The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.

A phylogenetic tree for acrodont lizards (Chamaeleonidae and Agamidae) is established based on 1434 bases (1041 informative) of aligned DNA positions from a 1685-1778 base pair region of the mitochondrial genome. Sequences from three protein-coding genes (ND1, ND2, and COI) are combined with sequences from eight intervening tRNA genes for samples of 70 acrodont taxa and two outgroups. Parsimony analysis of nucleotide sequences identifies eight major clades in the Acrodonta. Most agamid lizards are placed into three distinct clades. One clade is composed of all taxa occurring in Australia and New Guinea; Physignathus cocincinus from Southeast Asia is the sister taxon to the Australia-New Guinea clade. A second clade is composed of taxa occurring from Tibet and the Indian Subcontinent east through South and East Asia. A third clade is composed of taxa occurring from Africa east through Arabia and West Asia to Tibet and the Indian Subcontinent. These three clades contain all agamid lizards except Uromastyx, Leiolepis, and Hydrosaurus, which represent three additional clades of the Agamidae. The Chamaeleonidae forms another clade weakly supported as the sister taxon to the Agamidae. All eight clades of the Acrodonta contain members occurring on land masses derived from Gondwanaland. A hypothesis of agamid lizards rafting with Gondwanan plates is examined statistically. This hypothesis suggests that the African/West Asian clade is of African or Indian origin, and the South Asian clade is either of Indian or Southeast Asian origin. The shortest tree suggests a possible African origin for the former and an Indian origin for the latter, but this result is not statistically robust. The Australia-New Guinea clade rafted with the Australia-New Guinea plate and forms the sister group to a Southeast Asian taxon that occurs on plates that broke from northern Australia-New Guinea. Other acrodont taxa are inferred to be associated with the plates of Afro-Arabia and Madagascar (Chameleonidae), India (Uromastyx), or southeast Asia (Hydrosaurus and Leiolepis). Introduction of different biotic elements to Asia by way of separate Gondwanan plates may be a major theme of Asian biogeography. Three historical events may be responsible for the sharp faunal barrier between Southeast Asia and Australia-New Guinea, known as Wallace's line: (1) primary vicariance caused by plate separations; (2) secondary contact of Southeast Asian plates with Eurasia, leading to dispersal from Eurasia into Southeast Asia, and (3) dispersal of the Indian fauna (after collision of that subcontinent) to Southeast Asia. Acrodont lizards show the first and third of these biogeographic patterns and anguid lizards exhibit the second pattern. Modern faunal diversity may be influenced primarily by historical events such as tectonic collisions and land bridge connections, which are expected to promote episodic turnover of continental faunas by introducing new faunal elements into an area. Repeated tectonic collisions may be one of the most important phenomena promoti...

The apparent biotic affinities between the mainland and the island in the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot have been interpreted as the result of frequent migrations during recent periods of low sea level. We show, using molecular phylogenies of two invertebrate and four vertebrate groups, that biotic interchange between these areas has been much more limited than hitherto assumed. Despite several extended periods of land connection during the past 500,000 years, Sri Lanka has maintained a fauna that is largely distinct from that of the Indian mainland. Future conservation programs for the subcontinent should take into account such patterns of local endemism at the finest scale at which they may occur.

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Taxonomy of many species of Rhododendron from the Himalaya (four are seen flowering) is uncertain.

Snakehead fishes of the family Channidae are predatory freshwater teleosts from Africa and Asia comprising 38 valid species. Snakeheads are important food fishes (aquaculture, live food trade) and have been introduced widely with several species becoming highly invasive. A channid barcode library was recently assembled by Serrao and co-workers to better detect and identify potential and established invasive snakehead species outside their native range. Comparing our own recent phylogenetic results of this taxonomically confusing group with those previously reported revealed several inconsistencies that prompted us to expand and improve on previous studies. By generating 343 novel snakehead coxI sequences and combining them with an additional 434 coxI sequences from GenBank we highlight several problems with previous efforts towards the assembly of a snakehead reference barcode library. We found that 16.3% of the channid coxI sequences deposited in GenBank are based on misidentifications. With the inclusion of our own data we were, however, able to solve these cases of perpetuated taxonomic confusion. Different species delimitation approaches we employed (BIN, GMYC, and PTP) were congruent in suggesting a potentially much higher species diversity within snakeheads than currently recognized. In total, 90 BINs were recovered and within a total of 15 currently recognized species multiple BINs were identified. This higher species diversity is mostly due to either the incorporation of undescribed, narrow range, endemics from the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot or the incorporation of several widespread species characterized by deep genetic splits between geographically well-defined lineages. In the latter case, over-lumping in the past has deflated the actual species numbers. Further integrative approaches are clearly needed for providing a better taxonomic understanding of snakehead diversity, new species descriptions and taxonomic revisions of the group.

alia, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems'. These three levels of biodiversity, proceeding from the most obvious (ecosystem and species diversity) to the relatively less obvious genetic or within-species diversity may be defined as follows: Ecosystem Diversity: The sum total of all interrelated and interacting organisms and all the components of the physical environment (climate, soil, water, fire, rocks, wind, landscapes etc.) that function together as one unit. Depending on the organisms and environment that make up an ecosystem, different types of ecosystems may be identified. It is this variability among ecosystems that is referred to as ecosystem diversity. Species Diversity: The variation among species is recognized as species diversity. Genetic Diversity: The genetic variation among individuals of a population and that among all the different populations of the same species comprises the total genetic variation of that species. This paper is presented in three parts. Part one, which includes a substantial component of the paper, identifies Sri Lanka's biodiversity at the ecosystem, species and genetic levels. At the ecosystem level, each major ecosystem is introduced by giving its distribution, vegetation stature where relevant, dominant plant taxa, endemic component, some information on the fauna and finally, a few references to sites studied for that ecosystem. At the species level, the number of taxa in each group, the proportions of endemics and threatened species are highlighted. At the genetic level, genetic variation within and between populations of some indigenous species for which data are available are given along with a brief overview of genetic diversity in cultivated species.