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Accurate taxonomy is central to the study of biological diversity, as it provides the needed evolutionary framework for taxon sampling and interpreting results. While the number of recognized species in the class Mammalia has increased through time, tabulation of those increases has relied on the sporadic release of revisionary compendia like the Mammal Species of the World (MSW) series. Here, we present the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD), a digital, publically accessible, and updateable list of all mammalian species, now available online: https://mammaldiversity.org. The MDD will continue to be updated as manuscripts describing new species and higher taxonomic changes are released. Starting from the baseline of the 3rd edition of MSW (MSW3), we performed a review of taxonomic changes published since 2004 and digitally linked species names to their original descriptions and subsequent revisionary articles in an interactive, hierarchical database. We found 6,495 species of currently recognized mammals (96 recently extinct, 6,399 extant), compared to 5,416 in MSW3 (75 extinct, 5,341 extant)—an increase of 1,079 species in about 13 years, including 11 species newly described as having gone extinct in the last 500 years. We tabulate 1,251 new species recognitions, at least 172 unions, and multiple major, higher-level changes, including an additional 88 genera (1,314 now, compared to 1,226 in MSW3) and 14 newly recognized families (167 compared to 153). Analyses of the description of new species through time and across biogeographic regions show a long-term global rate of ~25 species recognized per year, with the Neotropics as the overall most species-dense biogeographic region for mammals, followed closely by the Afrotropics. The MDD provides the mammalogical community with an updateable online database of taxonomic changes, joining digital efforts already established for amphibians (AmphibiaWeb, AMNH's Amphibian Species of the World), birds (e.g., Avibase, IOC World Bird List, HBW Alive), non-avian reptiles (The Reptile Database), and fish (e.g., FishBase, Catalog of Fishes). Una taxonomía que precisamente refleje la realidad biológica es fundamental para el estudio de la diversidad de la vida, ya que proporciona el armazón evolutivo necesario para el muestreo de taxones e interpretación de resultados del mismo. Si bien el número de especies reconocidas en la clase Mammalia ha aumentado con el tiempo, la tabulación de esos aumentos se ha basado en las esporádicas publicaciones de compendios de revisiones taxonómicas, tales como la serie Especies de mamíferos del mundo (MSW por sus siglas en inglés). En este trabajo presentamos la Base de Datos de Diversidad de Mamíferos (MDD por sus siglas en inglés): una lista digital de todas las especies de mamíferos, actualizable y accesible públicamente, disponible en la dirección URL https://mammaldiversity.org/. El MDD se actualizará con regularidad a medida que se publiquen artículos que describan nuevas especies o que introduzcan cambios de diferentes categorías taxonómicas. Con la tercera edición de MSW (MSW3) como punto de partida, realizamos una revisión en profundidad de los cambios taxonómicos publicados a partir del 2004. Los nombres de las especies nuevamente descriptas (o ascendidas a partir de subespecies) fueron conectadas digitalmente en una base de datos interactiva y jerárquica con sus descripciones originales y con artículos de revisión posteriores. Los datos indican que existen actualmente 6,495 especies de mamíferos (96 extintas, 6,399 vivientes), en comparación con las 5,416 reconocidas en MSW3 (75 extintas, 5,341 vivientes): un aumento de 1,079 especies en aproximadamente 13 años, incluyendo 11 nuevas especies consideradas extintas en los últimos 500 años. Señalamos 1,251 nuevos reconocimientos de especies, al menos 172 uniones y varios cambios a mayor nivel taxonómico, incluyendo 88 géneros adicionales (1,314 reconocidos, comparados con 1,226 en MSW3) y 14 familias recién reconocidas (167 en comparación con 153 en MSW3). Los análisis témporo-geográficos de descripciones de nuevas especies (en las principales regiones del mundo) sugieren un promedio mundial de descripciones a largo plazo de aproximadamente 25 especies reconocidas por año, siendo el Neotrópico la región con mayor densidad de especies de mamíferos en el mundo, seguida de cerca por la region Afrotrópical. El MDD proporciona a la comunidad de mastozoólogos una base de datos de cambios taxonómicos conectada y actualizable, que se suma a los esfuerzos digitales ya establecidos para anfibios (AmphibiaWeb, Amphibian Species of the World), aves (p. ej., Avibase, IOC World Bird List, HBW Alive), reptiles “no voladores” (The Reptile Database), y peces (p. ej., FishBase, Catalog of Fishes).

The story of the remarkable visionaries who have quietly dedicated their lives and their fortunes to saving the planet from ecological destruction. While many people remain paralyzed by the scope of Earth's environmental woes, eco barons--a new and largely unheralded generation of Rockefellers and Carnegies--are having spectacular success saving forests and wildlands, pulling endangered species back from the brink, and pioneering the clean and green technologies needed if life and civilization are to endure. Journalist Humes tells of the former fashion magnate who has saved more rainforests than any other person, the college professor who patented the plug-in hybrid car, the impoverished owl wranglers who founded the nation's most effective environmental group, and the former Hollywood pool cleaner who became the guiding force behind a worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This book proves that one person with determination and vision can make a difference.--From publisher description.

Competition among species and entire clades can impact species diversification and extinction, which can shape macroevolutionary patterns. The fossil record shows successive biotic turnovers such that a dominant group is replaced by another. One striking example involves the decline of gymnosperms and the rapid diversification and ecological dominance of angiosperms in the Cretaceous. It is generally believed that angiosperms outcompeted gymnosperms, but the macroevolutionary processes and alternative drivers explaining this pattern remain elusive. Using extant time trees and vetted fossil occurrences for conifers, we tested the hypotheses that clade competition or climate change led to the decline of conifers at the expense of angiosperms. Here, we find that both fossil and molecular data show high congruence in revealing 1) low diversification rates, punctuated by speciation pulses, during warming events throughout the Phanerozoic and 2) that conifer extinction increased significantly in the Mid- Cretaceous (100 to 110 Ma) and remained high ever since. Their extinction rates are best explained by the rise of angiosperms, rejecting alternative models based on either climate change or time alone. Our results support the hypothesis of an active clade replacement, implying that direct competition with angiosperms increased the extinction of conifers by pushing their remaining species diversity and dominance out of the warm tropics. This study illustrates how entire branches on the Tree of Life may actively compete for ecological dominance under changing climates.

Protected areas are expected to harbour fewer invasive plants due to the absence of anthropogenic disturbance and greater resistance of natural vegetation to invasion. Our study aimed to quantify the impacts of selected invasive plants on native plant species richness, diversity, and composition in five protected areas of Nepal spread across ~ 3403 km 2 at the Himalayan foothill. Lantana camara , Mikania micrantha, and Parthenium hysterophorus were selected as target species based on their abundance in the study area. For each species, 30 pairs of invaded and uninvaded plots of 10 × 10 m were sampled to record the presence and covers of all vascular plants. The impacts of invaders on species diversity were analyzed using linear mixed-effect models, those on plant community composition by direct gradient ordination. The analysis of merged data, including all studied invaders, showed that the invasions reduced native species richness and diversity, which decreased to less than half of the values recorded in uninvaded plots. Similarly, each of the three species had a significant negative impact on native species richness and diversity when tested separately, with M. micrantha having the greatest impact, followed by P. hysterophorus and L. camara. In addition, the invasion by L. camara explained the greatest percentage of variation in the species composition of the invasive species studied. The results support the invasion meltdown theory, as the invasion promoted the presence of other alien species in the invaded plots.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that in residential areas of Western cities, both luxury and legacy effects significantly shape tree species diversity dynamics. However, the specific mechanisms driving these diversity patterns in China, where urbanization has progressed at an unprecedented pace, remain poorly understood. In this study we selected 20 residential settlements and 7 key socio-economic properties to investigate the change trend of tree diversity (2006–2021) and its socio-economic driving factors in Beijing. Our results demonstrate significant increases in total, native, and exotic tree species richness between 2006 and 2021 (p < 0.05), with average increases of 36%, 26%, and 55%, respectively. Total and exotic tree Shannon-Wiener indices, as well as exotic tree Simpson’s index, were also significantly higher in 2021 (p < 0.05). Housing prices was the dominant driver shaping total and exotic tree diversity, showing significant positive correlations with both metrics. In contrast, native tree diversity exhibited a strong positive association with neighborhood age. Our findings highlight two dominant mechanisms: legacy effect, where older neighborhoods preserve native diversity through historical planting practices, and luxury effect, where affluent communities drive exotic species proliferation through ornamental landscaping initiatives. These findings elucidate the dual dynamics of legacy conservation and luxury-driven cultivation in urban forest development, revealing how historical contingencies and contemporary socioeconomic forces jointly shape tree diversity patterns in urban ecosystems.

Understanding drivers of success for alien species can inform on potential future invasions. Recent conceptual advances highlight that species may achieve invasiveness via performance along at least three distinct dimensions: 1) local abundance, 2) geographic range size, and 3) habitat breadth in naturalized distributions. Associations among these dimensions and the factors that determine success in each have yet to be assessed at large geographic scales. Here, we combine data from over one million vegetation plots covering the extent of Europe and its habitat diversity with databases on species’ distributions, traits, and historical origins to provide a comprehensive assessment of invasiveness dimensions for the European alien seed plant flora. Invasiveness dimensions are linked in alien distributions, leading to a continuum from overall poor invaders to super invaders—abundant, widespread aliens that invade diverse habitats. This pattern echoes relationships among analogous dimensions measured for native European species. Success along invasiveness dimensions was associated with details of alien species’ introduction histories: earlier introduction dates were positively associated with all three dimensions, and consistent with theory-based expectations, species originating from other continents, particularly acquisitive growth strategists, were among the most successful invaders in Europe. Despite general correlations among invasiveness dimensions, we identified habitats and traits associated with atypical patterns of success in only one or two dimensions—for example, the role of disturbed habitats in facilitating widespread specialists. We conclude that considering invasiveness within a multidimensional framework can provide insights into invasion processes while also informing general understanding of the dynamics of species distributions.

Here, new ecological communities are established using plants from mixed-species communities or monocultures; ecosystem functioning and morphological trait diversity are shown to be greater in plants from mixed-species communities, suggesting that biodiversity effects in natural communities strengthen over time. Plants that grow better together More diverse plant communities are often more stable and productive, an effect which tends to increase through time. In this paper, Debra Zuppinger-Dingley et al . investigate the role of evolution in this ecological phenomenon. They assemble new ecological communities using plants — grasses, herbs and legumes — with different recent evolutionary histories, grown in either mixed-species communities or monocultures. Ecosystem functioning and morphological trait diversity were greater in communities of mixture-grown than monoculture-grown plants, suggesting that biodiversity effects in natural communities strengthen as populations adapt to their biotic environment. The finding that small-scale evolution is important to ecological relationships brings together these different perspectives on species coexistence in natural communities. In experimental plant communities, relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have been found to strengthen over time 1 , 2 , a fact often attributed to increased resource complementarity between species in mixtures 3 and negative plant–soil feedbacks in monocultures 4 . Here we show that selection for niche differentiation between species can drive this increasing biodiversity effect. Growing 12 grassland species in test monocultures and mixtures, we found character displacement between species and increased biodiversity effects when plants had been selected over 8 years in species mixtures rather than in monocultures. When grown in mixtures, relative differences in height and specific leaf area between plant species selected in mixtures (mixture types) were greater than between species selected in monocultures (monoculture types). Furthermore, net biodiversity and complementarity effects 1 , 2 were greater in mixtures of mixture types than in mixtures of monoculture types. Our study demonstrates a novel mechanism for the increase in biodiversity effects: selection for increased niche differentiation through character displacement. Selection in diverse mixtures may therefore increase species coexistence and ecosystem functioning in natural communities and may also allow increased mixture yields in agriculture or forestry. However, loss of biodiversity and prolonged selection of crops in monoculture may compromise this potential for selection in the longer term.