TY - BOOK ED - Falk, Gregor C. ED - Strecker, Manfred ED - Schneider, Simon T1 - Alexander von Humboldt BT - multiperspective approaches N2 - This book aims to view and to understand Alexander von Humboldt from different perspectives and in varying disciplinary contexts. His contributions addressed numerous topics in the earth but also life sciences—spanning from geo-botany, climatology, paleontology, oceanography, mineralogy, resources, and hydrogeology to links between the environmental impact of humans, erosion, and climate change. From the very beginning, he paved the way for a modern, integrated earth system science approach to decipher, characterize, and model the different forcing factors and their feedback mechanisms. It becomes obvious that Humboldt’s holistic approach is far beyond simple description and empiric data collection. As documented and analyzed in the different texts of this volume, he combines observation and analysis with emotions and subjective perceptions in a very affectionate way. However, this publication does not intend to add another encyclopedic text compilation but to observe and critically analyze this unique personality´s relevance in a modern context, particularly in discussing environmental and social key issues in the twenty-first century. KW - Alexander von Humboldt KW - multiperspective reception of AvH KW - biogeography KW - environmentalism KW - interdisciplinarity KW - earth system sciences KW - mining sciences KW - andean geology KW - intercultural understanding KW - expedition KW - Orinoco River system KW - historical geography Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-3-030-94007-2 SN - 978-3-030-94008-9 SN - 978-3-030-94010-2 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94008-9 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - THES A1 - Ribeiro Martins, Renata Filipa T1 - Deciphering evolutionary histories of Southeast Asian Ungulates T1 - Entschlüsselung der Evolutionsgeschichte Südostasiatischer Huftiere BT - comparative phylogeography in a biodiversity hotspot BT - vergleichende Phylogeographie in einem Biodiversitaets-Hotspot N2 - Im Verlauf von Jahrmillionen gestalteten evolutionäre Kräfte die Verbreitung und genetische Variabilität von Arten, indem sie die Anpassungsfähigkeit und Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit dieser Arten beeinflussten. Da Südostasien eine außerordentlich artenreiche Region darstellt, eignet sie sich besonders, um den Einfluss dieser Kräfte zu untersuchen. Historische Klimaveränderungen hatten dramatische Auswirkungen auf die Verfügbarkeit sowie die Verbreitung von Habitaten in Südostasien, weil hierdurch wiederholt das Festland mit sonst isolierten Inseln verbunden wurde. Dies beeinflusste nicht nur, wie Arten in dieser Region verbreitet sind, sondern ermöglichte auch eine zunehmende genetische Variabilität. Zwar ist es bekannt, dass Arten mit ähnlicher Evolutionsgeschichte unterschiedliche phylogeographische Muster aufweisen können. Die zugrundeliegenden Mechanismen sind jedoch nur gering verstanden. Diese Dissertation behandelt die Phylogeographie von drei Gruppen von Huftieren, welche im Süden und Südosten Asiens vorkommen. Dabei war das vornehmliche Ziel, zu verstehen, wie es zur Ausbildung verschiedener Arten sowie zu einer regionalen Verteilung von genetischer Variabilität kam. Hierfür untersuchte ich die mitochondrialen Genome alter Proben. Dadurch war es möglich, Populationen des gesamten Verbreitungsgebietes der jeweiligen Arten zu untersuchen – auch solche Populationen, die heutzutage nicht mehr existieren. Entsprechend der einzelnen Huftiergruppen ist diese Arbeit in drei Kapitel unterteilt: Muntjaks (Muntiacus sp.), Hirsche der Gattung Rusa und asiatische Nashörner. Alle drei Gruppen weisen eine Aufteilung in unterschiedliche Linien auf, was jeweils direkt auf Ereignisse des Pleistozäns zurückgeführt werden kann. Muntjaks sind eine weit verbreitete Art, die in verschiedensten Habitaten vorkommen kann. Ich wies nach, dass es in der Vergangenheit zu genetischem Austausch zwischen Populationen von verschiedenen Inseln des Sundalandes kam. Dies deutet auf die Fähigkeit von Muntjaks hin, sich an die ehemaligen Landbrücken anzupassen. Jedoch zeige ich auch, dass mindestens zwei Hindernisse bei ihrer Verbreitung existierten, wodurch es zu einer Differenzierung von Populationen kam: eine Barriere trennte Populationen des asiatischen Festlands von denen der Sundainseln, die andere isolierte sri-lankische von restlichen Muntjaks. Die zwei untersuchten Rusa-Arten weisen ein anderes Muster auf, was wiederum eine weitere Folge der pleistozänen Landbrücken darstellt. Beide Arten sind ausschließlich monophyletisch. Allerdings gibt es Anzeichen für die Hybridisierung dieser Arten auf Java, was durch eine frühere Ausbreitung des sambar (R. unicolor) gefördert wurde. Aufgrund dessen fand ich zudem, dass all jene Individuen der anderen Art, R. timorensis, die durch den Menschen auf die östlichen Sundainseln gebracht wurden, in Wahrheit Hybride sind. Für den dritten Teil war es mir möglich, Proben von Vertretern ausgestorbener Populationen vom asiatischen Festland des Sumatra- und des Java-Nashorns (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis und Rhinoceros sondaicus) zu analysieren. Die Ergebnisse meiner Arbeit belegen, dass die genetische Vielfalt dieser historischen Populationen bedeutend größer war als die der heutigen Nachkommen. Ihre jeweilige Evolutionsgeschichte korreliert stark mit pleistozänen Prozessen. Außerdem betonen meine Ergebnisse das enorme Ausmaß von verlorener genetischer Diversität dieser stark bedrohten Arten. Jede Art besitzt eine individuelle phylogeographische Geschichte. Ebenso fand ich aber auch allgemeingültige Muster von genetischer Differenzierung in allen Gruppen, welche direkt mit Ereignissen des Pleistozäns assoziiert werden können. Vergleicht man jedoch die einzelnen Ergebnisse der Arten, wird deutlich, dass die gleichen geologischen Prozesse nicht zwangsläufig in gleiche evolutive Ergebnisse resultieren. Einer der Gründe hierfür könnte zum Beispiel die unterschiedliche Durchlässigkeit der entstandenen Landkorridore des Sundaschelfs sein. Die Möglichkeit diese neuen Habitate zu nutzen und somit auch zu passieren steht im direkten Bezug zu den spezifischen ökologischen Bedürfnissen der Arten.Zusammenfassend leisten meine Erkenntnisse einen wichtigen Beitrag, die Evolution und geographische Aufteilung der genetischen Vielfalt in diesem Hotspot an Biodiversität zu verstehen. Obendrein können sie aber auch Auswirkungen auf die Erhaltung und systematische Klassifikation der untersuchten Arten haben. N2 - During the course of millions of years, evolutionary forces have shaped the current distribution of species and their genetic variability, by influencing their phylogeny, adaptability and probability of survival. Southeast Asia is an extraordinary biodiverse region, where past climate events have resulted in dramatic changes in land availability and distribution of vegetation, resulting likewise in periodic connections between isolated islands and the mainland. These events have influenced the way species are distributed throughout this region but, more importantly, they influenced the genesis of genetic diversity. Despite the observation that a shared paleo-history resulted in very diverse species phylogeographic patterns, the mechanisms behind these patterns are still poorly understood. In this thesis, I investigated and contrasted the phylogeography of three groups of ungulate species distributed within South and Southeast Asia, aiming to understand what mechanisms have shaped speciation and geographical distribution of genetic variability. For that purpose, I analysed the mitogenomes of historical samples, in order to account for populations from the entire range of species distributions – including populations that no longer exist. This thesis is organized in three manuscripts, which correspond to the three investigated groups: red muntjacs, Rusa deer and Asian rhinoceros. Red muntjacs are a widely distributed species and occur in very different habitats. We found evidence for gene-flow among populations of different islands, indicative of their ability to utilize the available land corridors. However, we described also the existence of at least two dispersal barriers that created population differentiation within this group; one isolated Sundaic and Mainland populations and the second separated individuals from Sri Lanka. Second, the two Rusa species investigated here revealed another consequence of the historical land connections. While the two species were monophyletic, we found evidence of hybridisation in Java, facilitated by the expansion of the widespread sambar, Rusa unicolor. Consequently, I found that all the individuals of Javan deer, R. timorensis which were transported to the east of Sundaland by humans, to be of hybrid descent. In the last manuscript, we were able to include samples from the extinct mainland populations of both Sumatran and Javan rhinoceros. The results revealed a much higher genetic diversity of the historical populations than ever reported for the contemporaneous survivors. Their evolutionary histories revealed a close relationship to climatic events of the Pleistocene but, more importantly, point out the vast extent of genetic erosion within these two endangered species. The specific phylogeographic history of the species showed some common patters of genetic differentiation that could be directly linked to the climatic and geological changes on the Sunda Shelf during the Pleistocene. However, by contrasting these results I discussed that the same geological events did not always result in similar histories. One obvious example was the different permeability of the land corridors of Sundaland, as the ability of each species to utilize this newly available land was directly related to their specific ecological requirements. Taken together, these results have an important contribution to the general understanding of evolution in this biodiversity hotspot and the main drivers shaping the distribution of genetic diversity, but could also have important consequences for taxonomy and conservation of the three investigated groups. KW - biogeography KW - Southeast Asia KW - ungulates KW - NGS KW - evolutionary history KW - Phylogeographie KW - Südostasien KW - Huftiere KW - Evolutionsgenetik Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-404669 ER - TY - THES A1 - Wen, Xi T1 - Distribution patterns and environmental drivers of methane-cycling microorganisms in natural environments and restored wetlands N2 - Methane is an important greenhouse gas contributing to global climate change. Natural environments and restored wetlands contribute a large proportion to the global methane budget. Methanogenic archaea (methanogens) and methane oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs), the biogenic producers and consumers of methane, play key roles in the methane cycle in those environments. A large number of studies revealed the distribution, diversity and composition of these microorganisms in individual habitats. However, uncertainties exist in predicting the response and feedback of methane-cycling microorganisms to future climate changes and related environmental changes due to the limited spatial scales considered so far, and due to a poor recognition of the biogeography of these important microorganisms combining global and local scales. With the aim of improving our understanding about whether and how methane-cycling microbial communities will be affected by a series of dynamic environmental factors in response to climate change, this PhD thesis investigates the biogeographic patterns of methane-cycling communities, and the driving factors which define these patterns at different spatial scales. At the global scale, a meta-analysis was performed by implementing 94 globally distributed public datasets together with environmental data from various natural environments including soils, lake sediments, estuaries, marine sediments, hydrothermal sediments and mud volcanos. In combination with a global biogeographic map of methanogenic archaea from multiple natural environments, this thesis revealed that biogeographic patterns of methanogens exist. The terrestrial habitats showed higher alpha diversities than marine environments. Methanoculleus and Methanosaeta (Methanothrix) are the most frequently detected taxa in marine habitats, while Methanoregula prevails in terrestrial habitats. Estuary ecosystems, the transition zones between marine and terrestrial/limnic ecosystems, have the highest methanogenic richness but comparably low methane emission rates. At the local scale, this study compared two rewetted fens with known high methane emissions in northeastern Germany, a coastal brackish fen (Hütelmoor) and a freshwater riparian fen (Polder Zarnekow). Consistent with different geochemical conditions and land-use history, the two rewetted fens exhibit dissimilar methanogenic and, especially, methanotrophic community compositions. The methanotrophic community was generally under-represented among the prokaryotic communities and both fens show similarly low ratios of methanotrophic to methanogenic abundances. Since few studies have characterized methane-cycling microorganisms in rewetted fens, this study provides first evidence that the rapid and well re-established methanogenic community in combination with the low and incomplete re-establishment of the methanotrophic community after rewetting contributes to elevated sustained methane fluxes following rewetting. Finally, this thesis demonstrates that dispersal limitation only slightly regulates the biogeographic distribution patterns of methanogenic microorganisms in natural environments and restored wetlands. Instead, their existence, adaption and establishment are more associated with the selective pressures under different environmental conditions. Salinity, pH and temperature are identified as the most important factors in shaping microbial community structure at different spatial scales (global versus terrestrial environments). Predicted changes in climate, such as increasing temperature, changes in precipitation patterns and increasing frequency of flooding events, are likely to induce a series of environmental alterations, which will either directly or indirectly affect the driving environmental forces of methanogenic communities, leading to changes in their community composition and thus potentially also in methane emission patterns in the future. N2 - Methan ist ein wichtiges Treibhausgas, das zum globalen Klimawandel beiträgt. Bedeutend für das globale Methanbudget sind unter anderem natürliche und wiedervernäßte Moore. Methanogene Archaeen (Methanogene) und Methan-oxidierende Bakterien (Methanotrophe) sind die biogenen Produzenten und Konsumenten von Methan. Daher nehmen sie global, und speziell in Mooren, eine Schlüsselrolle für das Methanbudget ein. Eine Vielzahl von Studien hat die Verteilung, Vielfalt und Zusammensetzung dieser Mikroorganismen in einzelnen Lebensräumen untersucht. Es bestehen jedoch Unsicherheiten in der Vorhersage, wie sie auf den globalen Wandel und auf die damit verbundenen Umweltveränderungen reagieren werden. Diese Unsicherheiten basieren unter anderem auf bislang fehlenden biogeographischen Untersuchungen, die globale und lokale Skalen kombinieren, und auf einem unzureichenden Verständnis dazu, ob und welche Umweltfaktoren speziell methanogene Gemeinschaften beeinflussen. Zudem gibt es trotz der Bedeutung von Projekten zur Moorwiedervernässung für das regionale und globale Treibhausgasbudget nahezu keine Untersuchungen zur Zusammensetzung und Verbreitung von methanogenen und methanotrophen Gemeinschaften in degradierten wiedervernäßten, eutrophen Niedermooren. Das Ziel dieser Doktorarbeit ist es, unser Verständnis zur Reaktion der am Methanbudget beteiligten mikrobiellen Gemeinschaften auf den globalen Wandel und auf die damit einhergehenden Umweltänderungen zu verbessern. Die Arbeit untersucht daher zum einen die biogeographischen Muster methanogener Gemeinschaften und die ihnen zugrunde liegenden Umweltfaktoren auf verschiedenen räumlichen Skalen. Auf globaler Ebene wurde eine Meta-Analyse durchgeführt, die auf 94 global verteilten, öffentlichen Sequenzdatensätzen sowie den dazugehörigen Umweltdaten aus verschiedenen natürlichen Ökosystemen basiert. Hierzu gehören Böden, Seesedimente, Ästuare, marine Sedimente, hydrothermale Sedimente und Schlammvulkane. In Kombination mit einer globalen biogeographischen Karte zur Verbreitung methanogener Archaeen konnte diese Arbeit zeigen, dass biogeographische Muster von Methanogenen existieren. Terrestrische Ökosysteme zeigen zudem eine höhere Diversität als marine Ökosysteme. Ästuare, Übergangszonen zwischen marinen und terrestrischen/ limnischen Ökosystemen, weisen die größte methanogene Diversität bei jedoch vergleichsweise geringen Methanemissionen auf. Methanoculleus und Methanosaeta (Methanothrix) sind die am häufigsten nachgewiesenen Taxa in marinen Lebensräumen, während Methanoregula in terrestrischen Ökosystemen dominiert. Auf lokaler Ebene wurden in dieser Arbeit zwei wiedervernässte, eutrophe Niedermoore im Nordosten Deutschlands verglichen, das von der Ostsee beeinflusste „Hütelmoor“ und das Durchströmungsmoor „Polder Zarnekow“. Beide Moore sind durch hohe Methanemissionen infolge der Wiedervernässung charakterisiert. Einhergehend mit unterschiedlichen geochemischen Bedingungen und unterschiedlicher Nutzungshistorie weisen diese beiden wiedervernässten Standorte in ihrer Zusammensetzung unterschiedliche methanogene und methanotrophe Gemeinschaften auf lokaler Ebene auf. Zudem ist die Gruppe der Methanotrophen innerhalb der prokaryotischen Gemeinschaften jeweils unterrepräsentiert und beide Moore zeigen ein vergleichbar niedriges Verhältnis von Methanotrophen im Vergleich zu Methanogenen. Diese Arbeit liefert erste Hinweise darauf, dass die schnelle und erfolgreiche Wiederbesiedlung durch Methanogene in Kombination mit einer offenbar schlecht etablierten methanotrophen Gemeinschaft zu den erhöhten Methanflüssen in beiden Mooren nach Wiedervernässung beiträgt. Abschließend zeigt diese Arbeit, dass eine eingeschränkte Migration („dispersal limitation“) die biogeographischen Verteilungsmuster von Methanogenen in natürlichen Ökosystemen kaum beeinflusst. Stattdessen werden Vorkommen und Anpassung von methanogenen Gemeinschaften vor allem durch den selektiven Druck verschiedener Umweltbedingungen reguliert. Die Umweltparameter Salzgehalt, pH-Wert und Temperatur wurden dabei als wichtigste Faktoren identifiziert, die die Verbreitung methanogener Gemeinschaften global bzw. speziell in terrestrischen Standorten beeinflussen. Es ist daher wahrscheinlich, dass prognostizierte Klimaveränderungen wie steigende Temperatur, Änderungen der Niederschlagsmuster und zunehmende Häufigkeit von Überschwemmungsereignissen zu Änderungen in der Zusammensetzung methanogener Gemeinschaften führen, die möglicherweise auch die Methanemissionsmuster beeinflussen werden. T2 - Verteilungsmuster Methan produzierender und Methan oxidierender Mikroorganismen und deren Abhängigkeit von Umweltfaktoren in natürlichen Ökosystemen und wiedervernäßten Mooren KW - biogeography KW - Biogeographie KW - methanogens KW - methanotrophs KW - Methanogene KW - Methanotrophe KW - distribution pattern KW - Verteilungsmuster KW - methane KW - Methane Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-471770 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferrera, Isabel A1 - Sarmento, Hugo A1 - Priscu, John C. A1 - Chiuchiolo, Amy A1 - Gonzalez, Jose M. A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter T1 - Diversity and Distribution of Freshwater Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria across a Wide Latitudinal Gradient JF - Frontiers in microbiology N2 - Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAPs) have been shown to exist in numerous marine and brackish environments where they are hypothesized to play important ecological roles. Despite their potential significance, the study of freshwater AAPs is in its infancy and limited to local investigations. Here, we explore the occurrence, diversity and distribution of AAPs in lakes covering a wide latitudinal gradient: Mongolian and German lakes located in temperate regions of Eurasia, tropical Great East African lakes, and polar permanently ice-covered Antarctic lakes. Our results show a widespread distribution of AAPs in lakes with contrasting environmental conditions and confirm that this group is composed of different members of the Alpha- and Betaproteobacteria. While latitude does not seem to strongly influence AAP abundance, clear patterns of community structure and composition along geographic regions were observed as indicated by a strong macro-geographical signal in the taxonomical composition of AAPs. Overall, our results suggest that the distribution patterns of freshwater AAPs are likely driven by a combination of small-scale environmental conditions (specific of each lake and region) and large-scale geographic factors (climatic regions across a latitudinal gradient). KW - AAP bacteria KW - photoheterotrophy KW - pufM gene KW - freshwater lakes KW - latitudinal gradients KW - biogeography Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00175 SN - 1664-302X VL - 8 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Essl, Franz A1 - Dawson, Wayne A1 - Kreft, Holger A1 - Pergl, Jan A1 - Pysek, Petr A1 - van Kleunen, Mark A1 - Weigelt, Patrick A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Dullinger, Stefan A1 - Lenzner, Bernd A1 - Moser, Dietmar A1 - Maurel, Noelie A1 - Seebens, Hanno A1 - Stein, Anke A1 - Weber, Ewald A1 - Chatelain, Cyrille A1 - Inderjit, A1 - Genovesi, Piero A1 - Kartesz, John A1 - Morozova, Olga A1 - Nishino, Misako A1 - Nowak, Pauline M. A1 - Pagad, Shyama A1 - Shu, Wen-sheng A1 - Winter, Marten T1 - Drivers of the relative richness of naturalized and invasive plant species on Earth JF - AoB PLANTS N2 - Biological invasions are a defining feature of the Anthropocene, but the factors that determine the spatially uneven distribution of alien plant species are still poorly understood. Here, we present the first global analysis of the effects of biogeographic factors, the physical environment and socio-economy on the richness of naturalized and invasive alien plants. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models and variation partitioning to disentangle the relative importance of individual factors, and, more broadly, of biogeography, physical environment and socio-economy. As measures of the magnitude of permanent anthropogenic additions to the regional species pool and of species with negative environmental impacts, we calculated the relative richness of naturalized (= RRN) and invasive (= RRI) alien plant species numbers adjusted for the number of native species in 838 terrestrial regions. Socio-economic factors (per-capita gross domestic product (GDP), population density, proportion of agricultural land) were more important in explaining RRI (similar to 50 % of the explained variation) than RRN (similar to 40 %). Warm-temperate and (sub)tropical regions have higher RRN than tropical or cooler regions. We found that socio-economic pressures are more relevant for invasive than for naturalized species richness. The expectation that the southern hemisphere is more invaded than the northern hemisphere was confirmed only for RRN on islands, but not for mainland regions nor for RRI. On average, islands have similar to 6-fold RRN, and >3-fold RRI compared to mainland regions. Eighty-two islands (=26 % of all islands) harbour more naturalized alien than native plants. Our findings challenge the widely held expectation that socio-economic pressures are more relevant for plant naturalization than for invasive plants. To meet international biodiversity targets and halt the detrimental consequences of plant invasions, it is essential to disrupt the connection between socio-economic development and plant invasions by improving pathway management, early detection and rapid response. KW - Alien species richness KW - biogeography KW - invasion stages KW - islands KW - pressures KW - vascular plants Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plz051 SN - 2041-2851 VL - 11 IS - 5 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schwarzer, Christian A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha T1 - Ecotypic differentiation, hybridization and clonality facilitate the persistence of a cold-adapted sedge in European bogs JF - Biological journal of the Linnean Society : a journal of evolution N2 - Recent research has shown that many cold-adapted species survived the last glacial maximum (LGM) in northern refugia. Whether this evolutionary history has had consequences for their genetic diversity and adaptive potential remains unknown. We sampled 14 populations of Carex limosa, a sedge specialized to bog ecosystems, along a latitudinal gradient from its Scandinavian core to the southern lowland range-margin in Germany. Using microsatellite and experimental common-garden data, we evaluated the impacts of global climate change along this gradient and assessed the conservation status of the southern marginal populations. Microsatellite data revealed two highly distinct genetic groups and hybrid individuals. In our common-garden experiment, the two groups showed divergent responses to increased nitrogen/phosphorus (N/P) availability, suggesting ecotypic differentiation. Each group formed genetically uniform populations at both northern and southern sampling areas. Mixed populations occurred throughout our sampling area, an area that was entirely glaciated during the LGM. The fragmented distribution implies allopatric divergence at geographically separated refugia that putatively differed in N/P availability. Molecular data and an observed low hybrid fecundity indicate the importance of clonal reproduction for hybrid populations. At the southern range-margin, however, all populations showed effects of clonality, lowered fecundity and low competitiveness, suggesting abiotic and biotic constraints to population persistence. KW - biogeography KW - bog/mire plants KW - Carex limosa KW - climate change KW - glacial divergence KW - global change KW - leading/trailing edge KW - population differentiation KW - sexual/asexual reproduction Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blz141 SN - 0024-4066 SN - 1095-8312 VL - 128 IS - 4 SP - 909 EP - 925 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wilting, A. A1 - Patel, R. A1 - Pfestorf, Hans A1 - Kern, C. A1 - Sultan, K. A1 - Ario, A. A1 - Penaloza, F. A1 - Kramer-Schadt, S. A1 - Radchuk, Viktoriia A1 - Foerster, D. W. A1 - Fickel, Jörns T1 - Evolutionary history and conservation significance of the Javan leopard Panthera pardus melas JF - Journal of zoology : proceedings of the Zoological Society of London N2 - The leopard Panthera pardus is widely distributed across Africa and Asia; however, there is a gap in its natural distribution in Southeast Asia, where it occurs on the mainland and on Java but not on the interjacent island of Sumatra. Several scenarios have been proposed to explain this distribution gap. Here, we complemented an existing dataset of 68 leopard mtDNA sequences from Africa and Asia with mtDNA sequences (NADH5+ ctrl, 724bp) from 19 Javan leopards, and hindcasted leopard distribution to the Pleistocene to gain further insights into the evolutionary history of the Javan leopard. Our data confirmed that Javan leopards are evolutionarily distinct from other Asian leopards, and that they have been present on Java since the Middle Pleistocene. Species distribution projections suggest that Java was likely colonized via a Malaya-Java land bridge that by-passed Sumatra, as suitable conditions for leopards during Pleistocene glacial periods were restricted to northern and western Sumatra. As fossil evidence supports the presence of leopards on Sumatra at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, our projections are consistent with a scenario involving the extinction of leopards on Sumatra as a consequence of the Toba super volcanic eruption (similar to 74kya). The impact of this eruption was minor on Java, suggesting that leopards managed to survive here. Currently, only a few hundred leopards still live in the wild and only about 50 are managed in captivity. Therefore, this unique and distinctive subspecies requires urgent, concerted conservation efforts, integrating insitu and ex situ conservation management activities in a One Plan Approach to species conservation management. KW - biogeography KW - evolutionary history KW - Felidae KW - Southeast Asia KW - Toba eruption KW - One Plan Approach KW - Pleistocene KW - Javan leopard Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12348 SN - 0952-8369 SN - 1469-7998 VL - 299 SP - 239 EP - 250 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - GEN A1 - Sammler, Svenja A1 - Ketmaier, Valerio A1 - Havenstein, Katja A1 - Krause, Ulrike A1 - Curio, Eberhard A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Mitochondrial control region I and microsatellite analyses of endangered Philippine hornbill species (Aves; Bucerotidae) detect gene flow between island populations and genetic diversity loss N2 - Background: The Visayan Tarictic Hornbill (Penelopides panini) and the Walden's Hornbill (Aceros waldeni) are two threatened hornbill species endemic to the western islands of the Visayas that constitute - between Luzon and Mindanao - the central island group of the Philippine archipelago. In order to evaluate their genetic diversity and to support efforts towards their conservation, we analyzed genetic variation in similar to 600 base pairs (bp) of the mitochondrial control region I and at 12-19 nuclear microsatellite loci. The sampling covered extant populations, still occurring only on two islands (P. panini: Panay and Negros, A. waldeni: only Panay), and it was augmented with museum specimens of extinct populations from neighboring islands. For comparison, their less endangered (= more abundant) sister taxa, the Luzon Tarictic Hornbill (P. manillae) from the Luzon and Polillo Islands and the Writhed Hornbill (A. leucocephalus) from Mindanao Island, were also included in the study. We reconstructed the population history of the two Penelopides species and assessed the genetic population structure of the remaining wild populations in all four species. Results: Mitochondrial and nuclear data concordantly show a clear genetic separation according to the island of origin in both Penelopides species, but also unravel sporadic over-water movements between islands. We found evidence that deforestation in the last century influenced these migratory events. Both classes of markers and the comparison to museum specimens reveal a genetic diversity loss in both Visayan hornbill species, P. panini and A. waldeni, as compared to their more abundant relatives. This might have been caused by local extinction of genetically differentiated populations together with the dramatic decline in the abundance of the extant populations. Conclusions: We demonstrated a loss in genetic diversity of P. panini and A. waldeni as compared to their sister taxa P. manillae and A. leucocephalus. Because of the low potential for gene flow and population exchange across islands, saving of the remaining birds of almost extinct local populations - be it in the wild or in captivity - is particularly important to preserve the species' genetic potential. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 378 KW - biogeography KW - bucerotidae KW - conservation genetics KW - genetic diversity loss KW - microsatellites KW - mitochondrial control region I KW - Philippine archipelago KW - phylogeography Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-401108 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gaubert, Philippe A1 - Patel, Riddhi P. A1 - Veron, Geraldine A1 - Goodman, Steven M. A1 - Willsch, Maraike A1 - Vasconcelos, Raquel A1 - Lourenco, Andre A1 - Sigaud, Marie A1 - Justy, Fabienne A1 - Joshi, Bheem Dutt A1 - Fickel, Jörns A1 - Wilting, Andreas T1 - Phylogeography of the Small Indian Civet and Origin of Introductions to Western Indian Ocean Islands JF - The journal of heredity : official journal of the American Genetic Association N2 - The biogeographic dynamics affecting the Indian subcontinent, East and Southeast Asia during the Plio-Pleistocene has generated complex biodiversity patterns. We assessed the molecular biogeography of the small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) through mitogenome and cytochrome b + control region sequencing of 89 historical and modern samples to (1) establish a time-calibrated phylogeography across the species’ native range and (2) test introduction scenarios to western Indian Ocean islands. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses identified 3 geographic lineages (East Asia, sister-group to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent + northern Indochina) diverging 3.2–2.3 million years ago (Mya), with no clear signature of past demographic expansion. Within Southeast Asia, Balinese populations separated from the rest 2.6–1.3 Mya. Western Indian Ocean populations were assigned to the Indian subcontinent + northern Indochina lineage and had the lowest mitochondrial diversity. Approximate Bayesian computation did not distinguish between single versus multiple introduction scenarios. The early diversification of the small Indian civet was likely shaped by humid periods in the Late Pliocene–Early Pleistocene that created evergreen rainforest barriers, generating areas of intra-specific endemism in the Indian subcontinent, East, and Southeast Asia. Later, Pleistocene dispersals through drier conditions in South and Southeast Asia were likely, giving rise to the species’ current natural distribution. Our molecular data supported the delineation of only 4 subspecies in V. indica, including an endemic Balinese lineage. Our study also highlighted the influence of prefirst millennium AD introductions to western Indian Ocean islands, with Indian and/or Arab traders probably introducing the species for its civet oil. KW - Asia KW - biogeography KW - civet oil KW - mtDNA KW - Plio-Pleistocene KW - Viverridae Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esw085 SN - 0022-1503 SN - 1465-7333 VL - 108 SP - 270 EP - 279 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Cary ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Horreo, Jose L. A1 - Pelaez, Maria L. A1 - Suarez, Teresa A1 - Breedveld, Merel Cathelijne A1 - Heulin, Benoit A1 - Surget-Groba, Yann A1 - Oksanen, Tuula A. A1 - Fitze, Patrick S. T1 - Phylogeography, evolutionary history and effects of glaciations in a species (Zootoca vivipara) inhabiting multiple biogeographic regions JF - Journal of biogeography N2 - Location Eurasia. Methods We generated the largest molecular dataset to date of Z. vivipara, ran phylogenetic analyses, reconstructed its evolutionary history, determined the location of glacial refuges and reconstructed ancestral biogeographic regions. Results The phylogenetic analyses revealed a complex evolutionary history, driven by expansions and contractions of the distribution due to glacials and interglacials, and the colonization of new biogeographic regions by all lineages of Z. vivipara. Many glacial refugia were detected, most were located close to the southern limit of the Last Glacial Maximum. Two subclades recolonized large areas covered by permafrost during the last glaciation: namely, Western and Northern Europe and North-Eastern Europe and Asia. KW - ancestral area reconstruction KW - ancestral biogeographic region reconstruction KW - biogeography KW - glacial refuges KW - last glacial maxima KW - molecular diversity KW - phylogeny KW - post-glacial recolonization Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13349 SN - 0305-0270 SN - 1365-2699 VL - 45 IS - 7 SP - 1616 EP - 1627 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pagel, Jörn A1 - Anderson, Barbara J. A1 - Cramer, Wolfgang A1 - Fox, Richard A1 - Jeltsch, Florian A1 - Roy, David B. A1 - Thomas, Chris D. A1 - Schurr, Frank Martin T1 - Quantifying range-wide variation in population trends from local abundance surveys and widespread opportunistic occurrence records JF - Methods in ecology and evolution : an official journal of the British Ecological Society N2 - 2. We present a hierarchical model that integrates observations from multiple sources to estimate spatio-temporal abundance trends. The model links annual population densities on a spatial grid to both long-term count data and to opportunistic occurrence records from a citizen science programme. Specific observation models for both data types explicitly account for differences in data structure and quality. 3. We test this novel method in a virtual study with simulated data and apply it to the estimation of abundance dynamics across the range of a butterfly species (Pyronia tithonus) in Great Britain between 1985 and 2004. The application to simulated and real data demonstrates how the hierarchical model structure accommodates various sources of uncertainty which occur at different stages of the link between observational data and the modelled abundance, thereby it accounts for these uncertainties in the inference of abundance variations. 4. We show that by using hierarchical observation models that integrate different types of commonly available data sources, we can improve the estimates of variation in species abundances across space and time. This will improve our ability to detect regional trends and can also enhance the empirical basis for understanding range dynamics. KW - atlas data KW - Bayesian statistics KW - biogeography KW - butterflies KW - citizen science programme KW - conservation biology KW - count data KW - macroecology KW - state-space model Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12221 SN - 2041-210X SN - 2041-2096 VL - 5 IS - 8 SP - 751 EP - 760 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - GEN A1 - Senczuk, Gabriele A1 - Havenstein, Katja A1 - Milana, Valentina A1 - Ripa, Chiara A1 - De Simone, Emanuela A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Castiglia, Riccardo T1 - Spotlight on islands BT - on the origin and diversification of an ancient lineage of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus in the western Pontine Islands T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Groups of proximate continental islands may conceal more tangled phylogeographic patterns than oceanic archipelagos as a consequence of repeated sea level changes, which allow populations to experience gene flow during periods of low sea level stands and isolation by vicariant mechanisms during periods of high sea level stands. Here, we describe for the first time an ancient and diverging lineage of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus from the western Pontine Islands. We used nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences of 156 individuals with the aim of unraveling their phylogenetic position, while microsatellite loci were used to test several a priori insular biogeographic models of migration with empirical data. Our results suggest that the western Pontine populations colonized the islands early during their Pliocene volcanic formation, while populations from the eastern Pontine Islands seem to have been introduced recently. The inter-island genetic makeup indicates an important role of historical migration, probably due to glacial land bridges connecting islands followed by a recent vicariant mechanism of isolation. Moreover, the most supported migration model predicted higher gene flow among islands which are geographically arranged in parallel. Considering the threatened status of small insular endemic populations, we suggest this new evolutionarily independent unit be given priority in conservation efforts. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 991 KW - mitochondrial dna sequences KW - genetic diversity KW - haplotype reconstruction KW - evolutionary history KW - geological evolution KW - population structure KW - Tyrrhenian Sea KW - endemic lizard KW - genotype data KW - biogeography Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-446360 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 991 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kehlmaier, Christian A1 - Barlow, Axel A1 - Hastings, Alexander K. A1 - Vamberger, Melita A1 - Paijmans, Johanna L. A. A1 - Steadman, David W. A1 - Albury, Nancy A. A1 - Franz, Richard A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Fritz, Uwe T1 - Tropical ancient DNA reveals relationships of the extinct bahamian giant tortoise Chelonoidis alburyorum JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London : Series B, Biological sciences N2 - Ancient DNA of extinct species from the Pleistocene and Holocene has provided valuable evolutionary insights. However, these are largely restricted to mammals and high latitudes because DNA preservation in warm climates is typically poor. In the tropics and subtropics, non-avian reptiles constitute a significant part of the fauna and little is known about the genetics of the many extinct reptiles from tropical islands. We have reconstructed the near-complete mitochondrial genome of an extinct giant tortoise from the Bahamas (Chelonoidis alburyorum) using an approximately 1000-year-old humerus from a water-filled sinkhole (blue hole) on Great Abaco Island. Phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses place this extinct species as closely related to Galapagos (C. niger complex) and Chaco tortoises (C. chilensis), and provide evidence for repeated overseas dispersal in this tortoise group. The ancestors of extant Chelonoidis species arrived in South America from Africa only after the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and dispersed from there to the Caribbean and the Galapagos Islands. Our results also suggest that the anoxic, thermally buffered environment of blue holes may enhance DNA preservation, and thus are opening a window for better understanding evolution and population history of extinct tropical species, which would likely still exist without human impact. KW - Bahamas KW - biogeography KW - extinction KW - palaeontology KW - phylogeny Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2235 SN - 0962-8452 SN - 1471-2954 VL - 284 PB - The Royal Society CY - London ER -