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Diversity
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Diversity Hotspots
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Diversity Hotspots

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Phylogeny and Evolution".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 23 July 2024 | Viewed by 2605

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Pál Sümegi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geology and Paleontology, University of Szeged, H-6722 Szeged, Hungary
Interests: sedimentary geology; paleontology; paleoecology; paleoenvironment; biogeography
Dr. Katalin Náfrádi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geology and Paleontology, University of Szeged, H-6722 Szeged, Hungary
Interests: anthracology; archeobotany; paleoecology; paleoenvironment; geoarcheology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Diversity hotspots occur on every continent in the world; they are ecologically unique regions with high species richness. They are outstanding regarding conservation and quality of life—attracting many people, professionals, and non-professionals as —because they are a vital part of our existence and reflect the quality of our lives. They contain species and habitats that are found nowhere else. Maintaining species variability is a major challenge in the context of the current global environmental change, pollution, and climate change. The big question is whether we can protect these areas of nature. Will they have a future? We try to find answers to the question, such as how and when these diverse areas were formed and how could they have survived. Preference would be given to publications that present not only the diversity hotspots but also their environment’s historical development.

For this Special Issue, we aim to highlight papers that are looking for answers to questions such as how these diversity hotspots, including the plants and animals, survived extreme climatic conditions in the past. How did some species spread once the unfavourable conditions had disappeared? What are the current trends in species' habitats? How are they responding to the current climatic changes, global air pollution, and human influences? What can we expect in the future in these special areas?

Prof. Dr. Pál Sümegi
Dr. Katalin Náfrádi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • diversity hotspots
  • refugium
  • environmental history
  • global climate change

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3268 KiB  
Article
Species Composition and Distribution of Terrestrial Herbs in a High Montane Forest in Ecuador
by Catalina Quintana, Henrik Balslev and Renato Valencia
Diversity 2024, 16(5), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16050262 - 27 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1036
Abstract
In mountain tropical forests, understory herbs have received little attention compared to trees, and their commonness and rarity are virtually unknown. We studied ground herbs to explore how they are assembled in a full one-hectare plot and to test the influence of light [...] Read more.
In mountain tropical forests, understory herbs have received little attention compared to trees, and their commonness and rarity are virtually unknown. We studied ground herbs to explore how they are assembled in a full one-hectare plot and to test the influence of light intensity (LI) and topographic habitats in species composition. The plot is a humid montane forest located in the Pasochoa Volcano, at 3300 m. We found 43 genera and 50 perennial species (30 angiosperms in 17 families, and 20 ferns). Interestingly, herbs are 64% richer in species than trees in the same study plot (50 vs. 32). Herbs were mostly obligately terrestrial (70% of the species), while 30% were fallen climbers and epiphytes rooted in the ground. Across the forest, there were 31,119 individuals that covered 8.5% of the ground. We concluded that both LI and topography shaped the species distribution, the floristic composition, and the community structure of ground herbs. For instance, 12% of the species were exclusively found in places with high LI; the rest of species grew in medium- to low-LI environments. Concerning rarity, we found that 39% of the species are rare (judging by botanical collections; <100), which stresses the need of conservation strategies for this group of plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity Hotspots)
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26 pages, 16436 KiB  
Article
Reconstructing the Paleoenvironmental Evolution of Lake Kolon (Hungary) through Palaeoecological, Statistical and Historical Analyses
by Tamás Zsolt Vári, Elemér Pál-Molnár and Pál Sümegi
Diversity 2023, 15(10), 1095; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15101095 - 20 Oct 2023
Viewed by 989
Abstract
The research utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, combining geological, ecological, and historical methods. It delves into the environmental evolution of Lake Kolon over a span of 17,700 years, shedding light on the intricate interplay between geological processes and ecological changes. The historical, statistical (PCA, [...] Read more.
The research utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, combining geological, ecological, and historical methods. It delves into the environmental evolution of Lake Kolon over a span of 17,700 years, shedding light on the intricate interplay between geological processes and ecological changes. The historical, statistical (PCA, DCA), and palaeoecological analyses centers on a core sequence situated in the heart of the lake, building upon previous research endeavors (pollen, malacological, macrobotanical and sedimentological analyses with radiocarbon dating). Forest fires occurred at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM); the boreal forest–steppe environment changed into temperate deciduous forest at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary; human-induced environmental change into open parkland occurred; and from medieval times, communities used the land as pasture. This type of reconstruction is crucial for understanding how ecosystems respond to climate change over time, which has broader implications for modern-day conservation efforts and managing ecosystems in the face of ongoing climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity Hotspots)
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