Fuel Briquettes from Sal (Shorea robusta) Forest Litter as an Alternative Cooking Fuel

Sal (Shorea robusta) forest leaf litter strongly influences seed germination and seedling survivorship. Therefore, it is crucial to open up the litter layer in such a forest with abundant leaf litter. Briquetting of Sal forest leaf litter can be an option for its management and meet the increasing energy demand. This research work is performed to quantify the amount of Sal forest litter and study the briquette’s combustion properties. The study was carried out in the Namuna Community Forest of Jhapa district. The average weight of leaf litter in the field was observed to be 851 g/m2 . Five varieties of briquettes were produced using different briquetting technologies. Proximate analysis results, calorific value and water boiling tests show these briquettes have good fuel characteristics and can be used as alternative cooking fuel.

Yagder serratus, a new eyeless weevil from Mexico and the non-monophyly of Brachycerinae, the evolutionary twilight zone of true weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

We describe and illustrate a new eyeless weevil, Yagder serratus gen. & sp. nov., based on a single adult female collected by sifting forest leaf litter in Mexico. A phylogenetic analysis of 39 terminals and 2679 aligned positions from three DNA fragments places the new species into the subfamily Brachycerinae (as incertae sedis) and outside the highly diversified clade of ‘higher’ true weevils. Neither Brachycerinae, nor its tribe Raymondionymini traditionally uniting most eyeless weevils, are monophyletic unless the latter is limited to a Mediterranean core group. Both these taxa are taxonomic dumping-grounds likely containing species-poor sisters of species-rich clades. When resolved, the subfamily Brachycerinae will be likely split into two or more species-poor deeply-divergent subfamilies.

Abundance of Entomopathogenic Fungi in Leaf Litter and Soil Layers in Forested Habitats in Poland

This study aims to determine the species composition and density of colony-forming units (CFU) of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) in leaf litter at different depths of the top layer of forest soils depending on the type of forest (coniferous, deciduous and mixed forest), and the date of sampling (spring, autumn). In each type of forest, leaf litter and soil were collected using a soil stick from four depths of soil: 0–5, 5–10, 10–15 and 15–20 cm. Entomopathogenic fungi were isolated by a soil or litter dilution plating method on a selective medium. Four fungal genera were found: Beauveria spp., Cordyceps spp., Metarhizium spp., and Lecanicillium spp. The density of EPF was usually higher in leaf litter than in the layers of soil below, and the most frequently isolated species from both environments were Beauveria spp. among soil samples from all forest types; Beauveria spp. were most abundant in the top layer (0–5 cm), and their density of CFUs gradually decreased deeper into the soil profile.

Structure of the leaf litter frog community in an area of Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil

Different spatial and temporal factors can influence the species richness and abundance of leaf anurans that are fundamental for the ecosystem functioning, as they act as predators and integrate the trophic chain as prey of other animals. There are relatively few studies that aimed to understand the spatio-temporal variation and the influence of environmental factors on leaf litter communities. We studied parameters of the anuran community living in the forest leaf litter in the Duas Bocas Biological Reserve (DBBR), Espírito Santo, Brazil. We sought to understand the extent to which richness, abundance, biomass and density varied between two locations with different stages of preservation (primary and secondary forest). In addition, we tested the effect of temperature and local humidity on abundance. We conducted the samplings monthly from October 2017 to September 2018, establishing 98 4 x 4 m plots (16 m2 each) demarcated on the DBBR forest leaf litter. We measured temperature (°C) and relative air humidity (%), and each plot was carefully surveyed by four observers. We tested for differences in anuran density between the two sampled locations and estimated the effects of environmental variables in the community. We recorded 102 individuals of anurans from 11 species belonging to eight families. The DBBR anuran community parameters significantly differed between the two studied locations, with the highest values of anuran richness and abundance occurring in the area covered by primary forest, probably due to differences in the preservation of each area. However, temperature and humidity did not affect the abundance of anurans in the sampled areas. Our results provide the first information about spatial variation and influence of environmental factors, directed to the community of leaf litter anurans in DBBR, and represents the second study on this group of anurans in the state of Espírito Santo.

Terrestrial Environments

Among crustaceans, only Amphipoda, Isopoda, and Decapoda have invaded truly terrestrial environments, but only two groups show full adaptations to live on land: the family Talitridae among the Amphipoda and the suborder Oniscidea among the Isopoda. The Talitridae occur primarily in forest leaf litter, but a number of other habitats, including caves, are recorded. Talitrids are important ecological contributors to the litter fauna, often occurring in high densities. Their adaptations to a terrestrial way of life include the retention of the mitten-shaped second gnathopods, a neotenic condition among males; the first article of antenna 2 greatly enlarged and fixed to the side of the head; and enlarged gills and pleopods often reduced, sometimes to vestigial stumps. Talitrids have a skewed world distribution being at their most diverse in New Zealand, Tasmania, and Japan/Taiwan. They occur in the Caribbean and Central America but are absent from South and North America except as introduced taxa. Their distribution is largely a result of tectonic activity during the past 150 million years and of extinctions during the Tertiary due to increasing aridity of the climate. The Oniscidea (terrestrial isopods) are the only crustaceans that have managed to adapt to almost all habitat types on land and have become the most species-rich suborder of Isopoda. Although monophyly of the Oniscidea is generally accepted, current taxonomy, based almost entirely on morphological characters, needs extensive revision. Terrestrial isopods present a number of unique adaptations to life on land, some of which result from what can be considered as pre-adaptations of ancestral marine isopods, such as egg development in a marsupium, being dorso-ventrally oblate and having a pleopodal respiration. Other crucial adaptations of Oniscidea include the water-conducting system, the structure of their cuticle, and the “covered” type of pleopodal lungs, all of which are responses to the acute problem of desiccation. They are also among the most speciose taxa in caves, some species have even returned to an aquatic life, and a few species have evolved social behavior. Oniscidea are increasingly being used in biogeographical, phylogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary research and can become model organisms for a broad range of biological studies.

Contribution to the knowledge of the oribatid mite genus Pilobatella (Acari, Oribatida, Haplozetidae)

The genus Pilobatella (Oribatida, Haplozetidae) comprises 10 species, which are distributed in the Palaeotropical region; this includes two new species described herein on the basis of adult specimens sampled from forest leaf litter in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park of eastern Madagascar. Pilobatella mikoi n. sp. is similar to Pilobatella baloghi Mahunka, 2003 in having long interlamellar setae and adanal setae ad1 and ad2, but differs by having monodactylous legs (versus tridactylous) and a bothridial seta that is gradually expanded to a narrow head (versus setiform, without head). Pilobatella kovaci n. sp. is similar to P. mikoi n. sp. in having monodactylous legs, long interlamellar setae and adanal setae ad1 and ad2, but differs by the presence of lineolate notogaster and anogenital region (versus lineolate markings absent), long tutoria (versus tutoria of medium length), rounded trochanters distodorsally (versus pointed) and clearly distanced medial ends of apodemes 2 (versus nearly touching at midline). A revised generic diagnosis and an identification key to known species of Pilobatella are presented.

Formation of Forest Biogeocenoses on Disturbed Lands of the Northern Caspian Region

Features, trends and the rates of formation of new forest biogeocenoses on anthropogenically disturbed lands, in particular, on an unused pond created on heavy loamy soils in the semi-desert of the Northern Caspian region are analyzed. At an early stage of spontaneous pond colonization by vegetation, the maximum influence on its development was exerted by the presence of a seed source 300 meters away – in the Arboretum of the Dzhanybek Research Station of the Institute of Forest Sciences (Russian Academy of Sciences) with 120 species of introduced tree and shrub plants. Initially 34 pioneer species colonized the lower parts of the unused pond, and 29 species survived by 2018. The formation of intrazonal willow-oleaster-poplar communities of a quasitugai type with a grass-wet-meadow association has been revealed. Their development was influenced by geographical isolation, self-regulation under rather unstable moisture conditions caused by occasional flooding by melt snow waters and bogging. A differentiation of the upper part of the soil-forming rock brought to the surface has occurred. The forest leaf litter has been formed from uncut moquette with a thickness of 1–2 cm, reaching currently quite substantial deposits of 0.953±0.196 kg/m2 , with the ash content reaching 13.85%. Ca prevails absolutely in the ash composition; while the amounts of Mg, Fe, and K are significantly lower. A humus horizon has been formed and the soil effervescence depth has changed. In the whole, for almost 40 years of vegetation colonization, the previously infertile substrate has acquired features of an immature soil, which is characterized by manifesttion of humus-accumulative process, gradual humification of organic matter and decarbonization of the material. In general, compact, diverse in structure, spontaneously arising self-developing forest biogeocenoses could significantly transform disturbed semi-desert territories. The peculiarities of their structure and the composition of emerging species make it possible to properly choose species preferred for landscaping.

Revision of Tropopterus Solier: A disjunct South American component of the Australo-Pacific Moriomorphini (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Tropopterus Solier, 1849, precinctive to southern South America, is taxonomically revised. Six new species are described: T. peckorumsp. nov., T. robustussp. nov., T. canaliculussp. nov., T. trisinuatussp. nov., T. minimucrosp. nov., and T. fieldianussp. nov.Merizodus catapileanus Jeannel, 1962, is synonymized with T. montagnei Solier, 1849. Lectotypes are designated for T. montagnei, T. giraudyi Solier, T. duponchelii Solier, and T. nitidus Solier (= T. duponchelii). Tropopterus peruvianus Straneo is noted as a nomen dubium, with its identity and taxonomic placement to be substantiated via neotype designation. Phylogenetic relationships among Tropopterus spp. are hypothesized based on 37 morphological characters, the distributions of which are analyzed under the parsimony criterion, with the cladogram root established between Tropopterus and its adelphotaxon from New South Wales, Australia. Speciation in the group has occurred predominantly at a limited geographical scale relative to the overall generic distribution, with three pairs of sister species sympatric. However phylogenetic divergence between taxa in the more northern, sclerophyllous forest characterized by Nothofagus obliqua (Brisseau de Mirbel) and those occupying the Valdivian and North Patagonian Rain Forest dominated by N. dombeyi (Brisseau de Mirbel) is observed in two instances of phylogenetic history. Using specific collecting locality records, it is shown that Tropopterus beetles have been collected syntopically and synchronically with species of Glypholoma Jeannel (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), Anaballetus Newton, Švec & Fikáček (Coleoptera, Leiodidae), Andotypus Spangler (Coleoptera, Hydrophilidae), and Novonothrus Balogh (Acari, Oribatida). These concordant ecological occurrences document a cohesive Nothofagus forest leaf-litter community. These genera plus other Valdivian Rain Forest invertebrate taxa all exhibit an Austral disjunct biogeographical pattern that corroborates trans-Antarctic vicariance between the Nothofagus forests of southern South America and Australia. Male genitalic antisymmetry is shown to be a synapomorphy of Tropopterus, though the female reproductive tract retains the plesiomorphic orientation observed in all other moriomorphine taxa.