The East Asian monsoon and related seasonal rain belts are assumed to be significantly variable at intraseasonal, interannual, and interdecadal time scales, and largely determine the hydrology and ecological processes of the streams and rivers in this region. This study investigated the spatiotemporal variation in fish assemblages and the relative importance of local habitat and regional landscape variables in two protected streams in the middle Yangtze River basin. We hypothesized that the stream fish assemblages in this area are strongly influenced by the monsoon climate, and display a spatiotemporal variation in response to changes of stream flow regimes and physical habitats. The results show that species richness and abundance varied with both season and stream size. The distance to the downstream confluence site was the top important environmental factor, followed by altitude and downstream link. The results suggest that the fish assemblages within this protected watershed are mainly affected by regional landscape variables such as longitudinal position and stream position, but less by local habitat variables including water temperature and habitat types. The study highlights the importance of tributary connectivity and continuity to stream fish diversity in this area, indicating that restoration activities should preferentially recover the connectivity between upstream and downstream.Handling editor: M. Power

A new glyptosterniod catfish, Pareuchiloglanis hupingshanensis, is described on the basis of 29 specimens, which were collected from Hunan Hupingshan National Nature Reserve (HHNNR) in the Yangtze River basin, China. It can be distinguished from all congeners by morphology and sequences of the cytochrome b gene. Morphometric and molecular data show that the new species is closely related to P. sinensis Hora et Silas but differs from it in possessing a premaxillary tooth band with a deeper median indentation; a dentary tooth band which consists of two shorter and wider patches; a lower angle of gill opening, opposite to the base of the 4 th or 5 th (vs. second or third) branched pectoral-fin ray; an upper lip edged with dense papillae; the posterior end of the ventral fin falling distinctly short of (vs. almost reaching ) anus; a shorter dorsal fin; and a greater caudal-fin base depth.

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In order to understand the impact of human disturbance on butterfly diversity in the Hupingshan National Nature Reserve, we surveyed butterfly abundance in Hupingshan between 2017 and 2018, and analyzed human impacts in the region for the same time period. We compared differences in butterfly assemblages between three different levels of interference: non-interference, mild interference and medium interference. The results showed that of a total of 6,711 individuals observed, which belongs to 5 families, 19 subfamilies, 119 genera, 190 species represented. The highest species diversity was under mild interference, but the lowest diversity was under the medium interference. We conclude that small-scale farming-living environments are conducive to butterfly aggregations. If the existing level of human disturbance or the range of interference is increased, species represented in the butterfly community structure may decrease and the number of dominant species/groups may increase.

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