Pseuderanthemum pubescens sp. nov. (Acanthaceae) from Thailand

Pseuderanthemum pubescens T. Choopan & P. J. Grote, a new species from southeastern Thailand is described and illustrated. It is distinguished from P. longistylum J. B. Imlay by leaves being pubescent instead of glabrous and by the corolla lobes being purple with reddish purple dots on all 5 lobes instead of dotted on lower lip only.     

Beitrag zur Kenntnis des Birkenzeisigs (Carduelis flammea).

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Prolific fruit output by the invasive tree Bellucia pentamera Naudin (Melastomataceae) is enhanced by selective logging disturbance

Selective logging in tropical rain forests may promote population growth of invasive plants. The ability of invaders to respond, specifically in reproductive traits, to increase in resource abundance may allow them to increase their presence in the seed rain of recipient communities. The invasive pioneer tree Bellucia pentamera (Melastomataceae) is currently spreading within Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The park has also experienced periods of illegal, small‐scale, selective logging that seem to have facilitated population growth and spread of this invader. We first used fruiting frequency as a proxy for fruit output to make comparisons between B. pentamera and the native tree community of over 200 genera. We then constructed two Generalized Linear Autoregressive Moving Average (GLARMA) models using 13 months of phenology data to predict both fruiting frequency and crop size of B. pentamera under selective logging versus natural treefall disturbance regimes. Bellucia pentamera fruited at considerably higher frequency than all 200 native genera considered. This invader also responded positively to selective logging with both odds of being in fruit and crop sizes at least doubling in logged plots. Prolific seed output of B. pentamera is especially problematic within the lottery competition of tropical rain forest gap tree communities, in which prominence in the seed rain is particularly important. Furthermore, the reproductive response of B. pentamera to selective logging suggests that this harvesting practice may have a considerable role in facilitating this invasion in Southeast Asia.     

Ecology and management of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) in the Chimanes Forest, Bed, Bolivia

Mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla King) regenerates in areas of erosion on high terraces and in forest killed by flooding and deposition of alluvial sediments in the Chimanes Forest, Bolivia. These hydrological disturbances are patchy, and only one of five stands of mahogany that we inventoried was regenerating. Mahogany survives these disturbances significantly better than the common tree species. The long time between disturbances appears to favour late maturation. Mahogany trees allocate little photosynthates to reproduction until they are very large emergents, at least 80 cm in diameter. The episodic nature of the regeneration sites means that mahogany stands are composed of one or a few cohorts, which are vulnerable to overharvesting, particularly with the current use of a minimum cutting diameter to regulate harvest. The delayed onset of fecundity means that the small trees that escape harvest are not very fecund, resulting in minimal seed input to logged forest. Only 7–9% of the gaps created by logging contain natural regeneration after 20 + yr. A successful management plan for mahogany would entail a monocyclic harvest, with a rotation age of 100 + years, the estimated time that it takes for trees to achieve commercial size in natural forest. Since the number of seed trees that will be left is small, they should be concentrated in sites that are likely to be conducive to natural regeneration, such as near rivers and flood damaged forest. Seed production will be maximized for a given basal area (opportunity cost to loggers) if trees c. 110 cm dbh are selected as seed trees. The mahogany stocks in the Chimanes Forest are nearly exhausted, but the findings of this study could be used to help rebuild the mahogany populations, or to design management plans for the commercial species that have similar ecologies to mahogany.