Therya最新文献

{"title":"Habitat use and activity patterns of ungulates in a tropical rainforest of southern México","authors":"Fredy A. Falconi-Briones, E. Naranjo, R. Reyna-Hurtado, Manuel Spínola, Paula Enríquez-Rocha, R. Medellín","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1167","url":null,"abstract":"Baird’s tapir (Tapirella bairdii), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), and collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) sympatrically occur in the Lacandon Forest of Chiapas, México. These species contribute to maintain ecosystem dynamics through herbivory, seed dispersal, and seed predation, constituting important prey for large carnivores and hunters. We analyzed activity patterns and habitat use of the three focal species to assess the degree of temporal and spatial habitat segregation among them in Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (REBIMA) and surrounding communities. Between February and October 2015 we deployed camera-traps during 8,463 camera-trap days to estimate the presence and activity of tapirs and peccaries in two habitat types: “conserved” (REBIMA), and “transformed” (community forests; AFC). Habitat use and activity patterns of tapirs and peccaries were assessed through logistic regression models. We found that Baird’s tapir was almost exclusively nocturnal with a trend towards crepuscular activity, while both peccary species were diurnal, therefore showing a high daily temporal segregation from the tapir. Both peccary species were similarly active in the two study sites, while tapirs were more active in continuous forest within the protected area. The occurrence of tapirs and white-lipped peccaries depended on the presence and proximity of water sources and roads. Our results suggest that spatial segregation of the habitat allows coexistence of both peccary species in the study area. AFC have potential for maintaining populations of tapirs and peccaries in the Lacandon Forest. Conserving these forests by local communities is essential to ensure the persistence of these mammals.","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43244117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How habitat selection, succession, and assembly rules can influence landscape ecology in natural and disturbed areas","authors":"B. Fox","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1106","url":null,"abstract":"Why should one find a particular set of small mammals at any particular site?  This question is at the heart of community ecology, and while no definitive and conclusive answer can yet be provided, this paper does summarize a body of research that has explored, and I think clarified, some of the factors that influence which species occur where and when.  The impacts of disturbances such as wildfire and sand mining are examined, along with the regeneration of vegetation and recolonization by small mammals that follow such disturbances in heathland and eucalypt forest in coastal eastern Australia.  I describe results from experiments that confirm that these small mammal species do indeed choose or select habitats, rather than just make use of the habitats that are available.  Further replicated, experimental removals, as manipulations of each species, one at a time, confirm that interspecific competition between these small mammal species is an important factor determining which species are found where and when, if the temporal aspect of succession is included.  Guild assembly rules are examined to illustrate how they may determine which species may or may not become part of a community.  Here, my review and synthesis illustrate how the major influences upon the community and landscape ecology of small mammals in the area examined are both spatially variable and temporally dynamic.","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42646245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A new species of the genus Microcavia (Rodentia, Caviidae)","authors":"P. Teta, J. P. Jayat, P. Ortiz","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1217","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1217","url":null,"abstract":"Based on qualitative and quantitative morphological evidence, we describe a new species of Microcavia (Rodentia, Caviidae).  The new species is characterized by a unique combination of morphological traits, that distinguished it from all others within the genus (i. e., upper incisors moderately proodont; palatal crest low, narrow anteriorly and expanded posteriorly; paraorbital process of the jugal small; sphenopalatine vacuities small, with their anterior border located behind the anterior half of the mesopterygoid fossa).  The new species seems to be endemic from northwestern Argentina, where it occurs in open shrublands and grasslands >3,100 masl. With the description of this taxon, there are already four species of Microcavia that are distributed in the central Andes.","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45423719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The role of rodents in the conservation of endangered species in the Ethiopian highlands","authors":"Anagaw Atickem, N. Stenseth","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1185","url":null,"abstract":"The Ethiopian highlands is the largest Afroalpine habitat on the African continent contributing 80 % of the land above 3,000 masl on the continent.  The Ethiopian highlands are part of Conservation International’s Eastern Afro-Montane Biodiversity Hotspot supporting a large number of endemic mammal and bird species.  In the highlands, rodent species are key for the survival of many species including the endangered Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) and over 25 species of diurnal raptors.  However, increasing agricultural activities and livestock grazing affect rodent density and distribution through degrading their habitat and disrupting their reproductive cycle.  As human settlement expands into the Ethiopian wolf range, it also attracts the African wolf (Canis lupaster) towards the core area of the Ethiopian wolf.  The African wolf was recently reported to affect the survival of the Ethiopian wolf though exploitative and interference competition.  Along with all the anthropogenic effects, climate change may further threaten the rodent abundance of the Ethiopian highlands through altering the grassland vegetation cover, the main forage of the rodents.  Polices and strategies for the conservation management of the Ethiopian highlands should consider rodents as keystone prey playing a critical role for the survival of a large number of wildlife species.","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43827883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geographic patterns of electrophoretic and morphological variation in the sagebrush least chipmunk (Tamias minimus scrutator)","authors":"K. Bell, R. Baccus","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1294","url":null,"abstract":"Variation and differentiation among populations provide a framework to decipher how populations are, or are not, changing due to gene flow, genetic drift, and selection.  The sagebrush least chipmunk (Tamias minimus scrutator) is distributed in arid and semi-arid habitats throughout much of the Great Basin and adjacent regions.  The broad distribution and variation in elevation of populations make this a good system to assess population variation and the forces shaping differentiation.  Here, we use allozyme and morphological datasets to: 1) assess the relative roles of geographic locality and elevation of populations in shaping population structure; 2) examine the level of differentiation of peripheral and isolated populations; and 3) compare the genetic and morphological signals of population variation and structure.  We sampled 312 individuals from 12 T. minimus scrutator populations and other areas of their distribution.  Individuals were measured for 27 genetic and 61 morphological traits.  These datasets were analyzed to determine the distribution of variation and the differentiation among populations and tested for correlations with geographic distance and elevation.  Multiple approaches were used to thoroughly compare the signals from each dataset.  We found 13 polymorphic electrophoretic loci with most of the variation structured among populations within regions.  Eight loci exhibited elevational heterogeneity but most high-elevation populations showed no heterogeneity among populations.  Thirty-two morphological characters varied among populations but with no discernable trends across regions or elevations.  Populations had varying levels of asymmetric distinctness in morphological characters, but there were no significant differences among populations.  Morphological and genetic distance measures were correlated and there was some evidence of a correlation of genetic and geographic distance.  We also found some correlation of asymmetric distances with morphological or genetic distances at smaller scales.  There was substantial variation of genetic and morphological traits among sagebrush least chipmunk populations.  Each population had a unique genetic signature and significant morphological differentiation.  Our results suggest that genetic drift is contributing to the structure of these populations, with some evidence of selection shaping the distribution of variation at different elevations.  The peripheral populations had mixed signals of isolation among the different datasets, with an overall signature suggesting that genetic drift is also driving the variation among these populations.  The different measures of population variation yielded inconsistent signals of population structure, highlighting the need for multiple approaches to assess population variation.  The variation among sagebrush least chipmunk populations is impacted by a variety of factors and contemporary investigations may reveal populations responding to alterati","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41500767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological corridors for which species?","authors":"A. Merenlender, A. Keeley, J. Hilty","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1162","url":null,"abstract":"Overwhelming evidence points to the importance of maintaining connectivity given rapidly fragmenting habitats and climate change.  Many efforts to identify where ecological corridors should be placed are based on estimates of structural connectivity that take advantage of readily available land-cover data.  We provide an overview of structural connectivity methodology and review the various limitations of these methods for functional connectivity -- the degree to which corridors facilitate the movement of organisms.  These limitations include not accounting for dispersal complexities and specific habitat requirements of focal species, and invisible barriers to movement.  Also, to what extent will the resulting corridors serve the most vulnerable species under a rapidly changing climate?  We describe several connectivity-modeling approaches designed to be climate-wise.  Assessing species for traits that may make them more susceptible to extinction is one way to prioritize which species warrant additional data collection and demographic analyses to improve the likelihood that corridors will function for them.  There is substantial evidence that traits such as limited movement or dispersal ability as well as geographic range and habitat restrictions make species more vulnerable.  Therefore, we suggest using these traits to guide focal-species selection.  Finally, we discuss the importance of employing new technologies to monitor individual movement and species utilization of corridors varying in width and other characteristics to help plan and verify functional connectivity for these species. ","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41747698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Morphological and ecological data confirm Reithrodontomys cherrii as a distinct species from Reithrodontomys mexicanus","authors":"Daily Martínez-Borrego, Elizabeth Arellano, Daryl D. Cruz, Francisco X. González-Cózatl, Elizabeth Nava-García, Duke S. Rogers","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1201","url":null,"abstract":"The integrative taxonomy approach has recently been widely suggested in systematic studies.  Lines of evidence such as the geometric morphometrics and ecological analyses have been useful for discriminating between genetically well-differentiated species.  Within the genus Reithrodontomys, R. mexicanus is one of the more taxonomically complex species, being considered a cryptic species complex.  R. cherrii was considered a subspecies of R. mexicanus, until molecular evidence raised it to the species-level.  Herein, we evaluate these two forms using morphological and ecological data based on the premise that they constitute genetically differentiated species.  We carried out geometric morphometric analyses on dorsal and ventral views of the skull.  Landmark and semi-landmark configurations for both views of the skull were selected based on previous studies of cricetid rodents.  We tested the presence of sexual dimorphism, and the skull shape and size differences between species on both cranial views.  Additionally, we characterized the environmental space of each species habitat using bioclimatic variables, elevation, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI).  Females and males of R. mexicanus and R. cherrii did not show sexual dimorphism in shape or size of both skull views.  We found significant differences between the two species in both shape and size of the skull.  Cranial structures of the ventral view were more useful to differentiate both species.  R. mexicanus exhibited a broader environmental space than R. cherrii, with relatively similar values of temperature and elevation, but not of precipitation.  The pairwise comparison showed significant differences in the majority of the environmental variables analyzed.  Although for each view, we found statistical differences in the skull shape of R. cherrii and R. mexicanus, the ventral side showed major resolutive power differentiating both species. Our findings suggest that R. cherrii tends to have a larger skull than R. mexicanus.  However, the morphological and pelage coloration similarity between these species reported in the past, could explain the previous inclusion of R. cherrii as a subspecies of R. mexicanus.  R. mexicanus occurs in a variety of vegetation-types coinciding with the broader environmental space that it occupies compared to that of R. cherrii. The natural areas where both species are distributed were associated with high NDVI values.  Our results complement the molecular evidence and, under an integrative taxonomy approach, support R. cherrii as a different species from R. mexicanus.","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45643728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extinction of endemic taxa as a direct consequence of global climate change","authors":"Alina Gabriela Monroy-Gamboa, Leticia Cab-Sulub, S. T. Álvarez-Castañeda","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1210","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1210","url":null,"abstract":"Global climate change occurs from both natural and anthropic causes.  Anthropic climate change has effects at various scales and occurs faster than the adaptation of species to these changes.  Protected natural areas have been created to preserve species from the different threats facing them.  Sierra La Laguna is a sky island with almost no anthropic pressure given its natural isolation; it is home to several endemic taxa, including Peromyscus truei lagunae and Sorex ornatus lagunae.  This study aims to assess the possible impact of climate change on species endemic to a sky island exposed to virtually no local anthropic pressure.  The Sierra La Laguna sky island, located in the southern region of the Baja California peninsula, harbors different vegetation types, including an oak-pine forest at the highest elevations and xeric vegetation at lower ones.  Ecological niche models were developed under three climate change scenarios contemplating temperature rises of 1.5 °C and 4.4 °C.  There are insufficient localities to make statistically robust models for mammalian species.  Therefore, we used plant species typical of the oak-pine forest (Pinus cembroides lagunae, Quercus brandegeei, and Q. devia) and the rodents Peromyscus eva, that thrives in dry deciduous forests, and Chaetodipus rudinoris and C. spinatus, associated with xeric ecosystems.  The models show that ecological suitability for the oak species decreases, while it is completely lost for the pine species.  On the other hand, P. eva broadens its elevational range, while C. rudinoris and C. spinatus increase their ecological suitability in both area and elevation.  The Sierra La Laguna sky island is an area with virtually no regional or local anthropic pressure.  Nonetheless, the projections conducted under various climate change scenarios show a loss of up to 100 % of the area of climatic and elevational suitability for species characteristic of the oak-pine forest even with the minimum temperature rise of 1.5 °C.  These results suggest that, under these conditions, endemic species such as P. t. lagunae and S. o. lagunae will become extinguished despite the absence of local anthropic pressures.","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46658819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial. Special Section in honor of Dr. William Z. Lidicker, Jr.","authors":"E. Heske, R. Ostfeld, S. T. Álvarez-Castañeda, B. Fox, W. Laurance","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-2055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-2055","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48032211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The ecology of infectious diseases: an homage to multi-factor perspectives","authors":"R. Ostfeld, F. Keesing","doi":"10.12933/therya-22-1183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1183","url":null,"abstract":"Decades ago, a multi-factor perspective offered valuable insights into the causes of population cycles in arvicoline (= microtine) rodents.  Multi-factor perspectives are also critical for understanding the ecology of infectious diseases.  Here, we provide examples of how these perspectives inform our ability to predict variation in disease risk through space and time.  We focus in particular on the evidence that many emerging zoonotic pathogens of humans have multiple hosts rather than just one, that most host species harbor more than one pathogen and that these pathogens interact, and that understanding variation in the abundance of species that transmit pathogens often requires deep exploration of the ecological community in which those hosts are embedded. ","PeriodicalId":37851,"journal":{"name":"Therya","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45212321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}