Baikalsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve and its buffer zone: floristic data

Baikalsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve is situated in the central part of the Khamar-Daban Range (Southern Baikal, Siberia), in three administrative districts of Republic of Buryatia (i.e. Kabansky District, Dzhidinsky District and Selenginsky District), Russia. In general, this territory has been relatively well studied by botanists, but until now there was no detailed information about the flora of the Reserve with precise geographic localities. Moreover, some records in the Baikalsky Reserve's flora were published without references to documenting herbarium specimens. The dataset contains 39,238 unique occurrences of 875 taxa (854 species, 14 subspecies, five varieties and two species aggregates) from the Baikalsky Reserve and its buffer zone. All the data were acquired during the field studies by the author in 2009–2021, when 152 taxa (17.3% of all the taxa included into the dataset) were first recorded by the author from the study area. Herbarium vouchers are preserved in the Moscow University Herbarium (MW). This dataset is the first attempt at creating a database of vascular plants of the Baikalsky Reserve and its buffer zone, based on modern research. These data will provide the background for the updated check-list of the Baikalsky Reserve's flora.

Response surface methodology mediated optimization of Lignin peroxidase from Bacillus mycoides isolated from Simlipal Biosphere Reserve, Odisha, India

Background Lignin is a complex polymer of phenyl propanoid units found in the vascular tissues of the plants as one of lignocellulose materials. Many bacteria secrete enzymes to lyse lignin, which can be essential to ease the production of bioethanol. Current research focused on the study of ligninolytic bacteria capable of producing lignin peroxidase (LiP) which can help in lignin biodegradation and bioethanol production. Ligninolytic bacterial strains were isolated and screened from the soil samples of Simlipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR), Odisha (India), for the determination of their LiP activity. Enzymatic assay and optimization for the LiP activity were performed with the most potent bacterial strain. The strain was identified by morphological, biochemical, and molecular methods. Results In this study, a total of 16 bacteria (Simlipal ligninolytic bacteria [SLB] 1–16) were isolated from forest soils of SBR using minimal salt medium containing lignin. Out of the 16 isolates, 9 isolates showed decolourization of methylene blue dye on LB agar plates. The bacterial isolates such as SLB8, SLB9, and SLB10 were able to decolourize lignin with 15.51%, 16.80%, and 33.02%, respectively. Further enzyme assay was performed using H2O2 as substrate and methylene blue as an indicator for these three bacterial strains in lignin containing minimal salt medium where the isolate SLB10 showed the highest LiP activity (31.711 U/mg). The most potent strain, SLB10, was optimized for enhanced LiP enzyme activity using response surface methodology. In the optimized condition of pH 10.5, temperature 30 °C, H2O2 concentration 0.115 mM, and time 42 h, SLB10 showed a maximum LiP activity of 55.947 U/mg with an increase of 1.76 times from un-optimized condition. Further chemical optimization was performed, and maximum LiP activity as well as significant dye-decolourization efficiency of SLB10 has been found in bacterial growth medium supplemented individually with cellulose, yeast extract, and MnSO4. Most notably, yeast extract and MnSO4-supplemented bacterial culture medium were shown to have even higher percentage of dye decolourization compared to normal basal medium. The bacterial strain SLB10 was identified as Bacillus mycoides according to morphological, biochemical, and molecular (16S rRNA sequencing) characterization and phylogenetic tree analysis. Conclusion Result from the present study revealed the potential of Bacillus mycoides bacterium isolated from the forest soil of SBR in producing LiP enzyme that can be evaluated further for application in lignin biodegradation and bioethanol production. Scaling up of LiP production from this potent bacterial strain could be useful in different industrial applications. Graphical Abstract

The Pinelands Development Credit Program

The “Pine Barrens” are a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve encompassing about 1.1 million acres in southern New Jersey. A state agency, the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, in conjunction with county and local governments, works to implement land management and environmental protection goals via a comprehensive management plan. The pinelands development credit (PDC) program is one tool aimed specifically at land preservation outcomes. The PDC program is a regional “transfer of development rights” market allowing landowners to sell their rights to further develop their property and enter their land into permanent protected status. Since the program’s inception in 1982, over 55,000 acres of sensitive and rare ecosystem have been protected; the more than 1,200 transactions account for US$63 M of economic value. The PDC program is a clear illustration of the role that financial instruments and market mechanisms can play in achieving environmental protection outcomes. This case study offers an overview of the pinelands area, PDC program, and the transfer of development rights concept before examining the PDC program and its outcomes in greater detail. While the program has been hailed as a success, it will face challenges in the coming years, including a relatively inefficient process for converting PDCs into protected lands and the question of how the program can evolve once eligible lands become more scarce.

The features of the biotopic distribution of Orthoptera insects in the Adon-Chelon terrain (Daursky Nature Reserve, Southern Transbaikalia)

The features of the species composition and abundance of orthoptera insects (Insecta, Orthoptera) in different stations of the Adon-Chelon locality (Daursky Biosphere Reserve, south-eastern Transbaikalia) were studied. The differences in these parameters were revealed for Orthoptera communities inhabiting different stations. The differences in the Orthoptera fauna were noted in comparison with previous studies, which may be associated with cyclical climatic changes characteristic of Southern Transbaikalia.

DIVERSITY, DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF LICHEN IN SIMILIPAL BIOSPHERE RESERVE, ODISHA

Lichens are organized symbionts that have their importance due to a potential indicator of the forest ecosystem. The lichen diversity of Odisha is not well explored as compared to the other phytogeographical region of India. Though the earlier study reported the occurrence of 252 lichen species from different parts of the state, it was limited to the northeast part of the Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR). The objective of the present study was to survey some unexplored areas of SBR, which revealed the occurrence of 84 species of lichens belonging to 38 families and 18 genera. Most of the lichens were found growing as phorophytes on the matured bark of the trees. The western part of the SBR is rich in lichen diversity as compared to the eastern part. Species frequency was found to be highest in the southwest part of the SBR, while the density and abundance were more or less similar within all the study sites. The correlation between frequency and density was found to be significant and insignificant between frequency and abundance.

Scaphisomatini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scaphidiinae) from two biosphere reserves in eastern China, with descriptions of two new species

Members of the scaphidiine tribe Scaphisomatini collected recently in Tianmushan Biosphere Reserve (Zhejiang) and Wuyishan National Nature Reserve (part of Wuyishan Biosphere Reserve, Fujian), China, are studied. Two species, Scaphisoma krali Löbl, sp. nov. and Scaphisoma sekerkai Löbl, sp. nov., are described from Wuyishan. Baeocera franzi (Löbl, 1973) and Scaphisoma mutator Löbl, 2000 are recorded for the first time from Zhejiang province, and Scaphisoma binhanum (Pic, 1922) and Scaphoxium intermedium Löbl, 1984 are recorded for the first time from Fujian province.

Assessment of the Consequences of Forest Fires in 2020 on the Territory of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve

The article presents the consequences of fires that occurred on the territory Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve in April 2020. Research shows that the results of these events characterized as catastrophic. The condition of forests after fires was assessed using satellite data and field trips to review the condition of forests affected by wildfires. The total area affected by the fire in 4 foci was 51,806.5 hectares. The total area of fires in the exclusion zone is 66,222.5 hectares. About 25% of the territories affected by the fires have changed. To preserve the landscape diversity and mosaic of areas covered and not covered with forest vegetation, it is impractical to conduct afforestation (afforestation of fallows) on the territory of the reserve. Among the forests affected by fires, the majority has a high ecological and forestry potential and, accordingly, a high potential for natural recovery (81.6%). In dead forests, the share with a high potential for natural reforestation is slightly lower and amounts to 66.8%. The share of forests with low natural recovery potential is low and amounts to 1.9% and 4.8% in forests affected by fires and dead, respectively. Significantly damaged, and sometimes destroyed, were a number of rare settlements, which are not only important for nature conservation, but also classified by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention (Resolution 4) as particularly valuable settlements, as well as the “Green Book of Ukraine” (2009). 2 groups were marked as excessively damaged on the territory of the reserve. It should be noted that there is a slight general violation of the protected core of this object of the nature reserve fund, which will allow it to preserve its environmental potential and the functions of protecting and reproducing biodiversity. Most of the areas of the reserve affected by fires have a high forestry potential and are able to recover independently, so they do not require intervention in natural processes for reforestation. The degree of transformation of the ground cover in pine and oak-pine forests of the reserve under the influence of pyrogenic factor is determined by the intensity of the fire. Reforestation in areas with low forest potential should be carried out with clear planning

Wildlife managers ignore previous knowledge at great risk: the case of Rivaldo, the iconic wild Asian Elephant Elephas maximus L. of the Sigur Region, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India

Management of wildlife depends mostly on scientific data; ignoring this can lead to unintended consequences. We take the case study of the wild male Asian Elephant Rivaldo of the Sigur Region, who was translocated out of his range. Rivaldo returned to his home range within a few days, which could have been expected if scientific publications had been consulted. We suggest that a simple checklist of relevant publications can help park managers to decide on a proper management procedure. We also used a simple Bayesian framework to visually show how the probability of predicting a management outcome is increased by prior knowledge. The expensive and risky effort to relocate the elephant could have been avoided altogether if prior knowledge had been taken into consideration.