Traditional woodland management created a mosaic of differently aged patches providing favorable conditions for a variety of arthropods. After abandonment of historical ownership patterns and traditional management and the deliberate transformation to high forest after World War II, large forest areas became darker and more homogeneous. This had significant negative consequences for biodiversity. An important question is whether even small-scale habitat structures maintained by different levels of canopy openness in abandoned coppiced forest may constitute conditions suitable for forest as well as open habitat specialists. We investigated the effect of canopy openness in former traditionally coppiced woodlands on the species richness, functional diversity, activity density, conservation value, and degree of rareness of epigeic spiders. In each of the eight studied locations, 60-m-long transect was established consisting of five pitfall traps placed at regular 15 m intervals along the gradient. Spiders were collected from May to July 2012. We recorded 90 spider species, including high proportions of xeric specialists (40%) and red-listed threatened species (26%). The peaks of conservation indicators, as well as spider community abundance, were shifted toward more open canopies. On the other hand, functional diversity peaked at more closed canopies followed by a rapid decrease with increasing canopy openness. Species richness was highest in the middle of the canopy openness gradient, suggesting an ecotone effect. Ordinations revealed that species of conservation concern tended to be associated with sparse and partly opened canopy. The results show that the various components of biodiversity peaked at different levels of canopy openness. Therefore, the restoration and suitable forest management of such conditions will retain important diversification of habitats in formerly coppiced oak forest stands. We indicate that permanent presence of small-scale improvements could be suitable conservation tools to prevent the general decline of woodland biodiversity in the intensified landscape of Central Europe.

A new species, Scorpiops (Euscorpiops) krachan sp. nov., belonging to the family Scorpiopidae Kraepelin, 1905 is described based on three adult males and one adult female collected in the Kaeng Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand. The new species presents most features exhibited by scorpions of the subgenus Euscorpiops and can be characterized notably by a very small size, a sexual dimorphism strongly marked with male pedipalps elongated, a distinct trichobothrial pattern and other morphological features. This new taxon may represent one endemic element for the scorpion fauna of Thailand. Aspects of the ecology and distribution of the new species are discussed and compared with that of other relative Scorpiops species.

The conversion of forests from complex natural ecosystems to simplified commercial woodlands is one of the major causes of biodiversity loss. To maintain biodiversity, we need to understand how current management practices influence forest ecosystems. We studied the effects of forest successional stage and management intensity on the abundance, species richness, and assemblage composition of small mammals. Our results show that management intensity significantly contributes to reducing the number of species after clearcutting. We revealed that intensively managed clearings can make the dispersal or foraging activity of small mammals difficult and hence negatively influence their abundance and species richness. The significantly higher species richness of small mammal species was recorded within more extensively rather than intensively managed clearings. In contrast, we did not observe significant changes in species richness and abundance after intensive management in old-growth forests. Species Clethrionomys glareolus and Apodemus flavicollis reached the greatest abundance in old-growth forest patches. On the other hand, Microtus arvalis and Microtus subterraneus were species mainly associated with the successionally youngest forest stands. Our analysis suggests that intensive management interventions (i.e., vegetation destruction by pesticides and wood debris removal by soil milling) in clearings produce unhostile environments for majority of the small mammal species.

A new species of the genus Heterometrus is described on the basis of a specimen recently collected in Thailand. Heterometrus minotaurus sp. nov. is morphologically closest to H. longimanus. The newly described species is well distinguished by its smaller overall size (83 mm) and shorter and less narrow metasoma with specific dorsolateral carinae on the fourth metasomal segment consisting of 9 or fewer granules. No females are known and so knowledge of sexual dimorphism in this species is currently lacking. In addition to the morphological characterization of H. minotaurus sp. nov., we present here also a description of the male holotype's karyotype. The diploid set of H. minotaurus sp. nov. consists of 54 chromosomes with a predominance of metacentrics, which gradually decrease in size. The presence of two types of multivalent association observed in postpachytene and metaphase I is commented on. Current knowledge of karyotypes of Heterometrus species is briefly summarized and compared with our ...