The effects of late Quaternary climate on distributions and evolutionary dynamics of insular species are poorly understood in most tropical archipelagoes. We used ecological niche models under past and current climate to derive hypotheses regarding how stable climatic conditions shaped genetic diversity in two ecologically distinctive frogs in Puerto Rico. Whereas the Mountain Coquí, Eleutherod...

Bacterial abundance, biomass, cell volume, and morphological diversity were studied in sediment samples collected from the coastal area of the eastern mid Adriatic Sea. Samples from the topmost 10 cm of sediment were taken monthly from January to December 2002. The number of bacteria varied from 3.54 x 109 cells g–1 in July to 8.08 x 109 cells g–1 in September. Biomass was lowest in May (78 μg ...

Evolutionary genetics studies the patterns and mechanisms of genetic changes underlying evolutionary change. Because biological diversity at all levels (including population, species, and ecosystem diversity) has a genetic basis and is a result of evolution, evolutionary genetics provides insight into the ultimate mechanisms creating biodiversity. Evolutionary genetics utilizes empirical tools ...

Background. Worldwide predictions suggest that up to 75% of the freshwater fish species occurring in rivers with reduced discharge could be extinct by 2070 due to the combined effect of climate change and water abstraction. The Mediterranean region is considered to be a hotspot of freshwater fish diversity but also one of the regions where the effects of climate change will be more severe. Iber...

Environmental (topography, climate) features have an important influence on plant diversity and richness of Iran. Topography is from –28m which is close to Caspian Sea to 5678m which is located on the Alborz Mountain. Two mountains (Alborz and Zagrosss) prevent moist air moving to the centre of Iran. On the basis of environmental factors, four ecological zones with specific plant richness from ...

Drawing on the authors’ involvement in a European Union Erasmus project, this paper explores a new holistic approach to climate change education which uses as a source of active/social learning and knowledge construction the diversity of different disciplinary and sectoral approaches. We further argue for a corresponding pedagogy based on developing transboundary competences where the communica...

Aim Whether richness patterns and determinants are consistent between common and rare species remains controversial, and the answer is fundamental for the conservation of species in vulnerable habitats. Although effects of climate and geological history on species richness have been widely explored, their relative contribution among common and rare species is poorly understood. Here, using a va...