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Fossil and molecular evidence reveals the history of major marine biodiversity hotspots
August 07, 2008The journal "Science" has published in the issue of the 1st of August the results of a detailed research work about the evolution of marine diversity all through the last 50 million years. The study has been carried out with the participation of scientists from Australia, Spain, USA, UK, Holland, Malaysia and Panama.
The results obtained prove that the main concentrations of biodiversity have been located in the last 50 million years in a line, from west to east, from southwest Europe and northwest Africa to the Indo-Australian Archipelago, and along the eastern shore of the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, and West India.
The researchers, among which is the Professor of the University of Granada (Spain) Juan Carlos Braga, have based this work on the study of the combination of molecular evidence and the fossil record.
At present, the Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA) is the tropical center of maximum diversity since the Miocene and in the last 20 million years, as the record of large benthic foraminifera, mangrove pollen types, gastropods, and corals has shown.
The research proves the amazing antiquity of the IAA focus, which provides a new understanding of biodiversity hotspots, product of ecological processes operating over geological time scales of millions of years with their timing and locations coinciding with major tectonic events. The birth and death of successive hotspots highlights the link between environmental change and biodiversity patterns..
Vulnerability of coral reef ecosystems
A synthesis of the paleontological and molecular data, interpreted in an ecological context, has enabled the scientists to understand the true antiquity of hotspots and their component species. However, future studies are clearly needed as global threats to marine biodiversity put the spotlight on the vulnerability of coral reef ecosystems.
We now realize that human-induced changes are operating on time scales far removed from those that have created these hotspots. An improved understanding of the nature of biodiversity hotspots, be they terrestrial or marine, will require a clearer understanding of the Geographic and environmental context of taxonomic turnover driving the origination, maintenance, and diminution of hotspots over extensive time scales.
Universidad de Granada
At present, the Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA) is the tropical center of maximum diversity since the Miocene and in the last 20 million years, as the record of large benthic foraminifera, mangrove pollen types, gastropods, and corals has shown.
The research proves the amazing antiquity of the IAA focus, which provides a new understanding of biodiversity hotspots, product of ecological processes operating over geological time scales of millions of years with their timing and locations coinciding with major tectonic events. The birth and death of successive hotspots highlights the link between environmental change and biodiversity patterns..
Vulnerability of coral reef ecosystems
A synthesis of the paleontological and molecular data, interpreted in an ecological context, has enabled the scientists to understand the true antiquity of hotspots and their component species. However, future studies are clearly needed as global threats to marine biodiversity put the spotlight on the vulnerability of coral reef ecosystems.
We now realize that human-induced changes are operating on time scales far removed from those that have created these hotspots. An improved understanding of the nature of biodiversity hotspots, be they terrestrial or marine, will require a clearer understanding of the Geographic and environmental context of taxonomic turnover driving the origination, maintenance, and diminution of hotspots over extensive time scales.
Universidad de Granada
Biodiversity Current Events and Biodiversity News RSSSmithsonian scientists find the frog legs trade may facilitate spread of pathogens
Most countries throughout the world participate in the $40-million-per-year culinary trade of frog legs in some way, with 75 percent of frog legs consumed in France, Belgium and the United States.
TEEB report released on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity for policy makers
Policy makers who factor the planet's multi-trillion dollar ecosystem services into their national and international investment strategies are likely to see far higher rates of return and stronger economic growth in the 21st century.
Darwin meets Facebook
Natural history plans to chart life on earth, yet the discipline risks being buried under a landslide of painstakingly collected data that isn't always used.
DNA barcodes: Creative new uses span health, fraud, smuggling, history, more
The scientific ability to quickly and accurately identify species through DNA "barcoding" is being embraced and applied by a growing legion of global authorities - from medical and agricultural researchers to police and customs authorities to palaeontologists and others.
Researchers Hail Innovative Plan to Save Rainforest, Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
An innovative proposal by the Ecuadorian government to protect an untouched, oil rich region of Amazon rainforest is a precedent-setting and potentially economically viable approach, says a team of environmental researchers from the University of Maryland, the World Resources Institute and Save America's Forests.
Wolves, moose and biodiversity: An unexpected connection
Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity?
World interest in Australian fishery impact test
An Australian method for assessing the environmental impact of marine fisheries has caught the eye of fishery management agencies worldwide.
Charles Darwin really did have advanced ideas about the origin of life
When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago, he deliberately avoided the subject of the origin of life.
Modified crops reveal hidden cost of resistance
Genetically modified squash plants that are resistant to a debilitating viral disease become more vulnerable to a fatal bacterial infection, according to biologists.
Scientists discover largest orb-weaving spider
Researchers from the United States and Slovenia have discovered a new, giant Nephila species (golden orb weaver spider) from Africa and Madagascar and have published their findings in the Oct. 21 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.
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What Is Biodiversity? by James Maclaurin (Author), Kim Sterelny (Author) In the life sciences, there is wide-ranging debate about biodiversity. While nearly everyone is in favor of biodiversity and its conservation, methods for its assessment vary enormously. So what exactly is biodiversity? Most theoretical work on the subject assumes it has something to do with species richness—with the number of species in a particular region—but in reality, it is much more than that. Arguing that we cannot make rational decisions about what it is to be protected without knowing what biodiversity is, James Maclaurin and Kim Sterelny offer in What Is Biodiversity? a theoretical and conceptual exploration of the biological world and how diversity is valued. Here, Maclaurin and Sterelny explore not only the origins of the concept of biodiversity, but also how that... |
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Biodiversity (Papers from the 1st National Forum on Biodiversity, September 1986, Washington, D.C.) by Edward O. Wilson (Editor), Frances M. Peter (Editor) This book calls attention to a most urgent global problem: the rapidly accelerating loss of plant and animal species to increasing human population pressure and the demands of economic development. Biodiversity creates a systematic framework for analyzing the problem and searching for possible solutions. |
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Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity by Eric Chivian (Editor), Aaron Bernstein (Editor) The Earth's biodiversity-the rich variety of life on our planet-is disappearing at an alarming rate. And while many books have focused on the expected ecological consequences, or on the aesthetic, ethical, sociological, or economic dimensions of this loss, Sustaining Life is the first book to examine the full range of potential threats that diminishing biodiversity poses to human health. Edited and written by Harvard Medical School physicians Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, along with more than 100 leading scientists who contributed to writing and reviewing the book, Sustaining Life presents a comprehensive--and sobering--view of how human medicines, biomedical research, the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, and the production of food, both on land and in the... |
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Biodiversity by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent (Author), William Munoz (Illustrator) A photo essay demonstrating the concept of biodiversity, a term used to encompass the many forms of life on Earth and their interdependence on one another for survival. The reader not only gets a firm grasp of what biodiversity is, but also an explanation of why it is important to maintain. |
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Biodiversity: An Introduction by Kevin J. Gaston (Author), John I. Spicer (Author) CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ARTWORK This concise introductory text provides a complete overview of biodiversity - what it is, how it arose, its distribution, why it is important, human impact upon it, and what should be done to maintain it. |
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The Biodiversity Crisis: Losing What Counts (American Museum of Natural History Books) by American Museum of Natural History (Compiler), American Museum of Natural History (Compiler), Michael J. Novacek (Compiler) The fastest mass extinction of species in Earth's history, intriguingly explored in an illustrated companion to the American Museum of Natural History's permanent exhibit. The Biodiversity Crisis offers general audiences a clear understanding of the current threat to life on Earth posed by the fastest mass extinction in Earth's history, which has taken place over the last five hundred years. Unlike prior extinctions, this one is clearly a direct result of human activity, not of natural phenomena. Yet the public remains unaware of the crisis in sustaining biodiversity—the variety and interdependence of all living things on Earth. Published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History, whose major Hall of Biodiversity recently opened to great acclaim, the book defines... |
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Understanding Biodiversity DVD Starring: Artist Not Provided Earth teems with a variety of life-forms. Each species occupies a hard-won niche and serves as an integral part of the whole. Explore how each species is important to the entire environment. Award Winner: Outdoor Writers Association of America"Certificate of Merit" |
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Climate Change and Biodiversity by Thomas E. Lovejoy (Editor), Lee Hannah (Editor) Leading researchers discuss what is now known about the effects of climate change on the natural world. They examine recent trends in and projections about climate change; ways that particular organisms are responding to climate change; conservation challenges, including social and policy issues; and more. "This book will be a milestone in the emerging discipline of climate change biology. No issue is more important for the global environment; the impressive line-up of experts here gives it definitive coverage."—Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University "A well-written treatise on the past, present, and future effects of climate change on plant and animal biodiversity. . . . It is destined to become a classic."—Choice |
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Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth (CitizenKid) by Rochelle Strauss (Author), Margot Thompson (Illustrator) If every known species on Earth were a leaf on a tree, that tree would have 1 750 000 leaves. Since humans count for just one leaf on the tree, we have a lot to learn about the millions of other forms of life with which we share the world. A dazzlingly illustrated and child-friendly introduction to biodiversity, Tree of Life shows how living things are classified into five kingdoms -- and how each has much to tell us about all aspects of life on our planet. |
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