Aim: Alien plant invasion seriously threatens diversity of native plants and ecosystem function. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of plant invasion could help to prevent and control alien plant invasion.
Methods: In this study, we selected Ageratina adenophora, an invasive herb invaded in Pinus yunnanensis communities in Panxi region of China, as target species. Based on field investigation, we assessed the effects of environmental factors and community characteristics such as species diversity and phylogenetic diversity on the invasion of A. adenophora.
Results: We found that neither environmental factors (i.e. altitude, slope, and fire severity) nor biological factors (i.e. canopy closure and shrub coverage) have significant effect on the intensity of A. adenophora invasion. However, our results demonstrate that the invasion intensity of A. adenophora was significantly impacted by the species diversity of shrub layer (P < 0.05) and the net relatedness index of herb layer to A. adenophora (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The communities with higher species diversity of shrub layer and more closely related to A. adenophora of herb layer were less likely to be invaded, indicating that A. adenophora invasion could be inhibited by competition for light with shrubs, and also be inhibited by competition for nutrition and occupation with its closely relatives.

Aims: Species coexistence mechanisms and species abundance distribution patterns at different time and spatial scales have been and may continue to be key issues in community ecology, whereas species abundance distribution is one of the most powerful tools for understanding the mechanisms generating community structures and biodiversity patterns. Studying species abundance distribution patterns in different habitats of forest communities can help to reveal the mechanisms that drive the formation and maintenance of biodiversity. This study took desert riparian forest communities as the research object, and analyzed the difference of species abundance distribution patterns in different habitats, in order to understand the dominant ecological processes of species abundance distribution and reveal assembly mechanism of desert riparian forest communities in extreme arid areas.
Methods: We surveyed two 4-ha desert riparian forests with contrasting inundation regimes and soil properties. We then employed four statistical models (i.e., log-series model, log-normal model, Poisson lognormal distribution model and Weibull distribution model), two niche-based models (i.e., niche preemption model, broken stick model) and two neutrally-based models (i.e., metacommunity zero-sum multinomial distribution model, Volkov model) to fit observed patterns of species abundance distributions for the two communities. We used the K-S test and Akaike information criterion (AIC) to select the best fitting model.
Results: Our results showed that: (1) The species composition and species abundance differed significantly between the two desert riparian forest communities. In the less inundated and drier habitat, the species abundance distribution tended to have less interspecific variation, in addition to lower species diversity, abundance, forest cover, and fewer common species. (2) The statistical models and neutrally-based models performed better than the niche models in fitting species abundance distributions. The metacommunity zero-sum multinomial distribution model was the best-fitting model for the arid sandy habitat far from the river bank. The log-normal model and the Poisson lognormal model were the best-fitting models for the floodplain, whereas the neutral model (i.e., Volkov model) and the two aforementioned statistical models showed similar performance.
Conclusions: We therefore infer that a neutral process played a leading role in the assembly of the desert riparian forest communities. Since the species abundance distribution could be result of joint effect of multiple processes, we can not rule out the potential role of a niche-based process.

Aims: The adaptive significance of heterostyly is to improve the transfer of compatible pollen, so as to promote outcrossing. Nevertheless, many studies have found that a large number of incompatible pollens are deposited on the stigmas. At present, few studies have focused on whether the stigmas promote the compatible pollen germination and pollen tube elongation and provide evidences for the pollination accuracy hypothesis by emasculating intraflower and intraplant pollen.
Methods: Tirpitzia sinensis (Linaceae) was taken as materials, and the number of long-styled morph (L-morph) and short-styled morph (S-morph) of T. sinensis were investigated in the separate populations. The pollens and stigmas size of different morphs were measured and their surface ornamentations were observed. The viability of stigma and pollen of different flowering phases were measured. The percentage of different phenotypic pollens on the stigma were calculated. The percentage of compatible and incompatible pollens on the stigma were further calculated under intraflower, intraplant emasculation and natural control treatments. The pollen tube length and pollen germination rate of inter-morph, intra-morph and mixture pollination were measured. The heteromorphic self-incompatibility system was detected by artificial pollination treatments.
Results: There was no significant difference in the number of L-morph and S-morph of T. sinensis in the natural populations. The pollen volume of S-morph was significantly larger than that of L-morph, and the pollen surface ornamentations of the two morphs were different, but there were no significant different in the stigma surface areas and surface ornamentations of the two morphs. The pollen viability of the first flowering day was significantly higher than that of the second day, while the stigma viability had no significant difference in the first and second day of flowering. The percentage of incompatible pollen on stigma was significantly higher than that of compatible pollen in natural state. The intraflower and intraplant emasculation treatments significantly increased the percentage of compatible pollen deposition compared with the natural control in the L-morph of T. sinensis. Compared with inter-morph pollination treatment, the intra-morph pollination treatment could significantly reduce pollen germination rate and pollen tube length. Pollination treatments showed that T. sinensis was self- and intramorphic pollination incompatible.
Conclusions: These results indicate that the distyly improves pollination accuracy by promoting the compatible pollen germination and pollen tube elongation.

Aims: Herbarium specimens are important for taxonomic research. Analyses of these specimens are important for understanding their history, taxonomic status, and existing gaps in knowledge. In addition, such analyses allow for deeper insights into the distribution and classification of specific taxa using phylogenetic and niche modeling techniques. In most cases, identification of herbarium specimens is based on the reproductive traits. However, bamboo is a long-lived clonal plant that undergoes flowering followed by simultaneous death after a long-term growth period. As a result, most bamboo specimens only contain vegetative characters, and the information on reproductive traits remains sparse. As a result of this unique life history, bamboos are one of the most difficult taxa for taxonomic research. Here, we aim to examine the status of collection of bamboo herbarium specimens in China and document existing biases. Furthermore, we also aim to evaluate the main drivers for the distribution of the two major clades of bamboos (temperate woody bamboos, TWB; paleotropical woody bamboos, PWB).
Methods: Here, we used collection data from the major herbaria of China to analyze the current collection and preservation status of bamboo specimens. The completeness of the collection was evaluated by the ratio and slope methods with respect to geographical and group deviations. In combination with climate data from WorldClim, we used model simulations to identify the main factors affecting the distribution of bamboo.
Results: The results from the analysis on collection information indicate that there is a great unevenness in the collection and conservation of bamboo specimens in domestic herbaria. These aspects are highly dependent on the vigor of research teams. Second, variation in the collection of bamboo specimens is a clear reflection of the history of plant taxonomy research in China. Additionally, the results from the assessment of taxa and the completeness of geographic collection indicate that much work still remains for the collection and collation of bamboo specimens in China. The analysis of model simulations showed that the distribution of the two major clades of bamboos in China is mainly limited by a low temperature. Moisture had a greater effect on the distribution of TWB than on PWB, while the effect of temperature was higher for PWB. Results from niche modeling further indicate that the PWB and the TWB in China have diverged in area use with only some overlap in subtropical areas.
Conclusions: Our study highlights the geographic distribution and taxa collecting biases in herbarium specimens of bamboos in China, as well as the significance of climate variables for the distributions of temperate and paleotropical woody bamboos. Our findings also indicate some poorly sampled areas, which should be preferential targets for future biodiversity surveys. Furthermore, as millions of digitalized herbarium specimens become available online and will play an important role in revealing large-scale diversity patterns. Such effort can improve the forecasts of the impacts of climatic change on the biodiversity.

Aims: China has the largest historical distribution area and wild population of Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), which was once widespread, occurring in most provinces south of the Yangtze River in China. However, body parts of Chinese pangolin have been long considered as valuable materials of traditional Chinese medicine and there are also high demands for them as bush meat in the black market. Therefore, since the mid-20th century, wild pangolins in China have experienced dramatic range reduction and population decline due to high pressure of unsustainable, mostly illegal hunting. At present, Chinese pangolin has been recently uplisted as Class-I National Key Protected Wildlife in China and assessed as critically endangered (CR) in the IUCN Red List. As a widely distributed but elusive mammal species that inhabits in dense forests and is naturally at low density, Chinese pangolins are challenging wildlife for researchers to investigate. Therefore, there is an urgent need for researchers and conservationists to determine their distribution in the wild, which will provide fundamental bases for further research and conservation activities.
Methods: In this study, we conducted a comprehensive literature research on the occurrence records of Chinese pangolins between 2010 and 2020. We retrieved information from various sources on the time, location and type of record of each event, and generated the occurrence map and compared it with the historical range.
Results: Between 2010 and 2020, we identified 142 confirmed records of Chinese pangolins from 11 provincial administrative regions, mainly distributed in East China and Taiwan Island, with 67.6% of the occurrence sites were from three provinces (i.e., Taiwan, Zhejiang and Guangdong) across this region. When compared with its historical range, few field records were reported in Southwest and South China. However, during the past decade, the annual number of Chinese pangolins records has been gradually increasing, with 86% of found individuals being rescued, released on site or undisturbed.
Conclusions: These results indicated that wild populations of Chinese pangolin still persist in China, especially in East China and Taiwan Island. Public awareness of pangolin protection in recent years has been greatly improved. However, the existing surveys and data are insufficient to conduct comprehensive assessment of the status of pangolins in China, and there is an urgent need of field investigation, systematic monitoring and strengthened protection on these wild populations. The results of this study updated our knowledge on the distribution status of Chinese pangolins in China, and will provide essential baseline and information for future conservation planning and further study of this species.

Aims: Multiple interspecific factors such as predator-prey dynamics and responses to different environmental variables collectively influence the spatial distribution of wildlife species. To be able to understand how these mechanisms influence community aggregation and biodiversity stability, it is crucial to understand role these factors play in impacting the formation of spatial distribution patterns among sympatric species.
Methods: Here, we investigated the spatial distribution correlations and driving factors of three pheasant species commonly seen or surveyed on the Western Sichuan Plateau. We combined a total of 682 independent photos obtained from 84 infrared camera traps from 2016 to 2018 with conditional two-species occupancy model. We then used the model operation to assess the spatial distribution relations on the camera site scale. We used this model operation for each of the three pheasant species (the buff-throated partridge Tetraophasis szechenyii, blood pheasant Ithaginis cruentus, and the white eared-pheasant Crossoptilon crossoptilon) and their predator the red fox which can also be found over a wide area in the Western Sichuan Plateau.
Results: We had two major results from our analyses. First, under the synergic-influence of species interactions and environmental variables, the spatial distribution of the red fox and the blood pheasant (species interaction factor, SIF = 1.31 ± 0.14) was similar to that of the red fox and the buff-throated partridge (SIF = 1.42 ± 0.41). Both these pairs tended to have a great overlap within the study area. Additionally, the spatial distribution between the red fox and the blood pheasant would overlap in some large areas and then spatial distribution overlapped decreased with the increasing distance to rivers. The spatial relationship between the red fox and the buff-throated partridge were exhibited a different trend, which has been a consistently falling overlap ratio tendency since the distance from camera site to rivers began to increase. The red fox and the white eared-pheasant shared independent distribution patterns with each other (SIF = 1). Environmental variables were a strong predictor for the spatial distribution pattern of white-eared pheasants. However, environmental variables hardly had any impact on the distribution strategy for the red fox. The second major result was that the detection probabilities for all three pheasant species was associated with the synergic-influence of species interactions. The presence of red fox practically reduced the detection probability for all three pheasant species on the site scale (pB > rB).
Conclusion: Results from this experiment provide a new up to date case study (with solid scientific basis) that focused on species distribution relationships, and help us understand the importance of species coexistence and biodiversity conservation.

Aims: The distribution and abundance of stream fishes are influenced by historical events as well as abiotic and biotic factors. Due to the high spatial heterogeneity and temporal differentiation of stream environmental characteristics, the composition and abundance of stream fish communities vary on spatial and temporal scales. On this basis, longitudinal patterns in the diversity and distribution of stream fish along upstream-downstream gradients have garnered the widespread attention of ecologists. Previous studies relevant to the longitudinal patterns in stream fish diversity along the upstream-downstream gradient mostly focused on taxonomic α diversity, while taxonomic β diversity and functional diversity have been given less attention. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) determine the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on species composition of fishes by comparing diversity across three streams, and determine the key species contributing to the between-stream variation in fish assemblages; (2) examine the influences of anthropogenic disturbances on functional diversity, and examine if differences in functional diversity relate to α and β diversity; (3) to assess whether the between-stream variations in functional diversity show dependence on the spatial positions along the river continuum or not, and further assess the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on the longitudinal patterns in the functional α and β diversities of stream fishes.
Methods: In this study, we focused on the functional diversity of fishes, which is an effective measure for assessing the response of communities to environmental changes and predicting changes in ecosystem functioning. Using data collected in three headwater streams of the Qingyi River, China, that experience different extents of anthropogenic disturbances, we examined the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on the longitudinal patterns in the functional α and β diversities of streams fishes. We considered multiple metrics of the α diversity, including the functional richness, evenness and divergence, which measure different aspects of functional space and abundance distribution. This work also analyzed β diversity, including its turnover and nestedness components, which can provide additional insights into the processes of community changing.
Results: We found that in the less disturbed stream, functional richness increased but divergence decreased downstream, and functional β diversity decreased downstream. On the other hand, in heavily disturbed streams functional richness was higher in the upstream-midstream but lower in the downstream, and functional divergence decreased in the upstream-midstream and β diversity increased in the downstream. Anthropogenic disturbances significantly altered species compositions and functional diversity of fishes in the heavily disturbed streams, and the mode and degree to which functional diversity varied related to both the metrics of functional diversity and the spatial position along river continuum. As a result, anthropogenic disturbances caused a shift in the longitudinal patterns of functional diversity, from linear variation in less disturbed streams to unimodal distribution in heavily disturbed streams. Similarly, variations in the functional β diversity of fishes mainly occurred in the lower segments, but not in the upper segments, and were derived by the turnover component. We found anthropogenic disturbances caused the endemic species to be replaced by the native-invasive species. Heavy land use and polluting emission could increase the environmental discontinuity, leading to community turnover and nestedness changing. Although functional β diversity was dominated by the nestedness component, the proportion of the turnover component increased significantly compared with less disturbed streams.
Conclusion: Our results highlight the need for a multifaceted approach, including spatial scale and diversity metrics, in assessing the diversity changes of stream fishes under anthropogenic pressure.

Aim: The Sichuan Nuoshuihe Precious Aquatic Animal National Nature Reserve is located in upper reach of the Qujiang River, a tributary of the Jialing River, and is comprised of the Datong River and its tributary Xiaotong River. In order to understand the status of fish resources in the reserve, a comprehensive investigation was carried out across the rivers’ watersheds.
Methods: The investigation was implemented in November 2015; March, May, and September 2016; and January 2017 at a total of 30 sampling sites. It took one to three days at each sampling site for each survey to collect fish samples by using gill nets, ground cages, and small backpack electric fishing machines (approved by the Fishery Administrative Department).
Results: A total of 57 fish species belonging to 4 orders, 13 families and 45 genera were recorded in the reserve. Forty-seven species were collected during the survey, and the other 10 species were confirmed through fishermen. Among them, Procypris rabaudi is the second-class state key protected wildlife in China. Twelve of the fish species are endemic to the upper Yangtze River and three species are listed as vulnerable in Red List of China’s Vertebrates. The fish in the reserve are dominated by small-bodied species, of which Zacco platypus, Gnarhopogon herzensteini and Pseudobagrus truncatus are the most dominant species. It was shown that the diversity of the fish community in the reserve is rich, with Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Margalef richness index, Simpson dominance index and Pielou evenness index of 2.900, 5.198, 0.931 and 0.753, respectively. The Jaccard’s similarity coefficients showed high similarity of species composition between the Datong and Xiaotong rivers.
Conclusions: The similarity of fish communities between different reaches of the same river (the Datong River or Xiaotong River) showed negative correlation to their distance, and the reaches of the Datong River and Xiaotong River with similar elevation range showed high similarity of fish community. The decline of fish resources in the reserve was mainly caused by anthropogenic activities such as overfishing, habitats destruction and water pollution.

Aims: Gaoligong is located in northwest Yunnan, a mountainous biodiversity hotspot in Southwest China. In this region, insect diversity has not been systematically investigated or summarized.
Methods: We focused on investigating butterfly diversity using a 1-km transect method at different altitudes, habitats and seasons in Gaoligong region.
Results: A total of 2,055 butterflies were recorded, belonging to 5 families, 85 genera, and 151 species. Of these, 27 species were recorded for the first time, increasing the total number of recorded butterfly species in Gaoligong to 488 species. Among the five families, the Nymphalidae had the highest species diversity, followed by Lycaenidae, while Hesperiidae had the lowest. The species diversity of butterflies showed the greatest abundance and highest richness at the 1,000-2,000 m altitude. At low elevations species were concentrated, and there was little overlap of species with those at higher elevations. The species and individuals of butterflies in different habitats were also different, the diversity was higher in the nature reserve, followed by the ecotone, and was lowest in the farm area. Additionally, diversity and abundance varied seasonally, with the lowest abundance observed in spring and the lowest diversity in summer, both diversity and abundance were the highest in autumns of two years, but exhibited intra-seasonal variation. Overall, the community composition of butterflies had distinct characteristics at different altitudes, habitats and seasons, only a few species were shared between communities and the community similarity of butterflies was found to be low. The butterflies were comprehensively evaluated in Gaoligong region, including 17 vulnerable species, 50 near-threatened species, and 3 species that were listed as second class protection animals in China.
Conclusion: This study systematically identified the species of butterflies in Gaoligong region, and obtained the diversity pattern of butterfly communities within different altitudes, habitats and seasons. The results will provide the scientific basis for strengthening regional species monitoring and biodiversity conservation.

Aim: Plant specimen collections are important for botany research and closely related with plant introductions. Studies show that American plant collectors had collected plants extensively worldwide, especially in China since the 19th century. Because of the ornamental value, cultural connotation, economic significance and ecological benefits, bamboo has become important for American plant collectors in China. Thus, it is essential to study the history of bamboo specimen collection in China by American plant collectors to understand the history of bamboo introduction in the United States from China.
Methods: In this study, we collected raw data with bamboo names, collector names, collection locations and dates from herbarium specimens. We corrected the scientific names of bamboo collected in China, reinvestigated the collection locations, collectors, and collection dates with the goal of investigating the history of bamboo specimens collected in China by American plant collectors.
Results: From 1840 to 2010, a total of 2,238 sheets and 960 numbers of bamboo specimens were collected in China, belonging to 25 genera (accounting for 73.5% of the genera in China) and 120 species (22.5% of the species in China, including several varieties and forms). These specimens were collected by 45 collectors and collection teams and were predominantly from 20 provincial administrative regions. Among the collectors, McClure was the most important one for bamboo specimen collection. This research spanned approximately 170 years, with the majority of research taking place in the first half of the 20th century.
Conclusions: This study objectively reviewed the history of bamboo specimens collected by American plant collectors in China and analyzed the relevant genera, species, collectors, collection locations, collection times, historical background, and contributions from expeditions and collections. The collection history of bamboo specimens show that American plant collectors have made remarkable achievements in bamboo collection from China. The investigation and collection of Chinese bamboo by American plant collectors promoted several applications for bamboo in the United States. First, bamboo was found to be an excellent ornamental and economic plant species. Second, there was an increased promotion for the development of bamboo taxonomy research. Third, there was a facilitation for the introduction and spread of Chinese bamboos to the United States. We suggest that the following work needs to be done for future studies: (1) research on the history of other plant expeditions, collections, and introductions from other Western countries’ collectors, such as British, French, and German collectors; (2) research on plant collections and introductions from foreign countries into China.

Aim: Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) are one of the numerically dominant reef fish families. The taxonomy of cardinalfish genus Jaydia in China was unclear for a long time. This study aims to revise the the taxonomy of the genus from China.
Methods: The taxonomic revision was based on comprehensive examination of specimens and review of literatures. Jaydia sp. was distinguished from J. smithi by molecular comparison.
Results: Eight species were identified morphologically, including Jaydia carinata (Cuvier, 1828), J. lineata (Temminck & Schlege, 1842), J. novaeguineae (Valenciennes, 1832), J. poeciloptera (Cuvier, 1828), J. smithi Kotthaus 1970, J. striata (Smith & Radcliffe, 1912), J. striatodes (Gon, 1997), J. truncata (Bleeker, 1854). But J. tchefouensis was not found from China seas. The results of molecular analysis of J. smithi showed the Chinese population and the Mediterranean population formed two exclusive lineages which have obvious interspecific-level mean genetic distance (0.044). The previously recorded species from China, J. ellioti, J. arafurae, J. albomarginata, and J. smithi, should be revised as J. truncata, J. poeciloptera, J. novaeguineae, and Jaydia sp., respectively. Jaydia tchefouensis may be a junior synonym of J. lineata. The synonyms, distribution, morphological diagnosis and description, and a key to species were provided. The taxonomic problems were also discussed.
Conclusion: Nine Jaydia species were recognized from China. Our results will promote the taxonomic study of family Apogonidae.

Background & Aims: Pollinators are declining worldwide and there is a global concern about how to conserve pollination services of agroforestry ecosystems. In theory, the pollination services are determined not only by the level of pollinator diversity but also by the adaptive capability of pollinator communities against disturbances. Recently, researchers have realized the importance of ecological resilience of pollination; nevertheless, the concept of ecological resilience of pollination is not clear and it is often misapplied to other ecological processes, like engineering resilience, resistance, and stability.
Objectives: This study explains the concept and content of ecological resilience of pollination and discusses the differences from other similar ecological processes. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms driving the ecological resilience of pollination are reviewed and the hypotheses explaining ecological resilience of pollination are summarized. The ecological importance of ecological resilience of pollination is addressed in terms of managing pollination functioning of agricultural ecosystems.
Progresses: Ecosystems under outer disturbances can absorb the disturbances by reorganizing the inner structures or components to let the ecosystem functioning remain unchanged or at an acceptable level. Reorganization of the pollinator communities under disturbances drives the occurrence of ecological resilience of pollination. Functional redundancy, density compensation, response diversity, interaction turnover, and cross-scale resilience are the five hypotheses explaining the ecological resilience of pollination, but they are often used imprecisely and incorrectly. We state that the five hypotheses are different but internally interlinked, explaining the ecological resilience of pollination at different spatial scales. From functional redundancy, density compensation, response diversity, interaction turnover to cross-scale resilience, the five hypotheses explain the ecological resilience of pollination ranging from small to large scales and from simple to complex ecosystems. Moreover, the hypothesis running at a relatively large spatial scale (e.g. cross-scale resilience) can be applied to explain the hypothesis at a relatively small scale (e.g. functional redundancy and density compensation). For each hypothesis, a conceptual diagram is presented to illustrate how pollinators reorganize their communities to enhance the ecological resilience of pollination. The experimental evidences to support the five hypotheses are still in shortage, particularly for interaction turnover hypothesis and the cross-scale resilience hypothesis. Nowadays, few studies have explored the pollination functioning of ecosystems by methods integrating the five hypotheses. Moreover, the relationships among the five hypotheses are not tested empirically by field study, either. Therefore, more field evidences are expected to support those hypotheses.
Perspectives: The ecological resilience of pollination is always measured using biodiversity indexes, such as species richness and Simpson diversity. Since ecological resilience of pollination is a measurement of ecosystem functioning, we suggest that its indictor need to integrate pollination functioning, such as pollen grains deposited on stigma surfaces, initial fruit sets and finial fruit sets. Future research also should examine how the disturbance intensification influences the ecological resilience of pollination and when the ecological resilience of pollination occurs. Moreover, the five hypotheses should be tested empirically and their relationships need to be explored. With the development of knowledge on ecological resilience of pollination, researchers can apply those theories to manage the agricultural ecosystems. For example, the ecological resilience of pollination can guide the researchers to determine when and how to provide the managed pollinators (e.g. honey bees) to safeguard the pollination functioning of ecosystems.

Background & Aims: Spore plants, as an important food source for terrestrial animal, play a vital role in maintaining the subtle balance of the earth’s ecological system. Animals and spore plants may also together form an interaction system similar to the network of zoochorous seed dispersal. Therefore, the effect of animals on spore plant propagules dispersal has been receiving increasing attention. Here, we summarize that (1) the adaptation of spore plants to dispersal by animals. On the one hand, spore plants can provide food, shelters and breeding sites for animals; on the other hand, spore plants can also produce visual and/or olfactory cues and so on to attract animals in order to increase their propagule dispersal. (2) the two zoochorous dispersal patterns of spore plants that can effectively disperse propagules of spore plants, namely endozoochory (through the digestive tract and parasitism) and epizoochory. Due to the different morphological characteristics and life habits between animals, the distance of dispersal is also different, with the shortest distance of 0.1 cm and the longest distance from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere. (3) The ecological and evolutionary meanings of zoochorous dispersal of spore plants. For some spore plant propagules, due to their special structural characteristics or particular need for germination, the propagules can only be dispersed by specific animals, which leads to an inseparable relationship between such animals and spore plants.
At present, few studies in this field have been conducted in China. The researches on spore plant dispersal in other countries are mainly descriptive, most of which are independent pattern on spore plant dispersal.
Prospects: We propose that more consideration should be given to the multi-pattern dispersal and mutualistic relationship between animals and spore plants in future studies, as well as the formation, maintenance mechanism and future evolutionary trends of spore plant-animal relationships.