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The nightjars of the Caprimulgus macrurus complex are distributed from Pakistan to Australia and comprise six morphologically similar but vocally distinct species. Fieldwork on Timor and Wetar, Lesser Sunda Islands, has resulted in the discovery of a seventh species in the complex, which we describe as a new species. This species has previously been confused with Caprimulgus macrurus, Caprimulgus celebensis and Caprimulgus manillensis but it differs from these and all other species in the complex by at least 13 vocal characters. Discriminant function analysis correctly classified all recordings in the complex to species. Caprimulgus ritae is known from five adult museum specimens, which are the smallest in the complex and which differ from other species in the complex in several morphological characters. A molecular phylogenetic analysis indicated that C. ritae is sister to C. meesi from Flores and Sumba, and that these species together are sister to C. macrurus. C. ritae is a tropical forest specialist occurring from sea level to at least 1500 m (probably mostly below 1000 m). Lowland and montane forests on Timor are threatened. Wetar is one of the least developed islands in Indonesia, and retains >95% natural vegetation, dominated by Eucalyptus woodlands, with tropical forests in river gorges and slopes in upland areas. Pressure for development is accelerating throughout the range of C. ritae, and a detailed assessment of its conservation status is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wallacea attracts much attention from researchers because it is a meeting point between Asia and Australia with rich biodiversity. Therefore, bioenergy source identification in this region is crucial to better understanding biomass potential and utilization. On the other hand, national bioenergy development usually refers to government policies, including granting permits to use forest land, especially on unproductive land. Thus, balanced utilization of tropical forests as an energy source is required. It must consider several aspects comprehensively, including its function in protecting the surrounding landscape, contributing to food security, and creating economic opportunities for communities around forest areas. This paper addresses biomass utilization in the Wallacea region aligned with Indonesian policy targets for bioenergy generation to achieve the net zero emission target by 2060. The study is carried out by limiting the scope of the area and relying on international databases and the nation's potential targeting biomass research. In addition, the recent development of conversion technologies is adjusted based on available biomass types, including geographic information systems for potential biomass analysis. The analysis and data synchronization are presented in charts, graphs, and tables. In the early section, the potential of biomass in the Wallacea is explained. The following section discusses several scenarios, routes, and utilization technology options for biomass utilization. Various studies that have been conducted are presented in this section, including machine learning adoptions to model and optimize biomass conversion processes. Furthermore, challenges and opportunities are discussed by looking at various factors, such as accessibility, socio-economics, life cycle assessment, and environmental issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coconut farming contributes to the livelihoods of millions of people in tropical countries but is less frequently considered as a threat to biodiversity compared to other palm commodities such as oil palm. The expansion of coconut farming alongside other smallholder agriculture in Sulawesi, Indonesia, is of potential concern as the region is a centre of species endemism. We studied bird diversity and community structure in forests, coconut palm plantations and mixed farmland in Gorontalo Province, northern Sulawesi. Forest and non-forest sites supported similar numbers of species overall, but compared to agricultural areas, forest sites had communities that were more diverse and more even (i.e. different species were present at similar abundances). We found far fewer endemic species in agricultural areas compared to forests, and the communities in palm plantations and mixed farmland sites were dominated by generalist birds, with few indicator taxa. Nevertheless, there was a higher number of endemic species in coconut palm plantations than in mixed farmland sites. These findings mirror patterns of biotic homogenization documented elsewhere in the Wallacea centre of endemism, and imply that coconut palm plantations have comparable biodiversity value to other farmland systems. Increased protection of lowland forests and improved management of coconut farms could be important for supporting the conservation of the endemic birds of Sulawesi in the long term, but this warrants further study.

Sulawesi est la plus grande île du hotspot de biodiversité de Wallacea. Cependant, les données sur l'ichtyofaune de cette île sont incomplètes, et plusieurs espèces connues n'ont pas de barcode ADN de référence dans les bases de données publiques; ceux-ci sont nécessaires, entre autres, pour permettre la détection non-invasive utilisant l'ADN environnemental. Pour contribuer à remédier à ce manque, des spécimens de deux espèces endémiques dans le Sulawesi du sud ont été collectés dans la région karstique de Maros en mars 2023: Dermogenys orientalis et Lagusia micracanthus. Les nageoires pectorales droites ont été conservées dans de l'éthanol à 96% pour le Barcoding de l'ADN avant la conservation de trois spécimens de référence de chaque espèce à l'Université Hasanuddin. L'extraction d'ADN et la PCR (marqueur génétique mitochondrial COI) ont été suivies du séquençage Sanger. L'analyse des données a été réalisée dans MEGA 11. Ces premiers codesbarres ont été déposés dans le GenBank:accessions Dermogenys orientalis OR829330-OR829332 et accessions Lagusia micracanthus OR829336-OR829336. Des arbres phylogénétiques ont été construits avec des séquences homologues obtenues via la routine BLASTn du NCBI GenBank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coconut farming contributes to the livelihoods of millions of people in tropical countries but is less frequently considered as a threat to biodiversity compared to other palm commodities such as oil palm. The expansion of coconut farming alongside other smallholder agriculture in Sulawesi, Indonesia, is of potential concern as the region is a centre of species endemism. We studied bird diversity and community structure in forests, coconut palm plantations and mixed farmland in Gorontalo Province, northern Sulawesi. Forest and non-forest sites supported similar numbers of species overall, but compared to agricultural areas, forest sites had communities that were more diverse and more even (i.e. different species were present at similar abundances). We found far fewer endemic species in agricultural areas compared to forests, and the communities in palm plantations and mixed farmland sites were dominated by generalist birds, with few indicator taxa. Nevertheless, there was a higher number of endemic species in coconut palm plantations than in mixed farmland sites. These findings mirror patterns of biotic homogenization documented elsewhere in the Wallacea centre of endemism, and imply that coconut palm plantations have comparable biodiversity value to other farmland systems. Increased protection of lowland forests and improved management of coconut farms could be important for supporting the conservation of the endemic birds of Sulawesi in the long term, but this warrants further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Indonesia, the sand crab Albunea symmysta distribution includes Java, Sumatra, and Moluccas. Populations are assumed to be differentiated between western and eastern Indonesia due to the Wallace line; however, no information on the genetic diversity and differentiation of A symmysta in Indonesia is available. This study was conducted to clarify the genetic diversity and differentiation of A. symmysta in Indonesia. During the sampling campaign, A. symmysta specimens were found only in Java and Papua. Genetic analysis based on the 643-bp fragment of the partial COI gene from 32 individuals revealed significant genetic differentiation between the Java and Papua populations (FST = 0.94, p < 0.005). The haplotype connectivity of the five A. symmysta sampling sites revealed a two-clade network. Based on analysis of molecular variance, most of the variation was found among populations (94.21%) rather than within populations (5.79%). Tajima's D and Fu's FS values indicated a population expansion. Overall, the findings support a high level of differentiation between the Java and Papua A. symmysta populations, suggesting the separation of population stocks due to low connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has the potential to revolutionize conservation planning by providing spatially and taxonomically comprehensive data on biodiversity and ecosystem conditions, but its utility to inform the design of protected areas remains untested. Here, we quantify whether and how identifying conservation priority areas within coral reef ecosystems differs when biodiversity information is collected via eDNA analyses or traditional visual census records. We focus on 147 coral reefs in Indonesia's hyper-diverse Wallacea region and show large discrepancies in the allocation and spatial design of conservation priority areas when coral reef species were surveyed with underwater visual techniques (fishes, corals, and algae) or eDNA metabarcoding (eukaryotes and metazoans). Specifically, incidental protection occurred for 55% of eDNA species when targets were set for species detected by visual surveys and 71% vice versa. This finding is supported by generally low overlap in detection between visual census and eDNA methods at species level, with more overlap at higher taxonomic ranks. Incomplete taxonomic reference databases for the highly diverse Wallacea reefs, and the complementary detection of species by the two methods, underscore the current need to combine different biodiversity data sources to maximize species representation in conservation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractSea urchins are consumed in many parts of the world today. Human consumption of these marine invertebrates can be traced back to at least the Late Pleistocene in various archaeological sites from Island Southeast Asia. Makpan Cave, on Alor Island in Indonesia, is one of the earliest Wallacean prehistoric sites with an occupation record beginning ∼43,000 years ago. Coastal resources (i.e., shellfish, barnacle, crab, and sea urchin) play a dominant role in the subsistence strategy at this site, with urchins important throughout all occupation phases. In this study, we used three different quantification methods (weight, NISP, and MNI) to analyze the over 13 kg of sea urchin remains recovered from Makpan. Our analysis showed that sea urchins were collected during the initial occupation period, when other coastal resources were sparsely utilized. This indicates that sea urchins were intentionally targeted rather than being the result of subsidiary foraging during shellfish collection. The quantity and consistency of sea urchin exploitation at Makpan indicates that urchin was considered a staple food, especially during the initial phase of occupation. We hypothesize that a focus on sea urchins may have been a key strategy for the colonization of novel environments by the earliest human settlers in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general dynamic model (GDM) of oceanic island biogeography views oceanic islands predominantly as sinks rather than sources of dispersing lineages. To test this, we conducted a biogeographic analysis of a highly successful insular plant taxon, Cyrtandra, and inferred the directionality of dispersal and founder events throughout the four biogeographical units of the Indo‐Australian Archipelago (IAA), namely Sunda, Wallacea, Philippines, and Sahul. Sunda was recovered as the major source area, followed by Wallacea, a system of oceanic islands. The relatively high number of events originating from Wallacea is attributed to its central location in the IAA and its complex geological history selecting for increased dispersibility. We also tested if diversification dynamics in Cyrtandra follow predictions of adaptive radiation, which is the dominant process as per the GDM. Diversification dynamics of dispersing lineages of Cyrtandra in the Southeast Asian grade showed early bursts followed by a plateau, which is consistent with adaptive radiation. We did not detect signals of diversity‐dependent diversification, and this is attributed to Southeast Asian cyrtandras occupying various niche spaces, evident by their wide morphological range in habit and floral characters. The Pacific clade, which arrived at the immaturity phase of the Pacific Islands, showed diversification dynamics predicted by the island immaturity speciation pulse model (IISP), wherein rates increase exponentially, and their morphological range is controlled by the least action effect favoring woodiness and fleshy fruits. Our study provides a first step toward a framework for investigating diversification dynamics as predicted by the GDM in highly successful insular taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The name Rattus obiensis Fabre, Portela Miguez, Holden, Fitriana, Semiadi, Musser, & Helgen, was recently applied to a newly discovered species of Rattus known to date only from the Moluccan island of Obi in Indonesia. However, this name is preoccupied by Rattus rattus obiensis Sody, 1941, a name applied to a commensal rat and currently recognized as a synonym of Rattus tanezumi Temminck, 1844. A replacement name, Rattus ombirah Fabre et al., 2024. nom. nov., is here proposed for the endemic Rattus of Obi.

The cave site known as Matja Kuru 2 (MK2) in Timor-Leste was first occupied ∼40 kya. Of the caves investigated thus far in Timor-Leste MK2 is unique in being located proximal to a large freshwater lake, Ira Lalaro, providing the opportunity to examine changing occupation dynamics in a lakeside environment from the Late Pleistocene through to the late Holocene. We present the analysis of the Matja Kuru 2 assemblage including the stone, ochre, shell and bone artefacts, and the vertebrate and invertebrate remains. We discuss the challenges posed by cave deposits in tropical Island South East Asia which often preserve little in the way of identifiable stratigraphy. Such caves also present challenges in terms of disentangling what components of the faunal assemblage were deposited as meal refuse by humans, as opposed to by other predators or as a result of natural deaths. We suggest a method for assisting with this taphonomic conundrum.

The name Rattus obiensis Fabre, Portela Miguez, Holden, Fitriana, Semiadi, Musser, & Helgen, was recently applied to a newly discovered species of Rattus known to date only from the Moluccan island of Obi in Indonesia. However, this name is preoccupied by Rattus rattus obiensis Sody, 1941, a name applied to a commensal rat and currently recognized as a synonym of Rattus tanezumi Temminck, 1844. A replacement name, Rattus ombirah Fabre et al., 2024. nom. nov., is here proposed for the endemic Rattus of Obi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tanimbar is one of the main island groups in Wallacea included in Birdsell's early human migration routes from Sunda to Sahul, situated at the easternmost end of south Wallacea on Birdsell's Route 2A. Despite its geographic significance, the island group has not undergone thorough archaeological investigation. Here, we present the first evidence of Pleistocene human occupation in the Tanimbar Islands, dating back approximately 42,000 years, representing one of the oldest ages for human occupation in Wallacea. This finding aligns with records from islands in the west of Wallacea, suggesting rapid human movement through the region. The successful colonization of Tanimbar, like other islands in southern Wallacea, required advanced maritime technology. However, unlike other islands on Route 2A, the early occupants on Tanimbar had access to medium-sized terrestrial mammals, specifically macropods, which are now locally extinct. The faunal remains from the initial colonization period suggest exploitation of both terrestrial and marine resources. This early settlement of the Tanimbar's potentially enabled exploration of surrounding islands, supported by possible evidence of the movement of lithic raw materials and potentially the introduction of macropods from Sahul. • Evidence from Tanimbar Islands shows human occupation 42,000 years ago. • Early Tanimbar colonizers used advanced maritime technology and exploited land and marine resources. • Macropods recovered in Tanimbar indicate possible back migration from Sahul to Wallacea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]