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

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.

Time budget of daily activity of silvery lutung (Trachypithecus cristatus) in coastal forest habitat at Gunung Padang, West Sumatra

Primate’s time budgets are the important aspect to investigate their ecological influences in their habitat. This study collected data on daily activities in a group of silvery lutung (Trachypithecus cristatus) in coastal forest habitat at Gunung Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia from August 2018 – July 2019, using instantaneous scan sampling method with 10-min intervals. This study analyzed the activity of wild silvery lutungs in study site, with emphasis on the age-sex differences and montly changes in their activity budget. This group spent most of time resting in their daily activity (average 47.50% of the total daytime resting), then followed by moving, feeding, grooming and other activities (conflict, nursing, urinating-defecating, playing, etc.). Resting peaked simultaneously in the morning and peaked back in the afternoon while moving and feeding decreased in this period. Their time budgets showed significant monthly variation: they spent a higher value of time feeding from September - Oktober 2018. They also differed among different sex-age classes: nursing females spent more time for actively moving, whereas adult male and single females devoted more time to resting, feeding, and grooming. These differences in their time budgets may reflect fundamental differences in reproductive biology, parental investment and development among the different age-sex classes.

Can standardisation of the unit costs of wood extraction be applied in the financial system of the State Forests?

The paper presents a method for grouping forest districts that are characterised by similar natural and forest conditions and the results of standardisation of wood extraction costs for forest districts and regional directorates of the State Forests. The adopted standard costs referred to the costs which determine the reasonable level of costs necessary to perform a specific management task in the given natural, forest and economic conditions of forest districts. Forest districts were grouped based on the forest habitat types and the land diversity index (Wtri), which were determined with statistical methods to be the factors that shape wood extraction costs. In order to determine the standard unit costs of wood extraction, source materials for the year 2017 have been used, which had been obtained from the State Forests Information System for all forest districts in the country. The method of standardising wood extraction unit costs on the basis of forest district groups with similar natural and forest conditions was reduced in 2017 to the designation of eight uniform forest district groups in terms of forest habitat type structure and Wtri index. Standard unit costs of wood extraction, determined on the basis of the methodology presented in the paper, should be used in the State Forests’ financial system.

Returning an Endemic Frog to the New Zealand Mainland: Transfer and Adaptive Management of Leiopelma pakeka at Karori Sanctuary, Wellington

<p>Karori Sanctuary (252 ha) is a fenced restoration site in Wellington, New Zealand from which all species of introduced mammals have been eradicated except house mice (Mus musculus). In 2006, the endemic New Zealand frog Leiopelma pakeka was transferred to Karori Sanctuary as part of a long term plan to restore the site's original biota. This was a significant event in that it was the first re-introduction of a New Zealand frog to a mainland site, the first New Zealand amphibian translocation for the purpose of restoration and the first time L. pakeka were released into habitat also occupied by an introduced mammal. An adaptive management regime facilitated research within the constraints of a community restoration project for which only a small population (n=60) was made available for release. Two groups (n = 30) were released into mouse-proof enclosures in February and October, 2006. Survival was high (97%) and frogs maintained a healthy body condition. Breeding was not detected during the first year and this was attributed to an inappropriate sex ratios that were restructured in April 2007 when half of the frogs (n= 29) were removed from the enclosures and released into forest habitat. The survival, condition and recruitment of frogs living inside and outside of the mouse-proof enclosures were compared. Both groups initially had a similar recapture rate, but after one year, just one frog (3%) was recaptured outside the enclosure compared with 27 adults (93%) and fourteen juveniles captured within the enclosure. In March 2009, 26 of the 29 individuals originally released into the enclosure were recaptured and a further ten juveniles were captured for the first time. No individuals have been sighted outside the enclosure since March 2008. Post-release movements did not explain the apparent decline of the population living outside of the enclosure. The mean distance dispersed during the first month after release (3.4 +/- 0.05 m) did not significantly increase after eight months (4.2 +/- 0.05 m) and the maximum-recorded dispersal distance was 7.0 m. The centre of activity of the nine frogs captured > 5 occasions were all within 3 m of the release site and kernel estimates of high habitat usage clustered around artificially constructed rock piles. Predation by house mice and/or native species such as little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii) were considered the most likely explanation for the failure to recapture frogs outside of the enclosure, especially those frogs that appeared to have settled at the release site. The extremely low number of individuals released outside of the enclosure exacerbated the impact of processes acting on the founding population. Recommendations are provided for the next adaptive management stage and include transferring an additional 100 frogs from Maud Island for release into forest habitat outside of the mouse-proof enclosure. Post-release movements should be restricted and all potential predators except house mice excluded. The population within the enclosures should be retained as is. Finally, the viability including L. pakeka in attempts to reconstruct mainland communities is examined.</p>

Returning an Endemic Frog to the New Zealand Mainland: Transfer and Adaptive Management of Leiopelma pakeka at Karori Sanctuary, Wellington

<p>Karori Sanctuary (252 ha) is a fenced restoration site in Wellington, New Zealand from which all species of introduced mammals have been eradicated except house mice (Mus musculus). In 2006, the endemic New Zealand frog Leiopelma pakeka was transferred to Karori Sanctuary as part of a long term plan to restore the site's original biota. This was a significant event in that it was the first re-introduction of a New Zealand frog to a mainland site, the first New Zealand amphibian translocation for the purpose of restoration and the first time L. pakeka were released into habitat also occupied by an introduced mammal. An adaptive management regime facilitated research within the constraints of a community restoration project for which only a small population (n=60) was made available for release. Two groups (n = 30) were released into mouse-proof enclosures in February and October, 2006. Survival was high (97%) and frogs maintained a healthy body condition. Breeding was not detected during the first year and this was attributed to an inappropriate sex ratios that were restructured in April 2007 when half of the frogs (n= 29) were removed from the enclosures and released into forest habitat. The survival, condition and recruitment of frogs living inside and outside of the mouse-proof enclosures were compared. Both groups initially had a similar recapture rate, but after one year, just one frog (3%) was recaptured outside the enclosure compared with 27 adults (93%) and fourteen juveniles captured within the enclosure. In March 2009, 26 of the 29 individuals originally released into the enclosure were recaptured and a further ten juveniles were captured for the first time. No individuals have been sighted outside the enclosure since March 2008. Post-release movements did not explain the apparent decline of the population living outside of the enclosure. The mean distance dispersed during the first month after release (3.4 +/- 0.05 m) did not significantly increase after eight months (4.2 +/- 0.05 m) and the maximum-recorded dispersal distance was 7.0 m. The centre of activity of the nine frogs captured > 5 occasions were all within 3 m of the release site and kernel estimates of high habitat usage clustered around artificially constructed rock piles. Predation by house mice and/or native species such as little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii) were considered the most likely explanation for the failure to recapture frogs outside of the enclosure, especially those frogs that appeared to have settled at the release site. The extremely low number of individuals released outside of the enclosure exacerbated the impact of processes acting on the founding population. Recommendations are provided for the next adaptive management stage and include transferring an additional 100 frogs from Maud Island for release into forest habitat outside of the mouse-proof enclosure. Post-release movements should be restricted and all potential predators except house mice excluded. The population within the enclosures should be retained as is. Finally, the viability including L. pakeka in attempts to reconstruct mainland communities is examined.</p>

The Influence of Habitat Conditions on the Properties of Pinewood

This article starts a series of articles on dependences between the conditions of the growth of trees in forests and the technical aspects and directions of using the raw material obtained from these trees. This is a key feature for wood purchasers because it determines the efficiency of production and directly affects the final financial result of their activity. Wood represents an environmentally sustainable and renewable material, which is a widely available raw material on the market and must meet specific quality and strength requirements. These parameters indicate the utility values of wood and the possibilities of its use. One of the factors influencing the properties of wood is the type of the forest habitat it comes from. In order to determine this influence, tests were carried out to show how tree growth conditions affected changes in the density and strength of raw wood. The assumption (hypothesis) about the correlation between the static bending strength of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) wood and the forest habitat was verified on four forest types, i.e., fresh coniferous forest (FCF), fresh mixed coniferous forest (FMCF), fresh mixed forest (FMF) and fresh forest (FF). The properties depend largely on the wood structure, its origin on the cross section and the length of the stems. The raw material selected for the study came from Scots pine trees growing in forests in central Poland. The study confirmed the influence of the habitat on changes in the density and strength of pinewood. There was a correlation between the habitat FMCF and the quality parameters of the raw material, which reflected the wood structure r = 0.775; p < 0.05.

A new species of Myxia (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cixiidae) collected on palms from the Reserva Privada el Silencio de Los Angeles Cloud Forest in Costa Rica

A new species of Myxia Bahder & Bartlett (Cixiidae: Cixiinae: Oecleini) is established as Myxia hernandezi sp. n. collected from native palms in cloud forest habitat in Costa Rica. Placement in the genus Myxia is supported by molecular analysis of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 18S loci as well as morphological characters.

A new Gonamytta katydid from central Mozambique (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae)

A new small predatory katydid Gonamytta deboisselae sp. n. is described from mid-elevation montane forest habitat in central Mozambique; this species is a putative endemic of Mt. Gorongosa. The call of the new species is ultrasonic, with the peak frequency at 38.2 kHz. Anepitacta (A.) scrofina Beier, 1965 is transferred to Gonamytta based on the morphology of the male terminalia.