Similar but not equivalent: Ecological niche comparison across closely-related Mexican white pines

Abstract

Congenital toxoplasmosis is an obstetric problem in Mexico, but its actual frequency is unknown. Using a network for screening of non-infectious disorders, we performed a pilot study to determine the frequency of IgM antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in 1,003 infants (53.1% male, mean SD age = 18.3 13.0 days, birth weight = 3.116 0.453 kg) in Mexico City from March to April 2003. Blood samples embedded in filter paper were assayed for IgM antibodies using a capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and results were confirmed by Western blot. Two asymptomatic newborns, one of them premature, had IgM and IgG antibodies in a serum sample taken from both the infant and the mother and were clinically followed. Our data suggest a frequency of approximately two cases of congenital T. gondii infection per 1,000 newborns in Mexico City. Copyright " 2005 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.",,,,,,,,,"http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12104/44528","http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-15844385662&partnerID=40&md5=e7819698cbdc45b508568945637e491e",,,,,,"2",,"American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene",,"142

144",,"72",,"Scopus

WOS",,,,,,,,,,,,"Short report: Neonatal screening pilot study of Toxoplasma gondii congenital infection in Mexico",,"Article" "46318","123456789/35008",,"Aguirre-Gutiérrez, J., Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 4Leiden, Netherlands, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystems Dynamics (IBED)-Computational Geo-Ecology, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904Amsterdam, Netherlands; Serna-Chavez, H.M., Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystems Dynamics (IBED)-Computational Geo-Ecology, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904Amsterdam, Netherlands; Villalobos-Arambula, A.R., Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, CUCBA. Universidad de Guadalajara. Carretera a Nogales, Predio las AgujasNextipac Zapopan, Mexico; Pérez de la Rosa, J.A., Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, CUCBA. Universidad de Guadalajara. Carretera a Nogales, Predio las AgujasNextipac Zapopan, Mexico; Raes, N., Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 4Leiden, Netherlands",,"Aguirre-Gutierrez, J.

Serna-Chavez, H.M.

Villalobos-Arambula, A.R.

Perez de la Rosa, J.A.

Raes, N.",,"2015",,"Aim: In the face of global environmental change, identifying the factors that shape the ecological niches of species and understanding the mechanisms behind them can help to draft effective conservation plans. The differences in the ecological factors that shape species distributions may then help to highlight differences between closely related taxa. We investigate the applicability of ecological niche modelling and the comparison of species distributions in ecological niche space to detect areas with priority for biodiversity conservation and to analyse differences in the ecological niche spaces used by closely related taxa. Location: United States of America, Mexico and Central America. Methods: We apply ordination and ecological niche modelling techniques to assess the main environmental drivers of the distribution of Mexican white pines (Pinus: Pinaceae). Furthermore, we assess the similarities and differences of the ecological niches occupied by closely related taxa. We analyse whether Mexican white pines occupy similar or equivalent ecological niches. Results: All the studied taxa presented different responses to the environmental factors, resulting in a unique combination of niche conditions. Our stacked habitat suitability maps highlighted regions in southern Mexico and northern Central America as highly suitable for most species and thus with high conservation value. By quantitatively assessing the niche overlap, similarity and equivalency of Mexican white pines, our results prove that the distribution of one species cannot be implied by the distribution of another, even if these taxa are considered closely related. Main conclusions: The fact that each Mexican white pine is constrained by a unique set of environmental conditions, and thus, their non-equivalence of ecological niches has direct implications for conservation as this highlights the inadequacy of one-fits all type of conservation measure. " 2014 The Authors. Diversity and Distributions published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.