally large and diverse number of plants. This database also highlights important gaps in our knowledge of stingless bee resource use that may help focus future research efforts.

O_LINectar robbing and thieving can substantially affect the reproduction of animal-pollinated plants. Although the intensity of nectar exploitation remains unexplored at the community level, it probably varies along environmental gradients. C_LIO_LIWe video-recorded flower visits to animal-pollinated plants in Afrotropical rainforests along a complete elevational gradient in the wet and dry seasons on Mount Cameroon. We analysed how the proportion of nectar robbing and thieving in the communities changes spatiotemporally, especially in association with the floral traits of the flowering plants. C_LIO_LIWe recorded 14,391 flower visits, of which ~4.3% were from robbers (mostly bees and birds), and ~2.1% were from thieves (mostly flies, bees, and moths). Of the 194 studied plants, only 29 and 39 were nectar robbed and thieved, respectively. Robbers and thieves were most frequent at mid-elevations, with more frequent robbing in the wet season and thieving in the dry season. These trends were linked to the local composition of floral traits, and cheating groups associations to particular traits. Floral traits that prevented thieving made flowers susceptible to robbing, and vice versa. C_LIO_LISpatiotemporal variation in floral traits across drives the cheating behaviour of flower visitors across communities, while indicating a trade-off between preventing nectar robbing and thieving. C_LI

Bats are often the only mammals naturally colonizing isolated islands and are thus an excellent model to study evolutionary processes of insular ecosystems. Here, we studied the Reunion free-tailed bat (Mormopterus francoismoutoui), an endemic species to Reunion Island that has adapted to urban settings. At regional scale, we investigated the evolutionary history of Mormopterus species, as well as on Reunion Island sex-specific and seasonal patterns of genetic structure. We used an extensive spatio-temporal sampling including 1,136 individuals from 18 roosts and three biological seasons (non-reproductive/winter, pregnancy/summer, and mating), with additional samples from Mormopterus species from neighbouring islands (M. jugularis of Madagascar and M. acetabulosus of Mauritius). Complementary information gathered from both microsatellite and mitochondrial markers revealed a high genetic diversity but no signal of spatial genetic structure and weak evidence of female philopatry. Regional analysis suggests a single colonization event for M. francoismoutoui, dated around 175,000 years ago, and followed by in-situ diversification and the evolution of divergent ancestral lineages, which today form a large metapopulation. Population expansion was relatively ancient (55,000 years ago) and thus not linked to human colonization of the island and the availability of new anthropic day-roost sites. Discordant structure between mitochondrial and microsatellite markers suggests the presence of yet-unknown mating sites, or the recent evolution of putative ecological adaptations. Our study illustrates how understanding mechanisms involved in speciation can be challenging and the importance of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA in resolving the wide in-situ diversification of an urban-dwelling bat, endemic to a small island.

While interspecific variation in seed dispersal, a critical ecosystem process in tropical forests, is relatively well-studied, intraspecific variation as a consequence of differences in body size, foraging behaviours, and ranging patterns among age-sex categories within a species is relatively understudied. Among vertebrates, primates play a critical role in seed dispersal and exhibit behavioural differences between age and sex categories, making them a suitable study system for intraspecific variation in seed dispersal. Lion-tailed macaques Macaca silenus, an endemic and predominantly frugivorous primate species in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, provide an excellent model for such studies. We examined the influence of age and sex on 1) the diversity and 2) the quantity of native and non-native fruits consumed, 3) the number of seeds dispersed, 4) seed dispersal distance, and 5) seed deposition substrates in lion-tailed macaques. We conducted over 375 hours of focal animal watches, distributed evenly across adult males, females, and subadults. Our findings showed that subadults consumed a higher diversity of native and non-native fruits than females and males. They dispersed fewer Ficus seeds than females. We found differences in the proportions of non-native fruits in the diets of different age- sex categories. Males consumed more Coffea liberica, whereas females and subadults fed on Coffea and Lantana. We found weak evidence suggesting that males were more likely to disperse Ficus seeds on trees, which are suitable substrates for Ficus establishment. Our study highlights that age and sex significantly influence seed dispersal patterns of native and non- native species by an endemic, frugivorous primate species with potential influence on recruitment.

Tropical island biodiversity is declining at alarming rates. Yet, understanding how species are coping with such disturbance is largely limited for afro-tropical islands. Here we examined habitat use and diel activity of insectivorous bats across different land-use types covering the endemic-rich Principe Island, Central West Africa. We acoustically surveyed insectivorous bats across 48 sites throughout old-growth forests, secondary re-growth forests, cocoa shaded plantations, and horticultures. Based on 17,527 bat-passes, we were able to record all four insectivorous bat species known to occur on Principe, including the recently described Pseudoromicia principis, the most frequently recorded species. Taphozous mauritianus, a data deficient open-space forager, was the least recorded species. Species activity was lowest in old-growth forests, as well as the activity of the edge-forager P. principis. The activity of the open-space forager Mops pumilus was lowest in forest habitats, whereas Hipposideros ruber, a forest forager, was restricted to these habitats. Diel activity patterns of M. pumilus varied between forests and non-forest habitats, whereas those of P. principis remained similar. Interspecific activity overlap decreased towards more altered land-use types. Our findings emphasize that conserving the remaining forests, along with the current mosaic of land-uses, is needed to maintain Principes complete insectivorous bat assemblages.

The complex topography of the species-rich northern Andes creates heterogeneous environmental landscapes that are hypothesized to have promoted population fragmentation and diversification by vicariance, gradients and/or the adaptation of species. Previous phylogenetic work on the Palm Rocket Frog (Anura: Aromobatidae: Rheobates spp.), endemic to mid-elevation forests of Colombia, suggested valleys were important in promoting divergence between lineages. In this study, we use a spatially, multi-locus population genetic approach of two mitochondrial and four nuclear genes from 25 samples representing the complete geographic range of the genus to delimit species and test for landscape effects on genetic divergence within Rheobates. We tested three landscape genetic models: isolation by distance, isolation by resistance, and isolation by environment. Bayesian species delimitation (BPP) and a Poisson Tree Process (PTP) model both recovered five highly divergent genetic lineages within Rheobates, rather than the three inferred in a previous study. We found that an isolation by environment provided the only variable significantly correlated with genetic distances for both mitochondrial and nuclear genes, suggesting that local adaptation may have a role driving the genetic divergence within this genus of frogs. Thus, genetic divergence in Rheobates may be driven by the local environments where these frogs live, even more so that by the environmental characteristics of the intervening regions among populations (i.e., geographic barriers).

AimThe Andean paramo is the most biodiverse high-mountain region on Earth and past glaciation dynamics during the Quaternary are greatly responsible for its plant diversification. Here, we aim at identifying potential climatic refugia since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the paramo, according to plant family, biogeographic origin, and life-form. LocationThe paramo region in the Northern Andes MethodsWe built species distribution models for 664 plant species to generate range maps under current and LGM conditions, using five General Circulation Models (GCMs). For each species and GCM, we identified potential (suitable) and potential active (likely still occupied) refugia where both current and LGM range maps overlap. We stacked and averaged the resulting refugia maps across species and GCMs to generate consensus maps for all species, plant families, biogeographic origins and life-forms. All maps were corrected for potential confounding effect due to species richness. ResultsWe found refugia to be chiefly located in the southern and central paramos of Ecuador and Peru, especially towards the paramo ecotone with lower-elevation forests. However, we found additional specific patterns according to plant family, biogeographic origin and life-form. For instance, endemics showed refugia concentrated in the northern paramos. Main conclusionsOur findings suggest that large and connected paramo areas, but also the transitional Amotape-Huancabamba zone with the Central Andes, are primordial areas for plant species refugia since the LGM. This study therefore enriches our understanding on paramo evolution and calls for future research on plant responses to future climate change.

AimMany scolytine beetle species have been expanding their range in new territories across geographic barriers, traveling with wood, wood products and plants for planting, sometimes with a high impact on plant health. Here we attempt to quantify the mobility of these cosmopolitan species and to identify the biological drivers of mobility and impact. LocationWorld Major taxa studiedColeoptera; Curculionidae; Scolytinae MethodsMobility was estimated by counting the numbers of landmasses (contiguous pieces of land, surrounded by ocean or sea) colonized by each species. A series of potential drivers (taxonomic tribes; feeding habits; polyphagy; reproductive strategy; host taxa; pheromones and primary attractants) as well as impact on host health were recorded. Results163 species were identified, out of 5546 counted in the whole subfamily. Four tribes (Xyleborini; Ipini; Crypturgini; Hylastini) were significantly over-represented, and two others (Corthylini; Hexacolini) were under-represented. 53% of the 163 species are inbreeding, a very significant excess as compared to the whole subfamily (29%). The inbreeders colonized more landmasses than the outbreeders. There is a significant relationship between the number of host families attacked by a species and the number of colonized landmasses. Species restricted to conifers colonized fewer landmasses than hardwood generalists. Species attacking both types of hosts are the most mobile. Most of the invasive species respond to host primary attractants, only one quarter respond to pheromones. All very mobile species respond to primary attractants, and none responds to pheromones. Very mobile species are all associated with a high or moderate impact. Main conclusionsThe most mobile species belong for a large part to a limited number of subtribes. They are often inbreeding, polyphagous and respond to primary attractants but do not produce pheromones. However, many species that do not, or only partly, belong to these categories, have established in several landmasses, sometimes with a high impact. For example, the outbreeding Scolytus multistriatus, that attacks only 3 host families and produces aggregation pheromones, has established in thirteen landmasses, with a high impact. Therefore, risk prediction needs to assess diversity of species-specific biological traits beyond the few routinely analyzed in literature.

Transformation of forests into agricultural lands threatens biodiversity and ecosystem functions globally. In the biodiversity hotspot Madagascar, key ecosystem functions along with highly endemic flora and fauna are under threat. Comprehensive studies identifying proximate drivers are lacking, with no studies accounting for endemic species richness across multiple taxa. We assess how plot-scale stand structural attributes (basal area, leaf area index, diameter diversity, and tree species richness) and landscape-scale forest cover affect biodiversity (species richness of butterflies, ants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, herbaceous plants, and multidiversity) and ecosystem functions (soil organic carbon, predation rate, acoustic diversity index, and multifunctionality) in the tropical mosaic landscape of northeastern Madagascar. Across a prevalent land-use gradient in the region, we sampled five woody land-use types: old-growth forest, forest fragment, woody fallow, forest-derived and fallow-derived vanilla agroforests. Complexly structured stands with a larger basal area and higher tree species richness promoted greater endemic multidiversity and certain ecosystem functions. Landscape-scale forest cover significantly favored, particularly, endemic bird species richness. Our models explained 70% of the variance in endemic multidiversity, 26% in multidiversity, and 43% in multifunctionality. Significant effects directions of our predictors differed between taxa but were univocally positive for endemic species richness. Our findings highlight that a simplified stand structure, resulting from land-use change, substantially reduces endemic biodiversity and ecosystem functions in this historically forested region. Conservation actions should aim at maintaining complex stand structure in forests and agroforests, while restoration interventions should focus on re-building such structures.