Plant specimens stored in herbaria are being used as never before to document the impacts
of global change on humans and nature. However, published statistics on the use of …

Although tropical rain forests represent the most species-rich terrestrial ecosystem on the
planet, the three main rain forest regions (Neotropics, South-East Asia and continental …

Endemism and species richness are highly relevant to the global prioritization of
conservation efforts in which oceanic islands have remained relatively neglected. When …

Background Understanding the patterns of biodiversity distribution and what influences them
is a fundamental pre-requisite for effective conservation and sustainable utilisation of …

Habitat fragmentation and land conversion by humans for agricultural purposes are constant
threats to conservation of biodiversity in the Cerrado biome. These landscapes dominated …

Sub-Saharan Africa includes some 45,000 plant species. The spatial patterns of this
diversity have been well explored. We can group the species into a set of biogeographical …

Documenting and understanding patterns of biodiversity is a central issue in biogeography
and macroecology. Knowledge about the distribution of biodiversity is also a central …

Scientific knowledge of species and the ecosystems they inhabit is the cornerstone of
modern conservation. However, research effort is not spread evenly among taxa (taxonomic …

Since time immemorial dry forests and woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa have provided
diverse ecosystems goods and services to large populations of humans and livestock that …

The tropical vegetation of Africa is characterized by high levels of species diversity but is
undergoing important shifts in response to ongoing climate change and increasing …