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Table of Content
    Volume 26 Issue 9
    20 September 2018
    The taxonomy keys have been compiled for the six orders and their constituent 47 families of the benthic groups of Polychaeta in the coastal waters of China (Ge et al, pages 998–1003 of this issue), and the work becomes a new important tool to the study of marine biodiversity in China. The picture shows species representing the six orders, the whole body (upper left 1) and enlarged head (lower left 1) of Onuphis eremita (Eunicida), the whole body (upper left 2) and enlarged head (lower left 2) of Serpula vermicularis (Sabellida), the whole bodies of Armandia intermedia (Scolecida, left 3), of Megelona japonica (Spionida, left 4), of Nereis grubei (Phyllodocida, upper right 1), and of Cirriformia filigera (Terebellida, lower right 1). (Designed by Meiling Ge and Xuelei Zhang)
      
    Original Papers: Plant Diversity
    Nine-year seed rain dynamics in Parashorea chinensis forest in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China
    Lina Dou, Wenfu Zhang, Xiaobao Deng, Min Cao, Yong Tang
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  919-930.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018101
    Abstract ( 1263 )   HTML ( 16 )   PDF (1281KB) ( 1136 )   English Version Save
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    Seed rain patterns are a crucial influence on plant regeneration. Although it is very challenging to understand the dynamics of seed rain, long-term monitoring of seeds can provide useful insights. In this study, we monitored seed rain patterns of forests dominated by Parashorea chinensis in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China for nine years. We recorded 8,993,224 seeds belonging to 226 species, between May 2008 and April 2017. We categorized seeds of 77 species as large, 61 species as medium, 72 species as small, 13 species as tiny, 1 species as infinitesimally grainy seed and 2 species as filamentous. More than 70% of all seeds belong to the top 10 dominant species. Seeds of all types showed pronounced inter-annual variation for both seed number and species number. At least one mast seeding was observed for each of the seed type during nine years.

    Optimized hot spot analysis for probability of species distribution under different spatial scales based on MaxEnt model: Manglietia insignis case
    Hongfei Zhuang, Yinbo Zhang, Wei Wang, Yueheng Ren, Fangzheng Liu, Jinhong Du, Yue Zhou
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  931-940.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018059
    Abstract ( 2042 )   HTML ( 64 )   PDF (3698KB) ( 1753 )   English Version Save
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    Whether a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model constructed at one spatial scale is representative of species distributions at other scales is an important issue in the application and development of these models. Using distribution data for Manglietia insignis, we used the minimum convex polygon (MCP) method to model species distribution for three spatial scales—Three Parallel Rivers, Yunnan Province and China—with a 20 km buffer outside the distribution region. We built the MaxEnt model for Three Parallel Rivers, Yunnan Province and China using 19, 67, and 88 presence-only records respectively and combined these with data on environmental factors at the point locations. We estimated the prediction accuracy of the MaxEnt model using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and omission rate (OR). Next, we used ArcGIS to analyze distribution trends for habitat suitability and potential hotspots. We identified the location of geometric centroid of potentially suitable areas using Zonal and used the Jackknife method to test the dominant environmental factors affecting the distribution of M. insignis. We found that the area under ROC curve (AUC value) for Three Parallel Rivers, Yunnan Province and China were 0.936, 0.887, and 0.930 respectively and OR values were 0.18, 0.15, and 0.20, indicating that MaxEnt model for all three spatial scales could successfully predict the distribution of M. insignis. Distribution trends of potential habitat suitability and habitat hotspots were consistent between different scales and were concentrated in the river basins of Dulong River, Nujiang River and Lancang River, with no significant zonal transfer for the location of geometric centroid. Different environmental factors affected the geographical distribution of M. insignis at the three spatial scales, suggesting scale dependence in the distribution patterns of M. insignis. In summary, this study indicates that MaxEnt model of M. insignis performs stably and successfully for different spatial scales. In addition, the consistency of results across spatial scales became more obvious for hotspots, indicating that hotspot analysis greatly reduced the effect of spatial scale for the MaxEnt model. Thus, we propose integrating MaxEnt model and hotspot analysis to simulate the geographical distributions of species.

    Original Papers: Animal Diversity
    Amphibian species richness patterns in karst regions in Southwest China and its environmental associations
    Bo Wang, Yong Huang, Jiatang Li, Qiang Dai, Yuezhao Wang, Daode Yang
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  941-950.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018125
    Abstract ( 1654 )   HTML ( 56 )   PDF (4193KB) ( 1355 )   English Version Save
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    Patterns in the distribution of species richness have always been a central theme in macroecology. The karst landforms in Southwest China (mainly Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces) are among the largest of the global biodiversity hotspots. In this study, we sought to understand spatial patterns of amphibian species richness and its relationship with environmental factors. We compiled a large dataset of 18,246 records of point location data for 219 amphibian species occurring in China. We retrieved this data from published literature, Herpetology museums of Chengdu Institute of Biology and Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Museum of Nature and the Central South University of Forestry and Technology, and published sources. We used this data to generate the potential distributions of each species using ecological niche modeling. We combined the potential distributions maps of all species into a composite map to describe species richness patterns on the grid cell of 10 km × 10 km, and then conducted multivariate regression and model selection. Our results showed that 12 species were distributed only in karst area, accounting for 5.48% of the total species pool, 104 species were found in non-karst area (47.49% of total species), and 103 species were found in both karst area and non-karst area (47.03% of total species). Based on the raw data of museum collections data and MaxEnt species distribution modeling, we found that amphibian species richness in the study area decreased at higher latitudes. Karst landforms and non-karst landforms differed in their distribution patterns of amphibian species richness (χ2 = 36.47, P < 0.0001), but the model was a poor fit to the data (McFadden’s Rho square = 0.0037). The most significant environmental predictors of species richness were mean annual rainfall (R2 = 0.232, P < 0.001) and precipitation of driest Month (R2 = 0.221, P < 0.001). The results based on model selection showed that underlying mechanisms related to landforms and different ecological hypotheses might simultaneously explain patterns of amphibian species richness in the study area. Future research should examine other biological factors such as interference, predation, and competition to understand the mechanisms controlling patterns of amphibian species richness.

    Distribution and habitat suitability assessment of the gaur Bos gaurus in China
    Chenchen Ding, Yiming Hu, Chunwang Li, Zhigang Jiang
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  951-961.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018012
    Abstract ( 3218 )   HTML ( 59 )   PDF (2067KB) ( 1201 )   English Version Save
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    Gaur (Bos gaurus) are found in the Yunnan Province and Zangnan in southern Tibet in China. We conducted two field surveys in Xishuangbanna, Pu’er and Mt. Gaoligongshan in Yunnan Province, from February to March and November to December in 2016. We collected 47 valid occurrence locations of gaur by combining survey data and records from literature. Our analysis suggests that there are 180-210 gaurs in the Yunnan Province which face a serious survival crisis. No gaur signs were found in Mt. Gaoligongshan. Next, we used MaxEnt models to predict the potentially suitable habitats for gaur. We grouped 14 habitat predictor variables into five classes—terrain, land cover type, human footprint index, the distance to water and road, as well as climatic factors, and determined the contribution of each habitat factor to habitat suitability for gaur. The accuracy of our prediction models was accessed by the area under the curve (AUC) values for a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The validation showed that the results had high average AUC value of 0.994. The simulated potential habitat was divided into four classes—the most suitable habitat, moderately suitable habitat, low suitability habitat, and unsuitable habitat. The most suitable habitats for gaur are mainly located in southern Yunnan and Zangnan and spanned 4,987 km² and 13,995 km² respectively. Habitats with moderate suitability (total area = 32,778 km²) were located in the marginal areas of the most suitable habitats and in the Mt. Gongligongshan area. The most suitable habitats were mixed with habitat patches of moderate and low suitability for gaur in the southern parts of Xishuangbanna. In contrast, the central and northern parts of the study area were classified entirely as low suitable habitats and unsuitable habitats. The results of a Jackknife test indicated that temperature seasonality and isothermality had the strongest influence on habitat suitability for gaur, whereas terrain factor and precipitation had little effect. Temperature difference, land cover type and human footprint index were the main variables that explained patterns of gaur distribution. The results of land cover classification (using remote sensing) showed that rubber plantations have fragmented the suitable habitat and reduced landscape connectivity for gaur. We recommend that the relevant management authorities should protect natural forests, control the development of rubber plantations and other agricultural development in habitats suitable for gaur, and improve landscape connectivity to restore gaur populations in the landscape.

    Original Papers: Microbial Diversity
    Assessing influence of simulated canopy nitrogen deposition and understory removal on soil microbial community structure in a Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation
    Xueming Lei, Fangfang Shen, Xuechen Lei, Wenfei Liu, Honglang Duan, Houbao Fan, Jianping Wu
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  962-971.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018033
    Abstract ( 1480 )   HTML ( 15 )   PDF (943KB) ( 994 )   Save
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    Soil microorganisms have been recognized as important decomposers that link above- and below-ground processes in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we conducted an experiment to assess the influence of canopy nitrogen deposition and understory removal in a Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation. The effects of four treatments, i.e. control (CK), understory removal (UR), nitrogen deposition (N) and nitrogen deposition plus understory removal (N × UR) on soil microbial community were investigated using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs). Soil samples (0-10 layer) were collected in April (spring) and October (autumn), 2016. Results showed that the total soil microbial PLFAs and the other groups (bacteria, fungi and actinomycete) of soil microbial PLFAs in autumn were significantly higher than those in spring, but fungi/bacteria ratio did not change significantly between two sampling seasons. Bacteria dominated among different PLFAs groups, followed by fungi and actinomycetes. Relative to CK treatment, UR treatment had slightly higher total PLFAs, bacterial PLFAs, gram negative bacterial PLFAs and actinomycetes PLFAs although not significant at 0.05 level. Shannon-Wiener and Pielou indices of UR, N and N × UR treatments decreased in April whereas Shannon-Wiener index was higher in October. Soil nitrate nitrogen and total phosphorus were significantly correlated with soil microbial community based on redundancy analysis. No significant effect of nitrogen deposition was observed probably due to the short period of study. But understory removal seems to promote the impact of nitrogen deposition. Seasonal variations were detected in this study suggesting that long-term experiments are required to explore the continuing effects of environmental changes on soil microbial communities and their functions.

    Reviews
    Status, issues and prospects of belowground biodiversity on the Tibetan alpine grassland
    Anrong Liu, Teng Yang, Wei Xu, Zijian Shangguan, Jinzhou Wang, Huiying Liu, Yu Shi, Haiyan Chu, Jin-Sheng He
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  972-987.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018119
    Abstract ( 2588 )   HTML ( 70 )   PDF (1376KB) ( 2011 )   Save
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    The diversity and abundance of below-ground microorganisms and animals play an important role in shaping above-ground biodiversity and helps maintain ecosystem function. Yet, we have a limited understanding of belowground biodiversity, e.g. its spatial/temporal patterns, driving factors and responses to global change and human activities. This knowledge gap is particularly acute for the Tibetan alpine grassland that is sensitive to climate change and occupies 60% of the area of the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we first review recent studies that reported the drivers of patterns in five major soil organism groups, including fungi, bacteria, archaea, nematodes and arthropods on Tibetan alpine grassland. We then focus on the responses of soil biodiversity to climate change and human activities. Finally, we highlight some open questions for future research of soil diversity on the Tibetan alpine grassland. Specifically, we recommend that future studies examine (1) The mechanisms underlying distribution patterns of belowground biodiversity; (2) Links between aboveground and belowground biodiversity; (3) Effects of belowground biodiversity on the health and functioning of ecosystems; (4) Manipulative experiments of belowground biodiversity.

    Designing leaf marginal shapes: Regulatory mechanisms of leaf serration or dissection
    Jinxiu Ke, Duo Chen, Yanping Guo
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  988-997.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018127
    Abstract ( 1812 )   HTML ( 24 )   PDF (892KB) ( 1772 )   Save
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    The mechanism of formation and evolution of phenotypic diversity is one of the key problems in biodiversity science because phenotype diversity is not only a marker of species diversity, but carries the designs adjusted to environments. Plant leaves exhibit a great deal of morphological variation. Such variation is attributed largely to changes of leaf marginal architecture. Leaf marginal shapes can be described as entire, serrate, lobed (varying in depth and patterns) and dissected (also referred to as compound leaf). The molecular mechanism controlling the development of leaf marginal shape has been intensively studied in Arabidopsis thaliana, Cardamine hirsuta, Solanum lycopersicum, and some other plants. Many important regulatory factors such as transcription factors, small RNAs and plant hormones have been found involved in the development of leaf serration or dissection. Among those factors, the transcription factor NAM/CUC, miR164 and auxin in the auxin efflux module play a central role through a feedback loop, and this regulatory module appears to be conserved across the eudicots; the transcription factors TCPs, SPLs and some other miRNAs also take part in the auxin efflux pathway. Transcription factors of the KNOX family play roles in the development of leaf lobes as well although most of the researches about KNOX genes have focused on their regulation of the morphogenesis of compound leaves. In addition, studies in Arabidopsis, Cardamine and other taxa of the Brassicaceae have shown that the gene RCO promotes the development of leaf dissection by repressing growth at the flanks of protrusions generated by CUC-auxin patterning. The present paper reviews the recent progress and integrate the major results of researches about the molecular mechanisms that underlie leaf serration or dissection. We hope this may provide reference for unraveling the morphogenetic origin of the spectacular diversity of leaf marginal shapes.

    Bioinventories
    Taxonomy at order and family levels of the benthic groups of Polychaeta in the coastal waters of China
    Meiling Ge, Qinzeng Xu, Shiliang Fan, Zongxing Wang, Xuelei Zhang
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  998-1003.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018093
    Abstract ( 1433 )   HTML ( 22 )   PDF (447KB) ( 1142 )   Save
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    Polychaeta is an important class of annelids and has important economic and ecological significance. The classification system of Polychaeta is being restructured and has undergone many changes. Based on previous results of cladistics analysis and volumes of Fauna Sinica, we collated keys to the orders and families of benthic groups of Polychaeta from the coastal waters of China. Referring to Rouse & Fauchald (1997) system, we sorted these benthic groups of Polychaeta into six orders, Scolecida, Spionida, Terebellida, Sabellida, Phyllodocida and Eunicida. We used existing work to compile the keys for the six orders and their constituent families. Finally, we reviewed domestic studies of coastal polychaetes and discussed the contribution of molecular studies to the development of Polychaeta phylogeny.

    A review and novel classification of Bunyavirales
    Shuang Tang, Shu Shen, Junming Shi, Yaohui Fang, Hualin Wang, Zhihong Hu, Fei Deng
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  1004-1015.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018042
    Abstract ( 4525 )   HTML ( 79 )   PDF (807KB) ( 2435 )   Save
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    Most members of the Bunyavirales could infect humans and animals and thus pose great potential threat to public health. According to the 10th Report on Virus Taxonomy released by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV, 2017), the taxonomy of Bunyaviruses has been updated. Based on the information of this report, we highlight the taxonomy of the new Bunyavirales and summarize the historical changes of ICTV classification of this virus, including classification, designation, typical species, genomic structures, encoding protein, major vectors and hosts, geographic distribution, and specific viral properties. In addition, based on the viral genome-encoded RdRp gene sequence, a phylogenetic analysis is performed for the all nine families and 13 genera as well as the representative species of Bunyavirales.

    Data Papers
    Community composition and spatial structure in the Badagongshan 25 ha Forest Dynamics Plot in Hunan Province
    Yunzhi Qin, Jiaxin Zhang, Jianming Liu, Mengting Liu, Dan Wan, Hao Wu, Yang Zhou, Hongjie Meng, Zhiqiang Xiao, Handong Huang, Yaozhan Xu, Zhijun Lu, Xiujuan Qiao, Mingxi Jiang
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  1016-1022.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018074
    Abstract ( 1537 )   HTML ( 78 )   PDF (746KB) ( 1186 )   English Version Save
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    Mount Badagongshan (BDGS) National Nature Reserve is located in the northern margin of Wuling Mountain, which harbor large areas of evergreen and deciduous broadleaved mixed forests. These forests have high species diversity and possess a complex community structure. In 2010-2011, a 25 ha (500 m × 500 m) forest dynamic plot was established in this reserve according to the standards of the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS). Within this plot, all woody plants with DBH ≥ 1 cm were mapped and identified to species level. Based on these data, we analyzed community composition and spatial structure of the vegetation community. We found 186,575 individuals in the plot, belonging to 53 families, 114 genera and 232 species. There were 38 species that had > 1,000 individuals each and these species comprised 87% of total abundance. The most abundant species was Litsea elongata. There were 103 rare species, i.e. with ≤ 25 individuals, which accounted for 44% of all woody species but only made up 0.4% of the total abundance. Across all individuals in the plot, the average DBH was 5.41 cm. Individuals with DBH ≤ 5 cm accounted for 68.4% of the overall abundance and the 7,474 individuals with DBH ≥ 20 cm accounted for only 4% of the overall abundance. The frequency distribution of DBH appeared to have a reverse “J” shape, suggesting that the community was maintaining successful regeneration and normal growth patterns. The number of species increased linearly with increasing area. When the sampling area was increased to 10 ha, we recorded 201 species, which represented more than 90% species of the entire plot. These 1-ha samples had average abundance of 7,261.8 ± 974.8 (SD), average species richness of 128.2 ± 8.2 (SD), average of 3.56 ± 0.11 (SD) for Shannon-Wiener index, and 1.69 ± 0.06 (SD) for Pielou evenness index. There was no significant relationship between abundance and the diversity indices, suggesting that instead of the sampling effect, some other mechanisms affected the species diversity pattern in BDGS plot.

    Spatial variations in species diversity of mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest community in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve
    Wei Lu, Jianping Yu, Haibao Ren, Xiangcheng Mi, Jianhua Chen, Keping Ma
    Biodiv Sci. 2018, 26 (9):  1023-1028.  doi:10.17520/biods.2018138
    Abstract ( 1444 )   HTML ( 50 )   PDF (1340KB) ( 1222 )   English Version Save
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    Many studies have examined the patterns and mechanisms underlying the structure of mid-subtropical forest community, but spatial variation in species diversity has rarely been investigated. We examined spatial variations in α- and β-diversity among and between 24 subplots of 1-ha each within the 24 ha forest dynamics plot in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve. We found that (1) the top two dominant species were the same for almost all the subplots, but the third dominants differed greatly; (2) α-diversity varied greatly among subplots: total number of individuals showed the largest differences, followed by species richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and Pielou evenness index; (3) species richness showed no correlation with total abundance and Pielou evenness index but was positively correlated with Shannon-Wiener index, which was positively correlated with Pielou evenness; (4) there was high species turnover between neighboring subplots, but these patterns were not consistent with the spatial variation in species richness. Our results highlight the importance of spatial scales for assessing community structure and mechanisms of community assembly. Since forest communities are influenced by ecological processes at multiple scales, large-scale plots may be better than small-scale plots to explore multiple mechanisms of community assembly.


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