Bao Ngan Tu

Shared flowers can facilitate pathogen transmission between managed honey bees and wild bees, yet this process remains poorly understood in ecosystems undergoing rapid environmental change. Using a glacier foreland in Switzerland, we present the first study on how glacier retreat stages and bee life‐history traits influence pathogen occurrence across honey bees and wild bees. We screened the deformed wing (DWV), acute bee paralysis (ABPV), chronic bee paralysis (CBPV) viruses, the microsporidium Nosema ceranae , and the trypanosomatid Lotmaria passim . While all screened pathogens were detected in honey bees, only N. ceranae and DWV occurred in wild bees, though DWV strains differed between hosts (A in wild bees, B in honey bees). This clear segregation of pathogen communities between honey bees and wild bees is likely explained by the different floral resources used bythe two bee groups, overall forming a moderately specialised and not nested network with honey bees especially targeting few plant species rarely visited by wild bees. Sociality and nesting habits did not explain pathogen loads, whereas glacier retreat stage significantly influenced DWV abundance, with higher loads in older successional stages. This case study provides a fascinating example of how the use of floral resources by honey bees and wild bees, alongside the landscape changes induced by glacier retreat, can greatly influence pathogen transmission dynamics.

As glaciers retreat worldwide, newly exposed terrains are rapidly colonized by plants and their associated animal communities. Although plant–animal interactions are key for biodiversity maintenance and ecosystem functioning, the ecological processes underlying the assembly and development of trophic interactions over space-time remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the trophic niche structure of plant–arthropod interactions along a 140-year primary succession at Mont Miné glacier foreland (Switzerland). Using arthropod gut-content DNA metabarcoding, we reconstructed trophic interactions at the food web level, revealing numerous previously undetected links among 284 arthropod taxa feeding on 263 plant taxa. Trophic niche overlap among arthropods increased following glacier retreat, indicating decreasing resource partitioning and suggesting increased resource competition. Trophic niche breadth became narrower and diet species richness declined, indicating increased trophic specialization. Notably, changes in trophic interactions occurred more rapidly than shifts in species diversity or community composition of plants and arthropods. These results demonstrate that glacier retreat reorganizes trophic networks beyond simple species turnover, reshaping biotic interactions during ecosystem development. Our findings highlight trophic interactions as sensitive indicators of biodiversity change and suggest that the stability of emerging food webs may be strongly affected as glaciers vanish worldwide.

The retreat of glaciers due to climate change is reshaping mountain landscapes and biodiversity. While previous research has documented vegetation succession after glacier retreat, our understanding of functional diversity dynamics is still limited. In this case study, we address the effects of glacier retreat on plant functional diversity by integrating plant traits with ecological indicator values across a 140-year chronosequence in a subalpine glacier landscape. We reveal that functional richness and functional dispersion decrease with glacier retreat, while functional evenness and functional divergence increase, suggesting a shift towards more specialized and competitive communities. Our findings highlight the critical role of ecological factors related to soil moisture, soil nutrients, and light availability in shaping plant community dynamics. The integrative approach of this case study provides novel insights into the potential response of alpine plant communities to climate change, offering a deeper understanding of how to predict and anticipate the effects of glacier extinction on biodiversity in rapidly changing environments.

A new species of Bulbophyllum (Orchidaceae), named as B. sondangii discovered in Da Lat Plateau (Da Lat Town area, Lam Dong Province of southern Vietnam) is described and illustrated. The new species is similar to B. andersonii and B. trongsaense, but can be distinguished by a short seta at the apex of median sepal and petals; almost entire margin of petals except the fimbriate apex; lip with auricles at base; and stelidia apiculate at apex. The paper presents the taxonomical description, data on distribution, ecology, phenology and conservation status, as well as notes and the comparison of the newly described plant with morphologically similar species.

Bulbophyllum phanquyetii, from Lai Chau Province was found and described as a new species for science. The new species looks similar to B. guttulatum and B. umbellatum but differs in the connate upper margin of lateral sepals, verruculose sepals and petals, and triangular stelidia. In addition, B. tianguii found in Ha Giang Province is firstly recorded for the orchid flora of Vietnam.

The Sino-Vietnamese border region is known for having unique and high levels of biodiversity. Global climate change is expected to alter the region’s climate and related changes in habitats and ecosystems will result in shifts in species’ distributions and increase the likelihood of local and global extinctions. Ecological Niche Models (ENMs) are widely used to predict the magnitude of potential species distribution shifts in response to climate change and inform conservation planning. Here, we present climate-based ENM projections of future climatically suitable habitat for the Daguo Mulian tree (Magnolia grandis), a critically endangered species of high ecological and cultural value in the Sino-Vietnamese border region. Projections of modeled climatically suitable habitat for M. grandis, both for the 2050s and 2070s, suggest significant habitat loss within conservation areas, and a defining shift in the location of suitable habitat. Future projections are conservative and do not account for dispersal limitations or species interactions or other factors, and thus may overestimate potential shifts and underestimate losses. Our results suggest that current conservation management efforts for M. grandis, which include community forest conservation monitoring combined with nursery cultivation efforts, can continue to have success if implemented in an adaptive management framework with long-term research and monitoring to inform forward-thinking decisions with future climatic suitability in mind. The results also underline how endangered species’ distributions may shift across borders as they track suitable climates, emphasizing that nations will need to cooperate to effectively manage threatened species and habitats and prevent extinctions.

The paper presents a taxonomic review of Bulbophyllum section Rhytionanthos for the flora of Vietnam and provides the key for its species’ identification. A new species, B. truongtamii and a new variety, B. taeniophyllum var. denticulatoalatum are described for science. Bulbophyllum nodosum is reported for the first time from the country. Bulbophyllum strigosum, described 20 years ago based on cultivated plant of uncertain origin was rediscovered in NE Vietnam. For this species, location and detailed description are reported. Analytical photos, data on phenology, ecology, and distribution are presented for all studied species. The morphological comparison table of the new species, new variety and newly recorded species segregating them from similar species are presented.