@article {159714, title = {Biodiversity effects on seedling growth are modified by light environment across functional groups.}, journal = {Ecol Appl}, volume = {35}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Jul}, pages = {e70087}, abstract = {

Numerous studies have shown that biodiversity influences the functioning of ecosystems over space and time. The sensitivity of such biodiversity-ecosystem effects to environmental heterogeneity, however, remains poorly understood. In forests, seedling recruitment is a critical phase of forest dynamics, and this phase is highly sensitive to environmental heterogeneity and biotic interactions with surrounding plants. In closed-canopy forests, local variation in light due to variation in canopy cover can result in heterogeneous microenvironments that can enhance or constrain seedling growth and ultimately forest regeneration. Here, we ask, how do light and seedling diversity influence the growth and biomass gain of seedlings in tropical forests? We tested the effects of and interactions between seedling diversity and light availability on the growth of seedlings consisting of tropical broad-leaved evergreen and deciduous forest species using a fully factorial manipulated experiment in the Andaman Islands, India. We compared results from this manipulated experiment with field observations from a long-term forest plot. We show that during the critical seedling establishment phase, species richness and light availability additively increased biomass accumulation of seedlings in communities consisting of evergreen and deciduous species. Moreover, the positive effect of light on biomass gain was consistent across species in these different functional groups. We conclude that the diversity effect on biomass gain is explained more by species complementarity across conditions rather than by compensatory effects by different species under different light conditions or simple probabilistic effects of including faster growing species in species-rich communities. Taken together, our results show that the potential for biodiversity to increase ecosystem functioning in seedling communities is modified by light availability. Although many factors are often important in designing replanting efforts in forest management or restoration, our results suggest that key factors are likely to be the interaction between neighborhood diversity and canopy-mediated light on forest understory, which can be managed to enhance seedling establishment at the early stages of forestry projects aimed at maintaining forest diversity, composition, and functioning.

}, keywords = {Biodiversity, Biomass, Forests, India, Light, Seedlings, Trees}, issn = {1051-0761}, doi = {10.1002/eap.70087}, author = {Anujan, Krishna and Shabnam, Alisha and Ali, Irfan and Gummadi, Ashok Kumar and Sankaran, Mahesh and Krishnadas, Meghna and Naeem, Shahid} } @article {161986, title = {Ecological Risk-Benefit Analysis for Assisted Colonization.}, journal = {Glob Chang Biol}, volume = {31}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Nov}, pages = {e70613}, abstract = {

Assisted colonization (AC), translocating a species outside its indigenous range to avoid its extinction, is one of the few conservation options for some species. It is also controversial because of the history of ecological impacts of invasive species, including the extinction of native species as a result of novel ecological interactions resulting from the introduction. Although several national and international organizations have issued guidelines related to AC, none allow case-specific decision-making based on risks and benefits to biodiversity. We propose a two-pronged approach to fill this gap. The first step aims to separate clear-cut cases of AC from those that require an in-depth risk analysis. We propose a set of seven qualitative criteria to identify AC projects that are clearly low-risk and high-benefit, and therefore should not be controversial, and those that are clearly high-risk or low-benefit and therefore should not be attempted. This identifies only the most obvious cases, leaving out many cases to be determined through a quantitative analysis to estimate the probabilities of extirpation of the resident species because of AC, which is the second step of our approach. We propose a roadmap for developing such a system based on community ecology theory, and a framework for considering the estimated probabilities in a global context. Our framework recommends an AC project only if it would result in a larger number of globally extant species than a scenario of no action. We propose large-scale testing of the clear-cut approach, further development of the quantitative approach, and wide consultation for adopting international guidelines for risk assessment of AC projects.

}, keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation of Natural Resources, Ecosystem, Extinction, Biological, Introduced Species, Risk Assessment}, issn = {1365-2486}, doi = {10.1111/gcb.70613}, author = {D{\textquoteright}Andrea, Rafael and Barab{\'a}s, Gy{\"o}rgy and Dalrymple, Sarah E and Foden, Wendy and Genovesi, Piero and Krishnadas, Meghna and Leibold, Mathew A and McPeek, Mark A and Moehrenschlager, Axel and Rodriguez, Jon Paul and Ak{\c c}akaya, H Re{\c s}it} } @article {139056, title = {A new species of silverline butterfly, Cigaritis Donzel, 1847 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India.}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {5399}, year = {2024}, month = {2024 Jan 10}, pages = {85-95}, abstract = {

A new species, Cigaritis conjuncta sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), is described based on five male and four female specimens from Honey Valley, Kodagu District, Karnataka, which is part of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India. Cigaritis conjuncta sp. nov. is distinguished from all other congeners in India and Sri Lanka based on the following combination of diagnostic characters in the male: (a) dorsal forewing outer half, costal margin and nearly upper half of the cell black without orange markings, the remaining wing shining deep blue, (b) dorsal hindwing tornus pale orange-red with two black spots, (c) ventral forewing bands at end of discal cell conjoined, and (e) ventral hindwing subbasal and discal bands composed of spots that are not separated but conjoined to form broad bands that have irregular outlines, leaving only a narrow background colour in between. Female is similar on the ventral side, but entirely dark brown above. Male and female genitalia are dissected and figured for two paratypes of each sex, and natural history notes on the species are provided.

}, keywords = {Animals, Biodiversity, Butterflies, Female, India, Lepidoptera, Male}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5399.1.7}, author = {Kunte, Krushnamegh and Sengupta, Ashok and Pawar, Ujwala and Nawge, Viraj} } @article {152136, title = {Two new taxa of brush-footed butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, southern India.}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {5543}, year = {2024}, month = {2024 Dec 04}, pages = {343-367}, abstract = {

A new species, Amathusia travancorica sp. nov. (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Amathusiini), and a new subspecies, Athyma inara sahyadriensis ssp. nov. (Nymphalidae: Limenitidinae: Limenitidini), are described from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India, based on multiple male and female specimens. The new taxa are compared with type specimens of related species and subspecies, revealing consistent differences that distinguish the new taxa. Genitalia dissections are also provided as comparative materials. Additional information is provided on historical records, distributional ranges, habits and habitat, phenology, larval host plants, and early stages. Finally, the type locality and synonymy of Pantoporia mera Swinhoe, 1917 are discussed based on comparison of type specimens (Pantoporia mera Swinhoe, 1917 syn. nov.=Athyma inara Westwood, 1850).

}, keywords = {Animal Distribution, Animal Structures, Animals, Biodiversity, Body Size, Butterflies, Ecosystem, Female, India, Larva, Male, Organ Size}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5543.3.3}, author = {Kunte, Krushnamegh and Basu, Dipendra Nath} } @article {126681, title = {Environmental heterogeneity modulates the effect of plant diversity on the spatial variability of grassland biomass.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {14}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 Mar 31}, pages = {1809}, abstract = {

Plant productivity varies due to environmental heterogeneity, and theory suggests that plant diversity can reduce this variation. While there is strong evidence of diversity effects on temporal variability of productivity, whether this mechanism extends to variability across space remains elusive. Here we determine the relationship between plant diversity and spatial variability of productivity in 83 grasslands, and quantify the effect of experimentally increased spatial heterogeneity in environmental conditions on this relationship. We found that communities with higher plant species richness (alpha and gamma diversity) have lower spatial variability of productivity as reduced abundance of some species can be compensated for by increased abundance of other species. In contrast, high species dissimilarity among local communities (beta diversity) is positively associated with spatial variability of productivity, suggesting that changes in species composition can scale up to affect productivity. Experimentally increased spatial environmental heterogeneity weakens the effect of plant alpha and gamma diversity, and reveals that beta diversity can simultaneously decrease and increase spatial variability of productivity. Our findings unveil the generality of the diversity-stability theory across space, and suggest that reduced local diversity and biotic homogenization can affect the spatial reliability of key ecosystem functions.

}, keywords = {Biodiversity, Biomass, Ecosystem, Grassland, Plants, Reproducibility of Results}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-37395-y}, author = {Daleo, Pedro and Alberti, Juan and Chaneton, Enrique J and Iribarne, Oscar and Tognetti, Pedro M and Bakker, Jonathan D and Borer, Elizabeth T and Bruschetti, Mart{\'\i}n and MacDougall, Andrew S and Pascual, Jesus and Sankaran, Mahesh and Seabloom, Eric W and Wang, Shaopeng and Bagchi, Sumanta and Brudvig, Lars A and Catford, Jane A and Dickman, Chris R and Dickson, Timothy L and Donohue, Ian and Eisenhauer, Nico and Gruner, Daniel S and Haider, Sylvia and Jentsch, Anke and Knops, Johannes M H and Lekberg, Ylva and McCulley, Rebecca L and Moore, Joslin L and Mortensen, Brent and Ohlert, Timothy and P{\"a}rtel, Meelis and Peri, Pablo L and Power, Sally A and Risch, Anita C and Rocca, Camila and Smith, Nicholas G and Stevens, Carly and Tamme, Riin and Veen, G F Ciska and Wilfahrt, Peter A and Hautier, Yann} } @article {128076, title = {Overcoming the coupled climate and biodiversity crises and their societal impacts.}, journal = {Science}, volume = {380}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 Apr 21}, pages = {eabl4881}, abstract = {

Earth{\textquoteright}s biodiversity and human societies face pollution, overconsumption of natural resources, urbanization, demographic shifts, social and economic inequalities, and habitat loss, many of which are exacerbated by climate change. Here, we review links among climate, biodiversity, and society and develop a roadmap toward sustainability. These include limiting warming to 1.5{\textdegree}C and effectively conserving and restoring functional ecosystems on 30 to 50\% of land, freshwater, and ocean "scapes." We envision a mosaic of interconnected protected and shared spaces, including intensively used spaces, to strengthen self-sustaining biodiversity, the capacity of people and nature to adapt to and mitigate climate change, and nature{\textquoteright}s contributions to people. Fostering interlinked human, ecosystem, and planetary health for a livable future urgently requires bold implementation of transformative policy interventions through interconnected institutions, governance, and social systems from local to global levels.

}, keywords = {Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation of Natural Resources, Ecosystem, Fresh Water, Humans, Urbanization}, issn = {1095-9203}, doi = {10.1126/science.abl4881}, author = {P{\"o}rtner, H-O and Scholes, R J and Arneth, A and Barnes, D K A and Burrows, M T and Diamond, S E and Duarte, C M and Kiessling, W and Leadley, P and Managi, S and McElwee, P and Midgley, G and Ngo, H T and Obura, D and Pascual, U and Sankaran, M and Shin, Y J and Val, A L} } @article {109307, title = {DarkCideS 1.0, a global database for bats in karsts and caves.}, journal = {Sci Data}, volume = {9}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 Apr 05}, pages = {155}, abstract = {

Understanding biodiversity patterns as well as drivers of population declines, and range losses provides crucial baselines for monitoring and conservation. However, the information needed to evaluate such trends remains unstandardised and sparsely available for many taxonomic groups and habitats, including the cave-dwelling bats and cave ecosystems. We developed the DarkCideS 1.0 ( https://darkcides.org/ ), a global database of bat caves and species synthesised from publicly available information and datasets. The DarkCideS 1.0 is by far the largest database for cave-dwelling bats, which contains information for geographical location, ecological status, species traits, and parasites and hyperparasites for 679 bat species are known to occur in caves or use caves in part of their life histories. The database currently contains 6746 georeferenced occurrences for 402 cave-dwelling bat species from 2002 cave sites in 46 countries and 12 terrestrial biomes. The database has been developed to be collaborative and open-access, allowing continuous data-sharing among the community of bat researchers and conservation biologists to advance bat research and comparative monitoring and prioritisation for conservation.

}, keywords = {Animals, Biodiversity, Chiroptera, Ecosystem}, issn = {2052-4463}, doi = {10.1038/s41597-022-01234-4}, author = {Tanalgo, Krizler C and Tabora, John Aries G and de Oliveira, Hernani Fernandes Magalh{\~a}es and Haelewaters, Danny and Beranek, Chad T and Ot{\'a}lora-Ardila, A{\'\i}da and Bernard, Enrico and Gon{\c c}alves, Fernando and Eriksson, Alan and Donnelly, Melissa and Gonz{\'a}lez, Joel Monz{\'o}n and Ramos, Humberto Fern{\'a}ndez and Rivas, Alberto Clark and Webala, Paul W and Deleva, Stanimira and Dalhoumi, Ridha and Maula, Jaycelle and Lizarro, Dennis and Aguirre, Luis F and Bouillard, Nils and Quibod, Ma Ni{\~n}a Regina M and Barros, Jennifer and Turcios-Casco, Manfredo Alejandro and Mart{\'\i}nez, Marcio and Ordo{\~n}ez-Mazier, Diego Iv{\'a}n and Orellana, Jos{\'e} Alejandro Soler and Ordo{\~n}ez-Trejo, Eduardo J and Ordo{\~n}ez, Danny and Chornelia, Ada and Lu, Jian Mei and Xing, Chen and Baniya, Sanjeev and Muylaert, Renata L and Dias-Silva, Leonardo Henrique and Ruadreo, Nittaya and Hughes, Alice Catherine} } @article {115013, title = {Richness, not evenness, varies across water availability gradients in grassy biomes on five continents.}, journal = {Oecologia}, volume = {199}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 Jul}, pages = {649-659}, abstract = {

We sought to understand the role that water availability (expressed as an aridity index) plays in determining regional and global patterns of richness and evenness, and in turn how these water availability-diversity relationships may result in different richness-evenness relationships at regional and global scales. We examined relationships between water availability, richness and evenness for eight grassy biomes spanning broad water availability gradients on five continents. Our study found that relationships between richness and water availability switched from positive for drier (South Africa, Tibet and USA) vs. negative for wetter (India) biomes, though were not significant for the remaining biomes. In contrast, only the India biome showed a significant relationship between water availability and evenness, which was negative. Globally, the richness-water availability relationship was hump-shaped, however, not significant for evenness. At the regional scale, a positive richness-evenness relationship was found for grassy biomes in India and Inner Mongolia, China. In contrast, this relationship was weakly concave-up globally. These results suggest that different, independent factors are determining patterns of species richness and evenness in grassy biomes, resulting in differing richness-evenness relationships at regional and global scales. As a consequence, richness and evenness may respond very differently across spatial gradients to anthropogenic changes, such as climate change.

}, keywords = {Biodiversity, China, Ecosystem, Poaceae, Water}, issn = {1432-1939}, doi = {10.1007/s00442-022-05208-6}, author = {Smith, Melinda D and Koerner, Sally E and Avolio, Meghan L and Komatsu, Kimberly J and Eby, Stephanie and Forrestel, Elisabeth J and Collins, Scott L and Wilcox, Kevin R and Ahumada, Rodrigo and Morgan, John W and Oliva, Gabriel and O{\~n}atibia, Gast{\'o}n R and Overbeck, Gerhard E and Peter, Guadalupe and Quiroga, Emiliano and Sankaran, Mahesh and Wu, Jianshuang and Yahdjian, Laura and Yu, Qiang} } @article {84066, title = {Three new species of Protosticta Selys, 1885 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from the Western Ghats, India, with taxonomic notes on P. mortoni Fraser, 1922 and rediscovery of P. rufostigma Kimmins, 1958.}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {4858}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Sep 30}, pages = {zootaxa.4858.2.1}, abstract = {

Three new species of Protosticta Selys, 1885 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India: P. cyanofemora sp. nov. (wet evergreen forests in Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary, Kollam, Kerala and Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu), P. myristicaensis sp. nov. (Myristica swamp at Kathalekan, Shivamogga, Karnataka) and P. sholai sp. nov. (montane sholas of Upper Manalar, Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Theni, Tamil Nadu) are described and illustrated. We compare these three new species with other Protosticta spp. from the Western Ghats based on new material and provide comprehensive differential diagnoses with determination key for males of all species occurring in the Western Ghats. The taxonomic validity of P. mortoni Fraser, 1922 is established with fresh specimens from Hassan, Karnataka, and rediscovery of P. rufostigma Kimmins, 1958 is reported from Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu.

}, keywords = {Animals, Animals, Wild, Biodiversity, Forests, India, Male, Odonata}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4858.2.1}, author = {Joshi, Shantanu and Subramanian, K A and Babu, R and Sawant, Dattaprasad and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {74435, title = {Edge effects reduce α-diversity but not β-diversity during community assembly in a human-modified tropical forest.}, journal = {Ecol Appl}, volume = {29}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 12}, pages = {e01996}, abstract = {

Edge effects can alter the spatial organization of diversity in fragmented habitats. For tropical forests, however, there has been large variation in the strength and direction of such effects reported by different studies. For long-lived organisms like trees, one reason for inconsistent patterns might be due to most studies having examined patterns of diversity and compositional variation in older life stages that bear the legacy of a forest past. Younger life stages can reveal ongoing processes of assembly, but multi-stage examinations are rare. For seedling, sapling, and adult life stages of trees in a human-modified wet tropical forest in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot (India), we examined how proximity to forest edges (edge influence) modified the spatial organization of diversity. Specifically, for each life stage we tested whether edge influence led to loss of α- and γ-diversity and decreased β-diversity in this landscape. We found lower α- and γ-diversity closer to forest edges, but only for seedlings. Seedling composition at 90-100\ m from forest edges diverged from composition of sites within 60\ m, suggesting that edge influence restricted the recruitment of some species to interior sites. In contrast, β-diversity was greater near edges than interior forest for all life stages and most prominently for seedlings. Furthermore, β-diversity at edges was primarily driven by species turnover, suggesting either marked species-environment associations or dispersal limitation. Low turnover at 90-100\ m implies that β-diversity arose from stochastic fluctuations in occurrences and abundances of the same species set. Overall, we find that high β-diversity structured spatial patterns of diversity near edges, but recruitment bottlenecks are likely to reduce alpha diversity of forest fragments. Our results also corroborate the need to maintain sufficiently large areas of tropical forest free from edge effects to avoid the loss of interior forest species. To improve landscape-scale diversity of fragmented landscapes, restoration efforts should focus on recovery of species that are unable to regenerate near forest edges.

}, keywords = {Aged, Biodiversity, Ecosystem, Forests, Humans, India, Trees, Tropical Climate}, issn = {1051-0761}, doi = {10.1002/eap.1996}, author = {Krishnadas, Meghna and Kumar, Arun N and Comita, Liza S} } @article {26575, title = {Non-sister Sri Lankan white-eyes (genus Zosterops) are a result of independent colonizations.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {12}, year = {2017}, month = {2017}, pages = {e0181441}, abstract = {

Co-occurrence of closely related taxa on islands could be attributed to sympatric speciation or multiple colonization. Sympatric speciation is considered to be rare in small islands, however multiple colonizations are known to be common in both oceanic and continental islands. In this study we investigated the phylogenetic relatedness and means of origin of the two sympatrically co-occurring Zosterops white-eyes, the endemic Zosterops ceylonensis and its widespread regional congener Z. palpebrosus, in the island of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a continental island in the Indian continental shelf of the Northern Indian Ocean. Our multivariate morphometric analyses confirmed the phenotypic distinctness of the two species. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses with ~2000bp from two mitochondrial (ND2 and ND3) and one nuclear (TGF) gene indicated that they are phylogenetically distinct, and not sister to each other. The two subspecies of the peninsula India; Z. p. egregius of Sri Lanka and India and Z. p. nilgiriensis of Western Ghats (India) clustered within the Z. palpebrosus clade having a common ancestor. In contrast, the divergence of the endemic Z. ceylonensis appears to be much deeper and is basal to the other Zosterops white-eyes. Therefore we conclude that the two Zosterops species originated in the island through independent colonizations from different ancestral lineages, and not through island speciation or multiple colonization from the same continental ancestral population. Despite high endemism, Sri Lankan biodiversity is long considered to be a subset of southern India. This study on a speciose group with high dispersal ability and rapid diversification rate provide evidence for the contribution of multiple colonizations in shaping Sri Lanka{\textquoteright}s biodiversity. It also highlights the complex biogeographic patterns of the South Asian region, reflected even in highly vagile groups such as birds.

}, keywords = {Animals, Bayes Theorem, Biodiversity, DNA, Mitochondrial, Evolution, Molecular, Genetic Speciation, Geography, Passeriformes, Phylogeny, Sri Lanka, Sympatry}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0181441}, author = {Wickramasinghe, Nelum and Robin, V V and Ramakrishnan, Uma and Reddy, Sushma and Seneviratne, Sampath S} } @article {875, title = {Higher speciation and lower extinction rates influence mammal diversity gradients in Asia.}, journal = {BMC Evol Biol}, volume = {15}, year = {2015}, month = {2015}, pages = {11}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the patterns and correlates of mammal diversity gradients in Asia. In this study, we examine patterns of species distributions and phylogenetic diversity in Asia and investigate if the observed diversity patterns are associated with differences in diversification rates between the tropical and non-tropical regions. We used species distribution maps and phylogenetic trees to generate species and phylogenetic diversity measures for 1{\textdegree} {\texttimes} 1{\textdegree} cells across mainland Asia. We constructed lineage-through-time plots and estimated diversification shift-times to examine the temporal patterns of diversifications across orders. Finally, we tested if the observed gradients in Asia could be associated with geographical differences in diversification rates across the tropical and non-tropical biomes. We estimated speciation, extinction and dispersal rates across these two regions for mammals, both globally and for Asian mammals.

RESULTS: Our results demonstrate strong latitudinal and longitudinal gradients of species and phylogenetic diversity with Southeast Asia and the Himalayas showing highest diversity. Importantly, our results demonstrate that differences in diversification (speciation, extinction and dispersal) rates between the tropical and the non-tropical biomes influence the observed diversity gradients globally and in Asia. For the first time, we demonstrate that Asian tropics act as both cradles and museums of mammalian diversity.

CONCLUSIONS: Temporal and spatial variation in diversification rates across different lineages of mammals is an important correlate of species diversity gradients observed in Asia.

}, keywords = {Animals, Asia, Biodiversity, Genetic Speciation, Mammals, Phylogeny}, issn = {1471-2148}, doi = {10.1186/s12862-015-0289-1}, author = {Tamma, Krishnapriya and Ramakrishnan, Uma} }