Kaeng Krachan National Park Research Articles

Impacts of land use changes on soil erosion in Pa Deng sub-district, adjacent area of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

Soil erosion has been considered as the primary cause of soil degradation since soil erosion leads to the loss of topsoil and soil organic matters which are essential for the growing of plants. Land use, which relates to land cover, is one of the influential factors that affect soil erosion. In this study, impacts of land use changes on soil erosion in Pa Deng sub-district, adjacent area of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand, were investigated by applying remote sensing technique, geographical information system (GIS) and the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The study results revealed that land use changes in terms of area size and pattern influenced the soil erosion risk in Pa Deng in the 1990–2010 period. The area with smaller land cover obviously showed the high risk of soil erosion than the larger land cover did.

Ophiocordyceps barnesii and its relationship to other melolonthid pathogens with dark stromata

A hypocrealean Coleoptera pathogen with characteristic part-spores, collected from Khao Yai National Park and Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand, is reported. The overall morphology was similar to Cordyceps barnesii, which is known from Sri Lanka, with ascospores disarticulating into four unusually long part-spores that were 30–40 μm long. This disarticulation and part-spore size is, so far, unique within Cordyceps sensu lato. The Thai material was identified with C. barnesii and its placement in the genus Ophiocordyceps was confirmed. Multigene analyses based on the ribosomal small subunit, RPB1 and RPB2 genes revealed the close relationship of the Thai material to Ophiocordyceps konnoana as well as O. ravenelii, O. superficialis, and O. nigrella (all of which have significantly smaller part-spores). However, Ophiocordyceps barnesii and these related species were all characterised by dark-brown to purplish stromata and an affinity for melolonthid larval hosts. No anamorph was seen in the field and was not produced in the slow-growing cultures.

Human disturbance affects habitat use and behaviour of Asiatic leopard Panthera pardus in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

AbstractEdge effects arising from road construction and other development in protected areas can negatively affect the behaviour of wildlife, particularly large carnivores. The Asiatic leopard Panthera pardus is a large carnivore that may be sensitive to edge effects. Camera trapping was used to assess the influence of human disturbance along forest edges on leopard behaviour and habitat use in a 104 km2 area of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand. A minimum of four male and two female leopards was recorded in the study area. A Park access road bisecting the study area was not a barrier to leopard movement but movements and activity were affected by human traffic inside the Park. A regression model showed that leopard habitat use increased with distance from human settlements at the forest edge. As in other parts of its range, leopards at Kaeng Krachan National Park tended to show less diurnal activity in areas more heavily used by people compared to areas less used. As is the case with tigers, such responses may pose a threat to leopard population persistence but more research is needed to determine the demographic implications of edge effects for Asiatic leopards and other large tropical carnivores, and the appropriate mitigation strategies required.

Two new Huia (Amphibia: Ranidae) from Laos and Thailand

Huia absita, new species, is described from Xe Sap National Biodiversity Conservation Area, southern Laos. Huia absita very closely resembles H. masonii, a species endemic to the Indonesian island of Java about 2,500 km away. The description of the holotype of H. masonii is expanded. Huia absita differs from H. masonii by having an outer metatarsal tubercle, having the third and fifth toes equal in length, and having supernumerary tubercles on the fingers. Huia melasma, new species, is described from Tham Tarn Lot (= Chalerm Rattanakosin) National Park and Kaeng Krachan National Park, western Thailand, and is distinguished by having males with SVL 53.5–55.1, no visible pineal body, a black spot on the side of the snout separated from the black canthal streak extending from nostril to eye, the first and second fingers equal in length, and all toes webbed to base of discs. The description of H. absita and H. melasma brings the number of species of Huia from five to seven.