Preliminary conservation assessment of Cuban giant centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha)
(Oral)
Carlos A. Martínez-Muñoz
SEE PEER REVIEW
Abstract: In nature conservation, there is a general recognition of the need for increased knowledge about the Earth's species and for national capability to survey and inventory biological diversity, since conservation planning largely depends on spatial information about the distribution of biodiversity [1]. Centipedes (class Chilopoda) are terrestrial arthropods with a predatory lifestyle and generally nocturnal habits. They are potentially important organisms for ecological and conservation studies because they could serve as indicators of environmental change and of the diversity of ground-dwelling, flightless invertebrates [2]. The class Chilopoda comprises approximately 3,110 species, 700 of which belong to the so called giant centipedes (order Scolopendromorpha) [3]. Seven genera and 25 species of scolopendromorphs are reported to occur in Cuba. However, they were in urgent need of revision to make it possible to map their recorded distributions and carry out a preliminary national conservation assessment. Thus, 180 years of available literature and related museum specimens were reviewed, the corresponding taxonomy was updated, and a new species list, a new key and 19 species diagnoses were collated to provide a reference for future studies. A species new to Cuba and a species new to science were found in museum collections. Three localities had primary georeferences and 105 published localities were secondarily georeferenced. All localities and species were mapped and their occurrence inside the National System of Protected Areas (NSPA) was analyzed. Only 22 out of 211 protected areas were found to harbor recorded giant centipedes. Only 9 of 17 autochthonous species (53%) and 3 of 7 endemics (43%) had recorded occurences in the NSPA, though 2 of those 7 (29%) had at least 70% of their occurrences within protected areas. It was concluded that the Cuban NSPA does not adequately cover autochthonous and endemic species of Scolopendromorpha, and that the group is considerably undersampled.
Keywords: Scolopendromorpha, Cuba, taxonomy, distribution, protected areas, gap analysis.
References:
[1] Rodrigues, A. S. L. & T. M. Brooks. 2007. Shortcuts for Biodiversity Conservation Planning: The Effectiveness of Surrogates. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 38 (1): 713-737.
[2] Druce, D. [J.], M. Hamer & R. Slotow. 2004. Sampling strategies for millipedes (Diplopoda), centipedes (Chilopoda) and scorpions (Scorpionida) in savanna habitats. African Zoology, 39 (2): 293-304.
[3] Minelli, A. 2011. Class Chilopoda, Class Symphyla and Class Pauropoda. (pp. 157-158). In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.). Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. Zootaxa, 3148: 1-237.
INTRO: The author points out the importance of the revisions of collections before the mapping of the species distribution using the example of the Chilopoda class in Cuba. The revisions also discovered new species and update the species distribution of others, which could be very important in the biogeographical studies. Author also shows that the current protection laws do not fully cover the protection of the most vulnerable species of this class, which could be a problem in their conservation.
MERITS: The abstract makes me have an idea of the great effort and work behind this research. It is really important for the scientific community to have available accurate data and in this way, this research shows that point. It also contributes to the identification and classification of the individuals of the class, discovering new species and updating the distribution data. It is also important in the critique of the lack of knowledge at the time to stablish the protected areas of many groups, in order to protect several species.
CRITIQUE: There is no weakness in the abstract.
DISCUSSION: I recommend the author to make the effort of point out the utility of its research and if it is possible, make more emphasis in the application of it to other areas, as the ECCB is a multidisciplinary congress. I also recommend remove the reference in the abstract because they are not necessary to understand the text.
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INTRO: This study is about Centipedes (class Chilopoda), which are a group of terrestrial arthropods with predatory lifestyle and generally nocturnal habits. The author is arguing of the need for a revision of the giant centipedes (order Scolopendromorpha) of Cuba. The introduction is well defined and gives an interesting review to the topic.
MERITS: The giant centipedes (order Scolopendromorpha) are a potentially important group of organisms for ecological and conservation studies, because they could serve as indicators of environmental change and of ground-dwelling, flightless invertebrate diversity. Thus, this study may be of general importance in Conservation Biology.
CRITIQUE: Only some minor language corrections, especially in the beginning of the abstract. Otherwise no scientifc crtique.
DISCUSSION: In this study there is a revision of the giant centipedes (order Scolopendromorpha) which are mapped and a preliminary conservation assessment at national level and ordinal rank could be undertaken. 180 years of available literature and related museum specimens were reviewed, the taxonomy was updated, and a new species list, a new key and 19 species diagnoses were collated to provide a reference for future studies. A species new to Cuba and a species new to science were found in museum collections. These are interesting finding and are also implemented in the National System of Protected Areas (NSPA) and conclude that there is a need to fill the sampling gap for the group on Cuba.