EDITORIAL : Asian Agamid lizards (Agamidae, Acrodonta, Sauria, Reptilia) : Phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity
Natalia B. Ananjeva Section Editor: Taprobanica, the journal of Asian Biodiversity
The Southeast Asian-Indonesian and Australian-New Guinean tectonic plates have both been hypothesized to be centers of origin of agamid lizards. The Asian continent housed a number of hotspots of plant and animal diversity and endemism, important for the conservation of biodiversity on a global scale. There are many threatened areas in tropical Asia in terms of destruction of tropical rain forest as an environment with a unique biota and herpetofauna in particular. New intensive studies of the Asian fauna as well as new opportunities offered by molecular methods make it clear that taxonomic diversity is underestimated, especially in South and Southeast Asia. The aim of this paper is to show the taxonomic diversity of different evolutionary lineages and the distribution of agamids by sub region in Asia.
Submitted date: 22 December 2009 Accepted date: 07 October 2010 Published date: 30 December 2010 Pp. 64.
An observation of Cryptozona bistrialis (Gastropoda : Ariophantidae) feeds on Aulopoma sp. (Gastropoda : Cyclophoridae) in an Anthropogenic habitat, Sri Lanka
Cryptozona bistrialis is a native land snail that ranges across forests of the dry and intermediate zones; in the wet zone it is restricted to cultivated habitats below 1,000 m elevation. This short communication describes an observation of feeding behaviour in C. bistrialis.
Submitted date: 29 March 2010 Accepted date: 20 April 2010 Published date: 30 December 2010 Pp. 48–63, Pls 2–3.
CURRENT STATUS OF FAUNAL DIVERSITY IN BELLANWILA – ATTIDIYA SANCTUARY, COLOMBO DISTRICT – SRI LANKA
D.M.S. Suranjan Karunarathna, A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe*, Dinesh E. Gabadage, Mohomed M. Bahir & Lee E. Harding *Corresponding author. E-mail: thasun.taprobanica@gmail.com
Abstract The present survey shows the biodiversity decline in Bellanwila - Attidiya Sanctuary (BAS). A total of 152 species of vertebrates and 75 species of butterflies are recorded from BAS. Sixteen of these species are endemic, and five of them are nationally threatened. Vertebrates represent 11 amphibians, 27 reptiles, 22 fresh water fishes, 78 birds and 14 mammal species. Habitat destruction, industrial toxic waste and garbage dumping are the major threats to the biota of the BAS.
Submitted date: 29 March 2010 Accepted date: 22 December 2010 Published date: 30 December 2010 Pp. 30–47.
THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON GLOBAL WILDLIFE AND TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
Thilina Surasinghe* *E-mail: tsurasi@clemson.edu
Abstract Climate change and biodiversity are interconnected, where climate change is reshaping global biodiversity. Unsustainable human activities that increase accumulation of greenhouse gases and hinder the natural balance of atmospheric greenhouse gases aggravate the effects of climate change on biodiversity. Rising seas-levels could inundate coastal habitats and stem the flow of nutrients from the ocean to the terrestrial ecosystems. Altered climate regimes directly affect wildlife, their behavior, migration, foraging, growth and reproduction. Climate change could disturb the dynamic equilibrium of terrestrial ecosystems by affecting ecosystem productivity, biomass production, hydrological balance, and trophic interactions. Further, climate change intensifies natural disasters and shifts in natural disturbance regimes. Such processes impose physiological and environmental stress on terrestrial ecosystems which adversely affect the ecosystem resistance and resilience. Moreover, warming atmosphere causes thermal optima to shift towards high latitudes and high altitudes. Terrestrial biota readily responds to temperature, where both flora and fauna alter distributions toward more favorable climatic conditions. Some climatic parameters that drive life history events, such as photoperiod, are fixed, while others, such as the timing of spring weather, are changing because of greenhouse gasses. The resulting mismatch between fixed and variable drivers of phenology, such as in mating, breeding, migration, hibernation, and post-hibernation activities, will disadvantage some species and benefit others. This will result in new ecosystems. Warming temperature favors biological activities of wildlife pathogens, since high temperature increases breeding rate, survival, hatching success and transmission of wildlife parasites and disease-causing agents. Climate change dissociates species interactions, mutual associations and a multitude of ecosystem functions. Ultimately, climate change predisposes native terrestrial wildlife to extinction and alters the functions and structure of terrestrial ecosystems. Biodiversity provides ecosystem services including the regulation and mitigation of the adverse impacts of climate change. Therefore, biodiversity conservation and terrestrial ecosystem management is critical to address climate change. Robust climate-oriented models with the use of GIS and remote sensing technology are needed to make effective predictions about the spatial and temporal effects of climate change.
Key words : Biodiversity, global warming, phenological changes, range shifting, wildlife diseases
Submitted date: 29 March 2010 Accepted date: 07 October 2010 Published date: 30 December 2010 Pp. 25–29, Pl. 1
ADDRESSING THE WALLACEAN SHORTFALL : AN UPDATED CHECKLIST OF ICTHYOFAUNA OF CHEMBARAMPAKKAM TANK
J.D. Marcus Knight* *E-mail: jdmarcusknight@yahoo.co.in
Abstract Fish fauna of Chennai has been systematically surveyed for the past 100 years. Subsequent surveys have not been as comprehensive as the first study. As a result premature conclusions about species extinctions and species displacement by introduced species have emerged in publications from time to time. In this paper, I present a comprehensive survey of Chembarampakkam tank, one of the freshwater tanks in Chennai which has been surveyed for the past 100 years. The results highlight the significance of Wallacean shortfall.
Key words : Chembarampakkam, Chennai, diversity, freshwater fish, Madras, non-native