Carl Johan Schönherr

The surge of biodiversity data availability in recent decades has allowed researchers to ask questions on previously unthinkable scales, but knowledge gaps still remain. In this study, we aim to quantify potential gains to insect data on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) through further digitisation of natural history collections, assess to what degree this would fill biases in spatial and environmental record coverage, and deepen understanding of environmental bias with regard to climate rarity. Using mainland Afrotropical records for Catharsius Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), we compared inventory completeness of GBIF data to a dataset which combined these with records from a recent taxonomic revision. We analysed how this improved dataset reduced regional and environmental bias in the distribution of occurrence records using an approach that identifies well‐surveyed spatial units of 100 × 100km as well as emerging techniques to classify rarity of climates. We found that the number of cells for which inventory completeness could be calculated, as well as coverage of climate types by ‘well‐sampled’ cells, increased threefold when using the combined set compared to the GBIF set. Improvements to sampling in Central and Western Africa were particularly striking, and coverage of rare climates was similarly improved, as not a single well‐sampled cell from the GBIF data alone occurred in the rarest climate types. These findings support existing literature that suggests data gaps on GBIF are still pervasive, especially for insects and in the tropics, and so, is not yet ready to serve as a standalone data source for all taxa. However, we show that natural history collections hold the necessary information to fill many of these gaps, and their further digitisation should be a priority.

ABSTRACTAimTropical niche conservatism (TNC) and dispersal limitation (DL) are major ecological and evolutionary mechanisms in shaping taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversities. While these mechanisms have been studied in plants and vertebrates, their roles in freshwater taxa remain unclear. We leveraged Odonata species distribution and phylogenetic data to map geographical patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversities, and to determine whether Odonata β‐diversity is primarily shaped by TNC or DL and whether temperature seasonality is a key driver determining TNC.LocationEastern China.Time PeriodPresent.Major Taxa StudiedOdonata.MethodsA moving window containing nine grids of 50 × 50 km was employed to quantify taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversities, including their turnover and nestedness components. A null model was utilised to calculate randomly expected phylogenetic β‐diversity based on observed taxonomic β‐diversity and site‐specific regional species pools. The generalised dissimilarity model was used to assess the roles of climatic and geographic distances shaping β‐diversity and to identify the key climatic factors.ResultsTaxonomic total β‐diversity and its turnover component were generally higher than phylogenetic β‐diversity in most Odonata communities, with phylogenetic β‐diversity being relatively higher mainly in tropical regions. Current climatic factors independently explained slightly more of the variation in total β‐diversity than geographic distance alone, while geographic distance independently explained slightly greater proportions of deviance in turnover components. However, their joint effects accounted for an even larger part of the variation in β‐diversity. The key climatic predictors were temperature seasonality.Main ConclusionsCurrent climatic factors, particularly temperature seasonality, largely shape taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversities of Odonata communities. Spatial turnover along the climatic gradient tends to involve phylogenetically related taxa, resulting in overall higher taxonomic than phylogenetic β‐diversity, supporting the TNC. The joint effects of climatic and geographic distances highlight the roles of climate, interacting with topographic complexity, shaping taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversities of Odonata in eastern China.

Biologists have long wondered how sexual ornamentation influences a species' risk of extinction. Because the evolution of condition‐dependent ornamentation can reduce intersexual conflict and accelerate the fixation of advantageous alleles, some theory predicts that ornamented taxa can be buffered against extinction in novel and/or stressful environments. Nevertheless, evidence from the wild remains limited. Here, we show that ornamented dragonflies are less vulnerable to extinction across multiple spatial scales. Population‐occupancy models across the Western United States reveal that ornamented species have become more common relative to non‐ornamented species over >100 years. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that ornamented species exhibit lower continent‐wide extinction risk than non‐ornamented species. Finally, spatial analyses of local dragonfly assemblages suggest that ornamented species possess advantages over non‐ornamented taxa at living in habitats that have been converted to farms and cities. Together, these findings suggest that ornamented taxa are buffered against contemporary extinction at local, regional, and continental scales.

Nine species of Griburius Haldeman, 1849 have been revised and critically discussed. One additional species, formerly included in Metallactus Suffrian, 1852, has been transferred to Griburius: Griburius tredecimpunctatus (Suffrian, 1866) comb. nov. The following synonymies are proposed: Griburius hyacinthinus (Erichson, 1848) (= Griburius fragrans (Suffrian, 1866) syn nov.), Griburius posticatus (Suffrian, 1866) (= Griburius distigma (Suffrian, 1866) syn nov.; = Griburius rufomarginatus (Suffrian, 1866) syn nov.), Griburius tredecimpunctatus (Suffrian, 1866) comb. nov. (= Griburius incomparabilis (Suffrian, 1866) syn. nov.). Type series of each species were tracked down and a lectotype was designated for each of them, respectively. Redescriptions, illustrations and current known distribution of all the treated species are given. Additionally, Griburius bicoloratus sp. nov. and Griburius consanguineus sp. nov., both from Brazil, are described as new to science.  

South Africa is considered a megadiverse country, with exceptionally high plant and relatively high animal species richness and endemism. The country’s species have been surveyed and studied for over 200 years, resulting in extensive natural science collections and a vast number of scientific papers and books. This study assessed whether existing data portals provide access to occurrence data and investigated the extent of the data in Global Biodiversity Information Facility and its completeness for plants and selected invertebrate taxa. The main focus was preserved specimen data, but some observation data from iNaturalist were also considered for selected analyses. Records that include species-level identification and co-ordinates were mapped in QGIS to show the coverage of collection localities across the country. The records that fall within the mountain range spatial layer were then extracted and counted to identify density of records per mountain range for various taxa. Forty percent of plant records are from mountain localities, and the Atlantic Cape Fold Mountains had the highest density of records. Table Mountain has been extensively collected for plants and invertebrates. A large proportion of the records for invertebrates lacked species-level identification and co-ordinates, resulting in a low number of records for analyses. The accessible data are only a relatively small subset of existing collections, and digitisation and data upgrading is considered a high priority before collecting gaps can be addressed by targeted surveys.

Determining which traits allow species to live at higher elevations is essential to understanding the forces that shape montane biodiversity.For the many animals that rely on flight for locomotion, a long‐standing hypothesis is that species with relatively large wings should better persist in high‐elevation environments because wings that are large relative to the body generate more lift and decrease the aerobic costs of remaining aloft. Although these biomechanical and physiological predictions have received some support in birds, other flying taxa often possess smaller wings at high elevations or no wings at all.To test if predictions about the requirements for relative wing size at high elevations are generalizable beyond birds, we conducted macroecological analyses on the altitudinal characteristics of 302 Nearctic dragonfly species.Consistent with the biomechanical and aerobic hypotheses, species with relatively larger wings live at higher elevations and have wider elevation breadths—even after controlling for a species' body size, mean thermal conditions, and range size. Moreover, a species' relative wing size had nearly as large of an impact on its maximum elevation as being adapted to the cold.Relatively large wings may be essential to high‐elevation life in species that completely depend on flight for locomotion, like dragonflies or birds. With climate change forcing taxa to disperse upslope, our findings further suggest that relatively large wings could be a requirement for completely volant taxa to persist in montane habitats.

Adaptation to different climates fuels the origins and maintenance of biodiversity. Detailing how organisms optimize fitness for their local climates is therefore an essential goal in biology. Although we increasingly understand how survival-related traits evolve as organisms adapt to climatic condi…

Insects are the focus of many recent studies suggesting population declines, but even invaluable pollination service providers such as bees lack a modern distributional synthesis. Here, we combine a uniquely comprehensive checklist of bee species distributions and >5,800,000 public bee occurrence re…