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1 Tropical small-holder farmers rely on sustainable food production. Crop seedpredation by ants can cause substantial yield loss and result in high pesticide use.2 We conducted field experiments and questionnaire-based surveys aiming to assess the effect of sown-seed predation on four crop species (Cucumis sativus, Daucus carota, Capsicum frutescens and Solanum melongena) in 15 vegetable gardens and the resulting impact on the net income of Indonesian farmers. Furthermore, we tested a commonly applied insecticide and herbicide for seed, seedling and plant protection aiming to understand their effect on ant seed predation.3 We found that the mean percentage of seeds removed per garden was 42.0%,49.4%, 48.0% and 50.6% for C. sativus, D. carota, C. frutescens and S. melongena, respectively, halving the farmers’ income after considering initial and operational costs. Insecticide and herbicide treatments did not affect seed predation success or overall ant abundance, although they had positive and negative effects on ant species-specific abundance.4 High overall ant abundance caused high seed predation rate in all gardens as a result of a functional redundancy of ant species, which compensated for pesticide-related species loss.5 Environmentally-friendly and more sustainable practices such as overseeding or seedling production in nurseries could substitute for these inefficient approaches of chemical pest control, although this requires further research.

Little is known about the impact of socio-economic conditions for biodiversity conservation in Cambodia. High deforestation rates and a politically unstable recent past indicate a problematic setting for conservation efforts. Here, we studied a forest–town gradient along four villages between a populationcentre (i.e., Siem Reap) and the forest of the Phnom Kulen National Park in rural north-western Cambodia.We analysed whether rural communities’ dependence on forest resource extraction precludes strict forest and national park protection. A total of 149 structured interviews in four local communities revealed a rapid advance of a typical forest frontier. With increasing distance to town, small businesses as income sources decreased, whereas forest-related activities and slash-and-burn agriculture increased. Local residents were strongly dependent on forest resource extraction, especially on fuel wood, and land use for slash-and-burn agriculture as cash and subsidence income sources. Most forest resources—especially large-bodied wildlife species and timber, both used predominantly by households with a better asset-based index of wealth—wererated as diffi cult to fi nd. No signifi cant relationship between the use of non-timber forest products and wealth could be identifi ed. We conclude that the importance of forest resources increases with proximity to the forest,however, households rely on forest resources for income supplementation rather than for primary income.To prevent the continued degradation of forests, their resources and related biodiversity, greater community engagement and capacity building in sustainable forest management practices combined with stricter lawenforcement, and protection from harvesters from outside of the local communities are required. Little is known about the impact of socio-economic conditions for biodiversity conservation in Cambodia. High deforestation rates and a politically unstable recent past indicate a problematic setting for conservation efforts. Here, we studied a forest–town gradient along four villages between a populationcentre (i.e., Siem Reap) and the forest of the Phnom Kulen National Park in rural north-western Cambodia.We analysed whether rural communities’ dependence on forest resource extraction precludes strict forest and national park protection. A total of 149 structured interviews in four local communities revealed a rapid advance of a typical forest frontier. With increasing distance to town, small businesses as income sources decreased, whereas forest-related activities and slash-and-burn agriculture increased. Local residents were strongly dependent on forest resource extraction, especially on fuel wood, and land use for slash-and-burn agriculture as cash and subsidence income sources. Most forest resources—especially large-bodied wildlife species and timber, both used predominantly by households with a better asset-based index of wealth—wererated as diffi cult to fi nd. No signifi cant relationship between the use of non-timber forest products and wealth could be identifi ed. We conclude that the importance of forest resources increases with proximity to the forest,however, households rely on forest resources for income supplementation rather than for primary income.To prevent the continued degradation of forests, their resources and related biodiversity, greater community engagement and capacity building in sustainable forest management practices combined with stricter lawenforcement, and protection from harvesters from outside of the local communities are required.

While land-use change is rapid throughout Southeast Asia, the island of Sulawesi (Indonesia) is of pressing conservation concern because of its exceptional number of endemic species. However, a lack of good identification literature for certain taxa such as amphibians and reptiles (apart from snakes) substantially delays ecological research in this region. Here, we compile an illustrated species list based on three years of research in and around the Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP) area and supplement it with data from the literature. In total, our survey and the literature review revealed 25 amphibian and 54 reptile species in five and 13 families, respectively. Our results highlight the LLNP area as an important herpetological endemism hotspot in the region. Appropriate utilization of species lists like this may facilitate capacity-building of local scientists and knowledgable local guides working in ecotourism. While land-use change is rapid throughout Southeast Asia, the island of Sulawesi (Indonesia) is of pressing conservation concern because of its exceptional number of endemic species. However, a lack of good identification literature for certain taxa such as amphibians and reptiles (apart from snakes) substantially delays ecological research in this region. Here, we compile an illustrated species list based on three years of research in and around the Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP) area and supplement it with data from the literature. In total, our survey and the literature review revealed 25 amphibian and 54 reptile species in five and 13 families, respectively. Our results highlight the LLNP area as an important herpetological endemism hotspot in the region. Appropriate utilization of species lists like this may facilitate capacity-building of local scientists and knowledgable local guides working in ecotourism.

The need to capture primary production in order to sustain and improve economic livelihoods has lead to increasing conversion of natural habitat and intensification of agricultural practices in many parts of the world including most tropical regions. Understanding how these processes affect ecosystems and their functioning, in particular in the high-diversity ecosystems of the tropics, has become a key issue in ecological research. In this chapter, our focus is on the agriculture-forest landscapes of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, an island widely known for its endemic yet still poorly known flora and fauna. The rise of the region to one of the largest cacao producing areas in the world is at the core of recent land-use change and intensification processes. Covering plants (trees, rattan palms, herbs, bryophytes) and several invertebrate (ants, dung beetles, cacao insect herbivores, fruit-feeding butterflies, parasitic Hymenoptera, spiders) and vertebrate groups (amphibians, birds, murids, reptiles), we give an in-depth overview of the determinants of biodiversity in cacao landscapes, including both management and landscape-scale variables into our analyses. Results show that shaded agroforests host a rich community of species. By adopting a large-scale study design we showed that proximity of natural forest is a key predictor for species richness of plants, invertebrates and vertebrates alike. Endemics and forest specialists benefit most from indigenous shade tree cover and proximity to natural forest. Importantly, several functionally important groups such as insectivorous and seed-dispersing birds benefit from tall shade trees, shade tree diversity and proximity to forest edge, while parasitoid diversity is greatest close to natural forests. Available data on the effects of landuse change in cacao landscape of Central Sulawesi is increasing. Change in landscape configuration and management practices are being clearly reflected in the composition of species communities, with likely impacts on ecosystem services such as pest control and pollination. More knowledge is needed especially in terms of species interactions and ecosystem functioning, but also on how existing knowledge can contribute to effective conservation in human-dominated landscapes outside protected areas.

Mit dieser Arbeit legen wir die erste quantitative herpetofaunistische Bestandsaufnahme des östlichen Landschaftsschutzgebietes Spitzberg bei Tübingen am Neckar vor. Wir vergleichen unsere Daten mit früheren, beschreibenden Arbeiten aus den 60er und 80er Jahren und interpretieren die seitdem festzustellende Entwicklung für die 11 von uns nachgewiesenen Arten. In unseren sechs Untersuchungsgebieten, die aufgrund ihrer unterschiedlichen Lebensräume und den damit verbundenen unterschiedlichen Mikroklimaten ausgewählt wurden, fanden wir verschieden hohe Artenzahlen. Das Naturschutzgebiet Spitzberg wies trotz der sonnenintensiven Südexposition die niedrigste Amphibien- und Reptiliendiversität auf., Jahreshefte der Gesellschaft für Naturkunde in Württemberg, Bd. 162 (2006): Jahreshefte der Gesellschaft für Naturkunde in Württemberg, 162. Jahrgang