Publications by authors named "Marilu Lopez-Mejia"
Article Synopsis
- Caves have often been viewed as isolated environments with unique species that are doomed to extinction, a concept known as "evolutionary dead-ends."
- Researchers tested this idea using freshwater crayfish, which contain many cave-dwelling species from different lineages.
- The study revealed that despite smaller geographic ranges, cave-dwelling crayfish show similar diversification patterns to other habitats, indicating they can maintain lineage diversity over time, thus challenging the "dead-end" hypothesis and enhancing our understanding of cave biodiversity.
Multiple drivers of decline in the global status of freshwater crayfish (Decapoda: Astacidea).
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
February 2015
Rates of biodiversity loss are higher in freshwater ecosystems than in most terrestrial or marine ecosystems, making freshwater conservation a priority. However, prioritization methods are impeded by insufficient knowledge on the distribution and conservation status of freshwater taxa, particularly invertebrates. We evaluated the extinction risk of the world's 590 freshwater crayfish species using the IUCN Categories and Criteria and found 32% of all species are threatened with extinction.
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