Our paper in NATUREZA & CONSERVAÇÃO has been published

Our paper on the effects of climate change on the biodiversity of the Brazilian Cerrado has been just published. Here is the abstract:

Diniz-Filho JAF, Oliveira G, Bini LM, Loyola RD, Nabout JC & Rangel TF. 2009. Conservation biogeography and climate change in the Brazilian Cerrado. Natureza & Conservação 7: 100-112

Many studies on climate changes have been developed based on experimental approaches at local scales, despite the much broader geographical scales at which these changes are expected to affect biodiversity patterns. Here we applied an ensemble forecasting approach to model the effects of climate change on diversity patterns found in the Brazilian Cerrado, using six different niche model techniques to evaluate potential shifts in geographic ranges of 753 species of vertebrates in the year 2050. We used the prediction of three global circulation models (GCMs) to project species distributions in 2050. Our analyses provide evidences of shifts in species geographic ranges and turnover rates in the Brazilian Cerrado, especially at location of maximum species richness. Although future conservation conflicts are difficult to predict because of the uncertainties (and actually lack of data) in spatial dynamics of future expansions of human activities throughout the biome, our analyses show that expansions of species’ distribution may encompass regions currently used for cattle ranching activities.

You can download the paper here. For other reprints, please visit my homepage (http://avispa.googlepages.com).

Natureza & Conservação is the Brazilian Journal of Nature Conservation, formerly published by O Boticario Foundation, and now published by The Brazilian Association of Ecological Science and Conservation (ABECO). Visit its website to learn more.

Cheers!

New paper accepted in DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS

My paper co-authored with Carlos Becker, Célio Haddad and Kelly Zamudio has been accepted for publication in Diversity and Distributions.

Here is the abstract:

Becker CG, Loyola RD, Haddad CFB & Zamudio KR. 2010. Integrating species life-history traits and patterns of deforestation in amphibian conservation planning. Diversity and Distributions 00: 00-00.

Aim. To identify priority areas for amphibian conservation in southeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest, by integrating species life-history traits and patterns of deforestation.

Location. Brazilian Atlantic Forest, State of São Paulo, Brazil.

Methods. We used the software Marxan to evaluate different scenarios of amphibian conservation planning. Our approach differs from previous methods by explicitly including two different landscape metrics; habitat split for species with aquatic larvae, and habitat loss for species with terrestrial development. We evaluated the effect of habitat requirements by classifying species breeding habitats in five categories (flowing water, still water permanent, still water temporary, bromeliad or bamboo, and terrestrial by direct or indirect development). We performed analyses using two scales, grid cells and watersheds, and also considered nature preserves as protected areas.

Results. We found contrasting patterns of deforestation between coastal and inland regions. 76 grid cells and 14 watersheds are capable of representing each species at least once. When accounting for grid cells already protected in state and national parks and considering species habitat requirements we found 16 high-priority grid cells for species with one or two reproductive habitats, and only one cell representing species with four habitat requirements. Key areas for the conservation of species breeding in flowing and permanent still waters concentrate in southern state, while for those breeding in temporary ponds concentrate in central to eastern zones. Eastern highland zones are key areas for preserving species breeding terrestrially by direct or indirect development. Species breeding in bromeliads and bamboos are already well represented in protected areas.

Main conclusions. Our results emphasize the need to integrate information on landscape configuration and species life-history traits to produce more ecologically-relevant conservation strategies.

New paper accepted in ECOGRAPHY

Hi guys!

We just received the news that our paper on uncertainties in forecasts of species distributions has been accepted for publication in Ecography.

Here are the authors and title of the paper:

Diniz-Filho JAF, Bini LM, Rangel, TFVLB, Loyola RD, Hoff C, Nogués-Bravo D & Araújo MB (2009). Partitioning and mapping uncertainties in ensemble forecasts of species turnover under climate change. Ecography, 00:00-00.

I'll post the link to the paper as soon as Ecography publishes their online eraly papers.

Cheers!

Our paper in PLoS ONE has been just published

Hello guys!

Our paper "Loyola RD, Oliveira-Santos LGR, Almeida-Neto M, Nogueira DM, Kubota U, Diniz-Filho JAF & Lewinsohn TM. 2009 Integrating Economic Costs and Biological Traits into Global Conservation Priorities for Carnivores. PLoS ONE 4(8): e6807." has been published in PLoS ONE.

PLoS ONE is an open-access peer-review journal. The article is freely available online!

The full paper can be viewed HERE.

For PDF, please click HERE.

Hope you enjoy!

New paper accepted in PLoS ONE

We just have a paper on global conservation priorities for carnivores accepted in PLoS ONE.

Here is the abstract:

Loyola RD, Oliveira-Santos LGR, Almeida-Neto M, Nogueira DM, Kubota U, Diniz0-Filho JAF & Lewinsohn TM. 2009. Integrating economic costs and biological traits into global conservation priorities for carnivores. PLoS ONE, 00: 00-00.

Background. Prioritization schemes usually highlight species-rich areas, where many species are at imminent risk of extinction. To be ecologically relevant these schemes should also include species biological traits into area-setting methods. Furthermore, in a world of limited funds for conservation, conservation action is constrained by land acquisition costs. Hence, including economic costs into conservation priorities can substantially improve their conservation cost-effectiveness.

Methodology/Principal findings. We examined four global conservation scenarios for carnivores based on the joint mapping of economic costs and species biological traits. These scenarios identify the most cost-effective priority sets of ecoregions, indicating best investment opportunities for safeguarding every carnivore species, and also establish priority sets that can maximize species representation in areas harboring highly vulnerable species. We compared these results with a scenario that minimizes the total number of ecoregions required for conserving all species, irrespective of other factors. We found that cost-effective conservation investments should focus on 41 ecoregions highlighted in the scenario that consider simultaneously both ecoregion vulnerability and economic costs of land acquisition. Ecoregions included in priority sets under these criteria should yield best returns of investments since they harbor species with high extinction risk and have lower mean land cost.

Conclusions/Significance. Our study highlights ecoregions of particular importance for the conservation of the world’s carnivores defining global conservation priorities in analyses that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors. We consider the identification of a comprehensive priority-set of areas as a first step towards an in-situ biodiversity maintenance strategy.

PLoS ONE is an Open Access journal. We support this initiative!

The South American Coati (Nasua Nasua). Photo from Nathália M. Sousa.

Our paper in BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION has been published

Hi everyone!

Our paper "Loyola RD, Kubota U, Fonseca GAB & Lewinsohn TM (2009) Key Neotropical Ecoregions for terrestrial vertebrate conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation, 18: 2017-2031" is out!

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For full text PDF, click here.

If you do not have access to Biodiversity and Conservation, reprints are also available upon request (avispa@gmail.com) or at my homepage (http://avispa.googlepages.com).

Hope you enjoy!

Figure indicates ecoregions highligthed as priorty for vertebrate conservation based on different criteria (see Loyola et al. 2009 for details).

Our paper in HYDROBIOLOGIA has been just published

Hello there!

Our paper "Moretti MS, Loyola RD, Becker B & Calisto M. 2009. Leaf abundance and phenolic concentrations codetermine the selection of case-building materials Phylloicus sp. (Trichoptera, Calamoceratidae). Hydrobiologia, 630: 199-206" is out!

For full text HTML, click here.

For full text PDF, click here.

If you do not have access to Hydrobiologia, reprints are also available upon request (avispa@gmail.com) or at my home page (http://avispa.googlepages.com).

Cheers!