Influence of Tourism Disturbance on Soil Microbial Community Structure in Dawei Mountain National Forest Park

Endophytic Fungal Diversity of Mangrove Ferns Acrostichum speciosum and A. aureum in China

Microbial communities are an important component of mangrove ecosystems. In order to reveal the diversity of endophytic fungi in the mangrove ferns Acrostichum speciosum and A. aureum in China, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of endophytic fungi in four plant tissues (leaves, petioles, roots, and rhizomes) from three locations (Zhanjiang, Haikou, and Wenchang) were sequenced. The richness, species composition, and community similarity were analyzed. The main results are as follows: the dominant fungi in A. speciosum and A. aureum belonged to the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, accounting for more than 75% of the total identified fungi; in terms of species composition at the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level, the endophytic fungi in A. aureum were more diverse than those in A. speciosum, and the endophytic fungi in rhizomes were more diverse than in other tissues. In Zhanjiang, both A. speciosum and A. aureum showed the richest diversity of endophytic fungi, both at the OTU classification level and in terms of species composition. Conversely, the richness of endophytic fungi in the samples of A. speciosum from Wenchang and Haikou is extremely low. The regional differences in dominant fungi increase with the degrading of taxonomic levels, and there were also significant differences in the number of unique fungi among different origins, with Zhanjiang samples having a larger number of unique fungi than the other locations. There were significant differences in the dominant fungi among different tissues, with Xylariales being the dominant fungi in rhizomes of A. speciosum and Hypocreales being the dominant fungi in the petioles, roots, and rhizomes of A. aureum. Overall, the community similarity of endophytic fungi among locations is moderately dissimilar (26-50%), while the similarity between tissues is moderately similar (51-75%). The low diversity of endophytic fungi could be one of the main reasons for the endangerment of A. speciosum. The protection of the diversity of endophytic fungi in the underground parts of A. speciosum is essential for the conservation of this critically endangered mangrove fern.

Planning Sustainable Community-Based Tourism in the Context of Thailand: Community, Development, and the Foresight Tools

Community-Based Tourism (CBT) has been heavily promoted in Thailand, particularly in rural communities. Tourism transforms the natural and culturally significant attractions of rural communities into consumer products. Tourism development also makes a direct connection between tourism and the community. Therefore, before starting a tourism development project, the interests of local residents need to be investigated and allowances made for their inclusion. This paper introduces foresight tools, community arts, and a community goal-setting technique for putting the authority of future tourism development in the hands of the local community, which is appropriate for tourism development in rural Thailand. This study aims to give the local community useful tools to design their own future development by helping its members develop an understanding of what tourism is and how it impacts their community. A series of inclusive workshops was used to emphasize the need to understand the opportunities and repercussions of tourism as a community, what is at stake, and how important it is to participate in development projects. This methodology was chosen to advance the community members’ ability to generate ideas about what kind of tourism products the community has the potential to develop. Furthermore, it aims to get locals to understand that tourism development is more than just getting that development started. Reaching their future goals requires continuing their tourism activities. Therefore, the two workshops we held advocated community arts and community goal-setting techniques as foresight tools to empower communities to design their future and gave support to those communities to improve the quality of their participation in tourism.