An inventory of vascular plants in a region is of great significance for regional plant diversity conservation and sustainable utilization of plant resources. Beijing is the capital of China, where the inventory work has been carried out early since the 1960s, but it has not been systematically updated in the past three decades. Currently, the existing data is outdated, scattered and unsystematic, and the inventory progress has even fell behind the neighbouring areas of Beijing. Based on the inventory of vascular plants from the Flora of Beijing (1992 Revised Edition) and combined with the field survey from many years, we have composed a dataset on new inventory and geographical distributions of vascular plants in Beijing (including two sheets for native plants and introduced plants, the latter is incomplete currently), by supplementing with new taxa, new records and new distributions from comprehensive literatures, revising the scientific names (based on the new revision of classification), updating the classification systems (using those based on molecular data), and also adding some related information such as taxon rank, distribution status, growth status, outdoor/indoor, distribution areas, knowledge degree and conservation status. Up to December 31, 2021, the dataset has a total of 2,883 data items, with 1,680 items for native plants and 1,203 for introduced plants. There are 134 families, 611 genera, 1,597 taxa (1,440 species 3 natural hybrids 46 subspecies 97 varieties and 11 forms) of native wild vascular plants in Beijing, and totally 3 families, 26 genera, 173 species 4 subspecies 28 varieties and 11 forms should be supplemented to the last version of Flora of Beijing. The Beijing native wild plants included in the ‘List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (2021)’ have only been counted for 16 species (only 1 at the first class, others all at the second class). There are also 90 species 3 subspecies and 4 varieties included in the ‘List of Beijing Key Protected Wild Plants (2008)’. On introduced plants, so far 137 families, 581 genera and 1,184 taxa (992 species and other infraspecific taxa) are counted, including many cultivated plants (854 species 19 hybrids 15 subspecies 29 varieties 2 forms 87 cultivars 38 cultivar groups). There are still escape plants (132 species 1 subspecies), naturalized plants (77 species 2 varieties), and invasive plants (27 species) in Beijing. The dataset shows that the diversity of native wild vascular plants in Beijing is generally not very abundant, mainly dominated by widely distributed common species, and lacking endemic species, narrow-range species, or rare and endangered species; meanwhile, there are a large number of introduced plants in Beijing. Even many have long been recorded in the versions of Flora of Beijing but they are also an important part of the diversity of vascular plants in Beijing, although they also bring some confusion and uncertainty to the analysis of it due to the incomplete data.

Background & Aims: Plant names are the basic elements for the activities of botanical research and utilization by human. The change of the plant names could be resulted in a barrier among different fields, and the wrong identification or misuse of plant names could bring with inconveniences or even damages. As the capital of China, Beijing has higher requirements for the the standard and capacity on managing plant diversity information changes under the situation of biodiversity conservation and ecological civilization construction. It is very important for botanists, horticulturalists and practitioners in plant-related industries to update the changes of plant names and their processes in a timely and accurate manner.
Method: Based on various reports of vascular plants in Beijing in the past 30 years (from 1992 through 2021), both journals and books published during this period, including new taxa, new records and new distribution, we updated vascular plants of Flora of Beijing (1992 Revised Edition).
Results: In total, from 1992 through 2021, the vascular plants of Beijing have been added by 34 new taxa, 175 new records, 509 new synonyms, 49 wrong identifications as well as 50 unsure taxa.
Conclusion: The great changes have taken place in the vascular plants of Beijing in the past 30 years. This update could be used as an important reference for monitoring and conservation of vascular plant diversity in Beijing.

Aims: In order to provide background information for the conservation of plant diversity in Liaoning Province, to more precisely assess plant endangerment and conservation levels, and to better provide reliable basic data for agronomy, forestry, ecology, and systematics research, this paper is the first to summarize and catalog the higher plants found in Liaoning for several generations, including bryophytes and vascular plants.
Methods: The bryophytes catalog was based on the officially published literature and specimens collected from Liaoning Province which were deposited in the Herbarium of Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The vascular plants’ catalog was based on the first-hand data of field surveys, reliable literature, peer communication, plant hobbyists’ communication and specimens.
Results: A total of 3,241 species, 73 subspecies, 447 varieties and 119 forms belonging to 254 families and 1,176 genera were included in the catalog process. All bryophytes were native wild plants and were first listed in Liaoning Province including 491 species, 4 subspecies and 7 varieties belonging to 83 families and 205 genera. Among them, 373 species, 1 subspecies and 5 varieties belonging to 52 families and 156 genera of mosses, 114 species, 3 subspecies and 2 varieties belonging to 29 families and 46 genera of liverworts, and 4 species belonging to 2 families and 3 genera of hornworts. The updated catalog of the vascular plants included a total of 2,750 species, 69 subspecies, 440 varieties and 119 forms belonging to 171 families and 971 genera. Among them, 13 species belonging to 2 families and 3 genera of lycophytes, 83 species, 2 subspecies and 7 varieties belonging to 17 families and 39 genera of ferns, 47 species, 1 subspecies, 13 varieties and 2 forms belonging to 5 families and 19 genera of gymnosperms and 2,607 species, 66 subspecies, 420 varieties and 117 forms belonging to 147 families and 910 genera of angiosperms. In addition, among the vascular plants, 2,077 species, 62 subspecies, 378 varieties and 93 forms belonging to 149 families and 741 genera of wild species (13 species belonging to 2 families and 3 genera of lycophytes, 83 species, 2 subspecies and 7 varieties belonging to 17 families and 39 genera of ferns, 12 species, 6 varieties and 1 form belonging to 4 families and 8 genera of gymnosperms, and 1,969 species, 60 subspecies, 365 varieties and 92 forms belonging to 145 families and 133 genera of angiosperms). Included in this are 673 species, 7 subspecies, 62 varieties and 26 forms belonging to 104 families and 390 genera of cultivated species (35 species, 1subspecies, 7 varieties and 1 form belonging to 5 families and 17 genera of gymnosperms and 638 species, 6 subspecies, 55 varieties and 25 forms belonging to 99 families and 373 genera of angiosperms). 2,235 species, 65 subspecies, 421 varieties and 116 forms belonging to 158 families and 796 genera of native species (13 species belonging to 2 families and 3 genera of lycophytes, 83 species, 2 subspecies and 7 varieties belonging to 17 families and 39 genera of ferns, 29 species, 1 subspecies, 12 varieties and 2 forms belonging to 5 families and 14 genera of gymnosperms, and 2,110 species, 63 subspecies, 402 varieties and 114 forms belonging to134 families and 740 genera of angiosperms). Additionally, the catalog included 515 species, 4 subspecies, 19 varieties, and 3 forms belonging to 88 families and 316 genera of alien species (18 species, 1 subspecies, 1 variety belonging to 3 families and 10 genera of gymnosperms and 497 species, 3 subspecies, 18 varieties and 3 forms belonging to 85 families and 306 genera of angiosperms).
Conclusion: The inventory is only a phased summary of higher plants and needs to be continuously updated. Additionally, the authenticity of some species, such as Aster incisus, Artemisia carvifolia, Bupleurum scorzonerifolium and Selaginella tamariscina, listed in the catalog in Liaoning Province requires further verification, including field investigation and specimen study. It is important to note that some species may have already existed but had not been discovered for a long time. Therefore, field investigation and research work, especially in these weak areas, should be both continued and strengthened. Also, a full-coverage regional survey should be initiated to advance the research further.

Background & Aim: A high-quality checklist is of great significance to plant taxonomy, ecology, geography, and the utilization of plant resources. Unfortunately, since the 1980s, the checklist of Heilongjiang Province has not been fully updated for a long time, which has seriously hindered related research. This paper attempts to obtain a credible province-wide checklist and county-level plant distribution data.
Method: The TNRS (Taxonomic Name Resolution) was used to correct the spelling of scientific names. And the scientific name adopts the viewpoints in the Catalogue of Life China (2021). The checklist mainly refers to documents, i.e. Catalogue of Life China (2021), Key of Plants of Northeastern China (2nd edn), Flora of Heilongjiang, Ligneous Flora of Heilongjiang, Distribution Atlas of Northeast China Plant, Flora Plantarum Herbacearum Chinae Boreali-Orientalis, some articles and specimen data (from NSII, GBIF, NEFI, NEAU, IFP) to locate the species distribution in county-level divisions.
Results: A total of 2,276 species (subspecies and varieties) belonging to 651 genera and 132 families of tracheophyte in Heilongjiang Province were counted, including 17 species belonging to 6 genera and 2 families of lycopods, 81 species belonging to 34 genera, and 16 families of pteridophytes, 20 species belonging to 6 genera and 3 families of gymnosperms, and 2,158 species belonging to 605 genera and 111 families of angiosperms. Among them the families of Asteraceae (67 genera, 258 species), Poaceae (61 genera, 187 species), Cyperaceae (14 genera, 174 species), Ranunculaceae (18 genera, 124 species) and Rosaceae (24 genera, 112 species) contain a large number of species. This checklist shows remarkable differences in species distribution among counties in Heilongjiang Province. About 17 percent of 131 counties have more than 1,000 species, and the county-level distribution data are seriously unbalanced.
Conclusions: The provincial checklist is reliable, but the quality of county-level distribution data needs to be significantly improved.

Aims: The inventory and classification of biodiversity and biodiversity monitoring are the two core issues of global biodiversity research. Species inventory is the basis for understanding species diversity, and only by mastering the distribution pattern of species and the relationship between species and the environment we can provide a basis for species monitoring and scientific management.
Method: Based on field work, specimen collection, specimen examination, and literature review, we provided an inventory of seed plants in the Zhejiang Province.
Results: The present checklist records a total of 4,430 species belonging to 1,469 genera in 212 families, including 3,347 wild plants in 1,085 genera of 190 families. There are 7 families with more than 100 species, namely Poaceae (285 species), Cyperaceae (216 species), Asteraceae (186 species), Rosaceae (153 species), Orchidaceae (126 species), Fabaceae (109 species) and Lamiaceae (108 species). There are 15 genera with more than 20 species, including Carex (126 species), Phyllostachys (44 species), Rubus (44 species), Ilex (35 species), Polygonum (34 species), Lysimachia (32 species), Clematis (31 species), Sedum (28 species), Acer (26 species), Viburnum (26 species), Fimbristylis (26 species), Artemisia (25 species), Viola (22 species), Vitis (21 species) and Symplocos (21 species). There are 149 families with less than 20 species (78.42% of total species), which contains 388 genera (35.76%) and 902 species (26.95%). Genera with less than 5 species are 952 genera (87.74%), which includes 1,707 species (51.00%).
Conclusions: Based on the statistical analysis, the floristic characteristics of Zhejiang are as follows: (1) the region is rich in species, with diverse families and genera; (2) the glacial refugia in East China retained many ancient and relict plants; (3) multiform geographic components reflect the transitional zone from the tropic to the temperate zone; (4) the region is rich in endemic and protected species which need to be protected; (5) there are many alien and invasive plants which need to be prevented early on.

Aims: In order to understand the current status of wild vascular plant resources in Jiangxi Province and to provide basic information for the further development of biodiversity conservation, it is necessary to revise and update the checklist of vascular plants in Jiangxi.
Method: Based on previous checklists and references, we updated the checklist of wild vascular plants in Jiangxi Province through further historical collections, newly published records and data analysis, as well as the field investigation results conducted by the authors in recent 10 years. The checklist was compiled according to the latest classification of vascular plants, and the distribution of each species at the county and municipal level was verified based on the information of voucher specimens.
Results: In total, the present checklist recorded 4,761 species (including infraspecific taxa) belonging to 1,253 genera in 214 families, with 444 species of pteridophytes in 103 genera and 35 families, 36 species of gymnosperms in 21 genera and 5 families, and 4,281 species of angiosperms in 1,129 genera and 174 families. In pteridophytes, the top five largest families of pteridophytes are Dryopteridaceae (84), Polypodiaceae (55), Pteridaceae (49), Athyriaceae (47) and Thelypteridaceae (47), while Dryopteris (40) is the largest genus of pteridophytes. In gymnosperms, the largest family and genus with the highest number of species are Pinaceae (including 7 genera and 12 species) and Pinus (5), respectively. In angiosperms, the top five largest families are Poaceae (315), Asteraceae (241), Rosaceae (228), Lamiaceae (200), and Fabaceae (197), while the top six largest genera are Carex (71), Rubus (66), Ilex (56), Persicaria (40), Lysimachia (37) and Rhododendron (37), respectively.
Conclusions: Angiosperms are the main constituent of wild vascular plants in Jiangxi Province with 81.3%, 90.1% and 89.9% proportion of the total families, genera and species, respectively. Meanwhile, vascular plant field surveys in Jiangxi Province showed regional unevenness, we therefore recommend that it is necessary to increase the breadth and depth of follow-up field surveys. Furthermore, we call for the strengthening of specialized taxonomic studies on particular families and genera, which will help to revise and update the checklist further.

Aim: Shaanxi Province is located in the core areas of the Loess Plateau and the Qinling-Bashan Mountains in China. The diverse ecological and geographical environment harbors a rich plant diversity in Shaanxi. It is important to document and to emerge the species diversity and geographical distribution of the vascular plants in Shaanxi.
Method: Based on the summary of published literatures, we updated the checklist of vascular plants in Shaanxi Province, China.
Results: A total of 5,161 species and infraspecies taxa of wild, naturalized, and cultivated vascular plants were presented in this checklist, which belonging to 209 families, 1,316 genera, 4,701 species with 112 subspecies, 488 varieties, and 17 forms. A total of 214 species was supplemented comparing with the last version of the checklist, dominated by new records of wild plants in Shaanxi in recent years. New species and newly reported alien invasive plants also accounted for a small number. In this new checklist, the delimitations and arrangements of plant families follow new systems that largely based on molecular phylogenetics. An online dataset of the checklist in the Excel format is available to the public, making the acquirement, retrieval and utilization of the data smooth.
Conclusions: Our results show that continuous field surveys is still important in Shaanxi. Investigations into the Bashan Mountains should be promoted. The watch on the alien invasive plants should not be neglected.

Aims: Species cataloguing is the basis for studies of flora, monitoring of biodiversity, and the conservation of rare and endangered species. The vascular plant catalogue of Ningxia is of great significance for the protection of plant diversity, and the development and utilization of plants.
Method: Based on Ningxia Flora (2nd edn), this article combined the data from years of field work and published literature to revise the lists of wild vascular plants in Ningxia according to APG IV classification system.
Results: There are 1,754 species of wild vascular plants belonging to 597 genera and 127 families. The top 10 dominant families were Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, Rosaceae, Ranunculaceae, Amaranthaceae, Lamiaceae, Cyperaceae, Caryophyllaceae, and Apiaceae, which are comprised of 939 species, accounting for 53.53% of the total. The family composition is dominated by those with less than 20 species, and the genus composition is dominated by those with less than 5 species. A total of 230 newly recorded species have been found in Ningxia since 2007. There are 65 species of rare, endangered plants belonging to 44 genera and 25 families, and 28 species of invasive plants belonging to 22 genera and 9 families.
Conclusion: In terms of land areas and location, the diversity of wild vascular plants in Ningxia is abundant. The results can provide basic data for the revision of Ningxia Flora (3rd edn) and the monitoring and conservation of biodiversity.

Aims: Uncovering the assembly mechanism that shapes the large-scale biodiversity patterns is a key challenge in ecology. Numerous previous studies have demonstrated that multiple ecological processes can simultaneously regulate plant community assembly. However, how they shape the plant taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic β-diversity of gobi deserts remains unclear, hindering the understanding of gobi plant assembly processes and diversity maintenance.
Methods: We selected 61 sites from major gobi desert habitat types across northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Plant species abundance, molecular phylogeny, as well as eight functional traits including: leaf nitrogen concentrations (LNC), leaf phosphorus concentrations (LPC), leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), fine root nitrogen concentrations (RNC), fine root phosphorus concentrations (RPC), root length (RL), specific root length (SRL), and associated environmental variables were measured. We then tested the relative effects of different assembly processes on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity using null model and variation partitioning analyses.
Results: Plant taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic β-diversity all significantly increased with geographic distance, whereas taxonomic and functional β-diversity were more strongly related to geographic distance. Null model analysis revealed that three facets of plant β-diversity exhibited a non-random pattern, indicating niche processes may dominate the gobi desert plant community assembly. Plant functional β-diversity exhibited clustering patterns, while phylogenetic β-diversity displayed dispersion patterns. Among eight traits, only LA and RL demonstrated significant but weak phylogenetic signals, suggesting gobi plant functional traits were not conserved throughout evolution. Variation partitioning analysis further indicated that compared with geographic distance, environmental distance could better explain the variation in all three facets of plant β-diversity. More importantly, local habitat factors, such as soil moisture content and gravel coverage, drove the variation in both three facets of plant β-diversity rather than climatic factors.
Conclusions: These results demonstrated that niche processes, such as habitat filtering, may determine the different facets of plant β-diversity in the gobi desert, and the distribution patterns of plant functional and phylogenetic β-diversity were significantly different. In addition, the mismatch between functional and phylogenetic β-diversity patterns may be partly caused by functional traits that were not conserved along the phylogeny. Taken together, our findings provide new understanding for plant assembly mechanism in extremely harsh environment regime.

Aims: Wild Plant with Extremely Small Populations (WPESP) are plant species that are primarily at the risk of extinction and require urgent protection. It is of great practical significance to protect and recover WPESP through researching species importance value (IV) and competition patterns.
Methods: Based on the extensive field survey, we analyzed the species importance value and improved Hegyi competition index of the seven WPESP in Hubei Province, including: Pinus fenzeliana var. dabeshanensis, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Michelia wilsonii, Berchemiella wilsonii, Sinojackia dolichocarpa, S. huangmeiensis and Acer miaotaiense.
Results: The results of the importance value indicated that M. glyptostroboides and S. dolichocarpa were the dominant species in the natural communities with a high importance value and a low variable coefficient in their respective communities, S. huangmeiensis and A. miaotaiense were the sub-dominant species with a relatively higher importance value, and P. fenzeliana var. dabeshanensis, M. wilsonii and B. wilsonii were the accessory species in the community with a relatively low importance value. According to the improved Hegyi competition index, there are big differences in competition density and source of competition among seven WPESP in Hubei Province. Pinus fenzeliana var. dabeshanensis, M. wilsonii, B. wilsonii and S. huangmeiensis are primarily subject to interspecific competition while M. glyptostroboide, S. dolichocarpa and A. miaotaiense are primarily subjected to intraspecific competition.
Conclusion: The interspecific and intraspecific competitions of WPESP should be fully considered before implementing conservation measures so that more precise conservation measures can be taken.

Aims: The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) has been recently listed as a Class-I National Key Protected Species in China, assessed as Critically Endangered (CR) by the IUCN Red List, and included in the CITES Appendix I. Understanding the population status, spatial distribution, and habitat requirements of endangered species is paramount to their conservation. The paucity of pangolin distribution data is of urgent concern in the formulation of conservation planning and action for this species. Therefore, this study will evaluate the distribution and conservation status of the Chinese pangolin in the forestry district of the Jianfengling, Hainan.
Methods:Pangolin activity was monitored using 124 infrared wildlife cameras set in 122 kilometer grids and performing 364 line transects set in 182 grids, respectively, in the Jianfengling forestry district from August 2020 to November 2021.
Results: The study area was divided into the park core and the peripheral zone. Eight infrared cameras captured 10 pangolin photos and 35 foraging burrows were found in 11 grids in the Jianfengling forestry district. Pangolin camera sightings and burrows were most prevalent in the Nanzhong area. In the peripheral zone, pangolins were captured by three cameras and 18 burrows were found. Pangolin activity was mainly distributed from 400 to 1,000 m elevation.
Conclusion: This study indicated that wild pangolins still exist in the Jianfengling forestry district and that human disturbance was a key factor impeding pangolin population restoration. We suggest that the national park management measures to minimize human-wildlife conflict. Park management should also strengthen the conservation of areas utilized by pangolins and prevent construction activity therein. Furthermore, we recommend expanding the core protected area of the national park to better match pangolin distribution. Further research on pangolin habitat suitability and habitat corridors research in the Jianfengling forestry district is also urgently needed. It remains unknown that size and structure of the pangolin population in the study area. Therefore, regular monitoring and protection are required to understand the health of this population in the future. Additionally, further research is required for pangolin population size and distribution on Hainan Island to better understand the population health of this critically endangered species and to inform future conservation strategies.

Aims: Urbanization is one of the main causes of the rapid loss of biodiversity. Urban birds are an important part of the urban ecosystem, and their biodiversity patterns as well as species conservation have become the hotspots of urban ecology research. This study aims to reveal the diversity and nestedness of bird communities on the fragmented woodlots in urban and suburb areas, so as to provide data support for the protection of bird diversity in urban ecosystems.
Methods: We surveyed the diversity of birds on 13 urban and suburb woodlots of Haikou and Sanya cities. We used line-transect method and sampled the birds during two breeding seasons (spring and summer) of 2021. We analyzed the nestedness of the bird communities by using the NODF (nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill) and WNODF (weighted nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill). We used linear modelling to examine the relationships between the species richness and patch characteristics (area, the distance to the nearest larger woodlot).
Results: (1) We recorded 100 forest birds in total, which belong to 11 orders and 39 families. The species richness was higher in Sanya suburb, with 68 forest birds belonging to 8 orders and 29 families. We recorded 18 species of the national key protected birds and the number of the protected species in suburb were higher than other in urban regions. We recorded the yellow-breasted bunting (e.g. Emberiza aureola) in Haikou suburb, which is the first-class state protection bird in China. (2) There were significant differences in the abundance, species richness, Pielou evenness index and Shannon-Wiener diversity index of bird assemblages among four regions. The abundance of birds in urban of Haikou was significantly higher than in suburb of Haikou (P < 0.05). The species richness, Pielou evenness index and Shannon-Wiener diversity index of bird assemblages in suburb of Sanya were both significantly higher than in urban of Sanya and suburb of Haikou (P < 0.05). (3) The results of nestedness analysis showed that the bird assemblages were anti-nested among the woodlots in two cities. The bird species richness was only significantly and positively correlated with woodlots area in Sanya. The distance to the nearest larger woodlot had no significant effect on bird species richness in two cities.
Conclusion: Our study showed that the species diversity of bird assemblages overall was higher in the suburb areas than in the urban. The niche of avian communities in urban was dominated by a handful of species (e.g. Pycnonotus sinensis). The high urbanization of the Haikou City might induce the homogenization of bird assemblages between the suburb and urban areas. The anti-nested distributed structure of bird species may be the result of the high mobility, the interspecific competition of the birds, or the availability of food resources in the woodlots. We recommend that the conservation of birds in both urban and suburban areas should strengthened, and the destruction of woodlots should be prohibited to improve the diversity of birds.

Aims: Generally, mountainous areas in high altitudes have harsh climate conditions and a lack of resources. It is important to understand the formation and maintenance mechanisms of biodiversity patterns in alpine ecosystems by exploring how closely related species that are sympatric use limited resources to achieve stable coexistence. Galliformes are typical ground-dwelling species with weak flight and dispersal abilities, and face higher interspecific competition pressure due to relatively narrower niches. Our study aims to compare the temporal and spatial niches of sympatric Galliformes species, and to provide a new case study for understanding the coexistence mechanism of sympatric species in alpine ecosystems.
Methods: From April to September 2020, field surveys were conducted in an alpine ecosystem at an altitude of 3,300-4,200 m in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province. We used a transect survey design to investigate the microhabitats of the Chinese monal (Lophophorus lhuysii), chestnut-throated partridge (Tetraophasis obscurus), and snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa) who dominate the alpine Galliformes community and monitored their activity by infrared camera traps. Their ecological niches were compared along the two dimensions of microhabitat utilization and daily activity rhythm by using the kernel density estimation method.
Results: The results indicated that there were significant differences in both microhabitat utilization and daily activity rhythm between the snow partridge and the other two species. The Chinese monal and chestnut-throated partridge have similar preference in microhabitat utilization; the morning activity peaks of Chinese monal were later than those of chestnut-throated partridge, while its evening activity peaks were earlier than those of chestnut-throated partridge, demonstrating significant interspecific differences in daily activity rhythm; however, their overall niche integrating the two dimensions still highly overlaps without significant differentiation.
Conclusion: Our study reveals that niche differentiation among sympatric alpine Galliformes species is reflected along multiple ecological dimensions, and differentiation patterns vary between different species. The significant differentiation of the snow partridge in spatial and temporal niches is likely makes it less competitive with sympatric species, which is beneficial to its stable coexistence within the community. The overall niches of the Chinese monal and chestnut-throated partridge overlaps greatly. Therefore, it is recommended that further studies be conducted on their feeding habits and to explore the potential interspecific differentiation in trophic niches.

Aims: Amphibians are very sensitive to environmental changes. Understanding their spatio-temporal distribution patterns is of great significance for amphibian conservation and habitat monitoring. Despite many previous investigations of amphibian has conducted in Kangding City, Sichuan Province, gaps still remain in the amphibian diversity and its spatial distribution. This study aims to conduct a large-scale field survey to fully grasp the current situation and spatio-temporal distribution pattern of amphibian diversity, and to provide scientific basis for the conservation of amphibian biodiversity, ecological environment management in Kangding City.
Methods: This investigation was carried out in September 2016, May and July 2017. A total of 61 survey grids were selected to survey from the 130 effective grids (10 km × 10 km). The transect method was used in this investigation, and no less than 3 survey lines were set in each grid. The survey lines were near the water, and the distance between survey lines was greater than 500 m. During the survey, the coordinates of the start and end points of the transect, altitude, habitat type of the survey area, type, quantity, location of amphibians, and the impact of human activities were recorded.
Results: There is one grid surveyed with the most amphibians with 10 species, followed by 2 grids with 7 species surveyed, and only 1 specie was found in 15 grids. Amphibians were not investigated in 11 grids. A total of 2,639 individuals of amphibians were recorded, belonging to 14 species, 7 genera, 5 families and 2 orders. Among them, Bufo gargarizans has the highest dominance, followed by the Nanorana pleskei, Rana kukunoris and Scutiger jiulongensis. Compared with the historical record, the number of species was the same as the original record. The Boulenophrys minor and the Amolops loloensis were newly discovered, however the Batrachuperus tibetanus and the Amolops lifanensis weren’t found which previous recorded in this survey. The abundance of individuals surveyed was the highest in May, with 966 individuals being found, and the number of species surveyed was the highest in September, with 13 species being found. The dominant species surveyed is Bufo gargarizans in May and July, and Nanorana pleskei in September. Most amphibians are distributed at altitude between 3,000 m and 4,000 m. The Amolops mantzorum and the Bufo gargarizans had a wider range of altitude distribution, distributed between the altitude of 1,300 m and 3,600 m, and the species Scutiger mammatus and S. jiulongensis had a smaller altitude distribution range. Mean precipitation and number of vegetation types were significantly correlated with species richness, followed by mean altitude. Mean temperature and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were relatively weakly correlated.
Conclusions: Precipitation and vegetation type are the main factors affecting amphibian richness. The habitat of amphibians has an important impact on species richness, and the relative abundance of species is greatly affected by seasons, especially the breeding season. This study revealed the diversity and spatio-temporal distribution patterns of amphibians in Kangding City, which provide basic data for biodiversity conservation of Kangding City.

Aims: The Yarlung Zangbo River basin supports rich and unique biological resources, which makes it a global biodiversity hotspot. However, surveys on benthic macroinvertebrates in this river basin are far from sufficient. To fill this gap, this study focused on the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, where macroinvertebrates were sampled from the main stream and tributaries in autumn (October 2015) and spring (March 2016).
Methods: One-way ANOVA was used to examine the differences of abundance, biomass and ecological indices between the main stream and tributaries. Canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) was adopted to test if community structures varied among different site groups. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was Applied to identify the key environmental factors that significantly influence the community structure of macroinvertebrates during each season.
Results: A total of 270 species were identified, belonging to 5 phyla 8 classes 20 orders and 92 families. The community included 246 aquatic insects, 14 oligochaetes, 4 mollusks and 6 others. The average density was 939.1 ind./m², and the average biomass was 5.44 g/m². 184 and 214 macroinvertebrate species were collected in spring and autumn, respectively. The dominant species were aquatic insects that preferred clean and cold water, including Baetis sp., Baetiella sp., Simulium sp., Micropsetra sp. and Brachycentrus sp. The community structure, density and diversity indices exhibited significant temporal and spatial variation, and the diversity in tributaries was significantly higher than that of the main stream. CCA analysis indicated that environmental factors including altitude, velocity, river width and substrate types were key factors structuring the benthic community in the Yarlung Zangbo River.
Conclusion: The variation in community structure and diversity pattern were mainly derived from the variable climate types and geological barriers in the Grand Canyon area. This study can provide important basis and reference for macroinvertebrate diversity assessments and environmental monitoring in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin.

Aims: As a high-altitude water area, the Lhasa River’s aquatic ecosystem has a high research value due to its special environmental conditions. In recent years, studies on the high-altitude water area have gradually increased, but there are few studies on the community structure of ciliates in the Lhasa River. We conducted this study to explore the composition pattern, spatial and temporal diversity pattern, and maintenance mechanism of ciliate communities in the midstream and downstream reaches of the Lhasa River.
Methods: Seventeen samples were collected from the middle and lower reaches of the Lhasa River in May 2015 and August 2015, and October 2016. In-vivo observation, Rugo’s iodine solution fixation staining, and Wilbert’s protein silver method were utilized for species identification. The spatial and temporal differences of community structure were analyzed by the Shannon diversity index, Margalef index, and richness. The interactions between ciliate groups were analyzed through co-occurrence network. The effects of physical and chemical factors on ciliate community structures were investigated using redundancy analysis (RDA).
Results: There was no significant difference in the Shannon index between seasons and river segments. The richness and Margalef index were significantly different among the reaches. The correlation between nodes in the midstream and downstream of the co-occurrence network is primarily positive. Dissolved oxygen (DO), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and total dissolved salt (TDS) are the key factors affecting ciliate community structures.
Conclusion: The ciliate community structures in the midstream and downstream of the Lhasa River exhibited no significant seasonal differences but significant spatial differences. At the class level, the interaction between ciliates was dominated by synergy, and there were complex interactions among different groups. On the whole, the interaction between ciliates was more complex in spring and simpler in summer. The community structures of ciliates in the midstream and downstream of the Lhasa River was influenced by several environmental factors.

Aims: Microbial diversity plays an important role in assessing the ecological environment of water bodies. This study aims to investigate the diversity and influencing factors of culturable filamentous fungi in Nam Co Lake, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Methods: Filamentous fungi from 20 sites in Nam Co Lake were isolated, purified and identified by membrane filtration flat culture, morphological characterization and ITS sequence analysis. Water physical and chemical variables were determined to analyze the correlation between filamentous fungal diversity and environmental factors.
Results: Species identification results showed that a total of 1,412 filamentous fungal strains were isolated from Nam Co Lake water samples, and were identified as 47 species in 22 genera. Alternaria, Penicillium and Mucor are the dominant genera, Alternaria chlamydosporigena and Mucor hiemalis are the dominant species. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the total abundance of filamentous fungi was significantly positively correlated with temperature, ammonium nitrogen and total phosphorus. Redundancy analysis showed that ammonium nitrogen, temperature, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, salinity and electrical conductivity are important factors influencing the composition and distribution of filamentous fungal communities in Nam Co Lake.
Conclusion: In summary, the filamentous fungal community from Nam Co Lake showed high species diversity and spatial heterogeneity, and the distribution of filamentous fungi was affected by environmental factors in Nam Co Lake.

Aims: In recent years, the exponential growth of genomic data across diverse plant species provides unprecedented comprehensive understanding of the inheritance and variation of plant environment adaptation traits. The phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) plays crucial roles in flowering transition and architectural establishment of plants, a topic of extreme interest in plant biology research. However, comparative genome analysis of the PEBP gene family has not been performed using newly sequenced genome data, which restricts the study of its evolution at the molecular level. To explore its molecular evolution mechanism, we performed comparative genomics analysis of PEBP gene family in Cruciferae plants in this study.
Methods: We utilized the methods of genome-wide identification, characterization, and evolution analysis of PEBP genes from seven Cruciferae plants: Arabidopsis thaliana, A. lyrata, A. pumila, Camelina sativa, Brassica oleracea, B. rapa, and B. napus.
Results: Our results indicated that 91 PEBP genes were identified from seven plant species, and phylogenetic analysis suggested that they were categorized into five subfamilies: MFT, FT/TSF, TFL1, CEN, and BFT. Gene structure analysis indicated that the introns of CEN genes in B. oleracea, B. rapa and B. napus were significantly longer than those in the other four species. Protein domain analysis demonstrated that MFT lacks motif 2 and TFL1 has one more motif 8 than the other four subfamilies. Selection pressure analysis revealed that the PEBP genes form seven plant species were subject to strong purification selection, of which, the TFL1 subfamily was the weakest in purification selection. Collinearity analysis indicated that the PEBP genes in Cruciferous expanded in varying degrees with the ancient polyploid events, and all genes except CEN were partially lost after expansion. In addition, when overexpression of the A. pumila MFT gene in A. thaliana, the germination rates of transgenic seeds were significantly lower than that in wild type under abiotic stresses, suggesting that the functions of MFT were conserved in the regulation of seed germination.
Conclusion: This study lays the foundation for the research of the evolutionary characterizations and biological functions of PEBP genes in cruciferous plants.

Aims: Quantifying the pressure of human activities in protected areas is important for protecting ecological systems and reducing the impact of human activities. While many researchers have evaluated the impacts of human activities on species diversity, biological habitats or ecosystem services, it remains challenging to quantify the short-term dynamics of human disturbance in protected areas due to the coarse spatial and temporal resolutions of data reflecting human activity. This research attempts to study the dynamics of the scope and intensity of human activities through high- resolution digital footprint data, providing a new pathway for human activity monitoring and management refinement in protected areas.
Methods: Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve was selected as the research area in this study. We used 0.01° daily Tencent location request data and grassland biomass to derive three indicators for exploring the intensity of human digital footprint invasion and its impact on the ecological environment in Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve. These indicators included the human digital footprint coverage (α), the human digital footprint intensity (β), and the human activities exposure of grassland biomass (ε).
Results: (1) The human digital footprint in Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve had a spatiotemporal pattern of “multiple peaks, high in the southern and low in the northern zones, and rhythm of attractions”. After the Qinghai Lake was opened to the public in April, the β increased and then decreased, with the highest in August and the lowest in February. Human digital footprints mainly distributed in the popular scenic spots in the south and along the highway around Qinghai Lake. (2) The α and β showed a pattern of aggregation by month, with the largest values observed in August. The maximum daily α and β were 7.42% and 5.24, respectively. The closure of the Bird Island Scenic Area and Sand Island Scenic Area played an important role in reducing human invasion. (3) During the peak travel period in July and August, the human digital footprints invaded more seriously into the buffer zone and Experimental zone of Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve. Analysis on the human activities exposure of grassland biomass showed that human digital footprints had the greatest impact on grassland biomass along the Erlangjian-Heimahe route in the Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve, with a highest impact of 2.24 at key tourist sites.
Conclusion: Our research demonstrated the potential effectiveness of digital human footprint data to study the impact of human activities on the ecological environment of the Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve, which could support the refined ecological management in the reserve.

Aims: Sturgeons are important economic fishes with high market value. However, with the overfishing and the habitat destruction, the natural population of sturgeon have been declined worldwide. To address the challenges, all sturgeon species has been included in the appendices of CITES in 1997, besides, all species in natural waters of China are also included in the China’s protection catalogue under the Wildlife Protection Law. The identification of sturgeons still faces some difficulties. There are many identification methods for sturgeons, but most of them are applicable conditionally within range of species, respectively. This study aims to integrate available methods to meet more identification requirement in judicial authentication, wildlife supervision and germplasm resource management.
Methods: This study analyzed the identification methods and search the trade situation of sturgeons from the CITES database. Based on this, an integrated identification method which include mtDNA genetic analysis, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis and microsatellite DNA was established and analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness in identifying the 11 kinds of commercial sturgeon species and their hybrids.
Results: A total of 36 kinds of aquaculture sturgeons can be found from the CITES sturgeon trade database, including 14 hybrids and 22 purebred species. Although there are many methods to identify sturgeon species, molecular biological methods are proved to be effective identification methods. By integrating three identification methods above, blind detection is applicable to identify 11 purebred sturgeons and their hybrid sturgeons referring to the current international trade. Among them, two kinds of hybrid sturgeons can be accurately identified: (1) The hybrid sturgeons with parents from Acipenser ruthenus, Huso dauricus, A. schrenckii, Huso huso, A. stellatus or A. transmontanus. (2) The hybrid sturgeons whose female parent is A. ruthenus and male parent is A. naccarii or A. fulvescens or A. sinensis. Besides, the purebred H. dauricus, A. transmontanus, A. fulvescens and A. sinensis can be identified only under the current trade background. However, the hybrid sturgeons with parents from A. baerii or A. gueldenstaedti still cannot be accurately identified. Meanwhile, it is difficult to distinguish some purebred sturgeons among several of their hybrid sturgeons (A. baerii or A. gueldenstaedti as male parent).
Conclusion & suggestion: The identifiable sturgeon species are still limited based on the literature, the integration of the method above could satisfy the needs of sturgeon identification in some scenarios and is important for sturgeon conservation, trade product detection and germplasm resources management. Since many species still lack available markers for identification, developing new specific markers and further verifying the scope of existing specific markers should be encouraged with the international cooperation for the diverse sturgeon materials, especially for A. baerii and A. gueldenstaedti as parents of many hybrid sturgeons.

Background: The botanical garden was originally the product of the will of the “Royal” or “National”. The concept of botanical garden changed greatly since the origin of China’s “Shennong Herbal Garden” in 2,800 BC. The modern botanical gardens stemmed from the succession after the Western Renaissance have always functioned four main roles of scientific research, conservation, education and outreach. As the research institution specializing in wild plant collection, scientific research, introduction & acclimatization and conservation & utilization, the botanical gardens have always borne important missions of the country.
Aims & Conclusion: We systematically summarize the origin and evolution of botanical gardens; review and analyze the national botanical gardens and national botanical garden systems all over the world. Based on the history and development of China’s botanical gardens, we discuss the thoughts of establishing China’s national botanical garden system in five aspects: mission and aims, regional distribution, scientific research, talent team and infrastructure, aiming of building a comprehensive system for ex situ conservation of China’s national botanical gardens with tasks oriented disciplines.