Gastrodia putaoensis, a new species from the montane region in northern Myanmar, is described and illustrated. Gastrodia putaoensis is similar to G. dyeriana, but differs from it by having a narrowly triangular lip that is subdivided into two parts, with the apical part densely covered with yellow hairs and the apex obtuse and densely covered with red papillae.
Species assessment of allopatric taxa is problematic. Here we consider the case of the Naung Mung Scimitar Babbler (Jabouilleia naungmungensis) from northern Myanmar. This bird was recognized as a new species in its original description, but was subsequently considered to be a subspecies of J. danjoui. We review the procedures used to make this assessment, and consider them in light of morphological (significantly different bill and hallux claw lengths) and new genetic (7.0% genetic distance, cytochrome b) information. Based on this reconsideration, taking acoustic information into account, we conclude that the data unequivocally confirm the recognition of J. naungmungensis as a full species.
A new species of Murina of the suilla-type is described from the Hkakabo Razi Landscape, Kachin, Upper Myanmar, an area that is currently being nominated as a World Heritage Site. The new species is a small vespertilionid, with a forearm length of 29.6 mm, and is very similar to M. kontumensis, which was recently described from Vietnam. However, it is distinguishable by a combination of external and craniodental morphology and genetics. The DNA Barcode reveals that the new species clusters sisterly to M. kontumensis but with a genetic distance of 11.5%. A single known specimen of the new species was collected from a lowland forest area in the plains of the Hkakabo Razi landscape, south-eastern Himalaya. Additional information on ecology, echolocation, and conservation are included. The high cryptic diversity of the genus Murina in Southeast Asia, as well as the Hkakabo Razi Landscape being a bat diversity hotspot, is highlighted.
Deforestation and forest degradation around the world endanger the functioning of ecosystems, climate stability, and conservation of biodiversity. We assessed the spatial and temporal dynamics of forest cover in Myanmar's Hkakabo Razi Landscape (HRL) to determine its integrity based on forest change and fragmentation patterns from 1989 to 2016. Over 80% of the HRL was covered by natural areas, from which forest was the most prevalent (around 60%). Between 1989 and 2016, forest cover declined at an annual rate of 0.225%. Forest degradation occurred mainly around the larger plains of putao and naung Mung, areas with relatively high human activity. Although the rate of forest interior loss was approximately 2 to 3 times larger than the rate of total forest loss, forest interior was prevalent with little fragmentation. physical and environmental variables were the main predictors of either remaining in the current land-cover class or transitioning to another class, although remaining in the current land cover was more likely than land conversion. the forests of the HRL have experienced low human impact and still constitute large tracts of contiguous forest interior. to ensure the protection of these large tracts of forest, sustainable forest policies and management should be implemented. Despite human practices and the unprecedented use of natural resources, forests are still widely distributed globally and cover around 30% of the Earth's surface 1,2. However, ongoing deforestation and forest degradation jeopardize the functioning of biogeochemical and hydrological cycles, climate stability and conservation of biodiversity 3-5. Net loss of forest area occurs largely in the tropics 6,7 and this forest loss continues to impact areas with particularly high conservation value 8,9. Tropical forests play a key role in the global carbon cycle and support more than half of the world's biodiversity 10. Industrial logging, agricultural expansion, fire, mining/resource extraction and urban growth have led to extraordinary loss of tropical forest 11,12. The amount of forest loss differs between continents 13 , with the highest levels occurring in South America and Asia 2. In Southeast Asia, Myanmar had the second highest rate of net forest loss between 1990 and 2015, trailing only Indonesia, with a loss rate of 546,000 ha y −1 between 2010 and 2015 1. Furthermore, this rate of forest loss represented a 25% increase since the 1990s. The driving forces behind the high rates of forest loss in Southeast Asia are logging and the global demand for crops such as oil palm, sugar, and wood fibre 14. Despite having the third largest annual forest loss in the world between 2010 and 2015 1 , Myanmar remains one of the most heavily forested countries in Southeast Asia 15,16. Myanmar is the second largest exporter of Teak (Tectona grandis), a valuable timber species, and much of the rural population continues to depend on forests to supplement their livelihoods 17. Some forest areas are used for small scale agroforestry and up to 77% of energ...
SummaryThe Hkakabo Razi region located in northern Myanmar is an Important Bird Area and part of the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot. Within the framework of the World Heritage Convention to enlist the site under criterion (ix) and (x), we conducted a biodiversity assessment for passerine birds using DNA barcoding and other molecular markers. Of the 441 bird species recorded, we chose 16 target species for a comparative phylogeographic study. Genetic analysis was performed for a larger number of species and helped identifying misidentified species. We found phylogeographic structure in all but one of the 16 study species. In 13 species, populations from northern Myanmar were genetically distinctive and local mitochondrial lineages differed from those found in adjacent regions by 3.9–9.9% uncorrected genetic distances (cytochrome-b). Since the genetic distinctiveness of study populations will be corroborated by further differences in morphology and song as in other South-East Asian passerines, many of them will be candidates for taxonomic splits, or in case an older taxon name is not available, for the scientific description of new taxa. Considering the short time frame of our study we predict that a great part of undetected faunal diversity in the Hkakabo Razi region will be discovered.
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