Ontogenetic instars of a new species of the genus Scapheremaeus (Acari, Oribatida, Cymbaeremaeidae) from Vietnam

Morphogenetic features of soils on the selected plots in the Cat Tien National Park in southern Vietnam have been studied with the use of a set of morphological, analytical, and instrumental methods. The lithological factor and topographic position play the leading role in the development of the particular genetic soil features. The soils can be subdivided into four groups according to these factors. The soils developing from volcanic deposits with a predominance of tephra can be classified as thin clayey brown tropical soils (Dystric Skeletic Rhodic Cambisols (Clayic)), and the soils developed from less weathered colluvial derivatives of basalts with some admixture of tephra can be classified as dark-humus clayey tropical soils (Skeletic Greyzemic Umbrisols (Clayic)). Very poor soils developed from the eluvium of argillites are classified as thin weakly developed clayey tropical soils (Dystric Regosols (Clayic)). The soils forming from the alluvial sediments of different textures are classified as alluvial loamy sandy soils (Dystric Fluvisols (Arenic, Drainic)) and as alluvial clay loamy soils (Eutric Fluvisols (Episiltic, Endoclayic)).

Summary Phasmarhabditis quinamensis sp. n. was recovered from several tropical terrestrial gastropod species collected in Cat Tien National Park in southern Vietnam with the snail, Sesara sp., designated as the type host. Phasmarhabditis quinamensis sp. n. is recognised by males and females with a lip region set off by the circle of six triangular low probolae, three bilobed, separated lips, stoma nearly as wide as long, the first genital papilla in males not incorporated into the bursa, the ensheathed dauer juveniles more than 1 mm long and with two circles of papillae at the head end and prominent amphidial apertures, a long filamentous tail and, when exsheathed, with a short, conical tail ending with two tiny spikes. The head structure of P. quinamensis sp. n. differentiates it from all nominal species of Phasmarhabditis. Phasmarhabditis quinamensis sp. n. is the second species of the genus found in Cat Tien National Park. The sympatric species P. meridionalis was also found during the present study. Phylogenetically, both species belong to different lineages within Phasmarhabditis . The molecular analysis based on partial sequences of LSU rDNA, and ITS rDNA regions showed P. kenyaensis to be the closest species to P. quinamensis sp. n.

A case study is given of a conservation management planning exercise underway in Cat Tien National Park and its surrounding areas in southern Vietnam. The importance of reliable information in this process is demonstrated using the Park's mammalian diversity. Opportunities and constraints to engage the local communities in conservation management planning and implementation are reviewed. The spatial element in protected area management planning is stressed; in some areas strict preservation management regimes are needed to conserve critical biodiversity values while in other areas conservation benefits could be gained from engaging local communities in resource management. Pragmatic conservation management planning decisions address identified threats, to be resolved by re-demarcation of boundaries, resettlement of people, and community-based conservation initiatives. These should result in a more viable Park as well as provide more secure livelihood conditions for the people elsewhere. This case study is put in the context of the wider conservation management debate.

The abundance, biomass, vertical distribution, and taxonomic composition of soil invertebrates (springtails, macrofauna, and termites) were studied in forest formations differing in edaphic and climatic conditions: lowland forests dominated by Lagerstroeomia spp. or Dipterocarpus spp. in the Cat Tien National Park and in a mountain pine (Pinus kesiya) forest on the Da Lat Plateau, southern Vietnam. In the lowland forests, springtails had a relatively low density (10000-12000 ind./m2), but their diversity was high (41-43 species in each forest). The density of large soil invertebrates (without ants and termites) reached 500-700 ind./m2 at a biomass of approximately 30 g/m2 (with earthworms accounting for up to 230 ind./m2 and 19-28 g/m2). Among termites, species of the genera Macrotermes and Odontotermes were dominant. Their total biomass in some areas exceeded 15-20 g/m2. In the mountain pine forest, the total biomass of soil macrofauna was approximately 11 g/m2, the abundance and diversity of springtails were low (7500 ind./m2, 28 species), and wood-destroying species of the genera Schedorhinotermes sp. and Coptotermes sp. dominated among termites.

A total of 348 bird species belonging to 64 families, 18 orders were recorded in the Cat Tien national park, Dong Nai province. The Passeriformes order is the most divers order with 27 families (42.19% of the order number of this park), 169 species (48.56%). Among 348 bird species recorded in the Cattien national park, 29 species are listed in the Governmental Decree No 48/2002/ND-CP (2002), 22 species in the Red Data Book of Vietnam (2000) and 16 species in the IUCN Red List (2003); 4 species are endemic of Vietnam. The individual numbers of several threatened species (E.g. Polyplectron germaini Elliot, 1866; Arborophila charltoni Delacour, 1927; Arborophila davidi Delacour, 1927; Pavo muticus Delacour, 1949; Ciconia episcopus (Boddaert, 1783)...) are still abundant; especially, the orange-necked partridge (Arborophila davidi Delacour, 1927), an endemic species of Vietnam, just now is recorded only in the Cat Tien national park.

A new species of the genus Scapheremaeus (Oribatida, Cymbaeremaeidae)—S. marati sp. nov.—was collected from bark of different trees in Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam, is described based on adult and juvenile instars. The identification keys to known adults of Scapheremaeus from the Oriental region, as well as to larvae and nymphs of known scapheremaeid species are presented.

Peliosanthes luteoviridis is described and illustrated as a new species from southern Vietnam (Dong Nai Province, Cat Tien National Park). It is most similar to P. macrostegia in having stamens forming a hemispheric corona and a pistil somewhat abruptly narrowing to a conoid style, but differs mainly in dense inflorescence, terete peduncle, entirely yellowish green flowers and somewhat thin-textured translucent perigone.

A new species of phytoseiid mites, Chanteius cattiensis Khaustov sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on adults of both sexes collected from plants in a tropical forest in Cat Tien National Park, Southern Vietnam. Additionally, an identification key is provided for the world species of Chanteius Wainstein.

We describe a new species of the genus Oligodon from the lowland forests of Cat Tien National Park, Dong Nai Province, in southern Vietnam. Oligodon cattienensis sp. nov. is distinguished from the remaining Southeast Asian kukri snakes by the combination of the following characters: medium-sized, deeply forked hemipenes without spines, 17-17-15 dorsal scale rows, nasal entire, 2 small postoculars, almost equal in size, 167-178 ventrals, 31-35 subcaudals, 24-35 + 5 large dark-edged vertebral blotches in combination with a yellow-orange or red vertebral stripe between blotches, head pattern including ocular band, temporal bands and elongated chevron, ventrals pink or whitish (reddish in juveniles) in life, some bearing a quadrangular dark blotch on each lateral side, or ventrals being entirely dark. Based on the hemipenial morphology the new species is assigned to the Oligodon cyclurus species group. A comparison table for all Indochinese Oligodon is provided.

The yellow-cheeked crested gibbon (Nomascus gabriellae) occurs east of the Mekong River in southern Vietnam, northeastern Cambodia, and possibly southernmost Lao PDR (2000, Nomad RSI unpubl. data). The northern distributional limit is unclear as it either borders or intergrades with the southern white-cheeked crested gibbon,N. siki (Duckworth et al. 1995, 1999; Geissmann et al. 2000; Konrad 2004). N. gabriellae is currently listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN 2008). Little behavioral or ecological work was conducted on the species until recent years; however, a picture of the species is beginning to emerge with current studies, particularly in the SBCA (Rawson 2004) and Ratanakiri province, Cambodia (Traeholt et al. 2006), and Cat Tien National Park (NP) in Vietnam (M. Kenyon pers. comm.). It appears that N. gabriellae generally prefers undisturbed evergreen forest with a reasonably high canopy (Nguyen Xuan Dang and Osborn 2004; Traeholt et al. 2006) although the species inhabits other habitat types such as semi-evergreen, mixed deciduous, and even bamboo forest (M. Kenyon pers. comm., this paper). The species can apparently survive a reasonably high degree of habitat and incidental disturbance, persisting in selectively logged habitats and close to human habitation when not hunted to extirpation (Duckworth et al. 1999; Polet et al. 2004, BMR and TC pers. obs.). It has wide altitudinal limits, occurring from 100 m above sea level (m asl) in Cat Tien NP (Eames and Robson 1993) to above 2000 m asl on the Da Lat plateau, Vietnam (Eames and Nguyen Cu 1994). N. gabriellae, like other gibbon species, is territorial and monogamous (Traeholt et al. 2006), with mated individuals producing loud vocal duets

A new oribatid mite species, Oribatella umaetluisorum sp. nov. (Oribatellidae), is described from Cat Tien National Park (southern Vietnam). It was collected in the dark loamy soil of Lagerstroemia forest. Oribatella umaetluisorum sp. nov. has bidentate rostrum, clavate sensilli, microfoveolate body surface, striate epimeral region, serrate anterior margins of pteromorphs and length of notogastral setae, similar only to Oribatella sculpturata from Vietnam, but these species clearly differ by the body size, integumental ornament, shape of basal part of lamellae and distal part of tutoria and the number of leg claws. An identification key to species of Oribatella of the Oriental region is presented.

Coniolepiota, a genus within the family Agaricaceae, described in 2011, has been considered monotypic, embracing one species, C. spongodes, distributed in tropical Asia. Based on the morphological study and molecular analysis, two species of Coniolepiota viz. C. spongodes and C. alexandri are recognized from Southern Vietnam. Coniolepiota spongodes, a new record to Bu Gia Map National Park (Binh Phuoc), possesses attractive lilac basidiomata of medium size with flocculose squamules, white spores, and T-shaped pileal elements. Coniolepiota alexandri, proposed as a new species from Cat Tien National Park (Dong Nai), shares all the features listed above but has a different colour (white) of basidiomata. Detailed descriptions of the new species and the new record are presented herein. Field photographs of the collected basidiomata, illustrations of the microscopic structures, and phylogenetic trees generated from datasets of nrITS and LSU sequences, are provided.

Griffin's Leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros griffini) is one of the largest species of the family Hipposiderodae. In the field, it is recognisable from other hipposiderid species of Vietnam by body size, noseleaf structure, and echolocation frequency. Prior to this study, Hipposideros griffini was only known from two national parks (Cat Ba and Chu Mom Ray) in Vietnam. This paper provides new data recorded from Cat Tien national park, Southern Vietnam, indicating a more extensive distribution of Hipposideros griffini. Results from previous and current studies indicate that Griffin's Leaf-nosed bat inhabits in various habitats ranging from flat/lowlands to offshore islands, mountainous and karst areas.

Two new species of oribatid mites of the family Oppiidae, Pulchroppia roynortoni n. sp. and Lineoppia microseta n. sp., are proposed and described. Both are from dark loamy soil of Lagerstroemia forest from the Cat Tien National Park (Southern Vietnam). Pulchroppia roynortoni n. sp. differs from all the known species of the genus by the specific structure of rostrum and morphology of sensillus. Lineoppia microseta n. sp. is similar in its lineate anogenital region only to Lineoppia frouini Balogh and Balogh, 1983, but differs from this species in body length, notogaster integument, length of costular lines, interlamellar setae morphology, as well as in the position of some notogastral setae, of lyrifissures iad, and of apodemes 4. We present the first detailed descriptions of the ovipositor, gnathosoma and leg setation and solenidia of Pulchroppia and Lineoppia species. Diagnostic keys to the Vietnamese species of Pulchroppia and to known species of Lineoppia are presented. The genus Lineoppia is recorded for the first time in the Oriental region. Pulchroppia elegans is recorded for the first time in Vietnam.

The polypore genus Tomophagus was created to segregate one peculiar species, Ganoderma colossum, from the genus Ganoderma. Recent molecular studies have established the validity of this monotypic genus. Here we report the discovery of a second species of Tomophagus, T. cattienensis sp. nov., from Cat Tien National Park in southern Vietnam, a lowland forest that has been designated as a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Recognition of this new species is based on combined evidence from morphology, cultural characteristics, and ITS rDNA barcodes. The discovery of this new species may have implications for the discovery of novel bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical use and/or for the pulp industry.