Microglossum capitatum: taxonomy and conservation.

Phlebopus portentosus is a popular edible wild mushroom found in the tropical Yunnan, China, and northern Thailand. In its natural habitats, a gall often has been found on some plant roots, around which fungal fruiting bodies are produced. The galls are different from common insect galls in that their cavity walls are not made from plant tissue but rather from the hyphae of P. portentosus. Therefore we have termed this phenomenon “fungus-insect gall”. Thus far six root mealy bug species in the family Pseudococcidae that form fungus-insect galls with P. portentosus have been identified: Formicococcus polysperes, Geococcus satellitum, Planococcus minor, Pseudococcus cryptus, Paraputo banzigeri and Rastrococcus invadens. Fungus-insect galls were found on the roots of more than 21 plant species, including Delonix regia, Citrus maxima, Coffea arabica and Artocarpus heterophyllus. Greenhouse inoculation trials showed that fungus-insect galls were found on the roots of A. heterophyllus 1 mo after inoculation. The galls were subglobose to globose, fulvous when young and became dark brown at maturation. Each gall harbored one or more mealy bugs and had a chimney-like vent for ventilation and access to the gall. The cavity wall had three layers. Various shaped mealy bug wax deposits were found inside the wall. Fungal hyphae invaded the epidermis of plant roots and sometimes even the cortical cells during the late stage of gall development. The identity of the fungus inside the cavity was confirmed by molecular methods.

Grammatuslabyrinthinusgen. et sp. nov. is proposed based on DNA sequences data and morphological characteristics. It is known so far from southern, tropical China. The new species is characterised by an annual, resupinate basidiocarp with a shallow, subporoid hymenophore, a hymenium restricted to the bottom of the tubes, a dimitic hyphal system, presence of encrusted skeletocystidia and dendrohyphidia, longitudinally septate basidia and smooth, oblong-ellipsoid to cylindrical, acyanophilous basidiospores. Phylogenetic analyses based on ITS + nLSU DNA sequences data indicate that G.labyrinthinus belongs to Auriculariaceae in which it has an isolated position. Phylogenetic inferences show G.labyrinthinus to be related to Heteroradulum. However, the ITS sequences similarity between G.labyrinthinus and H.kmetii, the type species of Heteroradulum, were 89.84% and support the establishment of the new genus. Inversely, Heteroradulumsemis clustered with G.labyrinthinus with strong support and it is transferred to Grammatus.

The taxonomic position of Ijuhya has been controversial for many years until the genus was formally accepted in the family Ijuhyaceae. In this study, we collected four Ijuhya isolates from two fern species, Cyclosorus interruptus and Diplazium donianum, in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China. Based on morphology and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses using ITS, LSU and tub sequences, two new species, Ijuhya donianumnesis and I. interruptusnesis were identified. Detailed descriptions with illustrations and in-depth phylogenetic analysis are provided for all identified taxa. This study enriches the knowledge of species diversity in Ijuhyaceae. The new species expand the molecular data of Ijuhya. In addition, our data will contribute to the knowledge of the diversity and distribution of Ijuhyaceae in tropical China.

Quantifying regional-scale flash flood susceptibility using watershed geomorphometry-based approach along the high range, west of Chiang Mai Basin, Northern Thailand

Anthropogenic habitat fragmentation has well-established deleterious effects on populations and communities of native vertebrates, but the mechanisms underlying population decline under fragmentation remain poorly understood. Most studies of vertebrates in anthropogenically-fragmented habitats have focused on population density, demographics or fecundity. Relatively little attention has been given to indices of health status, body condition or physiological stress. In this study, 30 populations of a small marsupial, the agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis), living in anthropogenically-fragmented forest patches were sampled in two years (2007 and 2008). Immediately after sampling in each fragment, a population in a matched control site in similar, but unfragmented forest (a 'pseudofragment') was sampled. Indices of population density (relative abundance), estimated fat reserves (mass-size residuals), health status (erythrocyte variables), parasite load (simplified ectoparasite counts and eosinophil percentages) and chronic physiological stress (total and differential immune cell counts) were examined. Relative abundances were lower and parasite load indices higher in fragmented than continuous forest. Fragment populations displayed indications of regenerative anaemia, which is related to poor health status and potentially caused by chronic stress, frequent blood loss or heavy parasite loads. Estimated fat reserves were higher in fragment than continuous forest populations. Nonetheless, differential leukocyte counts suggested that chronic physiological stress was greater (i.e. greater neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios) (N:L) in populations in fragments. Anthropogenic fragmentation effects are not often distinguished in the ecological literature from those of co-occurring processes, such as habitat loss and degradation. To investigate the effects of these processes, environmental factors were examined that were thought to have a potential influence on agile antechinus (e.g. fragment patch core area, proportion of edge habitat, isolation, woody debris abundance, shrub density etc). Relative abundance of agile antechinus was positively correlated with forest patch core area and native tree-cover within a 0.5 km radius of a study site. Estimated fat reserves, particularly in males, were greater in populations in fragments with a smaller core area, but statistical modelling indicated that the effect was an indirect one: males had greater estimated fat reserves where the abundance of conspecifics was lower, suggesting that this metric was responding to intraspecific competition and per capita food availability. Health status, indexed by erythrocyte indicators of regenerative anaemia,was positively associated with greater microhabitat heterogeneity, and abundance of shrubs, logs and native trees other than Eucalyptus species. Female abundances were lower in edge habitat (< 60 m from edge) than in fragment interiors (> 80 m from edge), and females had higher chronic stress indicators (N:L) where fragments were more highly dissected by edge habitat. Although parasite load indices and male N:L were higher in fragment than continuous forest sites, the environmental factors responsible were not identified. The study has demonstrated that anthropogenic habitat fragmentation, loss and degradation can have broadly negative effects on a native vertebrate, not only on its population density, but also in terms of health status and chronic physiological stress. This is a serious concern from a conservation management perspective, because chronic stress has pronounced fitness-reducing effects in vertebrates, including reduced reproductive investment, fecundity and survivorship.

Thailand is a global biodiversity hotspot, harboring a striking diversity of species and endemism. However, the amphibian diversity in the region is poorly understood. In this study, the frogs Kurixalus odontotarsus and Raorchestes longchuanensis were collected and recorded for the first time in northern Thailand. This determination was based on specimens previously collected from this region. Morphologically, these specimens displayed good agreement with the original descriptions provided for K. odontotarsus and R. longchuanensis. Phylogenetically, the specimens clustered according to the sequences of type locality of K. odontotarsus and R. longchuanensis with only a small degree of genetic distance. Based on our work, we have extended the latitudinal distribution of K. odontotarsus and R. longchuanensis southward into northern Thailand. Notably, our discovery increases the number of amphibian species recorded in Thailand to 195, and the number of rhacophorid species known to occur in Thailand to 40.

Land-use change is a major cause of wildlife habitat loss. Understanding how changes in land-use policies and economic factors can impact future trends in land use and wildlife habitat loss is therefore critical for conservation efforts. Our goal here was to evaluate the consequences of future land-use changes under different conservation policies and crop market conditions on habitat loss for wildlife species in the southeastern United States. We predicted the rates of habitat loss for 336 terrestrial vertebrate species by 2051. We focused on habitat loss due to the expansion of urban, crop, and pasture. Future land-use changes following business-as-usual conditions resulted in relatively low rates of wildlife habitat loss across the entire Southeast, but some ecoregions and species groups experienced much higher habitat loss than others. Increased crop commodity prices exacerbated wildlife habitat loss in most ecoregions, while the implementation of conservation policies (reduced urban sprawl, and payments for land conservation) reduced the projected habitat loss in some regions, to a certain degree. Overall, urban and crop expansion were the main drivers of habitat loss. Reptiles and wildlife species associated with open vegetation (grasslands, open woodlands) were the species groups most vulnerable to future land-use change. Effective conservation of wildlife habitat in the Southeast should give special consideration to future land-use changes, regional variations, and the forces that could shape land-use decisions.

Many migratory species are declining and for most, the proximate causes of their declines remain unknown. For many long-distance Neotropical migratory songbirds, it is assumed that habitat loss on breeding or non-breeding grounds is a primary driver of population declines. We integrated data collected from tracking technology, community science and remote sensing data to quantify migratory connectivity (MC), population trends and habitat loss. We quantified the correlation between forest change throughout the annual cycle and population declines of a long-distance migratory songbird, the Connecticut warbler (Oporornis agilis, observed decline: -8.99% yr-1). MC, the geographic link between populations during two or more phases of the annual cycle, was stronger between breeding and autumn migration routes (MC = 0.24 ± 0.23) than between breeding and non-breeding locations (MC = -0.2 ± 0.14). Different Connecticut warbler populations tended to have population-specific fall migration routes but overlapped almost completely within the northern Gran Chaco ecoregion in South America. Cumulative forest loss within 50 km of breeding locations and the resulting decline in the largest forested patch index was correlated more strongly with population declines than forest loss on migratory stopover regions or on wintering locations in South America, suggesting that habitat loss during the breeding season is a driver of observed population declines for the Connecticut warbler. Land-use practices that retain large, forested patches within landscapes will likely benefit breeding populations of this declining songbird, but further research is needed to help inform land-use practices across the full annual cycle to minimize the impacts to migratory songbirds and abate ongoing population declines.

Accurately identifying evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) is crucial for conservation planning, especially for species like pangolins threatened by overhunting and habitat loss. ESUs help categorize different pangolin populations, aiding in understanding their genetic diversity and distribution, which is vital for targeted conservation efforts. This research generated mitochondrial genomes from historical museum specimens of Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) from underrepresented locations, uncovering a new evolutionary lineage from the Mentawai Islands that diverged from Indochina and west Sundaland populations around 760 000 years ago. This population thereby represents a divergent ESU with a small distribution, important for conservation planning. The novel sequences provide resources for forensic labs tracing the origin of confiscated scales and shed light into the potential distribution of the ‘mysterious pangolin’. Additionally, this research confirmed the presence of the two major M. javanica lineages in Java and extended the known distribution of the eastern clade to Bali and East Kalimantan. Our findings potentially suggest a recent bottleneck and postglacial expansion of pangolins across Indochina and west Sundaland. Further investigation with genomic and morphological evidence, contact area sampling and type sequencing will be required to evaluate the taxonomic status of different M. javanica lineages and M. culionensis.

BackgroundThe origin of turtles and crocodiles and their easily recognized body forms dates to the Triassic and Jurassic. Despite their long-term success, extant species diversity is low, and endangerment is extremely high compared to other terrestrial vertebrate groups, with ~ 65% of ~ 25 crocodilian and ~ 360 turtle species now threatened by exploitation and habitat loss. Here, we combine available molecular and morphological evidence with statistical and machine learning algorithms to present a phylogenetically informed, comprehensive assessment of diversification, threat status, and evolutionary distinctiveness of all extant species.ResultsIn contrast to other terrestrial vertebrates and their own diversity in the fossil record, the recent extant lineages of turtles and crocodilians have not experienced any global mass extinctions or lineage-wide shifts in diversification rate or body-size evolution over time. We predict threat statuses for 114 as-yet unassessed or data-deficient species and identify a concentration of threatened turtles and crocodilians in South and Southeast Asia, western Africa, and the eastern Amazon. We find that unlike other terrestrial vertebrate groups, extinction risk increases with evolutionary distinctiveness: a disproportionate amount of phylogenetic diversity is concentrated in evolutionarily isolated, at-risk taxa, particularly those with small geographic ranges. Our findings highlight the important role of geographic determinants of extinction risk, particularly those resulting from anthropogenic habitat-disturbance, which affect species across body sizes and ecologies.ConclusionsExtant turtles and crocodilians maintain unique, conserved morphologies which make them globally recognizable. Many species are threatened due to exploitation and global change. We use taxonomically complete, dated molecular phylogenies and various approaches to produce a comprehensive assessment of threat status and evolutionary distinctiveness of both groups. Neither group exhibits significant overall shifts in diversification rate or body-size evolution, or any signature of global mass extinctions in recent, extant lineages. However, the most evolutionarily distinct species tend to be the most threatened, and species richness and extinction risk are centered in areas of high anthropogenic disturbance, particularly South and Southeast Asia. Range size is the strongest predictor of threat, and a disproportionate amount of evolutionary diversity is at risk of imminent extinction.

RD 6 rice variety is a well-known glutinous jasmine rice and widespread adoption variety in Northern Thailand and Nan province. This variety is threatened by rice blast disease, which is a serious rice disease in the area. Farmers are losing their yields. To solve this problem, a group of farmers in Nan province integrated scientific knowledge and local knowledge in a participatory rice varieties selection approach to achieve new rice varieties. This study applied the mixed methods. It relied on both quantitative and qualitative data encompassing secondary data gathering, field observation, in-depth interviews with farmers, non-government organization staffs, government organizations and related stakeholders involved in the operation of managing lowland rice variety for self-reliant production at Fai Kaew (FK) community enterprise, Nan Province, Thailand. The study revealed that the probability problem solving is the management of rice variety that had been implemented continuously. FK farmers’ capability to adapt can occur along the way in the cycle of the learning process. They collaborated with rice researchers and non-government organization to select new rice varieties by integrating their local knowledge with scientific knowledge. Consequently, FK farmers can develop new rice varieties that are resistant to rice blast disease, namely Thayasirin and Nan 59. The main discussion is that the adaptive capacity that farmers as key actors can be ready to adapt and develop new solutions or interventions whenever new problems/constraints affect them in rice production and livelihood. Farmers deal with problems by integrating data and knowledge and collaborating with other stakeholders to select rice varieties that are suitable and respond to the farm ecological system, productivity and profitability. Thus, the management of farmers’ rice varieties is a dynamic and continuous process. The adaptive capability is one of components of self-reliance of management of farmers’ rice varieties. Keywords: Adaptive Capability, Self-Reliance Production, Sustainable Agriculture, Rice Varieties

SUMMARY Universities are important locations to develop best practice in becoming healthy places, within the focus of the Healthy Cities movement of the World Health Organization. This ethnographic study determined the meaning of the concept of ‘health-promoting faculty’ with 46 key and general informants in two faculties at a health sciences campus in northern Thailand. The campus developed as a healthy campus setting over a 6-year period and so gathering information from informants regarding their understandings about health-promoting faculty (HPF) are important to ensure that common goals are achieved. Data were collected using in-depth individual and focus group interviews, documents and field observations. Spradley’s ethnographic approach was employed for data analysis. Findings revealed that those within the faculties of pharmacy and nursing had different meanings regarding ‘health-promoting faculty’. Twenty informants of the pharmacy faculty had been encouraged to adopt their own perspectives about health promotion (HP) meanings. However, 26 informants from the faculty of nursing collaboratively considered the meaning to be ‘a well-being organization where the members aimed to create holistic health among the faculty’s population in an environment supportive of health’. We concluded that how an HPF is to be developed should be taken into consideration, and that goals and directions should be clear faculty members are to share common goals to promote a healthy university. In addition, to evaluate the quality of HPF development, procedures should be processed consistently within the meaning of the concept of HP in relevant settings.

Phylogenetic relationships among the ferret-badger Melogale moschata, the skunk Mephitis mephitis, and 21 other arctoid carnivorans, representing Mustelidae (Mustelinae: Mustela, Martes, Gulo; Lutrinae: Enhydra; Melinae: Meles), Procyonidae (Procyon), and Ursidae (Ursus, Melursus), were evaluated through maximum-parsimony phylogenetic analysis of concatenated partial nucleotide sequences of the nuclear recombination-activating gene 1 (RAG1) and gene encoding interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP). The analysis strongly supports Melogale as more closely related to a musteline-lutrine clade (containing Mustela and Enhydra) than to Meles or another musteline clade containing Martes and Gulo (causing Melinae and Mustelinae, as traditionally circumscribed, to be nonmonophyletic). This, together with known morphological and karyological evidence for nonmeline affinities of Melogale, justify the exclusion of the ferret-badgers from the monophyletic Melinae. Therefore, we recommend that Melogale be classified in a distinct mustelid subfamily, the monotypic Helictidinae. Our analysis also strongly supports an outgroup position of the skunks to a clade containing Procyonidae and the nonmephitine Mustelidae (causing Mustelidae, as traditionally circumscribed, to be paraphyletic). This position of the skunks agrees with results of most previous genetic studies. However, it is contradicted by known morphological evidence from both living and fossil taxa, as well as genetic evidence from protein electrophoresis. These consistently support the traditional placement of the skunks within the monophyletic Mustelidae (recently in a close relationship to Lutrinae). Therefore, we consider the recent elevation of the skunks to the level of family as premature, and recommend that this clade be left at the subfamily level (Mephitinae) within the family Mustelidae, pending further evidence.

A new family of Gonyleptoidea from South America (Opiliones, Laniatores)

Canada is one of the last places on earth with extensive wilderness areas, yet the number of Canadian species threatened with extinction continues to rise every year. Using satellite‐derived land use data, we find that habitat loss explains most of the variation in numbers of endangered species across Canada. Habitat loss within species ranges is, therefore, likely to be the leading factor inhibiting their recovery. We measured habitat loss individually within the known ranges of 243 terrestrial species at risk of extinction across Canada. Recovery potential, as measured by extent of natural habitat within each species’ range, is bimodally distributed, but less than 50% of the range of the majority of Canada's species at risk is natural habitat and there is no detectable habitat remaining for 16 of the 243 species at risk. There were no differences in the recovery potential of species categorized either by threat level (special concern, threatened, or endangered) or taxon. Despite having extensive wilderness areas, Canada has similar rates of endangerment to other countries in the Americas, underlining the effect of severe habitat loss to intensive agriculture that has occurred in Canada's most biologically diverse regions. Improvements to protected areas networks and especially cooperative conservation activities with private landowners will do the most to improve the recovery prospects of species at risk in Canada.