Collateral damage from agricultural netting to open-country bird populations in Thailand

Nets are used across a wide variety of food production landscapes to control avian pests typically resulting in deaths of entangled birds. However, the impact of nets on bird populations is a human–wildlife conflict that remains mostly unquantified. Here, we examined the scale of netting in the central plains of Thailand, a region dominated by ricefields, among which aquaculture ponds are increasingly interspersed. Nets/exclusion types, number of individual birds and species caught were recorded on 1312 road-survey transects (2-km length × 0.4-km width). We also interviewed 104 local farmers. The transect sampling took place in late- September 2020, and from December 2020 to April 2021. Each survey transect was visited only once. We found 1881 nets and barriers of parallel cords on 196 (15%) of the transects. Counts of nets and barriers were ~13 times higher than expected in aquaculture ponds based on their areal proportion, and vertical nets were the most commonly observed type (n = 1299). We documented 735 individuals of at least 45 bird species caught in the nets and parallel cords, including many species not regarded as pests. Approximately 20% of individuals caught in ricefields and 95% at aquaculture ponds were non-target bycatch. Our interviews suggested that 55% of respondents thought nets were ineffective while only 6% thought they were effective. We suggest imposing a ban on netting, considering other mitigation strategies to reduce conflicts such as promoting the use of parallel cords, and prioritizing conservation actions with community participation. Further studies should investigate the efficacy of less deleterious deterrents

THE AVIFAUNA OF THE MO SINGTO FOREST DYNAMICS PLOT, KHAO YAI NATIONAL PARK, THAILAND

ABSTRACT The 169 species of birds recorded on the 30 ha Mo Singto Forest Dynamics Plot, Khao Yai National Park, Thailand, are a subset of the 329 species recorded in the headquarters area of the park. Most of the Mo Singto-recorded species are typical of evergreen forest interior but the transient occurrence of a small number of other species, inhabitants of forest edge or more open habitats, is documented. Almost one third of species found on the plot were moderate to long-distance migrant, non-breeding, visitors. The largest foraging guilds were foliage-gleaning insectivores and sallying insectivores, together accounting for over one-third of all species. Though obligate frugivores were poorly represented, most insectivorous birds incorporated fruits in their diet. The nearly 30-year history of avian recording at Mo Singto, with intensive community studies having been conducted in the past decade, and the location of the study plot near the submontane-montane transition, make it an ideal site for continuation of detailed monitoring, particularly that related to the impact of climate change

A New Species of Muscicapa Flycatcher from Sulawesi, Indonesia

The Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a globally important hotspot of avian endemism, has been relatively poorly studied ornithologically, to the extent that several new bird species from the region have been described to science only recently, and others have been observed and photographed, but never before collected or named to science. One of these is a new species of Muscicapa flycatcher that has been observed on several occasions since 1997. We collected two specimens in Central Sulawesi in 2012, and based on a combination of morphological, vocal and genetic characters, we describe the new species herein, more than 15 years after the first observations. The new species is superficially similar to the highly migratory, boreal-breeding Gray-streaked Flycatcher Muscicapa griseisticta, which winters in Sulawesi; however, the new species differs strongly from M. griseisticta in several morphological characters, song, and mtDNA. Based on mtDNA, the new species is only distantly related to M. griseisticta, instead being a member of the M. dauurica clade. The new species is evidently widely distributed in lowland and submontane forest throughout Sulawesi. This wide distribution coupled with the species' apparent tolerance of disturbed habitats suggests it is not currently threatened with extinction.This project was funded by the National Geographic Society (NGS CRE 8919-11; granted to PCR), the Loke Wan Tho Memorial Foundation (granted to DLY), and an EIPR scholarship at the University of Adelaide (granted to JBCH). Labwork for this project was co-funded by a National University of Singapore Faculty of Science start-up grant to FER (WBS R-154-000-570-133). We thank RISTEK for issuing the national research permits (for 2011, 0215/SIP/FRP/VI/2011; for 2012, 183/SIP/FRP/SM/VI/2012) and Lore Lindu National Park for permit letters. The Research Centre for Biology-LIPI supported DMP and DDP in their field research and provided facilities for laboratory analysis. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

The State of Migratory Landbirds in the East Asian Flyway: Distributions, Threats, and Conservation Needs

With nearly 400 migratory landbird species, the East Asian Flyway is the most diverse of the world’s flyways. This diversity is a consequence of the varied ecological niches provided by biomes ranging from broadleaf forests to arctic tundra and accentuated by complex biogeographic processes. The distribution and migration ecology of East Asian landbirds is still inadequately known, but a recent explosion in the number of studies tracking the migration of raptors, cuckoos, kingfishers and passerines has greatly increased our knowledge about the stopover and wintering ecology of many species, and the migratory routes that link northeast Eurasia and the Asian tropics. Yet the East Asian Flyway also supports the highest number of threatened species among flyways. Strong declines have been detected in buntings (Emberizidae) and other long-distance migrants. While the conservation of migratory landbirds in this region has largely focused on unsustainable hunting, there are other threats, such as habitat loss and increased agro-chemical use driven directly by land cover change and climate-related processes. Important knowledge gaps to be addressed include (1) threats affecting species in different parts of their annual cycle, (2) range-wide population trends, (3) ecological requirements and habitat use during the non-breeding season, and (4) the conservation status of critical wintering sites (including understudied farming landscapes, such as rice fields) and migration bottlenecks along the flyway

On the taxonomy of chigger mites (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) parasitizing birds in Thailand and Malaysia, with the description of a new species

Chigger mites were collected from 65 bird species in different regions of Thailand and Malaysia. In total, 21 species were recorded. The previously unknown fauna of chiggers parasitizing shorebirds of Thailand included one new species, Neacariscus (Whartonacarus) andamanensis n. sp. as well as Neacariscus (Neacariscus) pluvius (Wharton, 1945) previously recorded only in Oceania; Neacariscus (Whartonacarus) shiraii (Sasa, Kano and Obata, 1952) (known from Oceania and Japan); and Neacariscus (Whartonacarus) sulae (Oudemans, 1910) and Schoengastia archaea (Taufflieb, 1960), both described from West Africa. Toritrombicula kirhocephales Goff, 1982 described from Papua New Guinea was for the first time recorded in Asia (Thailand). Neoschoengastia gallinarum (Hatori, 1920) and Helenicula comata (Womersley, 1952) were for the first time recorded in Thailand. Ascoschoengastia lorius (Gunther, 1939) was for the first time recorded in Malaysia. Finally, Ericotrombidium cosmetopode (Vercammen-Grandjean and Langston, 1971) described from free larvae, was for the first time recorded on a host (bird Pellorneum ruficeps Swainson); and Leptotrombidium miculum (Traub and Audy, 1954) was for the first time recorded on a bird host. New host species were recorded for a large part of the collected chigger species.</jats:p

Modulation of host responses by oral commensal bacteria.

Immunomodulatory commensal bacteria are proposed to be essential for maintaining healthy tissues, having multiple roles including priming immune responses to ensure rapid and efficient defences against pathogens. The default state of oral tissues, like the gut, is one of inflammation which may be balanced by regulatory mechanisms and the activities of anti-inflammatory resident bacteria that modulate Toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling or NF-κB activation, or influence the development and activities of immune cells. However, the widespread ability of normal resident organisms to suppress inflammation could impose an unsustainable burden on the immune system and compromise responses to pathogens. Immunosuppressive resident bacteria have been isolated from the mouth and, for example, may constitute 30% of the resident streptococci in plaque or on the tongue. Their roles in oral health and dysbiosis remain to be determined. A wide range of bacterial components and/or products can mediate immunomodulatory activity, raising the possibility of development of alternative strategies for therapy and health promotion using probiotics, prebiotics, or commensal-derived immunomodulatory molecules

Case Reports1. A Late Presentation of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: Beware of TGFβ Receptor Mutations in Benign Joint Hypermobility

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and dissections are not uncommon causes of sudden death in young adults. Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare, recently described, autosomal dominant, connective tissue disease characterized by aggressive arterial aneurysms, resulting from mutations in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptor genes TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Mean age at death is 26.1 years, most often due to aortic dissection. We report an unusually late presentation of LDS, diagnosed following elective surgery in a female with a long history of joint hypermobility. Methods: A 51-year-old Caucasian lady complained of chest pain and headache following a dural leak from spinal anaesthesia for an elective ankle arthroscopy. CT scan and echocardiography demonstrated a dilated aortic root and significant aortic regurgitation. MRA demonstrated aortic tortuosity, an infrarenal aortic aneurysm and aneurysms in the left renal and right internal mammary arteries. She underwent aortic root repair and aortic valve replacement. She had a background of long-standing joint pains secondary to hypermobility, easy bruising, unusual fracture susceptibility and mild bronchiectasis. She had one healthy child age 32, after which she suffered a uterine prolapse. Examination revealed mild Marfanoid features. Uvula, skin and ophthalmological examination was normal. Results: Fibrillin-1 testing for Marfan syndrome (MFS) was negative. Detection of a c.1270G > C (p.Gly424Arg) TGFBR2 mutation confirmed the diagnosis of LDS. Losartan was started for vascular protection. Conclusions: LDS is a severe inherited vasculopathy that usually presents in childhood. It is characterized by aortic root dilatation and ascending aneurysms. There is a higher risk of aortic dissection compared with MFS. Clinical features overlap with MFS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome Type IV, but differentiating dysmorphogenic features include ocular hypertelorism, bifid uvula and cleft palate. Echocardiography and MRA or CT scanning from head to pelvis is recommended to establish the extent of vascular involvement. Management involves early surgical intervention, including early valve-sparing aortic root replacement, genetic counselling and close monitoring in pregnancy. Despite being caused by loss of function mutations in either TGFβ receptor, paradoxical activation of TGFβ signalling is seen, suggesting that TGFβ antagonism may confer disease modifying effects similar to those observed in MFS. TGFβ antagonism can be achieved with angiotensin antagonists, such as Losartan, which is able to delay aortic aneurysm development in preclinical models and in patients with MFS. Our case emphasizes the importance of timely recognition of vasculopathy syndromes in patients with hypermobility and the need for early surgical intervention. It also highlights their heterogeneity and the potential for late presentation. Disclosures: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon¹⁻³. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses⁴⁻⁹. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world’s major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve ‘health’: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.Keywords: Ecology, Environmental scienc

An analysis of records of three passage migrants in Thailand: tiger shrike Lanius tigrinus, yellow-rumped flycatcher Ficedula zanthopygia and mugimaki flycatcher F. mugimaki

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