Greenhouse Fridays: join a tour of the greenhouse collection of approximately 3000 plant species (that is ±1% of the world diversity!) from around the world
January 29: Professor Terry Webster on January 29; 12:15 pm – 1.30 pm.
Author: Bernard Goffinet
Collection in the news
The collections are featured in UCONN magazine, and follow the link to this video about biological illustrations.
New donation of botanical library
On Sunday Nov. 8, Carl Schlichting, Rafael Medina and Bernard Goffinet drove to Branford, CT, to accept a donation of a large collection of books focused on plants, and complemented by many books on birds. This library was assembled over decades by Dr. Nickolas Nickou, an MD passionate about plants, as revealed further by the wonderful garden with many Rhododendrons and also a mature Metasequoia glyptostroboides. The botanical books (about 35 boxes!) will be sorted, those complementing our academic and research mission will be added to the Biodiversity Research Collection (BRC) library. Others will be donated to the LuEsther T. Mertz Library at the New York Botanical Garden.
We sincerely appreciate the kind donation and the support expressed by the family for what we aim to accomplish with the BRC. THANK YOU.
New publication on beetles
A new study citing entomological specimens held in BRC was published (link):
Ferro, M. L. & A. J Flick. 2015. “Collection bias” and the importance of natural history collections in species habitat modeling: a case study using Thoracophorus costalis Erichson (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Osoriiinae), a critique of GBIF.org. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 69(3): 415–425.
Abstract: When attempting to understand a species’ distribution, knowing how many collections should be surveyed to achieve an adequate sample (exhaustiveness) is important. A test for exhaustiveness using species distribution models created with Diva-GIS was performed on county level locality information recorded from more than 4,900 specimens of Thoracophorus costalis Erichson (Staphylinidae: Osoriinae) borrowed from 38 collections. Size and location of distribution models based on specimens from single collections varied greatly, indicating “collection bias.” At least 15 collections needed to be combined before the resultant model averaged 90% of the area of a reference model created from all available specimens. By themselves, alternative distribution data from literature, Bugguide.net, and GBIF.org performed poorly, resulting in models with less than 15% the area of the reference model. Comments on the use of online data, the importance of maintaining and growing regional collections, and the future of natural history collections are included.
New moss species from Brazil
A new moss species of the genus Archidium described from Brazil:
Peralta D. F., A. M. Rios & B. Goffinet. 2015. Archidium oblongifolium (Archidiaceae, subg. Archidiella), a new species from Brazil. Cryptogamie-Bryologie 36: 211–215. pdf Google Scholar
Abstract: Archidium oblongifolium (Archidiaceae, subg. Archidiella) is proposed, described and illustrated as a new species based on collections from central Brazil. It is characterized by oblong leaves and lax leaf cells. A. oblongifolium is currently known only from three specimens from a single area, and could thus be considered vulnerable or threatened.
New pubs on aquatic plants
From Dr. Les’ lab:
Les, D. H., E. Peredo, U. M. King, L. K. Benoit, N. P. Tippery, C. J. Ball and R. K. Shannon. 2015. Through thick and thin: cryptic sympatric speciation in the submersed genus Najas (Hydrocharitaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 82: 15–30.
Les, D. H., E. L. Peredo, N. P. Tippery, L. K. Benoit, H. Razifard, U. M. King, H. R. Na, H.-K. Choi, L. Chen, R. K. Shannon and S. P. Sheldon. 2015. Najas minor (Hydrocharitaceae) in North America: a reappraisal. Aquatic Botany 126: 60–72.
New publication on cicadas
Paper in Science
Congratulation to Dr. David Wagner who co-authored a paper just published in Science:
Kerr, J. T., A. Pindar, P. Galpern, L. Packer, S. G. Potts, S. M. Roberts, P. Rasmont, O. Schweiger, S.R. Colla, L. L. Richardson, D. L. Wagner, L. F. Gall, D. S. Sikes, A. Pantoja. Climate change impacts on bumblebees converge across continents. Science 349: 177–180. Link
Abstract: For many species, geographical ranges are expanding toward the poles in response to climate change, while remaining stable along range edges nearest the equator. Using long-term observations across Europe and North America over 110 years, we tested for climate change–related range shifts in bumblebee species across the full extents of their latitudinal and thermal limits and movements along elevation gradients. We found cross-continentally consistent trends in failures to track warming through time at species’ northern range limits, range losses from southern range limits, and shifts to higher elevations among southern species. These effects are independent of changing land uses or pesticide applications and underscore the need to test for climate impacts at both leading and trailing latitudinal and thermal limits for species.
Army Ant Videos
Carl Rettenmeyer produced two videos on army ants and their guests, reflecting his authoritative knowledge on the biology of army ants. These video can now be enjoyed through the links on the ant-guest video page.
Herbarium database complete
After 10 years of databasing and high resolution imaging by more than 50 students the entire collections of vascular plants is now entered in the database (http://bgbaseserver.eeb.uconn.edu/database.html). Congratulation to Don Les and Bob Capers for leading and overseeing this initiative.