PeerJ – Biodiversity and Conservation section

11 December 2018

Combining ultraconserved elements and mtDNA data to uncover lineage diversity in a Mexican highland frog (Sarcohyla; Hylidae)

Eugenia Zarza, Elizabeth M. Connors, James M. Maley, Whitney L.E. Tsai, Peter Heimes, Moises Kaplan, John E. McCormack

Editor rating: 8 / 10

Tomas Hrbek –– Nice paper dwelling deep into the diversity of a rare species complex of Mexican tree frogs that also demonstrates the synergy of 16S rDNA and UCE data in studies of amphibian diversity.

5 December 2018

Simultaneous preservation of the DNA quality, the community composition and the density of freshwater oligochaetes for the development of genetically based biological indices

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Xavier Pochon –– This interesting study provides some of the fundamental method development for using DNA from soft bodied invertebrates in biological monitoring without destroying the specimens.

23 October 2018

The effectiveness of Payments for Ecosystem Services at delivering improvements in water quality: lessons for experiments at the landscape scale

Editor rating: 8 / 10

Matthew Wilson –– Statistically-sound evaluation of the effectiveness of payments for ecosystem services is extremely difficult. This paper presents one the first attempts to implement a randomised controlled trial (the statistical gold-standard in evaluation of effectiveness) for watershed management. Along the way, the challenges and limitations of implementing such a scheme are highlighted: thus, the paper will serve as a valuable reference point for others in the field.

4 October 2018

Conceptual and empirical advances in Neotropical biodiversity research

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Tomas Hrbek –– A useful and for many probably a necessary overview of the complexities of structuring and origins of Neotropical biodiversity, and the need to pursue cross-disciplinary approaches if we hope to understand Neotropical biodiversity.

28 September 2018

Functional responses of a cosmopolitan invader demonstrate intraspecific variability in consumer-resource dynamics

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Xavier Pochon –– This interesting study investigated the effect of predator (green crabs) and prey (mussels) morphology on prey consumption using a consumer-resource dynamics model across native and invasive ranges of the European green crab (Carcinus maenas).

27 September 2018

Assessing the role of dispersed floral resources for managed bees in providing supporting ecosystem services for crop pollination

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Ilaria Negri –– This article represents a novel approach for the study of pollination services where beekeepers' perception should be considered

26 September 2018

Assessing bird avoidance of high-contrast lights using a choice test approach: implications for reducing human-induced avian mortality

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Jose Maria Cardoso da Silva –– This paper uses an innovative approach that can help to mitigate human-induced avian mortality.

25 September 2018

High-throughput metabarcoding reveals the effect of physicochemical soil properties on soil and litter biodiversity and community turnover across Amazonia

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Jorge Curiel Yuste –– We need more studies like this one in order to deepen the causal relations between the soil microbiome and aboveground diversity and ecosystem functioning. It is especially important to obtain more information about the drivers of diversity of the microbiome of highly diverse areas of the planet such as the Amazon, currently underrepresented in the databases

19 September 2018

Potential changes in the distribution of Carnegiea gigantea under future scenarios

Editor rating: 8 / 10

Bruno Marino –– The iconic towering Saguaro, seemingly timeless and unchanging, is vulnerable to climate change. The work by Albuquerque and colleagues provide new insights into how the saguaro may fare under changing climate across the desert landscape of the future. Indigenous Peoples, desert ecologists, policymakers and the public will find this study of relevance when considering the impacts of global warming on the iconic cactus.

29 August 2018

Detection and phylogenetic analysis of adenoviruses occurring in a single anole species

Editor rating: 8 / 10