Large marine vertebrate species can exhibit vast movements, both horizontally and vertically, which challenges our ability to observe their behaviours at extended time-scales. There is a growing need to understand the intra- and inter-annual movements of mobile marine species of conservation concern in order to develop effective management strategies. The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the world's second largest fish species, however, a comprehensive understanding of this species’ ecology, biology and spatial behaviour in the north-east Atlantic is currently lacking. This thesis seeks to investigate the movement ecology of basking sharks using a suite of technologies to integrate biologging, biotelemetry, remotely sensed data, and ecological modelling techniques. I use satellite telemetry data from basking sharks tracked in 2012, 2013 and 2014 to quantify movements in coastal waters off the west coast of Scotland within the Sea of the Hebrides proposed MPA. Sharks exhibited seasonal residency to the proposed MPA, with three long-term tracked basking sharks demonstrating inter-annual site fidelity, returning to the same coastal waters in the year following tag deployment (Chapter 2). I reveal that sharks tracked into winter months exhibit one of three migration strategies spanning nine geo-political zones and the High Seas, demonstrating the need for multi-national cooperation in the management of this species across its range (Chapter 3). I examine the vertical space-use of basking sharks to improve an understanding of the processes that influence movements in all dimensions. Basking sharks exhibit seasonality in depth-use, conduct deep dives to over 1000 m, and alter their depth-use behaviour in order to remain within thermal niche of between 8 and 16 oC (Chapter 4). Finally, I combine contemporaneous data recorded by deployed satellite tags with remotely sensed environmental data to employ novel ecological modelling techniques to predict suitable habitat for basking sharks throughout the Atlantic Ocean (Chapter 5).

The Important Bird Areas (IBAs) network of BirdLife International aims to identify sites that are essential for the long-term conservation of the world’s avifauna. A number of global change events have the potential to negatively affect, either directly or indirectly, most bird species, biodiversity in general and associated ecological processes in these areas identified as IBAs. To assist conservation decisions, I assessed a suite of ten landscape scale anthropogenic pressures to 115 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in South Africa, both those currently placing pressures on IBAs and those that constitute likely future vulnerability to transformation. These threats are combined with irreplaceability, a frequently used measure of conservation importance, to identify the suite of IBAs which are high priority sites for conservation interventions: those with high irreplaceability and are highly vulnerable to anthropogenic threats. A total of 22 (19%) of the South African IBAs are highly irreplaceable and are highly vulnerable to at least some of the pressures assessed. Afforestation, current and potential future patterns of alien plant invasions affect the largest number of highly irreplaceable IBAs. Only 9% of the area of highly irreplaceable IBAs is formally protected. A total of 81 IBAs (71%) are less than 5% degraded or transformed. This result, together with seven highly irreplaceable IBAs found outside of formally protected areas with lower human densities than expected by chance provides an ideal opportunity for conservation interventions. However, all the pressures assessed vary geographically, with no discernible systematic pattern that might assist conservation managers to design effective regional interventions. Furthermore, I used the newly emerging technique of ensemble forecasting to assess the impact of climate change on endemic birds in relation to the IBAs network. I used 50 endemic species, eight bioclimatic envelope models, four climate change models and two methods of transformation to presence or absence, which essentially creates 2400 projections for the years 2070-2100. The consensual projection shows that climate change impacts are very likely to be severe. The majority of species (62%) lose climatically suitable space and 99% of grid cells show species turnover. Five species lose at least 85% of climatically suitable space. The current locations of the South African Important Bird Areas network is very likely ineffective to conserve endemic birds under climate change along a “business a usual” emissions scenario. Many IBAs show species loss (41%; 47 IBAs) and species turnover (77%; 95 IBAs). However, an irreplaceability analysis identified mountainous regions in South Africa as irreplaceable refugia for endemic species, and some of these regions are existing IBAs. These IBAs should receive renewed conservation attention, as they have the potential to substantially contribute to a flexible conservation network under realistic scenarios of climate change. Considering all the global change threats assessed in this study, the Amersfoort-Bethal-Carolina District and the Grassland Biosphere Reserve (IBA codes: SA018; SA020) are the key IBAs in South Africa for conservation prioritisation. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

Introdução. A identificação dos flebotomíneos baseia-se principalmente na morfologia do adulto, o que pode ser problemático quando as espécies são morfologicamente muito semelhantes. Psychodopygus é um gênero de flebotomíneos de grande interesse em saúde pública devido ao papel de algumas espécies na veiculação de Leishmania spp. no Brasil. No entanto, este gênero inclui espécies com fêmeas morfologicamente indistinguíveis que pertencem à Série Chagasi, sendo elas: P. chagasi, P. complexus, P. squamiventris maripaensis, P. squamiventris squamiventris e P. wellcomei. Objetivos. Investigar a possibilidade de distinguir essas espécies por meio de análises morfométrica e molecular, além de produzir uma distribuição geográfica atualizada para o grupo analisando a probabilidade de ocorrência das espécies através da análise de modelagem de nicho ecológico. Material e Métodos. Foi realizada a análise discriminante na morfometria geométrica (cabeça e asa) e linear, morfologia (usando microscopia óptica e eletrônica de varredura) e a análise do citocromo c oxidase subunidade 1 (COI), avaliando-se um total de 752 espécimes (460 fêmeas e 292 machos) dos seguintes estados Amapá, Amazonas, Ceará, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima e Tocantins. Mapas de distribuição foram produzidos através de dados obtidos do material analisado e de revisão bibliográfica. Resultados. A análise discriminante usando caracteres morfométricos lineares mostrou-se capaz de diferenciar todas as espécies, exceto P. complexus, que apresentou 2,2% de erro de identificação. A morfometria geométrica das asas foi incapaz de separar completamente as espécies através da conformação, mas o tamanho do centróide dos espécimes fêmeas falhou apenas em distinguir P. complexus de P. s. maripaensis. Por outro lado, a morfometria geométrica das cabeças foi capaz de distinguir todas as espécies com grande eficiência ao usar tanto a forma como o tamanho do centróide. A análise morfológica revelou que a coloração torácica, principalmente do pronoto e do pós-noto, pode ser usada para separar as cinco espécies em três grupos: P. chagasi, P. wellcomei / P. complexus e P. s. mariapaensis / P. s. squamiventris. Os resultados da análise de DNA Barcoding, mostraram um agrupamento semelhante ao observado na morfologia; embora os espécimes de P. wellcomei do estado do Ceará mostrem uma grande distância genética da população do estado do Pará, evidenciando que essa espécie possa representar um complexo. Quanto à microscopia eletrônica de varredura, foram avaliadas detalhadamente as estruturas das antenas, tórax e genitália masculina. Salientamos que no anepímero (tórax) foi observada uma escama tipo \"raquete\" modificada apenas em Psychodopygus s. squamiventris. A revisão da distribuição geográfica mostrou que as espécies possuem uma distribuição cis-andina, ocorrendo principalmente no bioma Amazônico. A nítida separação de algumas espécies pelo rio Amazonas, sugere que o surgimento do grupo ocorreu no período que se estende da orogênese dos Andes até a formação deste rio. Conclusões. O estudo possibilitou diferenciar completamente as fêmeas das cinco espécies da Série Chagasi utilizando o conjunto de dados obtidos por morfometria linear e geométrica e análises morfológicas e também apresentar novos caracteres morfológicos e padrões distribucionais que facilitarão a identificação de machos e fêmeas dessas espécies. / Introduction. The identification of sand flies is mainly based on adult morphology, which can be problematic when species are morphologically very similar. Psychodopygus is one of the sand fly genera of great interest in public health, due to the role of some species in the transmission of Leishmania spp. in Brazil. However, this genus includes species with morphologically indistinguishable females that belong to the Chagasi series, which includes: P. chagasi, P. complexus, P. squamiventris maripaensis, P. squamiventris squamiventris and P. wellcomei. Objectives. To investigate the possibility of distinguishing among these species by means of morphometric and molecular analyses in addition to producing an updated geographical distribution for the group, analyzing the probability of the occurrence of the species by the analysis of ecological niche modeling. Material and methods. The analyses of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI), geometrical (head and wing) and of linear morphometry and morphology (using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) were carried out using a total of 752 specimens (460 females and 292 males) from the following states: Amapá, Amazonas, Ceará, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima e Tocantins. Distribution maps were produced on the basis of data obtained from the material analyzed and a bibliographical review. Results. The discriminant analysis using linear morphometric characters was able to differentiate among all the species, except for P. complexus, which presented a 2.2% error of identification. The geometric morphometry of the wings was unable to completely separate the species by means of the shape analyses, but the centroid size of the female specimens only failed to distinguish P. complexus from P. s. maripaensis. Otherwise, the geometric morphometry of the heads was sufficient to distinguish all the species with great efficiency, when using both the head-shape and the centroid size. The morphological analysis revealed that the thoracic coloration, mainly of the pronotum and the post-notum, can be used to separate the five species into three groups: P. chagasi, P. wellcomei / P. complexus, P. s. mariapaensis / P. s. squamiventris. The results of the Barcoding DNA analyses showed a cluster similar to that observed in the morphology; however, P. wellcomei specimens from the Ceará population showed a great genetic distance from the population of Pará, evidencing that this species may represent a complex. As for the scanning electron microscopy, the structures of the antennae, thorax and male genitalia were evaluated in detail. In the anepimerum (thorax) a modified \"racket\"-type scale was observed only in Psychodopygus s. squamiventris. The review of the geographical distribution showed that the species have a cis-Andean distribution, occurring mainly in the Amazonian biome. The separation of some species from the others by the Amazon river suggests that the appearance of the Chagasi series occurred in the period from the orogenesis of the Andes to the formation of this river. Conclusions. The results clearly differentiate the females of the five species of the Chagasi series using the data set of linear and geometric morphometry and morphological analyses, providing new morphological and distributional data that will facilitate the identification of the males and females of this group.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:26:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TOCHET_Caroline_2013_V_ 1.pdf: 367702 bytes, checksum: e45cebba8c597ec047bc77ddd848aef5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-29 / Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos / The Cerrado biome is located in Central Brazil Plateau occupying 2,036.448 km². Its weather is characterized by seasonality and the landscape by a vegetation mosaic. Those factors contribute for Cerrado to be known as the richest savanna in the world. It is considered one of the 20 World Hotspots, because of its high level of diversity and threat. The Cerrado is still poorly known, especially in relation to its history, origin and distribution through time, which are important factors to comprehend its recent diversity. This project aims to determine the historically stable areas within Cerrado by modelling 14 marsupial and small rodent species potential distribution for past and present scenarios, to relate the detected areas with endemism levels, to compare the identified patterns with known biogeography hypothesis of other Cerrado organism groups, and to suggest priority areas for inventory. To generate the potential distribution maps I used the digital bases available by WWF and IBGE and the SIG ARCMAP 10.1 software. The potential distribution modelling was implemented by maximum-entropy algorithm (MAXENT), using WORLDCLIM 1.4 and PALEOCLIMATE MODELING INTERCOMPARISON PROJECT (PMIP) climate variables data. The open vegetation biomes of South America were the base area for modelling, with 2.5 layers resolution (ca. 5 km²). To statistically evaluate model performance, I used the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plot. All models presented high AUC values. The hypothesis that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) the open formations expanded and the forest ones retracted, while the open formations retracted and forests expanded during the Last Interglacial (LIG) were supported by 20 of the 28 proposed models. The historically stable areas include the Parecis , Chapada dos Guimarães, Chapada Diamantina and Central Brazil Plateaus, the western Minas Gerais and the Espinhaço range. Those areas agree to other historically stable areas and/or endemism areas already proposed for other taxa, such as birds, squamate reptiles, anuran, lepdoptera and plants. They also reflect lack of inventory data. So, the fauna of those areas should be better investigated and its material used in future phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies. Conservation should also be considered in the light of their climatic stability, resulting in the possible creation, increasing or maintaining of Conservation Units. / O bioma Cerrado localiza-se no planalto do Brasil Central e ocupa uma área de 2.036.448 km²; tem seu clima marcado pela sazonalidade e é constituído por um mosaico de diferentes fitofisionomias, um dos fatores que mais contribui para que seja a savana com maior riqueza de espécies do mundo. Por ser um bioma com alto nível de diversidade e estar dentre os mais ameaçados do planeta, é considerado um dos 20 hotspots mundiais. Apesar disto, pouco se conhece a respeito do Cerrado, em especial sobre sua história, incluindo sua origem e distribuição ao longo do tempo, fatores muito importantes para a compreensão da atual diversidade presente no bioma. Este projeto tem como objetivos determinar áreas historicamente estáveis no Cerrado a partir de modelos de distribuição potencial de 14 espécies de marsupiais e pequenos roedores para cenários passados e atuais, relacionar as áreas detectadas com aquelas que atualmente possuem maior concentração de espécies endêmicas, e comparar os padrões levantados em relação a hipóteses biogeográficas já propostas para outros organismos que habitam o Cerrado, além de sugerir áreas prioritárias para inventário. Para produzir os mapas de distribuição potencial foram utilizadas bases digitalizadas disponibilizadas pela WWF e pelo IBGE e o software SIG ARCMAP 10.1. Para a modelagem foi utilizado o algoritmo de máxima entropia (MAXENT). As variáveis climáticas foram obtidas a partir da base de dados do WORLDCLIM 1.4 e do PALEOCLIMATE MODELING INTERCOMPARISON PROJECT (PMIP) e a área considerada para gerar os modelos foi aquela que incluiu as formações abertas da América do Sul, conhecida como Diagonal Seca , com resolução das camadas ambientais de 2.5 (ca. 5 km²). Para verificar o desempenho dos modelos produzidos foi utilizada a análise da área sob a curva (area under the curve, AUC) ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic). Todos os modelos gerados apresentaram alto valor de AUC. A hipótese de que durante os períodos glaciais, como o Último Máximo Glacial (Last Glacial Maximum LGM), as formações abertas teriam se expandido e as áreas florestadas se retraído, e durante os períodos inter-glaciais, como o Último Inter-glacial (Last Interglacial LIG), o oposto teria acontecido, isto é, expansão das formações florestais e retração das áreas abertas, foi corroborada por 20 dos 28 modelos propostos. As áreas historicamente estáveis geradas pelos modelos das 14 espécies incluem o Planalto dos Parecis e a Chapada dos Guimarães (MT), o Planalto Central brasileiro (GO e DF), o oeste de Minas Gerais, na região leste do Triângulo Mineiro, a Serra do Espinhaço (MG) e a Chapada Diamantina (BA). Essas áreas aqui identificadas condizem com áreas historicamente estáveis e/ou áreas de concentração de endemismos anteriormente propostas para outros táxons como aves, répteis Squamata, anuros, lepidópteros e plantas. Os modelos também apontaram estas áreas como áreas de lacunas de amostragem, representando regiões a serem melhor investigadas em campo quanto à sua fauna e possível fonte de material para estudos futuros de filogenia e filogeografia. Além disso, são importantes para conservação, tendo em vista sua estabilidade climática, representando possíveis áreas alvo de criação, ampliação e manutenção de Unidades de Conservação.

Submitted by Cláudia Bueno (claudiamoura18@gmail.com) on 2016-05-19T19:46:17Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - André Felipe Alves de Andrade - 2016.pdf: 2007118 bytes, checksum: 69341ce5bc6c459857d1feff5d92366e (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-05-20T13:54:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - André Felipe Alves de Andrade - 2016.pdf: 2007118 bytes, checksum: 69341ce5bc6c459857d1feff5d92366e (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-20T13:54:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - André Felipe Alves de Andrade - 2016.pdf: 2007118 bytes, checksum: 69341ce5bc6c459857d1feff5d92366e (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Coral reefs are of extreme importance to both nature and society, due to being responsible for several services and harbouring hundreds of species. Despite such critical importance, reef corals current suffered heavy losses since the Anthropocene, with 20% of world´s corals damaged beyond recovery due to human pressure and coastal development. This scenario is even worse, since corals are especially vulnerable to climate change and the entire ecosystem could go extinct by 2050. In this study we focus on comparing the already established impacts from human development and the yet happen losses from climate change on Brazilian corals, a unique fauna that still have gaps in knowledge. We created environmental suitability models for 24 species and quantified individual losses from both climate change and human activities. From the individual results we derived an overall pattern, in which we found out that future losses from climate alteration are equivalent to current losses from human activities. We then used the spatial distribution of those activities and key areas for conservation, determined with software Zonation, to select six areas in the Brazilian exclusive economic zone where proactive and reactive conservation strategies should be implanted, given its importance to biodiversity and concentrated anthropogenic impacts. Overall suitability losses were of approximately 30% for both sources and 60% of the areas will continue to be suitable in the future. Therefore, Brazilian corals will experience heavy losses from climate, especially the loss of highly suitable areas, which are compared to effects from human economic activities. Coral situation is likely to be even worse, if we were to consider bleaching, ocean acidification and diseases, events expected to increase with the rising temperature. / Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM) is widely used for conservation purposes, predicting species invasion, evolutionary aspects and a whole array of applications. However, for most cases, evaluating the efficiency of those models poses as problematic, as commonly used methods (i.e. random methods) do not assure the required independence between data used to create the model and data used to evaluate the model. We developed a new transferabilitybased framework that ensures the much-needed independence between subsets. We created an alternate approach that geographically splits occurrence datasets, while intrinsically controls issues related to previous transferability approaches, such as overfitting, extrapolation and sampling bias. We used 26 Atlantic coral species to perform three different geographical divisions quantifying the effect of different splits on model predictive efficiency. We demonstrate that transferability should be used as an effective method to evaluate ENMs. Geographical split of the area in deciles proved as a reliable evaluation method, assuring independence between datasets and being less prone to common transferability issues. Our odds-and-evens framework provides improvements to the ongoing debate of ENMs evaluating by its transferability. This new method corrects the issue of artificiality causing sampling bias and overfitting, common in previous methodologies, while also is less prone to extrapolation issues, a common problem in transferability approaches. Moreover, the framework appears as a feasible and useful alternative to the problematic and commonly used random partition of datasets evaluation.

Les invasions biologiques, deuxième cause de perte de biodiversité à l’échelle mondiale, représentent un risque majeur auquel nos sociétés doivent faire face. On parle d’invasion biologique lorsque des activités humaines permettent à une espèce de franchir des barrières qui jusqu’alors limitaient sa dispersion ou sa multiplication, entrainant une explosion géographique et démographique de l’espèce dans un nouvel écosystème et s’accompagnant éventuellement d’impacts économiques, sociétaux ou écologiques. La façon la plus efficace et la moins coûteuse de limiter les impacts causés par les espèces envahissante et de les prévoir en amont afin de mettre en place des mesures de prévention ciblées et efficaces et d’essayer de les éviter.L’objectif de cette thèse est de démontrer qu’il est possible d’améliorer la prédiction des invasions biologiques en développant et combinant différentes approches de modélisation de façon innovante. Les questions posées sont de savoir s’il est possible de prévoir quelles pourraient-être ces espèces, où elles pourraient devenir envahissantes et quels impacts elles pourraient avoir. Toutes les méthodes développées dans cette thèse ont été appliquées à des hyménoptères sociaux ; nombreuses espèces de fourmis (famille des Formicidés) ou frelon asiatique (famille des Vespidés, vespa Velutina nigrithorax), mais elles sont généralisables et réutilisables pour tout autre taxa.Je montre dans cette thèse qu’il est possible de développer un outil statistique de détection des espèces risquant de devenir envahissantes. J’applique cet outil aux fourmis, je fournis une liste de 15 espèces de fourmis risquant de devenir envahissantes à travers le monde et je cartographie les zones du globe risquant d’être envahies par ces espèces. Chacun des continents est menacée par au moins une de ces invasions potentielles. Dans un deuxième temps, je mets au point d’un cadre méthodologique permettant d’améliorer les prédictions d’aires de distribution des espèces en combinant leurs exigences climatiques et d’habitat, tout en respectant l’échelle géographique à laquelle ces facteurs agissent sur la distribution des espèces. J’applique cette méthode au frelon asiatique, ce qui me permet d’identifier les habitats qui lui sont les plus favorables et d’utiliser ces informations pour raffiner la prédiction de son aire favorable. En combinant le climat et l’habitat, je prédis une aire potentielle de distribution 56% plus restreinte par rapport aux estimations basées sur le climat uniquement. Enfin, dans un troisième temps, je m’intéresse au développement d’une méthode permettant de prédire spatialement les impacts causés par une invasion biologique. Pour ce faire, je prédis d’abord l’abondance potentielle du frelon asiatique en France. Je couple ensuite cette prédiction avec des données de présence de ruches et un modèle présidant l’impact du frelon asiatique sur la survie des colonies d’abeilles. J’estime enfin que cette invasion peut conduire à l’effondrement de 41% des colonies d’abeilles domestiques en France.Cette thèse met en lumière l’utilité d’intégrer la modélisation dans la construction du savoir autour des invasions biologiques, approche relativement nouvelle dans ce champ disciplinaire. De plus, elle illustre comment la modélisation et l’élaboration de prédictions peuvent aider à objectiver la prise de décision concernant la gestion des espèces envahissantes et optimiser leur efficacité en ciblant les habitats, les régions et les espèces d’action prioritaires. / Biologicals invasions, the second cause of biodiversity loss worldwide, represent a major threat that our societies have to face. Invasive species correspond to species that, due to human activities, cross geographic and reproduction barriers and expand into new areas in large numbers. This spread into new ecosystems may have severe socio-economic or ecological impacts. The most efficient way to limit these impacts is to predict and avoid biological invasions before they occur by setting up appropriate management plans.The aim of this PhD thesis is to demonstrate that existing predictive models can be further developed and combined together to improve biological invasion predictions. All of the methods developed in this thesis have been applied to social Hymenoptera: ant species (Formicidae) and the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax), but they are generalizable to any other taxa. The questions asked are: can we predict future invader species? Can we improve the spatial predictions of their distribution? Can we predict invasive species impact?First, I show in this thesis that it is possible to develop a model that detects future invasive species, even before they have had the chance to be moved outside their native range. I apply this screening tool to more than 2000 ant species, provide a list of the 15 ant species that are highly likely to become invasive and map their global suitability to highlights the area the most at risk from these invasions. All continents are threatened by at least one of these potential invasions. Second, I set up a methodological framework to improve species distribution predictions by combining multi-scale drivers. I apply this method to the invasive Asian hornet, identify its high affinity habitats, and use this information to refine suitability maps. I show that integrating multiple drivers, while still respecting their scale of effect, produced a potential range 55.9% smaller than that predicted using a climatic model alone. Finally, I propose a method to predict invasive species impacts in a spatially explicit way and I apply it to the estimate the Asian hornet’s impact on honeybee colonies in France. To do so, I estimate the Asian hornet nest density across France and combine it with an agent-based hive model to estimate honeybee mortality risk. I show that up to 41% of the honeybee colonies are likely to collapse due to the Asian hornet.Overall, these studies demonstrate how modelling techniques can provide valuable inputs to improve invasive species management decision by offering tools to optimize prevention strategies and target areas, species or habitats where action is needed in priority. Biological invasions involve our scientific, political and cultural perceptions in an intricate way; this PhD thesis highlights the usefulness of bringing together modelling techniques and the rest of biological invasion knowledge to better grasp invasion science complexity.

Adaptive population shifts in response to climate change Ing. Michaela Horníková, Doctoral thesis Abstract Understanding of species' reactions to past climate and environmental changes is a hot topic in many fields of biology as it is relevant also for addressing species' future under the contemporary climate change. Using an emerging model species, the bank vole, I combine genomic phylogeographic data with information on known intraspecific functional variability and environmental niche modelling and aim to elucidate the particular role of intraspecific variation and ultimately selection in shaping the species' response to the climatic and environmental changes after the end of the last glaciation. Based on the mtDNA markers, bank voles exhibit a complex phylogeographic pattern suggesting population replacement events during the postglacial recolonization of Europe and thus possible involvement of selection in the process. An extensive dataset of more than 6000 SNPs was used to search for signs of population replacement in the bank vole genomic DNA and to investigate the species' postglacial recolonization history throughout its European distribution range. The genomic data revealed even more complex population history than previously detected with mtDNA markers, including not only admixture but also...

Amphibienpopulationen sind weltweit bedroht. Für fundierte Entscheidungen im Naturschutz ist ein wissenschaftliches Hintergrundwissen notwendig. Eine wichtige Komponente ist die Verbreitung der Arten und die Gründe hierfür. Dies setzt auch Klarheit bezüglich des taxonomischen Status voraus. Vernachlässigte Regionen liegen meist in den Tropen. Um diese Lücke zu füllen, untersucht die vorliegende Arbeit die Makroökologie westafrikanischer Amphibien. Eine neue Art der Familie Phrynobatrachidae wird beschrieben. Anschließend werden die taxonomischen Unterschiede zweier Mitglieder der Familien der Hyperoliidae und der Arthroleptidae untersucht. Dies ebnet den Weg für die Makroökologie. Es wird analysiert, ob Westafrika eine einzigartige biogeographische Region ist. Die Untersuchung zeigen, dass Westafrika in der Tat einzigartig ist. Die Ähnlichkeiten innerhalb der Region sind größer als die innerhalb ähnlicher Habitate aus unterschiedlichen Regionen. Der Cross River ist die wichtigste Barriere. Mehrere geographische Zonierungen innerhalb Westafrikas werden entdeckt. Es wird untersucht, ob der Chytrid Pilz, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, (Bd), ein wichtiger Faktor beim Rückgang der Amphibien Populationen, in West Afrika vorkommt. Bisher gibt es keinen positiven Nachweis westlich Nigerias. Dennoch sagen Modelle geeignete Habitate für Bd vorher. Die wahrscheinlichste Erklärung ist, dass die Dahomey Gap als natürliche Barriere die Ausbreitung von Bd verhindert. Als letztes werden die Nischen westafrikanischer Amphibien eruiert. Für die meisten Arten werden Nischenmodelle berechnet. Dies bestätigt bereits bekannte Gebiete hoher Alpha Diversität und zeigt bisher unbekannte Gebiete auf. Des Weiteren werden Erklärungen für unterschiedliche Verbreitungsgebietsgrößen gesucht. Generell wird die Nischenbreite hierfür verantwortlich gemacht. Die vorliegenden Daten lassen allerdings auch den Schluss zu, dass das Ausbreitungsvermögen das beobachtete Muster ebenfalls erklären kann. / Amphibian populations are declining globally. For informed conservation decisions a sound scientific background is needed. One major component is species distribution and the underlying causes. This also requires clarity on the taxonomic status. Often neglected regions are located in the tropics. In order to fill this gap, the present thesis examines the macroecology of West African amphibians. A new species of the family Phrynobatrachidae is described. Afterwards, the taxonomic differences between morphologically similar members of the families Hyperoliidae and Arthroleptidae are discussed. Beside other studies, this sets the field for macroecology. It is tested whether West Africa is a unique biogeographic region. The similarity of amphibian assemblages from Sub-Saharan Africa is analysed and it is shown that West Africa contains unique assemblages. Similarities within the region are higher than similarities between habitats across different regions. The main barrier towards Central Africa is the Cross River. Several geographic divisions within West Africa are detected. It is examined whether the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), one important factor for amphibian population declines in many other regions, occurs in West Africa. So far there is no positive record west of Nigeria. However, models predict that environmental suitability for Bd is high. The most plausible explanation for the absence is that the Dahomey Gap acted as a natural barrier against the spread of the Bd. Finally, the niches of West African amphibians are investigated. For most species environmental niche models are calculated. This confirms previously known areas of high alpha diversity and so far unknown species rich areas are detected. In a further study, explanations for differing range sizes are searched for. Niche breadth is commonly assumed to be the general cause. However, the analysed data also suggests that dispersal ability can also explain the observed pattern.