In recent years the B biotype of Bemisia tabaci has been an invasive insect in China. To elucidate its potential to replace a non-B biotype of B. tabaci, native to Zhejiang, China, we reared both biotypes on various host plants in a series of laboratory experiments to observe the changes in their relative proportions. On cotton, when the two biotypes began competition in equal numbers, the non-B biotype was completely displaced by the B biotype after six generations, whereas on squash, the non-B biotype was completely dis-placed by the B biotype after only two generations. Even when the competition started with 87% of non-B biotype and 13% of B biotype in numbers, the non-B biotype was completely displaced in 225 days. The re-sults showed that the invasive B biotype has the capacity to displace the non-B biotype in a short period of time. A preliminary analysis indicates that, apart from the advantage of a wider host range of the B biotype over that of non-B biotypes, a stronger innate capacity for competition is another important factor in the suc-cessful invasion of the B biotype and its displacement of the native biotype.

From June 2001 to October 2002, we investigated soil fauna in the loess soil croplands of Shaanxi Province under different fertilizer treatments. Based on a long-term fertilization experiment, we studied the effects of six types of treatments on soil fauna, including non-fertilizer (CK), abandonment (ABAND), N, P and K fertilizer combined (NPK), straw and NPK combined (SNPK), organic material and NPK combined（MNPK）, and 1.5 times of MNPK(1.5MNPK). Seventy-two soil samples were collected and 5495 soil fauna individuals were obtained by hand-sorting and the Cobb methods, belonging to 6 phyla, 11 classes, 22 orders, 61 families, 2 subfamilies, and 35 genera. The result showed that the number of individuals and groups of soil macrofauna reached their peaks in 1.5MNPK and SNPK treatment，respectively, while mesofauna peaked in SNPK and microfauna in 1.5MNPK treatments. Of the six treatments, the largest abundance of the dominant faunal group occurred in the NPK plot, the largest abundance of the most com-mon groups was in the CK plot, and the largest abundance of rare groups was found in the 1.5MNPK plot. Similarity coefficients were generally low among the soil fauna in the six treatments, especially that of the macrofauna between ABAND and other treatments, and that of mesofauna and microfauna between non-fertilizer treatment and other treatments. The results indicate that the soil fauna community was affected by different fertilizers.

From October to November, 2004, we investigated eight soil macrofauna communities from urban greenbelts at Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province. We found a total of 1231 soil macrofauna individuals, belonging to 20 orders, 8 classes, and 3 phyla. The dominant orders were Plesiopora, Hymenoptera, Diplura, and Araneida, while the frequent orders were Lumbricida, Isopoda, Stylommatophora, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Homoptera, and others were rare orders. The compositions and the quantities of soil macrofauna communities differed in different habitats. We found that the complexity index of community (C) was better than the Shannon-Wiener index (H′) in indicating the complexity and diversity of the communities, and it could adjust for the influence of the number of individuals. The vertical distribution of soil macrofauna showed obvious surface assembly phenomenon. Using the hierarchical cluster and non-matric multi-dimentional scaling methods, the eight communities were classified into six groups: the turf group, grassland group, new turf group, man-made hurst with herbage group, man-made hurst without herbage group, and suburban shrubbery group. The hierarchical cluster and the non-matric multi-dimentional scaling ordination are suitable for analyzing biodiversity differences among soil fauna communities.

More and more continuous forests become fragmented because of natural events and human disturbance. This change will affect the distribution patterns and behavior characteristics of animals living in forests. Using point count methods, we investigated bird species diversity and individual density in 18 forest fragments (area: 4.3 to 76.9 hm2) in Zuojia Nature Reserve, Jilin Province during the spring and summer of 2000 and 2001. The main objectives of this research were to assess whether there exist area effects affecting bird species diversity and individual density in a fragmented forest. There was no significant difference of indices of bird diversity between the two years. However, the individual density of birds differed signifi-cantly in the two years. Our results also indicated that there were significant differences in bird diversity among forest patches, with the number of bird species ranging from 12 to 43. Although several large forest patches contained relatively fewer bird species, the bird species tended to increase with size of forest patch. Different bird species respond to forest patch size differently. White-checked starling (Sturnus cineraceus), brown shrike (Lanius cristatus) and black-faced bunting (Embriza spodocephala) preferred small patches, whereas forest wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus), olive-backed pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) and grey-backed thrush (Turdus hortulorum) rarely occurred in small patches. Basically, the relationship between area size and species number was in accordance with the classical theory of island biogeography, but the Z and C values were very different from those predicted. We found a threshold phenomenon in the relationship between patch area and number of bird species such that the number of bird species did not change significantly when the patch size was greater than 30 hm2. Thus, it is not suitable to use the classical theory of island biogeog-raphy directly to predict species diversity or for designing nature reserves for a fragmented forest landscapes.

Przewalski’s gazelle (Procapra przewalskii), a rare, endangered and endemic animal in China, was once distributed in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai. The distribution of the gazelles is now restricted to the region around Qinghai Lake. Based on field investigations in different seasons from 2002 to 2004, we assessed habitat suitability of Przewalski’s gazelle in the Hudong-Ketu region, a key distribution area of the gazelles. Food richness, slope aspect, shelter condition and human activities were selected as factors for habitat suitability assessment, and the habitat evaluation procedure for the assessment was conducted by GIS. The result showed that, in the absence of human activities, the area of less suitable and suitable habitats were 2493.76 hm2 and 18 624.06 hm2, accounting for 8.05% and 60.15% of the total area investigated, respectively. In the presence of impacts of human activities, less suitable habitat and suitable habitat decreased by 33.09% and 5.81%, respectively, while the area of unsuitable habitat increased by 38.90%. Because residential areas, roads and pasture fences have a strong impact on the habitat of the gazelles, Przewalski’s gazelles are confronted with habitat loss, iso-lation and fragmentation. The suitable habitat of the Przewalski’s gazelle is not included in the core zone of the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve. We suggest adjusting the present nature reserve and establishing a habitat corridor by removing fences in some key areas to protect the habitat and to accel-erate population growth of the gazelle.

Ancient tea gardens in Lancang County, Yunnan Province are regarded as the provenance of the well-known Pu’er Tea. The ancient tea garden ecosystem is a typical example for the integration of conser-vation and utilization of natural resources. In order to understand its role in biodiversity conservation, we conducted field surveys in 78 sample plots of 20 m×20 m, and surveyed 360 households using house-hold-based agrobiodiversity assessment(HH-ABA) in two neighboring administrative villages, Mangjing and Jingmai, of Lancang County. The results showed that (1) the geobotanical components of Jingmai and Mang-jing areas are of obviously tropical characteristics; (2) a large number of important species, including five endangered, seven vulnerable and three rare, are well protected in the ancient tea gardens. Among them, 11 species are listed in Category III of the State Protection List; (3) the plant diversity of ancient tea gardens is slightly lower than that of natural forests but much higher than that of normal tea gardens; (4) the life forms of plant species in the ancient tea gardens are as follows: herbs> arbors> shrubs> vines>epiphytes (including parasites). Compared to natural forests, there are less arbors and shrubs and more herbs and epiphytes (in-cluding parasites) in the ancient tea gardens; (5) the analysis of agrobiodiversity revealed that there existed differences in species richness and resource utilization extent from different villages. The average species richness index in the 6 villages is 0.059, which is higher than that of upland rice field and rubber plantation at the same latitude. The ancient tea gardens in this area play important roles in maintaining biodiversity. We suggest that local peoples’ knowledge and experiences on resource management should be well documented and encouraged, and effective conservation and reasonable utilization of ancient tea gardens would be achieved through training and demonstration with the participation of the local government, research insti-tutions and farmers.

A total of 30 hypovirus isolates (CHV1) of Cryphonectria parasitica from China, Japan, and Italy were analyzed by partial nucleotide measurement for ORF A in the virus genome to reveal the origin of CHV1 in Europe. By partial nucleotide measurement, these viruses can be divided into 29 different haplotypes, which group into three subtypes. The viruses from China belong to subtypesⅠand Ⅲ, whereas the viruses from Japan belong to subtype Ⅱ except for Ja55 of subtype Ⅲ, and the viruses from Italy were of subtype Ⅲ except for IT192 belonging to subtypeⅠ. SubtypesⅠand Ⅲ are widely distributed in China whereas in Europe only one subtype is spread widely. SubtypeⅠviruses in southern China are bounded by the Yangtze River except isolates 09228 and 09235 from Beijing and 09277 from Liaoning Province, whereas subtype Ⅲ viruses occurred in northern China except for isolate 09344 from Hunan Province. The results suggest that gene flow occurred among the hypovirus populations and also revealed greater diversity in CHV1 populations from China than in those from Japan and Italy.

A survey of the freshwater turtle trade in Hainan was conducted during 2002–2004. The results show that trade in wild turtles occurs in all cities and counties of Hainan. A total of 22 markets selling turtles were found, accounting for 19.6% of the total markets investigated and trade in wild turtles was found to exist in 64 towns, accounting for 65.3% of the total towns investigated. A total of 103 wild turtle purchasing stations were discovered, comprising 489 wild individuals and 10 local species (more than 90% of Hainan’s freshwater turtle species). Of the 10 turtle species, 3 are designated as grade II key state-protected species and 6 listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). According to the China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals: Amphibia and Reptilia, 1 is critically en-dangered, 8 endangered and 1 vulnerable in China. According to the number of individuals found in this survey, Pyxidea mouhotii, Cuora galbinifrons, Sacalia quadriocellata, Ocadia sinensis are relatively abun-dant; Platysternon megacephalum, Geoemyda spengleri, Pelodiscus sinensis are rare; Cuora trifasciata, Mauremys mutica, and Palea steindachneri are critically rare. The market prices of these turtle species vary widely, ranging from RMB80–120 per kilogram in S. quadriocellata to RMB18 000–36 000 per kilogram in C. trifasciata. From 2002 to 2004, the prices have risen to a varying degree. This study shows that the wild turtle trade is widespread in Hainan. The demand of the trade has led to over-collecting, which is the larg-est threat to the freshwater turtles of Hainan. Here the status, reasons, and negative impacts of wild turtle trade are discussed and possible suggestions for effective management and conservation are presented.

We investigated the changes in the community structure of Cladocera before and after dredging in West Lake, Hangzhou, including their abundance, biomass, diversity, and dominant species. Samples were collected at four sampling stations (fromⅠto Ⅳ) in West Lake before dredging(in 1995) and after dredg-ing(in 2003), and regression analyses between biomass of Cladocera and water quality parameters were conducted. The result showed that from 1995 to 2003, the annual average density of Cladocera increased from 1.86 individuals/L to 4.53 individuals/L , while the biomass increased from 0.051 mg/L to 0.093 mg/L ; however, Margalef biodiversity indices decreased from 10.39 to 4.33. Some small-sized species, such as Bosmina longirostris, Bosminopsis deitersi,and Moina micrura, increased in abundance, whereas Diaphano-soma leuchtenbergianum, the previous dominant species, was replaced by Bosmina longirostris at Station Ⅰand by Moina micrura at Station Ⅲ. The annual average biomass of Cladocera was negatively correlated with Chlorophyll-a (R2= 0.7102, P<0.01), total phosphorus (R2= 0.5276, P<0.01) and pH values, but posi-tively correlated with water transparency at all stations. Diaphanosoma leuchtenbergianum, Bosmina longi-rostris and Bosminopsis deitersi were more abundant at StationⅠwith lower trophic level, whereas Moina micrura was more abundant at Stations Ⅱ, III and Ⅳ with higher trophic level, indicating that differencesin trophic levels are responsible for the heterogeneous distribution of Cladocera in West Lake.

China has rich terrestrial orchid resources, with the number of terrestrial orchid species equal nearly to that of epiphytic orchids. From a conservation perspective, the Chinese terrestrial orchids deserve considerable attention. Considering the huge areas of the temperate zone and alpine mountains of China, where most terrestrial orchids are distributed, and the different abundance of terrestrial orchids in different areas and different habitats, it is important to identify “hotspots” for the conservation of the Chinese terrestrial orchids. Huanglong Valley, at an elevation of 3100-3569 m and only 3.5 km long, is the main landscape feature of Huanglong Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China. It is also the largest travertine region in the world. In this narrow valley rich terrestrial orchid diversity was found: a total of 30 orchid species in 19 genera were found in the valley, all of which were terrestrial orchids, including 4 saprophytic orchids. These orchids grew in two different habitats: one was open shrub and forest margin with travertine stream flows, where 20 orchid species occurred; another was relatively dense mixed coniferous broad-leaved forest without water flows, where 10 orchid species were found. Cypripedium flavum, C. tibeticum, C. bardolphianu, Orchis chusua, O. diantha and Calanthe delavayi were the main orchid species found in Huanglong Valley with abundant indi-viduals. The florescence times of these terrestrial orchids overlapped because of the short growing season of the alpine mountains. However, there were rich intraspecific variations in floral morphology in some orchid species. Huanglong Valley could be considered one of the terrestrial orchid “hotspots” in China, and even in the world. We believe our study results could supply basic data for generating specific management strate-gies, long-term monitoring and study of terrestrial orchids in Huanglong Valley.

There are eight species in the genus Phacellaria, six of which are distributed in tropical and subtropical mountain areas of South and Southwest China. The species belonging to this genus are obligate holoparasites on the plants of Loranthaceae and Dendrotrophe (Santalaceae). Based on previously collected specimens, documents and field investigation, we found that Phacellaria is becoming more and more vulnerable, and is well on its way to becoming endangered in the near future. The main factors contributing to the growing vulnerability of Phacellaria species are: (1) deforestation resulting in a dramatic decline in the population density of the hosts of Phacellaria, and (2) the decrease in number of Dicaeum spp., the small birds who disperse seeds of Phacellaria, due to habitat loss and capture for the pet trade. We suggest two solutions to this dilemma. The first is to recover the previously damaged ecosystems of Phacellaria and Dicaeum spp., and the second is to enhance research on the biological characters of Phacellaria species.

Plant community dynamics, such as renewal, fluctuation, succession and evolution, is central in the ecology of plant communities. Ecological modeling is an effective analytical tool for description of community dynamics and understanding of the mechanism of community establishment and maintenance. Here we introduce four typical conceptual models of dynamics of plant communities and their mechanisms, the mosaic-cycle model, the carousel model, the guild-proportionality model and the space-preemption model. These are compared in relation to pattern and process of communities and their spatial characteristics are discussed. Among them, only the mosaic-cycle model accounts for the effect of vegetation spatial com-bination between adjacent patches of plant communities. None of the models consider effects of natural disturbance and human disturbance on plant communities. To a certain extent, they all need to be improved for a general model for analyzing community dynamics. Three challenging directions of future research and one practical implication of community dynamics theory are put forward: (1) improvement of the ability to evaluate the relative importance of controlling processes at all spatial scales and to integrate knowledge about their complex interactions into dynamic models, (2) better assessment of the real importance of spatial configuration of natural environmental conditions and biological colonies in the dynamics of terrestrial plant communities, (3) recognition of the integration of natural and cultural processes in the development of dy-namics of plant communities and the mutual independence between the two kinds of disturbance processes, and (4) the emphasis on application of plant community dynamics models to restoration and reconstruction of degraded ecosystem. These insights are expected to provide a sound scientific foundation for the realization of the transformation from qualitative conceptual models to general theoretical models.