Fauna and Flora International

Ecosystem disturbance is known to negatively affect herpetofauna. There are, however, few studies on the impact of volcanic ash fallout on reptile species and no known publications on any impacts on the family Phyllodactylidae. The Barbados leaf-toed gecko Phyllodactylus pulcher is a Critically Endangered lizard species endemic to the island of Barbados. During 9–22 April 2021, La Soufrière volcano on the neighbouring island of Saint Vincent erupted, leading to significant ash fallout on Barbados. Following this event, indices of body condition for the Barbados leaf-toed gecko declined significantly. However, monitoring over 17 months showed a gradual return to pre-ashfall indices for both males and females. Population-wide tail autotomy rates did not change significantly following the event. The proportion of gravid females significantly declined immediately after the ashfall event, although this exceeded the pre-ash proportion of the following year. Additionally, the proportion of females bearing two rather than one egg doubled in the year following the ashfall. It is unknown whether the decline in body condition is a direct consequence of exposure to ash or a secondary effect of declines in insects and vegetation cover; however, a synergy between these factors is probable.

Herein, we improve the knowledge about Burmese terrestrial reptile diversity and its distribution with focus on threatened and endemic species providing recommendations for improved conservation measures. Out of the 212 assessed species, 20% are Burmese endemics. Of those, almost 10% are microendemics that have only been reported from one specific locality and almost 40% are regional endemics, some with very restricted distributions, which are particularly threatened. Almost 25% of all assessed species are listed as threatened or potentially threatened in the IUCN Red List. In endemics, this number increases to 50.0%. The richness of all terrestrial reptile species is consistently high, and their distribution is mostly even across Myanmar with exceptions in the northern coastal regions and in the central dry zone reaching down to the lowlands in the southern part above Mon State and Tanintharyi Region. Threatened taxa are similarly distributed but with peaks in the western Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests, Kayah–Karen montane rain forest, and in the Tenesserim–South Thailand semi‐evergreen rain forest. Endemism is generally even across the country with peaks in the east and south. Analysis of protected areas revealed that the majority of all species extant in Myanmar may occur in at least one protected area, but 10% are only covered by one single protected area, while in threatened and potentially threatened categories 25.0% of the taxa have been reported exclusively from outside protected areas. In endemic species this number increases to more than 30%. CITES lists 16.0% of all species, most of them in Appendix II. According to the ZIMS database, almost 50% of all threatened and potentially threatened terrestrial reptiles are represented in zoos, with breeding successes in the last 12 months for 60%. The vast majority of 88% of all Burmese endemic species are not kept in ex situ populations, suggesting that the implementation of the One Plan Approach proposed by the IUCN Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) needs to be improved to protect the unique herpetofauna. A list of the most threatened species in need of conservation actions is provided.

Since SARS-CoV-2’s emergence, studies in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, have identified related coronaviruses (CoVs) in rhinolophid bats. This pilot study investigates the prevalence and diversity of CoVs in wildlife from two Cambodian provinces known for wildlife trade and environmental changes, factors favoring zoonotic spillover risk. Samples were collected from 2020 to 2022 using active (capture and swabbing of bats and rodents) and non-invasive (collection of feces from bat caves and wildlife habitats) methods. RNA was screened for CoVs using conventional pan-CoVs and real-time Sarbecovirus-specific PCR systems. Positive samples were sequenced and phylogenetic analysis was performed on the partial RdRp gene. A total of 2608 samples were collected: 867 rectal swabs from bats, 159 from rodents, 41 from other wild animals, and 1541 fecal samples. The overall prevalence of CoVs was 2.0%, with a 3.3% positive rate in bats, 2.5% in rodents, and no CoVs detected in other wildlife species. Alpha-CoVs were exclusive to bats, while Beta-CoVs were found in both bats and rodents. Seven SARS-CoV-2-related viruses were identified in Rhinolophus shameli bats sampled in August 2020, March 2021, and December 2021. Our results highlight diverse CoVs in Cambodian bats and rodents and emphasize bats as significant reservoirs. They also suggest continuous circulation of bat SARS-CoV-2-related viruses may occur in a region where ecological and human factors could favor virus emergence. Continuous surveillance and integrated approaches are crucial to managing and mitigating emerging zoonotic diseases.

Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) populations are declining and increasingly fragmented across their range. In Cambodia, the Prey Lang Extended Landscape (PLEL) represents a vast expanse of lowland evergreen and semi-evergreen forest with potential to support Asian elephant population recovery in the country. To inform effective landscape-level conservation planning, this study provides the first robust population size estimate for Asian elephants in PLEL, based on non-invasive genetic sampling during the 2020–2021 dry season in three protected areas: Prey Lang, Preah Roka and Chhaeb Wildlife Sanctuaries. Further, it provides an assessment of the species’ range, habitat suitability and connectivity within the landscape using Maxent and Fuzzy suitability models. Thirty-five unique genotypes (individual elephants) were identified, of which six were detected in both Preah Roka and Chhaeb Wildlife Sanctuaries, providing evidence that elephants move readily between these neighbouring protected areas. However, no unique genotypes were shared between Preah Roka/Chhaeb and the less functionally connected southerly Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. The estimated population size in the southern population was 31 (95% CI [24–41]) individuals. The northern population of Preah Roka/Chhaeb Wildlife Sanctuaries is estimated to number 20 (95% CI [13–22]) individuals. Habitat loss is prevalent across the landscape and connectivity outside of the protected areas is very limited; however, large swathes of suitable elephant habitat remain. As the landscape holds the potential to be restored to a national stronghold for this flagship species, in turn resulting in the protection of a vast array of biodiversity, we recommend protection of remaining suitable habitat and reduction of threats and disturbance to elephants within these areas as top priorities. Our study offers a model for integrated elephant population and landscape-level habitat modelling that can serve to guide similar research and management efforts in other landscapes.

Golden jackals (Canis aureus) have rapidly expanded their range across Europe, raising ecological and socioeconomic concerns. As a highly vocal species, jackals can be monitored using howl surveys or passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) to estimate population sizes and habitat preferences. A recent advancement in PAM is acoustic localisation, which estimates the source of sounds by measuring the time differences of their arrival at multiple synchronised recorders. This technique can improve the accuracy of population and density estimates by more precisely calculating distances between vocalising animals and recorders. However, GPS‐synchronised acoustic recorders are costly, which limits their broader use. In this study, we tested the efficacy of a low‐cost recorder, the CARACAL, for acoustic localisation of golden jackals. We deployed 10 CARACALs over a 10 km² area of the Lunca Mureşului Natural Park, Romania, for seven nights. Alongside passively recording jackal howls, we also conducted howl surveys. We recorded jackal howls every night of the survey and successfully localised 27 jackal and 16 human howls, with human howls localised to within an average of 41 m of their actual location. The average distance between the recorders and estimated positions of vocalising jackals was just under 1 km, with howls detected from as far as 2.5 km away. However, some jackal howls were not detected clearly, or at all, on active recorders that were as little as 0.9 km away. Based on these results, we recommend a conservative spacing of 0.8–1 km between recorders in future deployments, though this will depend on local environmental conditions. Overall, this study highlights acoustic localisation as a valuable tool for improving monitoring efforts and gathering more detailed data on jackal ecology. This information could significantly contribute to understanding their expanding range across Europe while informing the development of effective monitoring and management strategies for golden jackals.

Circadian rhythms are a mechanism by which species adapt to environmental variability and fundamental to understanding species behavior. However, we lack data and a standardized framework to accurately assess and compare temporal activity for species during rapid ecological change. Through a global network representing 38 countries, we leveraged 8.9 million mammalian observations to create a library of 14,587 standardized diel activity estimates for 445 species. We found that less than half the species’ estimates were in agreement with diel classifications from the reference literature and that species commonly used more than one diel classification. Species diel activity was highly plastic when exposed to anthropogenic change. Furthermore, body size and distributional extent were strongly associated with whether a species is diurnal or nocturnal. Our findings provide essential knowledge of species behavior in an era of rapid global change and suggest the need for a new, quantitative framework that defines diel activity logically and consistently while capturing species plasticity.

The black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) historically roamed across southern and eastern Africa, with an estimated potential population of over one hundred thousand. However, extensive habitat loss and uncontrolled hunting followed by intensive illegal killing for the international trade in rhino horn, notably during the 1970s and 1980s, led to a significant decline. By 1995, their numbers plummeted to a nadir of just 2354. Since 1991, the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group has monitored black rhino numbers and shown that sustained coordinated conservation efforts have resulted in a remarkable recovery. Despite remaining Critically endangered, black rhino numbers reached 6487 by the end of 2022, with Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe conserving 93% of the population. Regrettably, the western black rhino ecotype was declared extinct in 2011.

This comprehensive chapter covers various aspects of the biology and natural history of the black rhino Diceros bicornis, including names, taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, movements and home range, activity patterns, feeding ecology, reproduction and growth, behaviour, and their status in the wild and in captivity. In addition, the chapter includes a distribution map, several photos of the species, and a list of key literature.

Globally, hundreds of thousands of rangers patrol protected areas every day. The data they collect have immense potential for monitoring biodiversity and threats to it. Technologies like SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool), which facilitate the management of ranger‐collected data, have enhanced this potential. However, based on our experience across diverse use cases and geographies, we have found that ranger‐based monitoring is often implemented without a clear plan for how the data will inform management and without critical evaluation of whether the data are reliable enough to meet specific monitoring goals. Here we distill six key lessons and present a decision framework to guide funders, governments, protected area managers, and NGOs toward more effective use of ranger‐based monitoring for protected area management and suggest when alternative monitoring approaches may add value. Essential considerations include the welfare and motivation of rangers, biases in patrol coverage and detectability, the capacity to analyze data, and the buy‐in of those tasked with using the data to inform management decisions. When implemented well, ranger‐based monitoring can help improve conservation outcomes through evaluating management interventions, more efficient deployment of limited law enforcement budgets to optimize the deterrence of illegal activities, and basic ecological monitoring.

Africa boasts high biodiversity while also being home to some of the largest and fastest-growing human populations. Although the current environmental footprint of Africa is low compared to other continents, the population of Africa is estimated at around 1.5 billion inhabitants, representing nearly 18% of the world’s total population. Consequently, Africa’s rich biodiversity is under threat, yet only 19% of the landscape and 17% of the seascape are under any form of protection. To effectively address this issue and align with the Convention on Biological Diversity’s ambitious ‘30 by 30’ goal, which seeks to protect 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030, substantial funding and conservation measures are urgently required. In response to this critical challenge, as scientists and conservationists working in Africa, we propose five recommendations for future directions aimed at enhancing biodiversity conservation for the betterment of African society: (i) accelerate data collection, data sharing and analytics for informed policy and decision-making; (ii) innovate education and capacity building for future generations; (iii) enhance and expand protected areas, ecological networks and foundational legal frameworks; (iv) unlock creative funding channels for cutting-edge conservation initiatives; and (v) integrate indigenous and local knowledge into forward-thinking conservation strategies. By implementing these recommendations, we believe Africa can make significant strides towards preserving its unique biodiversity, while fostering a healthier society, and contributing to global conservation efforts. This article is part of the discussion meeting issue ‘Bending the curve towards nature recovery: building on Georgina Mace's legacy for a biodiverse future’.

Climate change presents a significant threat to coral reef ecosystems, prompting local initiatives to evaluate coral reef resilience and prioritize conservation efforts. In a collaborative endeavor involving the marine and fisheries agency, NGOs, and universities, 53 locations across Simeulue Island were assessed between 2018 and 2020. An extensive evaluation encompassing 34 variables across eight categories, including benthic indicators, substrate quality, thermal stress, coral health, and human-induced impacts, was conducted to assess the relative resilience score. The findings revealed varying degrees of resilience, with 22 locations classified as high, 23 as moderate, and 8 as low relative resilience scores. Notably, coral condition and population emerged as the most influential indicators. Additionally, the conversion of relative resilience scores into shapefile data, alongside citizen science–derived information, contributed to the conservation value assessment. Integration of the conservation value with cost data facilitated Marxan analysis to identify priority areas for zoning plans. The findings from the analysis serve as a foundation for conservation determinations made by stakeholders and local communities residing in proximity to the Pulau Pinang, Pulau Siumat, and Pulau Simanaha Marine Protected Area (PiSiSi MPA). Insights gleaned from public deliberations revealed that approximately 4.78% of the area is proposed for designation as no-take zones. This decision aligns with regulatory stipulations mandating a minimum no-take zone size of 2% at the time of its enactment.

Currently, 41% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction, leading to the ongoing amphibian crisis. In Myanmar, the amphibian diversity is still poorly understood, and, as a result, many conservation gaps remain. To increase the knowledge about Myanmar's amphibians and thus provide an opportunity to fill the gaps in conservation in the country, we assess the species in greater detail. To do so, we compile a species list of the amphibians of Myanmar through various sources and evaluate their threat status using the IUCN Red list. We perform richness analyses to compare the distribution areas of the amphibian species of Myanmar to the distribution of the protected areas (PAs) in the country. We evaluate the representation of Myanmar's amphibians in zoos worldwide through the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) to check the implementation of the One Plan Approach to Conservation. Our results suggest that there are 152 amphibian species extant in Myanmar, of which 25 are endemic to the country. 4.6% (n = 7) of all species are classified as threatened, but counting those with insufficient available data as possibly threatened increases the number to 44.1% (n = 67). Of them, 40 species are not covered by any of Myanmar's PAs. That includes 28.6% of the threatened, 35.7% of the potentially threatened, and 48% of the endemic species. According to the ZIMS database, none of Myanmar's threatened, potentially threatened, or endemic amphibian species are kept in any zoo or aquarium worldwide, suggesting that the One Plan Approach is not sufficiently implemented as a conservation measure for Myanmar's amphibians. With this study, we show conspicuous gaps in the protection of Myanmar's amphibians and provide a list of the 36 most threatened species, recommending a possible prioritization for upcoming conservation actions.

Compared to older data sources, 13 new fish species for the Miniș River were found: Phoxinus phoxinus, Hucho hucho, Barbus balcanicus, Rutilus rutilus, Carasius gibelio, Leucaspius delineatus, Ameiurus nebulosus, Pseudorasbora parva, Cottus gobio, Rhodeus amarus, Alburnus alburnus, Chondrostoma nasus, Cobitis elongata. Eight species known here from the past were still found: Salmo trutta, Squalius cephalus, Alburnoides bipunctatus, Gobio obtusirostris, Barbatula barbatula, Eudontomyzon danfordi, Sabanejewia balcanica, Romanogobio banaticus. The unnatural structure of the fish communities and the identified changes of the fish zonation along Miniș River reveal a complex set of impacts from human activities on this lotic ecosystem.

Previous studies investigating marine fish diversity in Cambodia’s coastal ecosystems focused on visual methods, concentrating on reporting ecologically and economically important indicator taxa. This study, however, presents the first comprehensive assessment of marine fish biodiversity along the coast of two regions in Cambodia using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding methods. Water samples were collected above coral reefs, seagrass meadows, estuarine sites and open water in the Northern Koh Kong region and the Koh Rong Archipelago, a marine national park. A region of the 12S rDNA was targeted for fish diversity. Additionally, for the detection of marine mammals, 16S ribosomal DNA was amplified. A total of 204 unique fish species were identified across 78 families and 17 orders, revealing significant differences in species richness and community composition across different habitat types and sampling locations. Functional diversity analyses categorized species into 18 distinct functional groups, shedding light on their ecological roles within the investigated habitats. Comparison with existing fish surveys and databases highlighted the effectiveness of eDNA metabarcoding in providing comparable or better biodiversity estimates. The study also identified two marine mammal species, including the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin, emphasizing the importance of eDNA in detecting elusive and threatened species. The study highlights the effectiveness of eDNA metabarcoding for marine biodiversity monitoring, offering valuable baseline data for conservation efforts in Cambodia and beyond, supporting the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs) to safeguard marine biodiversity. Advocating for the designation of Koh Kong as an MPA, the research points to its rich biodiversity, endangered species presence, and unique functional composition, suggesting its potential as a focal point for conservation initiatives.

Atlantic reef-building corals and coral reefs continue to experience extensive decline due to increased stressors related to climate change, disease, pollution, and numerous anthropogenic threats. To understand the impact of ocean warming and reef loss on the estimated extinction risk of shallow water Atlantic reef-building scleractinians and milleporids, all 85 valid species were reassessed under the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, updating the previous Red List assessment of Atlantic corals published in 2008. For the present assessment, individual species declines were estimated based on the modeled coral cover loss (1989–2019) and projected onset of annual severe bleaching events (2020–2050) across the Atlantic. Species traits were used to scale species’ relative vulnerability to the modeled cover declines and forecasted bleaching events. The updated assessments place 45.88%–54.12% of Atlantic shallow water corals at an elevated extinction risk compared to the previous assessments conducted in 2008 (15.19%–40.51%). However, coral cover loss estimates indicate an improvement in reef coverage compared to the historic time-series used for the 2008 assessments. Based on this, we infer that, although remaining dangerously high, the rate of Atlantic reef coral cover decline has surprisingly slowed in recent decades. However, based on modeled projections of sea-surface temperature that predict the onset of annual severe bleaching events within the next 30 years, we listed 26 (out of 85) species as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. Each of these species had previously been listed under a lower threatened category and this result alone highlights the severe threat future bleaching events pose to coral survival and the reef ecosystems they support.

Understanding species distribution across habitats and environmental variables is important to inform area-based management. However, observational data are often lacking, particularly from developing countries, hindering effective conservation design. One such data-poor area is the Gulf of Guinea, an understudied and biodiverse region where coastal waters play a critical role in coastal livelihoods. Here, we describe the results of the largest national-scale Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS) survey in the region, aiming to understand the effects of several environmental variables on fish community composition and diversity. From 2018 to 2020, we successfully deployed 417 benthic BRUVS in the coastal waters of the São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) archipelago. Species richness and relative abundance were higher in deeper waters, on steeper slopes, and in rocky reef habitats. Nevertheless, maerl and sand habitats also hosted unique, and economically important species. Our results potentially indicate historical impacts of fishing in the archipelago, especially in São Tomé Island, where observed fishing effort is higher. Indeed, abundance of large predatory fish was low in both islands and abundance of species targeted by artisanal fisheries was lower in São Tomé than in Príncipe. Our results provide crucial information supporting the designation and future monitoring of marine protected areas in STP.