广东大雾岭自然保护区野牡丹科植物资源调查与鉴定研究

对大雾岭自然保护区的野牡丹科植物资源进行了初步调查。依照《广东植物志》分类方法进行鉴定,调查结果为:大雾岭野牡丹科植物有野牡丹属、锦香草属和虎颜花属共三个属的5种,1个亚种。另外还发现一种植物特征与毛菍类似但叶片为7基出脉的植物,有待于进一步确定其归属。本次调查为野牡丹科植物野生资源的保护和科学利用提供了资料。     

A Non-native Perennial Invades a Native Forest

Disturbance is frequently a requirement for non-indigenous plant invasions, but plants that invade in the absence of significant disturbance pose special problems for conservationists and land stewards, as the invasion rates and effects are difficult to predict. Knowledge of the invader's population ecology is essential for the preservation of native plant communities. A sub-shrub native to South America, Tibouchina herbacea (Melastomataceae) is invading intact, wet forests and open, disturbed sites on the islands of Hawaii and Maui. Experimental tests of the importance of disturbance for reproductive rates showed that absence of canopy cover produced the highest rates of germination, survival and seed dispersal distance. Ground cover was less important, but had a positive effect on germination and a negative effect on survival. Results of these experiments suggest that T. herbacea will probably spread more quickly in open, disturbed areas, but is very capable of establishment in natural forests. If spread is arrested in the early stages, manual control may be effective, otherwise landscape-level control efforts, such as biological control, will be needed. Prevention of dispersal and control of T. herbacea in forested areas should be a priority for land managers in Hawaii.     

A new species of Microlicia (Melastomataceae) from Brazil

A new species of the genusMicrolicia,M. flava, from the highland “campo rupestre” vegetation of Serra da Canastra National Park, São Roque de Minas, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is described and illustrated.     

海南植物新记录

报道海南新记录植物4种和1变钟：腋花苋(Amaranthus roxburghianus),细辛锦香草(Phyllagathis asarifolia),三瓣锦香草(Phyllagathis ternata),狭萼扁担杆(Grewia angustisepala)和毛使君子(Quisqualis indica L．vat．villosa)。     

Geological control of floristic composition in Amazonian forests

AIM: Conservation and land-use planning require accurate maps of patterns in species composition and an understanding of the factors that control them. Substantial doubt exists, however, about the existence and determinants of large-area floristic divisions in Amazonia. Here we ask whether Amazonian forests are partitioned into broad-scale floristic units on the basis of geological formations and their edaphic properties. LOCATION: Western and central Amazonia. METHODS: We used Landsat imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation data to identify a possible floristic and geological discontinuity of over 300 km in northern Peru. We then used plant inventories and soil sampling to document changes in species composition and soil properties across this boundary. Data were obtained from 138 sites distributed along more than 450 km of road and river. On the basis of our findings, we used broad-scale Landsat and SRTM mosaics to identify similar patterns across western and central Amazonia. RESULTS: The discontinuity identified in Landsat and SRTM data corresponded to a 15-fold change in soil cation concentrations and an almost total change in plant species composition. This discontinuity appears to be caused by the widespread removal of cation-poor surface sediments by river incision to expose cation-rich sediments beneath. Examination of broad-scale Landsat and SRTM mosaics indicated that equivalent processes have generated a north-south discontinuity of over 1500 km in western Brazil. Due to similarities with our study area, we suggest that this discontinuity represents a chemical and ecological limit between western and central Amazonia. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that Amazonian forests are partitioned into large-area units on the basis of geological formations and their edaphic properties. The evolution of these units through geological time may provide a general mechanism for biotic diversification in Amazonia. These compositional units, moreover, may correspond to broad-scale functional units. The existence of large-area compositional and functional units would suggest that protected-area, carbon sequestration, and other land-use strategies in Amazonia be implemented on a region-by-region basis. The methods described here can be used to map these patterns, and thus enable effective conservation and management of Amazonian forests.     

Fluctuating asymmetry in leaves and flowers of sympatric species in a tropical montane environment

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) represents small, random variations in traits, presumably with bilateral symmetry, and is widely used as a tool to measure developmental instability in plants and animals. Because FA is a quick, simple and reliable measure, it has been frequently used for monitoring levels of environmental stress. This study investigated whether FA can be used as a predictor of individual developmental instability for four sympatric Melastomataceae species. To achieve that aim, 20 individuals of Trembleya laniflora, T. parviflora, Lavoisiera campos‐portoana and Tibouchina heteromalla were marked in southeastern Brazil and monitored before and during the flowering season. The FA index was calculated as the mean of the difference in the width or length between the left and right sides measured for each leaf or flower. All studied species exhibited asymmetry in the leaves and flowers, but the leaves of L. campos‐portoana and the petal width of T. heteromalla exhibited directional asymmetry, also an indicator of developmental instability. The highest level of leaf asymmetry was found in T. heteromalla and on flowers of L. campos‐portoana. None of the studied species exhibited a significant relationship between the FA level of the leaves and flowers on an individual basis, indicating that environmental and/or genetic sources of stress might act differently on different plant traits. For the studied species, measurements of FA can be suggested as useful tools to biomonitor levels of stress experienced by both leaves and flowers within the Melastomataceae family.     

Induced biotic responses to herbivory and associated cues in the Amazonian ant-plant Maieta poeppigii

Ants inhabiting ant‐plants can respond to cues of herbivory, such as the presence of herbivores, leaf damage, and plant sap, but experimental attempts to quantify the dynamic nature of biotic defenses have been restricted to a few associations between plants and ants. We studied the relationship between certain features of the ant‐shrub Maieta poeppigii Cogn. (Melastomataceae) and the presence or absence of ant patrolling on the leaf surface in plants occupied by the ant Pheidole minutula Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). We also carried out field experiments to examine ant behavior following plant damage, and the potential cues that induce ant recruitment. These experiments included clipping of the leaf apex, as well as the presentation of a potential herbivore (live termite worker) and a foliar extract from Maieta on treatment leaves. The presence of ants patrolling the leaves of M. poeppigii is influenced by the number of domatia on the plant. Ant patrolling on the leaves of M. poeppigii was constant throughout a 24 h cycle, but the mean number of patrolling ants decreased from young to mature leaves, and from leaves with domatia to those without domatia. There was an overall increase in the number of ants on experimental leaves following all treatments, compared to control leaves. Visual and chemical cues associated with herbivory are involved in the induction of ant recruitment in the Maieta–Pheidole system. The continuous patrolling behavior of ants, associated with their ability to respond rapidly to foliar damage, may result in the detection and repellence/capture of most insect herbivores before they can inflict significant damage to the leaves.