Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2022 | 14(1): 20500–20502
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7753.14.1.20500-20502
#7753 | Received 19
November 2021 | Finally accepted 21 November 2021
COVID-19 and civil unrest undoing
steady gains in karst conservation and herpetological research in Myanmar, and
an impediment to progress
Evan S.H. Quah 1, Lee
L. Grismer 2, Perry L. Wood, Jr. 3 ,
Aung Lin 4 & Myint Kyaw Thura 5
1 Institute for Tropical Biology
and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400, Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia.
1 School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800
Minden, Penang, Malaysia.
2 Herpetology Laboratory,
Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 RiverwalkParkway,
Riverside, California 92515, USA.
2 Department of Herpetology, San
Diego Natural History Museum, PO Box 121390, San Diego, California, 92112, USA.
3 Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan 48109-1085, USA.
4 Fauna and Flora International,
No.34-D/9, San Yae Twin Street, Kabaraye
Bagoda Road, Bahan
Township, Yangon, Myanmar.
5 Myanmar Environment Sustainable
Conservation, Yangon, Myanmar.
1 evanquah@ums.edu.my
(corresponding author), 2 lgrismer@lasierra.edu, 3 perryleewoodjr@gmail.com,
4 aung.lin@fauna-flora.org, 5 mgmyint.banca@gmail.com
Editor: Priya Davidar, Sigur Nature Trust, Nilgiris,
India. Date of publication: 26
January 2022 (online & print)
Citation: Quah, E.S.H., L.L. Grismer, P.L. Wood Jr. & A. Lin (2022). COVID-19 and civil unrest undoing
steady gains in karst conservation and herpetological research in Myanmar, and
an impediment to progress. Journal of Threatened Taxa 14(1): 20500–20502. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7753.14.1.20500-20502
Copyright: © Quah et al. 2022. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Forest Department
of Myanmar and Fauna & Flora International in Myanmar for their continued
support of our research of karstic landscapes in Myanmar.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and
political turmoil in Myanmar has dealt a severe blow to the country’s progress
in herpetological research and the protection of limestone habitats. Both
afflictions have reversed much of the scientific and conservation gains made in
the past decade, and continue to hinder exploratory surveys and continued
monitoring of threatened karst ecosystems. There is an urgent need to resume
field studies and conservation effort as soon as possible and continue
enhancing the capacity of local scientific and technical staff in Myanmar.
Keywords: Biodiversity, Cyrtodactylus,
endemism, geckos, limestone.
In the last decade, Myanmar was
riding the crest of a wave of renewed interest in herpetological research,
particularly in karst ecosystems (Grismer et al.
2020c). Karst habitats are generators and refugia for biodiversity but are
unfortunately also amongst the most threatened ecosystems in the world (Grismer et al. 2020a,c, 2021; Quah et al. 2021). Despite
there being a great concentration of karst in Myanmar, many locations are
already being quarried to produce cement (Grismer et
al. 2018a).
The resurgence in herpetological
research in Myanmar resulted in the staggering discovery of nearly 50 new
species of reptiles and amphibians, especially geckos of the genus Cyrtodactylus, of which most species are
micro-endemics (Figure 1; Grismer et al. 2018a,
2020b). Among the discoveries was a new species of slender gecko, Hemiphyllodactylus tonywhitteni,
named in honour of the late Dr. Tony Whitten of Fauna
and Flora International, who championed karst conservation throughout southeastern Asia (Grismer et al.
2018b). The results of these discoveries in turn have aided in the formal
protection of some karst landscapes in Myanmar, that not just benefit the
endemic geckos but all other flora and fauna that inhabit them (Komerički et al. 2020).
Unfortunately, this progress came
to a sudden halt in 2020 due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) pandemic which prevented travel for
field work as nations around the globe went into lockdown in an effort to curb
the spread of the virus (Corlett et al. 2020; Zahawi
et al. 2020). Matters were compounded by the civil unrest which erupted in
Myanmar beginning early 2021 which has once again caused great discord in the
country. Apart from having cost numerous lives and crippled the economy, both
these afflictions have reversed much of the gains that have been made in the
past few years in terms of cataloguing the biological diversity of Myanmar,
conserving critical habitats, and the enhancement of local capacity of
scientific and technical staff in Myanmar.
With the COVID-19 pandemic
continuing to rage on around the world and political instability in the
country, it may be many more years before research efforts can resume safely in
the country. By which time, some of the karst outcrops may have already been
completely destroyed and along with it the many countless species found on
them, similar to what has happened in Brazil due to weakened environmental
protection (Schwartz et al. 2020; Vale et al. 2021). The undoing of a decade of
progress in research and conservation is a woeful reminder of the urgency to
lay the foundations for on the ground conservation efforts by local
stakeholders through knowledge transfer and training. Nevertheless, we remain
hopeful that the in-country situation will improve, and researchers will be
able to continue the much-needed exploration and discovery phase of the
conservation process in the Indo-Burmese biodiversity hotspot.
References
Bauer, A.M.
(2003). Descriptions
of seven new Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with a key to the species of Myanmar (Burma). Proceedings
of the California Academy of Sciences 54: 463–498.
Connette, G.M., P. Oswald, M.K. Thura, K.J.L. Connette, M.E. Grindley, M. Songer, G.R. Zug
& D.G. Mulcahy (2017). Rapid forest clearing in a
Myanmar proposed national park threatens two newly discovered species of geckos
(Gekkonidae: Cyrtodactylus).
PloS ONE 12: e0174432. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174432
Corlett,
R.T., R.B. Primack, V. Devictor, B. Maas, V.R. Goswami, A.E. Bates, L.P. Koh, T.J. Regan, R. Loyola, R.J. Pakeman, G.S. Cumming, A. Pidgeon, D. Johns & R. Roth
(2020). Impacts of
the coronavirus pandemic on biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation
246: 108571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108571
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., M.K. Thura, T. Zin, E.S.H. Quah, M.L. Murdoch, M.S. Grismer, A. Lin, H. Kyaw & N. Lwin (2018a). Twelve new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray
(Squamata: Gekkonidae) from limestone habitats in
east-central and southern Myanmar demonstrate high localized diversity and
unprecedented microendemism. Zoological Journal of
the Linnean Society 182: 862–959. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx057
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., M.K. Thura, T. Zin, E.S.H. Quah, M.L. Murdoch, M.S. Grismer, A. Lin, H. Kyaw & N. Lwin (2018b). Phylogenetic taxonomy of Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with descriptions of three new species from
Myanmar. Journal of Natural History 52: 881–915. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2017.1367045
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., M.K. Thura, N.M. Win, M.S. Grismer,
L.A. Trueblood & E.S.H. Quah (2018c). A redescription
of Cyrtodactylus chrysopylos
Bauer (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with comments on the
adaptive significance of bright orange coloration in hatchlings and
descriptions of two new species from eastern Myanmar (Burma). Zootaxa 4527: 151–185. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4527.2.1
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., M.K. Thura, E.S.H. Quah, M.S. Grismer,
M.L. Murdoch, R.E. Espinoza & A. Lin (2018d). A new Cyrtodactylus
Gray (Squamata, Gekkonidae)
from the Shan Hills and the biogeography of Bent-toed Geckos from eastern
Myanmar. Zootaxa 4446: 477–500. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4446.4.4
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., M.K. Thura, E.S.H. Quah, M.L. Murdoch, M.S. Grismer,
M.W. Herr, A. Lin & H. Kyaw (2018e). Three more new species of Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae)
from the Salween Basin of eastern Myanmar underscore the urgent need for the
conservation of karst habitats. Journal of Natural History 52:
1243–1294; https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2018.1449911
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., E.S.H.
Quah, M.L. Murdoch, M.S. Grismer, M.W. Herr, R.E.
Espinoza, R.M. Brown & A. Lin (2018f). A phylogenetic taxonomy of the Cyrtodactylus peguensis
group (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae)
with descriptions of two new species from Myanmar. PeerJ
6: e5575. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5575
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., M.K. Thura, E.S.H. Quah, J.R. Oaks & A. Lin (2019a). A new species of Bent-toed Gecko
(Squamata, Gekkonidae, Cyrtodactylus)
from the Shan Plateau in eastern Myanmar (Burma). Zootaxa
4624: 301–321. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4624.3.1
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., E.S.H.
Quah, M.K. Thura, M.W. Herr & A.K. Lin (2019b). A new species of forest-dwelling Cyrtodactylus Gray
(Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Indawgyi
Wildlife Sanctuary, Kachin State, Myanmar. Zootaxa
4623: 1–25. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4623.1.1
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., M.K. Thura, N.M. Win & E.S.H. Quah (2019c). Two more new species of the Cyrtodactylus peguensis
group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the fringes of
the Ayeyarwady Basin, Myanmar. Zootaxa
4577: 274–294. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4577.2.3
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., M.D. Le,
E.S.H. Quah & J.L. Grismer (2020a). Evolution of habitat preference
in 243 species of Bent-toed geckos (Genus Cyrtodactylus
Gray, 1827) with a discussion of karst habitat
conservation. Ecology and Evolution 10: 13717–13730. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6961
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., E.S.H.
Quah, M.S. Grismer, M.K. Thura,
J.R. Oaks & A. Lin (2020b). Two new species of Cyrtodactylus
Gray, 1827 (Squamata: Gekkonidae)
from a karstic archipelago in the Salween Basin of southern Myanmar (Burma).
Zootaxa 4718: 151–183. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4718.2.1
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., E.S.H.
Quah & M.K. Thura (2020c). Origin, diversity, and
conservation of karst-associated Bent-toed Geckos (Genus Cyrtodactylus)
in Myanmar (Burma). Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution 2020:
202–208. https://doi.org/10.1163/22244662-20191094
Grismer, L.L., P.L. Wood Jr., N.A. Poyarkov, M.D. Le, S. Karunarathna,
S. Chomdej, C. Suwannapoom,
S. Qi, S. Liu, J. Che, E.S.H. Quah, F. Kraus, P.M. Oliver, A. Riyanto, O.S.H. Pauwels & J.L. Grismer
(2021). Karstic
Landscapes are Foci of Species Diversity in the World’s Third Largest
Vertebrate Genus Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Reptilia: Squamata; Gekkonidae). Diversity 13: 183. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13050183
Komerički, A., A. Lin, L. Ngwe & F. Momberg (2020). Myanmar karst key biodiversity
areas. Fauna and Flora International Special Report, 104 pp.
Quah, E.S.H.,
L.L. Grismer & A.M.S. Shahrul
(2021). Conservation
of Peninsular Malaysia’s Karst Herpetofauna: A review of herpetological
discoveries, research trends, and challenges. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
69: 235–252.
Schwartz,
M.W., J.A. Glikman & C.N. Cook (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: A
learnable moment for conservation. Conservation Science and Practice 2:
e255. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.255
Vale, M.M.,
E. Berenguer, M.A. de Menezes, E.B.V. de Castro, L.P.
de Siqueira & R.d.C.Q Portella (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic as an
opportunity to weaken environmental protection in Brazil. Biological
Conservation 255: 108994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.108994
Zahawi, R.A., J.L. Reid & M.E.
Fagan (2020). Potential
impacts of COVID-19 on tropical forest recovery. Biotropica
52: 803–807. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12851