The recent mass mortality event of more than 330 African elephants in Botswana has been attributed to biotoxins produced by cyanobacteria;however,scientific evidence for this is ***,by synthesizing multiple sources of...
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The recent mass mortality event of more than 330 African elephants in Botswana has been attributed to biotoxins produced by cyanobacteria;however,scientific evidence for this is ***,by synthesizing multiple sources of data,we show that,during the past decades,the widespread hypertrophic waters in Southern Africa have entailed an extremely high risk and frequent exposure of cyanotoxins to the wildlife within this area,which functions as a hotspot of mammal species *** hot and dry climatic extremes have most likely acted as the primary trigger of the recent and perhaps also of prehistoric mass mortality *** such climate extremes are projected to become more frequent in Southern Africa in the near future,there is a risk that similar tragedies may take place,rendering African megafauna species,especially those that are already endangered,in risk of ***,cyanotoxin poisoning amplified by climate change may have unexpected cascading effects on human *** within this perspective,the tragic mass death of the world's largest terrestrial mammal species serves as an alarming early warning signal of future environmental catastrophes in Southern *** suggest that systematic,quantitative cyanotoxin risk assessments are made and precautionary actions to mitigate the risks are taken without hesitation to ensure the health and sustainability of the megafauna and human societies within the region.
Gaoligong Mountain(hereafter,GLGM)is located at the intersection of Myanmar and China’s Yunnan Province and Xizang Zizhiqu,and spans three globally significant biodiversity hotspots:the Himalayas,Indo-Burma,and the M...
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Gaoligong Mountain(hereafter,GLGM)is located at the intersection of Myanmar and China’s Yunnan Province and Xizang Zizhiqu,and spans three globally significant biodiversity hotspots:the Himalayas,Indo-Burma,and the Mountains of Southwest *** surveys of mammals in this ecologically important region have a long history,there is no comprehensive systematic checklist and distribution account of the mammals of ***,we compiled a mammal species checklist of GLGM based on thorough field investigations and literature *** also examined specimen collections and applied camera trapping surveys to explore the region’s mammal diversity and distribution *** recorded 212 mammal species in nine orders,33 families,and 119 genera,which accounts for 30.5%of China’s mammal species,and a high proportion of nationally protected(50)and globally threatened(29)*** species richness showed a symmetrical unimodal curve along the elevation gradient,peaking at intermediate elevations(2000 to 2500 m above sea level(asl)),and increasing generally from south to north,slightly higher in the east slope than in the *** analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling revealed three distinct elevational assemblages(3500 m asl)and significant south-to-north variation,but no substantial differences between the east and west *** GLGM present a unique conservation value due to the high proportions of rare and endangered mammal species,complex faunal composition,high endemism,and being the distribution boundary for many *** study is an important phased account of mammal diversity in GLGM and makes a prospect for future research.
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