The trait contribution to wood decomposition rates of 15 Neotropical tree species

The decomposition of dead wood is a critical uncertainty in models of the global carbon cycle. Despite this, relatively few studies have focused on dead wood decomposition, with a strong bias to higher latitudes. Especially the effect of interspecific variation in species traits on differences in wood decomposition rates remains unknown. In order to fill these gaps, we applied a novel method to study long-term wood decomposition of 15 tree species in a Bolivian semi-evergreen tropical moist forest. We hypothesized that interspecific differences in species traits are important drivers of variation in wood decomposition rates. Wood decomposition rates (fractional mass loss) varied between 0.01 and 0.31 yr(-1). We measured 10 different chemical, anatomical, and morphological traits for all species. The species' average traits were useful predictors of wood decomposition rates, particularly the average diameter (dbh) of the tree species (R2 = 0.41). Lignin concentration further increased the proportion of explained inter-specific variation in wood decomposition (both negative relations, cumulative R2 = 0.55), although it did not significantly explain variation in wood decomposition rates if considered alone. When dbh values of the actual dead trees sampled for decomposition rate determination were used as a predictor variable, the final model (including dead tree dbh and lignin concentration) explained even more variation in wood decomposition rates (R2 = 0.71), underlining the importance of dbh in wood decomposition. Other traits, including wood density, wood anatomical traits, macronutrient concentrations, and the amount of phenolic extractives could not significantly explain the variation in wood decomposition rates. The surprising results of this multi-species study, in which for the first time a large set of traits is explicitly linked to wood decomposition rates, merits further testing in other forest ecosystems.     

Partitioning the factors of spatial variation in regeneration density of shade-tolerant tree species

Understanding coexistence of highly shade-tolerant tree species is a longstanding challenge for forest ecologists. A conceptual model for the coexistence of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and American beech (Fagus grandibfolia) has been proposed, based on a low-light survival/high-light growth trade-off, which interacts with soil fertility and small-scale spatiotemporal variation in the environment. In this study, we first tested whether the spatial distribution of seedlings and saplings can be predicted by the spatiotemporal variability of light availability and soil fertility, and second, the manner in which the process of environmental filtering changes with regeneration size. We evaluate the support for this hypothesis relative to the one for a neutral model, i.e., for seed rain density predicted from the distribution of adult trees. To do so, we performed intensive sampling over 86 quadrats (5 x 5 m) in a 0.24-ha plot in a mature maple-beech community in Quebec, Canada. Maple and beech abundance, soil characteristics, light availability, and growth history (used as a proxy for spatiotemporal variation in light availability) were finely measured to model variation in sapling composition across different size classes. Results indicate that the variables selected to model species distribution do effectively change with size, but not as predicted by the conceptual model. Our results show that variability in the environment is not sufficient to differentiate these species' distributions in space. Although species differ in their spatial distribution in the small size classes, they tend to correlate at the larger size class in which recruitment occurs. Overall, the results are not supportive of a model of coexistence based on small-scale variations in the environment. We propose that, at the scale of a local stand, the lack of fit of the model could result from the high similarity of species in the range of environmental conditions encountered, and we suggest that coexistence would be stable only at larger spatial scales at which variability in the environment is greater.     

Tolerance of soil pathogens co-varies with shade tolerance across species of tropical tree seedlings

A negative feedback between local abundance and natural enemies could contribute to maintaining tree species diversity by constraining population growth of common species. Soil pathogens could be an important mechanism of such noncompetitive distance and density-dependent (NCDD) mortality, but susceptibility to local pathogens may be ameliorated by a life history strategy that favors survivorship. In a shade-house experiment (1% full sun), we tested seedling life span, growth, and mass allocation responses to microbial extract filtered from conspecific-cultured soil in 21 tree species that varied in abundance and shade tolerance in a wet tropical forest (La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica). Forty-three percent of the species had significant reductions, and 10% of the species had significant increases in life span, growth, root length, or root surface area when inoculated with microbial extract; 10% of the species experienced opposing reductions and increases in these characteristics. Contrary to expectation, species' local abundance was not related to species-specific responses to microbial extracts from cultured soils. Across species, seedling shade tolerance (survival at 1% full sun) was negatively correlated with susceptibility to the microbial. treatment for both survival and total mass accumulation, thereby exaggerating shade tolerance differences among species. Thus, soil pathogens may contribute to species coexistence through heightening niche differentiation rather than through negative density dependence in common species.     

Interannual variation of ichthyoplankton density and species composition in the waters off northeastern Taiwan

The ichthyoplankton in the waters of northeastern Taiwan have been studied since 1989. Based on collections in August 1989 to 1991, this report treats primarily the annual variation of ichthyoplankton density, species composition and assemblage diversity among the waters of the East China Sea, the Kuroshio and the mixing zone. The ranges of average densities found for fish eggs were 7 to 3897 ind 1000 m^-3 and 0.02 to 1.43 g 1000 m^-3, for ichthyoplankton 154 to 1364 ind 1000 m^-3 and 0.33 to 3.23 g 1000 m^-3, and for zooplankton 52 to 532 g 1000 m^-3. An interannual comparison indicates a tendency towards a decrease in ichthyoplankton density from 1989 to 1991. In total, 5803 individuals assigned to at least 91 families and 254 taxa at species level were collected. Lantern fish form the most common species group (Benthosema pterotum: 12.1%; Diaphus pacificus: 4.2%). The other species in order of frequency are: gobies (5.8%); Callionymus sp. (3.4%); Auxis spp. (3.1%); Trachinocephalus myops (3.0%); Nibea sp. (2.8%); Synagrops philippinensis (2.3%); Priacanthus macracanthus (2.2%); and percophid (2.0%). The relative frequency of the ten most abundant taxa fluctuated annually. Neither interannual distinction nor interannual correlation was confirmed by statistical analysis, but intra-annual rank correlations were established among the water masses. A weak tendency towards increasing diversity from 1989 to 1990 and little diversity in the mixing zone were observed. We conclude that there is a complex inter-dependence of assemblages from the waters of northeastern Taiwan.     

Specificity between Neotropical tree seedlings and their fungal mutualists leads to plant-soil feedback

A growing body of evidence obtained largely from temperate grassland studies suggests that feedbacks occurring between plants and their associated soil biota are important to plant community assemblage. However, few studies have examined the importance of soil organisms in driving plant-soil feedbacks in forested systems. In a tropical forest in central Panama, we examined whether interactions between tree seedlings and their associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) lead to plant-soil feedback. Specifically, do tropical seedlings modify their own AMF communities in a manner that either favors or inhibits the next cohort of conspecific seedlings (i.e., positive or negative feedback, respectively)? Seedlings of two shade-tolerant tree species (Eugenia nesiotica, Virola surinamensis) and two pioneer tree species (Luehea seemannii, Apeiba aspera) were grown in pots containing identical AMF communities composed of equal amounts of inoculum of six co-occurring AMF species. The different AMF-host combinations were all exposed to two light levels. Under low light (2% PAR), only two of the six AMF species sporulated, and we found that host identity did not influence composition of AMF spore communities. However, relative abundances of three of the four AMF species that produced spores were influenced by host identity when grown under high light (20% PAR). Furthermore, spores of one of the AMF species, Glomus geosporum, were common in soils of Luehea and Eugenia but absent in soils of Apeiba and Virola. We then conducted a reciprocal experiment to test whether AMF communities previously modified by Luehea and Apeiba differentially affected the growth of conspecific and heterospecific seedlings. Luehea seedling growth did not differ between soils containing AMF communities modified by Luehea and Apeiba. However, Apeiba seedlings were significantly larger when grown with Apeiba-modified AMF communities, as compared to Apeiba seedlings grown with Luehea-modifed AMF communities. Our experiments suggest that interactions between tropical trees and their associated AMF are species-specific and that these interactions may shape both tree and AMF communities through plant-soil feedback.     

中国降水量区域变化稳定性研究

利用中国气象中心160站点的实际观察资料,对中国半个世纪的降水变化进行了系统分析,发现中国的夏季降水变化稳定性有显著的纬度与海拔效应:纬度越高,方差值越小,降水变化的幅度也越小,稳定性越大;从海拔来看,海拔越高,降水稳定性越好,降水量的变化稳定性与海拔是成反相关关系.除过受区域水汽来源稳定性的影响,主要受全球降水稳定性的分布规律所制约;在海拔上,降水量稳定性的分布,除过受水汽来源影响外,还与水汽凝结的高度效应有一定的关系.     

Episodic death across species of desert shrubs

Extreme events shape population and community trajectories. We report episodic mortality across common species of thousands of long-lived perennials individually tagged and monitored for 20 years in the Colorado Desert of California following severe regional drought. Demographic records from 1984 to 2004 show 15 years of virtual stasis in populations of adult shrubs and cacti, punctuated by a 55-100% die-off of six of the seven most common perennial species. In this episode, adults that experienced reduced growth in a lesser drought during 1984-1989 failed to survive the drought of 2002. The significance of this event is potentially profound because population dynamics of long-lived plants can be far more strongly affected by deaths of adults, which in deserts potentially live for centuries, than by seedling births or deaths. Differential mortality and rates of recovery during and after extreme climatic events quite likely determine the species composition of plant and associated animal communities for at least decades. The die-off recorded in this closely monitored community provides a unique window into the mechanics of this process of species decline and replacement.     

Temporal turnover in the composition of tropical tree communities: functional determinism and phylogenetic stochasticity

The degree to which turnover in biological communities is structured by deterministic or stochastic factors and the identities of influential deterministic factors are fundamental, yet unresolved, questions in ecology. Answers to these questions are particularly important for projecting the fate of forests with diverse disturbance histories worldwide. To uncover the processes governing turnover we use species-level molecular phylogenies and functional trait data sets for two long-term tropical forest plots with contrasting disturbance histories: one forest is older-growth, and one was recently disturbed. Having both phylogenetic and functional information further allows us to parse out the deterministic influences of different ecological filters. With the use of null models we find that compositional turnover was random with respect to phylogeny on average, but highly nonrandom with respect to measured functional traits. Furthermore, as predicted by a deterministic assembly process, the older-growth and disturbed forests were characterized by less than and greater than expected functional turnover, respectively. These results suggest that the abiotic environment, which changes due to succession in the disturbed forest, strongly governs the temporal dynamics of disturbed and undisturbed tropical forests. Predicting future changes in the composition of disturbed and undisturbed forests may therefore be tractable when using a functional-trait-based approach.     

Predicting tree diversity across the United States as a function of modeled gross primary production.

At the regional and continental scale, ecologists have theorized that spatial variation in biodiversity can be interpreted as a response to differences in climate. To test this theory we assumed that ecological constraints associated with current climatic conditions (2000-2004) might best be correlated with tree richness if expressed through satellite-derived measures of gross primary production (GPP), rather than the more commonly used, but less consistently derived, net primary production. To evaluate current patterns in tree diversity across the contiguous United States we acquired information on tree composition from the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis program that represented more than 17,4000 survey plots. We selected 2693 cells of 1000 km2 within which a sufficient number of plots were available to estimate tree richness per hectare. Our estimates of forest productivity varied from simple vegetation indices indicative of the fraction of light intercepted by canopies at 16-d intervals, a product from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer), to 8- and 10-d GPP products derived with minimal climatic data (MODIS) and SPOT-Vegetation (Systeme Pour l'Observation de la Terre), to 3-PGS (Physiological Principles Predicting Growth with Satellites), which requires both climate and soil data. Across the contiguous United States, modeled predictions of gross productivity accounted for between 51% and 77% of the recorded spatial variation in tree diversity, which ranged from 2 to 67 species per hectare. When the analyses were concentrated within nine broadly defined ecoregions, predictive relations largely disappeared. Only 3-PGS predictions fit a theorized unimodal function by being able to distinguish highly productive forests in the Pacific Northwest that support lower than expected tree diversity. Other models predicted a continuous steep rise in tree diversity with increasing productivity, and did so with generally better or nearly equal precision with fewer data requirements.     

Savanna tree density, herbivores, and the herbaceous community: bottom-up vs. top-down effects

Herbivores choose their habitats both to maximize forage intake and to minimize their risk of predation. For African savanna herbivores, the available habitats range in woody cover from open areas with few trees to dense, almost-closed woodlands. This variation in woody cover or density can have a number of consequences for herbaceous species composition, cover, and productivity, as well as for ease of predator detection and avoidance. Here, we consider two alternative possibilities: first, that tree density affects the herbaceous vegetation, with concomitant "bottom-up" effects on herbivore habitat preferences; or, second, that tree density affects predator visibility, mediating "top-down" effects of predators on herbivore habitat preferences. We sampled sites spanning a 10-fold range of tree densities in an Acacia drepanolobium-dominated savanna in Laikipia, Kenya, for variation in (1) herbaceous cover, composition, and species richness; (2) wild and domestic herbivore use; and (3) degree of visibility obstruction by the tree layer. We then used structural equation modeling to consider the potential influences that tree density may have on herbivores and herbaceous community properties. Tree density was associated with substantial variation in herbaceous species composition and richness. Cattle exhibited a fairly uniform use of the landscape, whereas wild herbivores, with the exception of elephants, exhibited a strong preference for areas of low tree density. Model results suggest that this was not a response to variation in herbaceous-community characteristics, but rather a response to the greater visibility associated with more open places. Elephants, in contrast, preferred areas with higher densities of trees, apparently because of greater forage availability. These results suggest that, for all but the largest species, top-down behavioral effects of predator avoidance on herbivores are mediated by tree density. This, in turn, appears to have cascading effects on the herbaceous vegetation. These results shed light on one of the major features of the "landscape of fear" in which African savanna herbivores exist.     

Associations of forest bird species richness with housing and landscape patterns across the USA.

In the United States, housing density has substantially increased in and adjacent to forests. Our goal in this study was to identify how housing density and human populations are associated with avian diversity. We compared these associations to those between landscape pattern and avian diversity, and we examined how these associations vary across the conterminous forested United States. Using data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey, the U.S. Census, and the National Land Cover Database, we focused on forest and woodland bird communities and conducted our analysis at multiple levels of model specificity, first using a coarse-thematic resolution (basic models), then using a larger number of fine-thematic resolution variables (refined models). We found that housing development was associated with forest bird species richness in all forested ecoregions of the conterminous United States. However, there were important differences among ecoregions. In the basic models, housing density accounted for < 5% of variance in avian species richness. In refined models, 85% of models included housing density and/or residential land cover as significant variables. The strongest guild response was demonstrated in the Adirondack-New England ecoregion, where 29% of variation in richness of the permanent resident guild was associated with housing density. Model improvements due to regional stratification were most pronounced for cavity nesters and short-distance migrants, suggesting that these guilds may be especially sensitive to regional processes. The varying patterns of association between avian richness and attributes associated with landscape structure suggested that landscape context was an important mediating factor affecting how biodiversity responds to landscape changes. Our analysis suggested that simple, broadly applicable, land use recommendations cannot be derived from our results. Rather, anticipating future avian response to land use intensification (or reversion to native vegetation) has to be conditioned on the current landscape context and the species group of interest. Our results show that housing density and residential land cover were significant predictors of forest bird species richness, and their prediction strengths are likely to increase as development continues.     

Model based grouping of species across environmental gradients

We present a novel approach to the statistical analysis and prediction of multispecies data. The approach allows the simultaneous grouping and quantification of multiple species’ responses to environmental gradients. The underlying statistical model is a finite mixture model, where mixing is performed over the individual species’ responses to environmental gradients. Species with similar responses are grouped with minimal information loss. We term these groups species archetypes. Each species archetype has an associated GLM that can be used to predict distributions with appropriate measures of uncertainty. Initially, we illustrate the concept and method using artificial data and then with application to real data comprising 200 species from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon on 13 oceanographic and geological gradients from 12°S to 24°S. The 200 species from the GBR are well represented by 15 species archetypes. The model is interpreted through maps of the probability of presence for a fine scale set of locations throughout the study area. Maps of uncertainty are also produced to provide statistical context. The presence of each species archetype was strongly influenced by oceanographic gradients, principally temperature, oxygen and salinity. The number of species in each group ranged from 4 to 34. The method has potential application to the analysis of multispecies distribution patterns and for multispecies management.     

Hierarchical analysis of species distributions and abundance across environmental gradients

Abiotic and biotic processes operate at multiple spatial and temporal scales to shape many ecological processes, including species distributions and demography. Current debate about the relative roles of niche-based and stochastic processes in shaping species distributions and community composition reflects, in part, the challenge of understanding how these processes interact across scales. Traditional statistical models that ignore autocorrelation and spatial hierarchies can result in misidentification of important ecological covariates. Here, we demonstrate the utility of a hierarchical modeling framework for testing hypotheses about the importance of abiotic factors at different spatial scales and local spatial autocorrelation for shaping species distributions and abundances. For the two orchid species studied, understory light availability and soil moisture helped to explain patterns of presence and abundance at a microsite scale (<4 m2), while soil organic content was important at a population scale (<400 m2). The inclusion of spatial autocorrelation is shown to alter the magnitude and certainty of estimated relationships between abundance and abiotic variables, and we suggest that such analysis be used more often to explore the relationships between species life histories and distributions. The hierarchical modeling framework is shown to have great potential for elucidating ecological relationships involving abiotic and biotic processes simultaneously at multiple scales.     

Spatial and covariate-varying relationships among dominant tree species in Utah

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - The presence and establishment of a tree species at a particular spatial location is influenced by multiple physiological and environmental filters such as...     

Growth variation of Paulownia Sieb. and Zucc. species and origins at the nursery stage in Kastamonu-Turkey

The present study was carried out on Paulownia tomentosa (6), Paulownia elongate (4), Paulownia fortunei (5) and Paulownia fortunei x tomentosa (1) origins at Kastamonu Forest Nursery. The seedling height growth (SH), root collar diameter (RCD), dry root percentage (DRP) and seedling percentage (SP) of one-year old seedlings of the origins were studied for comparing growth performance of the species and origins and discussing for guidance to field stage based on nursery stage. As a result, P. tomentosa x fortunei hybrid has the highest SH (72.62 cm) among the used species. Significant difference was determined among the origins as to the SH and DRP. The maximum SH were determined for P. tomentosa Beijing-Daxin (81.32 cm) and P. elongata Beijing-Daxin (80.76 cm) origins. The maximum DRP were determined for P. tomentosa Anhui-Tongling (77%) origin. There were no significant differences based on RCD and SP among the species and the origins. Among the parents, there were important diversities for SH and RCD. As a final remark, observations and evaluations of the Paulownia studies should be included with the clonal variation for further studies because of the observed growth variations within the population.     

全球升温下中国温度区域变化的稳定性

利用中国气象中心160站点的气温观测资料,对中国20世纪后半期的气温变化进行方差分析,结果发现气温变化幅度有显著的纬度效应:纬度越高,方差值越大,说明气温变化的幅度也越大。在季节上,气温变化幅度差异显著,普遍是冬季大,夏季小。气温变化幅度的纬度效应在区域分布上,冬季的纬度效应出现在35°N以北,35°N以南不存在纬度效应;夏季的纬度效应表现在34°N以南,34°N以北没有明显的纬度效应。30°N～35°N之间的地带是冬夏季节差异最小的地带,从这一地带开始,不管往南还是往北,气温变化的季节差异都趋于增大。这种格局与我国升温的区域分布是一致的,说明我国最近半个世纪以来的气温变化是持续升高的。最后对气温变化的区域差别进行了机制上的探讨。     

Trends over time in tree and seedling phylogenetic diversity indicate regional differences in forest biodiversity change

Changing climate conditions may impact the short-term ability of forest tree species to regenerate in many locations. In the longer term, tree species may be unable to persist in some locations while they become established in new places. Over both time frames, forest tree biodiversity may change in unexpected ways. Using repeated inventory measurements five years apart from more than 7000 forested plots in the eastern United States, we tested three hypotheses: phylogenetic diversity is substantially different from species richness as a measure of biodiversity; forest communities have undergone recent changes in phylogenetic diversity that differ by size class, region, and seed dispersal strategy; and these patterns are consistent with expected early effects of climate change. Specifically, the magnitude of diversity change across broad regions should be greater among seedlings than in trees, should be associated with latitude and elevation, and should be greater among species with high dispersal capacity. Our analyses demonstrated that phylogenetic diversity and species richness are decoupled at small and medium scales and are imperfectly associated at large scales. This suggests that it is appropriate to apply indicators of biodiversity change based on phylogenetic diversity, which account for evolutionary relationships among species and may better represent community functional diversity. Our results also detected broadscale patterns of forest biodiversity change that are consistent with expected early effects of climate change. First, the statistically significant increase over time in seedling diversity in the South suggests that conditions there have become more favorable for the reproduction and dispersal of a wider variety of species, whereas the significant decrease in northern seedling diversity indicates that northern conditions have become less favorable. Second, we found weak correlations between seedling diversity change and latitude in both zones, with stronger relationships apparent in some ecoregions. Finally, we detected broadscale seedling diversity increases among species with longer-distance dispersal capacity, even in the northern zone, where overall seedling diversity declined. The statistical power and geographic extent of such analyses will increase as data become available over larger areas and as plot measurements are repeated at regular intervals over a longer period of time.     

纳米铜颗粒的种间毒性关系

纳米颗粒的种间毒性关系尚无明确结论,因此很难判断纳米颗粒对未进行毒性测试的物种的风险如何。本文作者将5种水蚤(Daphnia magna, Daphnia pulex, Daphnia galeata, Ceriodaphnia dubia, Chydorus sphaericus)暴露于4种不同粒径的纳米铜颗粒(CuNPs)和1种亚微米铜颗粒的悬浊液中,考察物种的形态特征与CuNPs急性毒性的关系。结果显示,杆状的CuNPs比球状的CuNPs毒性更低。纳米铜颗粒与溶出铜离子均对CuNPs的毒性有贡献,其中,当新生蚤的体长、体表面积和身体体积更小时,5种悬浊液中颗粒的毒性更大。5种蚤的身体体积与5种CuNPs的毒性显著相关(r_adj²>0.51, p < 0.001),78-nm CuNPs与蚤身体体积的相关性最好 (r_adj²?=?0.95, p < 0.001)。这个研究可以为纳米颗粒对有相似外形特征的物种进行毒性种间外推提供线索。
精选自Lan Song, Martina G. Vijver, Geert R. de Snoo and Willie J.G.M. Peijnenburg. Assessing toxicity of copper nanoparticles across five cladoceran species. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: Volume 34, Issue 8, pages 1744–1750, August 2015. DOI: 10.1002/etc.3000
详情请见http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.3000/full     

纳米铜颗粒的种间毒性关系

纳米颗粒的种间毒性关系尚无明确结论,因此很难判断纳米颗粒对未进行毒性测试的物种的风险如何。本文作者将5种水蚤(Daphnia magna, Daphnia pulex, Daphnia galeata, Ceriodaphnia dubia, Chydorus sphaericus)暴露于4种不同粒径的纳米铜颗粒(CuNPs)和1种亚微米铜颗粒的悬浊液中,考察物种的形态特征与CuNPs急性毒性的关系。结果显示,杆状的CuNPs比球状的CuNPs毒性更低。纳米铜颗粒与溶出铜离子均对CuNPs的毒性有贡献,其中,当新生蚤的体长、体表面积和身体体积更小时,5种悬浊液中颗粒的毒性更大。5种蚤的身体体积与5种CuNPs的毒性显著相关(r_adj²>0.51, p < 0.001),78-nm CuNPs与蚤身体体积的相关性最好 (r_adj²?=?0.95, p < 0.001)。这个研究可以为纳米颗粒对有相似外形特征的物种进行毒性种间外推提供线索。
精选自Lan Song, Martina G. Vijver, Geert R. de Snoo and Willie J.G.M. Peijnenburg. Assessing toxicity of copper nanoparticles across five cladoceran species. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: Volume 34, Issue 8, pages 1744–1750, August 2015. DOI: 10.1002/etc.3000
详情请见http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.3000/full     

Relative costs of conserving threatened species across taxonomic groups

Bias toward legally protecting and prioritizing charismatic taxonomic groups, such as mammals and birds, and against others, such as insects and plants, is well documented. However, the relative costs of conserving various taxonomic groups and the potential of these costs to interact with existing biases have been much less explored. We analyzed conservation programs across more than 2,000 species in 3 countries to investigate the costs of conserving species within taxonomic groups and how these costs might affect conservation planning. For each data set, we tested for differences in mean annual cost among taxonomic groups. For the data set from the United States, recovery plans differed in duration, so we also tested for differences in total costs among taxonomic groups. Although the costs for individual species varied widely, there were strong international consistencies. For example, mammals cost 8–26 times more on average to conserve than plants and 13–19 times more to conserve than aquatic invertebrates. On average, bird species cost 5–30 times more to conserve than plants and 6–14 times more to conserve than aquatic invertebrates. These cost differences could exacerbate unequal resource allocation among taxonomic groups such that more charismatic groups both receive more attention and require more resources, leading to neglect of other taxonomic groups.