Four new Amynthas and Metaphire earthworm species from nine provinces in southern China.

Four new species belonging to genera Amyntha and Metaphire were discovered from an extensive area in southern China, covering the provinces Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui. The species are named Amynthas dispersus Sun Qiu, sp. nov., Amynthas shanghangensis Sun Qiu, sp. nov., Amynthas dentiformis Sun Jiang, sp. nov. and Metaphire sanmingensis Sun Jiang, sp. nov. The first two new species have four pairs of intersegmental spermathecal pores in 5/6-8/9. A. dispersus has elliptical and glandular male pore porophores raised on a low pad-like area surrounded by two to three shallow skin folds, the genital papillae are variable in the spermathecal pore and male pore regions, and prostate glands are vestigial or rudimentary. Amynthas shanghangensis has male porophores surrounded by three papillae, each prostate gland accompanied by an accessory gland, and the distal ½-⅓ of the spermathecal diverticulum dilated into a rod-shaped seminal chamber. Amynthas dentiformis has two pairs of spermathecal pores in 7/8-8/9, male pores always surrounded by two papillae, and small sacs on the dorsal and ventral margins of the intestinal caecae; the prostate gland occasionally has stalked accessory glands. M. sanmingensis is in the Metaphire houlleti-group, and has secondary male pores opening to copulatory pouches, rod-shaped spermathecal seminal chamber, as well as variable genital papillae in spermathecal and male pores regions. The GenBank accession numbers of DNA barcode data are attached under the description of each species.

Agricultural intensification exacerbates spillover effects on soil biogeochemistry in adjacent forest remnants.

Land-use intensification is a central element in proposed strategies to address global food security. One rationale for accepting the negative consequences of land-use intensification for farmland biodiversity is that it could 'spare' further expansion of agriculture into remaining natural habitats. However, in many regions of the world the only natural habitats that can be spared are fragments within landscapes dominated by agriculture. Therefore, land-sparing arguments hinge on land-use intensification having low spillover effects into adjacent protected areas, otherwise net conservation gains will diminish with increasing intensification. We test, for the first time, whether the degree of spillover from farmland into adjacent natural habitats scales in magnitude with increasing land-use intensity. We identified a continuous land-use intensity gradient across pastoral farming systems in New Zealand (based on 13 components of farmer input and soil biogeochemistry variables), and measured cumulative off-site spillover effects of fertilisers and livestock on soil biogeochemistry in 21 adjacent forest remnants. Ten of 11 measured soil properties differed significantly between remnants and intact-forest reference sites, for both fenced and unfenced remnants, at both edge and interior. For seven variables, the magnitude of effects scaled significantly with magnitude of surrounding land-use intensity, through complex interactions with fencing and edge effects. In particular, total C, total N, δ15N, total P and heavy-metal contaminants of phosphate fertilizers (Cd and U) increased significantly within remnants in response to increasing land-use intensity, and these effects were exacerbated in unfenced relative to fenced remnants. This suggests movement of livestock into surrounding natural habitats is a significant component of agricultural spillover, but pervasive changes in soil biogeochemistry still occur through nutrient spillover channels alone, even in fenced remnants set aside for conservation. These results have important implications for the viability of land-sparing as a strategy for balancing landscape-level conservation and production goals in agricultural landscapes.

Phylogenetic analysis of New Zealand earthworms (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) reveals ancient clades and cryptic taxonomic diversity.

We have constructed the first ever phylogeny for the New Zealand earthworm fauna (Megascolecinae and Acanthodrilinae) including representatives from other major continental regions. Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees were constructed from 427 base pairs from the mitochondrial large subunit (16S) rRNA gene and 661 base pairs from the nuclear large subunit (28S) rRNA gene. Within the Acanthodrilinae we were able to identify a number of well-supported clades that were restricted to continental landmasses. Estimates of nodal support for these major clades were generally high, but relationships among clades were poorly resolved. The phylogenetic analyses revealed several independent lineages in New Zealand, some of which had a comparable phylogenetic depth to monophyletic groups sampled from Madagascar, Africa, North America and Australia. These results are consistent with at least some of these clades having inhabited New Zealand since rifting from Gondwana in the Late Cretaceous. Within the New Zealand Acanthodrilinae, major clades tended to be restricted to specific regions of New Zealand, with the central North Island and Cook Strait representing major biogeographic boundaries. Our field surveys of New Zealand and subsequent identification has also revealed extensive cryptic taxonomic diversity with approximately 48 new species sampled in addition to the 199 species recognized by previous authors. Our results indicate that further survey and taxonomic work is required to establish a foundation for future biogeographic and ecological research on this vitally important component of the New Zealand biota.