Transcript Understanding Distributions of Poorly Known Species

Understanding Distributions of
Poorly Known Species
Marinez Ferreira de Siqueira
Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental
Poorly Known Species
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Microendemics or rare
Poorly collected species
Species with extremely restricted ecological needs
E.g., in Cerrado vegetation, 30% of trees are
known from single records in the Projeto de
Cooperação Técnica Conservação e Manejo da
Biodiversidade do Bioma Cerrado – EMBRAPA
Cerrados – UnB – Ibama/DFID e RBGE/Reino
Unido database
• What to do to understand (or begin to understand)
the distributions of these species?
Ecological Space
Annual Mean Temperature
Measure distance in
ecological space
Position of point that
might be adjacent to
known occurrence
Available
Environments
Position of point from
which species is known
Annual Mean Precipitation
Measure Ecological Similarity
Across Landscape
Measure ecological
distances from all
points
Understanding Distributions of Poorly
Known Species
The idea is to characterize the
landscape and region
surrounding the one known
occurrence as to how similar or
different it is in terms of
ecological parameters.
Results of modeling for Byrsonima subterranea Brad. & Mark.
(Malpighiaceae)
Assis Ecological Station, a
Conservation Unit in São
Paulo State.
Modeling for Byrsonima subterranea
grey area = less
environmental similarity
blue area = high
environmental
similarity
Modeling for Byrsonima subterranea
Identify areas of
high and low
ecological
similarity to known
occurrence point
Black =
patches of
the cerrado
vegetation
type
Modeling for Baccharis pseudotenuifolia
Understanding Distributions of
Poorly Known Species
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To test the applicability of this approach, we
will go to the field to assess whether additional
occurrences of this species are concentrated
in areas that are highly similar to the single
known locality.
This approach is highly experimental, and its
presentation at this point is quite preliminary,
but it is an illustration of potential approaches
to understanding better even the most poorly
known species
Acknowledgments
• Prof. Dr. A. Townsend Peterson - Natural
History Museum and Biodiversity
Research Center, The University of
Kansas, to help with modelling
• Dra Giselda Durigan - Assis Ecological
Station