“Trends in Arthropods of Alpine Aquatic Ecosystems” is the first topical collection for the journal of the Swiss Entomological Society
The open-access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal Alpine Entomology, published by Pensoft on behalf of the Swiss Entomological Society, announced its very first topical collection of articles, which will be focusing on arthropods associated with aquatic ecosystems in mountainous regions.
The journal is currently inviting scientists, working on aquatic fauna from alpine habitats, to openly publish their research articles and short notices that provide evidence how arthropods’ biogeography, species communities, distribution, behaviour and morphology have changed in recent times.
The aim of the “Trends in Arthropods of Alpine Aquatic Ecosystems” collection is to bring together data and findings about what many agree is the most impacted type of environment on Earth: aquatic ecosystems, especially running waters.
“Aquatic invertebrates are key indicators of global or local changes. Furthermore, many aquatic ecosystems are closely linked to mountains because they originate in them. Many valuable unpublished datasets on aquatic arthropod fauna may therefore be available from mountainous regions,”
The collection will remain open for submissions for the next two years. In the meantime, the accepted manuscripts will be published on a rolling basis, as soon as they are ready for publication.
New open-access book presents a comprehensive report on the remarkable ecosystems of the Koytendag nature reserve
Location of Koytendag Image by Atamyrat Veyisov
Situated in the extreme south-east of Turkmenistan: on the border with Uzbekistan and close to the border with Afghanistan, Koytendag presents one of the most distinct landscapes in Central Asia. Reaching elevations of up to 3,137 m, this is also the highest mountain in Turkmenistan.
Koytendag State Nature Reserve and its three Wildlife Sanctuaries: Hojapil, Garlyk and Hojaburjybelent, were established between 1986 and 1990 to protect and preserve the mountain ecosystem of the Koytendag region and maintain the ecological balance between the environment and increasing economic activities.
Since 2013, a series of scientific expeditions and assessments were coordinated and funded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to pave the way for the protection and preservation of the unique landscape and rare wildlife the site is recognised for.
As a result, the efforts of the conducted field studies of multidisciplinary international research teams are brought together in a comprehensive report, which is now openly available as an Advanced Book from the scientific publisher and technology provider Pensoft, edited by Geoff Welch (RSPB) and Prof. Pavel Stoev (National National Museum of Natural History of Bulgaria and Pensoft). Soon, the book will also be available in Russian.
The book is split into eight sections focused on different areas within the study of biodiversity: Flora, Surface dwelling invertebrates, Cave fauna, Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals. An additional chapter is dedicated to the hydrogeology of the site because of its key role in supporting both the cave fauna and the local communities.
Entrance to the newly discovered record-breaking underground lake at the Koytendag State Nature Reserve Photo by Mikhail Pereladov
In the summary of the report, the authors make a list of the most significant findings made during the research. These include the discovery of a cave hosting the largest underground lake in the whole North Eurasia (4,400 m2) and a total of 48 species of higher plants that can only be found in Koytendag. In terms of Koytendag’s surface-dwelling fauna, the report lists a number of species new to science: a scorpion (most likely yet unnamed species currently recognised as a species complex) and a spider. Meanwhile, a total of seven previously unknown species were found underground, including the very first exclusively subterranean animal found in the country: the insect-like ‘marvellous’ dipluran named Turkmenocampa mirabilis, and a strongly adapted to the underground waters of a desert sinkhole Gammarus troglomorphus. Additionally, the annual monitoring, conducted since 1995 by the reserve staff, report an encouraging increase in the populations of the rare markhors and mouflons. An intact predator-prey community was also identified as a result of observations of numerous Eurasian lynxes and grey wolves, as well as prey species.
Entrance of the cave Kaptarhana, (Lebap Province, Eastern Turkmenistan), where scientists discovered the first ever exclusively subterranean dweller for the country in 2017 (find more here). Photo by Aleksandr Degtyarev
Stephanie Ward, RSPB Central Asia Partner Development Officer, says:
“RSPB has been working in Turkmenistan under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government since 2004. In that time we have had the privilege of working with a team of talented and dedicated national experts across the diverse and inspiring nature of this fascinating country. Our work in Koytendag has captured the attention and interest of many international scientists who hope that their contemporary biodiversity research will help to deepen the understanding and therefore ensure protection of the unique wonders of this mountain ecosystem. As a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site, we will continue to collaborate with the Turkmen people on the research and promotion of Koytendag State Nature Reserve.
Book editor and member of the research team Prof. Pavel Stoev adds:
“Koytendag Mountain is among the least explored and, simultaneously, one of the most biologically diverse regions in Central Asia. The rapid assessments of its flora and fauna revealed a high number of highly specialised species, all of which have undergone a long evolution to adapt to the harsh environments of the mountain. The establishment of Koytendag State Nature Reserve and the associated wildlife sanctuaries is a step in the right direction for the protection of this unique biota.”
Welch G, Stoev P (2019) A report of RSPB-supported scientific research at Koytendag State Nature Reserve, East Turkmenistan. Advanced Books. https://doi.org/10.3897/ab.e37858
Additional information:
This work was carried out under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection of Turkmenistan and the RSPB, within the Project on “Improvement of the status of birds and other biodiversity in Turkmenistan”.
About Koytendag State Nature Reserve:
Koytendag State Nature Reserve was established in 1986 to protect and preserve the mountain ecosystem of the Koytendag region and maintain the ecological balance between the environment and the increasing anthropogenic activities. Of particular importance was the protection of rare species, such as the markhor; important habitats, including pistachio and juniper forests; and the impressive dinosaur trackways at Hojapil.
Advanced Books publishing by Pensoft:
Launched by Pensoft and powered by the scholarly publishing platform ARPHA, the Advanced Books approach aims to issue new books or re-issue books previously only available in print or PDF. In the Advanced Books format, the publications are semantically enhanced and available in HTML and XML as well, in order to accelerate open access, data publication, mining, sharing and reuse. The Advanced books builds on the novel approaches developed by the Pensoft’s journals.
One of the oldest zoological journals in Africa, African Invertebrates, is now moving to Pensoft to benefit from the next generation publishing offered by the company. The journal focuses on the taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, biology, ecology, conservation and palaeontology of all Afrotropical invertebrates.
Established as early as 1906 by the KwaZulu-Natal Museum as Annals of the Natal Museum, the journal was renamed to African Invertebrates in 2003 to mark the centenary of the founding of the museum and to declare its ambition to establish itself as a recognizable title in taxonomy. Throughout the years the journal has been building reputation and strengthening its position as a primary outlet for publishing original research on African insects and other invertebrates.
The migration to Pensoft marks yet another step forward in the journal’s development placing African Invertebrates on the map of technologically advanced journals with a mission to provide semantically enriched, interlinked and re-usable content.
“The transfer of African Invertebrates to Pensoft is an exciting development for the KwaZulu-Natal Museum. We are immensely proud of the journal and have striven to maintain and enhance its high quality. However, we realise that the journal must also keep pace with new trends and developments in the fast-moving world of scientific publication.” comments Prof. Dai Herbert, Editor-in-Chief of African Invertebrates.
“We are delighted that Pensoft has agreed to include African Invertebrates in its journal portfolio. This kind of cutting-edge publishing platform is precisely what the journal needs to ensure its future relevance and growth. We are excited to see African Invertebrates enter this new phase in its development.” he adds.
The international peer-reviewed e-journal will now be hosted on the ARPHA publishing platform, benefitting from a number of inbuilt innovations, including:
Fast-track professional publication services;
Open access, semantically enriched content;
Online publication in HTML, semantically enhanced with biodiversity-specific markup provided by the publisher, high resolution, full-color, print-quality PDF, as well as XML;
Archiving in various data repositories;
A number of additional services including linguistic editing, tailored dissemination campaigns and more.
“We are pleased to welcome African Invertebrates on board. Our experience in advanced open access publishing as well as our domain specific expertise promise good future for our collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal Museum to innovate and develop the journal.” explains Prof. Lyubomir Penev, Founder and Managing Director at Pensoft.
