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(cont.)
Vast scale of pangolin smuggling
Two men in Xiamen, Fujian have been given suspended
death sentences, and other gang members life sentences,
for smuggling pangolins and other animals into China.
From October 2005 to April 2006 the gang smuggled
17 containers of pangolin meat and scales; one container
confiscated in summer 2006 contained over 2,800 frozen
pangolins.
Source: http://uk.reuter s.com/article/environmentNews/idUKPEK19856420080110
Rubber erasing Xishuangbanna's biodiverse forests
Based on Landsat images from 1976, 1988 and 2003,
forest cover in Xishuangbanna declined from 70%
to less than 50%, due mainly to expansion of rubber
plantations. Some 1400 km2 of tropical seasonal rain
forest was lost. Expanding rubber plantations below 800
m also indirectly caused loss of mountain rain forest
and subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest higher up, as
agricultural activities moved uphill. Scientists consider
a balance between economic, social and conservation
needs is possible; below 800 m this would mean no new
rubber plantations, protection of forest fragments, and
reconnection of these by restoring riparian forests. Future
rubber plantations should be confined to abandoned
arable or shrubland at higher elevations, and tea and other
understorey crops should be planted to improve economic
returns and reduce erosion.
Source: Li HM, TM Aide, Ma YX et al., 2007. Biodiversity and Conservation 16: 1731-1745.
Recent changes in bird taxonomy
A review of recent changes in Asian bird taxonomy
includes some changes relating to species in South China.¹
Eastern Great Tit Parus minor, with greyish belly, is now
considered distinct from the yellow-bellied Northern
Great Tit P. major,2 and is more of a woodland species
than the latter which thrives in anthropogenic habitats.
White-crowned Penduline Tit Remiz coronatus is now
thought to include the China population formerly placed
in R. consobrinus.2 Sunda Bush Warbler Cettia vulcania
now encompasses populations in north Indochina and
southern China formerly placed in Aberrant Bush Warbler
C. flavolivacea.3 Cettia flavolivacea is now confined to the
Himalayas, southwest China, northeast India and western
Myanmar.
Sources: ¹ Collar NJ and JD Pilgrim, 2007. BirdingAsia 8: 14-30. ²Eck S and J Martens, 2006. Zool. Med. Leiden 80-5 (1): 1-63. ³Olsson U et al., 2006. Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 41: 556-565.
"Chinese Barbet" confirmed from molecular data
Molecular data and plumage characteristics suggest the
revision of traditional Black-browed Barbet Megalaima
oorti into four monophyletic species,¹ as suggested
independently from morphological data.² M. oorti
(in Malay Peninsula and Sumatra) and M. annamensis
(Vietnam) belong to a clade that also contains Bluethroated
Barbet M. asiatica. A second clade, which diverged
from these millions of years ago, contains M. nuchalis
(Taiwan) - which has been called Taiwan Barbet² - and
M. faber (Hainan and mainland China) - called Chinese
Barbet.² Both these are endemic to the southern China
region, although M. faber should also occur in northern
Vietnam; it was recorded (as M. oorti ) by KFBG on
border areas of Shiwandashan, Longshan, Diding, Nongxin,
Nonghua and Dawangling, southwest Guangxi.³
Sources: ¹Feinstein J, Yang X and Li SH, 2008. Ibis 150: 40-49.
² Collar NJ, 2006. Forktail 22: 170-173.
³ KFBG 2002-2003, South China Forest
Biodiversity Report Series nos. 10 (ISBN 962-86187-9-2), 26 (ISBN
962-86942-1-9), 28 (ISBN 962-86942-3-5), 35 (ISBN 962-86942-0-0), 36 (ISBN 988-97201-1-6).
Mauremys nigricans |
Yinggeling yields a new genus of bush-cricket
A new genus of bush-cricket (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)
has been described from Hainan. The genus Semicarinata
and its type species S. colora Liu & Kang, 2007 is described
from two males collected from Yinggeling Nature Reserve,
Hainan. There are some 340 tettigoniid genera worldwide.
Source: Liu CX and Kang L, 2007. Zootaxa 1624: 17-29.
...And a new spider genus from Hainan
Cave spiders collected during a KFBG-funded 2005
survey in Hainan turn out to belong to a genus of
Ochyroceratidae, Flexicrurum, new to science. The type
species F. flexicrurum was found at Wuzhishan; F. longispina
from Maogan, and F. minutum from Bawangling. Five
other new ochyroceratid species were found from various
localities including Bawangling, Wuzhishan and Datian and
unprotected sites in Dongfang, Changjiang and Sanya.
Source: Tong YF and Li SQ, 2007. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 55(1): 63-76.
Changes in turtle nomenclature
Several South China turtles have been transferred to
different genera following a comprehensive taxonomic
review.¹ The genus Mauremys has been expanded to make
it a monophyletic group, now including M. nigricans and
M. reevesii (both formerly in Chinemys ) and M. (formerly
Ocadia ) sinensis.2 Kachuga was also previously paraphyletic,
and to resolve this several species have been transferred to
the monophyletic genus Pangshura including P. tecta .
Sources: ¹Turtle Taxonomy Working Group, 2007. Chelonian Research Monographs 4: 73-84. ²Turtle Taxonomy Working Group, 2007. Chelonian Research Monographs 4: 173-199.
Changes in Red List status, 2007
Few South China species changed their global status
during 2007.¹ Blue-crowned Laughingthrush Garrulax
courtoisi, now considered distinct from the "Least
Concern" species G. galbanus², is Critically Endangered
(CR C2a(ii)) due to its tiny population (<200) in Jiangxi.
The podocarp tree Nageia fleuryi, native to Guangdong,
Guangxi, Yunnan and Vietnam, is now considered Near
Threatened (previously Data Deficient) due to new
information on its wide range and suspected decline.
Several turtles (Mauremys iversoni, Ocadia philippeni,
Sacalia pseudocellata) have been removed from the Red
List as they were found to be invalid taxa (hybrids).³
Sources:
¹ IUCN, 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 30 November 2007;
² Collar NJ, 2006. A partial revision of the Asian babblers (Timaliidae). Forktail 22: 85-112.
³ Turtle Taxonomy Working Group, 2007. Chelonian Research Monographs 4: 173-199
Where will all the carbon go?
A series of studies have been conducted, funded by
the Canadian International Development Agency and
China Academy of Sciences, to quantify China's carbon
balance, and provide the information and tools to support
enhanced carbon sequestration.¹ A special issue of the
Journal of Environmental Management (vol. 85) reports
findings on remote sensing and carbon modeling, forest
and soil assessment, and integrated assessment of the
socioeconomic implications of carbon sequestration via
forest management. China's total stock of soil organic
carbon is revealed, by digital analysis of over 7,000 soil
profiles from the 1980s, to be 89 Pg (=89 billion tonnes),
with mean density 96 t C per ha.² (This compares with
another recent estimate of 148 Pg.³) Of this 26 Pg is stored
in shrub ecosystems and 22 Pg in forest ecosystems. The
data provide a national baseline for future regional changes.
The Integrated Terrestrial Ecosystem C-budget model (InTEC) estimates annual carbon balance of China's forests from 1901 to 2001, finding them to be a carbon source (21 Tg C, or 21 million tonnes, per yr) from 1901 to 1949, increasing to 122 during 1950-1987, then switching to become a sink of 177 during 1988-2001 due to plantation, forest regrowth, climate warming, atmospheric CO2 fertilization and nitrogen deposition.4 Overall they were a net source of 3.3 PgC during the 20th Century, about 33 TgC per yr.
Sources:
1 Chen JM, SC Thomas, Yin Y et al., 2007. Journal of Environmental
Management 85: 515-523.
2 Yu DS, Shi XZ, Wang HJ et al., 2007. Journal
of Environmental Management 85: 680-689.
3 Li ZP et al., 2007. Geoderma 138: 119-126.
4 Wang S, Chen JM, Ju WM, Feng X, Chen M, Chen P, Yu G,
2007. Journal of Environmental Management 85: 524-537.
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