Analysis of the diversity and distributional patterns of coleopteran families on a global scale.

Invertebrates make up the majority of all living species on earth. Nevertheless, our understanding of the global distribution of terrestrial biodiversity and regional patterns therein has thus far been almost entirely based on vertebrate and vascular plant patterns. Here we try to provide some information on the global biogeography of the largest invertebrate order, the beetles (Coleoptera).

Land snail biogeography and endemism in south-eastern Africa: Implications for the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany biodiversity hotspot.

Invertebrates in general have long been underrepresented in studies on biodiversity, biogeography and conservation. Boundaries of biodiversity hotspots are often delimited intuitively based on floristic endemism and have seldom been empirically tested using actual species distributions, and especially invertebrates. Here we analyse the zoogeography of terrestrial malacofauna from south-eastern Africa (SEA), proposing the first mollusc-based numerical regionalisation for the area.

How much leaf area do insects eat? A data set of insect herbivory sampled globally with a standardized protocol.

Herbivory is ubiquitous. Despite being a potential driver of plant distribution and performance, herbivory remains largely undocumented. Some early attempts have been made to review, globally, how much leaf area is removed through insect feeding.

Vertebrate endemism in south-eastern Africa numerically redefines a biodiversity hotspot.

We use numerical methods to explore patterns of vertebrate endemism in south-eastern Africa, refining the boundaries of the intuitively-defined Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany biodiversity hotspot, also proposing a zoogeographic regionalisation. An incidence matrix of 300 vertebrate species endemic to south-eastern Africa sensu lato in 37 operational geographic units were used in (a) phenetic cluster analysis (PCA) using the algorithm of unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (phenetic approach), and (b) parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE; parsimony approach), in order to numerically evaluate the bioregional delimitations. The analyses provide a valid biogeographical entity 37% larger than the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot, but substantially (131%) higher in vertebrate endemicity viz.

Global hotspots in the present-day distribution of ancient animal and plant lineages.

The current distribution of biotic lineages that emerged in the deep time has both theoretical and practical implications, in particular for understanding the processes that have forged present-day biodiversity and informing local and regional-scale conservation efforts. To date however, there has been no examination of such patterns globally across taxa and geological time. Here we map the diversity of selected extant seed plant and tetrapod vertebrate lineages that were already in existence either in the latest Triassic or latest Cretaceous.

How do alien plants fit in the space-phylogeny matrix?

Recent advances in the field of plant community phylogenetics and invasion phylogenetics are mostly based on plot-level data, which do not take into consideration the spatial arrangement of individual plants within the plot. Here we use within-plot plant coordinates to investigate the link between the physical distance separating plants, and their phylogenetic relatedness. We look at two vegetation types (forest and grassland, similar in species richness and in the proportion of alien invasive plants) in subtropical coastal KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Effects of simulated acid rain on germination, seedling growth and oxidative metabolism of recalcitrant-seeded Trichilia dregeana grown in its natural seed bank.

Increased air pollution in a number of developing African countries, together with the reports of vegetation damage typically associated with acid precipitation in commercial forests in South Africa, has raised concerns over the potential impacts of acid rain on natural vegetation in these countries. Recalcitrant (i.e.