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Aim Mining is increasingly pressuring areas of critical importance for biodiversity conservation, such as the Brazilian Amazon. Biodiversity data are limited in the tropics, restricting the scope for risks to be appropriately estimated before mineral licensing decisions are made. As the distributions and range sizes of other taxa differ markedly from those of vertebrates—the common proxy for analysis of risk to biodiversity from mining—whether mining threatens lesser-studied taxonomic groups differentially at a regional scale is unclear. Location Brazilian Amazon. Methods We assess risks to several facets of biodiversity from industrial mining by comparing mining areas (within 70 km of an active mining lease) and areas unaffected by mining, employing species richness, species endemism, phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic endemism metrics calculated for angiosperms, arthropods and vertebrates. Results Mining areas contained higher densities of species occurrence records than the unaffected landscape, and we accounted for this sampling bias in our analyses. None of the four biodiversity metrics differed between mining and nonmining areas for vertebrates. For arthropods, species endemism was greater in mined areas. Mined areas also had greater angiosperm species richness, phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic endemism, although less species endemism than unmined areas. Main Conclusions Unlike for vertebrates, facets of angiosperm and arthropod diversity are relatively higher in areas of mining activity, underscoring the need to consider multiple taxonomic groups and biodiversity facets when assessing risk and evaluating management options for mining threats. Particularly concerning is the proximity of mining to areas supporting deep evolutionary history, which may be impossible to recover or replace. As pressures to expand mining in the Amazon grow, impact assessments with broader taxonomic reach and metric focus will be vital to conserving biodiversity in mining regions.
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This study concerns the diplopod genus Eucampesmella Schubart, 1955, widespread in Brazil. After this work, the genus includes 12 valid species, and three incertae sedis: E. pugiuncula (Schubart, 1946), E. brunnea Kraus, 1959 and E. schubarti Kraus, 1957. The type-species, Eucampesmella tricuspis (Attems, 1931), is redescribed based on the holotype, and the following six new Brazilian species are added: Eucampesmella macunaima sp. nov. from the states of Rondônia, Pará, and Piauí; E. capitu sp. nov. from the states of Piauí and Paraíba; E. brascubas sp. nov. from the state of Sergipe; E. iracema sp. nov. from the state of Pernambuco; E. pedrobala sp. nov. from the state of Ceará; and E. lalla sp. nov. from the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Furthermore, E. lartiguei ferrii (Schubart, 1956) is recognized as a junior synonym of E. lartiguei lartiguei (Silvestri, 1897), which also had its status changed, and E. sulcata (Attems, 1898) is revalidated, prevailing under the name Leptodesmus tuberculiporus Attems, 1898. In addition, drawings, diagnoses, and distribution maps for all species of the genus are provided.
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Traditional conservation techniques for mapping highly biodiverse areas assume there to be satisfactory knowledge about the geographic distribution of biodiversity. There are, however, large gaps in biological sampling and hence knowledge shortfalls. This problem is even more pronounced in the tropics. Indeed, the use of only a few taxonomic groups or environmental surrogates for modelling biodiversity is not viable in mega-diverse countries, such as Brazil. To overcome these limitations, we developed a comprehensive spatial model that includes phylogenetic information and other several biodiversity dimensions aimed at mapping areas with high relevance for biodiversity conservation. Our model applies a genetic algorithm tool for identifying the smallest possible region within a unique biota that contains the most number of species and phylogenetic diversity, as well as the highest endemicity and phylogenetic endemism. The model successfully pinpoints small highly biodiverse areas alongside regions with knowledge shortfalls where further sampling should be conducted. Our results suggest that conservation strategies should consider several taxonomic groups, the multiple dimensions of biodiversity, and associated sampling uncertainties.
RESUMO
Traditional conservation techniques for mapping highly biodiverse areas assume there to be satisfactory knowledge about the geographic distribution of biodiversity. There are, however, large gaps in biological sampling and hence knowledge shortfalls. This problem is even more pronounced in the tropics. Indeed, the use of only a few taxonomic groups or environmental surrogates for modelling biodiversity is not viable in mega-diverse countries, such as Brazil. To overcome these limitations, we developed a comprehensive spatial model that includes phylogenetic information and other several biodiversity dimensions aimed at mapping areas with high relevance for biodiversity conservation. Our model applies a genetic algorithm tool for identifying the smallest possible region within a unique biota that contains the most number of species and phylogenetic diversity, as well as the highest endemicity and phylogenetic endemism. The model successfully pinpoints small highly biodiverse areas alongside regions with knowledge shortfalls where further sampling should be conducted. Our results suggest that conservation strategies should consider several taxonomic groups, the multiple dimensions of biodiversity, and associated sampling uncertainties.
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A checklist of the family Chelodesmidae Cook, 1895 (order Polydesmida) from state of São Paulo, Brazil has been performed based on literature and examined material from the collection of the Instituto Butantan, São Paulo (IBSP). A total of 15 genera (7 tribes and 5 genera considered incertae sedis) with 64 species are listed. Among these species, 30 presented a single one record in the state, 19 with more than one record and four recorded for the first time for the state of São Paulo, and 11 species occurring in other Brazilian states. The most distributed species is Brasilodesmus paulistus paulistus (Brölemann, 1902) with 52 records of occurrence. In addition, a complete bibliography list of the chelodesmidan fauna from the state is compiled, as well as distribution maps for all species are provided.
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A checklist of the family Chelodesmidae Cook, 1895 (order Polydesmida) from state of São Paulo, Brazil has been performed based on literature and examined material from the collection of the Instituto Butantan, São Paulo (IBSP). A total of 15 genera (7 tribes and 5 genera considered incertae sedis) with 64 species are listed. Among these species, 30 presented a single one record in the state, 19 with more than one record and four recorded for the first time for the state of São Paulo, and 11 species occurring in other Brazilian states. The most distributed species is Brasilodesmus paulistus paulistus (Brölemann, 1902) with 52 records of occurrence. In addition, a complete bibliography list of the chelodesmidan fauna from the state is compiled, as well as distribution maps for all species are provided.
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Two new species of Chelodesmidae from the Brazilian northeast are described, Iguazus robustus sp. nov., from the state of Paraiba, and Tessarithys exacuminatus sp. nov., from the states of Pernambuco and Sergipe. Iguazus robustus sp. nov. differs from other species of the genus by having a constriction in the zone of the gonopodal acropodite tip and an extra branch at the tip of the acropodite. Tessarithys exacuminatus sp. nov. differs from the other species of the genus by the large and ascending subterminal dorsal branch of the prefemoral process of the gonopod. Brief reviews of the taxonomy, geographic distribution and a key for males of the respective genera are provided.
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The chelodesmid genus Atlantodesmus Hoffman, 2000 is revised and considered a senior synonym of Iemanja Hoffman, 2000. Currently the genus contains five species, all of them are herein redescribed: Atlantodesmus eimeri (Attems, 1898), Atlantodesmus itapurensis (Schubart, 1943), Atlantodesmus pickeli (Schubart, 1946), Atlantodesmus pintoi (Schubart, 1946), and the transferred species from Iemanja, Atlantodesmus teresa (Hoffman, 2000), new combination. The female of Atlantodesmus teresa is described for the first time. Examination of the type material of Leptodesmus buecherli Schubart, 1955 revealed that this species is a junior synonym of A. itapurensis. A key to males and a distribution map of all species are included.
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Although Brazil is a megadiverse country and thus a conservation priority, no study has yet quantified conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas (PAs) using extensive empirical data. Here, we evaluate the degree of biodiversity protection and knowledge within all the Brazilian PAs through a gap analysis of vertebrate, arthropod and angiosperm occurrences and phylogenetic data. Our results show that the knowledge on biodiversity in most Brazilian PAs remain scant as 71% of PAs have less than 0.01 species records per km(2). Almost 55% of Brazilian species and about 40% of evolutionary lineages are not found in PAs, while most species have less than 30% of their geographic distribution within PAs. Moreover, the current PA network fails to protect the majority of endemic species. Most importantly, these results are similar for all taxonomic groups analysed here. The methods and results of our countrywide assessment are suggested to help design further inventories in order to map and secure the key biodiversity of the Brazilian PAs. In addition, our study illustrates the most common biodiversity knowledge shortfalls in the tropics.
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AimThe knowledge of biodiversity facets such as species composition, distribution and ecological niche is fundamental for the construction of biogeographic hypotheses and conservation strategies. However, the knowledge on these facets is affected by major shortfalls, which are even more pronounced in the tropics. This study aims to evaluate the effect of sampling bias and variation in collection effort on Linnean, Wallacean and Hutchinsonian shortfalls and diversity measures as species richness, endemism and beta-diversity. Location Brazil. MethodsWe have built a database with over 1.5million records of arthropods, vertebrates and angiosperms of Brazil, based on specimens deposited in scientific collections and on the taxonomic literature. We used null models to test the collection bias regarding the proximity to access routes. We also tested the influence of sampling effort on diversity measures by regression models. To investigate the Wallacean shortfall, we modelled the geographic distribution of over 4000 species and compared their observed distribution with models. To quantify the Hutchinsonian shortfall, we used environmental Euclidean distance of the records to identify regions with poorly sampled environmental conditions. To estimate the Linnean shortfall, we measured the similarity of species composition between regions close to and far from access routes. ResultsWe demonstrated that despite the differences in sampling effort, the strong collection bias affects all taxonomic groups equally, generating a pattern of spatially biased sampling effort. This collection pattern contributes greatly to the biodiversity knowledge shortfalls, which directly affects the knowledge on the distribution patterns of diversity. Main conclusionsThe knowledge on species richness, species composition and endemism in the Brazilian biodiversity is strongly biased spatially. Despite differences in sampling effort for each taxonomic group, roadside bias affected them equally. Species composition similarity decreased with the distance from access routes, suggesting collection surveys at sites far from roads could increase the probability of sampling new geographic records or new species
