Dasycladales from the Upper Maastrichtian of Salento Peninsula (Puglia, southern Italy)

Summary A rich dasycladalean assemblage, mainly consisting of new taxa, has been discovered in upper Maastrichtian coarse bioclastic limestones of shelf margin facies cropping out along the southeastern coast of Salento peninsula (Puglia, Southern Italy). It consists of 8 species grouped into 6 genera:Cymopolia decastroi Parente 1994;C. barattoloi Parente, 1994;Zittelina fluegeli n.sp;Jodotella koradae (Dieni, Massari & Radoicic, 1983) nov. comb.;Barattoloporella salentina n. gen. n. sp.;Morelletpora dienii n. sp.;Neomeris spp. (two different species). Zittelina fluegeli n. sp. is characterized by an ovoid thallus with calcification made by a calcareous wall enveloping only the proximal part of the branches (except in basal whorls) and by closely packed, and partly coalescent, calcified ampullae arranged all around the median and distal portion of branches. The transferral ofNeomeris (Larvaria) koradae Dieni, Massari & Radoicic, 1983 into the genusJodotella, with the new combinationJodotella koradae, is proposed on the basis of new observations on the number and arrangement of fertile ampullae. The new genusBarattoloporella, type-speciesBarattoloporella salentina n. gen. n. sp., is erected for dasycladalean algae characterized by a segmented thallus. Each segment consists of: a) basal and apical sterile whorls made by primary branches only, b) central fertile whorls made by primary branches bearing in terminal position one fertile ampulla and one or two secondary branches. morelletpora dienii n. sp. is characterized by a segmented thallus with barrel shaped to pear shaped repetitive elements, consisting of simple whorls of first order branches only. Shape of the branches varies from regularly phloiophorous to more or less differentiated in a stalk and a swollen portion, with or without a subterminal constriction. This is by far the most diverse dasycladalean assemblage ever found in the Maastrichtian. Its diversity supports the conclusion that, within the Late Cretaceous, the Maastrichtian represents a maximum in dasycladalean diversity. Its taxonomic composition strenghtens the hypothesis that dasycladaleans were hardly affected by K/T mass extinction.     

Vegetation,environmental characteristics and ideas on the maintenance of alvars on the Bruce Peninsula,Canada

Abstract. Despite international recognition that alvar habitats are important reservoirs of biodiversity, they remain little studied in North America. In this paper, the results are reported on an investigation of alvars in the central portion of their known distribution on this continent. 210 plots were distributed among seven sites and were quantitatively sampled for vascular plants, lichens, bryophytes and a suite of environmental variables. Detrended and Canonical Correspondence Analyses and other methods were used to investigate differences among alvars, within alvars and between alvars and adjacent forested habitats. The plant communities and environmental conditions were highly similar among sites in the study region, yet very different from surrounding habitats. There were abrupt changes in vegetation and environmental conditions from alvar to forest, without the presence of transition zones in the vegetation or environmental gradients as the forest was approached. The environmental factors associated with the change from alvar to forest and with variation within alvar habitat were examined. Some alvars in the study were found to contain stunted, slow-growing trees reaching ages of 524 yr. These same sites appear to have remained unburned for several centuries, while other sites likely burned 90 yr ago. The plant communities were very similar between the alvars that lacked a major, biomass-removing disturbance in centuries and alvars that had experienced catastrophic fire relatively recently. Maintenance of the plant communities and open nature of alvars appears site-specific rather than habitat specific.     

广西马平灰岩腕足动物群的时代问题--兼评"Fauna of the Maping Limestone of Kwangsi and Kweichow"

ｒａｂａｕ（１９３６）记述的马平动物群中所有的腕足类化石标本并不是产于真正的马平（灰岩）组,而是产自有关地区下石炭统最上部的罗城组和上石炭统下部的黄龙组下部,时代为Ｓｅｒｐｏｕｋｈｏｖｉａｎ－Ｂａｓｈｋｉｌｉａｎ期,而不是Ｕｒａｌｉａｎ期     

广西热带石灰岩季节雨林分类与排序

本文利用二歧指示种分析法TWINSPAN将广西热带石灰岩季节雨林的30个样地划分两大类共6个群落：洼地季节雨林(1)火焰花+萍婆群落; (2)海南风吹楠+人面果群落,石山季节雨林(1)东京桐+广西顶果豆群落; (2)假肥牛树+安南牡荆群落;(3)肥牛树群落; (4)肥牛树+蚬木群落。文章还利用无偏对应分析法DCA对群落进行了排序,指出由洼地至山坡水分条件由湿到干是影响群落变化的主导因素。环境的封闭程度对群落变化也有一定影响。     

华南石灰岩地区苦苣苔科植物一新种——散序小花苣苔

该文报道了华南地区石灰岩地区苦苣苔科报春苣苔属(Primulina Hance)一新种——散序小花苣苔(Primulina effusa F.WenB.Pan),并对该新分类群的濒危现状进行了评估,认为根据现在已知的居群和所受威胁情况,可暂定为"极危"之级别。     

海南俄贤岭紫毛野牡丹灌丛群落特征研究

采用样方调查方法,对海南俄贤岭紫毛野牡丹（Melastoma penicillatum Naud.）灌丛群落的种类组成、区系类型和群落结构等进行了研究。结果显示,在200 m²的样地内,有维管植物37种,隶属于26科33属;属的区系成分以热带亚洲（印度-马来西亚）分布和泛热带分布为主,分别占非世界总属数的31.03%和24.14%。在种的水平上,泛热带分布最多,占非世界分布总种数的25%。群落种类主要由灌木（24种）和草本（9种）构成,灌木层中以紫毛野牡丹为优势种,草本层以乌毛蕨（Blechnum orientale L.）为优势种;藤本植物仅有3种。生活型以中高位芽为主,占40.54%;群落的频度划分为5个等级（A：1%~20%、B：21%~40%、C：41%~60%、D：61%~80%、E：81%~100%）,频度等级的分布规律为A > B > D > C=E。与该地海南凤仙花（Impatiens hainanensis Y.L.Chen）群落和海南大戟（Euphorbia hainanensis Croizat）灌丛群落进行比较发现,该群落植物种类更少,分布更稀疏,层次更明显。     

Genetic structure among and within populations of the serpentine endemic Heteropappus hispidus ssp. leptocladus (Compositae)

Heteropappus hispidus ssp. leptocladus is an edaphic endemic taxon that is confined to serpentine and limestone-derived soils and is allopatrically distributed in three regions of western Japan. In this study, we attempted to detect genomic signatures of seven H. hispidus ssp. leptocladus populations along with eight other subspecies populations using eight nuclear microsatellite loci. The Mantel test supported an isolation by distance model across all H. hispidus populations, thus implying the possibility of parallel evolution for each subspecies. Results from AMOVA recognized relatively larger differentiations in geographic distribution compared to intraspecific taxonomy. Relationships indicated by neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree analysis and population structure generally did not reflect an intraspecific taxonomy. Populations from limestone-derived soil harbored a homogeneous genetic structure with neighboring populations from serpentine-derived soils. These results suggest that the edaphic ecotype may have derived allopatrically while a lack of edaphic constraint existed between serpentine and limestone soils.     

重庆石灰岩地区十大功劳光合特性动态变化和对CO2的响应研究

运用开放式气体交换C I-310便携式光合作用测定系统,研究了重庆石灰岩地区适生灌木十大功劳(Maho-nia fortunei)光合特性的动态变化和对CO2的响应。结果表明:十大功劳的净光合速率和气孔导度的日变化为双峰曲线,蒸腾速率的日变化为单峰曲线,净光合速率出现了光合午休现象,主要由非气孔因素影响,水分利用效率的日变化呈“L”型。在季节变化中净光合速率、蒸腾速率和气孔导度都呈现双峰曲线,而水分利用效率呈现“W”型。气体交换的日动态和季节动态变化是与植物生存的气候环境相适应的,在石灰岩地区表现出低光合低蒸腾和高水分利用效率的节水特性。净光合速率随着CO2浓度的升高而表现出升高趋势,其CO2补偿点为90μmol.mol-1左右,羧化效率为0.0125,较低的羧化效率是十大功劳净光合速率较低的一个原因。     

海南岛石灰岩特有植物的初步研究

特有植物是了解一个地区植物区系的起源与演化规律的关键。对海南岛石灰岩特有植物的地理分布特征和分类的初步研究表明:本区共有石灰岩特有植物63种,隶属于37科52属,其中热带性的属占的比例较高;属于海南石灰岩专性种的有18种,一些种类对生长基质的要求相当严格。与其它地区比较,石灰岩山地的特有化发展在海南不很明显。从特有植物的分布来看昌江是海南一个重要的石灰岩植物分化中心。对海南石灰岩特有种比例较低的原因和保育进行了探讨。     

麻阳河自然保护区黑叶猴夏季的夜宿行为

因昼行性灵长类动物一天中相当一部分时间在其夜宿地度过,其夜宿行为在一定程度上影响着它们的活动方式与行为特点(Anderson,1998).对夜宿行为的观察可收集白天无法收集到的灵长类社会活动和社会关系的信息,如夜宿地分布(sleeping site)、睡眠时间(time)、睡眠抱团组成(huddling)等(Takahashhi,1997;Ogawa etal.,2007;黎大勇,2010),灵长类夜宿行为的研究对于分析了解其白昼活动方式与行为适应特点具有重要的启迪作用(Anderson,1998).