Indigenous plants promote insect biodiversity in urban greenspaces.

The contribution of urban greenspaces to support biodiversity and provide benefits for people is increasingly recognized. However, ongoing management practices favor vegetation oversimplification, often limiting greenspaces to lawns and tree canopy rather than multi-layered vegetation that includes under- and midstorey, and the use of nonnative species. These practices hinder the potential of greenspaces to sustain indigenous biodiversity, particularly for taxa like insects that rely on plants for food and habitat. Yet, little is known about which plant species may maximize positive outcomes for taxonomically and functionally diverse insect communities in greenspaces. Additionally, while cities are expected to experience high rates of introductions, quantitative assessments of the relative occupancy of indigenous vs. introduced insect species in greenspace are rare, hindering understanding of how management may promote indigenous biodiversity while limiting the establishment of introduced insects. Using a hierarchically replicated study design across 15 public parks, we recorded occurrence data from 552 insect species on 133 plant species, differing in planting design element (lawn, midstorey, and tree canopy), midstorey growth form (forbs, lilioids, graminoids, and shrubs) and origin (nonnative, native, and indigenous), to assess (1) the relative contributions of indigenous and introduced insect species and (2) which plant species sustained the highest number of indigenous insects. We found that the insect community was overwhelmingly composed of indigenous rather than introduced species. Our findings further highlight the core role of multi-layered vegetation in sustaining high insect biodiversity in urban areas, with indigenous midstorey and canopy representing key elements to maintain rich and functionally diverse indigenous insect communities. Intriguingly, graminoids supported the highest indigenous insect richness across all studied growth forms by plant origin groups. Our work highlights the opportunity presented by indigenous understory and midstorey plants, particularly indigenous graminoids, in our study area to promote indigenous insect biodiversity in urban greenspaces. Our study provides a blueprint and stimulus for architects, engineers, developers, designers, and planners to incorporate into their practice plant species palettes that foster a larger presence of indigenous over regionally native or nonnative plant species, while incorporating a broader mixture of midstorey growth forms.

Hooves on the Beach; Horses Disrupt the Sand Matrix and Might Alter Invertebrate Assemblages on Beaches.

Beaches are under increasing pressure from a wide range of anthropogenic threats, including human trampling, vehicular crushing, and horse riding/training. The impacts of horses on beaches are unknown. We index the relative abundance, diversity and assemblage composition of beach invertebrates at paired sites with and without horses at nine beaches (locations) across Victoria, Australia. Horses were more common at sites where they were allowed and sites (horse versus no horse) within beaches were well matched, having similar slope, seaweed coverage, human and dog activity-attributes which varied among locations. At sites with horse activity, there was less sand compaction in the upper beach (above the previous high tide) suggesting horses disrupt (i.e. mobilise) the sand matrix there. While invertebrates sampled by pitfall traps did not differ in richness or abundance between horse and no horse sites, the assemblage composition differed between horse/no horse sites, at seven of nine locations. Core samples revealed no differences in assemblages, but a greater richness of invertebrates at sites without horses, and a general but not universal pattern for a greater abundance of invertebrates at sites without horses. This study shows that horses disrupt the sand matrix on beaches and might alter assemblage structures of surface invertebrates, and richness and abundance of burrowing invertebrates, at many beaches. The extent to which this alteration compromises the function of sandy shore food webs should be the subject of further, experimental study.

Unveiling the diversification dynamics of Australasian predaceous diving beetles in the Cenozoic.

During the Cenozoic, Australia experienced major climatic shifts that have had dramatic ecological consequences for the modern biota. Mesic tropical ecosystems were progressively restricted to the coasts and replaced by arid-adapted floral and faunal communities. Whilst the role of aridification has been investigated in a wide range of terrestrial lineages, the response of freshwater clades remains poorly investigated. To gain insights into the diversification processes underlying a freshwater radiation, we studied the evolutionary history of the Australasian predaceous diving beetles of the tribe Hydroporini (147 described species). We used an integrative approach including the latest methods in phylogenetics, divergence time estimation, ancestral character state reconstruction, and likelihood-based methods of diversification rate estimation. Phylogenies and dating analyses were reconstructed with molecular data from seven genes (mitochondrial and nuclear) for 117 species (plus 12 outgroups). Robust and well-resolved phylogenies indicate a late Oligocene origin of Australasian Hydroporini. Biogeographic analyses suggest an origin in the East Coast region of Australia, and a dynamic biogeographic scenario implying dispersal events. The group successfully colonized the tropical coastal regions carved by a rampant desertification, and also colonized groundwater ecosystems in Central Australia. Diversification rate analyses suggest that the ongoing aridification of Australia initiated in the Miocene contributed to a major wave of extinctions since the late Pliocene probably attributable to an increasing aridity, range contractions and seasonally disruptions resulting from Quaternary climatic changes. When comparing subterranean and epigean genera, our results show that contrasting mechanisms drove their diversification and therefore current diversity pattern. The Australasian Hydroporini radiation reflects a combination of processes that promoted both diversification, resulting from new ecological opportunities driven by initial aridification, and a subsequent loss of mesic adapted diversity due to increasing aridity.

Subfossils of extinct and extant species of Simuliidae (Diptera) from Austral and Cook Islands (Polynesia): anthropogenic extirpation of an aquatic insect?

Subfossil head capsules of Simuliidae larvae have been recovered from swamps on Tubuai and Raivavae of the Austral Islands, and Atiu and Mangaia of the southern Cook Islands. For Tubuai and Raivavae it is likely that the simuliids are extinct, but a single simuliid species is extant on nearby Rurutu. For Atiu and Mangaia, extant simuliids have not been reported, but are known on Rarotonga. Well-preserved head capsules indicate that the Cook Islands subfossils are those of Sinulitin (Inseliellumn) teruananga Craig and Craig, 1986. For the Austral Islands, the simuliid from Tubuai is considered a variant of Simudiunt (Inseliellumn) rurutuense Craig and Joy, 2000. That from Raivavae is morphologically distinct and is described here as a new species, Simuliun (Inseliellumn) raivavaense Craig and Porch. Humans arrived in Eastern Polynesia ca. 1,000 years ago resulting in the widespread destruction of lowland forest and conversion of wetlands to agriculture with implied consequences for the indigenous biota of these habitats. Here we consider that one such result was loss of freshwater aquatic biodiversity.

Lost bioscapes: Floristic and arthropod diversity coincident with 12th century Polynesian settlement, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands.

Knowledge of biodiversity in the past, and the timing, nature, and drivers of human-induced ecological change, is important for gaining deep time perspectives and for modern conservation efforts. The Marquesas Islands (Polynesia) are one of the world's most remote archipelagos and illustrate the vulnerability of indigenous bioscapes to anthropogenic activities. Characterised by high levels of endemism across many biotic groups, the full spectrum of the group's flora and fauna is nonetheless incompletely known. Several centuries of Polynesian settlement reshaped biotic communities in ways that are not yet fully understood, and historically-introduced mammalian herbivores have devastated the indigenous lowland flora. We report here on archaeological recovery of a diverse assemblage of plant and arthropod subfossils from a waterlogged deposit on the largest Marquesan island: Nuku Hiva. These materials offer new perspectives on the composition of lowland plant and arthropod communities pene-contemporaneous with human arrival. Bayesian analysis of multiple 14C results from short-lived materials date the assemblages to the mid-12th century AD (1129-1212 cal. AD, 95.4% HPD). Evidence for human activities in the catchment coincident with deposit formation includes Polynesian associated arthropods, microcharcoal, and an adzed timber. Plant macrofossils (seeds, fruits, vegetative structures) and microfossils (pollen, phytoliths) reveal coastal and lowland wet-moist forest communities unlike those observed today. Several apparently extinct taxa are identified, along with extant taxa currently constrained to high altitude and/or interior areas. A diverse inventory of subfossil arthropods-the first pre-18th century records for the islands-includes more than 100 distinct taxa, with several new archipelago records and one previously unreported for eastern Polynesia. The assemblages provide new insights into lowland Marquesan forest communities coincident with human arrival, and portend the considerable anthropogenic transformations that followed. These records also have implications for human colonisation of the Marquesas Islands and East Polynesia at large.

A preliminary phylogeny and review of the genus Tasmanitachoides, with descriptions of two new species (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Bembidarenini).

The genus Tasmanitachoides Erwin, a genus of very small carabid beetle endemic to Australia, is reviewed. Although uncommon in collections, they can be abundant and diverse on banks of fine gravel or coarse sand next to bodies of fresh water; samples from southeastern Australia suggest numerous undescribed species. An initial phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus is presented, including 19 of the 32 known species. The inferred phylogeny, based upon one mitochondrial and four nuclear genes, shows the kingi group to be sister to remaining Tasmanitachoides, with the wattsensis group and T. lutus (Darlington) also being phylogenetically isolated. Two new species are described: T. baehri sp. nov., from the Australian Capital Territory, is a member of the kingi group; T. erwini sp. nov., from Tasmania, is a member of the wattsensis group. Identification tools for described and some undescribed species are presented, including photographs of all known species.

Systematic revision of the trans-Bassian moriomorphine genus Theprisa Moore (Coleoptera, Carabidae).

The Australian genus Theprisa Moore, 1963, is taxonomically revised to comprise five species, two newly described: Theprisadarlingtoni Liebherr & Porch, sp. nov. of Tasmania, and Theprisaotway Liebherr, Porch & Maddison, sp. nov. from the Otway Ranges, Victoria. Two previously described species, T.australis (Castelnau) and T.montana (Castelnau), are distributed in the mountains of Victoria. The third previously described species, T.convexa (Sloane) is found in Tasmania. A lectotype is designated for T.convexa because the various syntypes are ambiguously labelled. Cladistic analysis based on morphological characters establishes monophyly of Theprisa relative to the Australian genera Sitaphe Moore and Spherita Liebherr. This and a second clade of Australian genera (Pterogmus Sloane, Thayerella Baehr, and Neonomius Moore) do not form a natural group, but are cladistically interdigitated among two monophyletic New Zealand lineages (Tarastethus Sharp, and Trichopsida Larochelle and Larivière) suggesting substantial trans-Tasman diversification among these groups. Hypothesized relationships within Theprisa are consistent with two bouts of speciation involving the Bass Strait; an initial event establishing T.convexa as adelphotaxon to the other four species, and a more recent event establishing the sister species T.darlingtoni and T.montana. Geographic restriction of T.otway to the Otway Ranges is paralleled by Otway endemics in several other carabid beetle genera, as well as by endemics in numerous other terrestrial arthropod taxa. Whereas these numerous Otway endemics support the distinctive nature of the Otway Range fauna, their biogeographic relationships are extremely varied, illustrating that the Otways have accrued their distinctive biodiversity via various means.

A new and likely extinct species of Antilissus Sharp, 1879 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Colydiinae) from Makauwahi Cave, Kauai, Hawaiian Islands.

This paper describes Antilissus makauwahi, sp. nov., from the subfossil record of Makauwahi Cave on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. This new species is the second species of Antilissus Sharp from Hawaii and second described species for the genus. The type species of Antilissus, A. aper Sharp, has been widely collected from under the bark of dead or dying trees, at higher elevations, on all major Hawaiian Islands. In contrast, A. makauwahi is so far known only from a small number of subfossil sclerites recovered from sediments dating to before human arrival in Hawaii (800 years before present). This potentially extinct species adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting the widespread extinction of Pacific island insects after human arrival.

Five new Pycnomerus Erichson (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Pycnomerini) from Raivavae, French Polynesia.

We describe five new species of Pycnomerus (P. mahanatoa, P. rairua, P. raivavae, P. taralewisae, and P. vavitu spp. nov.) from subfossil material collected on the island of Raivavae in the Austral Archipelago of French Polynesia. Like the two species of Pycnomerus recently described from Rimatara (Porch Smith 2017), we consider it is probable that some or even most of the endemic Raivavae species are globally extinct. This is because the species have, so far, only been found in as subfossil specimens in sediments that date to the period immediately before or just after human arrival on the island (c.1300 AD), they have not been collected historically, and very little indigenous forest of Raivavae remains. These species add to the growing body of knowledge regarding the zopherid fauna of eastern Polynesia, which is, and unfortunately will always likely be, based primarily on the subfossil record from the region.

New Pycnomerus Erichson (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Pycnomerini) from Rimatara, French Polynesia.

We describe two species of Pycnomerus, P. rimatara and P. prebblei, using subfossil material, from the island of Rimatara in the Austral Archipelago of French Polynesia. We consider it likely that these species are globally extinct, a result of the combination of a range of factors including: their probable single island endemic status, the lack of intact indigenous forest on Rimatara, their occurrence in the subfossil record only in samples older than 200-300 years before the present, and lack of historical collections. The potential extinction of these species reflects the long history of human transformation of Polynesian lowland forest habitats, especially the use of fire to transform landscapes, and parallels extensive and well-known extinctions in birds and land snails.

Ecological niche modelling and nDNA sequencing support a new, morphologically cryptic beetle species unveiled by DNA barcoding.

BACKGROUND: DNA sequencing techniques used to estimate biodiversity, such as DNA barcoding, may reveal cryptic species. However, disagreements between barcoding and morphological data have already led to controversy. Species delimitation should therefore not be based on mtDNA alone. Here, we explore the use of nDNA and bioclimatic modelling in a new species of aquatic beetle revealed by mtDNA sequence data. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The aquatic beetle fauna of Australia is characterised by high degrees of endemism, including local radiations such as the genus Antiporus. Antiporus femoralis was previously considered to exist in two disjunct, but morphologically indistinguishable populations in south-western and south-eastern Australia. We constructed a phylogeny of Antiporus and detected a deep split between these populations. Diagnostic characters from the highly variable nuclear protein encoding arginine kinase gene confirmed the presence of two isolated populations. We then used ecological niche modelling to examine the climatic niche characteristics of the two populations. All results support the status of the two populations as distinct species. We describe the south-western species as Antiporus occidentalis sp.n. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: In addition to nDNA sequence data and extended use of mitochondrial sequences, ecological niche modelling has great potential for delineating morphologically cryptic species.