2020年发表的全球维管植物新种

为了解世界维管植物新物种的基本信息, 明确生物多样性面临的威胁, 总结未来研究方向, 本文对2020年世界维管植物新物种的数据进行了统计分析。根据国际植物名称索引(IPNI)的记录, 截至2021年2月1日, 2020年全球发现1,747种维管植物新种, 由1,544名植物学家(264位中国植物学家, 1,280位国外植物学家)发表在103种期刊和5本书中。1,747种维管植物新种包括被子植物1,689种、蕨类植物52种、裸子植物6种。其中大部分来源于维管植物最大的几个科, 例如菊科、兰科和胡椒科。植物学家描述的美洲南部和热带亚洲维管植物新种超过828种, 是2020年维管植物新种发现最重要的两个地区。中国、巴西和马达加斯加是2020年贡献维管植物新种最多的前三位, 分别有247、223、99个新种。值得关注的是, Phytotaxa和PhytoKeys是2020年发表维管植物新种的主要期刊, 分别发表644种和168种。在各物种新名称中, 有5个无效名称和2个不合法名称。尽管近年来对生物多样性的关注日益增加, 但世界上仍有许多物种尚未被发现, 需要对各个地区植物进一步调查和研究, 尤其是生物多样性热点地区和岛屿地区。     

The complex binding of PRDM9

A recent study investigates the in vitro DNA binding behavior of PRDM9, a zinc finger protein involved in the localization of recombination hotspots in mammals.Please see related research article: http://genomebiology.com/2013/14/4/R35     

Tropical rain forest conservation and the twin challenges of diversity and rarity

Data from a global network of large, permanent plots in lowland tropical forests demonstrate (1) that the phenomenon of tropical tree rarity is real and (2) that almost all the species diversity in such forests is due to rare species. Theoretical and empirically based reasoning suggests that many of these rare species are not as geographically widespread as previously thought. These findings suggest that successful strategies for conserving global tree diversity in lowland tropical forests must pay much more attention to the biogeography of rarity, as well as to the impact of climate change on the distribution and abundance of rare species. Because the biogeography of many tropical tree species is poorly known, a high priority should be given to documenting the distribution and abundance of rare tropical tree species, particularly in Amazonia, the largest remaining tropical forested region in the world.     

Overcoming challenges on using native seeds for restoration of megadiverse resource‐poor environments: a reply to Madsen et al.

Madsen et al. (2016) reviewed several major limiting factors to establishment of seedlings in nonforest ecosystems (NFE), and proposed seed enhancement technologies to overcome these restoration barriers. However, biodiverse nutrient‐poor NFE present additional hurdles that preclude landscape‐scale seed‐based restoration and were not mentioned in their review. Here, we discuss issues related to native seed availability and provenance, and shortfalls in knowledge on seed quality testing and dormancy release that severely hamper restoration of degraded nutrient‐impoverished NFE. We present alternatives for overcoming these challenges and highlight the need for investments to find more practical and cost‐effective options for broad‐scale restoration.     

Prdm9 and Meiotic Cohesin Proteins Cooperatively Promote DNA Double-Strand Break Formation in Mammalian Spermatocytes

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Evolution of the field of ecological restoration over the last three decades: a bibliometric analysis

Ecological restoration studies have been widely conducted for many years to solve eco‐environmental problems. However, no publications offer a systematic and quantitative analysis of the evolution of the field of ecological restoration. To address this knowledge gap, for the first time, we applied a bibliometric analysis approach to analyze ecological restoration studies. We analyzed 3,929 articles published between 1988 and 2017 catalogued in the Science Citation Index Expanded database and the Social Sciences Citation Index database. The results show that annual article output stably increased after 2004, and the number of annual articles of each country has also increased notably since then. The United States occupies the leading position in ecological restoration studies, with China attaining a close second position in recent years. Four institutions and seven journals are outstanding in the field of ecological restoration. Academic collaborations of authors or institutions exhibit an increasing trend, but international collaboration needs to be strengthened because eco‐environmental problems are a global challenge. Forest, grassland, and wetland ecosystems have received the most attention. Biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climate change are core issues of ecological restoration studies and are predicted to remain the research hotspots in the future. Novel ecosystems are likely to become one of the most important research areas in the near future. More importantly, it is crucial for researchers to places more emphasis on social issues of ecological restoration in the future.     

Common alien plants are more competitive than rare natives but not than common natives

Success of alien plants is often attributed to high competitive ability. However, not all aliens become dominant, and not all natives are vulnerable to competitive exclusion. Here, we quantified competitive outcomes and their determinants, using response‐surface experiments, in 48 pairs of native and naturalised alien annuals that are common or rare in Germany. Overall, aliens were not more competitive than natives. However, common aliens (invasive) were, despite strong limitation by intraspecific competition, more competitive than rare natives. This is because alien species had higher intrinsic growth rates than natives, and common species had higher intrinsic growth rates than rare ones. Strength of interspecific competition was not related to status or commonness. Our work highlights the importance of including commonness in understanding invasion success. It suggests that variation among species in intrinsic growth rates is more important in competitive outcomes than inter‐ or intraspecific competition, and thus contributes to invasion success and rarity.