Status and habitat description of the globally threatened Udzungwa Forest Partridge Xenoperdix udzungwensis thirty years after discovery

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
LARS DINESEN ◽  
FLEMMING PAGH JENSEN ◽  
JESPER SONNE ◽  
IRINA LEVINSKY ◽  
ELIA MULUNGU

Summary The Udzungwa Forest Partridge Xenoperdix udzungwensis was discovered in 1991 in the geologically old and eco-climatically stable Udzungwa Mountains (hereafter the Udzungwas) in Tanzania - a global biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Arc Mountains of East Africa. The partridge is categorised as globally ‘Endangered’ and this study aims at assessing its population status and habitat requirements in the two separate montane forests where it was discovered c.30 years ago and for the first time using systematic playback technique. We estimate the partridge population at c.2,800 individuals (1,680–3,860) confined to less than 150 km2 and now confined to a single forest and with a clearly declining distribution within the last few decades since its discovery. The species is confined to evergreen closed (semi-closed) canopy forest habitat with leaf litter and sedges on the forest floor for feeding and cover. The partridge has become an emblem for the high concentration of endemic species of the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. At the same time there is a risk that this species could go extinct without notice if the Tanzanian authorities do not tackle two envisaged main drivers, namely fragmentation of the evergreen forest area over the last few centuries and current illegal hunting. Hence it seems crucial to allow natural expansion of its forest habitat in the Udzungwas and to eliminate hunting in the other forest within its recently known distribution where the population has presumably been extirpated. The partridge is remarkable as its closest relatives are in South-east Asia and it is used as a flagship species for the Udzungwas, which has one of the highest concentrations of endemic species on earth.

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4927 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-208
Author(s):  
FRANCESCO BALLARIN ◽  
TAKESHI YAMASAKI ◽  
YONG-CHAO SU

Representatives of some poorly known spider species collected in the rainforest litter of the Orchid Island (Taiwan) are illustrated and discussed here. A new species, Brignoliella tao sp. nov. (Fam. Tetrablemmidae), endemic to Orchid Island, is described based on both sexes. The previously unknown female of Theridiosoma triumphale Zhao & Li, 2012 (Fam. Theridiosomatidae), is described for the first time. Zoma taiwanica (Zhang, Zhu & Tso 2006) comb. nov., from the same family, is illustrated and its transfer from the genus Theridiosoma O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879 to Zoma Saaristo, 1996 is proposed on the basis of morphological characters. Habitus and genitalia of the endemic species Gongylidioides angustus Tu & Li, 2006 (Fam. Linyphiidae) are also illustrated. 


NANO ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 08 (05) ◽  
pp. 1350052 ◽  
Author(s):  
BIN ZENG ◽  
XIAOHUA CHEN ◽  
XUTAO NING ◽  
CHUANSHENG CHEN ◽  
HUI LONG

Novel flower-like composite architecture was successfully synthesized by spray drying and post-calcinating method for the first time. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy observations confirmed that reduced graphene oxides/carbon nanotubes hybrid (rGO/CNTs) formed a flower-like micrometer structure and Cu2O , CuO ( Cu x O , x = 1 or 2) nanoparticles were decorated inside them. The photocatalytic properties were further investigated by evaluating the photodegradation of a pollutant methyl orange (MO). The experimental results indicated that this novel architecture enhanced photocatalytic performance with 96.2% decomposition of MO after 25 min in the presence of H 2 O 2 under visible light irradiation, which was much higher than that of Cu x O powders (33.2%). This could be attributed to the more efficient adsorption of MO molecules on flower-like rGO/CNTs and provide a high concentration of MO near to the Cu x O nanoparticles, thus promoting the photocatalytic degradation process.


Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4504 (2) ◽  
pp. 296
Author(s):  
IOANNIS KARAOUZAS ◽  
YIANNIS KAPAKOS

The larva of Hydropsyche perseus Malicky 2001, endemic species of Kerkyra Island (Corfu), Greece, is described for the first time. The diagnostic features of the species are described and illustrated, and some information regarding its ecology is included. In addition, a tabular key for larvae of the known Hydropsyche species of the Greek Islands is provided. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Thiago Augusto Araujo Correia Lima (in memorian) ◽  
Leonardo Pinto Cunha ◽  
José Eduardo Lahoz da Silva Ribeiro ◽  
Marcia Ortiz Mayo Marques ◽  
Maria da Paz Lima

Protium aracouchini (Aubl.) Marchand [sin Icica aracouchini Aubl.], which occurs in the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve, in the Brazilian Amazon, was evaluated for the presence of galls, for resin exudation and the composition of the essential oils from the aerial parts and the resin. The experiment to stimulate the exudation of resin from the trunk was conducted using a 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid solution. The resin produced after 40 days and the aerial parts had their essential oils extracted in a Clevenger apparatus and the volatile chemical constituents were analyzed using GC/MS. The non-oxygenated sesquiterpenes α-copaene (21.15%) and α-gurjunene (13.69%), in addition to the oxygenated sesquiterpene spathulenol (10.32%), were detected as the majority constituents of the essential oil of the leaves, and a concentration similar to that of α-gurjunene was found in the branches (13.28%). The resin essential oil showed a high concentration of hydrocarbon monoterpenes (76.49%) with a predominance of α-pinene (17.57%) and limonene (46.11%). Four gall morphotypes were found associated with this species. The present study reports for the first time information on the volatile constituents and the resinous potential of P. aracouchini, and registers the morphotypes of the galls that help in the taxonomy of the species.


Author(s):  
Marina Macukanovic-Jocic ◽  
Snezana Jaric

Palynomorphological characteristics of Campanula lingulata, the Balkan-Carpathian endemic species growing in Serbia, have been investigated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy for the first time, in order to provide some information helpful for a better understanding of the taxonomic position of this species within the genus, as well as to contribute to the pollen atlas of Serbian apiflora. The pollen grains are radially symmetrical, isopolar, 3-zonoporate and medium-sized monads oblate-sphaeroidal in shape. Mean of the polar axis (P) is 27.6?1.9 ?m, while the average length of the equatorial axis (E) is 28.8?1.6 ?m. The apertures are operculate. The sculpturing pattern of the exine is microre?ticulate-microechinatae. The exine surface is covered with evenly distributed supratectal spinules of variable length and sparse granules. The longest supratectal spinules are 0.64?0.05 ?m in length and the smallest sculptural elements are less than 0.2 ?m high. The microechinae density per sample area of 5 ?m x 5 ?m averages 17.4?2.4.


2021 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 00063
Author(s):  
Olga Kotsupiy ◽  
Tatyana Shemetova

For the first time, the composition and content of phenolic compounds (PC) of plant leaves of an endemic rare species of the Xiphidium Bunge section of the genus Astragalus L. of Siberia – Astragalus palibinii Polozhij was studied by HPLC. 11 compounds of phenolic nature were identified in water-ethanol extracts of A. palibinii leaves: gallic, p-hydroxybenzoic, chlorogenic, caffeic, ferulic, trans-ferulic, cinnamic acids, isoquercitrin, rutin, isoramnetin-3-O-rutinoside and L-epicatechin. The composition of PC in the leaves of plants of three cenopopulations A. palibinii from Khakassia is the same, with the exception of one hydroxycinnamic acid in trace amounts. The content (mg per 100 g DW) of flavonol glycosides in the leaves of A. palibinii plants varies in the range of 0.442–0.907, the content of hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenzoic acids in the range of 98.5–109.7 and 32.5–83.9, respectively. The quantitative profiles of all the studied groups of PC are characterized by significant variability in the content of individual components. The variability of the content of hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonoids and hydroxybenzoic acids was determined as very low, medium and increased, respectively.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4975 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-197
Author(s):  
VITALY M. SPITSYN ◽  
ALEXANDER V. KONDAKOV ◽  
ALENA A. TOMILOVA ◽  
ELIZAVETA A. SPITSYNA ◽  
IVAN N. BOLOTOV

The Lepidoptera fauna of the island of Flores (Lesser Sunda Archipelago, Indonesia) shares a large proportion of endemic species, which may reach 80–100% in several groups (Zolotuhin & Witt 2005; Nässig et al. 2009; Zolotuhin 2009; Nässig & Bouyer 2010; Yakovlev 2015; Spitsyn & Potapov 2020; Spitsyn & Bolotov 2020). A plethora of new species was described from this island during the last 15 years, e.g. the tiger moth Spilarctia mikeli Bolotov, Kondakov & Spitsyn, 2018 (Zolotuhin & Witt 2005; Yakovlev 2006; Spitsyn & Bolotov 2020a, b, c). This species was described based on a single female specimen collected in West Flores (Bolotov et al. 2018). In the present paper, we describe the male of Spilarctia mikeli for the first time, and illustrate variability of marking patterns of both the male and the female of this species. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
TEODORA TEOFILOVA

Bulgarian carabid fauna is relatively well studied but there are still many species and regions in the country lacking enough research. The present paper aims at complementing the data about the distribution of the carabids from the subfamily Trechinae, containing many diverse, interesting and endemic species. Currently, 55 species of Trechini, 118 species of Bembidiini (incl. Tachyina), and 13 species of Pogonini are known in Bulgaria. This study gives new information and new records on 41 Trechinae species and 17 zoogeographical regions and subregions. The material was collected in the period from 1979 to 2020 through different sampling methods. There are 20 species recorded for the first time in different regions. Two species are reported for the second time in the regions where they were currently collected. Seventeen species haven’t been reported for more than 20 years from the Boboshevo-Simitli valley, Sandanski-Petrich valley, Rila Mts., Pirin Mts., and Slavyanka Mts., and are now discovered there again.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1200700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayumi Uehara ◽  
Tsukasa Iwashina

Foliar flavonoids of Nipponanthemum, which is a monotypic genus and consists of only one Japanese endemic species, N. nipponicum, were isolated for the first time. Fifteen flavonoids, i.e. six glycosides, quercetin 3,7-di- O-glucoside, vicenin-2, quercetin 3- O-glucoside, luteolin 7- O-glucoside, kaempferol 3- O-glucoside and apigenin 7- O-glucoside, and nine aglycones, luteolin, nepetin, quercetin 3-methyl ether, axillarin, apigenin, hispidulin, chrysoeriol, jaceosidin and sudachitin were identified. Of these compounds, the flavonoid aglycones existed on the leaf surface.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1601100
Author(s):  
Sakon Monggoot ◽  
Jariya Burawat ◽  
Patcharee Pripdeevech

A total of 17 endophytic fungal isolates were obtained from the leaves of Mentha cordifolia Opiz (Lamiaceae). Seven isolates were identified to the level of genus by using taxonomically relevant morphological traits. Colletotrichum and Phomopsis species were dominant among these strains. All strains were separated from M. cordifolia leaf for the first time. The ethyl acetate extracts of all endophytic fungi were tested for antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhimurium TISTR1166 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa TISTR781. Most endophytes exhibited antibacterial activity. Ustilago sp. MFLUCC15-1024 presented the highest inhibition zone diameter with a MIC of 31.25 μg/mL against the tested pathogens. The chemical composition of the ethyl acetate extract of this strain was investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Twenty-one components were identified. 2-Phenylethanol (38.7%), E-ligustilide (12.4%), α-eudesmol (10.2%), β-vetivone (4.6%), β-ylangene (3.7%) and verbanol (3.4%) were the major components of the extract. The strong antibacterial activity of Ustilago sp. MFLUCC15-1024 ethyl acetate extract may be attributed to the presence of a high concentration of bioactive compounds including phenyl ethyl alcohol, E-ligustilide and α-eudesmol. The results indicate that there is high diversity of endophytic fungi in M. cordifolia leaf, and that Ustilago sp. MFLUCC15-1024 strain could be an excellent resource of natural antibacterial compounds.


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