Song Thanh Nature Reserve

Asia > Vietnam > Song Thanh Nature Reserve

Summary

• Northern yellow‐cheeked gibbons (Nomascus annamensis) are present in Song Thanh Nature Reserve.
• It has been estimated that 443 (95% CI, 278–707) groups occur in the site.
• The gibbon population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 765.93 km².
• Key threats to gibbons are illegal logging, agricultural expansion, and hunting.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

Song Thanh Nature Reserve is located in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam. The site is bordered by Highway 14D to the north, Highway AH17 to the south, Lao PDR to the west, and the Thanh river to the east (Van Tran & Tien Vu 2020). The forest cover is about 90% of the total area of the reserve. The topography of the area is complex, with altitudes ranging from 80 to 2,032 m above sea level (Van Tran & Tien Vu 2020). The reserve is a Key Biodiversity Area. Field surveys have documented 73 mammal species, 177 bird species, 118 reptile and amphibian species and 671 plant species at the site (USAID 2018). Species records include three mammals found only in this landscape; Owston’s civet, Chrotogale owstoni, the Annamite striped rabbit, Nesolagus timminsi, and the large-antlered muntjac, Muntiacus vuquangensis (USAID).

Table 1. Basic site information for Song Thanh Nature Reserve

Area	765.93 km²
Coordinates	15.546228 N, 107.482601 E
Designation	Nature Reserve
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

A 2019 survey determined a total suitable habitat for gibbons of 302.32 sq.km (Van Tran & Tien Vu 2020). The survey team detected 36 gibbon groups through field surveys and estimated 443 (95% CI, 278–707) gibbon groups in Song Thanh Nature Reserve. The results indicate that the gibbon population in Song Thanh Nature Reserve is the largest known population of N. annamensis in Vietnam (Van Tran & Tien Vu 2020). Furthermore, it was estimated that the total area of suitable habitat for the northern yellow‐cheeked gibbon was 302.32 km2, or 39.47% of the reserve's area (Van Tran & Tien Vu 2020).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Song Thanh Nature Reserve

Species	Year	Total number indiv. (95% CI)	Total number groups (95% CI)	Density ​​[groups/km²​] (95% CI)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Nomascus annamensis	2019		443 (95% CI, 278–707)	1.46 group/km2 (95% CI, 0.92–2.34)	Song Thanh Nature Reserve	Fixed-point triangulation	Van Tran & Tien Vu 2020

Threats

The density distribution of gibbons at the site has been shown to be influenced by the distance to villages (Van Tran & Tien Vu 2020). Local people depend heavily on forest resources. Activities such as illegal logging, wildlife trapping, shifting cultivation and wood collection are the main threats to wildlife in the reserve; especially hunting and trade of wildlife (Hoang et al. 2010).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Song Thanh Nature Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & urban areas	Present, but threat severity unknown		The density distribution of gibbons at the site has been shown to be influenced by the distance to villages (Van Tran & Tien Vu 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Medium		Shifting agriculture; slow but significant deterioration (KBA 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Low		Construction and upgrade of roads in the area (Hoang et al. 2010, KBA 2020).	Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		Hunting with snares (other animals are targeted) (Hoang et al. 2010, KBA 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present, but threat severity unknown	Between 2012 and 2016, Song Thanh NR has lost approximately 153 ha of forest cover, equivalent to 0.2% of the forest cover (USAID 2018).		Ongoing (2018)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Song Thanh Nature Reserve

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	Not reported
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	Not reported
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Song Thanh Nature Reserve

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Song Thanh Nature Reserve

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

Tran, D. V., & Vu, T. T. (2020). Combining species distribution modeling and distance sampling to assess wildlife population size: A case study with the northern yellow‐cheeked gibbon (Nomascus annamensis). American Journal of Primatology, 82(9), e23169.
USAID (2018). PA FACT SHEET SONG THANH NATURE RESERVE. Online: https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00TSDW.pdf
Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership (2020). Key Biodiversity Areas factsheet: Song Thanh. Extracted from the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. Developed by the Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership: BirdLife International, IUCN, American Bird Conservancy, Amphibian Survival Alliance, Conservation International, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Global Environment Facility, Global Wildlife Conservation, NatureServe, Rainforest Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, World Wildlife Fund and Wildlife Conservation Society. Downloaded from http://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/ on 14/12/2021.
Hoang, C., Trang, L., & Tinh, N. (2010). Technical Report on Wildlife hunting and Trading in Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. Interim report for phase 1 MacArthur foundation, Education for Nature, Ha Noi, Vietnam.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 29/12/2021