Melo, I. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2023

Biodiversity responses to forest cover loss: taxonomy and metrics matter

The actions required for biodiversity conservation depend on species responses to habitat loss, which may be either neutral, linear, or non-linear. Here, we tested how taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of aquatic insects, dragonflies, frogs, and terrestrial mammals, as well as their species composition respond to forest cover loss. We hypothesized that taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity would respond nonlinearly (thresholds) to forest cover loss. Our findings do not support the current idea that a single threshold value of forest cover loss is applicable across tropical regions, or that some biodiversity facets are consistently more sensitive than others across different taxa. Species compositional responses to forest cover loss showed general patterns with thresholds between 30-50%. These results highlight the importance to consider multiple biodiversity facets when assessing the effects of forest cover loss on biological communities.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Correlates of time to first citation in ecology and taxonomy

Several metrics exists to evaluate the impact of publications and researchers, but most are based on citation counts, which usually fail to capture the temporal aspect of citations. Time to first citation represents a useful metric for research evaluation, and informs the speed at which scientific knowledge is disseminated through the scientific community. Understanding which factors affect such metrics is important as they impact resource allocation and career progression, besides influencing knowledge promotion across disciplines. Many ecological works rely on species identity, which is the coin of taxonomy. Despite its importance, taxonomy is a discipline in crisis lacking staff, funds and prestige, which ultimately may affect the evaluation and dissemination of taxonomic works. We used a time-to-event analysis to investigate whether taxonomic, socioeconomic, and scientometric factors influence first citation speed across hundreds of ecological and taxonomic articles. Time to first citation differed greatly between these areas. Ecological studies were first cited much faster than taxonomic studies. Multitaxa articles received first citations earlier than studies focused on single major taxonomic groups. Article length and h-index among authors were negatively correlated with time to first citation, while the number of authors, number of countries, and Gross Domestic Product was unimportant. Knowledge dissemination is faster for lengthy, multitaxa, and ecological articles relative to their respective counterparts, as well as for articles with highly prolific authors. We stress that using several unrelated metrics is desirable when evaluating research from different-and even related-disciplines, particularly in the context of professional progression and grant allocation.

scientific communication and education↗