Shared patterns of species turnover between seaweeds and seed plants break down at increasing distances from the sea

We tested for correlations in the degree of spatial similarity between algal and terrestrial plants communities along 5500 km of temperate Australian coastline and whether the strength of correlation weakens with increasing distance from the coast. We identified strong correlations between macroalgal and terrestrial plant communities within the first 100 km from shore, where the strength of these marine–terrestrial correlations indeed weakens with increasing distance inland. As such, our results suggest that marine‐driven community homogenization processes decompose with increasing distance from the shore toward inland. We speculate that the proximity to the marine environment produces lower levels of community turnover on land, and this effect decreases progressively farther inland. Our analysis suggests underlying ecological and evolutionary processes that give rise to continental‐scale biogeographic influence from sea to land.     

Ready-to-use DNA extracted with a CTAB method adapted for herbarium specimens and mucilaginous plant tissue

This report summarizes major changes in previously published protocols for DNA extraction to improve the quality of DNA extracted from plants. Here, we highlight the critical modifications in the original protocols. The efficiency of these changes results in high-quality DNA ready to use in a variety of phytogenetically distant plant families, in particular species with mucopolysaccharides. The DNA obtained can be used without further purification in various molecular biology assays, including direct sequencing and AFLP and RAPD (random-amplified polymorphic DNA) analyses. The effectiveness of this method is proven by the amplification and sequencing of PCR products of up to 1 kb with DNA extracted from herbarium tissue ≥60 years old. This versatility is not usually found in DNA extraction protocols. In addition, this method is quick, adaptable to standard laboratories, and most important, safer and more cost-effective.     

Century‐long apparent decrease in intrinsic water‐use efficiency with no evidence of progressive nutrient limitation in African tropical forests

Forests exhibit leaf‐ and ecosystem‐level responses to environmental changes. Specifically, rising carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels over the past century are expected to have increased the intrinsic water‐use efficiency (iWUE) of tropical trees while the ecosystem is gradually pushed into progressive nutrient limitation. Due to the long‐term character of these changes, however, observational datasets to validate both paradigms are limited in space and time. In this study, we used a unique herbarium record to go back nearly a century and show that despite the rise in CO₂ concentrations, iWUE has decreased in central African tropical trees in the Congo Basin. Although we find evidence that points to leaf‐level adaptation to increasing CO₂—that is, increasing photosynthesis‐related nutrients and decreasing maximum stomatal conductance, a decrease in leaf δ¹³C clearly indicates a decreasing iWUE over time. Additionally, the stoichiometric carbon to nitrogen and nitrogen to phosphorus ratios in the leaves show no sign of progressive nutrient limitation as they have remained constant since 1938, which suggests that nutrients have not increasingly limited productivity in this biome. Altogether, the data suggest that other environmental factors, such as increasing temperature, might have negatively affected net photosynthesis and consequently downregulated the iWUE. Results from this study reveal that the second largest tropical forest on Earth has responded differently to recent environmental changes than expected, highlighting the need for further on‐ground monitoring in the Congo Basin.     

Multidimensional biases,gaps and uncertainties in global plant occurrence information

Plants are a hyperdiverse clade that plays a key role in maintaining ecological and evolutionary processes as well as human livelihoods. Biases, gaps and uncertainties in plant occurrence information remain a central problem in ecology and conservation, but these limitations remain largely unassessed globally. In this synthesis, we propose a conceptual framework for analysing gaps in information coverage, information uncertainties and biases in these metrics along taxonomic, geographical and temporal dimensions, and apply it to all c. 370 000 species of land plants. To this end, we integrated 120 million point‐occurrence records with independent databases on plant taxonomy, distributions and conservation status. We find that different data limitations are prevalent in each dimension. Different metrics of information coverage and uncertainty are largely uncorrelated, and reducing taxonomic, spatial or temporal uncertainty by filtering out records would usually come at great costs to coverage. In light of these multidimensional data limitations, we discuss prospects for global plant ecological and biogeographical research, monitoring and conservation and outline critical next steps towards more effective information usage and mobilisation. Our study provides an empirical baseline for evaluating and improving global floristic knowledge, along with a conceptual framework that can be applied to study other hyperdiverse clades.     

紫堇属模式标本馆藏现状及分析

模式标本是发表新种的依据,对稳定物种学名至关重要。紫堇属(Corydalis DC.)隶属于罂粟科(Papaveraceae)荷包牡丹亚科(Fumarioideae)紫堇族(Corydaleae),是分类学研究的困难属之一。该研究首先基于《中国植物志》、Flora of China以及全球物种名录查询获得被认可的526个紫堇属物种,然后通过检索全球数字化植物标本数据库(JSTOR)、全球生物多样性信息网络数据库(GBIF)和中国数字植物标本馆(CVH)获得了其中395个物种1 894份模式标本,最后对获得的标本信息进行核实、整理和归纳,提取模式类型、馆藏地、采集人、模式产地和采集时间等关键信息进行统计分析。结果表明:紫堇属每个物种平均仅有约5份模式标本; 该属模式标本散落在全球80个标本馆中,其中超过85%为国外采集者采集。未来应当结合文献,加强对该属模式标本的信息考证和规范化整理。     

岭南大学植物标本室设于一九一六年

1916年,岭南学校在高鲁甫主持下成立农学部,并拟设立植物标本室,派学生赴菲律宾科学局梅尔处学习标本制作。不久后,请梅尔来广州,为之设立标本室。此为中国较早之植物标本室,对现代植物学在中国传播有积极作用。然而此段历史并不为学界所周知,该文依据史料,将其梳理呈现。     

Darwin’s Galapagos gourd: providing new insights 175 years after his visit

The year 2010 marks the 175th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s visit to the Galapagos Islands. A recent paper by J. C. Briggs, ‘Darwin’s biogeography’ (Journal of Biogeography, 2009, 36 , 1011–1017), summarizes Darwin’s contributions to the field of biogeography, stressing the importance of his natural history specimens. Here, we illustrate how a plant collected by Darwin during his visit to Floreana and not collected since can provide insights into dispersal to oceanic islands as well as extinction of island plants, based on ancient DNA from Darwin’s herbarium specimen.     

Spatiotemporal monitoring of the rare northern dragonhead (Dracocephalum ruyschiana,Lamiaceae) — SNP genotyping and environmental niche modeling herbarium specimens

The species we have studied the spatiotemporal genetic change in the northern dragonhead, a plant species that has experienced a drastic population decline and habitat loss in Europe. We have added a temporal perspective to the monitoring of northern dragonhead in Norway by genotyping herbarium specimens up to 200 years old. We have also assessed whether northern dragonhead has achieved its potential distribution in Norway. To obtain the genotype data from 130 herbarium specimens collected from 1820 to 2008, mainly from Norway (83) but also beyond (47), we applied a microfluidic array consisting of 96 SNP markers. To assess temporal genetic change, we compared our new genotype data with existing data from modern samples. We used sample metadata and observational records to model the species'' environmental niche and potential distribution in Norway. Our results show that the SNP array successfully genotyped all included herbarium specimens. Hence, with the appropriate design procedures, the SNP array technology appears highly promising for genotyping old herbarium specimens. The captured genetic diversity correlates negatively with distance from Norway. The historical‐modern comparisons reveal similar genetic structure and diversity across space and limited genetic change through time in Norway, providing no signs of any regional bottleneck (i.e., spatiotemporal stasis). The regional areas in Norway have remained genetically divergent, however, both from each other and more so from populations outside of Norway, rendering continued protection of the species in Norway relevant. The ENM results suggest that northern dragonhead has not fully achieved its potential distribution in Norway and corroborate that the species is anchored in warmer and drier habitats.     

高校新型植物标本馆的建立与发展——以河南农业大学植物标本馆为例

高校标本馆作为重要的科普和教学实践基地,是连接大学与社会的桥梁,在提升高校社会影响力和加快高校发展中起着重要作用。目前,高校标本馆普遍存在经费少和缺乏管理等问题。如何立足高校现状,有效解决标本采集和标本数字化过程中耗时耗力的难题,建设具有地方特色的新型植物标本馆,是高校标本馆建设关注的焦点之一。该文以河南农业大学植物标本馆新馆建设为例,介绍了河南农业大学标本馆成立以来,充分发挥高校的人力资源优势,让学生通过实验课或野外实习积极参与新型植物标本馆的建设,基本实现了标本采集、制作、鉴定和数字化的同步进行。在这一过程中,既有效锻炼了学生能力,加深了学生对植物形态的认识,发挥了植物标本馆在教学、科学研究及科学普及中的积极作用,又极大地丰富了标本馆馆藏量,有效地促进了高校新型植物标本馆的发展。