Sebastian K. Herzog

Plant and animal endemism in the eastern Andean slope: challenges to conservation

BackgroundThe Andes-Amazon basin of Peru and Bolivia is one of the most data-poor, biologically rich, and rapidly changing areas of the world. Conservation scientists agree that this area hosts extremely high endemism, perhaps the highest in the world, yet we know little about the geographic distributions of these species and ecosystems within country boundaries. To address this need, we have developed conservation data on endemic biodiversity (~800 species of birds, mammals, amphibians, and plants) and terrestrial ecological systems (~90; groups of vegetation communities resulting from the action of ecological processes, substrates, and/or environmental gradients) with which we conduct a fine scale conservation prioritization across the Amazon watershed of Peru and Bolivia. We modelled the geographic distributions of 435 endemic plants and all 347 endemic vertebrate species, from existing museum and herbaria specimens at a regional conservation practitioners scale (1:250,000-1:1,000,000), based on the best available tools and geographic data. We mapped ecological systems, endemic species concentrations, and irreplaceable areas with respect to national level protected areas.ResultsWe found that sizes of endemic species distributions ranged widely (< 20 km2 to > 200,000 km2) across the study area. Bird and mammal endemic species richness was greatest within a narrow 2500-3000 m elevation band along the length of the Andes Mountains. Endemic amphibian richness was highest at 1000-1500 m elevation and concentrated in the southern half of the study area. Geographical distribution of plant endemism was highly taxon-dependent. Irreplaceable areas, defined as locations with the highest number of species with narrow ranges, overlapped slightly with areas of high endemism, yet generally exhibited unique patterns across the study area by species group. We found that many endemic species and ecological systems are lacking national-level protection; a third of endemic species have distributions completely outside of national protected areas. Protected areas cover only 20% of areas of high endemism and 20% of irreplaceable areas. Almost 40% of the 91 ecological systems are in serious need of protection (= < 2% of their ranges protected).ConclusionsWe identify for the first time, areas of high endemic species concentrations and high irreplaceability that have only been roughly indicated in the past at the continental scale. We conclude that new complementary protected areas are needed to safeguard these endemics and ecosystems. An expansion in protected areas will be challenged by geographically isolated micro-endemics, varied endemic patterns among taxa, increasing deforestation, resource extraction, and changes in climate. Relying on pre-existing collections, publically accessible datasets and tools, this working framework is exportable to other regions plagued by incomplete conservation data.

Using Spatial Models to Predict Areas of Endemism and Gaps in the Protection of Andean Slope Birds

ABSTRACT. Seeking more precise knowledge of avian endemism on the east slope of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia, one of the most diverse faunal regions on Earth, we used distribution models based on locality records and 10–12 uncorrelated environmental variables to map the distributions of 115 species. Both maximum-entropy and deductive models reveal three areas of endemism, broadly supporting previous assessments of endemism in the region but showing much more detail. Regions such as the southwestern Cordillera de Vilcabamba and the Río Mapacho-Yavero valley in Cusco, Peru, and the Cordillera de Apolobamba in western Bolivia support a greater richness of endemic species than has been recognized, a result likely attributable to the ability of predictive models to partially control for biases in survey effort. National-level protected areas cover ≥1,000 km2 of the ranges, or four-fifths of the ranges of species with distributions <1,000 km2, of 77% of the endemic species. However, an analysis of summed irreplaceability, which emphasizes the locations of the most narrowly distributed endemics, showed that only 18% of these critical areas are currently protected. The fine-scale maps of endemic areas are suitable for regional and local-scale conservation planning, activities that can fill current gaps in protection of many species.

SEASONAL VARIATION IN AVIAN COMMUNITY COMPOSITION IN A HIGH-ANDEAN POLYLEPIS (ROSACEAE)FOREST FRAGMENT

Abstract We analyzed seasonal variation in avian species richness and relative abundance at the community and guild level during a 13-month period in central Bolivia in an 11-ha patch of Polylepis (Rosaceae) forest, a high-Andean ecosystem that has suffered from extreme anthropogenic fragmentation. Birds were surveyed audio-visually (supplemented with mist net data) and assigned to five relative abundance categories for 2-month survey periods. We recorded 35 core species, including 16 insectivores (46%), 11 frugi-granivores (31%), seven nectarivores (20%), and one carnivore (3%). Core species richness varied from 25 (June–July) to 33 (October–November). Insectivores had a significantly higher proportion of year-round residents (81%) than frugi-granivores (45%) or nectarivores (14%); the same trend was evident with respect to seasonal variation in species richness of each guild. Although most species varied considerably in their relative abundance, no guild showed significant variation in relative abundance scores among survey periods. However, frugi-granivores and nectarivores combined, both of which depend upon plants as food resources, reached a significant minimum in mid-winter (June–July), and the same result was found at the community level. The insectivore guild thus was the most temporally stable both in terms of species richness and abundance. Qualitative observations indicated that the fluctuations in frugi-granivores and nectarivores were related to the availability of food resources.

Elevational Distribution and Conservation Biogeography of Phanaeine Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in Bolivia

Insect macroecology and conservation biogeography studies are disproportionately scarce, especially in the Neotropics. Dung beetles are an ideal focal taxon for biodiversity research and conservation. Using distribution and body size data on the ecologically important Phanaeini, the best-known Neotropical dung beetle tribe, we determined elevational patterns of species richness, endemism, body size, and elevational range in Bolivia, specifically testing Bergmann’s and Rapoport’s rule. Richness of all 39 species and of 15 ecoregional endemics showed a hump-shaped pattern peaking at 400 m, but overall declined strongly with elevation up to 4000 m. The relationship between endemic and total species richness appeared to be curvilinear, providing only partial support for the null hypothesis that species-rich areas are more likely to be centers of endemism by chance alone. An elevational increase in the proportion of ecoregional endemics suggests that deterministic factors also appear to influence endemism in the Andes. When controlling for the effect of area using different species-area relationships, the statistically significant richness peak became more pronounced and shifted upslope to 750 m. Larger species did not have higher elevational mid-points, and mean body size decreased significantly with elevation, contradicting Bergmann’s rule. Rapoport’s rule was supported: species with higher elevational mid-points had broader elevational ranges, and mean elevational range increased significantly with elevation. The elevational decrease of phanaeine richness is in accordance with studies that demonstrated the combined influence of temperature and water availability on species diversity, but also is consistent with niche conservatism. For invertebrates, confirmation of Rapoport’s and refutation of Bergmann’s rule appear to be scale-invariant general patterns. Analyses of biogeographic patterns across elevational gradients can provide important insights for identifying conservation priorities. Phanaeines with narrow elevational ranges on isolated low-elevation mountains in eastern Bolivia are at greatest climate-change related extinction risk from range-shift gaps and mountaintop extinctions.

Effects of Habitat Structure and Fragmentation on Diversity and Abundance of Primates in Tropical Deciduous Forests in Bolivia

Habitat structure and anthropogenic disturbance are known to affect primate diversity and abundance. However, researchers have focused on lowland rain forests, whereas endangered deciduous forests have been neglected. We aimed to investigate the relationships between primate diversity and abundance and habitat parameters in 10 deciduous forest fragments southeast of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We obtained primate data via line-transect surveys and visual and acoustic observations. In addition, we assessed the vegetation structure (canopy height, understory density), size, isolation time, and surrounding forest area of the fragments. We interpreted our results in the context of the historical distribution data for primates in the area before fragmentation and interviews with local people. We detected 5 of the 8 historically observed primate species: Alouatta caraya, Aotus azarae boliviensis, Callithrix melanura, Callicebus donacophilus, and Cebus libidinosus juruanus. Total species number and detection rates decreased with understory density. Detection rates also negatively correlated with forest areas in the surroundings of a fragment, which may be due to variables not assessed, i.e., fragment shape, distance to nearest town. Observations for Alouatta and Aotus were too few to conduct further statistics. Cebus and Callicebus were present in 90% and 70% of the sites, respectively, and their density did not correlate with any of the habitat variables assessed, signaling high ecological plasticity and adaptability to anthropogenic impact in these species. Detections of Callithrix were higher in areas with low forest strata. Our study provides baseline data for future fragmentation studies in Neotropical dry deciduous forests and sets a base for specific conservation measures.

Biogeography and composition of dry forest bird communities in Bolivia@@@Biogeographie und Zusammensetzung von Vogelgemeinschaften in saisonalen lrockenwäldern Boliviens

In Bolivia dry forests are distributed extensively in the southeastern lowlands and extend into the countrys northern and southern Andes in rain-shadowed intermontane valleys, where they often form habitat islands. We examined the biogeography and composition of bird communities at 14 Andean and seven lowland dry forest localities in Bolivia. To minimise biases, analyses considered only core speciessensu Remsen (1994) of zonal vegetation types. Of a total of 608 recorded species, 454 were zonal forest core species and 99 (22 %) typical dry forest species. Core species richness varied from 65 to 156 at individual sites. One species occurred at all sites and 154 (34 %) at a single locality each; this tendency was most evident in the northern Bolivian Andes where 46 % of core species were recorded only once. Comparisons of species composition showed that sites in the northern valleys were the most heterogeneous and distinct. Localities in the southern valleys were the most homogeneous with affinities to lowland dry forests; the latter separated into Velasco forest and Chaco woodland sites, respectively. A continuous ordination of sites revealed a steep gradient from large habitat areas in the dry southeastern lowlands to small, relatively humid Andean habitat islands in the northwest. Typical dry forest species were most prevalent in large habitat areas in the dry south, whereas typical humid forest species predominated in the relatively humid northern Andean habitat islands. Frugi-granivores and nectarivores such as pigeons and doves, hummingbirds, and emberizid finches were most prevalent at Andean sites, whereas insectivores made relatively greater contributions to lowland bird communities. The biogeographical affinities of Bolivian dry forest birds are varied. Overall, lowland birds gradually decreased and Andean species gradually increased with elevation, which was most pronounced in the southern Bolivian Andes; we found no elevational threshold of increased avifaunal turnover. An examination of range limits of typical dry forest species revealed a pronounced northwestward reduction of the dry forest avifauna from Chaco lowlands to small, isolated valleys in the northern Bolivian Andes. With seven species restricted to the Andean dry forests of Bolivia, this area has a considerably higher level of endemism than the Chaco. Andean dry forests were colonised by lowland species in two different ways. In the southern valleys and upper northern valleys, dry forest species ascended directly from the adjacent Chaco. The lower northern valleys were probably colonised by dry forest species during drier and cooler periods of the Pleistocene that resulted in expansions of seasonally dry tropical forest in Amazonia. Trockenwalder sind in Bolivien im südöstlichen Tiefland weft verbreitet und erstrecken sich in den nördlichen und südlichen Anden des Landes in regenbeschattete intermontane Täler, wo she oft isolierte Habitatinseln bilden. Wir untersuchten die Biogeographie und Zusammensetzung von Vogelgemeinschaften in 14 andinen und sieben im Tiefland gelegenen Trockenwaldlokalitäten in Bolivien. Um Verzerrungen zu minimieren wurden alle Analysen ausschließich mit Kernarten nach Remsen (1994) in zonalen Habitattypen durchgeführt. Von den insgesamt 608 registrierten Arten waxen 454 Kernarten zonaler Walter und 99 (22 %) typische Trockenwaldarten. Die Anzahl an Kernarten pro Lokalität lag zwischen 65 und 156. Eine Art kam in allen Untersuchungsgebieten und 154 Arten (34 %) kamen jeweils in nur einer Lokalitat vor; these Tendenz war am deutlichsten in den bolivianischen Nordanden, wo 46 % aller Kernarten jeweils in nur einer Lokalität nachgewiesen wurden. In Bezug auf ihre Artzusammensetzung waxen die nordandinen Untersuchungsgebiete untereinander und im Vergleich zu den anderen Regionen am stärksten differenziert. Lokalitäten in den Südanden Boliviens waxen die homogensten und zeigten Affinitäten zu den Tieflandstrockenwäldern. Letztere trennten sich in Velasco- und Chaco-Lokalitaten auf. Eine kontinuierliche Ordination der Untersuchungsgebiete offenbarte einen deutlichen Gradienten von großen Habitatarealen im trockenen südöstlichen Tiefland hin zu kleinen, relativ humiden andinen Habitatinseln im Nordwesten Boliviens. Typische Trockenwaldarten herrschten in großen Trockenwaldarealen im Süden vor, wogegen typische Feuchtwaldarten in den relativ humiden Habitatinseln in den nördlichen Anden Boliviens dominierten. Frugigranivore und Nektarivore wie zum Beispiel Tauben, Emberiziden und Kolibris waxen am stärksten in andinen Lokalitäten vertreten, wogegen Insektivore eine h6heren Anteil an den Vogelgemeinschaften im Tiefland hatten. Die biogeographischen Affinitäten der bolivianischen Trockenwaldvögel sind vielfältig. Insgesamt zeigten Tieflandarten eine graduelle Abnahme und andine Arten eine graduelle Zunahme mit der Meereshöhe, was in den bolivianischen Sudanden am deutlichsten war; eine Höhenschwelle mit sprunghafter Änderung der Zusammensetzung gab es nicht. Eine Untersuchung der Verbreitungsgrenzen typischer Trockenwaldarten offenbarte eine deutliche Abnahme der Trockenwald-Avifauna in nordwestlicher Richtung vom Chaco im Tiefland hin zu kleinen, isolierten Trockentälern der bolivianischen Nordanden. Mit insgesamt sieben Arten, die auf die andinen Trockenwälder Boliviens beschränkt sind, hat dieses Gebiet einen wesentlich höheren Endemismusgrad als der Chaco. Die andinen Trockenwälder Boliviens wurden von Tieflandarten auf zwei verschiedene Weisen besiedelt. Die Südanden und oberen Täler der Nordanden Boliviens wurden von Trockenwaldarten direkt aus dem angrenzenden Gran Chaco kolonisiert. Die unteren Täler der Nordanden wurden von Trockenwaldarten wahrscheinlich während trockenerer und kühlerer Perioden des Pleistozäns, welche die Ausdehnung saisonaler Trockenwälder im Amazonasgebiet zur Folge hatten, besiedelt.

First ornithological inventory and conservation assessment for the yungas forests of the Cordilleras Cocapata and Mosetenes, Cochabamba, Bolivia

Bolivia holds one of the worlds richest avifaunas, but large areas remain biologically unexplored or unsurveyed. This study carried out the first ornithological inventory of one of the largest of these unexplored areas, the yungas forests of Cordilleras Cocapata and Mosetenes. A total of 339 bird species were recorded including 23 restricted-range, four Near-Threatened, two globally threatened, one new to Bolivia and one that may be new to science. The study extended the known altitudinal ranges of 62 species, 23 by at least 500 m, which represents a substantial increase in our knowledge of species distributions in the yungas, and illustrates how little is known about Bolivias avifauna. Species characteristic of, or unique to, three Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) were found. The Cordilleras Cocapata and Mosetenes are a stronghold for yungas endemics and hold large areas of pristine Bolivian and Peruvian Upper and Lower Yungas habitat (EBAs 54 and 55). Human encroachment is starting to threaten the area and priority conservation actions, including designation as a protected area and designation as one of Bolivias first Important Bird Areas, are recommended.

Human Disturbance affects a Deciduous Forest Bird Community in the Andean Foothills of Central Bolivia

Neotropical deciduous forests are threatened by anthropogenic activities and only a small area is protected against exploitation. In contrast to other Neotropical forest types, not much is known about the effect of habitat disturbance on deciduous forest bird communities. In the present study, we examine the effects of human disturbance on a deciduous forest bird community in the Andean foothills of Bolivia. Bird community composition was determined by means of point count surveys in three forest types, i.e. undisturbed deciduous and semi-deciduous forest, and disturbed forest habitat. Habitat disturbance was estimated indirectly by measuring vegetation structure variables in these forests. The effect of habitat disturbance was subsequently examined at bird community level (species richness, species abundance and diversity indices) and functional group level (habitat preference categories and foraging guild). Differences in community composition and reduced species abundance could clearly be related to habitat disturbance. However, results also indicated that sensitivity to disturbance varied among functional groups. Humid forest specialists showed the strongest response to habitat disturbance, predominantly bark-gleaning insectivores, canopy insectivores, understorey insectivores and ground-dwelling species, whereas dry forest specialists were not affected by disturbance. The present study suggests that anthropogenic disturbance negatively influenced the forest bird community in the investigated deciduous forest in Bolivia. This may indicate that conservation of both deciduous and semi-deciduous forest remnants is relevant for a diverse montane bird community in South America. Because various bird species typical of deciduous forests may also be able to survive in partly disturbed forests, conservation strategies should not only be focussed on the protection of pristine remnants but should also include secondary forest edge zones.

Distribution, natural history and conservation status of two endemics of the Bolivian Yungas, Bolivian Recurvebill Simoxenops striatus and Yungas Antwren Myrmotherula grisea

Summary Since their description in the first half of the 20 th century by M. A. Carriker, Bolivian RecurvebillSimoxenops striatus and Yungas Antwren Myrmotherula grisea have been regarded asextremely poorly known endemics of the Bolivian Yungas and adjacent humid foothill forests.They are considered ‘Vulnerable’ under the IUCN criteria of small population, predictedpopulation decline (criterion C2a) and, in the case of Bolivian Recurvebill, small extent ofoccurrence (criteria B1a+b). Here we summarise the information published to date and presentextensive new data on the distribution (including the first records for extreme southeast Peru),natural history, population size and conservation status of both species based on field work in theBolivian Andes over the past 12 years. Both species primarily inhabit the understorey of primaryand mid-aged to older regenerating forest and regularly join mixed-species foraging flocks ofinsectivorous birds. Bolivian Recurvebill has a strong preference for Guadua bamboo, but it isnot an obligate bamboo specialist and persists at often much lower densities in forests withoutGuadua. Yungas Antwren seems to have a preference for dense, structurally complex under-storey, often with Chusquea bamboo. Both species are distributed much more continuously ataltitudes of mostly 600–1,500 m, occupy a greater variety of forest types (wet, humid, semi-deciduous forest) and have a much greater population size than previously thought. Conse-quently, none of the IUCN criteria currently used to assign ‘Vulnerable’ status to both speciesactually apply, and we recommend them to be downlisted to ‘Near Threatened’.

Quantum coupled mutation finder: predicting functionally or structurally important sites in proteins using quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence and CUDA programming

BackgroundThe identification of functionally or structurally important non-conserved residue sites in protein MSAs is an important challenge for understanding the structural basis and molecular mechanism of protein functions. Despite the rich literature on compensatory mutations as well as sequence conservation analysis for the detection of those important residues, previous methods often rely on classical information-theoretic measures. However, these measures usually do not take into account dis/similarities of amino acids which are likely to be crucial for those residues. In this study, we present a new method, the Quantum Coupled Mutation Finder (QCMF) that incorporates significant dis/similar amino acid pair signals in the prediction of functionally or structurally important sites.ResultsThe result of this study is twofold. First, using the essential sites of two human proteins, namely epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and glucokinase (GCK), we tested the QCMF-method. The QCMF includes two metrics based on quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence to measure both sequence conservation and compensatory mutations. We found that the QCMF reaches an improved performance in identifying essential sites from MSAs of both proteins with a significantly higher Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) value in comparison to previous methods. Second, using a data set of 153 proteins, we made a pairwise comparison between QCMF and three conventional methods. This comparison study strongly suggests that QCMF complements the conventional methods for the identification of correlated mutations in MSAs.ConclusionsQCMF utilizes the notion of entanglement, which is a major resource of quantum information, to model significant dissimilar and similar amino acid pair signals in the detection of functionally or structurally important sites. Our results suggest that on the one hand QCMF significantly outperforms the previous method, which mainly focuses on dissimilar amino acid signals, to detect essential sites in proteins. On the other hand, it is complementary to the existing methods for the identification of correlated mutations. The method of QCMF is computationally intensive. To ensure a feasible computation time of the QCMF’s algorithm, we leveraged Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA).The QCMF server is freely accessible at http://qcmf.informatik.uni-goettingen.de/.