This research presents the issue of wildlife access to garbage at dumpsites and suggests appropriate management in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand. I set camera traps at three dumpsites from May 2018 to January 2019 (601 trap nights). I detected 38 wild species and three domesticated species. There were five, 20, and 13 species of reptiles, birds, and mammals, respectively, including the globally vulnerable Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) and long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis). The most prevalent species were diurnal, followed by nocturnal and then crepuscular. Nine species fed on food waste. Highly abundant species visited the dumpsites more frequently than did less abundant ones. Food waste quantities were correlated with the number of tourists, the species number, total individual animals, and species abundance. The likelihood of animals using dumpsites was dependent on the time of day, the location, the tourist season, and the group of animals. Feeding at dumpsites may change the ecological roles and foraging behaviour of wildlife, which leads to increasing populations and human-wildlife conflict. Proper management is required so that increasing waste from tourism will not negatively affect threatened species.

Separating the influence of climate and habitat characteristics on forest communities could help better understand their potential sensitivity to environmental change. In this study, we sampled spiders and beetles in similar forest types, located along a ca. 4°C mean annual temperature spatial gradient in the boreal forest zone in Quebec, Canada. Specifically, we aimed to separate the effect on arthropod communities of two habitat-related factors that can be influenced by forest management (stand composition and stand age), and another one that cannot (climate). Overall, spider assemblages tended to be more abundant and species-rich in younger forest stands, while beetle assemblages were more abundant and species-rich in deciduous forest stands. Eight beetle and six spider species were significantly influenced by climate, independently from forest type, whereas 11 beetle and seven spider species were significantly influenced by both forest type and climate. While most of the beetle species affected by climate were associated with warmer locations, several spider species were more abundant in colder locations. By helping to ensure the retention of key forest types along potential dispersal pathways at the landscape level, forest management activities could help the conservation of species belonging to relatively cryptic taxa such as arthropods in a climate change context.

Calicioid lichens and fungi form a diverse polyphyletic group whose species richness is often associated with old-growth forests and ecological continuity. One of the last intact forest landscapes south of the 50th parallel in Québec includes the Ya'nienhonhndeh territory, which has been the focus of a protected area project directed by the Huron-Wendat First Nation for more than ten years. To contribute to the characterization of its conservation value, we report the calicioids from the area. We identified 34 species in eight genera from 187 samples collected in old-growth stands of balsam fir, black spruce and yellow birch. Our four most remarkable discoveries are Chaenotheca nitidula Tibell (n = 11), Chaenothecopsis australis Tibell (n = 1), and C. tsugae Rikkinen (n = 2), which are reported for the first time from the province, as well as Sclerophora coniophaea (Norman) Mattsson & Middelb. (n = 18), which is rare in North America and was previously reported only once in Québec. As a result of this inventory, the Ya'nienhonhndeh is now the second richest area known for calicioids in Québec, after Parc national de la Gaspésie. We conclude that it is an ancient forest ecosystem whose conservation value is high based on its unique biodiversity, and that it warrants protection.

The family of palms (Arecaceae) comprises around 2,400 species distributed throughout the world, from which nearly 100 species have been reported to occur in Mexico. Given their importance and the lack of information about their distribution patterns in the country, we applied stacked species distribution models to estimate the current distribution patterns of palms in Mexico. Only 47 species had enough presence records for their modeling. About 50% of the models showed that Annual Precipitation had the greatest contribution to the potential distribution. From the species analyzed, 63% are distributed in the southeast of the country with Roystonea regia as the species with the greatest extent (367,550 km²) and Coccothrinax readii occupying the smaller potential distribution (9,850 km²). It was possible to identify regions of the country with high species richness and where the establishment of new natural protected areas would help to the conservation of palm trees in Mexico. The southeast of Mexico represents the highest richness (>10 species) with about 130,000 km², and the central slope of the Mexican Pacific, a fragmented landscape with a medium potential distribution (>5 species). Our results represent an important step to guide the establishment of conservation areas for the family Arecaceae in Mexico.

The adaptive capacity of psammophytes to sand burial is crucial for the ecological restoration of coastal dune systems. The responses of Spinifex littoreus to different sand burial depths and levels were examined on the coast of Pingtan Island, Fujian Province, South China. The results indicated that, compared with the control group (CG), sand burial on the S. littoreus stolons had no significant impact on the vertical growth of its conjoint ramets. However, the horizontal growth of S. littoreus stolons was stimulated and significantly increased in half-intense (HI) and complete-intense (CI) sand burial treatments by 24.56% and 40.79%, respectively. Throughout the experiment, about 96% of adventitious roots were observed on the base section of stolons, while no roots in the control group (CG). After 20-day artificial sand burial treatments, the dry weight ratio between stem and leaf of S. littoreus was decreased in all three sections of stolons, especially for the top sections. Overall, S. littoreus can adapt to the complete and intense sand burial in growing season by rapid growth of stolons, abundant production of adventitious roots on the stolon base, and more germination of leaves on the stolon top.

In tropical dry forests, wildfires are likely to become a major disturbance as a result of anthropogenic pressures and dryer conditions due to climate warming. Based on remote sensing techniques, this paper assesses the probability of fires occurring in the dry region of the Guanacaste Conservation Area (GCA), northwestern Costa Rica, testing the roles as fire determinants of topography, early successional forest stages, between-area susceptibility, and accessibility to human (roads and trails). Probability of fire occurrence and fire danger were determined based on a machine learning algorithm. Fire occurrence model was inferred from burned areas and fire line density; while fire danger was inferred from the probability of fire occurrence, the proportion of burned areas, and the number of fires per area. Results indicate that the presence of early successional vegetation on flat lowlands highly accessible by roads and trails are key components of fire occurrence. Three of the six investigated sectors show high probability of fire occurrence and fire danger, indicating the spatial heterogeneity of fire risk in the landscape. The results could be useful for the management of the conservation area.

Terminalia tomentosa (Roxb.) Wight & Arn., an important tree species in the tropical forests of India, is often reported to have poor or no regeneration in many parts of the country. The present study was conducted to evaluate the population structure and regeneration status of the species in three different forest types of the Similipal Biosphere Reserve, along with phenological behaviours for two consecutive years. Leaf initiation was positively correlated with fruit senescence (r = 0.76, p < 0.01) and flower initiation (r = 0.63, p < 0.01). However, a negative correlation was found between leaf initiation (LF2) and leaf senescence (LF5) (r = –0.42, p < 0.05). Principal Component Analysis showed that maximum temperature and rainfall in a given month are the main factors for pre-monsoon events (leaf senescence and fruit senescence) and post-monsoon events (growth and maturation of leaves and fruits). The results also revealed that regeneration failure of T. tomentosa was not due to phenological intensity but possibly to wrong phenological timing of fruit maturation. This study on regeneration status and phenological information of T. tomentosa could help develop strategies for conservation and management of this tropical tree species in its natural ecosystem.