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Search Results
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Journal article
The global spectrum of plant form and function: enhanced species-level trait dataset.
Here we provide the ‘Global Spectrum of Plant Form and Function Dataset’, containing species mean values for six vascular plant traits. Together, these traits –plant height, stem specific density, leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen content per dry mass, and diaspore (seed or spore) mass – define the... -
Journal article
Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Threats and opportunities.
Madagascar’s unique biota is heavily affected by human activity and is under intense threat. Here, we review the current state of knowledge on the conservation status of Madagascar’s terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity by presenting data and analyses on documented and predicted species-level conservation statuses, the most prevalent and relevant threats,... -
Journal article
Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Evolution, distribution, and use.
Madagascar’s biota is hyperdiverse and includes exceptional levels of endemicity. We review the current state of knowledge on Madagascar’s past and current terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity by compiling and presenting comprehensive data on species diversity, endemism, and rates of species description and human uses, in addition to presenting an updated... -
Journal article
Integrating deep-time palaeontology in conservation prioritisation.
Halting biodiversity loss under growing anthropogenic pressure is arguably the greatest environmental challenge we face. Given that not all species are equally threatened and that resources are always limited, establishing robust prioritisation schemes is critical for implementing effective conservation actions. To this end, the International Union for Conservation of Nature...Pimiento, Catalina ; Antonelli, Alexandre
Fossil record, Extinction, Conservation prioritisation, Biodiversity, and Palaeontology
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Journal article
Prioritising species for monitoring in a South African protected area and the Red List for plants.
Protected areas (PA) in biodiversity hotspots face the challenge of monitoring large numbers of locally rare and threatened plant species at times with limited budgets. Prioritising species according to their local extinction risk could help PA managers to decide which species to monitor. However, there is often very little information...Cowell, Carly R. ; Nic Lughadha, Eimear ; Anderson, Pippin M. L. ; Leão, Tarciso ; Williams, Jenny …
IUCN Red List, South Africa, National Park, Fynbos, Protected area, and Biodiversity
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Journal article
Using an Asteraceae checklist to understand collection history, species density and conservation implications: a case study in the state of Alagoas, Northeastern Brazil.
Alagoas is a Brazilian state contained in the area of two large and important phytogeographic domains: Atlantic Forest and Caatinga. Although the presence of these domains possibly indicates a considerable biodiversity, floristic studies in the state are still scarce, especially for the family Asteraceae. In this sense, we developed a... -
Journal article
A function-based typology for Earth’s ecosystems.
As the United Nations develops a post-2020 global biodiversity framework for the Convention on Biological Diversity, attention is focusing on how new goals and targets for ecosystem conservation might serve its vision of ‘living in harmony with nature’ . Advancing dual imperatives to conserve biodiversity and sustain ecosystem services requires...Keith, David A. ; Ferrer-Paris, José R. ; Nicholson, Emily ; Bishop, Melanie J. ; Polidoro, Beth A. …
Ecosystem ecology, Conservation biology, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem conservation
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Journal article
Global patterns in endemicity and vulnerability of soil fungi.
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Journal article
The likely extinction of hundreds of palm species threatens their contributions to people and ecosystems.
Bellot, S. ; Lu, Y. ; Antonelli, A. ; Baker, W. J. ; Dransfield, J. …
Economic botany, Biodiversity, Palms, Ethnobotany, Ecosystem services, Palmae, Extinction, and Conservation biology
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Journal article
Plant genome size modulates grassland community responses to multi‐nutrient additions.
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Journal article
SDG 1: No poverty balancing conservation and livelihoods in the Chimanimani Forest belt, Mozambique.
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Journal article
Specimen and sample metadata standards for biodiversity genomics: a proposal from the Darwin Tree of Life project.
The vision of the is to complete reference genomes for all of the planet’s ~2M described eukaryotic species in the coming decade. To contribute to this global endeavour, the (DToL ) was launched in 2019 with the aim of generating complete genomes for the ~70k described eukaryotic species that can... -
Journal article
Global variation in diversification rate and species richness are unlinked in plants.
Species richness varies immensely around the world. Variation in the rate of diversification (speciation minus extinction) is often hypothesized to explain this pattern, while alternative explanations invoke time or ecological carrying capacities as drivers. Focusing on seed plants, the world’s most important engineers of terrestrial ecosystems, we investigated the role...Tietje, Melanie ; Antonelli, Alexandre ; Baker, William J. ; Govaerts, Rafaël ; Smith, Stephen A. …
Diversification, Biogeography, Biodiversity, Macroecology, and Plant diversity drivers
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Journal article
“Manisa bozaka” or “Counting grass”: Global Grassy Group guide to understanding and measuring the functional and taxonomic composition of ground layer plants.
Grassy biomes span more than 40% of the global land surface and are central to people, biodiversity and Earth System functioning. There is however limited standardised measurement of herbaceous taxonomic and functional composition in grassy biomes that inhibits the development of a comparative understanding of grassy biomes among geographic regions.... -
Journal article
A synopsis of Philippine Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae).
Conservation, Species nova, Nomen novum, Typification, Taxonomy, Synonymy, and Biodiversity
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Journal article
A synopsis of Oxypetalum (Apocynaceae) in Bolivia, with the description of one new species and a key to species in Bolivia.
We present a synopsis of Oxypetalum (Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae) in Bolivia. In addition, one new species, Oxypetalum urceolatum, is described, illustrated, and compared to its putative closest relatives. Oxypetalum urceolatum forms a complex with O. erianthum, O. brachystemma, O. dactylostelma, O. dombeyanum, O. molle, O. pearsonii, and O. fuscum. Morphologically, O....New records, Asclepiadoideae, IUCN Red List, Bolivia, Oxypetalum urceolatum, Taxonomy, Eudicots, and Biodiversity
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Journal article
Seychellaria barbata (Triuridaceae), a new species from Marojejy National Park, Madagascar.
Seychellaria barbata, a new species of Triuridaceae, is described and illustrated. The species was discovered in 2015 during fieldwork in Marojejy National Park (Northern Madagascar). Seychellaria barbata possesses long hairs at the apex and margins of the larger tepals of male flowers, whereas all its congeners are characterized by glabrous...Conservation, Key words, Madagascar, Marojejy National Park, Flora, Biodiversity, Seychellaria, Mycoheterotrophic plants, Inflorescence, Taxonomy, and Bracteole
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Journal article
Variability, host range, delimitation and neotypification of Amanita simulans (Amanita section Vaginatae): collections associated with Helianthemum grasslands, and epitypification of A. lividopallescens.
Several collections of Amanita species from section Vaginatae have been reported to be strictly associated with Helianthemum plants growing in grasslands, a still largely under-explored ectomycorrhizal habitat. The main aim of this study was to investigate the taxonomic status and phylogenetic position of strictly Helianthemum-associated Amanita sect. Vaginatae taxa, informally...Pluteoid clade, Fungi, Basidiomycota, ITS sequences, Amanita lividopallescens, Biodiversity, Amanita simulans, Taxonomy, Pluteineae, and Amanitaceae
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Journal article
Estimating Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Diversity Through Deep Learning.
The reliable mapping of species richness is a crucial step for the identification of areas of high conservation priority, alongside other value and threat considerations. This is commonly done by overlapping range maps of individual species, which requires dense availability of occurrence data or relies on assumptions about the presence...Deep learning, Australia, Species richness, Machine learning, Plant, Diversity pattern, Neural network, and Biodiversity
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Journal issue
Drivers of exceptional Neotropical biodiversity.
Linnean Society
Evolution, Biodiversity, and Neotropics
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Journal article
ITS-based assessment of Madagascar’s fungal diversity and arrival of ectomycorrhizal fungi to the island [PREPRINT].
Madagascar is known for its high diversity and endemism of Fauna and Flora, which makes it particularly interesting for research on diversity and evolution. Fungi, however, have been largely overlooked, and whether fungi exhibit the same patterns as animals and plants has yet to be further examined. We collected fungal...Opportunistic survey, Madagascar, Ectomycorrhizal fungi, and Biodiversity
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Journal article
Improving biodiversity protection through artificial intelligence.
Over a million species face extinction, highlighting the urgent need for conservation policies that maximize the protection of biodiversity to sustain its manifold contributions to people’s lives. Here we present a novel framework for spatial conservation prioritization based on reinforcement learning that consistently outperforms available state-of-the-art software using simulated and... -
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Journal article
Nocturnal pollination: an overlooked ecosystem service vulnerable to environmental change.
Existing assessments of the ecosystem service of pollination have been largely restricted to diurnal insects, with a particular focus on generalist foragers such as wild and honey bees. As knowledge of how these plant-pollinator systems function, their relevance to food security and biodiversity, and the fragility of these mutually beneficial...Macgregor, Callum J. ; Scott-Brown, Alison S.
Pollinators, Artificial light at night, Biodiversity, Plant-insect interactions, Pollution, and Climate change
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Journal article
Fortuitous Alignment: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are aimed at improving human well-being at a global scale, whilst enhancing and preserving global biodiversity. Recently, botanic gardens worldwide have become more conservation focused, and gardens are increasingly influential in scientific roles that address both biodiversity loss and human well-being—particularly in urban areas. As... -
Journal article
Sequence locally, think globally: The Darwin Tree of Life Project.
The goals of the Earth Biogenome Project—to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotic life on earth—are as daunting as they are ambitious. The Darwin Tree of Life Project was founded to demonstrate the credibility of these goals and to deliver at-scale genome sequences of unprecedented quality for a biogeographic region:...The Darwin Tree of Life Project Consortium
Genome, Darwin Tree of Life Project, Biodiversity, Assembly, and Sequencing
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Journal article
Soil fauna accelerate litter mixture decomposition globally, especially in dry environments.
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Journal article
An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants.
An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants is presented. It was compiled referring to several information sources such as existing literature, relevant online databases and herbaria collections. The checklist includes 7,099 taxa (5,957 species, 605 subspecies, 537 varieties), belonging to 226 families and 1,746 genera. There are 6,804 angiosperms, 257...Odorico, Délcio ; Nicosia, Enrico ; Datizua, Castigo ; Langa, Clayton ; Raiva, Raquel …
Mozambique, Vascular plants, Flora, Biodiversity, Taxonomy, and Checklist
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Journal article
Exploring Effective Conservation of Charismatic Flora: Orchids in Armenia as a Case Study.
Plants are the bedrock of life on Earth but are increasingly threatened with extinction. The most cost-effective way of conserving plant diversity is through Protected Areas (PAs). However, the locality, size, and management of PAs are crucial for effectively maintaining diversity and have been criticized as currently inadequate. Using Armenia...Faruk, Aisyah ; Papikyan, Astghik ; Nersesyan, Anush
Species Distribution Models (SDMs), KBAs, Important plant areas, Caucasus, Biodiversity, QGIS, Exceptional species, Protected Area, and Endemics
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Journal article
A taxonomic, genetic and ecological data resource for the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland.
The vascular flora of Britain and Ireland is among the most extensively studied in the world, but the current knowledge base is fragmentary, with taxonomic, ecological and genetic information scattered across different resources. Here we present the first comprehensive data repository of native and alien species optimized for fast and...Henniges, Marie C. ; Powell, Robyn F. ; Mian, Sahr ; Stace, Clive A. ; Walker, Kevin J. …
Literature mining, Genetics, Great Britain, Ecology, Biodiversity, Plant ecology, Taxonomy, and Ireland
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Journal article
The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity.
The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) is a comprehensive list of scientifically described plant species, compiled over four decades, from peer-reviewed literature, authoritative scientific databases, herbaria and observations, then reviewed by experts. It is a vital tool to facilitate plant diversity research, conservation and effective management, including sustainable use...Govaerts, Rafaël ; Nic Lughadha, Eimear ; Black, Nicholas ; Turner, Robert ; Paton, Alan
Biodiversity, Data publication and archiving, Plant ecology, and Classification and taxonomy
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Journal article
Identifying gaps in the photographic record of the vascular plant flora of the Americas.
Pitman, Nigel C. A. ; Suwa, Tomomi ; Ulloa Ulloa, Carmen ; Miller, James ; Solomon, James …
Databases , Americas, Vascular plants, Biodiversity, Research management, and Natural variation in plants
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Journal article
Kupeantha yabassi (Coffeeae-Rubiaceae), a new Critically Endangered shrub species of the Ebo Forest area, Littoral Region, Cameroon.
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Journal article
Plant Diversity Conservation Challenges and Prospects—The Perspective of Botanic Gardens and the Millennium Seed Bank.
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Journal article
Colombia’s bioregions as a source of useful plants.
The aim of our study was to assess the importance of different Colombian bioregions in terms of the supply of useful plant species and the quality of the available distribution data. We assembled a dataset of georeferenced collection localities of all vascular plants of Colombia available from global and local... -
Journal article
Distribution changes in páramo plants from the equatorial high Andes in response to increasing temperature and humidity variation since 1880.
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Journal article
Beneficial insects are associated with botanically rich margins with trees on small farms.
Beneficial insect communities on farms are influenced by site- and landscape-level factors, with pollinator and natural enemy populations often associated with semi-natural habitat remnants. They provide ecosystem services essential for all groecosystems. For smallholders, natural pest regulation may be the only affordable and available option to manage pests. We evaluated...Arnold, Sarah E. J. ; Elisante, Filemon ; Mkenda, Prisila A. ; Tembo, Yolice L. B. ; Ndakidemi, Patrick A. …
Agroecology, Biodiversity, Ecosystem services, Beneficial insects, and Community ecology
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Journal article
The potential for income improvement and biodiversity conservation via specialty coffee in Ethiopia.
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Journal article
Assessing Biotic and Abiotic Interactions of Microorganisms in Amazonia through Co-Occurrence Networks and DNA Metabarcoding.
Duarte Ritter, Camila ; Forster, Dominik ; Azevedo, Josué A. R. ; Antonelli, Alexandre ; Nilsson, R. Henrik …
Fungi, Bacterias, Biodiversity, Protists, Metabarcoding, and Tropics
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Research report
Unlocking why plants and fungi matter : impacts from Kew Science 2012-2018.
In this booklet we seek to illustrate, through selected examples, how a combination of Kew’s extensive collections, databases, scientific expertise and global partnerships have enabled us to make an invaluable and relevant contribution to research, conservation and training in plant and fungal science, addressing some of the biggest challenges facing...Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Plant uses, Economic botany, Policy, Plant conservation, Biodiversity, Plant diversity, Public awareness, and Fungal diversity
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Policy report
Kew and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.
Plants and fungi are essential for life on Earth and provide natural resources such as food, medicine and clean water. They sustain life through oxygen, carbon and nutrient cycling, and support human well-being. Kew is working with partners in more than 100 countries, through a dedicated team of over 300...Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, Plant conservation, Biodiversity, and Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
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Other
The Bean Bag no. 26
The BB is designed to promote communication among research scientists concerned with legume systematics. To achieve this goal the BB is issued in May and November of each year and features five columns: From the Editors, News (meetings, major events, announcements, etc.), New Readers, Gleanings, and Recent Legume Literature. Data... -
Other
Samara no. 22
The newsletter of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP). Samara provides information and inspiration for MSBP partners, usually each issue is themed. It also gives a flavour of the successes of the MSBP for other interested recipients. The theme of this issue is climate change.Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, Seed banks, Biodiversity, Ex situ conservation, and Climate change
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Journal article
Green Plants in the Red: A Baseline Global Assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants.
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Journal article
Insect pollination is important in a smallholder bean farming system
Background Many crops are dependent on pollination by insects. Habitat management in agricultural landscapes can support pollinator services and even augment crop production. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important legume for the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in many low-income countries, particularly so in East Africa. While this...Elisante, Filemon ; Ndakidemi, Patrick ; Arnold, Sarah E. J. ; Belmain, Steven R. ; Gurr, Geoff M. …
Ecosystem Science, Entomology, Ecology, Biodiversity, Agricultural Science, and Research article
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Journal article
New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora
New Guinea is the world’s largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries. Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet3 and to intact ecological gradients—from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands—that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region4,5, it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural... -
Journal article
Lessons learned as Erica turgida is returned.
Erica turgida, a small unassuming pink bushy heath species was listed as ‘Extinct in the Wild’ in 1996. It was last seen in habitat at Kenilworth Racecourse by South African botanist, Elsie Esterhuizen who made an herbarium collection and gave material for propagation to Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. It once occurred...Hitchcock, Anthony ; Williams, Jenny ; Cowell, Carly
Restoration, Re-introduction, Ericaceae, South Africa, Fynbos, Biodiversity, and Cape Town (South Africa)
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Research report
Exploring the Impact of Political Regimes on Biodiversity
National governments are the main actors responsible for mapping and protecting their biodiversity, but countries differ in their capacity, willingness, and effectiveness to do so. We quantify the global biodiversity managed by different regime types and developed a tool to explore the links between level of democracy and other key...Zizka, Alexander ; Rydén, Oskar ; Edler, Daniel ; Klein, Johannes ; Aronsson, Heléne …
Democracy, Regime type, Autocracy, Specimen collection, and Biodiversity
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Journal article
The climatic challenge: Which plants will people use in the next century?
More than 31,000 useful plant species have been documented to fulfil needs and services for humans or the animals and environment we depend on. Despite this diversity, humans currently satisfy most requirements with surprisingly few plant species; for example, just three crops – rice, wheat and maize – comprise more... -
Journal article
The Manokwari Declaration: Challenges ahead in conserving 70% of Tanah Papua’s forests
The Manokwari Declaration is an unprecedented pledge by the governors of Indonesia’s two New Guinea provinces to promote conservation and become SE Asia’s new Costa Rica. This is an exciting, yet challenging endeavour that will require working on many fronts that transcend single disciplines. Because Indonesian New Guinea has the...Cámara-Leret, Rodrigo ; Schuiteman, Andre ; Utteridge, Timothy ; Bramley, Gemma ; Deverell, Richard …
Policy, Manokwari Declaration, Biodiversity, Conservation planning, and Indigenous peoples
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Journal article
Enset in Ethiopia: a poorly characterized but resilient starch staple.
Enset (Ensete ventricosum, Musaceae) is an African crop that currently provides the staple food for approx. 20 million Ethiopians. Whilst wild enset grows over much of East and Southern Africa and the genus extends across Asia to China, it has only ever been domesticated in the Ethiopian Highlands. Here, smallholder...