not-yet-known not-yet-known not-yet-known unknown Agricultural intensification in Lao PDR has increased significantly each year, resulting in the conversion of vast natural habitats to various levels of agricultural intensification. However, there has been a longstanding knowledge gap regarding the impact of agricultural intensification on native fauna species in the country. The present study was conducted in two different agricultural systems (organic and conventional), which varied in land-use intensity, in central Lao PDR. Within each farming system, five sampling plots (30 x 50 m), spaced 100 m apart, and 900 m distance between organic and conventional farming systems were selected. The farming system had the greatest influence on native honey bee abundance. Although honey bee abundance was higher in the organic, the diversity of flowering plant resources did not differ significantly between the two farming systems. This suggests that the farming system has a more crucial impact on native honey bee populations than on the diversity of flowering plants. In organic farming, it was found that native honey bee populations could provide full pollination services, even for crops with high pollination demands (e.g., melon), without the need for other pollinators. All other sampling plots in the conventional farming system, however, showed a significant decline in native bee abundance, resulting in insufficient pollination services from native bees alone. This study found that diversity is crucial for sustaining these services, given the year-to-year variation in population levels. Additional measures are needed to conserve more specialized native honey bee species and other pollinators in both farming systems

In many rural areas of Lao PDR, wildlife continues to be a crucial source of food and income. Specifically, various species of wildlife or individual animals are frequently traded and can be found for sale along roadsides or in local markets. However, the local community’s comprehensive understanding of the threats posed by biodiversity loss remains insufficient. In this study, we aimed to address this gap by conducting a survey of the illegal hunting of wild animals in three provinces of Lao PDR, focusing on areas where the local population heavily relies on natural resources for their livelihoods. These natural resources serve as a vital source of income to meet the daily household expenditures, potentially shifting hunting from subsistence to commercial purposes. We conducted interviews 40 hunters, and documented wildlife species that were sold at roadside. Moreover, each species was categorized according to its conservation status based on the IUCN Red List conservation status. We documented a total of 3,295 hunted individuals, including 2,146 birds (36 species), 1,081 mammals (15 species), and 68 reptiles (6 species). Even though most of the species hunted are classified with low conservation concern presently, some of them may potentially become at risk in the future. We showed that a large number of individuals, belonging to several species, are hunted in the wild by local communities of Lao PDR. These preliminary findings are valuable for assessing the potential threat posed by hunting and trade to the conservation of these species. While the majority of species identified in this study currently face low conservation concerns, they could become vulnerable or designated as at-risk species if hunting intensifies with an increasing number of hunters in the future.

Rapid economic development can pose a threat to the biodiversity of tropical countries. In Laos, this is manifested by the conversion of natural forests into plantations, even though this area is one of the biodiversity hotspots of Southeast Asia. Beetle communities can be good indicators of the impact of anthropogenic pressure on natural ecosystems. In this study, we analyzed for the first time a countrywide inventory of Coleoptera to assess the ecological and anthropogenic drivers of beetle communities in Laos. We examined beetle communities (described at the family level) across the country, located in distinct habitat types, in order to understand the impact a rapid increase in human activities has on the region’s biodiversity. We found that beetle abundance had declined in plantations compared to natural forests. At the same time, we observed fewer beetle families in plantations overall, but at the scale of sampling sites there was no difference in local diversity compared to natural forests, suggesting a homogenization of beetle communities in anthropogenic habitats. Although results are certainly sensitive to our coarse classification of beetle specimens into families, the negative impact of the conversion of natural tropical forests into agriculture area can still be clearly demonstrated. Our findings highlight that it is possible to make use of unstructured large-scale inventories to explore how beetle communities responds to landscape changes induced by human activities. We suggest that sampling beetle communities can be used as an ecological indicator to monitor anthropogenic impacts on tropical ecosystems.