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Patterns of vertebrate endemism within the south-east African dominion [SEAD; defined by the dendrogram in Fig. 4a, comprising 28 zoogeographical units (ZUs; acronyms in pane (b) and labelled in Fig. 1. (a) SEAD endemic species richness per ZU; (b) range-restricted species richness (narrow endemism) per ZU; (c) weighted endemism (normalised) per ZU; (d) weighted endemism corrected for the area (normalised) per ZU. Each endemism measure is illustrated by a graduated grey scale of five classes, determined by natural breaks calculated using Jenk"s optimisation.
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The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany (MPA) hotspot, as is the case of all such global biodiversity hotspots, has primarily been recognised based on its high floristic endemism and delimited intuitively. Boundaries of global biodiversity hotspots have seldom been empirically tested in terms of species distribution patterns and only a few have been examin...
Citations
... [49]. The subregional hierarchy of zoogeographical entities i.e., dominions, subdominions, provinces, subprovinces and districts [40,[50][51][52] (see Perera et al [24] for more details) were determined based on phenon lines [38,53] placed on the dendrogram in order to generate geographically contiguous clusters of OGUs, while OGUs that were not placed in such geographically contiguous clusters were dissolved in to the geographically nearest and ecologically closest biogeographical entity derived from the same dendrogram [23,24]. ...
Invertebrates in general have long been underrepresented in studies on biodiversity, biogeography and conservation. Boundaries of biodiversity hotspots are often delimited intuitively based on floristic endemism and have seldom been empirically tested using actual species distributions, and especially invertebrates. Here we analyse the zoogeography of terrestrial malacofauna from south-eastern Africa (SEA), proposing the first mollusc-based numerical regionalisation for the area. We also discuss patterns and centres of land snail endemism, thence assessing the importance and the delimitation of the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany (MPA) biodiversity hotspot for their conservation. An incidence matrix compiled for relatively well-collected lineages of land snails and slugs (73 taxa in twelve genera) in 40 a priori operational geographic units was subjected to (a) phenetic agglomerative hierarchical clustering using unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA), (b) parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) and biotic element analysis (BEA). Fulfilling the primary objective of our study, the UPGMA dendrogram provided a hierarchical regionalisation and identified five centres of molluscan endemism for SEA, while the PAE confirmed six areas of endemism, also supported by the BEA. The regionalisation recovers a zoogeographic province similar to the MPA hotspot, but with a conspicuous westward extension into Knysna (towards the Cape). The MPA province, centres and areas of endemism, biotic elements as well as the spatial patterns of species richness and endemism, support the MPA hotspot, but suggest further extensions resulting in a greater MPA region of land snail endemism (also with a northward extension into sky islands-Soutpansberg and Wolkberg), similar to that noted for vertebrates. The greater MPA region provides a more robustly defined region of conservation concern, with centres of endemism serving as local conservation priorities.
... Poynton (1961) further elaborated on the transitional nature of the area's biota by adding preliminary observations on plants, other vertebrates, as well as some invertebrate taxa into his discussion, emphasising the importance of the area for future biogeographical studies. Nevertheless, the region has not received specific attention of biogeographic research until recently in Perera (2013). ...
We use numerical methods to explore patterns of vertebrate endemism in south-eastern Africa, refining the boundaries of the intuitively-defined Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany biodiversity hotspot, also proposing a zoogeographic regionalisation. An incidence matrix of 300 vertebrate species endemic to south-eastern Africa sensu lato in 37 operational geographic units were used in (a) phenetic cluster analysis (PCA) using the algorithm of unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (phenetic approach), and (b) parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE; parsimony approach), in order to numerically evaluate the bioregional delimitations. The analyses provide a valid biogeographical entity 37% larger than the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot, but substantially (131%) higher in vertebrate endemicity viz. the Greater Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany (GMPA) region of vertebrate endemism. South-east Africa is recognised as a dominion in the global zoogeographical area hierarchy, with subordinate units including the GMPA province. Various spatially-based measures of endemism were mapped for vertebrate species restricted to the dominion, i.e. endemic to south-eastern Africa sensu stricto. Areas and centres of endemism detected respectively from PAE and PCA, within the south-east Africa dominion also support the refined boundary of the GMPA region of endemism, which provides a better spatial conservation priority compared to the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot. Reptiles and amphibians are found to be the main drivers of the overall pattern of endemism, while the pattern in freshwater fish is the most distinctive. Our analyses also indicate a good congruence of the centres of endemism across different terrestrial vertebrate taxa.
... The OGUs used here do not conform to this equal area requirement; therefore CWE had to be modified to account for the OGU scale. A new measure was derived by Perera (2013), where the unequal area of OGUs was accounted for by dividing the WE scores of OGUs by the number of grid cells in each OGU. This new measure is given as corrected weighted endemism per unit area (CWEA) (cf. ...
Southern Africa boasts a wealth of endemic fauna and flora, comprising both massive recent radiations such as those characteristic of the Cape flora, and solitary ancient species such as the peculiar desert gymnosperm Welwitschia. This study was undertaken to identify ancient biological lineages (tetrapod and vascular plant lineages of Eocene age or older) endemic to southern Africa, and to map their distribution across the region. Twenty-seven (17 plant and ten animal) lineages were identified, and distribution maps were generated for each of them across 74 operational geographic units, which were then combined into total endemism and corrected weighted endemism per unit area. Total endemism peaked along South Africa's coast and Great Escarpment, but in the case of weighted endemism high values were also recorded along other portions of the Great Escarpment further north. A review of the lineages sister to southern African ancient endemic lineages showed that these are often globally widespread, and many of them differ substantially from the southern African ancient lineages in terms of morphology and ecology. The mechanisms of ancient lineage survival in the region are discussed, and their importance for conservation in southern Africa is emphasised.
The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas Valenciennes, 1839) is a large, primarily coastally distributed shark famous for its ability to penetrate far into freshwater bodies in tropical, subtropical, and warm-temperate climates. It is a cosmopolitan species with a geographical range that includes the coastlines of all major ocean basins (Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean). As a consequence, freshwater occurrences of C. leucas are possible everywhere inside its geographic range. Carcharhinus leucas is a fully euryhaline, amphidromous species and possibly the widest-ranging of all freshwater tolerating elasmobranchs. This species is found not only in river systems with sea access that are not interrupted by human impediments but in hypersaline lakes as well. Rivers and estuaries are believed to be important nursery grounds for C. leucas, as suggested by observations of pregnant females in estuaries and neonates with umbilical scars in rivers and river mouths. Due to the physical capability of this species to enter riverine systems, the documentation of its occurrence in fresh and brackish water is essential for future conservation plans, fishery inspections, and scientific studies that focus on the link between low salinity habitats, shark nurseries, and feeding areas. The author’s review of the available literature on C. leucas revealed the absence of a comprehensive overview of fresh and brackish water localities (rivers and associated lakes, estuaries) with C. leucas
records. The purpose of this literature review is to provide a global list of rivers, river systems, lakes, estuaries, and lagoons with records and reports of this species, including a link to the used references as a base for regional, national, and international conservation strategies. Therefore, the objective of this work is to present lists of fresh and brackish water habitats with records of C. leucas as the result of an extensive literature review and analysis of databases. This survey also took into account estuaries and lagoons, regarding their function as important nursery grounds for C. leucas. The analysis of references included is not only from the scientific literature, but also includes semi-scientific references and the common press if reliable. The result of 415 global fresh and brackish water localities with evidence of C. leucas highlights the importance of these habitats for the reproduction of this species. Moreover, gaps in available distribution maps are critically discussed as well as interpretations and conclusions made regarding possible reasons for the distribution range of C. leucas, which can be interpreted as the result of geographic circumstances, but also as a result of the current state of knowledge about the distribution of this species. The results of the examination of available references were used to build a reliable and updated distribution map for C. leucas, which is also presented here.
