Phanaeus bravoensissp. n. is described from the coniferous-oak forests in the state of Guerrero, and P. huicholsp. n. from coniferous-oak forests and cloud forests in Jalisco and Nayarit. The new species are closely related to P. halffterorum and P. zoque respectively. Morphological trait combination, geographic distribution, and trophic habits show important differences among the studied speci...

Understanding the factors shaping species distribution patterns along tropical rainfall gradients is necessary to predict the consequences of climate change for tropical tree communities. Direct effects of water availability exclude wet forest species from dry forests, but the exclusion of dry forest species from wet forests remains unexplained. We tested the hypothesis that high light and nutr...

In the Great Lakes region, little data exist on the distribution of exotic earthworm species or their relative impacts to soil structure and plant communities in forest types other than those dominated by sugar maple. Our objective was to document the earthworm populations in relation to their proximity to human development (e.g., campgrounds, boat landings, roads) in beech-maple dominated fore...

We studied the aquatic mosquito habitats in and around enzootic foci of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis virus (VEE) in western Venezuela. Specimens were sampled for 5 mo in three types of vegetation: tall lowland tropical forests, short inundated/secondary growth forests, and pastures/herbaceous vegetation around forests. Ground pools, flooded pastures, swamps, ponds, and canals predominated. We...

Land use and land use change affect deadwood amount, quality and associated biodiversity in forest ecosystems. Old growth or virgin forests, which are exceptionally rare in temperate Europe harbor more deadwood and associated fungal species than managed forests. Whether and how more recent abandonment of management, to reestablish more natural forests, affects deadwood amount and fungal diversi...

A persistent challenge in ecology is to explain the high diversity of tree species in tropical forests. Although the role of species characteristics in maintaining tree diversity in tropical forests has been the subject of theory and debate for decades, spatial patterns in local diversity have not been analyzed from the viewpoint of individual species. To measure scale-dependent local diversity...

The bird species in western North America that are most restricted to, and therefore most dependent on, severely burned conifer forests during the first years following afire event depend heavily on the abundant standing snags for perch sites, nest sites, and food resources. Thus, it is critical to develop and apply appropriate snag-management guidelines to implement postfire timber harvest ope...

2 Executive Summary Tropical forest systems occupy 2% of the earth's land surface but host nearly 50% of the world's forests and support unique flora and fauna and ecological processes. They also provide a multitude of ecosystem services ranging from the provision of food and water to supporting livelihoods and climate change mitigation. However, tropical forests are under immense anthropogenic...

The woody communities of seven of the most intact bottomland hardwood forests of southeastern Louisiana are described. The seven forests are on old levee ridges associated with past distributaries of the Mississippi River. The communities were divided by diameter size class into overstory (~10.0 cm dbh) and understory (3.0 cm 2 10.0 cm dbh). The overstory (27 species) and understory (24 species...