Evaluation of the conservation status and risks for some endangered plant species in Ba Be national park, Bac Kan province, Vietnam

NHÀ XUẤT BẢN NÔNG NGHIỆP

_ W I H W 5 P ^ ^ i p w » ✓ '. V Ị

1.1

Evaluation of the conservation

status and risks for some

endangered plant species

in Ba Be national park,

Bac Kan province, Vietnam

ă F ‘_ b e

Rod B u ck n ey , D ang K im Vui, H oang V an H ung, Lou D e Filippis

ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NÔNG LÂM

ĐAI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN

TRƯỞNG ĐẠI HỌC NÔNG LÂM

ROD BUCKNEY, DANG KIM VUI,

HOANG VAN HUNG, LOU DE FILIPPIS

EVALUATION OF THE CONSERVATION STATUS

AND RISKS FOR SOME ENDANGERED PLANT

SPECIES IN BA BE NATIONAL PARK,

BAG KAN PROVINCE, VIETNAM

AGIRCULTURRE PUBLISHING HOUSE

Hanoi, 2011

PREFACE

The work described in this book was the focus of a study for the degree of Doctor

of Philosophy conducted by Hoang Van Hung in the Department of Environmental

Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia).

The study arose from a perceived threat to the existence of several plant species in

Ba Be National Park, which is located in the Northern Mountainous Region of Vietnam.

A number of the plants at risk of local extinction have been recognized both nationally

and internationally as species at risk, but those are not the only ones facing pressure

from unsustainable land use. The problem arises from the practice of swidden

agriculture by a rapidly-growing population of indigenous people in the area.

Swidden agriculture, commonly called slash-and-burn agriculture, is a form of

shifting cultivation that is practiced in many parts of the world. Today, it is most

common in the tropics. The method typically involves the harvesting o f trees and other

materials for the construction of houses, slashing the remaining vegetation and later

burning it. The ash left after the fire enriches the soil with nutrients. Crops, such as rice,

vegetables and fruit are then grown in the cleared space. Eventually, the soil becomes

depleted of nutrients and a new area is cleared for subsequent cropping; in some cases

the new area might be a considerable distance from the original one, perhaps requiring

relocation of the village.

The various forms of shifting cultivation are for subsistence; typically, very little of

the produce goes to a market, though some small-scale local trading is not uncommon.

The farm crop is supplemented by food gathered from the surrounding vegetation and

through hunting. The farmers also spend time gathering from medicinal plants and

collecting wood for fuel. A few domestic food animals are usually kept near the houses.

People settled in the Ba Be area in Bac Kan Province mainly in the 1945’s to

1970’s. Most had come from more northern areas. In addition to the majority Kinh

(Vietnamese) people, the area is now home to people of the Tay, H ’mong and Dao

ethnic groups. The last three of these live in small villages and conduct swidden

agriculture to different degrees, in different ways and in different locations: The Tay

tend to farm in the lowlands, while Dao and H’mong people tend to live in the uplands.

Many of the villages are quite remote and the provision of government services to them

is difficult. The population growth rates in these villages is quite high, so the pressure

these indigenous groups are placing on the forest ecosystems through local exploitation

is increasing.

The area around Ba Be Lake was exploited for forest production under government

supervision until the National Park was established in 1992. The indigenous (hill tribe)

people continue to use the forest in their traditional ways. Their cultural attachment to

their way o f life means that they are reluctant to vacate the Park and to date they have

had little involvement in the management decisions made about resource use in the area.

3

Moreover, until this study, they had received little education about the conservation

significance o f the local forest. As noted above (and explained in more detail in the

body of the text), their methods of exploiting the forest are unsustainable and

increasingly so. Opportunities for relocation of the indigenous people to locations where

they can continue their traditional ways of living are limited and, as noted above, there

is resistance to relocation. Consequently, there have arisen two conflicting issues: how

to allow local people to continue to exploit the forest plants in their accustomed ways

and how to conserve the forest that is nationally and internationally recognized as an

important centre of biodiversity.

The study described here was designed as an attempt to find ways of resolving these

two issues. It addresses a series o f questions:

What is known about the threats to, and conservation of, plant species in the study

area and broader region? What approaches to conservation have been effective

elsewhere?

What plant species do the local people use and which ones do they think are most

worthy of conservation efforts? How do the conservation priorities o f the local people

compare with national and international priorities?

What are the characteristics of the forests where these rare and endangered species

occur?

Can molecular biological techniques assist in identifying plant populations that

display highest genetic diversity. Which known populations o f rare/threatened plant

species are genetically most diverse?

The above groups of questions are addressed in separate chapters. There is a brief

introductory chapter and a final one that attempts to synthesise the previous four and to

formulate recommendations for future action in Ba Be National Park, and by

implication in the broader region.

Authors

4

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dr. Rod Buckney is now retired from full-time work. He was Associate

Professor in the Departmeent of Environmental Sciences (now the School of

the Environment) at the University of Technology, Sydney. He served

several years as Associate Dean (Teachning and Learning) in the Faculty of

Science. His research and teaching interests include botany, limnology,

conservation, environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology. He was principal

supervisor to Hoang Van Hung for the research described in this

publication. He has supervised many research students in the areas listed

above.

Dr. Dang Kim Vui is a Associate Professor in the Faculty of Forestry

and Rector of the Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry. His

research interests are in plant conservation and sustainable use of plant

resources and ecology. He has been a prominent participant on many

committees focused on these areas. For this work he provided continued

support and mentoring of the participants. The study described here arose

from his initial suggestion.

Dr. Hoang Van Hung conducted the work described in this book as a

Ph.D student at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is currently a

Lecturer and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Resources and Environment

at the Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry. His teaching and

research interests are in plant conservation, agronomy, biodiversity and

resources and environment planning.

Dr. Lou De Filippis is a Senior Lecturer in the School of the

Environment, Faculty of Science at the University o f Technology Sydney.

His primary areas of research and teaching are in horticulture, plant

genetics, salinity, forest trees, molecular biology, salt tolerance genes,

nursery production, greenhouses, plant growth media and the effects of

heavy metals on plants. He has supervised many research students in these

areas. He was co-supervisor to Hoang Van Hung for the research described

in this book.

5

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP/ORIGINALITY

Authors certify that the work in this book has not previously been

submitted for a degree/publications nor has it been submitted as part of

requirements for a degree/publications except as acknowledged within the

text.

We also certify that the written preparation of the thesis, and all

experimental work associated with it, has been carried out solely by authors,

unless otherwise indicated. Any help that we have received in our research

work and the preparation of the book itself has been acknowledged. Finally,

we certify that all information sources and literature used are acknowledged

in the text.

Authors

July, 2010

6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE 3

ABOUT THE AUTHORS 5

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP/ORIGINALITY 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS 7

LIST OF TABLE 9

LIST OF FIGURES 12

TECHNICAL ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE THESIS 15

INSTITUTIONAL ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE THESIS 16

Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 17

1.1. Overview 17

1.2. Objectives and scope of the study 22

1.3. The principal questions were: 22

Chapter II. LITERATURE REVIEW 24

2.1. Forest plant conservation 24

2.2. Molecular biology and nature conservation 28

2.3. The study area 32

2.4. Endangered species identification 39

2.5. Summary 41

Chapter III. PRIORITISATION OF SPECIES FOR CONSERVATION IN BA BE

NATIONAL PARK 42

3.1. Introduction 42

3.2. Materials and methods 46

3.3. Results 49

3.4. Discussion 57

3.5. Conclusions 60

Chapter IV. VEGETATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PATTERNS 61

4.1. Introduction 61

4.2. Materials and methods 63

4.3. Results 71

4.4. Discussion 86

4.5. Conclusions 91

7

Chapter V. MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENETIC DIVERSITY 92

5.1. Introduction 92

5.2. Study plants 93

5.3. Materials and methods 96

5.4. Results 104

5.3. Discussion and conclusions 118

Chapter VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 123

6.1. Prioritisation of species for conservation 123

6.2. Vegetation and environmental patterns 126

6.3. Genetic diversity and molecular biology 135

6.4. Conclusion and recommendation 141

REFERENCES 146

APPENDICES 170

Appendix 1: The list of local people interviewed in 3 commune of Ba Be National Park 170

Appendix 2: Questionaire for local people interview used in survey of identification

endangered species and local people participated in natural conservation 180

Appendix 3: The List of species used by local people for medecine (Me), vegetable (V),

market (Ma), fruit (F), and wood purposes (W). (this is 167 species were

identified scientific name in total 1005 species used by local people in Ba Be

National Park. 182

Appendix 4: The questionaire for ecological study used 12 quadrats in Ba Be National

Park 197

Appendix 5: The list of 162 species occurred in 12 quadrats (sites) in Ba Be National

Park, surveyed from 9/2005 to 10/2006 and double checked in 11/2007. For

lifeform: SH is shrub, T is tree, G is grass, SE is sedge, F is fern, H is herb, and

LI is liana; for distribution: T is tropical, E is endemic to Ba Be scale, and V is

endemic to Vietnam ] 99

Appendix 6: Checklist of vegetations of localized plots in the protection area of Ba be

national -Viet Nam, arranged by class, family and species name. Me is medicine

Ve is vegetable, Wo is wood, Bo is bonsai, Co is construction, Fr is fruit and An

is for animal food 209

Appendix 7: SIMPER analysis (Primer program) of 162 species occurred in 12 quadrats

in Ba Be National Park included Similarity Percentages - species contributions,

Worksheet: Sample selection: All Variable Selection: All, Parameters:

Standardise data: No, Transform: None, Cut off for low contributions: 90.00%.

Factor name: Sites. Factor groups: MS, DTI, DT2, RU 221

Appendix 8: PRIMER analysis by SIMPER for general ecological data collected from

12 quadrats in Ba Be National Park; Similarity Percentages - species

contributions 258

Appendix 9: Primer Selection and Optimization of PCR 264

8

LIST OF TABLE

Table 2.1: Average annual meteorological statistics for Cho Ra town from 1961-2007

(source: Department of Statistic of Ba Be district)

Table 2.2: General vegetation information in Ba Be National Park (source: BBNP,

2005).

Table 2.3: The families with the highest number of species in Ba Be National Park

(source: BBNP, 2005)

Table 3.1. Population status and ethnic composition in three communes and in six

surveyed villages in BBNP in the years of 2006 and 2007 Source: Ba Be

National Park Library

Table 3.2: Land use status of seven communes in Ba Be National Park, Bac Kan

Province, Vietnam. Source: from Department of Statistics of Ba Be District

in 2007

Table 3.3. The list of species used by more than 50% of local people in the research

areas

Table 3.4. The list of priority species for protection ranked and marked by local people

Table 3.5. The list of species recorded in the Red Book of Vietnam and Red Lists of

IUCN used in the research areas

Table 3.6. The list of priority species for propagation in BBNP recommended by local

people

Table 3.7. Number of species as ranked by local people (LP) combared to Red Book and

IUCN rankings. not threatened, V: vulnerable, T: threatened, E:

endangered, C: critically endangered. Blank cells: zero

Table 3.8. Seven Endangered species classified by local people, Red Book and Red Lists

for highly conservation priorities in BBNP

Table 4.1. Summary' of species data and characteristics of 12 quadrats located in

different habitats. Four different forest types were the moist sites near the

Lake and river, and in the valley of the mountain (MS), closeness to village

and track (DTI), Secondary forest and affected by deforestation (DT2),

located in Middle and Top of the Mountain (RU)

Table 4.2. Summary of floristic and environmental variables measured within each

quadrat in 12 sites sampled in BBNP, Vietnam

Table 4.3. Summary of species and individual composition occurred in 12 quadrads in

BBNP

Table 4.4. Summary of species composition in 12 quadrats in BBNP.

Table 4.5. The 13 most common species based on the percentage of total quadrats (12)

and the number and percentage of individuals occurring.

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Table 4.6. The endangered and endemic species found, in order of frequency of

occurrence, expressed as a percentage of total quadrats (12) and the number

and percentage of individuals occurring.

Table 4.7. Mean values of plant indices at MS, DTI, DT2 and RU sites. Numbers in

brackets are standard errors of the mean. No indices are significantly

difference (P > 0.05).

Table 4.8. Species contributing up to 50% of the average Bray-Curtis similarity (using

SIMPER analysis) for each site type.

Table 4.9. Species contributing up to 15% of the average Bray-Curtis dissimilarity

(using SIMPER analysis) between MS, DTI, DT2 and RU sites

Table 4.10. Groups of endangered and endemic species associated with group of

common species

Table 4.11. Mean values of physical aspect variables. Standard error of mean shown in

brackets. DSS is the proportion of exposed rock and s w s is a soil without

stone evident

Table 4.12. Mean values of soil data variables. Standard error of mean shown in

brackets. WA is surface water availability

Table 4.13. Mean values of disturbance factor variables. Standard error of mean shown

in brackets. DV is distance to the nearest village, DT is distance to the nearest

track, DCS is the proportion of eroded rock and DF is a deforestation level

Table 4.14. Mean values of vegetation data variables. Standard error of mean shown in

brackets

Table 5.1: Origin and description of material of 10 populations of Sinocalamus

mucclure in BBNP-Vietnam (ranged: latitude from 22’.27° to 22’.25° and

longitude from 105’.34° to 105’.35°) collected for RAMP-PCR and RAPD￾PCR

Table 5.2: Origin and description of material of 4 populations of Markhamia stipulata in

BBNP -Vietnam (ranged: latitude from 22’26° to 22’24° and longitude from

105’36° to 105’37 ) collected for RAMP and RAPD-PCR

Table 5.3: Origin and description of material of 9 populations of Erythropalum scandens

in BBNP-Vietnam (ranged: latitude from 22’26° to 22’23° and longitude from

105’35° to 105’38°) collected for RAMP and RAPD-PCR.

Table 5.4: Origin and description of material of 9 populations of Melientha suavious in

BBNP-Vietnam (ranged: latitude from 22’23° to 22’26° and longitude from

105’36° to 105 38 ) collected for RAMP and RAPD-PCR.

Table 5.5. Oligonucleotide primer sequences used to detect polymorphisms in 4 rare

and endangered forest tree species by RAPD analysis in Ba Be National Park

of Vietnam

Table 5.6. Anchored microsatellite primers used to detect polymorphisms in several

species and. Bases underlined at the 5’ end denote the anchors.

Table 5.7. Quality and quantity of DNA extracted from young and old leaf of String

Bamboo (Sinocalamus macclure). Yields and ratios were estimated using a

Genequant DNA/RNA calculator. The 260:230 and 260:280 refer to the ratio

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102

102

10

of absorbances measured by spectrophotometry at 230 nm, 260 nm and 280 nm

respectively 104

Table 5.8. Quality and quantity of DNA extracted from difference 4 species of

Erythropalum scandens, Markhamia stipulata, Melientha suavious and

Sinocalamus macclure. Yields and ratios were estimated using a Genequant

DNA/RNA calculator. The 260:230 and 260:280 refer to the ratio of

absorbances measured by spectrophotometry at 230 nm, 260 nm and 280 nm

respectively 105

Table 5.9. DNA polymorphism between 10 populations of Sinocalamus mucclure

detected by RAPD-PCR. 11 RAPD primers were used (see Table 5.1 for

sequences of primers). Results are for duplicate PCR and only consistent

bands were recorded. Pop is population. 106

Table 5.10. DNA polymorphism between 4 populations of Markhamia stipulata detected

by RAPD-PCR. 11 RAPD primers were used (see Table 5.1 for sequences of

primers). Results are for duplicate PCR and only consistent bands were

recorded. Pop is population 109

Table 5.11. Number of bands of Markhamia stipulata produced with different

combinations of microsatellite (MSI) and (MS2) with RAPD primers and

RAPD primers alone. The results are for duplicate PCR, and only consistent

bands were recorded 110

Table 5.12. Summary of DNA polymorphism, population statistics and Mantel test. 112

Table 5.13. DNA polymorphism between 9 populations of Erythropalum scandens

detected by RAPD-PCR. 11 RAPD primers were used (see Table 5.1 for

sequences of primers). Results are for duplicate PCR and only consistent

bands were recorded. Pop is population. Gsi is G-statistic calculated using

Popgen program 113

Table 5.14. DNA polymorphism between 9 populations of Melientha suavious detected

by RAPD-PCR. 11 RAPD primers were used (see Table 5.1 for sequences of

primers). Results are for duplicate PCR and only consistent bands were

recorded. Pop is population. Gst is G-statistic calculated using Popgen

program 115

Table 5.15. Number and size range of bands produced by RAPD-PCR of genomic DNA

extracted from 4 rare and endangered forest tree species in BBNP of Vietnam

(see Appendix 9 for primer sequences). Experiments were performed in

duplicate and only consistent bands were recorded 117

Table 5.16. DNA Polymorphism of 4 rare and endangered forest tree species detected by

RAPD-PCR. 11 RAPD primers were used (see Table 3.1 for sequences of

primers). Results are for duplicate PCR and only consistent bands were

recorded. GS| is the G-statistic calculated using PopGen program 117

11

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Map showing the geographic position of Ba Be National Park, Ba Be

District, Bac Kan Province, Vietnam. 33

Figure 2.2: Structure of the 2001 IUCN Categories. Species in the categories critically

endangered (CR), endangered (EN) and vulnerable (VU) are denoted as

threatened. Species classified as least concern (LC) or not evaluated (NE)

will not usually be published in a Red List. At national or other subglobal

levels, an additional category can be included. 40

Figure 3.1: Map of Villages sampled in Ba Be National Park for interview. 47

Figure 3.2: Multidimensional Scaling analyses (in Primer program) identifying the

priorities for conservation of endangered species in BBNP, comparing

between Local people and Red Book of Vietnam criteria. 55

Figure 3.3: Multidimensional Scaling analyses (in Primer program) identifying the

priorities for conservation of endangered species in BBNP, comparing

between Local people and Red Lists of IUCN criteria. 56

Figure 3.4: Multidimensional Scaling analyses (in Primer program) identifying the

priorities for conservation of endangered species in BBNP, comparing

between all three criteria of Local people, Red Book of Vietnam and Red

Lists of IUCN criteria. 57

Figure 4.1: Sites where environmental data were collected, in 12 quadrats in BBNP. 64

Figure 4.2: Representation of square quadrat and the sequence used to survey the

floristic composition (begin from sub-quadrat 1 to the end: sub-quadrat 40)

for all 12 quadrats in BBNP. 67

Figure 4.3: MDS (a) ordination of 12 quadrats based on all floristic composition, MDS

(b) ordination of 12 quadrats after removing all liana species, MDS (c)

ordination of quadrats after removing all grass, fern, sedge and shrub species,

MDS (d) ordination of quadrats after removing all liana, grass, fern, sedge

and shrub species. MS sites are moisture and near the lake and river, DTI

sites are disturbance, near the village and track, DT2 sites are secondary

forest and RU sites are relatively undisturbed. 76

Figure 4.4: MDS (a) ordination of 12 quadrats based on all floristic composition, MDS

(b) ordination of 12 quadrats after removing all tree species, MDS (c)

ordination of 12 quadrats after removing all endangered and endemic species.

MDS (d) ordination of quadrats after removing all endangered species

classified by local people. MS sites are moisture and near the lake and river,

DTI sites are disturbance, near the village and track, DT2 sites are secondary

forest and RU sites are relatively undisturbed. 77

12

Figure 4.5: MDS ordination of 162 species in BBNP: common species represented by

white circles; endangered and endemic species represented by coloured

symbols: El = Anoectochilus setaceus, E2 = Ardisia silvestris, E3 =

Burretiodendron tonkinensis, E4 = Chukrasia tabularis, E5 = Cycas balansae,

E6 = Markhamia stipulata, E7 = Ficus altissima, E8 = Garcinia fagraeoides,

E9 = Hydnocarpus hainania, E10 = Melientha suavious, Ell = Sinocalamus

mucclure, E l2 = Stephania sinica and El3 = Tetrapanax papyriferus.

Figure 4.6: Principal components ordination of quadrats based on environmental

variables. MS are moist sites, DTI is disturbance 1 with the quadrats located

near the track and village, DT2 is disturbed with the two quadrats located in

secondary forest, and RU is undisturbed with the quadrats located near the

middle and top of the mountains.

Figure 4.7: MDS ordination of 12 quadrats based on environmental factors. MS

represents a moist site, DTI and DT2 are disturbed 1 and RU is undisturbed.

Figure 4.8: MDS ordination of 26 environmental factors. DT is a disturbance factor, PH

refers to physical aspects, s o to soil data, VE to vegetation data, DO to

dominant trees and EN to endangered plants.

Figure 4.9: MDS ordination of quadrats based 011 environmental variables selected by

BIOENV analysis.

Figure 4.10: MDS ordination of quadrats based on 15 environmental variables selected

by BIOENV analysis.

Figure 5.1: Foliage and life-form of String Bamboo (Sinocalamus mucclure) (a), and

young leaf samples and shoots from which DNA was extracted for this study

(b)

Figure 5.2: Foliage and inflorescence of Markhamia stipulata (Roxb.) (a), and part of a

plant in the Botanic Gardens of BBNP (b)

Figure 5.3: Infructescence and developing seeds of Melientha suavious Pierre, (a), and

the leaves of Melientha suavious collected from the Park for DNA extraction

(b)

Figure 5.4: Foliage and inflorescence of Erythopalum scandens Biume (a), and E.

scandens growing in the Botanic Garden of Thai Nguyen University of

Agriculture and Forestry (b).

Figure 5.5: Site map for sampling of all four species (Erythropalum scandens,

Markhamia stipulata, Melientha suavious and Sinocalamus macclure) in

BBNP

Figure 5.7: UPGMA Dendrogram of nine population of Sinocalamus mucclure in BBNP

- Vietnam. The result was analysed by Popgen/Treeview program with

RAPD-PCR data.

Figure 5.8: (a) Multi dimensional scaling (in Primer program) ordination of individuals

of Sinacalamus mucclure based on a genetic distance matrix generated from

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pairwise comparison of DNA fingerprints based on the presence and absence

of bands in RAPD-PCR 107

Figure 5.9: UPGMA Dendrogram by RAMP-PCR of nine population of Sinocalamus

mucclure in BBNP - Vietnam. The result was analysed by Popgen/Treeview

program with RAMP-PCR data. 108

Figure 5.10: (a) Multi dimensional scaling (in Primer program) ordination of individual

of Sinacalamus mucclure based on a genetic distance matrix generated from

pairwise comparison of DNA fingerprints based on the presence and absence

of bands in RAMP-PCR. 108

Figure 5.11: UPGMA Dendrogram of four population of Markhamia stipulata in BBNP

- Vietnam. The result was analysed by Popgen/Treeview program with

RAPD-PCRdata 109

Figure 5.12: Multi dimensional scaling (in Primer program) ordination of individuals of

Markhamia stipulata based on a genetic distance matrix generated from

pairwise comparison of DNA fingerprints based on the presence and absence

of bands in RAPD-PC R. 110

Figure 5.13: UPGMA Dendrogram of four population of Markhamia stipulata in BBNP

- Vietnam by RAMP-PCR analysis. The result was analysed by

Popgen/Treeview program with RAMP-PCR data 111

Figure 5.14: Multi-dimensional scaling analysis of 11 individual of Markhamia stipulate

in BBNP of Vietnam in RAMP-PCR. 111

Figure 5.15: Genetic relationship between 9 populations of Erythropalum scandens

determined by RAPD-PCR. Analysis was based on the presence and absence

of bands produced by RAPD primers using the Popgen 32/treeview program

with RAPD-PCR data 114

Figure 5.16: Multi dimensional scaling (from Primer program) separating the

informative RAPD primers from those that produced no information in

RAPD-PCR based on the presence and absence of bands 114

14