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Diversity
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Diversity in Extreme Environments
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Diversity in Extreme Environments

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity Loss & Dynamics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 7799

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Roberto Pizzolotto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento B.E.S.T., Università della Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
Interests: ground beetles; GIS; community ecology; extreme environments; global change; multivariate analysis; bibliometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Diversity is one of the main challenging topics feeding scientific discussions on the different life strategies that living organisms evolved to survive in a given ecosystem. Particularly, when  colonization and survival are driven by strong selective pressures, species diversity is one of the parameters mirroring the resistance vs. resilience of living organisms in such environments characterized by extreme life conditions.

Environments with extreme life conditions are usually called extreme environments, and they not only include evident highly extreme conditions, such as life on Mars or Antarctica, but also a city, tundra ecosystem, agricultural landscape, or even road roundabout, gut microbiota, and green roofs, which are also extreme environments.

The Special Issue "Diversity in Extreme Environments" aims to provide an ideal arena for hosting and discussing the scientific results of research conducted in extreme environments at different scales of biological complexity, both at the molecular, organismic, and biological community level; in this context, submissions, including reviews and original basic or applied research, are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Roberto Pizzolotto
Guest Editor

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.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4062 KiB  
Article
Does a Rural-Urban Gradient Affect Beetle Assemblages in an Arid Ecosystem?
by Mahmoud S. Abdel-Dayem, Mostafa R. Sharaf, Jonathan D. Majer, Mohammed K. Al-Sadoon, Ahmed M. Soliman, Abdulrahman S. Aldawood, Hathal M. Aldhafer and Gamal M. Orabi
Diversity 2023, 15(2), 303; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15020303 - 18 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1453
Abstract
Urbanization affects all elements of the pre-urban environment, including soils, hydrology, vegetation, and microclimate. Recently, Saudi Arabia has experienced rapid urbanization and growth. Thus, the country’s biodiversity has been threatened. In the Riyadh region, beetle assemblages were assessed along a rural-suburban-urban gradient. A [...] Read more.
Urbanization affects all elements of the pre-urban environment, including soils, hydrology, vegetation, and microclimate. Recently, Saudi Arabia has experienced rapid urbanization and growth. Thus, the country’s biodiversity has been threatened. In the Riyadh region, beetle assemblages were assessed along a rural-suburban-urban gradient. A total of 2791 individuals from 94 species belonging to seven families were collected at 15 sites along three different gradients of urbanization in Wadi Hanifa, which runs for a length of 120 km from northwest to southeast. Tenebrionidae dominated abundance (60.1%) and richness (38%). Beetle abundance, evenness, and diversity were not different among habitats; however, species richness was higher in rural habitats. Detrended correspondence “DCA” and canonical correspondence “CCA” analyses showed distinct differences among sites along gradients. Urbanization intensity, soil variables, and land cover were significantly correlated with CCA axis 1, while elevation and flora were significantly correlated with CCA axis 2. The most critical operating environmental variables in Wadi Hanifa were buildings, elevation, soil organic carbon, litter cover, and litter depth, as well as plant species such as Launaea capitata, Lycium shawii, Alhagi graecorum, and Heliotropium currasavicum. Ten species in our study were associated with urban habitats, six with suburban habitats, and seven with rural habitats. Consequently, expanding urban areas may negatively affect the richness and composition of beetles and may result in the loss of some native species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity in Extreme Environments)
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23 pages, 5204 KiB  
Article
Microbial Communities of Ferromanganese Sedimentary Layers and Nodules of Lake Baikal (Bolshoy Ushkany Island)
by Tamara Zemskaya, Natalia Konstantinova, Olga Shubenkova, Tatyana Pogodaeva, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Sergei Bukin, Andrey Khabuev, Oleg Khlystov, Grigory Vilkin and Anna Lomakina
Diversity 2022, 14(10), 868; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14100868 - 13 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2112
Abstract
Ferromanganese (Fe-Mn) sedimentary layers and nodules occur at different depths within sediments at deep basins and ridges of Lake Baikal. We studied Fe-Mn nodules and host sediments recovered at the slope of Bolshoy Ushkany Island. Layer-by-layer 230Th/U dating analysis determined the initial [...] Read more.
Ferromanganese (Fe-Mn) sedimentary layers and nodules occur at different depths within sediments at deep basins and ridges of Lake Baikal. We studied Fe-Mn nodules and host sediments recovered at the slope of Bolshoy Ushkany Island. Layer-by-layer 230Th/U dating analysis determined the initial age of the Fe-Mn nodule formation scattered in the sediments as 96 ± 5–131 ± 8 Ka. The distribution profiles of the main ions in the pore waters of the studied sediment are similar to those observed in the deep-sea areas of Lake Baikal, while the chemical composition of Fe-Mn nodules indicates their diagenetic formation with hydrothermal influence. Among the bacteria in microbial communities of sediments, members of organoheterotrophic Gammaproteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteriota, Acidobacteriota, among them Archaea—chemolithoautotrophic ammonia-oxidizing archaea Nitrososphaeria, dominated. About 13% of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences in Fe-Mn layers belonged to Methylomirabilota representatives which use nitrite ions as electron acceptors for the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). Nitrospirota comprised up to 9% of the layers of Bolshoy Ushkany Island. In bacterial communities of Fe-Mn nodule, a large percentage of sequences were attributed to Alphaproteobacteria, Actinobacteriota and Firmicutes, as well as a variety of OTUs with a small number of sequences characteristic of hydrothermal ecosystems. The contribution of representatives of Methylomirabilota and Nitrospirota in communities of Fe-Mn nodule was minor. Our data support the hypothesis that chemolithoautotrophs associated with ammonium-oxidizing archaea and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria can potentially play an important role as primary producers of Fe-Mn substrates in freshwater Lake Baikal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity in Extreme Environments)
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16 pages, 3045 KiB  
Article
Warmer and Poorer: The Fate of Alpine Calcareous Grasslands in Central Apennines (Italy)
by Marco Varricchione, Maria Laura Carranza, Valter Di Cecco, Luciano Di Martino and Angela Stanisci
Diversity 2022, 14(9), 695; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14090695 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1620
Abstract
Global change threatens alpine biodiversity and its effects vary across habitat types and biogeographic regions. We explored vegetation changes over the last 20 years on two Mediterranean alpine calcareous grasslands in central Apennines (Italy): stripped grasslands (EUNIS code E4.436) with Sesleria juncifolia growing [...] Read more.
Global change threatens alpine biodiversity and its effects vary across habitat types and biogeographic regions. We explored vegetation changes over the last 20 years on two Mediterranean alpine calcareous grasslands in central Apennines (Italy): stripped grasslands (EUNIS code E4.436) with Sesleria juncifolia growing on steep slopes, and wind edge swards (EUNIS code E4.42) with Carex myosuroides. Based on a re-visitation of 25 vegetation plots of 4 × 4 m, we assessed changes in overall and endemic plant species cover and richness by nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis test. We explored changes in structure and ecology using growth forms and Landolt indicators for temperatures. We identified species’ contribution to temporal changes using the similarity percentage procedure (SIMPER). The results evidenced a significant decline in all species cover and richness on both plant communities with a significant decline in alpine and endemic species and in hemicryptophytes with rosette and scapose ones on stripped grasslands, as well as a decline in subalpine and suffruticose chamaephytes species on wind edge swards. Such biodiversity loss, so far observed only in the warmest and Southern Mediterranean summits of Europe, is likely attributable to the combined effect of higher temperatures; the increase in the vegetative period; and the decrease in water availability, which is particularly severe in calcareous regions. Our study suggested the vulnerability of the analyzed alpine ecosystems to global change and the importance of monitoring activities to better understand vegetation trends and adaptation strategies in subalpine, alpine, and nival ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity in Extreme Environments)
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14 pages, 4076 KiB  
Article
Bacterial and Archaeal Water and Sediment Communities of Two Hot Spring Streams in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, China
by Jinshan Li, Zhufeng Zhang, Tao Liu, Hui Xiong, Shumiao Zhao, Yuxia Mei, Nan Peng and Yunxiang Liang
Diversity 2022, 14(5), 381; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14050381 - 11 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1923
Abstract
In Tengchong County, springs with wide physicochemical diversity provide a multitude of niches for extremophilic microorganisms. In this study, eight middle-low temperature spring sites along two continuous small streams with low water flow and slow speed in the fourth geothermal experience area of [...] Read more.
In Tengchong County, springs with wide physicochemical diversity provide a multitude of niches for extremophilic microorganisms. In this study, eight middle-low temperature spring sites along two continuous small streams with low water flow and slow speed in the fourth geothermal experience area of Rehai scenic spot were chosen, and geochemical characteristics and HTS of the 16S rRNA V4 region were used to analyze the prokaryotic community structure and diversity in the water and sediment of these sites. The effect of environmental factors on the microbial communities was explored via redundancy analysis (RDA). All sediment samples had higher alpha diversity values than the corresponding water samples. Twenty-five phyla were annotated; Euryarchaeota, Crenarchaeota, Aquificae, Thermotogae and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla, accounting for 95.31% of all prokaryotes, with relative abundances above 5%. Aquificae dominated in water samples, while Euryarchaeota dominated in sediment samples. RDA indicated that temperature was the main factor influencing the microbial communities in the two streams. The study expands the current understanding of the microbiology of Tengchong hot springs and provides a basis for further mining of hot spring microbial and functional gene resources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity in Extreme Environments)
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