Food plants and masticants of the batemi of Ngorongoro District,Tanzania1

Based on independent interviews with 25 persons we report 44 edible species of plants used by the Batemi of Sale Division, Ngorongoro District, Tanzania. Thirty-one of these are specifically consumed as food; six species are chewed as thirst quenchers; seven species of gums and resins are chewed; two species are added to food as flavorants; and one species is used in the preparation of honey beer. We report 8 species used as tooth brushes by the Batemi. An additional 35 species of food and beverage plants were observed under cultivation by the Batemi. With these plants the Batemi ingest phytochemicals in a manner that could have positive health effects.     

An extraordinarily stable karyotype of the woody Populus species revealed by chromosome painting

The karyotype represents the basic genetic make‐up of a eukaryotic species. Comparative cytogenetic analysis of related species based on individually identified chromosomes has been conducted in only a few plant groups and not yet in woody plants. We have developed a complete set of 19 chromosome painting probes based on the reference genome of the model woody plant Populus trichocarpa. Using sequential fluorescence in situ hybridization we were able to identify all poplar chromosomes in the same metaphase cells, which led to the development of poplar karyotypes based on individually identified chromosomes. We demonstrate that five Populus species, belonging to five different sections within Populus, have maintained a remarkably conserved karyotype. No inter‐chromosomal structural rearrangements were observed on any of the 19 chromosomes among the five species. Thus, the chromosomal synteny in Populus has been remarkably maintained after nearly 14 million years of divergence. We propose that the karyotypes of woody species are more stable than those of herbaceous plants since it may take a longer period of time for woody plants to fix chromosome number or structural variants in natural populations.     

Exploring methods for rapid assessment of woody vegetation in the Batemi Valley, North-central Tanzania

Conservation of local biological resources in remote areas requires efficient data and collection methods. This paper describes part of a local conservation initiative in Northern Tanzania in which an indigenous conservation group enlisted the support of outside scientists to explore means of preparing baseline ecological reports. Two factors are seen as important: one is local use of ecological resources and the other is local availability. This paper focuses on the second of these and considers woody species. A variety of ecological field methods, statistical analysis and remote sensing and mapping techniques are used to generate baseline ecological inventories. The fieldwork identified 101 woody species, representing 54 genera and 37 families in the Batemi area. There are three main vegetation types: Vangueria apiculata-Ficus sycomorus-Trichilia emetica type; Croton dictygamous-Euphorbia tirucalli-Grewia bicolor type; and Acacia tortilis-Balanites aegyptica-Euphorbia candelabrum type. The Landsat TM map identified four main land-cover classes: (1) bushland and woodland thicket, (2) woodland (3) wooded grassland, and (4) grassland with scattered trees, which includes agricultural areas and villages. The combination of these data and methods can be useful for conservation planning and long-term monitoring, but it is clear that ground-level local assessment is necessary to detect subtleties of human-environment interaction that are required for conservation planning.     

Perceptions, use and availability of woody plants among the Gourounsi in Burkina Faso

The present study was conducted in five villages around the Nazinga Game Ranch, Burkina Faso. Fifty informants of the Gourounsi ethnic group were used. Eighty-one useful woody species were identified, out of a total of 110 woody species in the area. Woody plant use was quantified as: edible fruits (28 species), vegetable sauce (22 species), firewood (33 species), construction (29 species) and medicine (64 species and 167 remedies). Further, species accumulation curves were used to estimate that more than 650 remedies for medicine are used in the area. The community's knowledge of plants was analysed in relation to age, gender, village of residence and amount of intercultural visits. The knowledge pattern was remarkably uniform, with only two variations: (1) men generally identified more edible fruit trees than women, and (2) one village reported more firewood species than the other four villages. The informants had a variety of opinions concerning the availability of useful plants, but the majority found the availability to be fine and 47% of the informants searched for useable products in the savanna on a daily basis. No correlation was found between an informant's impression of useful products availability and his/her frequency of visits into the savanna. The results show that the Gourounsi people live in intimate relation with the savanna surrounding their villages. They are aware of the environment and are willing to learn and adopt new conservation practices.     

喀斯特季节性雨林木本植物胸高断面积分布格局及其对地形因子的响应

森林生态系统地上生物量的分布格局是物种分布格局的重要内容。局域尺度内因地形差异引起的生境异质性是地上生物量分布格局形成的环境基础。本文以弄岗北热带喀斯特季节性雨林15 ha动态监测样地2011年第一次普查数据中每木个体为研究对象, 尝试以每20 m × 20 m样方内所有个体及不同径级类群的胸高断面积之和为木本植物地上生物量的衡量指标, 利用广义可加模型对喀斯特季节性雨林中胸高断面积之和的空间分布格局进行研究, 定量分析了其对7个地形因子的响应。结果表明, 洼地、山坡和山脊3种生境类型中, 所有个体的胸高断面积之和山坡最高、山脊最低, 且山脊与山坡、洼地的差异均显著; 广义可加模型结果显示, 不同地形因子对胸高断面积之和的解释偏差差异明显, 其中海拔、坡向、凹凸度、岩石裸露率对胸高断面积之和的解释偏差依次降低, 而干旱度指数、坡度和地形湿润指数解释偏差相对较小。喀斯特季节性雨林木本植物胸高断面积之和空间分布的异质性及其与地形因子之间的关系, 反映了胸高断面积之和在地形因子对土壤、水分和光照等条件重分配影响下的多重响应机制及生长策略。     

Species richness and phylogenetic diversity of different growth forms of angiosperms across a biodiversity hotspot in the horn of Africa

Woody and herbaceous plants are differentially influenced by the environment, with non‐random association with the evolutionary history of these taxa and their traits. In general, woody plants may have climate‐dominated niches, whereas herbaceous plants may have edaphic and microhabitat‐dominated niches. Here, we explored and mapped how the patterns of species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and structures of total, woody, and herbaceous plants vary across the geographical regions and with respect to 12 environmental variables across Ethiopia and Eritrea, in the horn of Africa. Our result showed that both richness and phylogenetic diversity had almost the same tendency in total woody and herbaceous plants, in which they showed positive relationships with annual precipitation, precipitation annual range of climate, all the three variables of topography, and total nitrogen and total extractable phosphorus of soil, and negative relations with mean annual temperature. Compared with the total and herbaceous plants, the environmental variables explained greater variance both in the standardized effect size phylogenetic diversity and net relatedness index for woody plants. Our results highlight that, on the large spatial scales, the environmental filtering process has played a greater role in structuring species into local communities for woody plants than for herbaceous plants.     

广西天坑森林物种多样性与土壤酶活性和养分的关系

为研究天坑负地形生境土壤酶活性、养分和木本植物多样性的分布特征和内在联系，该文以广西大石围天坑群天坑森林为研究区，基于天坑坑内—坑口—坑外群落多样性调查和土壤生境调查，采用相关性分析和冗余分析方法，探究木本植物物种多样性与土壤因子间的耦合关系。结果表明：(1)坑内木本植物有21种31属20科，坑口木本植物有91种58属58科，坑外木本植物有47种30属30科，天坑坑内Margalef指数和Patrick指数显著低于天坑坑口和坑外生境，沿天坑坑内—坑口—坑外生境变化，物种分布总体较为均匀，但物种数量增多。(2)天坑坑外土壤全氮含量显著高于坑内和坑口生境，坑内的土壤全镁、土壤全磷和土壤速效磷含量显著高于坑口和坑外生境，坑外的土壤碱性磷酸酶和土壤脲酶活性显著高于坑口和坑内生境，表明天坑坑内土壤磷含量较高，但土壤酶活性总体偏低。(3)物种多样性与土壤养分、土壤酶活性相关性强。综上表明，天坑生境对物种多样性、土壤酶活性及土壤养分含量的分布特征影响较大，土壤速效磷、土壤碱性磷酸酶、土壤含水量、土壤脲酶、土壤全镁和土壤全磷是影响天坑森林木本植物物种多样性的关键因子。该研究为喀斯特地区植物资源的保护与...     

Phenological influences on the utilization of woody plants by eland in semi-arid shrubland

Our study monitored the acceptability, shoot phenology and chemical content of karoid woody species over the seasonal cycle. Species favoured by eland as long as they retained leaves, were classified as palatable, while those neglected for part of the seasonal cycle, even though they retained leaves, were classified as unpalatable. Changes in the acceptability of unpalatable species over the seasonal cycle appeared to be related to changes in the proportion of young shoots on plants, as influenced by rainfall and temperature. These species were typically only favoured when they offered relatively high proportions of young shoots. Our study identified total fibre as the most important chemical factor influencing the acceptability of woody species to eland. The shoots of palatable species contained low fibre concentrations, while the shoots of unpalatable species were more variable in fibre content. When favoured, the shoots of unpalatable species typically had similar levels of fibre to palatable species, but when neglected, the shoots of unpalatable species generally had increased fibre levels. Eland have thrived since being introduced into our study area, which is dominated by microphyllous and leptophyllous woody species. We suggest that this is because eland are able to select a diet sufficiently low in fibre content.     

木本植物性别决定基因研究进展

雌雄异株植物是研究性别决定遗传机制及性染色体起源与进化的理想材料,而克隆性别决定基因是解析性别决定遗传机制的关键。木本植物中有丰富的雌雄异株植物,且包括2种相反的性别决定系统：XY型(雌株为同配型的XX,雄株为异配型的XY)和ZW型(雌株为异配型的ZW,雄株为同配型的ZZ)。此外,不同性别植株的经济价值也有所不同。在木...     

IN-SITU SELECTION OF SUITABLE PLANTS FOR THE PHYTOREMEDIATION OF MULTI-METALS–CONTAMINATED SITES IN CENTRAL TAIWAN

Soils contaminated with metals are a serious problem in central Taiwan; 70% of the metals-contaminated soils in Taiwan are distributed there. We used soil turnover and dilution methods to reduce the total concentration of metals in soil, but this technique may be not suitable for other sites because of their shallow soil depths, which were less than 60 cm. Central Taiwan has the largest flower market in Taiwan and we propose that using local flower species to clean up the metals-contaminated soils is a feasible solution. A 1.3-ha area contaminated by multiple metals (As, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn) located in central Taiwan was selected for this large-area phytoremediation experiment. According to the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration project contract, in-situ selection experiments were conducted to select 12 potential species from 33 tested species for further large area experiment. After in-situ planting of 33 species of plants in the contaminated soil for 33 d, bougainvillea and cockscomb showed yellow-colored leaves and withered as the result of the toxicity of metals. Herbaceous plants can accumulate higher concentration of metals and have higher bioconcentration factor in relative to woody plants. Three weighting models of growth condition and the metal-accumulated concentration of plants growing in the site were evaluated and compared. Six woody plants and six herbaceous plants were selected as high potential metal accumulators for a further large-area experiment.     

Woody Plant Encroachment into Grasslands: Spatial Patterns of Functional Group Distribution and Community Development

Woody plant encroachment into grasslands has been globally widespread. The woody species invading grasslands represent a variety of contrasting plant functional groups and growth forms. Are some woody plant functional types (PFTs) better suited to invade grasslands than others? To what extent do local patterns of distribution and abundance of woody PFTs invading grasslands reflect intrinsic topoedaphic properties versus plant-induced changes in soil properties? We addressed these questions in the Southern Great Plains, United States at a subtropical grassland known to have been encroached upon by woody species over the past 50-100 years. A total of 20 woody species (9 tree-statured; 11 shrub-statured) were encountered along a transect extending from an upland into a playa basin. About half of the encroaching woody plants were potential N₂-fixers (55% of species), but they contributed only 7% to 16 % of the total basal area. Most species and the PFTs they represent were ubiquitously distributed along the topoedaphic gradient, but with varying abundances. Overstory-understory comparisons suggest that while future species composition of these woody communities is likely to change, PFT composition is not. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) ordination and variance partitioning (Partial CCA) indicated that woody species and PFT composition in developing woody communities was primarily influenced by intrinsic landscape location variables (e.g., soil texture) and secondarily by plant-induced changes in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen content. The ubiquitous distribution of species and PFTs suggests that woody plants are generally well-suited to a broad range of grassland topoedaphic settings. However, here we only examined categorical and non-quantitative functional traits. Although intrinsic soil properties exerted more control over the floristics of grassland-to-woodland succession did plant modifications of soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations, the latter are likely to influence productivity and nutrient cycling and may, over longer time-frames, feed back to influence PFT distributions.     

湖南云山野生木质藤本植物资源及多样性研究

为深入研究湘西南野生藤本植物资源现状及其多样性特征,对湖南云山野生木质藤本植物资源生态特征进行了系统研究。结果表明:(1)湖南云山共有野生木质藤本植物39科101属308种,分别占该区种子植物科、属和种的19.21%、9.32%和20.29%,其中裸子植物1科1属1种,被子植物38科100属307种,蕨类植物缺乏。(2)在生活型上,该区以高位芽藤本植物为主导,占总种数的93.51%,地下芽、地面芽和地上芽藤本植物较少,分别占总种数的4.87%、0.97%和0.65%。(3)在攀援方式上,缠绕藤本具有优势,占总种数的42.86%,搭靠类、卷曲类和吸固类较少,分别占总种数的34.01%、13.62%和9.42%。(4)该区地理成分复杂多样,属级和种级地理成分各有11个分布型,均以热带成分为主,温带成分占有较大比例,说明该区热带成分向温带渗透和过渡的性质。研究认为,湖南云山野生木质藤本植物的生态功能效应明显,用途广泛,具有重要的药用、经济和社会价值,综合效益明显,开发利用潜力巨大。     

Chlorophyll distribution pattern in inner stem tissues: evidence from epifluorescence microscopy and reflectance measurements in 20 woody species

The occurrence of functional chloroplasts in internal stem tissues and their distribution profiles in 20 woody species have been investigated. Chloroplasts were identified from the red chlorophyll auto-fluorescence using epi-fluorescence microscopy. Chloroplasts were detected in the cortex of all species examined, in the xylem rays of 19 and in the perimedullar and the pith cells of 16 out of the 20 investigated species. Chloroplast containing cell clusters in the pith were identified in some species. In addition, we report on the semi-quantitative distribution of chlorophylls in various internal stem tissues. Chlorophyll level was estimated by reflectance measurements at specific wave bands. Although decreasing chlorophyll gradients from cortex to pith were observed in half of the species, chlorophyll distribution in the remaining species was irregular with occasionally high levels in the pith. According to our data, chlorophyll occurrence in stem internal tissues is quite widespread, even in the light remote, deeply shaded central compartments like pith, provided that corresponding cells are viable. The species-specific tissue distribution of chlorophyll levels may be used to select suitable plants to investigate further this neglected area of photosynthesis research.     

丽水大山峰木本植物区系研究

丽水市大山峰位于浙南山区,是浙江省木本植物区系最丰富地区之一,共有木本植物84科237属543种,而且古老孑遗植物和珍稀濒危植物较多,地理成分复杂多样,可划分为14个分布区类型,区系具有明显的热带-温带过渡性;木本植物区系中,中国特有种占绝对优势,共有338种,占总种数的62.2%,是构成大山峰森林植被的建群种和优势种的主要成分.与邻近山地植物区系比较发现,大山峰木本植物区系与浙江白云山关系最密切.     

北京城区自生植物分布格局及其影响因素

了解城市自生植物的空间分布格局有助于城市植物景观的规划和管理。基于北京城区的252个自生植物样地调查数据,使用指示克里金法和地理探测器模型展示了北京城区自生植物的空间分布格局并揭示其形成原因。结果显示：北京城区共记录自生植物173种,其中草本植物144种,木本植物29种。草本和木本自生植物的空间分布格局存在显著差异,草本自生植物多样性沿城市中心-城郊梯度增加;木本自生植物多样性在空间上没有明显的城乡梯度,在城区多数区域的多样性较低。人为干扰对城市生态系统的自生植物空间分布格局产生了巨大的影响,草本自生植物主要受到距市中心距离、社会经济因素和绿地管理强度的影响,而木本自生植物则受到距城市中心距离、绿地管理强度、房价等因子交互作用的影响。研究结果有助于确定北京城区将来迫切需要保护或增强物种多样性的区域,为北京城市绿地管理提供参考。     

基于蜂蜜孢粉学鉴定秦岭中华蜜蜂的蜜源木本植物

蜜源木本植物的鉴定能为中华蜜蜂Apis cerana cerana保护和利用提供依据.本研究从在秦岭地区收集的4份中华蜜蜂蜂蜜中分离出植物花粉,然后在扫描电镜下观察花粉形态,根据花粉大小、赤道面观、极面观、表面纹饰对花粉所属植物的种类进行鉴定.共鉴定出中华蜜蜂利用的蜜源木本植物13科,19属,20种.其中以壳斗科Fagaceae、忍冬科Caprifoliaceae最多,卫矛科Celastraceae、桦木科Betulaceae、蔷薇科Rosaceae次之.这些蜜源木本植物中有13种是药用植物.秦岭地区丰富的蜜源木本植物为中华蜜蜂的生存提供了食物资源;同时中华蜜蜂作为传粉昆虫,对维持秦岭地区蜜源植物的生存和生态系统稳定起着重要的作用.     

Spatial variability in woody species richness along altitudinal gradient in a lowland-dryland site, Lokapel Turkana, Kenya

The woody species richness patterns in three 2–4 km long transects, approximately 1–3 km apart in a lowland (600–700 m) dryland around Lokapel in Turkana northern Kenya was analyzed in 2003 at 200–500 m intervals using the Point-Centred Quarter (PCQ) method involving 51 observation points. Transect 1 and 2 were set along ephemeral runoff channels locally known as lagga with wet season flow westwards from the Lokapel Hills to the Turkwell River. Transect 3 was a cross-cutting profile dissecting the area initially downhill from the Lokapel Hills and later gently uphill eastwards towards Lokichar. The altitude at each of the 51 observation sites was recorded using a GPS and the woody species identified through local knowledge and taxonomic aids. The results showed that the overall integrated altitudinal gradient for the three transects was approximately 100 m. A total of 43 species of trees and shrubs were identified. The Shannon index showed that Transect 2 had the highest diversity of woody species followed by Transect 1 and Transect 3 while the Sorensen’s index indicated qualitative dissimilarity between all the transects. The results of regression analysis indicated that woody species richness increased linearly with elevation in only one transect but regression analysis of height of woody plants and altitude indicated that only about 20% of the variation in the height of woody plants was accountable by altitude. The spatial analysis of woody species-richness and altitudinal gradient showed a dual peak pattern with the main richness peak in low lying areas below 700 m which was mainly within or close to the riparian floodplain environment of the Turkwell River. A minor richness peak was also identified in higher lying areas around the Lokapel hills. The species richness pattern was similar to the hump-shaped altitudinal species-richness pattern which has been recorded widely around the world but mainly in large-scale studies.     

Dioecy,Monoecy, and Their Ecological Correlates in the Littoral Forest of Madagascar

Dioecy is a rare breeding system in flowering plants, but one that has evolved multiple times in different plant lineages. Dioecious species are commonly associated with several ecological traits, including woody habit, fleshy fruit, and small, inconspicuous flowers, although the significance of these correlations has been debated extensively. Monoecy is a breeding system that may lead to the evolution of dioecy, but ecological correlates of monoecious species have rarely been analyzed. We determined the diversity of breeding systems in the littoral forests of Madagascar and used multivariate methods to estimate which ecological traits have the strongest association with dioecy and are the best predictors of breeding systems. The Malagasy littoral forest flora is a well‐documented subset of the Malagasy flora, with 13 percent of total species diversity in an area <1 percent of the island's total. We found high levels of dioecy (18.4%) and monoecy (9.2%), similar to incidences in other tropical floras. Using multinomial logistic regression, dioecy has the strongest association with woody habit and fleshy fruit. Monoecious species have a strong association with small flowers, although this association does not hold at higher taxonomic levels. Using classification and regression tree (CART) methods, the best predictors of dioecy are woody habit and fleshy fruit; monoecy is equally predicted by fleshy and dry fruit. For the Malagasy littoral forest, both methods provide further support for the importance of woody habit and fleshy fruit in the evolution of dioecy.     

河南白云山温带落叶阔叶林萌生特征及萌生个体空间分布格局

以河南省白云山自然保护区温带落叶阔叶林5 hm2样地群落为研究对象,分析该样地木本植物的特征,同时利用点分布格局对样地内萌生能力较强的个体进行空间格局分析.结果显示:该样地内共有木本植物91种17369株;发生萌生现象的有62种2082株,萌生物种占总物种数的68.13％,萌生个体占总个体数的11.99％.样地内所有发...     

Relationships between spatial configuration of tropical forest patches and woody plant diversity in northeastern Puerto Rico

The destruction and fragmentation of tropical forests are major sources of global biodiversity loss. A better understanding of anthropogenically altered landscapes and their relationships with species diversity and composition is needed in order to protect biodiversity in these environments. The spatial patterns of a landscape may control the ecological processes that shape species diversity and composition. However, there is little information about how plant diversity varies with the spatial configuration of forest patches especially in fragmented tropical habitats. The northeastern part of Puerto Rico provides the opportunity to study the relationships between species richness and composition of woody plants (shrubs and trees) and spatial variables [i.e., patch area and shape, patch isolation, connectivity, and distance to the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF)] in tropical forest patches that have regenerated from pasturelands. The spatial data were obtained from aerial color photographs from year 2000. Each photo interpretation was digitized into a GIS package, and 12 forest patches (24–34 years old) were selected within a study area of 28 km². The woody plant species composition of the patches was determined by a systematic floristic survey. The species diversity (Shannon index) and species richness of woody plants correlated positively with the area and the shape of the forest patch. Larger patches, and patches with more habitat edge or convolution, provided conditions for a higher diversity of woody plants. Moreover, the distance of the forest patches to the LEF, which is a source of propagules, correlated negatively with species richness. Plant species composition was also related to patch size and shape and distance to the LEF. These results indicate that there is a link between landscape structure and species diversity and composition and that patches that have similar area, shape, and distance to the LEF provide similar conditions for the existence of a particular plant community. In addition, forest patches that were closer together had more similarity in woody plant species composition than patches that were farther apart, suggesting that seed dispersal for some species is limited at the scale of 10 km.