Plant and Molecular Biology
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Item Effectiveness of protected areas in preventing rubber expansion and deforestation in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China(Land Degradation & Development, 2018) Sarathchandra, C.; Dossa, G.G.; Ranjitkar, N.B.; Chen, H.; Deli, Z.; Ranjitkar, S.; De Silva, K.H.W.L.; Wickramasinghe, S.; Xu, J.; Harrison, R.D.Protected areas (PAs) are supposedly key refuges for the world's remaining biodiversity. Our study site, Xishuangbanna, harbors a high proportion of China's biodiversity but is threatened by rapid deforestation and expansion of monoculture rubber. We quantified the success of Xishuangbanna's PAs in preventing deforestation.Most previous analyses of PA effectiveness have insufficiently accounted for biases arising from PA location and establishment, because they overlooked the importance of site‐matching in accounting for landscape change.We used matching methods to minimize such biases in comparing land use conversion rates inside and outside‐PAs. By 2010, Xishuangbanna had 3,455.5 km2 (~18%) designated as PAs. However, rubber occupied 22% of its land area and was expanding at a rate of 153.4 km2/year. Between 1988 and 2010, conventional analysis showed a deforestation rate of 9.3 km2/year. However, matching analysis showed a significantly higher rate of deforestation, 10.7 km2/year, which resulted in the deforestation of ~11% of PA's land. We argue that PAs were less effective than had previously been thought. The situation worsened from 2002 to 2010, when the deforestation rate within PAs was actually higher than that of outside PAs, although this difference was not significant. The designated higher levels of protection in ‘core’ zones were also unsuccessful in preventing deforestation. At current rates, within the next 50 years, a further 16% of PAs would be deforested in Xishuangbanna. This could even be an underestimate, as without intervention, drivers of deforestation tend to accelerate. Therefore, reviewing and strengthening current PA management policies is essential.Item Phylogenetic Revision of Savoryellaceae and Evidence for Its Ranking as a Subclass(Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiology, 2019) Dayarathne, M.C.; Maharachchikumbura, S.S.N.; Jones, E.B.G.; Dong, W.; Devadatha, B.; Yang, J.; Ekanayaka, A.H.; De Silva, W.; Sarma, VV.; Al-Sadi, A.M.; Khongphinitbunjong, K; Hyde, K.D.; Zhao, R.L.Morphology, phylogeny, and molecular clock analyses were carried out on Savoryellaceae in order to understand the placements of taxa in this family. Ascotaiwania and Neoascotaiwania formed a well-supported separate clade in the phylogeny of concatenated partial SSU, LSU, TEF, and RPB2 gene data. These two genera share similar morphological features, especially in their asexual morphs, indicating that they are congeneric. Hence, we synonymize Neoascotaiwania under Ascotaiwania. Ascotaiwania hughesii (and its asexual morph, Helicoon farinosum) and Monotosporella setosa grouped in a clade sister to Pleurotheciales and are excluded from Ascotaiwania which becomes monophyletic. A novel genus Helicoascotaiwania is introduced to accommodate Ascotaiwania hughesii and its asexual morph, Helicoon farinosum. A novel species, Savoryella yunnanensis is introduced from a freshwater habitat in Yunnan Province, China. Comprehensive descriptions and illustrations are provided for selected taxa in this family. In addition, we provide evolutionary divergence estimates for Savoryellomycetidae taxa and major marine based taxa to support our phylogenetic and morphological investigations. The taxonomic placement of these marine-based taxa is briefly discussed. Our results indicate that the most basal group of marine-based taxa are represented within Lulworthiales, which diverged from ancestral Sordariomycetes around 149 Mya (91–209) and Savoryellomycetidae around 213 Mya (198–303).Item Root-foraging behavior ensures the integrated growth of Vallisneria natans in heterogeneous sediments(Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2017) Chen, J.; Hu, X.; Cao, T.; Zhang, X.; Xi, Y.; Wen, X.; Su, H.; De Silva, W.; Zhu, T.; Ni, L.; Xie, P.Abstract The present study was carried out to determine the efficacy of root foraging and the physiological response of Vallisnaria natans grown in heterogeneous sediments. V. natans was cultivated in two homogeneous and two heterogeneous sediments. The results suggested that V. natans grown in heterogeneous sediments presented a significantly higher root proportion in its total biomass, exhibited root foraging, and grew well, as indicated by a total biomass, ramet number, and plant height very close to those of plants grown in nutrient-rich clay sediment. Moreover, the more sensitive physiological response of the roots than the stems or the leaves to sediment nutrients suggested that root foraging occurred, and the approached values between the two heterogeneous sediments and the homogeneous clay sediment indicated that V. natans could satisfy its nutrient requirements via root foraging. The results may be useful in the recovery of macrophytes that remodel part (rather than all) of the substrate and can potentially improve habitats that are unsuitable for plant growth.Item Potential spreading risk of an invasive snail species (Pomacea canaliculata) in freshwater habitats of Asia(Current Science, 2019) De Silva, W.; Cao, T.; Wen, Z.; Zhang, X.; Ni, L.The invasive success of the freshwater snail species (Pomacea canaliculata) continues to wreak havoc around the world. The present study was initiated to analyse spatial trend and associated environmental conditions related to the invasive success of P. canaliculata in Asia. Systematic searches were performed to identify relevant studies through different databases, and appropriate statistical methods like spatial autocorrelation, standard deviational ellipse method and PCA were used to generate new knowledge on this species. The potential invasive range of this species is between 40°N and 40°S lat. The present study reveals that the spatial distribution of P. canaliculata is most significantly correlated with human population density, followed by humidity, temperature and precipitation. Moreover, the grazing rates are dramatically affected by nutrient content of freshwater macrophytes. Spatial autocorrelation analysis result indicates clustered dispersion pattern of this snail, and standard deviational ellipse depicts the invasion trend of P. canaliculata moving from East Asia to potential areas in South and West Asia. We therefore conclude that P. canaliculata is likely to be the ‘next harmful visitor’ to South and West Asian countries.Item High diversity of Ganoderma and Amauroderma (Ganodermataceae, Polyporales) in Hainan Island, China(Mycosphere, 2018) Hapuarachchi, K.K.; Karunarathna, S.C.; Raspé, O; De Silva, K.H.W.L.; Thawthong, A.; Wu, X.L.; Kakumyan, P.; Hyde, K.D.; Wen, T.C.Species of Amauroderma and Ganoderma (Ganodermataceae) have been widely used as traditional medicines in Asia over many centuries. The genera are widely researched, owing to their beneficial medicinal properties and chemical constituents with potential nutritional and therapeutic uses. There are, however, taxonomic confusions surrounding the species in these genera, whose circumscription is often unclear. We surveyed species of Amauroderma and Ganoderma in Hainan Island in Southern China. In this paper, we provide data on 15 species found in the W uzhishan and Jiangfengling mountains on the island. One species named Ganoderma ellipsoideum Hapuar., T.C. Wen & K.D. Hyde, sp. nov. is new to science and introduced with evidence from morphology and molecular analysis. The other species collected are described with photographs and compared with similar taxa. We provide a phylogeny for the two genera based on ITS sequence data and the taxonomic status of the species is briefly discussed.