During the last decades, agriculture activities in the mountainous northern provinces of Vietnam intensified drastically, and today rice fields occupy the complete valleys of local streams and rivers. Upstream of the fields, many dams were built mainly for irrigation purposes; sometimes stopping the flow through the lower courses of the creek completely. Illegal fishing with electro-fishing gears is a common way to improve food supply for local villagers. Larger rivers are impacted by non-selective fishing, gravel mining and pollution. These factors represent threats to the local fish communities, which typically include one or several species of loaches.With usage of electro-fishing gear and hand net we surveyed 16 localities of the river basins of the River Ky Cung and the River Bang Giang. Both rivers belong to the drainage area of the River Pearl in the provinces Lang Son and Cao Bang in Northern Vietnam. We focused on getting maximum number of fish species with special attention to loaches at each locality. Ten species of loaches were found; at least two of them represent undescribed species. The main conclusion is that the ichthyofauna of Northern Vietnam still holds a hidden diversity, but at the same time is under strong anthropogenic pressure, so that parts of the diversity may be lost soon.
Ostrov Madagaskar patří z pohledu taxonomů i ochranářů mezi nejzajímavější místa světa. A zvláště mezi palmami, v čeledi Arecaceae patří mezi významná vývojová centra - nesmírně bohatá a zároveň velmi zranitelná. Z Madagaskaru je dosud popsáno 203 druhů palem v 17 rodech, což je téměř trojnásobek oproti celé Africe. Přitom pouhých 7 druhů má větší areály, zbývající druhy jsou madagaskarskými endemity. První díl dvoudílného seriálu představuje klimatické, geografické a vegetační poměry ostrova. Zvláštní kapitolu zasluhuje i historie tamního palmového výzkumu., In the eyes of taxonomists and nature conservationists, Madagascar is one of the most interesting areas in the world, particularly with regard to palms (Arecaceae), as these form an important evolutionary centre - very rich and yet at the same time fragile. 203 palm species in 17 genera has been described so far, which is three times more than in Africa. And only 7 species have wider distribution outside Madagascar, the rest being endemics of the island. The first part of this two-volume article describes the climatic, geographic and vegetation characteristics of the island. The history of palm research in Madagascar is also mentioned., and Vlastik Rybka, Romana Rybková.
In November 2009, the United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It has been a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The world has been invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard biodiversity, i. e., the variety of life on earth. Throughout the year countless initiatives were organized to disseminate information, promote the protection of biodiversity and encourage organizations, institutions, companies and individuals to take direct action to reduce the constant loss of biological diversity worldwide. and Petr Petřík.
It is commonly held that Central Europe harbours but a single harvester ant species, namely Messor structor. Recently discovered bionomic differences between two Central European populations, which may reflect interspecific variation, cast doubt on this assumption. In the present study we test alternative hypotheses - one versus two harvester ant species in Central Europe and adjacent regions - by investigating the genetic diversity of ants determined as M. structor or close to it ("M. cf. structor"). Sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene revealed two major lineages of different but partially overlapping geographic distributions, both occurring in Central Europe. The existence of a cryptic species within M. cf. structor is the most plausible interpretation, since the sequence divergence between the two major lineages equals those between M. capitatus, M. concolor and M. bouvieri. The phylogenetic analyses revealed a distinct substructuring for both of the detected major lineages and the possible existence of additional cryptic species.
New information is provided on the distribution of 19 species of lichens belonging to the genus Caloplaca (Teloschistales) in the Czech Republic. Six species are new to this country: C. epithallina, C. erodens, C. inconnexa, C. phlogina, C. polycarpa and C. thuringiaca. The species C. albolutescens, C. cerinella, C. chlorina, C. chrysodeta, C. dichroa, C. flavocitrina, C. herbidella and C. marmorata are reported from the Czech Republic, but little is known about their distribution in this country. Caloplaca biatorina, C. obliterans, C. rubelliana, and C. xantholyta are rediscovered after more than 50 years. The presence of Caloplaca crenulatella, recently reported as new to this country, is confirmed and is actually one of the most common species of this genus. Ecological and chorological data are given for each species, and taxonomic and nomenclatural notes for C. albolutescens and C. chlorina are amended.
Recent examinations of marine perciform fishes from off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida, USA, revealed the presence of the following six species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae): P. haemulontis sp. n. (males and females) from the ovary of Haemulon plumierii (Lacepède) (type host) and H. aurolineatum Cuvier (both Haemulidae); Philometra synagridis Moravec, Bakenhaster et Fajer-Ávila, 2014 (males and females) from the ovary and testes of Lutjanus synagris (Linnaeus) (Lutjanidae); P. margolisi Moravec, Vidal-Martínez et Aguirre-Macedo, 1995 (male) from the ovary of Hyporthodus nigritus (Holbrook) (Serranidae) (new host record; probably a paradefinitive host); P. andersoni sp. n. (male) from the ovary of H. nigritus; Philometra sp. 1 (male) from the ovary of Rhomboplites aurorubens (Cuvier) (Lutjanidae); and Philometra sp. 2 (females) from the subcutaneous tissue of the anterior-most head sinuses of Hyporthodus niveatus (Valenciennes) (Serranidae). Specimens of species are described and illustrated based on light and (except for Philometra sp. 1) scanning electron microscopical examinations. Philometra haemulontis sp. n. differs from all congeners in the unique structure of the gubernaculum, whereas P. andersoni sp. n. can be differentiated from other gonad-infecting congeners parasitising the Serranidae by a combination of morphological features. Females of P. synagridis are described for the first time. Gravid females of Philometra sp. 2 are similar to those of P. morii Moravec, Bakenhaster et Fajer-Ávila, 2010, a subcutaneous parasite of Epinephelus morio (Valenciennes) (Serranidae) in the Gulf of Mexico.
Půdní vlhkost má velký vliv na biodiverzitu lesní vegetace a extrémní situace jako povodně nebo sucho mohou biodiverzitu významně měnit. K těmto přirozeným faktorům se přidává působení člověka, které v dlouhodobém měřítku vedlo k vysoušení krajiny. Lesní mokřady byly odvodňovány kvůli hospodářským výnosům a teprve v současné době se lesní mokřady postupně snažíme obnovovat., Soil moisture has a strong influence on the biodiversity of forest vegetation. Extreme situations such as flooding or drought can significantly change biodiversity. In addition to these natural factors, the human impact has led to long-term desiccation on the landscape scale. Forest wetlands were drained to promote management production. Only recently can efforts to restore forest wetlands be observed., and Radim Hédl.
The scientific and political communities must be aware of our bias in the knowledge of the taxonomy of the various living organisms. Although the effects of species concepts on conservation have received considerable attention, usage of the subspecies category in conservation lists have received insufficient scientific scrutiny, at least for most taxonomic groups and geographic regions. Here we draw from the class Mammalia to show that discrepancies in the inclusion of subspecies in the IUCN Red List often reflect uneven taxonomic knowledge and the differential scientific and public interest raised by different kinds of mammals, which together can produce a biased picture of mammalian endangerment worldwide.