Abstract:Hewett Cottrell Watson and Edward Forbes were two naturalists of the Victorian age. They were protagonists on a dispute that generated comment and serves as an illuminating case study of misunderstanding in priority issues. Watson accused Forbes of having plagiarized his original classification of the British plants into groups on the basis of their geographical distribution. This controversy originated mostly from a so-far-ignored basic difference in Watson's and Forbes' ideas about biogeographical regionaliz… Show more
“…To describe the biogeographical composition of the Italian spider fauna, species were assigned to chorotypes, i.e. groups of species with similar distributions ( Fattorini 2015 , Fattorini 2016 , Fattorini 2017a , Gatto and Cohn-Haft 2021 ). Chorotypes are established by an inductive and recursive process in which species distributions are mapped, their contours are compared and species with similar ranges are classified with the same group, i.e.…”
Urbanisation is a rapidly growing global phenomenon leading to habitat destruction, fragmentation and degradation. However, urban areas can offer opportunities for conservation, particularly through the presence of green spaces which can even provide important habitats for imperilled species. Spiders, which play crucial roles in ecosystem functioning, include many species that can successfully exploit urban environments. Placed in the middle of the Mediterranean global biodiversity hotspot, Italy possesses an exceptionally rich spider fauna, yet comprehensive data on urban spider communities are still limited. More information on urban spiders in Italy would be extremely beneficial to support conservation efforts, especially in central and southern Italy, where knowledge on the spider fauna is largely incomplete.
The current study focused on the spider diversity of a large protected area (Appia Antica Regional Park) in urban Rome, Italy. A total of 120 spider species belonging to 83 genera and 28 families were identified, with 70 species being new records to the Province of Rome, 39 to the Latium Region and two (Pelecopsis digitulus Bosmans & Abrous, 1992 and Palliduphantes arenicola (Denis, 1964)) to Italy.
Forty-one species were recorded during autumn/winter sampling and 107 in spring/summer. The spider fauna recorded from the study area included about 37% of the total spider fauna known from the Province of Rome, 28% of that of the Latium Region and 7% of the entire Italian territory. The most represented families in terms of species richness were Gnaphosidae and Linyphiidae, which accounted for more than 40% of the sampled fauna. Lycosidae were the most abundant family (29% of captured individuals), followed by Zodariidae (16% of captured individuals), Linyphiidae (13% of captured individuals) and Gnaphosidae (7.5% of captured individuals). From a biogeographical point of view, most of the collected species belonged to chorotypes that extend for large areas across Europe and the Mediterranean. The research highlights the role of urban green spaces as refuges for spiders and the importance of arachnological research in urban areas as sources of information on spider biodiversity at larger scales.
“…To describe the biogeographical composition of the Italian spider fauna, species were assigned to chorotypes, i.e. groups of species with similar distributions ( Fattorini 2015 , Fattorini 2016 , Fattorini 2017a , Gatto and Cohn-Haft 2021 ). Chorotypes are established by an inductive and recursive process in which species distributions are mapped, their contours are compared and species with similar ranges are classified with the same group, i.e.…”
Urbanisation is a rapidly growing global phenomenon leading to habitat destruction, fragmentation and degradation. However, urban areas can offer opportunities for conservation, particularly through the presence of green spaces which can even provide important habitats for imperilled species. Spiders, which play crucial roles in ecosystem functioning, include many species that can successfully exploit urban environments. Placed in the middle of the Mediterranean global biodiversity hotspot, Italy possesses an exceptionally rich spider fauna, yet comprehensive data on urban spider communities are still limited. More information on urban spiders in Italy would be extremely beneficial to support conservation efforts, especially in central and southern Italy, where knowledge on the spider fauna is largely incomplete.
The current study focused on the spider diversity of a large protected area (Appia Antica Regional Park) in urban Rome, Italy. A total of 120 spider species belonging to 83 genera and 28 families were identified, with 70 species being new records to the Province of Rome, 39 to the Latium Region and two (Pelecopsis digitulus Bosmans & Abrous, 1992 and Palliduphantes arenicola (Denis, 1964)) to Italy.
Forty-one species were recorded during autumn/winter sampling and 107 in spring/summer. The spider fauna recorded from the study area included about 37% of the total spider fauna known from the Province of Rome, 28% of that of the Latium Region and 7% of the entire Italian territory. The most represented families in terms of species richness were Gnaphosidae and Linyphiidae, which accounted for more than 40% of the sampled fauna. Lycosidae were the most abundant family (29% of captured individuals), followed by Zodariidae (16% of captured individuals), Linyphiidae (13% of captured individuals) and Gnaphosidae (7.5% of captured individuals). From a biogeographical point of view, most of the collected species belonged to chorotypes that extend for large areas across Europe and the Mediterranean. The research highlights the role of urban green spaces as refuges for spiders and the importance of arachnological research in urban areas as sources of information on spider biodiversity at larger scales.
“…He became acquainted with Jean‐Baptiste de Lamarck (1744–1829) and published a revised third edition to Lamarck's Flore française (Lamarck and de Candolle ). Candolle added in it a division of France into phytogeographical regions, with a map of them (Ebach and Goujet , photo of map p. 764 and in Ebach :50, discussed in Fattorini , b:3).…”
Section: Terrestrial Studies 1700 To 1820mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Watson's (1832, 1835, 1847–1859) classification of the British flora into groups on the basis of species distribution in the British Isles is probably the first attempt to identify groups of species with “statistically” similar distributions within a certain region, what Fattorini ( , b) calls “regional chorotypes.”…”
Section: Terrestrial Studies 1700 To 1820mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Fattorini ( , b) provides an understanding of this claim as valid, and not an ex post facto rationale invented after Watson had called his bluff. Sadly, Fattorini explains, neither Hooker nor Darwin understood the gap between Watson and Forbes’ researches and so could not resolve the conflict.…”
Section: Terrestrial Studies 1700 To 1820mentioning
“…A common approach to express the biogeographical composition of a species assemblage relies on the concept of chorotype. Chorotypes refer to groups into which species with similar distributions can be classified [43][44][45]. Chorotypes are established by an inductive and recursive process in which species distributions are mapped, their contours are compared, and species with similar ranges are classified with the same group, i.e., they form a chorotype [43,44,46].…”
Despite the increasing interest in elevational patterns in biodiversity, few studies have investigated variations in life forms and biogeographical composition, especially in the Mediterranean biome. We investigated elevational patterns in species richness, biogeographical composition (chorotypes) and life forms (Raunkiaer classification) along an elevational gradient in a Mediterranean mountain (Central Italy). We found a general hump-shaped pattern of species richness, which can be explained by harsher conditions at the lowest and highest elevations. This pattern is distinctly related to prevalence at mid elevations of species with European and Euro-Asiatic distribution, which are favored by a temperate climate. Phanerophytes and geophytes (which are mainly associated with woods) were concentrated at mid elevations where woodlands prevail. Hemicryptophytes increased with elevation, consistently with their ability to cope with high altitude climatic conditions. Mediterranean species declined with elevation because they are negatively affected by decreasing temperatures. Chamaephytes showed a U-shaped pattern, suggesting they are able to cope with arid and cold conditions at the extremes of the gradient. Endemics increased with elevation because of their association with mountainous areas as key places for endemism evolution. These results illustrate how elevational patterns in species richness, biogeographical composition and life forms are interrelated and demonstrate reciprocal insights for understanding current vegetation settings.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
