Aptrootia khaoyaiensis Polyiam & Lücking is described as new to science from dry dipterocarp forest in central Thailand, based on morphological assessment and sequence data of the mitochondrial small subunit (mtSSU). The new species is characterized by a corticolous habit, a corticate thallus, ascomata typically immersed in the thallus, with a brown to blackish ostiolar region, an inspersed hamathecium, and dark brown, muriform ascospores occurring 1–2 per ascus. Phylogenetic analyses support placement of the new species in Aptrootia; it is morphologically close to A. elatior but differs in the smaller ascospores and the inspersed hamathecium.

Three new species of thelotremoid lichens, Ampliotrema subglobosum Poengs. & Lumbsch, Ocellularia lichexanthonica Poengs. & Lumbsch and O. saxiprotocetrarica Poengs. & Lumbsch, are described and illustrated based on specimens from southern Thailand. Ampliotrema subglobosum is similar to A. globosum but differs by having larger ascospores with more septa. Ocellularia lichexanthonica differs from O. subdolichotata in ascomata diameter and by containing lichexanthone. Ocellularia saxiprotocetrarica is similar to O. gentingensis in ascospore length and the number of ascospore septa but has narrower ascospores and contains protocetraric acid. Fifteen species are reported for the first time for Thailand: Austrotrema bicinctulum (Nyl.) I. Medeiros et al., Baeomyces heteromorphus Nyl. ex C. Bab. & Mitt., Chapsa niveocarpa Mangold, Chiodecton sphaerale Ach., Erythrodecton malacum (Kremp.) G. Thor, Lecanora subjaponica L. Lü & H. Y. Wang, Leucodecton subcompunctum (Nyl.) Frisch, Myriotrema concretum (Fée) Hale, M. neoterebrans Frisch, Ocellularia khasiana (Patw. & Nagarkar) Kraichak et al., O. upretii S. Joshi et al., Pseudotopeliopsis scabiomarginata (Hale) Parnmen et al., Sulzbacheromyces sinensis (R. H. Petersen & M. Zang) Dong Liu & Li S. Wang, Thelotrema diplotrema Nyl., and T. isidiophorum (Kremp.) Zahlbr. Ampliotrema globosum (Hale) Poengs. & Lumbsch is proposed as a new combination. The genus Erythrodecton G. Thor is a new genus for the lichen flora of Thailand.

The biodiversity of tropical rainforest is difficult to assess. Yet, its estimation is necessary for conservation purposes, to evaluate our level of knowledge and the risks faced by the forest in relation to global change. Our contribution is to estimate the regional richness of tree species from local but widely spread inventories. We reviewed the methods available, which are nonparametric estimators based on abundance or occurrence data, log-series extrapolation and the universal species–area relationship based on maximum entropy. Appropriate methods depend on the scale considered. Harte’s self-similarity model is suitable at the regional scale, while the log-series extrapolation is not. GuyaDiv is a network of forest plots installed over the whole territory of French Guiana, where trees over 10 cm DBH are identified. We used its information (1315 species censused in 68 one-hectare plots) to estimate the exponent of the species–area relationship, assuming Arrhenius’s power law. We could then extrapolate the number of species from three local, wide inventories (over 2.5 km2). We evaluated the number of tree species around 2200 over the territory.

One of the many ecosystem services provided by dung beetles is that of secondary seed dispersal. This paper experimentally evaluates the effectiveness of this service using the chimpanzee–dung beetle seed dispersal system in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. The study focussed on the germination rate and success of four species of seeds contained in the faeces of Pan troglodytes verus: Dacryodes klaineana (Pierre) H.J. Lam, Diospyros mannii Hiern, Pycnanthus angolensis (Welw.) Warb., and Uapaca guineensis Muell. Arg. For each species, 600 seeds, half from chimpanzee faeces and half from mother trees, were sown in nurseries at depths of 0, 2, 5, 10, and 15 cm (i.e. 120 seeds per depth; 60 from chimp and 60 from mother trees). After germination, only the seeds of Uapaca guineensis and Diospyros mannii sown at 2 and 5 cm had a >14% rate (between 14.2 and 30.8%) of germination and seedling establishment, regardless of seed origin. An increase in the depth of seed burial appears to negatively affect the probability of seedling emergence and establishment. This study shows that dung beetles have positive impacts on seed fate. However, for these plant species, the chimpanzee’s role is limited to that of primary seed dispersal.

Human activity in African tropical rainforests continues to threaten wild mammals. Many rural communities are dependent on hunting, yet there is a widespread lack of baseline data on ecology and the sustainability of hunting. We investigated the impacts of human activity on mammal species composition and distributions within a community forest surrounding a village in the buffer zone of the Dja Biosphere Reserve in south-east Cameroon. We conducted a camera-trap survey in August–November 2017 and detected 24 mammal species, including Critically Endangered western lowland gorilla Gorilla gorilla gorilla, Endangered central African chimpanzee Pan troglodytes troglodytes and Endangered tree pangolin Phataginus tricuspis. We used occupancy analysis to explore relationships between indicators of human activity (distance to a road and the Reserve), habitat quality (distance to the river and tree cover) and the distributions of species. We found that the local distribution of threatened mammals was not apparently limited by human activity, and proximity to the road did not negatively influence occupancy for any species. However, most of the Reserve's large species were not detected, including the African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis and the largest ungulates, and the occupancy of two species commonly hunted for wild meat was positively correlated with distance from the village, indicating hunting may be unsustainable. Our results show that the community forest provides habitat for threatened species outside the Reserve and in close proximity to people. However, effective conservation management will require continued monitoring and research to determine whether current rates of hunting are sustainable.

Five species of Eremothecella are recorded from the Andaman Islands, two of which are described as new: Eremothecella ajaysinghii Jagad. Ram & G. P. Sinha and E. nicobarica Jagad. Ram & G. P. Sinha. Eremothecella ajaysinghii has whitish grey, pruinose ascomata and 8–10(–11)-septate ascospores, while E. nicobarica has non-pruinose ascomata and (14–)15–17-septate ascospores. Eremothecella calamicola Syd., E. macrosperma (Zahlbr.) Sérus. and E. variratae (Aptroot & Sipman) Sérus. are reported as new records for India. An updated worldwide key to species of the genus is presented.

Species identification in the tropical lichen genus Phyllopsora is generally challenging and is based on ascospore morphology, vegetative dispersal units, thallus structure and secondary chemistry. As several type specimens are in poor condition and difficult to interpret, it is often unclear how these old names fit with the currently used taxonomy. In the present study, we aim to identify species boundaries in Phyllopsora s. str. supported by an integrative approach using multiple sources of evidence. We investigated a substantial amount of herbarium as well as freshly collected material and generated mtSSU and ITS sequence data from most of the described species, including several types. Species delimitation analyses are applied on the gene trees using mPTP and we construct a species tree of both markers with *BEAST, facilitating discussion of species delimitation and sister-relationships. Comparing morphology, chemistry and molecular data, we found that the mPTP analyses split established species repeatedly. Based on our integrative results, we exclude nine species from the genus, resurrect one (P. melanoglauca Zahlbr.), reduce two into synonymy with other Phyllopsora species and describe five as new to science: Phyllopsora amazonica Kistenich & Timdal (which shares the secondary chemistry (atranorin and terpenoid pattern) with P. halei chemotype 1, but differs, e.g., in having smaller areolae that are attached to a thinner, white prothallus, and in having more persistently marginate and less convex apothecia), Phyllopsora concinna Kistenich & Timdal (which shares the secondary chemistry (atranorin and parvifoliellin) with P. parvifoliella and P. rappiana, but differs from both in forming larger isidia, having a white prothallus, apothecial margin paler than the disc, and longer and broader ascospores), Phyllopsora furfurella Kistenich & Timdal (which is here segregated from P. furfuracea based on having a white prothallus and in containing skyrin in the hypothecium (K+ red)), Phyllopsora isidosa Kistenich & Timdal (which differs from P. byssiseda in forming a more crustose thallus with more delicate isidia, and from P. isidiotyla in forming somewhat coarser, less branched isidia) and Phyllopsora neotinica Kistenich & Timdal (a neotropical species here segregated from the now exclusively paleotropical P. chodatinica, differing in containing an unknown xanthone (not chodatin)). Lectotypes are designated for Biatora pyrrhomelaena Tuck., Lecidea leucophyllina Nyl., L. pertexta Nyl., and P. brachyspora Müll. Arg. In total, we accept 54 species in the genus Phyllopsora.

The Annamite mountains of Viet Nam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao) are an area of exceptional mammalian endemism but intensive poaching has defaunated much of the region, creating an extinction crisis for the endemic species. To make efficient use of limited conservation resources, it is imperative that conservation stakeholders obtain basic information about poorly known and threatened endemics. We present the first comprehensive information on the ecology, distribution and status of the little-known endemic Annamite striped rabbit Nesolagus timminsi. We used a systematic camera-trapping design to study the species in five areas in Viet Nam and Lao. In 29,180 camera-trap-nights we recorded 152 independent events at 36 of 266 stations. We obtained an additional 143 independent detections across 12 stations from a supplementary non-systematic survey. We analysed activity patterns and social behaviour. We also used single-species occupancy models to assess factors that influence occupancy at the landscape scale. We used N-mixture models to obtain local abundance estimates in one target area. The Annamite striped rabbit was found to be nocturnal and primarily solitary. Species occupancy was best explained by a proxy for past hunting pressure, with no significant relationships to current anthropogenic or environmental factors. Local abundance was 0.57 individuals per camera-trap station for one of our sites, and estimated to be zero at the other site where hunting appears to have been more intense. Our results provide information on priority areas for targeted anti-poaching efforts and give the first conservation baseline for the species.

A new extended pollen and charcoal record is presented from Lake Euramoo, Wet Tropics World Heritage rainforest of northeast Queensland, Australia. The 8.4-m sediment core taken from the center of Lake Euramoo incorporates a complete record of vegetation change and fire history spanning the period from 23,000 cal yr B.P. to present. The pollen record is divided into five significant zones; 23,000–16,800 cal yr B.P., dry sclerophyll woodland; 16,800–8600 cal yr B.P., wet sclerophyll woodland with marginal rainforest in protected pockets; 8600–5000 cal yr B.P., warm temperate rainforest; 5000–70 cal yr B.P., dry subtropical rainforest; 70 cal yr B.P.–AD 1999, degraded dry subtropical rainforest with increasing influence of invasive species and fire.

The process of rainforest development appears to be at least partly controlled by orbital forcing (precession), though more local environmental variables and human activity are also significant factors. This new record provides the opportunity to explore the relationship between fire, drought and rainforest dynamics in a significant World Heritage rainforest region.

Eight species of Herpothallon are recorded from the Andaman Islands, four of which are described as new: Herpothallon coralloides, H. globuliferum, H. lutescens and H. minutum. All these new species have a non-pigmented thallus, prothallus, hypothallus and pseudisidia. Herpothallon coralloides and H. lutescens possess cylindrical pseudisidia whereas H. globuliferum and H. minutum have granular to globose pseudisidia. Herpothallon globuliferum is foliicolous. Herpothallon echinatum, H. granulare, H. granulosum and H. philippinum are reported for the first time from the Andaman Islands. A key to the Indian species is provided. Heiomasia pallescens (Graphidaceae), a byssoid taxon with a disc-shaped isidioid structure, is also described as new to science.

Nothofagus species dominate small patches of rainforest on ultramafic soils in New Caledonia, forming an almost monospecific upper canopy on some sites. These stands are commonly bordered by rainforests of greater floristic and structural complexity, also on ultramafic soils. In two lowland stands, the population size structures of Nothofagus aequilateralis stems greater than 50 cm high had an approximately skewed bell-shaped distribution with a modal size class of 15–25 cm stem diameter, and with no evidence of old trees. This indicates that the establishment of Nothofagus has occurred over a limited time span, without sufficient recent regeneration to allow the future replacement of the existing canopy trees. The factors initiating the major period of regeneration are not certain, but large-scale disturbance is implicated and evidence of past wild-fire on both sites is consistent with this hypothesis. It is unlikely that significant regeneration of Nothofagus will occur as the stands mature and canopy gaps are created by the death of old trees, since saplings of other species already occur at high densities in the understorey and will probably pre-empt the resources made available by canopy gaps. Two other study sites were situated above 900 m asl. At Dzumac, in an apparently older stand dominated by N. codonandra, there is some evidence of recent regeneration, predominantly confined to a single large canopy gap. The population size structure of N. baumanniae on the fourth site, on the summit of Mt Mou, shows a closer approximation to a reverse-J curve. Seedlings, however, are relatively uncommon on this site, and the numerous saplings may be suppressed rather than young.

Analyses of topsoil provided no consistent evidence to suggest that mineral content is controlling the distribution of Nothofagus across vegetation boundaries.

The environmental factors promoting the formation of these monodominant canopies are uncertain, but appear to involve large-scale disturbance by windstorm or fire. The population size structures suggest that the canopies of the two lowland stands, at least, are likely to become more species-rich, with a progressive decline in the frequency of Nothofagus. Therefore, these lowland monodominant forests cannot be regarded as equilibrium communities, irrespective of whether more detailed studies reveal environmental differences across the community boundaries. The status of the two high altitude sites is less certain.

All mature individuals of Aglaia aff. flavida (Meliaceae) were mapped in a 260 ha study area at the Crater Mountain Biological Research Station in Papua New Guinea. Sixty-four reproductively mature trees were found in an aggregated distribution with a mean inter-tree distance of 88.9 m. The sample consisted of 35 female and 29 male trees with a mean shortest distance between sexes of 232 m. Seed production and seed removal of 22 female trees was monitored throughout the 1992 fruiting season. Female trees with in 200 m of male trees generally produced large seeds crops (> 100 seeds) whereas trees farther than 200 m from the nearest male had small seed crops (< 100 seeds) regardless of female size (DBH). Most seeds (63.2%, n = 3312) produced in a sub-sample of 22 trees came from the five most fecund trees, which also produced 74.1% of the seeds that were removed by vertebrate dispersers. Where a minority of a population of rare tropical trees produce the majority of progeny, sustainable harvest practices would be most effective where highly fecund individuals are identified and conserved.

The demographic history of a flower-cohort of the tropical tree Dicymbe altsonii (Caesalpiniaceae) was studied by collecting litter from flowers, fruits and seeds, and by monitoring seedling survival. Flower production was estimated at 137 to 172 m−2 in a plot of 1 ha. Four percent of the flowers yielded a pod, which contained an average of 2.0 seeds. Post-dispersal mortality over 3 mo was 39% of the initial number of dispersed seeds. Most flowers and fruits were aborted. Insect and vertebrate predation in the tree and on the ground was very low. Reproductive litter production of this species was estimated to be equal to leaf litter production. The amount of phosphorus lost in litter from fruits and flowers was much larger than in leaf litter. This implies that the impact of the biennial flowering events on the nutrient dynamics of the trees and of the ecosystem may be large. It is argued that the reproductive cycle and the pre-dispersal demography of Dicymbe seem to be determined by a scarcity of nutrient resources, and possibly by pollinator limitation.

Bioassays of nutrient limitation were carried out for Melastoma malabathricum growing on soil from primary lowland dipterocarp rainforest in Singapore, and for Dillenia suffruticosa on soil from adinandra belukar, a nutrient-poor secondary forest type dominated by Adinandra dumosa. Three questions were addressed. 1. What is the nutrient most limiting to growth in primary forest? 2. What is the nature of nutrient limitation under conditions of adequate P supply? 3. Is there a qualitative difference in the nature of nutrient limitation under primary forest and adinandra belukar? Results showed that there was a strong limitation by P availability in both primary forest and adinandra belukar under the experimental conditions used. Once plants had an adequate P supply, all other nutrients became limiting to growth in primary forest soil. These findings are interpreted as support for the hypothesis that P availability would limit the productivity of moist tropical forests in general in the absence of mycorrhizas; tentative conclusions are drawn on the assumption that most woody tropical plants are mycorrhizal. It is argued that limitation by major cations may be common on old, highly leached tropical rainforest soils.

A comparative study of the damage caused by Hurricane Hugo on the three main types of forest in the lesser Antilles was carried out in the mangrove forest, the semi-evergreen forest and the rainforests of Guadeloupe. Hurricane impact on these forests showed at first that high canopy trees generally prevented understorey trees from heavy direct damage (shield effect). In the species-poor, structurally homogeneous stands, in the mangrove forest, species' susceptibility was the major determinant in both intensity and type of damage. Damage was heavy in places and showed a certain spatial uniformity. In the rainforest, the high structural complexity of the vegetation generally induced a great variability in the spatial distribution of damage even at a small scale. Due to the presence of tall trees, indirect damage was locally very heavy. Clumps of large trees formed resistant structures which diminished lethal damage below the main canopy (cluster effect). In such a highly structured, species-rich forest, species' susceptibility was concealed at the local scale by the prevailing influence of vertical structure. Because of its relatively rich flora but low stature, the semi-deciduous forest exhibited intermediate patterns of damage. It was concluded that floristic composition and forest structure help to explain, and to predict, hurricane damage to forest cover.