For a long time, the systematics ofAtriplex was based solely on morphological characters and leaf anatomy. The latest worldwide phylogenetic study of Atriplex significantly improved our knowledge about the relationships within the genus, but a new classification has not been put forward thus far. Here we re-evaluate the taxonomy of C4-species of Atriplex that are native to Russia. Seven species are classified into two sections, A. sect. Obione (incl. A. sect. Sclerocalymma, syn. nov.) (A. altaica, A. centralasiatica, A. rosea, A. sibirica, and A. sphaeromorpha), and A. sect. Obionopsis (incl. A. sect. Psammophila, syn. nov.) (A. fominii and A. tatarica). Although the majority of Eurasian C4-species have similar morphology, leafy inflorescence is a typical character for A. sect. Obione. The members ofA. sect. Obionopsis are characterised mostly by aphyllous inflorescences, but some species (A. laciniata, A. pratovii, and A. tornabenei) have leafy inflorescences. Geographically, almost all members ofA. sect. Obione are confined to Central Asia, although A. rosea is a typical Mediterranean element and A. argentea occurs in North America. The representatives ofA. sect. Obionopsis are distributed mostly in the Mediterranean and the Irano-Turanian floristic region. The alien status of A. rosea, A. sibirica and A. tatarica is discussed. Atriplex flabellum, a desert species from the Irano-Turanian region, is reported for the first time from Russia (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, North Siberia) as a casual alien. This species occupies a phylogenetic position distant from both aforementioned sections. An identification key to all C4-species of the genus growing in Russia is given, and a sectional checklist with updated nomenclature and revised synonymy is provided.

1. Climate change, biological invasions, and anthropogenic disturbance pose a threat to the biodiversity and function of Arctic freshwater ecosystems. Understanding potential changes in fish species distribution and richness is necessary, given the great importance of fish to the function of freshwater ecosystems and as a resource to humans. However, information gaps limit large-scale studies and our ability to determine patterns and trends in space and time. This study takes the first step in determining circumpolar patterns of fish species richness and composition, which provides a baseline to improve both monitoring and conservation of Arctic freshwater biodiversity. 2. Information on species presence/absence was gathered from the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program's Freshwater Database and used to examine patterns of freshwater fish γ-, α-, and β-diversity across 234° of longitude in the Arctic. The metrics of diversity provided information on species richness and composition across hydrobasins, ecoregions, and Arctic zones. 3. Circumpolar patterns of fish species biodiversity varied with latitude, isolation, and coarse ecoregion characteristics; patterns were consistent with historic and contemporary barriers to colonisation and environmental characteristics. Gamma-diversity was lower in the high Arctic compared to lower latitude zones, but α-diversity did not decrease with increasing latitude below 71°N, reflecting glacial history. Alpha-diversity was reduced to a single species, Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus, in ecoregions above 71°N, where γ-diversity was the lowest. Beta-diversity indicated little variation in the composition and richness of species across the High Arctic; at lower latitudes, ecoregions contained more species, although species composition turned over across large spatial extents. 4. In an analysis of five ecoregions in the circumpolar Arctic, physical isolation, and ecoregion area and topography were identified as strong drivers of γ-, α-, and β-diversity. Physical isolation reduced the γ- and α-diversity, and changes in β-diversity between adjacent locations were due mainly to losses in species richness, rather than due to differences in species composition. Heterogeneity of habitats, environmental gradients, and geographic distance probably contributed to patterns of fish dissimilarity within and across ecoregions. 5. This study presents the first analysis of large-scale patterns of freshwater fish biodiversity in the circumpolar Arctic. However, information gaps in space, time, and among taxonomic groups remain. Future inclusion of extensive archive and new data will allow future studies to test for changes and drivers of the observed patterns of biodiversity. This is important given the potential impacts of ongoing and accelerating climate change, land use, and biotic exchange on Arctic fish biodiversity.

Species can adapt to climate change by adjusting in situ or by dispersing to new areas, and these strategies may complement or enhance each other. Here, we investigate temporal shifts in phenology and spatial shifts in northern range boundaries for 289 Lepidoptera species by using long-term data sampled over two decades. While 40% of the species neither advanced phenology nor moved northward, nearly half (45%) used one of the two strategies. The strongest positive population trends were observed for the minority of species (15%) that both advanced flight phenology and shifted their northern range boundaries northward. We show that, for boreal Lepidoptera, a combination of phenology and range shifts is the most viable strategy under a changing climate. Effectively, this may divide species into winners and losers based on their propensity to capitalize on this combination, with potentially large consequences on future community composition.

Objective To quantify the peripheral selectivity of vatinoxan (L-659,066, MK-467) in dogs by comparing the concentrations of vatinoxan, dexmedetomidine and levo-medetomidine in plasma and central nervous system (CNS) tissue after intravenous (IV) coadministration of vatinoxan and medetomidine. Study design Experimental, observational study. Animals A group of six healthy, purpose-bred Beagle dogs (four females and two males) aged 6.5 +/- 0.1 years (mean +/- standard deviation). Methods All dogs were administered a combination of medetomidine (40 mu g kg(-1)) and vatinoxan (800 mu g kg(-1)) as IV bolus. After 20 minutes, the dogs were euthanized with an IV overdose of pentobarbital (140 mg kg(-1)) and both venous plasma and CNS tissues (brain, cervical and lumbar spinal cord) were harvested. Concentrations of dexmedetomidine, levomedetomidine and vatinoxan in all samples were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and data were analyzed with nonparametric tests with post hoc corrections where appropriate. Results All dogs became deeply sedated after the treatment. The CNS-to-plasma ratio of vatinoxan concentration was approximately 1:50, whereas the concentrations of dexmedetomidine and levomedetomidine in the CNS were three- to seven-fold of those in plasma. Conclusions and clinical relevance With the doses studied, these results confirm the peripheral selectivity of vatinoxan in dogs, when coadministered IV with medetomidine. Thus, it is likely that vatinoxan preferentially antagonizes alpha(2)-adrenoceptors outside the CNS.

Cyanobacteria of the order Nostocales, including Baltic Sea bloom-forming taxa Nodularia spumigena, Aphanizomenon flosaquae, and Dolichospermum spp., produce resting stages, known as akinetes, under unfavorable conditions. These akinetes can persist in the sediment and germinate if favorable conditions return, simultaneously representing past blooms and possibly contributing to future bloom formation. The present study characterized cyanobacterial akinete survival, germination, and potential cyanotoxin production in brackish water sediment archives from coastal and open Gulf of Finland in order to understand recent bloom expansion, akinete persistence, and cyanobacteria life cycles in the northern Baltic Sea. Results showed that cyanobacterial akinetes can persist in and germinate from Northern Baltic Sea sediment up to >40 and >400 years old, at coastal and open-sea locations, respectively. Akinete abundance and viability decreased with age and depth of vertical sediment layers. The detection of potential microcystin and nodularin production from akinetes was minimal and restricted to the surface sediment layers. Phylogenetic analysis of culturable cyanobacteria from the coastal sediment core indicated that most strains likely belonged to the benthic genus Anabaena. Potentially planktonic species of Dolichospermum could only be revived from the near-surface layers of the sediment, corresponding to an estimated age of 1–3 years. Results of germination experiments supported the notion that akinetes do not play an equally significant role in the life cycles of all bloom-forming cyanobacteria in the Baltic Sea. Overall, there was minimal congruence between akinete abundance, cyanotoxin concentration, and the presence of cyanotoxin biosynthetic genes in either sediment core. Further research is recommended to accurately detect and quantify akinetes and cyanotoxin genes from brackish water sediment samples in order to further describe species-specific benthic archives of cyanobacteria.

The occupancy and abundance of species are jointly driven by local factors, such as environmental characteristics and biotic interactions, and regional-scale factors, such as dispersal and climate. Recently, it has been shown that biotic interactions shape species occupancies and abundances beyond local extents. However, for small ectothermic animals, particularly for those occurring in freshwater environments, the importance of biotic interactions remains understudied. Species-to-species associations from joint species distribution models (i.e. species associations while controlling for environmental characteristics) are increasingly used to draw hypotheses of which species possibly show biotic interactions. We studied whether species-to-species associations from joint species distribution models show signs of competition using a hypothesis testing framework in stream macroinvertebrate communities at regional extent. We sampled aquatic macroinvertebrates from 105 stream sites in western Finland encompassing a latitudinal gradient of c. 500 kilometres. We hypothesized that if competition drives these associations (H1) functionally, similar species are mostly negatively associated, whereas functionally dissimilar species show random associations. We further hypothesized that the relationship between functional dissimilarity and the strength of association is more pronounced (H2) for abundances rather than occupancies, (H3) at small grain (i.e. stream site) rather than at large grain (i.e. river basin), and (H4) among species having weak dispersal ability than among species with high dispersal ability. Stream macroinvertebrates showed both negative and positive species-to-species associations while controlling for habitat characteristics. However, the negative associations were mostly at large grain (river basin) rather than at small grain (stream site), in occupancy rather than abundance, and not related to species functional dissimilarity or to their dispersal ability. Thus, all our hypotheses considering possible competition (H1-H4) were rejected. Competition does not appear to be a major driving force of stream macroinvertebrate communities at the spatial grain sizes considered. The observed positive associations in occupancy at small grain (stream site) may be attributed to species' similar microhabitat preferences, whereas at large grain (river basin), they may stem from metacommunity dynamics. Our results highlight that species traits were necessary to interpret whether or not species-to-species associations from joint species distribution models resulted from biotic interactions.

Understanding the spatial patterns and environmental drivers of freshwater diversity and community structure is a key challenge in biogeography and conservation biology. However, previous studies have focussed primarily on taxonomic diversity and have largely ignored the phylogenetic and functional facets resulting in an incomplete understanding of the community assembly. Here, we examine the influence of local environmental, hydrological proximity effects, land-use type and spatial structuring on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic (using taxonomic relatedness as a proxy) alpha and beta diversity (including the turnover and nestedness-resultant components) of pond macroinvertebrate communities. Ninety-five ponds across urban and non-urban land-uses in Leicestershire, UK were examined. Functional and phylogenetic alpha diversity were negatively correlated with species richness. At the alpha scale, functional diversity and taxonomic richness were primarily determined by local environmental factors while phylogenetic alpha diversity was driven by spatial factors. Compositional variation (beta diversity) of the different facets and components of functional and phylogenetic diversity were largely determined by local environmental variables. Pond surface area, dry phase length and macrophyte cover were consistently important predictors of the different facets and components of alpha and beta diversity. Our results suggest that pond management activities aimed at improving biodiversity should focus on improving and/or restoring local environmental conditions. Quantifying alpha and beta diversity of the different biodiversity facets facilitates a more accurate assessment of patterns in diversity and community structure. Integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity into conservation strategies will increase their efficiency and effectiveness, and maximise biodiversity protection in human-modified landscapes.

This is the tenth of a series of miscellaneous contributions, by various authors, where hitherto unpublished data relevant to both the Med-Checklist and the Euro+Med (or Sisyphus) projects are presentedThis instalment deals with the families Amaranthaceae, Campanulaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Compositae, Crassulaceae, Cruciferae, Cyperaceae, Ericaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Gramineae, Labiatae, Leguminosae, Moraceae, Nyctaginaceae, Orobanchaceae, Pittosporaceae, Solanaceae, Verbenaceae and VitaceaeIt includes new country and area records and taxonomic and distributional considerations for taxa in Acacia (Vachellia), Airopsis, Amaranthus, Bougainvillea, Bromus, Carex, Cerastium, Citharexylum, Clinopodium, Datura, Euphorbia, Ficus, Hieracium, Hypopitys, Kalanchoe, Lobelia, Parthenocissus, Phelipanche, Pittosporum, Polypogon, Rorippa, Spinacia and Symphyotrichum, and a new combination in Clinopodium. © 2019 The Authors.

Habitat fragmentation may present a major impediment to species range shifts caused by climate change, but how it affects local community dynamics in a changing climate has so far not been adequately investigated empirically. Using long-term monitoring data of butterfly assemblages, we tested the effects of the amount and distribution of semi-natural habitat (SNH), moderated by species traits, on climate-driven species turnover. We found that spatially dispersed SNH favoured the colonisation of warm-adapted and mobile species. In contrast, extinction risk of cold-adapted species increased in dispersed (as opposed to aggregated) habitats and when the amount of SNH was low. Strengthening habitat networks by maintaining or creating stepping-stone patches could thus allow warm-adapted species to expand their range, while increasing the area of natural habitat and its spatial cohesion may be important to aid the local persistence of species threatened by a warming climate.