This paper explores the application of citizen science to help generation of scientific data and capacity-building, and so underpin scientific ideas and policy development in the area of coral reef management, on the coral reefs of Jamaica.  From 2000 to 2008, ninety Earthwatch volunteers were trained in coral reef data acquisition and analysis and made over 6,000 measurements on fringing reef sites along the north coast of Jamaica.  Their work showed that while recruitment of small corals is returning after the major bleaching event of 2005, larger corals are not necessarily so resilient and so need careful management if the reefs are to survive such major extreme events. These findings were used in the development of an action plan for Jamaican coral reefs, presented to the Jamaican National Environmental Protection Agency.  It was agreed that a number of themes and tactics need to be implemented in order to facilitate coral reef conservation in the Caribbean. The use of volunteers and citizen scientists from both developed and developing countries can help in forging links which can assist in data collection and analysis and, ultimately, in ecosystem management and policy development.

M. James C. Crabbe

From Citizen Science to Policy Development on the Coral Reefs of Jamaica

The study of type material and specimens of A. gomesiana of several Brazilian spider collections offered us the possibility to redescribe this species and consider synonyms of the first one of the following: A. violacea, A. pugnax, and A. aurita. Acanthoscurria cunhae and A. melanotheria are considered Species inquirendae, the types were not located, and the descriptions are not enough for identification of similar ones. We considered as valid only two species from the southeast of Brazil: A. paulensis and A. gomesiana. The distribution range of A. gomesiana is enhanced in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Some data on natural history and phenology are presented.

Hector M. O. Gonzalez-Filho

Sylvia M. Lucas

Felipe dos S. Paula

Rafael P. Indicatti

Antonio D. Brescovit

On the Taxonomy of Acanthoscurria Ausserer from Southeastern Brazil with Data on the Natural History of A. gomesiana Mello-Leit&#227;o (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae)

Identifying individual animals is important in understanding their ecology and behaviour, as well as providing estimates of population sizes for conservation efforts. We produce identification keys from photographs of green sea turtles to identify them while foraging in Akumal Bay, Mexico. We create three keys, which (a) minimise the length of the key, (b) present the most obvious differential characteristics first, and (c) remove the strict dichotomy from key b. Keys were capable of identifying &#x3e;99&#x25; of turtles in &#x3e;2500 photographs during the six-month study period. The keys differed significantly in success rate for students to identify individual turtles, with key (c) being the best with &#x3e;70&#x25; success and correctly being followed further than other keys before making a mistake. User-friendly keys are, therefore, a suitable method for the photographic identification of turtles and could be used for other large marine vertebrates in conservation or behavioural studies.

Jane R. Lloyd

Miguel &#193;. Maldonado

Richard Stafford

Methods of Developing User-Friendly Keys to Identify Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas L.) from Photographs

In the last 20 years several nonnative amphipod species have immigrated inland waters of Germany and adjacent central European countries. Some of them have been very successful and could establish stabile populations. In some places, they have even replaced native or earlier established species. The gammarid Echinogammarus berilloni originates from the Atlantic region of France and the north-western part of Spain and coexists in some central European waters with the native Gammarus pulex and G. fossarum. Here, we describe and compare the mouthparts and other structures involved in food acquisition of these three sympatric gammaridean species. Our hypothesis was that differences in the mode of feeding of the three species could be the reason for their coexistence and that these differences would be expressed in differences in mouthpart morphology. The results of our SEM study demonstrate that there are indeed interspecific differences in details of the morphology of the feeding structures. This is especially true for the setation of antennae, maxillulae, gnathopods, and third uropods, which can be interpreted as adaptations to special modes of feeding. Generally, all three species are omnivorous, but specializations in details point to the possibility to use some food resources in a special effective way.

Gerd Mayer

Andreas Maas

Dieter Waloszek

Mouthpart Morphology of Three Sympatric Native and Nonnative Gammaridean Species: Gammarus pulex, G. fossarum, and Echinogammarus berilloni (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Applying multiple generalized regression models, we studied spatial patterns in species richness for different taxonomic groups (amphibians, reptiles, grasshoppers, plants, mosses) within the German federal state Rhineland-Palatinate (RP). We aimed (1) to detect their centres of richness, (2) to rate the influence of climatic and land-use parameters on spatial patterns, and (3) to test whether patterns are congruent between taxonomic groups in RP. Centres of species richness differed between taxonomic groups and overall richness was the highest in the valleys of large rivers and in different areas of southern RP. Climatic parameters strongly correlated with richness in all taxa whereas land use was less significant. Spatial richness patterns of all groups were to a certain extent congruent but differed between group pairs. The number of grasshoppers strongly correlated with the number of plants and with overall species richness. An external validation corroborated the generality of our species richness models.

J&#xf6;rn Buse

Eva Maria Griebeler

Determinants and Congruence of Species Richness Patterns across Multiple Taxonomic Groups on a Regional Scale

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International Journal of Zoology | Hindawi

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International Journal of Zoology publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas of zoology.

International Journal of Zoology