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The foot hills of the Western Ghats are a remarkable habitat. Formed of Laterite (a hard rock) outcrops, they are a barren land during summer. Yet, as soon as the monsoon rains start, they sprout vibrant plant carpets in blue, pink and white. This seasonal vegetation is formed mainly by pipeworts and insectivorous plants, such as bladderworts or sundews. The species combinations differ greatly along the Western Ghats and the rich plant growth attracts many birds, butterflies and other insects.

A team of botanists discovered another new species of pipewort from this unique but highly threatened habitat, indicating the importance of such areas. "It is a treasure trove of unique plants to the botanists, but considered just a wasteland, or a dump by the authorities." said Dr K.P. Rajesh of the Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College (ZGC). "Many more unique and unknown plants still await discovery in such areas. " Added Dr Rajesh. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

The shallow wet areas formed in the rocks, for a short period from June to November, are the home of some of the rarest plants on the planet. These aquatic or semi-aquatic plants soon set seeds, and dry up before the summer season. The seeds remain in the soil, waiting for the next rains to wake them up. The flat-topped hills are one of the most threatened habitats on Earth, under severe pressure from population growth. The Laterite areas are being destroyed or converted into infrastructure – sites for mining, waste dumping and similar. Uncontrolled tourism is also causing heavy damage – beyond repair – to this fragile system.

The new discovery increases the conservation potential of the area. "It is high time to take urgent steps to conserve this fragile habitat." said Dr. C.N. Manju. Efforts to conserve the unique plants from Western Ghats in experimental gardens are ongoing in the Malabar Botanical Garden (MBG), an organisation specialised in the study and conservation of aquatic plants. It proved very difficult to replicate the exact conditions of the Laterite pools in the gardens. ‘Conserving the natural habitat is the best solution. If proper measures are not being taken, this unique habitat may degrade beyond repair’ adds Dr. Prakshkumar. The study, conducted in collaboration with the (MBG), was supported by the Kerala State Council for Science Technology & Environment (KSCSTE), of the Government of Kerala.

Original source:
Swapna MM, Rajesh KP, Manju CN, Prakashkumar R (2012) Eriocaulon madayiparense (Eriocaulaceae) – A new species from the foot hills of the Western Ghats of India. PhytoKeys 10: 19-23. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.10.2297

Additional information:
Balakrishnan VC, Palot MJ, Rajesh KP (2010) Observations on the flora of Madayipara a midland laterite hill in Kannur district, Kerala. Malabar Trogon 8 (2&3): 14-29.
Kumar RB, Anitha K, Watve A, Mani S, Rehel S, Aridason W (2011) Chapter 6. The status and distribution of aquatic plants of the Western Ghats. Pp. 73-85. In: MolurS, Smith KG, Daniel BA, Darwall WRT (Compilers). The Status and Distribution of Freshwater biodiversity in the Western Ghats, India. IUCN Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland, IUCN.

Pensoft Publishers announced the launch of Nature Conservation, the next member of Pensoft’s family of high technology open-access journals for biodiversity science. Its goal is to mobilize ideas and data in all theoretical and applied aspects of nature conservation – biological, ecological, societal, economic, and legal. The journal’s broad scope and innovative use of media encourage interdisciplinary and integrative approaches.
 
Nature Conservation is a new-generation open-access journal launched by Pensoft Publishers. The journal is platform comprising both innovative technologies and a routine medium for publication of data related to the vast area of basic and applied research in conservation of nature. Nature Conservation builds upon the success of its sister journals ZooKeys, PhytoKeys, BioRisk, and NeoBiota, and is supported by an editorial team of highly renowned specialists in the field. The composition of papers in the inaugural issue largely reflects the focus and scope of the new journal, which are also outlined in the opening Editorial paper.

The journal was established within the framework of the European Union’s Framework Program 7 large-integrated project SCALES: Securing the Conservation of biodiversity across Administrative Levels and spatial, temporal, and Ecological Scales.

"Nature Conservation is dedicated to provide a venue for those ecologists and conservationists who are keen to see their works published in a way better than ever, through innovative publishing technologies, as well as through widest possible, barrier-free distribution of works at no charge to the reader", said the Editor-in-Chief Dr. Klaus Henle, from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ in Leipzig, Germany.

Like the rest of Pensoft’s journals, Nature Conservation will be published in four different formats: (1) high-resolution, full-color print version; (2) PDF, identical to the printed version; (3) HTML version on the journals website, in order to provide links to external resources and semantic enhancements for published texts and interactive reading; (4) XML version, compatible with PubMedCentral archiving, thus providing a machine-readable copy to facilitate future data mining. Neither restrictions nor charges are imposed on the use of color illustrations for all formats, and submission of multimedia is encouraged.

"Nature Conservation will advance beyond current standards in many aspects, for instance by the implementation of cutting-edge, semantic Web tools, but also in the scope of papers it will consider. Alongside with conventional papers, we established the category of "Applied Conservation Papers" that would bring to life the precious knowledge hidden in project reports, protected areas inventories, Natura 2000 studies and so on.", added Prof. Lyubomir Penev of Pensoft Publishers in Sofia, Bulgaria, the managing editor of the new journal.

The journal aims particularly at facilitating better interaction between scientists and practitioners. A major goal of Nature Conservation is to support synergistic interactions among scientists, policy-makers, and managers. The journal will also provide opportunities and focus on open data publishing of qualitative biodiversity and environmental datasets.

"It is exciting to see the launch of Nature Conservation at a time of radical change in publishing towards opening up access to data and results obtained from public funding. The focus on interdisciplinary studies is welcome, and the explicit goal of blending biology and ecology with the humanities is long overdue.The conservation of nature has always been a political and social issue. I have no doubt that this new journal will quickly find its place in the international conservation community." commented Prof Chris Margules from James Cook University, Australia, member of the editorial team of Nature Conservation.

Original source:
Henle K, Bell S, Brotons L, Clobert J, Evans D, Görg C, Grodzińska-Jurcak M, Gruber B, Haila Y, Henry P-Y, Huth A, Julliard R, Keil P, Kleyer M, Kotze J, Kunin B, Lengyel S, Lin Y-P, Loyau A, Luck GW, Magnusson W, Margules C, Matsinos Y, May P, Pinto I, Possingham H, Potts S, Ring I, Pryke J, Samways M, Saunders D, Schmeller D, Similä J, Sommer S, Steffan-Dewenter I, Stoev P, Sykes M, Tóthmérész B, Tzanopoulos J, Yam R, Penev L (2012) Nature Conservation – a new dimension in  Open Access publishing bridging science and application. Nature Conservation 1: 1–10. doi: 10.3897/natureconservation.1.3081

The European Union’s Habitats Directive is now 20 years old, and its network of protected areas, known as Natura 2000, is nearing completion. After a slow start, the network now includes some 26 000 protected sites and covers approximately 18% of the EU’s land surface as well as significant areas of sea. It is widely considered to be the world’s largest network of protected areas based on agreed site selection criteria. The review has been published in the newly launched open-access journal Nature Conservation.

Douglas Evans, seconded to the Paris-based European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (ETC/BD) from Scottish Natural Heritage, has been closely involved in the development of the network since 1993. His review in Nature Conservation describes how the network has evolved during a period when the EU itself has increased from 12 to 27 Member States.

Based largely on personnel experience, the author provides detailed information on the series of seminars which started in the 1990s, usually known as biogeographical seminars. These seminars, which involve both governments and Non-governmental Organisations, together with the European Commission, the ETC/BD and invited independent scientists, have been held to ensure that the network adequately covers the relevant species and habitats.

"The review of Dr Evans sheds light on the long and complicated process, that resulted in the first ever cross-border network of protected areas established in the European Union. The unique experience of the Natura 2000 builders should serve as valuable source of information and inspiration for the future conservation projects at international and continental scale", commented the Editor-in-Chief of Nature Conservation, Dr. Klaus Henle from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ in Leipzig, Germany.

The study was published within the framework of the European Union’s Framework Program 7 large-integrated project SCALES: Securing the Conservation of biodiversity across Administrative Levels and spatial, temporal, and Ecological Scales.

People have always known that their survival depends on something that is outside of their control – that is, nature. Nature regulates human life, and from it people have tried to derive rules for proper behavior. This is the historical starting point of nature conservation.

The intellectual roots of nature conservation are diverse. In Europe, the ideal took shape in the 19th century from such elements as concern over human-caused extinctions, excessive hunting and cruelty toward animals, from utilitarian care for natural resources, and from growing appreciation of nature as a source of human health and inspiration. More recently, the ideal gained support from growing awareness of the dependence of humanity’s future on global-scale changes in ecosystem services.

In what ways do alternative conservation policies help to protect biodiversity? How can conservation policies be extended to those sectors of social and economic activity that most directly affect biodiversity? The whole legacy of conservation science needs to be harnessed to answer such questions.

Modern nature conservation requires efficient governance, built upon competent administrative bodies with sufficient authority. However, the scale and diversity of the problem makes efficient governance difficult. First of all, nature conservation regularly drifts into conflicts with other ideals, revealing conflicting aspirations and vested interests. Another difficulty is that nature conservation aims at a moving target: when certain objectives succeed, new types of problems arise. For example, successful protection of large predators from persecution may create new rounds of protest.

The author of this study, Yrio Haila, from the University of Tampere, Finland, says "It is nowadays possible to come to agreement about ambitious general declarations on biodiversity preservation, but shaping an efficient policy that could possibly halt the deterioration of biodiversity remains difficult. There is simply no straightforward way of halting the expansion of use of the natural resources by the current world society!"

"A wise rule would be to focus on such activities that cause most damage. We are well aware of practices in forestry, agriculture, fisheries and so forth that bring about threats of immediate collapse: Such threats should be firmly addressed, to begin with" adds Dr Klaus Henle from UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany, Editor-in-Chief of Nature Conservation.

Original source:
Haila Y (2012) Genealogy of nature conservation: a political perspective. Nature Conservation 1: 27-52. doi: 10.3897/natureconservation.1.2107

The report entitled "Dos and don’ts for butterflies of the Habitats Directive of the European Union" was published in the form of an "Applied Conservation" paper in the newly launched open-access journal Nature Conservation (press release on the journal launch). It includes detailed accounts of each species, their habitat requirements and food-plants, as well as a list of dos and don’ts in the management of their habitats.

European butterflies are under huge threat and almost 10% are now threatened with extinction. The European grassland indicator shows that the abundance of 17 characteristic butterflies has declined by over 70% in the last 15 years.

The main reasons for the declines are habitat loss and incorrect management. Many habitats are now either abandoned from agriculture, allowing them to become overgrown with scrub, while others are too intensively managed. The new publication is thus a pivotal step to get remaining habitats better managed.

Butterflies are sensitive indicators of the environment and populations respond very quickly to habitat change.

Management for butterflies will help ensure the survival of a wide range of other insects, which form the bedrock of European biodiversity.

The guidelines will help ensure that European habitats are managed in a sustainable way that helps the survival of humans as well as wildlife.

The lead author, Chris van Swaay of Dutch Butterfly Conservation said "Managing habitats in the correct way is the single most important issue affecting the survival of European butterflies. This is the first time that practical information has been brought together to address the issue. We hope the advice will be taken up urgently across Europe to help save these beautiful species from extinction."

Klaus Henle of UFZ (Germany) who established the new journal in collaboration with Pensoft Publishers (Bulgaria) within the European Union’s FP7 project SCALES says "Biodiversity loss is one of the most important topics facing the future of our planet. Our new open access journal Nature Conservation is intended to make scientific information freely available to help conserve nature and create a healthy world for everyone. The journal aims particularly at facilitating better interaction between scientists and practitioners and its major goal is to support synergistic interactions among scientists, policy-makers, and managers."

Original source:
van Swaay C, Collins C, Dušej G, Maes D, Munguira ML, Rakosy L, Ryrholm N, Šašić M, Settele J, Thomas JA, Verovnik R, Verstrael T, Warren M, Wiemers M, Wynhoff I (2012) Dos and Don’ts for butterflies of the Habitats Directive of the European Union. Nature Conservation 1: 73-153. doi: 10.3897/natureconservation.1.2786

Improved data reveals new patterns of exotic plant invasions in the United States

Extensive ongoing research on biotic invasions around the world constantly increases data availability and improves data quality. New research in the United States shows how using improved data from previous studies on the establishment of exotic plant species changes the understanding of patterns of species naturalization, biological invasions, and their underlying mechanisms. The study was published in the open access journal NeoBiota.

Over the centuries, people brought uncounted numbers of nonnative or exotic plant species to the United States for a range of purposes. Usually cultivated for food or ornamental purposes, most of these plants are considered "naturalized" when they reproduce and sustain populations over many generations without direct help from humans. Many others were introduced accidentally.

"About 10 percent of naturalized plant species usually become invasive, and more may be so over time" says Qinfeng Guo, research ecologist with the Forest Service Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center and lead author of the article. "This means that they begin to spread considerable distances from the parent plants, often crowding or shading out native plant populations."

Guo and fellow researchers used newly added and improved data to look more closely at plant naturalization patterns across the United States. Focusing on the state-level, they correlated previously used independent variables analyses, such as human population and area with comparable-level date on native and exotic plant richness.

"When we looked at the additional variables for which data just became available, some different patterns emerged, some significant," said Guo."We found that though the number of native plant species is largely controlled by natural factors such as area and temperature, exotic species are predominantly influenced by social factors, such as human population levels and dates when states were first settled."

The researchers concluded that the positive effect of human population on the number of exotic species is probably associated with the primary sources and points of introduction along with human-assisted dispersal in the United States. They also found a strong relationship between foreign and domestic exotic richness, which might indicate that domestic and foreign exotic plants exhibit similar patterns and mechanisms of naturalization across the 48 United States despite their different origins.

Though this particular study was conducted primarily at the state level, different statistical methods produced remarkably similar results regardless spatial correlation. "However, a greater challenge ahead now is how to properly handle greater numbers of variables with increased data availability," said Guo. "Caution is needed when dealing with this data at other spatial scales such as county and county-level."

Original source:
Guo Q, Rejmánek M, Wen J (2012) Geographical, socioeconomic, and ecological determinants of exotic plant naturalization in the United States: insights and updates from improved data. NeoBiota 12: 41-55. doi: 10.3897/neobiota.12.2419

Since in 2006 an unknown leafmining moth was found in North Italian vineyards by Mario Baldessari and colleagues, often in great numbers, scientists have tried to put a name to this apparently new invader. Italian scientists from the Fondazione Edmund Mach di San Michele all’Adige and the Università di Padova turned for help to taxonomists in the Netherlands and United States. The new species was described in the open access journal ZooKeys.

The family to which the moth belongs, the shield bearing leafminers (Heliozelidae) appeared to be poorly studied in North America, discovered Erik J. van Nieukerken of NCB Naturalis (Leiden, Netherlands) and David L. Wagner of the University of Connecticut (Storrs, USA). Together with the Italian scientists they studied the life history, morphology and DNA barcodes of the new species and related leafminers.

"When we analysed the DNA barcodes, we found many more species than we knew to exist on grape and related plants in North America" said Erik van Nieukerken. With some difficulty the four known species could be matched to species recognised by DNA. That left our species and some others without a name. The new species, baptised Antispila oinophylla (literally: the moth with the opposite spots of the wine (grape) leaves), was previously confused with a North American species that feeds on Virginia creeper.

The new species occurs in eastern North America from Georgia north to Ontario, and feeds as larva on several species of wild grapes. In this area it seems to be the commonest species of this family on wild grapes. The larva eats out typical leafmines, and cuts out a shield at the end of the mine, leaving a characteristic hole in the leaf behind when it walks down the plant in search for a pupation site. The moth only measures about 5-6 mm wingspan, or 3 mm length at rest, and is blackish, with shining silvery spots and head.

In Italy the species was found in vineyards in the Trento and Veneto regions since 2006, and reaching high levels of infestation during the last years. The Italian authors of this paper studied the distribution and life history in detail: the leafminer apparently has a good taste and prefers the leaves of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Muscat grapes. Local outbreaks can probably result in economic damage. Parasitic wasps may be the best remedy to control the populations of this pest.

It is unknown how this species has reached Europe. The small shields with larvae or pupae, attach to all sorts of material, trunks, stakes, but also debris, and could easily be transported in this way: they will survive a long time at low temperatures. Even adults could have been transported in airplanes or cargo on ships. Invasions such as this are becoming more and more common. Knowledge of the correct taxonomy opens knowledge to the life history, distribution and natural enemies of invasive species.

Taxonomic knowledge of such insects unfortunately is often insufficient, and the authors plea to study such insects taxonomically before they become a problem.

Original source:
Nieukerken EJ van, Wagner DL, Baldessari M, Mazzon L, Angeli G, Girolami V, Duso C, Doorenweerd C (2012) Antispila oinophylla new species (Lepidoptera, Heliozelidae), a new North American grapevine leafminer invading Italian vineyards: taxonomy, DNA barcodes and life cycle. ZooKeys 170: 29–77. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.170.2617

Named ‘mountain dweller’, it is the highest-altitude living member of its genus

Germán Chávez and Diego Vásquez from the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI) in Peru have discovered a new colorful lizard which they named Potamites montanicola, or "mountain dweller". The new species was found in Cordillera de Vilcabamba and Apurimac river valley, the Cusco Region of Peru at altitude ranging from 1,600 to 2,100 meters. Their study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

"The new discovery raises some questions", say the authors. This is the only member of the genus known to live at such altitude. It is yet unknown what biological mechanisms help the lizard to survive in this harsh environment, much colder than what it’s relatives in the genus prefer. Scientists also believe the lizard may be nocturnal, which raises the question of how it maintains its body temperature during night time. In some cases, individuals were observed swimming in streams, which is rather unusual behavior for the members this genus.

"Further studies are needed to reveal its biology, population structure and conservation status, and outline its overall distribution", Chávez concludes.

Original source:
Chávez G, Vásquez D (2012) A new species of Andean semiaquatic lizard of the genus Potamites (Sauria, Gymnophtalmidae) from southern Peru. ZooKeys 168: 31. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.168.2048

Scientists at the University of Illinois, USA have discovered a new species of tiny, grasshopper-like insect in the tropical rainforests of the Toledo District in southern Belize. Dr Sam Heads and Dr Steve Taylor co-authored a paper, published in the open access journal ZooKeys, documenting the discovery and naming the new species Ripipteryx mopana. The name commemorates the Mopan people – a Mayan group, native to the region.

"Belize is famous for its biodiversity, although very little is known about the insect fauna of the southern part of the country. This is particularly true of the Orthoptera – the grasshoppers, crickets and katydids" said entomologist and lead author on the paper, Dr Sam Heads. "The new insect is the first representative of it’s family ever to be found in Belize. Given the amount of high quality habitats in the region, it isn’t really surprising that new species still await discovery, especially in the less -explored areas" added Dr Heads.

Just less than 5 mm long, the insect is a tiny, black, white and orange coloured, grasshopper-like species that uses its large jumping hind legs to escape predators.

"Very little is known about the biology of this genus and its closest relatives" said Heads, who specializes in the study of orthopteran insects. "The group as a whole is rather poorly studied and even though we continue to document new species, we still have a long way to go".

Original source:
Heads SW, Taylor SJ (2012) A new species of Ripipteryx from Belize with a key to the species of the Scrofulosa Group (Orthoptera, Ripipterygidae). ZooKeys 169: 1-9. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.169.2531

Analysis of chromosome number variation among species of a North American group of prickly pear cacti (nopales) showed that the most widespread species encountered are of hybrid origin. Those widespread species likely originated from hybridization among closely related parental species from western and southeastern North America. This study was published in the open access journal Comparative Cytogenetics.

The prickly pear cacti (of the genus Opuntia) are endemic to the Americas. The genus is well known for the taxonomic difficulties it poses, as a result of hybridization and morphological variation, as well as lack of intense study. Studies of chromosomal differences among species have been beneficial with regards to recognition and determination of hybrid origins of many taxa. Those studies of the differences in chromosome number have shown that a majority of species of the genus have undergone genome duplication (also known as polyploidy).

This study suggests that a group of well-known prickly pear species occurring primarily in the United States are mostly derived from hybridization and genome duplication, which occurred as a result of the genetic separation of closely related parent species through habitat fragmentation during different times of the Pleistocene. Those closely related species, which were restricted to the southern United States, after thousands of years of separation, came back in contact and formed the common hybrids in the group, which in turn became dominant and more successful in distribution over their progenitors. Their progenitors remained confined to the southern part of their distribution likely as a result of their non-adaptability to adverse environmental conditions, which hybrid taxa were more than able to cope with. This scenario results in the distribution pattern of species that we see today.

This study underscores that genome duplication has had an important effect on the evolution of prickly pear cacti and that understanding patterns in chromosome numbers can be used, in part, to infer the historical biogeography of certain plant groups.

Original Source:
Majure LC, Judd WS, Soltis PS, Soltis DE (2012) Cytogeography of the Humifusa clade of Opuntia s.s. Mill. 1754 (Cactaceae, Opuntioideae, Opuntieae): correlations with pleistocene refugia and morphological traits in a polyploid complex. Comparative Cytogenetics 6(1): 53-77. doi: 10.3897/CompCytogen.v6i1.2523

Additional Information:
This work was supported in part by funding from the USGS Biological Resources Discipline (#04HQAG0135) to Gary N. Ervin, a New England Botanical Club graduate research grant, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists Shirley and Alan Graham student research award, a Cactus and Succulent Society of America research grant, the Florida Plant Conservation Program, and NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant (DEB-1011270).