Biodiversity and invasibility: Distribution patterns of invasive plant species in the Himalayas,Nepal

Invasive plant species are exerting a serious threat to biological diversity in many regions of the world. To understand plant invasions this study aims to test which of the two plant invasiveness hypotheses; ‘low native diversity' vs. ‘high native diversity', is supported by the regional distribution patterns of invasive plant species in the Himalayas,Nepal. This study is based on data retrieved from published literatures and herbarium specimens. The relationship between invasive plant species distribution patterns and that of native plant species is elucidated by scatter plots, as well as by generalized linear models. The native plant species and invasive plant species have similar distribution patterns and the maximum number of invasive plant species is found in the same altitudinal range where the highest richness for native tree species is found. There is a clear trend of higher invasive plant richness in regions where native tree species richness is relatively high.Consequently, the native plant richness is highest in the central phytogeographic region, followed by the eastern and the western regions, respectively. The invasive plant species also follows a similar trend.Additionally, the invasive plant species richness was positively correlated with anthropogenic factors such as human population density and the number of visiting tourists. This study supports the hypothesis that ‘high native diversity' supports or facilitates invasive plant species. Further, it indicates that nativeand invasive plant species may require similar natural conditions, but that the invasive plant species seem more dependent and influenced by anthropogenic disturbance factors.     

Population ecology of the endangered Himalayan Yew in Khokhan Wildlife Sanctuary of North Western Himalaya for conservation management

The Himalayan Yew （Taxus baccata subsp, wallichiana） is an endangered native high value medicinal plant of the Himalayan Region. The several medicinal properties of the bark and leaves of this species have increased its risk of extinction due to pressures for utilization. It is also subjected to harvest for fuelwood. The species does not regenerate well from seed and that is another risk factor. The objective of this research was to investigate the population ecology of the species as a foundation for its conservation. Six forest communities in the Khokhan Wildlife Sanctuary where the species is present were sampled. The abundance of the species, impacts of harvesting and its current regeneration patterns indicate that it may soon be extirpated from the Sanctuary. A plan for conserving the remaining sub-populations is presented. It could provide a template for conservation in other locations where the species is at risk.     

Effect of snow-cover duration on plant species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Although snow cover plays an important role in structuring plant diversity in the alpine zone, there are few studies on the relationship between snow cover and species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. To assess the effect of snow cover on plant species diversity of alpine meadows, we used ten parallel transects of 60 m × 1 m for this study and described the changes in species diversity and composition associated with snow depth. With the division of snow depth into six classes, the highest species richness （S） and species diversity （H′） occurred with an intermediate snow depth, i.e., class Ⅲ and class Ⅳ, showing a unimodal curve with the increase in snow depth. The relationship between snow depth and plant diversity （both richness and Shannon index） could be depicted by quadratic equations. There was no evident relationship between diversity （both S and H′） and soil water content, which implied that other more important factors influenced species diversity. The patterns of diversity found in our study were largely attributed to freeze-thaw alteration, length of growing season and disturbances of livestock grazing. Furthermore, snow depth affected species composition, as evaluated by the Sorensen＇s index of similarity. In addition, almost all species limited to one snow depth class were found only in class Ⅲand class Ⅳ, indicating that intermediate snow depth was suitable for the survival and growth of many alpine species.     

Plant species diversity along an altitudinal gradient of Bhabha Valley in western Himalaya

The present study highlights the rich species diversity of higher plants in the Bhabha Valley of western Himalaya in India. The analysis of species diversity revealed that a total of 313 species of higher plants inhabit the valley with a characteristic of moist alpine shrub vegetation. The herbaceous life forms dominate and increase with increasing altitude. The major representations are from the families Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Lamiaceae and Poaceae, suggesting thereby the alpine meadow nature of the study area. The effect of altitude on species diversity displays a hump-shaped curve which may be attributed to increase in habitat diversity at the median ranges and relatively less habitat diversity at higher altitudes. The anthropogenic pressure at lower altitudes results in low plant diversity towards the bottom of the valley with most of the species being exotic in nature. Though the plant diversity is less at higher altitudinal ranges, the uniqueness is relatively high with high species replacement rates. More than 90 % of variability in the species diversity could be explained using appropriate quantitative and statistical analysis along the altitudinal gradient. The valley harbours 18 threatened and 41 endemic species, most of which occur at higher altitudinal gradients due to habitat specificity.     

Behavior of different phosphorus species in suspended particulate matter in the Changjiang estuary

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuary in June 2006 was separated into five fractions via water elutriation: clay-very fine silt (<8 μm), fine silt (8–16 μm), medium silt (16–32 μm), coarse silt (32-63 μm) and sand (>63 μm). The SPM and fractionated particles were sequentially analyzed by a modified SEDEX sequential extraction method to obtain six species of phosphorus: exchangeable or loosely-sorbed P, organic P, Fe-bound P, authigenic P, detrital P and refractory P. The results indicated that all particulate phosphorus species except for detrital P were negatively correlated to particle size; a high detrital P content was found in coarse silt and very coarse silt. From the inside of the river mouth to the gate of the river mouth, organic P, Fe-bound P and refractory P in the suspended particles decreased and a higher amount of exchangeable P appeared around the gate of the river mouth. From the gate of the river mouth to the sea, exchangeable P and organic P in suspended particles increased distinctly. The total particulate P flux into the estuary from the Changjiang River was about 45.45×10⁸ μmol/s during sampling. Of this, about 8.27×10⁸ μmol/s was associated with the “truly suspended” fraction. The bio-available particulate P flux was about 13.58×10⁸ μmol/s. Of this, about 4.24×10⁸ μmol/s was transported by “truly suspended” particles.     

Soluble species in aerosols collected on the route of the Second Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition

Aerosol samples are collected on the route of the Second Chinese NationalArctic Research Expedition from July 15 to September 28,2003.The concentration ofwater soluble ions(Na~+,NH_4~+,Ca~(2+),Cl~-,MSA,SO_4~(2-)and so on)are ana-lyzed.By correlation analysis,the ions can be divided into three groups:(1)Na~+,Mg~(2+),K~+,Ca~(2+),Cl~-,SO_4~(2-),mainly from sea salt;(2)NH_4~+,NO_3~-,markedlyfrom coastal regions of the continents;(3)Acetate,MSA,C_2O_4~(2-),from othersources.Marine aerosols are the dominant origin,Cl~- and Na~+ are the most domi-nant anion and cation,respectively and these two ions(Na~++Cl~-)account for 55.6% of the total aerosol loading.The mean equivalence ratio of NH_4~+/SO_4~(2-)is 0.45,we suggest that ammonium and sulfate exist mainly as NH_4HSO_4.The concentrationof NO_3~- shows three different patterns on the route of expedition:Japan Sea with me-dian value of 15.2 neq·m~(-3);Sea of Okhostk and Bering Sea of 1.8 neq·m~(-3)andArctic Ocean of 0.4 neq·m~(-3).Bering Sea is a high MSA area.Through the com-parison of the concentration of main water soluble ions between the First and SecondChinese National Arctic Research Expedition,the variation matches each other.     

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF SOME PLANT SPECIES FROM A TROPICAL MONTANE RAIN FOREST IN SOUTHERN YUNNAN

A pristine montane rain forest was recently discovered from Mengsong of Xishuangbanna in the southern Yunnan. It attracts botanists that many primitive plant taxa across various life forms were co-existed in the montane rain forest. In order to know the biogeography of the montane rain forest, distribution patterns of some species of biogeographical importance from the montane forest were enumerated and their biogeographical implications were discussed with geological explanation. It was concluded that the montane rain forest in the southern Yunnan has strong affinity to montane rain forests in Sumatra or Southeast Asia in broad sense. It was tentatively suggested that Sumatra could be once connected to Myanmar and drifted away due to northward movement of continental Asia by bumping of India plate.     

A Taxonomic Study of the Genus Tinocladia (Chordariales, Phaeophyta) in China Coasts I. Two new species, T. eudesmoides sp.nov. and T. zhangii sp.nov.

1INTRODUCTIONThegenusTinocladiaKylinderivedfromthege nusEudesmeJ.Ag.,wasestablishedbyKylinin1 940 .Untilnow ,fivespecieshavebeenreported .Threespecies,T .crassa (Sur.)Kylin(byC .K .Tseng,1 983 ) ,T .gracilisDingetLuandT .mi crosporangiiDingetLu (byDingetal.,2 0 0 4)inthegenusTinocladiahadbeenreportedtodate.Inthecourseofourinvestigationonthespecimensofthege nusTinocladiacollectedfromtheYellowSeacoastsandkeptintheHerbariumoftheInstituteofOceanolo gy,ChineseAcademyofSciences,twomo…     

A Taxonomic Study of the Genus Tinocladia （Chordariales,Phaeophyta） in China Coasts I. Two new species, T. eudesmoides sp.nov, and T. zhangii sp.nov.

Two new species of the genusTinocladia Kylin (1940)T. eudesmoides Ding et Lu sp. nov. andTinocladia zhangii Ding et Lu sp. nov., are described.T. eudesmoides is mainly characterized by its longitudinally and transversely produced sub-cortical filaments from the medulla, its short uniseriate assimilating filaments, usually composed of 6–10 cells with slightly swollen and narrow ultimate cells, and its unilocular sporangia (60–115)×55–70μm, variable in size.T. zhangii is mainly characterized by its very solid frond, not rip apart by hands, its evident longer primary branches, its short and slender secondary branches, with very evident sub-cortical layer, and filaments divided repeatedly, and its large and small unilocular sporangia, with the latter borne on an evidently swollen pedicel. Project B80981816 supported by the NSFC. Contribution No. 4443 from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China.