The millipedes (Diplopoda) in Yintiaoling National Natural Reserve, Southwest China.

The millipedes of Yintiaoling National Natural Reserve, Southwest China, were investigated. In total, thirteen species from five orders (Sphaerotheriida, Spirobolida, Callipodida, Chordeumatida and Polydesmida) and eight families were discovered. Among them, six species are new to science: Zephronia linkouzi sp. nov., Paracortina inflata sp. nov., Orthomorpha laminata sp. nov., Polylobosoma corollifera sp. nov., Epanerchodus wuxi sp. nov. and Riukiaria spina sp. nov. As usual, the polydesmidan family Paradoxosomatidae is the most diverse group, containing five species. All new species are described and illustrated, and photographs of the habitus and the gonopods of all species are also provided.

Description of the first stygobiotic species of the atyid shrimp genus Sinodina (Decapoda, Caridea, Atyidae) from Yunnan Province, China.

​Sinodina Liang & Cai, 1999, a genus of atyid shrimp, is endemic to China and distributed only in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. We describe here the thirteen species of Sinodina, and the first cave-dweller of the genus, Sinodinaashimasp. nov., collected from a limestone cave in Shilin County, Yunnan Province. This species can be distinguished from its congeners by the completely degraded pigment and eyes, the extremely long rostrum, the rostral formula and the absence of sexual dimorphism of the third and fourth pereiopods. A phylogenetic analysis based on four genes (COI, 16S, 18S, H3) shows that the new species strongly clustered with the type species of this genus, Sinodinagregoriana (Kemp, 1923), supporting the generic status of this new species.

Description of two new species of the genus Glyphiulus Gervais, 1847 (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida: Cambalopsidae) from southern China.

Two new species of the millipede genus Glyphiulus Gervais, 1847 are described from southern China: Glyphiulus fortis sp. nov. and Glyphiulus hainanensis sp. nov. Glyphiulus fortis sp. nov. is cavernicolous, vs. G. hainanensis sp. nov. which was collected from an epigean environment. Both of them belong to the G. javanicus-group. Additionally, DNA barcoding and phylogenetic analyses based on nucleotide sequences of COI and 16S of the two new species, as well as their allied species were conducted. The morphological characteristics, the genetic distances and the phylogenetic tree revealed that the two new species are unambiguously distinct from their congeners.

Description of Hypocambala zizhongi sp. nov. and the new combination, Glyphiulus polytrichus (Golovatch et al., 2011) comb. nov., based on morphological and molecular data (Spirostreptida: Cambalidea: Cambalopsidae).

The recent delimitation of the cambalopsid genera Hypocambala and Glyphiulus is debatable. The focus of controversy is whether the presence of crests on the trunk rings is an appropriate key character dividing these two genera. To address this issue, we conducted a molecular phylogenetic analysis including species with or without crests belonging to Hypocambala and species with crests belonging to Glyphiulus. The results of the phylogenetic analysis suggest that cambalopsids with crests are monophyletic and sister to a species without crests. Hypocambala polytricha, a cambalopsid with crests that is in a clade with crested Glyphiulus species, should be transferred to Glyphiulus. Therefore, a new combination is proposed, Glyphiulus polytrichus comb. nov. In addition, a discussion on the boundary between these two genera and a description of a new species, Hypocambala zizhongi sp. nov., are provided.

Integration of α, ß and γ components of macroinvertebrate taxonomic and functional diversity to measure of impacts of commercial sand dredging.

Effects of commercial sand mining on aquatic diversity are of increasing global concern, especially in parts of some developing countries. However, understanding of this activity on the diversity of macroinvertebrates remains focused on the α component of species diversity, rather than community functioning. Thus, there remains much uncertainty regarding how each component of taxonomic (TD) and functional (FD) diversity respond to the activity both in freshwater and marine environments. Here, we assessed the effect of sand dredging on α, ß and γ components of TD and FD during different dredging periods based on the response of macroinvertebrate communities over 4 years in the second largest freshwater lake in China. After three years of active dredging, substantial reductions in each component (α, ß and γ) of TD and FD were observed within the dredged area. Moreover, after one year of natural recovery, a distinct restoration was observed with an obvious return in multiple facets of TD and FD indices. No such changes were observed within the adjacent and reference areas. Decreases in the multiple components of TD and FD within the dredged area were most likely associated with the direct extraction of substrate and associated benthic fauna and indirect variations of the water and sediment environment (e.g., increases in water depth and decreases in %Clay). Furthermore, dispersal processes and mass effects mainly contributed to the maintenance of TD and FD during the dredged and recovery stages. In addition, the fast recovery of TD and FD was also related to the simple taxonomic structure and highly connected nature of the study area. Our results suggest that a more precise experimental design (BACI) should be pursued to avoid potentially confounding effects (e.g., natural disturbance) because the sensitivity of diversity indices depends upon different experimental designs. Moreover, measurement of the impacts of sand dredging on macroinvertebrate diversity can be undertaken within a rigorous framework for better understanding the patterns and processes of each component of TD and FD under the sand dredging disturbance.

First description of the male of Glyphiulus formosus (Pocock, 1895) (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida: Cambalopsidae) from China.

The male of Glyphiulus formosus (Pocock, 1895) is described for the first time based on specimens collected from Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. According to the male sexual characters, this species is verified to be a member of the G. javanicus group. In addition, a DNA barcode of the partial COI gene of G. formosus is provided.

Seasonal changes in metacommunity assembly mechanisms of benthic macroinvertebrates in a subtropical river basin.

Unraveling the ecological factors that control variation in local community structure in space and time is fundamental to metacommunity ecology. In this scenario, environmental filtering and spatial processes are recognized as important drivers of community assembly, yet their relative importance is anticipated to vary for biological communities in different seasons, network positions and organisms with distinct dispersal modes. In this study, we used a dataset (macroinvertebrate communities and environmental variables) collected in different seasons from the Ganjiang River in China to test the above ideas. We divided the whole metacommunity in each season into mainstream communities, tributary communities, strictly aquatic dispersers and aquatic/aerial dispersers, and subsequently used variation partitioning to examine the relative contribution of environmental and spatial factors separately for the overall and decomposed components of the metacommunity. Our results showed that both environmental filtering and spatial processes were important drivers of variation in community structure, yet their explanatory powers varied considerably among seasons. Environmental filtering was the primary driver of metacommunity organization in most scenarios, while the effects of spatial processes surpassing environmental filtering occurred only sporadically. For communities in different network positions, tributary communities were structured by both strong environmental filtering and profound effects of spatial processes via dispersal limitation. However, communities in mainstream sites were mainly determined by environmental filtering, and the effects of spatial processes were almost negligible. Moreover, environmental filtering was clearly more important for aquatic/aerial dispersers, while spatial processes were more influential for strictly aquatic dispersers. We thus concluded that environmental filtering, spatial processes, network position and dispersal mode can interact to regulate metacommunity organization of riverine macroinvertebrates. Considering that the relative contribution of these factors varied among seasons, we strongly uphold the idea that community ecology research should go beyond one-season snapshot surveys in river networks.

Degraded functional structure of macroinvertebrates caused by commercial sand dredging practices in a flood plain lake.

In parts of developing countries, the over-exploitation of sands from inland waters has led to serious environmental concerns. However, understanding of the impacts of commercial sand dredging on inland water ecosystem functions remains limited. Herein, we assess the effects of this activity on the functional structure of the macroinvertebrate community and its recovery processes based on a 4-year survey, in the South Dongting Lake in China. Our result showed a simplified macroinvertebrate functional structures within the dredged area, as evidenced by a loss of certain trait categories (e.g., oval and conical body form) and a significant reduction in trait values due to the direct removal of macroinvertebrates and indirect alternations to physical environmental conditions (e.g., water depth and %Medium sand). Moreover, clear increases were observed in certain trait categories (e.g., small body size and swimmer) resulting from the dredging-related disturbance (e.g., increased turbidity) within the adjacent area. Furthermore, one year after the cessation of dredging, a marked recovery in the taxonomic and functional structure of macroinvertebrate assemblages was observed with most lost trait categories returning and an increase in the trait values of eight categories (e.g., body size 1.00-3.00 cm and oval body form) within the dredged and adjacent area. In addition, dispersal processes and sediment composition were the main driver for the structuring of the macroinvertebrate taxonomic and functional assemblages during the dredging stages, whilst water environmental conditions dominated the taxonomic structure and dispersal processes determined the functional structure during the recovery stage. Implications of our results for monitoring and management of this activity in inland waters are discussed.

Different responses of taxonomic and functional structures of stream macroinvertebrate communities to local stressors and regional factors in a subtropical biodiversity hotspot.

Examining the relative contribution of local environmental stressors and regional factors in structuring biological communities is essential for biodiversity conservation and environmental assessment, yet their relative roles for different community characterizations remain elusive. Here, we examined the responses of taxonomic and functional structures of stream macroinvertebrate communities to local and regional factors across a human-induced environmental gradient in the Han River Basin, one subtropical biodiversity hotspot in China. Our objectives were: 1) to examine the responses of traditional taxonomic measures and functional traits to anthropogenic disturbances; 2) to compare the relative importance of environmental versus spatial variables and catchment-scale versus reach-scale variables for the two community characterizations. We found that both species and trait compositions performed well in differentiating anthropogenic disturbances, indicating that both taxonomic and functional structures of macroinvertebrate communities were strongly altered by human activities. Particularly, some traits related to life history (e.g., voltinism), resilience and resistance (e.g., adult flying ability) are well suited for predicting changes of communities towards anthropogenic disturbances owing to their mechanistic relationship with environmental gradients. We found that environmental variables played more important roles than spatial effects in structuring both taxonomic and functional facets of macroinvertebrate communities. Environmental filtering was more important in determining functional than taxonomic structure, and the opposite was true for spatial effects. In terms of environmental variables, catchment land-uses played the primary role in determining taxonomic composition, whereas reach-scale variables related to local habitat heterogeneity were more influential for functional structure. Our study highlights the importance of employing metacommunity perspectives and different community characterizations in both theoretical and applied research. For stream bioassessment and management, we argue that the combination of taxonomic and functional characterizations of community should be implemented, as different facets of biological communities responded to different types of anthropogenic disturbances.

Four new species of the Glyphiulus javanicus group from southern China (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Cambalopsidae).

Hitherto, 24 species of the Glyphiulus javanicus group have been recorded, all endemic to Southeast Asia, including 14 in China. Nevertheless, this species group needs further exploration. In this context, four new species of this group are described, all collected from limestone caves in Southern China: G. calceussp. n., G. foetidussp. n., G. guangnanensissp. n., and G. impletussp. n. They can be separated easily from each other and other congeners by their carinotaxic formulae, the structures of male legs I, and the gonopods. Due to the absence of any troglomorphic traits in our specimens, they may be troglophilic only.