Seasonal distribution and habitat use preference of Barking deer (Muntiacus vaginalis) in Murree-Kotli Sattian-Kahuta National Park, Punjab Pakistan

ABSTRACT Microhabitat factors associated with the habitat of barking deer (Muntiacus vaginalis) were examined and compared between summer and winter seasons. Habitat characteristics and preferred habitat were measured by locating direct and indirect signs. To quantify the habitat utilization of barking deer, each selected study site was sampled for floral diversity from 2015 to 2017. Quadrats were deployed along transect lines to determine seasonal distribution. Barking deer were not evenly distributed across vegetation types in the study area; they occurred more often in the broad-leaved forest than in Chir pine forest, at an elevational range of 550-850 m, in thick vegetation on steep slopes. The most preferred habitat included trees and shrubs with 30% and 69% cover, respectively. Barking deer avoided thicker tree cover, possibly as it hinders movement and escape from predators. No significant difference (χ2 = 6.37, df = 3, p = 0.19) in seasonal vegetation cover was recorded.

Herpetofauna of the Maninjau caldera, West Sumatra, Indonesia, with special account to geckos

The field surveys were conducted in the Maninjau Lake region, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia, in February 2020, mainly on the north-eastern slope of the Maninjau caldera at 450–600 m a.s.l. The slopes of the Maninjau caldera are naturally covered by a tropical rainforest that remains quite undisturbed from an altitude of 900 m up to the crater ridge. Natural vegetation of the northern and eastern slopes at altitudes from 450 and 500 to 600 m a.s.l. is replaced by rice plantations or mixed forest gardens. The typical habitat consisted of an evergreen broad-leaved forest on the slopes along a mountain creek and around a waterfall. Herein, we report 11 new species records for the Maninjau caldera; 9 new species records for Agam Regency; 3 new species records for Sumatra and Indonesia and 1 species of Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 new for science. The morphology of rare and poorly known species of the bent toed gecko, Cyrtodactylus agamensis (Bleeker, 1860) is described for the first time. A high diversity of Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 occurs in Indochina and on the Thai-Malay Peninsula (150 species) but only six species in Sumatra. The Malay-Indochinese genus Cnemaspis has a recent spurt of diversity and now reaches eight species in Sumatra and only one species reaches Java. Current gecko diversity in Sumatra comprises 29 species in eight genera. The level of endemism level in geckos is very high and reaches 48%. The herpetofauna of Maninjau Caldera includes 26 amphibian and 46 reptile species. The faunistic core of the West Sumatran herpetofauna consists of Malay-Sundaic, Sumatran endemic, Sunda-Indochinese and widely distributed Oriental elements. The West Sumatran herpetofauna is characterized by the presence of a mutual species with Indochina, Malaysia, east India, Myanmar, the Andaman and Nicobar islands and Sri Lanka, often with disjunction in the huge territory of Indochina; species with continuous distribution from the Indian subcontinent to Papua and Oceania; and generalist species with wide pan-Indopacific distribution.

Conversion of little value forest stands in Republic of Belarus: their state and problems

The article provides data on the assessment of the state of broad-leaved forest crops created during the reconstruction of low-value forest stands in the forest fund. The effectiveness of various methods of reconstruction of measures depending on the share of broad-leaved species in the composition of forest crops is analyzed. It was found that during the period 2006–2018 reconstruction was carried out on an area of 3628 hectares in the Republic of Belarus using corridor (69 %), curtin-group (22 %) and continuous (9 %) methods. It is shown that the average survival rate of forest crops in the continuous reconstruction method was 84, corridor — 71 %, and preservation, respectively, — 61 and 63 %. The sub-topological forest crops created during the curtin-group reconstruction had an unsatisfactory condition (average survival and preservation — 40 %). It is recommended when creating broadleaf forest crops during the reconstruction of low-value forest stands to take into account their age, composition, forest growing conditions, as well as the biogroup placement of plantings, which ensures faster closing of crops in rows, and contributes to their favorable growth and formation, and to create an optimal width of corridors 4...6 meters, which will ensure uniform and sufficient distribution of light in forest crops.

Structuring Interaction Networks Between Epiphytic Bryophytes and Their Hosts in Yunnan, SW China

Ecological networks are commonly applied to depict general patterns of biotic interactions, which provide tools to understand the mechanism of community assembly. Commensal interactions between epiphytes and their hosts are a major component of species interactions in forest canopies; however, few studies have investigated species assemblage patterns and network structures of epiphyte–host interactions, particularly non-vascular epiphytes in different types of forest. To analyze the characteristics of network structures between epiphytes and their hosts, composition and distribution of epiphytic bryophytes were investigated from 138 host individuals using canopy cranes in a tropical lowland seasonal rain forest (TRF) and a subtropical montane moist evergreen broad-leaved forest (STF), in Southwest China. We structured binary networks between epiphytic bryophytes and their hosts in these two forests, which presented 329 interactions in the TRF and 545 interactions in the STF. Compared to TRF, the bryophyte–host plant networks were more nested but less modular in the STF. However, both forests generally exhibited a significantly nested structure with low levels of specialization and modularity. The relatively high nestedness may stabilize the ecological networks between epiphytic bryophytes and their hosts. Nevertheless, the low modularity in epiphyte–host networks could be attributed to the lack of co-evolutionary processes, and the low degree of specialization suggests that epiphytes are less likely to colonize specific host species. Vertical distribution of the bryophyte species showed structured modules in the tree basal and crown zones, probably attributing to the adaptation to microclimates within a host individual. This study highlights the nested structure of commensal interaction between epiphytic bryophytes and host trees, and provides a scientific basis to identify key host tree species for conservation and management of biodiversity in forest ecosystems.

Optimizing Stand Spatial Structure by Using Neighborhood-Based Quantitative Indicators: A Case of Boreal Forests

Background: Over the past fifty years, societies have placed increasing demands on forests, and their use has shifted gradually from wood production to the diversified benefits and functions of ecosystem services. The effects of neighborhood-based structural characteristics on regulating growth and promoting sustainability have therefore drawn much attention. However, direction for managing natural mixed forests using neighborhood-based indicators are still not clear.Methods: In this study, a tree-level harvest planning tool that considers four neighborhood-based structural parameters (species mingling, diametric differentiation, horizontal spatial pattern and crowdedness of trees) while concurrently recognizing other operational constraints, was developed using simulated annealing algorithm. The approach was applied to four 1-ha mapped stands in northeast China, namely a natural larch forest (NLF), a natural birch forest (NBF), a natural secondary forest (SEF), and a Korean pine broad-leaved forest (KBF). Results: The tree-level harvest optimization improved the objective function values by approximately 78.33% of NLF, and 134.96% of NBF, and 156.70% of SEF and 252.95%, respectively. The optimal harvest intensities for partial cutting activities varied from 22.16% (SEF) to 26.07% (NBF) of the standing volume. In evaluating the four neighborhood-based structural parameters, both species mingling and crowdedness have the highest priority to be used in structure-based forest management.Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that that the commonly used neighborhood-based structural parameters could be used to control the spatial layout of potential harvest trees, in turn may be conducive to regulate the growth and stability of forests.

Influence of Scale Effect of Canopy Projection on Understory Microclimate in Three Subtropical Urban Broad-Leaved Forests

The canopy is the direct receiver and receptor of external environmental variations, and affects the microclimate and energy exchange between the understory and external environment. After autumn leaf fall, the canopy structure of different forests shows remarkable variation, causes changes in the microclimate and is essential for understory vegetation growth. Moreover, the microclimate is influenced by the scale effect of the canopy. However, the difference in influence between different forests remains unclear on a small scale. In this study, we aimed to analyze the influence of the scale effect of canopy projection on understory microclimate in three subtropical broad-leaved forests. Three urban forests: evergreen broad-leaved forest (EBF), deciduous broad-leaved forest (DBF), and mixed evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forest (MBF) were selected for this study. Sensors for environmental monitoring were used to capture the microclimate data (temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and light intensity (LI)) for each forest. Terrestrial laser scanning was employed to obtain the canopy projection intensity (CPI) at each sensor location. The results indicate that the influence range of canopy projection on the microclimate was different from stand to stand (5.5, 5, and 3 m). Moreover, there was a strong negative correlation between T and RH, and the time for T and LI to reach a significant correlation in different urban forests was different, as well as the time for RH and LI during the day. Finally, the correlation between CPI and the microclimate showed that canopy projection had the greatest effect on T and RH in MBF, followed by DBF and EBF. In conclusion, our findings confirm that canopy projection can significantly affect understory microclimate. This study provides a reference for the conservation of environmentally sensitive organisms for urban forest management.

The Spatial Pattern of the Upper Limit of Montane Deciduous Broad-Leaved Forests and Its Geographical Interpretation in the East Monsoon Realm of China

Montane deciduous broad-leaved forests (MDB) are mainly distributed in the east monsoon realm of China. The upper limit of MDB significantly varies from mountain to mountain. However, the spatial pattern of the upper limit of MDB and its underlying drivers are still unknown. In this study, we conducted hierarchical multiple regression to quantify the effect of climatic factors, peak elevation, and cold tolerance of dominant species on the geographical distribution of the upper limit of MDB on 75 mountains in the east monsoon realm of China. The results show that: (1) the upper limit of MDB in the east monsoon realm of China, 2800 m, is the highest in Taibai peak of the Qinling mountain ranges, from where it tends to decrease both northward and southward. (2) The upper limit of MDB on the mountains with climatic treeline is mainly affected by climatic factors, the minimum temperature of the coldest month (MinT), and the precipitation seasonality (PS), with an R2 of 0.733. (3) The upper limit of MDB on both temperate and subtropical mountains without climatic treeline is affected by MinT, PS, peak elevation, and cold tolerance of dominant species together, with an R2 of 0.793 and 0.748, respectively. (4) The dominant species of the upper limit of MDB significantly differ temperate and subtropical ranges, the former of which is mainly in the genus Betula, and the latter of which is in the genus Quercus. The upper limit of MDB with the genus Fagus as dominant species is only distributed in the mountains towards the south of the Qinling mountain ranges. (5) The warmth index (WI) at the upper limit of deciduous broad-leaved forest on the mountains with climatic treeline is about 60 °C month, which is lower than that at the northernmost boundary of the latitudinal distributed deciduous broad-leaved forest (90 °C month). Our study revealed the spatial pattern and geographical drivers of the upper limit of MDB, improved our understanding of differences in MDB vegetation among different mountain ranges, and provided climatic correlates for predicting the dynamics of the upper limit of MDB under climate change.