Report of Neoheterophrictus chimminiensis Sunil Jose, 2020 (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from the Nelliyampathy forest region of Western Ghats, India

Neoheterophrictus chimminiensis Sunil Jose, 2020 was previously only found in the Chimmini forest area, but it has recently been found in the Nelliyampathy forest region of Western Ghats, indicating its distribution. Taxonomic description illustrations and measurements of chimminiensis are added.

Drivers of vulnerability to climate change in the southernmost region of Bahia (Brazil)

The region that comprises the Atlantic Forest is one of the most degraded areas of the planet, being especially vulnerable in climate change scenarios, which project a mean temperature increase between 2ºC and 3ºC by 2070 for the Brazilian Northeast region. This article aims to analyze the main drivers of socio-environmental vulnerability in the Atlantic Forest region that comprises the southernmost identity territory of Bahia (Brazil) and their potential consequences for coping with climate change. To this end, historical data on land use and occupation was spatialized and evaluated, along with socioeconomic indicators and legal environmental adequacy in the municipalities that make up this territory. The results indicate four structural drivers that generate regional vulnerabilities: the persistence of deforestation; the continuous expansion of monoculture areas; the maintenance of low levels of well-being of the population; as well as a picture of legal environmental liabilities. Based on the analysis of these data, strategies are proposed to increase the adaptive capacity to climate change in this region, especially considering the role of municipalities as a central actor in the implementation of adaptation actions by incorporating into their existing planning instruments indicators and strategies that address the multiple current challenges, especially when the federal government seems to be neglecting climate change.

Exploring the Recruitment Dynamics of Sugar Maple and Yellow Birch Saplings into Merchantable Stems Following Harvesting in the Acadian Forest Region of New Brunswick, Canada

The recruitment of saplings in forest stands into merchantable stems is a very complex process, thus making it challenging to understand and predict. The recruitment dynamics in the Acadian Forest Region of New Brunswick are not well known or documented. Our objective was to draw an inference from existing large scale routine forest inventories as to the different dynamics behind the recruitment from the sapling layer into the commercial tree size layer in terms of density and occurrence of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) following harvesting, by looking at many factors on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales using models. Results suggest that the variation in density and probability of occurrence is best explained by the intensity of silvicultural treatment, by the merchantable stem density in each plot, and by the proportion of merchantable basal area of each group of species. The number of recruits of sugar maple and yellow birch stems tend be higher when time since last treatment increases, when mid to low levels of silvicultural treatment intensity were implemented, and within plots having intermediate levels of merchantable stem density. Lastly, our modeling efforts suggest that the probability of occurrence and density of recruitment of both species tend to increase while its share of merchantable basal area increases.

The Eye of the Beholder: Applying Visual Analysis in an Historical Study of Lynxes’ Representations in the Bavarian Forest Region

Representation is never neutral, especially when it comes to agents devoid of their own voice. As such, wildlife has often been employed as a sort of leverage point, an emotional trigger aimed to deliver a certain message (see e.g., Cronin, 2011). The establishment of the Bavarian Forest National Park (BFNP) coincided with the return of large carnivores to the region, in particular, lynxes. Lynxes are endemic to the area; however, as in many other parts of Europe, the last free-roaming individuals were eradicated in the middle of the nineteenth century. In the past few decades, slowly, lynxes were both reintroduced or came back on their own volition, and that has created a considerable response from the population. There has been extensive coverage of the return of these animals both in local and regional media. Lynxes are also kept in the enclosures of the BFNP to afford visitors an unmediated look at the native charismatic megafauna. In this chapter, I analyse how lynxes have been represented in the local media, the newspaper Grafenauer Anzeiger, and discuss merits and drawbacks of visual analysis research method in understanding the change in attitudes towards these animals’ presence in the BFNP area. For that, I look at the archival and contemporary publications of the newspaper. It has been said that the precondition for people’s understanding of reality lays in fantasy, in imagining things to be true (Bergman, 2013). A visual analysis method can help uncover stories that do not necessarily come to the fore in text, and that, in turn, makes it possible to have a fuller grasp of one’s research object. Andrew Isenberg once said that “[our] representations of wildlife are inescapably expressions of human values” (Isenberg, 2002), and while texts are important in their own regard, visual analysis gives an opportunity to look behind a textual narrative to discern whether what we see of the wildlife corresponds to what we understand.

Hunting

The chapter outline which species were hunted in the boreal forest and how they were hunted or trapped, and which animals were hunted in the mountains. The conditions for hunting were better in the boreal forest than in the mountains due to differences in topography, habitats, and species composition. Hunting led to extinction of wild reindeer and depopulation of fur animals; while small-game hunting for subsistence continued to be important. In the forest region, strong property rights to game developed through the skatteland, and hunting was a private enterprise. Hunting in the mountain region developed in the opposite direction and was open access after the wild reindeer was extinct. Hunting became important for social justice, and poor Sami had access to hunting grounds

Discovery and Community Dynamics of Novel ssRNA Mycoviruses in the Conifer Pathogen Heterobasidion parviporum

Heterobasidion species are highly destructive basidiomycetous conifer pathogens of the Boreal forest region. Earlier studies have revealed dsRNA virus infections of families Curvulaviridae and Partitiviridae in Heterobasidion strains, and small RNA deep sequencing has also identified infections of Mitoviridae members in these fungi. In this study, the virome of Heterobasidion parviporum was examined for the first time by RNA-Seq using total RNA depleted of rRNA. This method successfully revealed new viruses representing two established (+)ssRNA virus families not found earlier in Heterobasidion: Narnaviridae and Botourmiaviridae. In addition, we identified the presence of a recently described virus group tentatively named “ambiviruses” in H. parviporum. The H. parviporum isolates included in the study originated from experimental forest sites located within 0.7 km range from each other, and a population analysis including 43 isolates was conducted at one of the experimental plots to establish the prevalence of the newly identified viruses in clonally spreading H. parviporum individuals. Our results indicate that viral infections are considerably more diverse and common among Heterobasidion isolates than known earlier and include ssRNA viruses with high prevalence and interspecies variation.