Historical biogeography and evolutionary diversification of Lilium(Liliaceae): New insights from plastome phylogenomics

Here, we infer the historical biogeography and evolutionary diversification of the genus Lilium. For this purpose, we used the complete plastomes of 64 currently accepted species in the genus Lilium(14plastomes were newly sequenced) to recover the phylogenetic backbone of the genus and a timecalibrated phylogenetic framework to estimate biogeographical history scenarios and evolutionary diversification rates of Lilium. Our results suggest that ancient climatic changes and geological tectonic activities jointly shaped the distribution range and drove evolutionary radiation of Lilium, including the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum(MMCO), the late Miocene global cooling, as well as the successive uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP) and the strengthening of the monsoon climate in East Asia during the late Miocene and the Pliocene. This case study suggests that the unique geological and climatic events in the Neogene of East Asia, in particular the uplift of QTP and the enhancement of monsoonal climate, may have played an essential role in formation of uneven distribution of plant diversity in the Northern Hemisphere.

Why is the beautyberry so colourful? Evolution,biogeography,and diversification of fruit colours in Callicarpa(Lamiaceae)

Fruit colour is essential to seed dispersal,speciation,and biological diversity in global ecosystems.The relationship between fruit-colour variation and species diversification has long been of interest in evolutionary biology,but remains poorly understood at the genus level.Here,we used Callicarpa,a typical representative of pantropical angiosperm,to analyse whether fruit colours are correlated with biogeographic distribution,dispersal events,and diversification rate.We estimated a time-calibrated phylogeny for Callicarpa and reconstructed ancestral fruit colour.Utilizing phylogenetic methods,we estimated the major dispersal events across the phylogenetic tree and the most likely fruit colours related to each dispersal event,and tested whether the dispersal frequencies and distances of the four fruit colours between major biogeographical areas were equal.We then tested whether fruit colours are correlated with latitude,elevation,and diversification rate.Biogeographical reconstructions showed that Callicarpa originated in the East Asia and Southeast Asia during the Eocene(-35.53 Ma) and diverse species diverged mainly in the Miocene and lasted into the Pleistocene.Large-scale dispersal events were significantly associated with violet-fruited lineages.Furthermore,different fruit colours were markedly correlated with different latitudes and elevations(e.g.,violet fruits were correlated with higher latitudes and elevations;red fruits and black fruits with lower latitudes;white fruits with higher elevations).Notably,violet fruits were statistically associated with highest diversification rates,driving fruit colour variation among different regions globally.Our results contribute to further understanding why fruit colour is so variable at the genus level of angiosperms in different areas around the world.

Diversification evidence of bitcoin and gold from wavelet analysis

To measure the diversification capability of Bitcoin,this study employs wavelet analysis to investigate the coherence of Bitcoin price with the equity markets of both the emerging and developed economies,considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Russia-Ukraine war.The results based on the data from January 9,2014 to May 31,2022 reveal that compared with gold,Bitcoin consistently provides diversification opportunities with all six representative market indices examined,specifically under the normal market condition.In particular,for short-term horizons,Bitcoin shows favorably low correlation with each index for all years,whereas exception is observed for gold.In addition,diversification between Bitcoin and gold is demonstrated as well,mainly for short-term investments.However,the diversification benefit is conditional for both Bitcoin and gold under the recent pandemic and war crises.The findings remind investors and portfolio managers planning to incorporate Bitcoin into their portfolios as a diversification tool to be aware of the global geopolitical conditions and other uncertainty in considering their investment tools and durations.

Cover Enhancement Method for Audio Steganography Based on Universal Adversarial Perturbations with Sample Diversification

Steganography techniques,such as audio steganography,have been widely used in covert communication.However,the deep neural network,especially the convolutional neural network(CNN),has greatly threatened the security of audio steganography.Besides,existing adversarial attacks-based countermeasures cannot provide general perturbation,and the trans-ferability against unknown steganography detection methods is weak.This paper proposes a cover enhancement method for audio steganography based on universal adversarial perturbations with sample diversification to address these issues.Universal adversarial perturbation is constructed by iteratively optimizing adversarial perturbation,which applies adversarial attack tech-niques,such as Deepfool.Moreover,the sample diversification strategy is designed to improve the transferability of adversarial perturbations in black-box attack scenarios,where two types of common audio-processing operations are considered,including noise addition and moving picture experts group audio layer III(MP3)compression.Furthermore,the perturbation ensemble method is applied to further improve the attacks’transferability by integrating perturbations of different detection networks with heterogeneous architec-tures.Consequently,the single universal adversarial perturbation can enhance different cover audios against a CNN-based detection network.Extensive experiments have been conducted,and the results demonstrate that the average missed-detection probabilities of the proposed method are higher than those of the state-of-the-art methods by 7.3%and 16.6%for known and unknown detection networks,respectively.It verifies the efficiency and transferability of the proposed methods for the cover enhancement of audio steganography.

Determinants of Household Choice of Livelihood Diversification Strategies in Selected Drought Prone Areas of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Region, Ethiopia

The study aimed at identifying the determinants of household’s choice of livelihood diversification strategies. The result of the study based on a total of 384 sample respondents selected using multistage sampling procedures. Furthermore the study employed bivariate Probit econometric model to identify factors affecting household’s choice of livelihood diversification strategies. The result of the descriptive statistics showed that households in the study area were engaged in four types of combination of livelihood diversification strategies: on-farm only, on-farm plus off-farm, on-farm plus non-farm, and on-farm plus off-farm plus non-farm with their respective share of 34.9, 11.5, 47.9 and 5.7 percent respectively. The econometric model result showed that wealth, sex, education level, livestok holding, and training were negatively and significantly determined households choice of off-farm livelihood strategies;whereas past erosion hazard and distance to market were positively and significantly determined their choice of off-farm livelihood strategies. On the other hand, wealth, dependency ratio, past erosion hazard, market availability, yield loss/reduction due to drought, distance to credit source, distance to market, frequency of extension contact, and ICT ownership (Radio, TV and/or Mobile phone) positively determine household’s choice of non-farm livelihood strategies whereas access to irrigation and distance to credit negatively determined their choice of non-farm livelihood strategies.

Interference of Local Government, Industrial Concentrative Rate and Corporate Diversification

This paper studies the effects of internal and external environments on the strategic decision-making of diversification using the cross-sectional data of China＇s 1 033 non-financial listed companies in Shenzhen and Shanghai Exchange. Corporate external-environment is substituted by index of marketization and market concentrative rate, and internal-environment is substituted by governance framework and financial status. The multi-regression analysis shows that the strategic decision-making of diversification is prominently affected by external factors such as index of marketization and market concentrative rate, and is significantly negative related to the proportion of state-owned shares and corporate shares. There is no correlation between diversification and whether directors hold concurrently, or manager compensation, cash flow, and debt ratio.

Eurozone Equity Market Diversification： Is It Still Worth？

The paper aims at verifying if there still are advantages in diversification inside the Eurozone despite the economic and monetary unification process. The results show unambiguously that notwithstanding the high degree of correlation between the Eurozone stock markets, opportunities for diversification still exist. The introduction of constraints on short selling significantly reduces these benefits. Investors from the European leading countries would have greatly benefitted from a Eurozone portfolio diversification strategy. The advantages of diversification appear to change significantly over time and from country to country. The results are also conclusive in reflecting the instability of the historical mean-variance data.

Diversification of Autonomous Reading Materials for English Major

Autonomous learning and its importance has attracted more and more attention,on the basis of which,independent read-ing activities should emphasizes the student as the center in the activity.So the choice of independent reading materials should bebased on their requirement.The materials should have the features of interesting and informative,varied style,content suitable forteaching materials,etc.At last how English teacher guide and conduct the students’activities of self-monitoring and self-assess-ment.

Relationship between Prosopis juliflora invasion and livelihood diversification in the South Afar region,Northeast Ethiopia

This study assessed the effects of Prosopis juliflora invasion on livelihood diversification and evaluated the determinants of livelihood diversification in two districts in the South Afar region of Northeast Ethiopia.Using random sampling method,154 households and 2 focus groups composed of 10 individuals were selected from four sites in the two districts.The relationship between P.juliflora invasion and incomes obtained from P.juliflora varied across the study sites.In Awash Fentale District and Amibara District,11.0%and 3.2%of households,respectively,earned income from P.juliflora charcoal production.In total,14.3%of households were involved in charcoal production.In addition,19.9%of households earned income from selling P.juliflora pods and wood materials in the two districts.With the exception of income from P.juliflora charcoal production,the sex of households did not affect incomes from other livelihood activities.Moreover,household educational attainment significantly affected income obtained from vegetables,fruits,and cereal crops.Male householders were engaged in more diverse livelihood activities than female householders.Reversing the severe invasion of P.juliflora on grazing and woodlands in the region is advisable through integrated natural resources,pastoralist participation,and multidisciplinary research strategies.

Livelihood diversification and cropland use pattern in agro-pastoral mountainous region of eastern Tibetan Plateau

This study examined livelihood diversification and cropland use pattern in Keerma village, located in Jinchuan County, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Through stratified random sampling survey, participatory rural appraisal, investigation of households＇ plots and statistical methods, 63 households and 272 cropland plots were systemically investigated and sampled. The results show： （1） Different types of household have variety livelihood strategies, portfolio and income. Livelihood diversification and introducing and expanding off-farm activities can be the future trend, whereas, adverse natural environment, socio-economic conditions and peasants＇ capabilities together affect sustainable livelihood and land use. （2） Each livelihood strategy has its own impact on land use, mainly affecting land use type and land use intensi- fication level. （3） Diversification into off-farm activities could be the key of building sustainable livelihood and the essential approach of realizing sustainable land use in the region.

Impact of livelihood diversification of rural households on their ecological footprint in agro-pastoral areas of northern China

Human-environment relationship is a focus of academic researches and an understanding of the rela- tionship is important for making effective policies and decisions. In this study, based on rural household survey data of Taibus Banner, Duolun county and Zhengxiangbai Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China, we identified the impact of livelihood diversification on ecosystems in these agro-pastoral areas by using the ecological footprint theory and methodology together with the one-way analysis of variance （ANOVA） and correlation analysis methods. In 2011, the total ecological footprint of consumption （EFC） was 0.665 g hm2, and the total ecological footprint of production （EFP） was 2.045 g hm2, which was more than three times the EFC. The ecological footprint of arable land consumption （EFAC） accounted for a large proportion of the EFC, and the ecological footprint of grassland production （EFGP） occupied a large proportion of the EFP. Both the ecological footprint of grassland consumption （EFGC） and EFGP had a significant positive correlation with the income, indicating that income was mainly depended on livestock production and the households with higher incomes consumed more livestock prod- ucts. The full-time farming households （FTFHs） had the highest EFP, ecological footprint of arable land production （EFAP）, EFGP and EFGC, followed by the part-time farming households （PTFHs） and non-farming households （NFHs）, which indicated that part-time farming and non-farming employment reduced the occupancy and con- sumption of rural households on local ecosystems and natural resources to some extent. When farming households engaged in livestock rearing, both the EFAP and EFAC became smaller, while the EFP, EFC, EFGC and EFGP increased significantly. The differences in ecological footprints among different household groups should be taken into account when making ecosystem conservation policies. Encouraging the laborers who have the advantages of participating in non-farming employment to move out of the rural areas and increasing the diversification of liveli- hoods of rural households are important in reducing the environmental pressures and improving the welfare of households in the study area. Moreover, grassland should be utilized more effectively in the future.

Crop Diversification in Coping with Extreme Weather Events in China

Apart from the long-term effects of climate change, the frequency and severity of extreme weather events have been increasing. Given the risks posed by climate change, particularly the changes in extreme weather events, the question of how to adapt to these changes and mitigate their negative impacts has received great attention from policy makers. The overall goals of this study are to examine whether farmers adapt to extreme weather events through crop diversification and which factors influence farmers＇ decisions on crop diversification against extreme weather events in China. To limit the scope of this study, we focus on drought and flood events only. Based on a unique large-scale household survey in nine provinces, this study finds that farmers respond to extreme weather events by increasing crop diversification. Their decision to diversify crops is significantly influenced by their experiences of extreme weather events in the previous year. Such results are understandable because farmers＇ behaviors are normally based on their expectations. Moreover, household characteristics also affect farmers＇ decisions on crop diversification strategy, and their effects differ by farmers＇ age and gender. This paper concludes with several policy implications.

The future of mountain agriculture amidst continual farm-exit, livelihood diversification and outmigration in the Central Himalayan villages

Agrarian patterns in mountain ecosystems have seen a considerable change in the past decades with a vast proportion of the population abandoning traditional agriculture and diversifying their livelihood options, primarily through out-migration. This trend is especially common amongst the subsistence based family-farming communities in developing countries. This study aims at assessing methods of livelihood diversification and factors influencing farm-exit in Central Himalayan villages of Uttarakhand, India, while trying to understand local perspectives on challenges in pursuing agriculture as a viable livelihood option. We collected qualitative and quantitative data from 951 households across 60 villages evenly distributed across six hill districts of Uttarakhand, using key-person interviews and household surveys. The results of the study highlight that farm-exit is significantly influenced by livelihood diversification, number of migrants, number of female family members, and availability of irrigation facilities. In general, perception of the respondents towards agriculture as a viable livelihood option is rather unenthusiastic, with 87% of the respondents citing human wildlife conflict as the main challenge in pursuing farming, amongst several other challenges. Diversification is an integral component of present rural economy with 80.13% of the total population dependent on more than one source of income, to maintain their livelihoods. However, there is no statistically significant influence of livelihood diversification on annual income of the household. If agro-based entrepreneurial ventures are to be promoted in the region there is an urgent need for timely introduction of radical policy, institutional, and land-reforms. Economic uplifting of the local population through such efforts can also be a possible solution to the growing trends of out-migration in the state.

Livelihood Diversification of Farm Households and Its Impact on Cultivated Land Utilization in Agro-pastoral Ecologically-vulnerable Areas in the Northern China

The relationship between livelihood diversification of farm households and cultivated land utilization has become a core research topic related to global environmental change.Agro-pastoral ecologically-vulnerable areas face challenges such as insufficient ecosystem conservation,low agricultural production,and weak economies.In this study,215 farm households from Zhengxiangbai Banner,Taibus Banner,and Duolun County of Inner Mongolia were surveyed.The sustainable livelihoods framework of the United Kingdom(UK)Department for International Development(DFID)was used to measure the livelihood capital of these farm households.A one-way analysis of variance(ANOVA)was applied to examine the differences in the livelihood capital of different types households,and a correlation analysis was applied to analyze its impact on cultivated land utilization.Results showed that households with non-farming activities accounted for 64.7%of the total surveyed households,and non-farming employment was becoming more prevalent.Physical and financial capital was the driving factors for livelihood diversity.Each livelihood capital had key factors that affected household farmland use behaviors,such as the age of householder,the labor ratio,proportion of income,farmland scale,number of machines,and these had a significantly positive or negative influence on farmland use.Full-time farming households were more likely to transfer the land into cultivation and invest more labor,while non-farming households with high income were likely to transfer farmland out and invest more money to develop efficient farming or improve the employment skills.The results of this study suggest that policymakers need to fully consider livelihood changes of local households.It is effective to strengthen labor training,create farmland market and improve the efficiency of farmland utilization.We hope to achieve a win-win scenario to improve local economies and ecosystem conservation.

Maize production under risk:The simultaneous adoption of off-farm income diversification and agricultural credit to manage risk

Farmers in Pakistan continue to produce maize under various types of risks and adopt several strategies to manage those risks. This study is the first attempt to investigate the factors affecting the concurrent adoption of off-farm income diversification and agricultural credit which the farmers use to manage the risk to maize production. We apply bivariate and multinomial probit approaches to the primary data collected from four districts of Punjab Province in Pakistan. The results show that strong correlations exist between the off-farm diversification and agricultural credit which indicates that the use of one risk management strategy leads to another. The findings demonstrate that education, livestock number, maize farming experience, perceptions of biological risks and risk-averse nature of the growers significantly encourage the adoption of diversification as a risk management tool while farm size inversely affects the adoption of diversification. Similarly, in the adoption equation of credit, maize farming experience, farm size, perceptions of price and biological risks and risk attitude of farmers significantly enhance the chances of adopting agricultural credit to manage farm risks. These findings are important for the relevant stakeholders who seek to offer carefully designed risk minimizing options to the maize farmers.

The global diversification of songbirds (Oscines) and the build-up of the Sino-Himalayan diversity hotspot

Over the last decade, molecular phylogenetic studies have provided the foundation for a comprehensive analysis of the global diversification of songbirds (Oscines), which comprise nearly half of all the birds of the world. By comparing the spatial distribution of species representing basal and terminal root-path groups, this paper provides graphical illustrations of the global pattern of diversification for the major songbird clades. The worldwide expansion of songbirds started as an island radiation in the area where New Guinea is now located, but the mountains of southern China represent a principal center for more recent diversification. The paper suggests priorities and perspectives for further research aiming to understand what determines the variation in biodiversity on different spatial scales.

Diversification of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in seven geographically different paddy soils in Sichuan

The diversification of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) communities and their potential nitrification activity (PNA) on a large scale have not been well documented. In this work, seven paddy soils from different geographic regions in Sichuan, P. R. China were selected to determine the spatial distribution of the activities, abundances and community compositions of AOB and AOA. PNA varied greatly among paddy soils, and was positively correlated with soil pH (P< 0.05). The abundance of AOA was 81.1 to 1 670.0 times more than that of AOB, which indicates paddy soil environments favor the growth of AOA. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprints of amoA genes exhibited distinct spatial differences in AOA compositions rather than in AOB compositions. Sequencing analysis revealed that acidic soils were dominated by AOA within marine group 1.1 a-associated lineage, whereas the soil group 1.1b lineage AOA predominated in neutral and alkaline soils. Both nitrosopira cluster 3-like and Nitrosomonas cluster 7-like AOB dominated the AOB communities in the paddy soils. Redundancy analysis suggested that soil NH4^+-N content was the most significant driver determining the AOB community structure, while no significant correlation between AOA community structure and soil properties was found. The findings highlight that the activity and composition of ammonia oxidizers exhibit spatial variations in complex paddy fields due to the joint influence of soil variables associated with pH and N availability.

Ediacaran Discs from the Jodhpur Sandstone, Marwar Supergroup, India: A Biological Diversification or Taphonomic Interplay?

The noncarbonaceous Ediacaran discs of variable morphologies from the Jodhpur Sandstone Formation of the Marwar Supergroup, western Rajasthan, suggest different biologic affinities of plant and animal kingdom. These discs are commonly preserved on the bedding surfaces of siliciclastic sandstone and shale in strong positive relief and appear to possess a flexible to rigid body. Discs assignable to Aspidella, Cyclomedusa, Nimbia and Heimalora;all possibly inclining towards cnidarian affinity are being reported from the sandstone beds in Sursagar area. Variable morphologies among discs preserved in siliciclastic shale beds from the Artiya Kalan area support scyphozoan affinity (earlier named Marsonia from the same locality) and cnidarian affinity for small discs comparable with Funisia (considered being the first animals having sexual reproduction). Disc’s morphologies also suggest ephyra stage of Aurilia (a cnidarian form) or budding stages of some fungi, like Germinosphaera (multicellular benthic fungal fossils) and noncarbonaceous discs with well preserved wrinkles and folds like in Chuaria. Discs from the Jodhpur Sandstone, may at times display taphonomic interplay, but consistency and repetition in morphology support variable biological affinities representing diverse assemblage and advance ecosystem prevailing during Ediacaran period. A degree of genetic variability can be expected within any taxa, and this may be compounded by preservation factors affecting the Jodhpur Ediacaran discs. Sudden increase in size or gigantism is a common feature of Ediacaran life, which is evident in case of Jodhpur discs also. On the basis of fossil assemblage, the Jodhpur Group (the Marwar Supergroup) is regionally correlated with the Bhander Group of the Vindhyan Supergroup and Krol Group of Lesser Himalaya. Globally, the assemblage is comparable with the Long Mynd Group, Shropshire, UK, Fermuse Formation Newfoundland, South Australia, Russia and Norway.

Altitudinal seasonality as a potential driver of morphological diversification in rear-edge bird populations

Populations at the low latitude limits of a species range(rear-edge populations)are often considered more vulnerable to climate change.However,their ability to track different environmental settings at a regional scale has been widely overlooked,although this may be relevant to accurately assess their adaptive capacity to cope with ongoing changes.Here we tested whether the endemic African Chaffinch(Fringilla coelebs africana)tracks environmental changes(e.g.decreasing temperatures,snow cover)by rearranging their numbers between seasons(spring vs.winter)along the altitude gradients of its northwestern African range.We additionally tested whether these seasonal changes in abundance were paralleled by morphological variation,suggesting a process of population diversification.We assessed African Chaffinch abundance in tree covered farmland and woodland sites distributed along an altitude gradient in spring and winter.In addition,we captured and measured chaffinches within the study gradient to explore the patterns of morphological variation.Our results showed that chaffinches shifted to lowlands from snow covered highlands during winter.In addition,highland individuals showed longer and more concave wings than their lowland counterparts.These morphological traits are usually related to flight efficiency in migratory birds,which suggest the presence of altitudinal movements aimed to track the environmental seasonality caused by orography.These results suggest a potential role of altitudinal seasonality as a driver of regional diversification within the African Chaffinch populations,which could be occurring in other North African avian species given their relatively high endemicity in the region.The evolutionary and conservation implications of these displacements have been often overlooked despite they can shape the adaptive capacity of rear-edge bird populations to face the ongoing environmental changes in this peripheral area of the Palearctic.

SOE Ownership Diversification and Environmental Performance

Based on the panel data of China's 34 industrial sectors during 2005-2013, this paper tests the water pollution effects of SOE ownership diversification in China. The result shows that in general, greater state ownership and less private ownership in a sector will lead to lower water pollution intensity. Test of threshold effect shows that, irrespective of its current level, an increase in state ownership helps improve the environment by different degrees. When pollution intensity is low, ownership diversification helps reduce pollution intensity; when pollution intensity is high, state ownership is the optimal choice for mitigating pollution. This paper's findings suggest that while advancing the mixedownership reform of SOEs, China cannot relax the environmental responsibilities of SOEs, and still less should economic interests override environmental concerns.