Genome allows faster prediction of winners and losers of climate change
Together with a Ukrainian colleague, Senckenberg researchers examined the 120-year-old specimen of a “Crimean lizard.” Until now, these animals had been considered a species of green lizard restricted to the Crimean Peninsula. Based on the complete mitochondrial genome, the team was able to show that these reptiles actually represent a species introduced from Italy. The results emphasize the importance of historical collections. The study was published today in the “Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research.”
Ghosts of land use past haunt the current biodiversity in farmland ecosystems according to a new study led by a researcher from the German Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre. The study on farmlands in South-Western France shows that changes from grassland to cropland that happened as long as 20 years ago result in the animal community on-site today exhibiting a lower diversity of mobility and feeding related traits, which are related to the functioning of agricultural ecosystems.. The study published this week in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” emphasizes the need to protect permanent grasslands in farmland ecosystems as a refuge for species, and the functional roles they perform, which would otherwise be lost.
The Chiquitano region is a key biogeographical region, extremely diverse – but still we lost 12% of the endemic Chiquitano Dry forest…. Since July 2019! Man-made fires burned 1.4 million ha, an area larger than Jamaica. Recent laws by the Morales government allowed cut and burn in the Bolivien lowlands soy and beef. The new Bolivian government should revise laws that promote deforestation and forest burning.
