Background & Objectives: Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are medically considered as one of the most important species of insects in terms of disease transmission to human beings; hence, they can be vectors of remarkable diseases such as malaria, West Nile, dengue fever, yellow fever, and filariasis. This study aimed to determine the species diversity and larval habitat characteristics of mosqu...

BACKGROUND The potential for reduced pollination ecosystem service due to global declines of bees and other pollinators is cause for considerable concern. Habitat degradation, destruction and fragmentation due to agricultural intensification have historically been the main causes of this pollinator decline. However, despite increasing and accelerating levels of global urbanization, very little ...

To define whether the beta diversity of stream invertebrate communities in New Zealand exhibits geographical variation unexplained by variation in gamma diversity and, if so, what mechanisms (productivity, habitat heterogeneity, dispersal limitation, disturbance) best explain the observed broad-scale beta diversity patterns. We sampled 120 streams across eight regions (stream catchments), spann...

The classical environmental control model assumes that species distribution is determined by the spatial variation of underlying habitat conditions. This niche-based model has recently been challenged by the neutral theory of biodiversity which assumes that ecological drift is a key process regulating species coexistence. Understanding the mechanisms that maintain biodiversity in communities cr...

Conservation biological control in agroecosystems requires a landscape management perspective, because most arthropod species experience their habitat at spatial scales beyond the plot level, and there is spillover of natural enemies across the crop–noncrop interface. The species pool in the surrounding landscape and the distance of crop from natural habitat are important for the conservation o...

†Co-first authors. Assessment of biodiversity in a changing world is a key issue and studies on the processes and factors influencing its history at relevant time scales are needed. In this study, we analyzed temporal trends of plant diversity using fossil pollen records from the North American boreal forest-taiga biome (NABT). We selected 205 pollen records spanning the last 15,500 years. Dive...

Habitat loss and fragmentation intensify the effects of genetic drift and endogamy, reducing genetic variability of populations with serious consequences for wildlife conservation. The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a forest dwelling species that is considered near threatened and suffers from habitat loss in the forests of the Neotropical region. In this study, 72 historical and current sample...

(Tropical inselbergs: habitat types, adaptive strategies and diversity patterns). Inselbergs are isolated rock outcrops that rise abruptly above the surrounding plains. Granitic and gneissic inselbergs are geologically and geomorphologically old and occur throughout a broad spectrum of climatic zones. They form microclimatically and edaphically dry growth sites that support a highly specialized...

The increased translocation of plant species for biodiversity restoration and habitat creation has provoked a debate on provenance and genotypic diversity of the used plant material. Nonlocal provenances are often not adapted to the local environmental conditions, and low population genotypic diversity may result in genetic bottlenecks hampering successful establishment. We tested provenance di...

Plants and insects comprise the most species-rich lineages of multicellular eukaryotes. Most insects are herbivores, and generally have specific adaptations for feeding on a very limited group of evolutionarily or biochemically related host plants in their natural habitats. Coevolutionary interactions (reciprocal natural selection) between plants and insects are hypothesized to be the crucible ...