Background: Within the scope of the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC), the ADVANCE project - Advanced metadata standards for biodiversity survey and monitoring data: supporting of research and conservation - aimed at supporting rich metadata generation with interoperable metadata standards and semantic artefacts that facilitate data access, integration and reuse across terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms. HMC's mission is to facilitate the discovery, access, machine-readability, and reuse of research data across and beyond the Helmholtz Association.
New Information: We revised, adapted and expanded existing metadata schemas, vocabularies and thesauri to build a FAIR metadata schema and a metadata entry form built on it for users to provide their metadata instances focused on biodiversity monitoring data.
Alpine ecosystems harbour a rich and highly specialised biodiversity, which is particularly susceptible to anthropogenic disturbances such as habitat loss and fragmentation as well as to climate change. Combined with other forms of land-use conversion, construction and maintenance of ski resorts can have severe consequences on alpine biodiversity. In this study, we show how one amphibian and two reptile species, namely , and , respond to such impacts by means of a multi-season occupancy analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPollination and seed dispersal of plants by animals are key mutualistic processes for the conservation of plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. Although different animals frequently act as pollinators or seed dispersers, some species can provide both functions, so-called 'double mutualists', suggesting that the evolution of pollination and seed dispersal may be linked. Here, we assess the macroevolution of mutualistic behaviours in lizards (Lacertilia) by applying comparative methods to a phylogeny comprising 2,838 species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVertical stratification and host tree species are factors with a high influence on the structure of communities of xylobiont beetles. However, little is known about how this influence varies between common and rare species. Based on estimated species richness, we compared alpha and beta diversity patterns of common and rare species in the canopy of the Leipzig floodplain forest to assess their response to vertical stratification and tree species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European green lizards of the Lacerta viridis complex consist of two closely related species, L. viridis and Lacerta bilineata that split less than 7 million years ago in the presence of gene flow. Recently, a third lineage, referred to as the "Adriatic" was described within the L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpecies richness is a frequently used measure of biodiversity. The compilation of a complete species list is an often unattainable goal. Estimators of species richness have been developed to overcome this problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lacerta viridis and Lacerta bilineata are sister species of European green lizards (eastern and western clades, respectively) that, until recently, were grouped together as the L. viridis complex. Genetic incompatibilities were observed between lacertid populations through crossing experiments, which led to the delineation of two separate species within the L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehavioral thermoregulation is an important mechanism allowing ectotherms to respond to thermal variations. Its efficiency might become imperative for securing activity budgets under future climate change. For diurnal lizards, thermal microhabitat variability appears to be of high importance, especially in hot deserts where vegetation is highly scattered and sensitive to climatic fluctuations.
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