The ability to manage and restore plant communities in the face of human-induced landscape change may rely on our ability to predict how species respond to environmental variables.Understanding this response requires ...The ability to manage and restore plant communities in the face of human-induced landscape change may rely on our ability to predict how species respond to environmental variables.Understanding this response requires examining factors or their interactions that have influence on plant and resource availability.Our objective was to analyze the relationships between changes in plant abundance and the interaction among environmental habitat factors including soil, geological(rock type), and other environmental variables in the Longhushan karst mountains ecosystem.Species density and dominance were examined using ANOVA, ANCOVA,and Generalized Linear Models to establish the single or combined effects of these groups of factors.The results showed that trends in abundance were mainly affected by rock type(related to the percentage content of dolomite and calcite), soil characteristics in association with topography.Both plant indices were higher in dolomite dominated areas and varied positively with moisture, and elevation, but negatively with organic matter, while density also increased with slope degree.The results demonstrate that significant variations in species abundance was produced with the combination of variables from soil, geological, andenvironmental factors, suggesting their interaction influence on plants.We postulate that spatial variations in plant abundance in karst ecosystem depends on the carbonate rock type in addition to water and nutrient availability which are mainly controlled by topography and other factors such as soil texture and temperature.The study suggests that in karst areas carbonate rock type, in addition to local environmental variables, should be taken into account when analyzing the factors that have impact on plant communities.展开更多
Systematic characterization of available crop varieties using morphological traits is needed to fuel breeders＇ efforts in African eggplant. Twenty-eight accessions of African eggplant from three species of Solanum ae...Systematic characterization of available crop varieties using morphological traits is needed to fuel breeders＇ efforts in African eggplant. Twenty-eight accessions of African eggplant from three species of Solanum aethiopicum （16）, Solanum macrocarpon （9） and Solanum anguivi （3） were characterized using standard morphological descriptors. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design （RCBD） with three replications. The results indicated distinct and wide variations between the three Solanum species studied. There were however a lot of similarities between the S. aethiopicum and S. anguivi lines. This suggests the two materials being closer to each other than they are to the S. macrocarpon.展开更多
Aims Plant-pollinator interaction networks are dynamic entities,and seasonal variation in plant phenology can reshape their structure on both short and long timescales.However,such seasonal dynamics are rarely conside...Aims Plant-pollinator interaction networks are dynamic entities,and seasonal variation in plant phenology can reshape their structure on both short and long timescales.However,such seasonal dynamics are rarely considered,especially for oceanic island pollination networks.Here,we assess changes in the temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator interactions in response to seasonal variation in floral resource richness in oceanic island communities.Methods We evaluated seasonal variations of pollination networks in the Yongxing Island community.Four temporal qualitative pollination networks were analyzed using plant-pollinator interaction data of the four seasons.We collected data on plant-pollinator interactions during two consecutive months in each of the four seasons.Four network-level indices were calculated to characterize the overall structure of the networks.Statistical analyses of community dissimilarity were used to compare this community across four seasons to explore the underlying factors driving these patterns.We also evaluated the temporal variation in two species-level indices of plant and pollinator functional groups.Important Findings Both network-level specialization and modularity showed a significantly opposite trend compared with plant species richness across four seasons.Increased numbers of plant species might promote greater competition among pollinators,leading to increased niche overlap and causing decreased specialization and modularity and vice versa.Further analyses suggested that the season-to-season turnover of interactions was dominated by interaction rewiring.Thus,the seasonal changes in niche overlap among pollinators lead to interaction rewiring,which drives interaction turnover in this community.Hawkmoths had higher values of specialization and Apidae had higher values of species strength compared with other pollinator functional groups.These findings should be considered when exploring plant-pollinator interactions in ecosystems of isolated oceanic islands and in other ecosystems.展开更多
基金founded by the National Natural Scientific Foundation of China(Grant No.40972218)the Fundamental Research Founds for National University,China University of Geosciences(Wuhan)(Grant Nos.G1323521125,G1323521225,G1323521325)
文摘The ability to manage and restore plant communities in the face of human-induced landscape change may rely on our ability to predict how species respond to environmental variables.Understanding this response requires examining factors or their interactions that have influence on plant and resource availability.Our objective was to analyze the relationships between changes in plant abundance and the interaction among environmental habitat factors including soil, geological(rock type), and other environmental variables in the Longhushan karst mountains ecosystem.Species density and dominance were examined using ANOVA, ANCOVA,and Generalized Linear Models to establish the single or combined effects of these groups of factors.The results showed that trends in abundance were mainly affected by rock type(related to the percentage content of dolomite and calcite), soil characteristics in association with topography.Both plant indices were higher in dolomite dominated areas and varied positively with moisture, and elevation, but negatively with organic matter, while density also increased with slope degree.The results demonstrate that significant variations in species abundance was produced with the combination of variables from soil, geological, andenvironmental factors, suggesting their interaction influence on plants.We postulate that spatial variations in plant abundance in karst ecosystem depends on the carbonate rock type in addition to water and nutrient availability which are mainly controlled by topography and other factors such as soil texture and temperature.The study suggests that in karst areas carbonate rock type, in addition to local environmental variables, should be taken into account when analyzing the factors that have impact on plant communities.
文摘Systematic characterization of available crop varieties using morphological traits is needed to fuel breeders＇ efforts in African eggplant. Twenty-eight accessions of African eggplant from three species of Solanum aethiopicum （16）, Solanum macrocarpon （9） and Solanum anguivi （3） were characterized using standard morphological descriptors. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design （RCBD） with three replications. The results indicated distinct and wide variations between the three Solanum species studied. There were however a lot of similarities between the S. aethiopicum and S. anguivi lines. This suggests the two materials being closer to each other than they are to the S. macrocarpon.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant no.31800447)the Chinese Academy of Sciences(grant no.XDA13020504)+1 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(grant no.2018A030310385)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant no.U1701246).
文摘Aims Plant-pollinator interaction networks are dynamic entities,and seasonal variation in plant phenology can reshape their structure on both short and long timescales.However,such seasonal dynamics are rarely considered,especially for oceanic island pollination networks.Here,we assess changes in the temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator interactions in response to seasonal variation in floral resource richness in oceanic island communities.Methods We evaluated seasonal variations of pollination networks in the Yongxing Island community.Four temporal qualitative pollination networks were analyzed using plant-pollinator interaction data of the four seasons.We collected data on plant-pollinator interactions during two consecutive months in each of the four seasons.Four network-level indices were calculated to characterize the overall structure of the networks.Statistical analyses of community dissimilarity were used to compare this community across four seasons to explore the underlying factors driving these patterns.We also evaluated the temporal variation in two species-level indices of plant and pollinator functional groups.Important Findings Both network-level specialization and modularity showed a significantly opposite trend compared with plant species richness across four seasons.Increased numbers of plant species might promote greater competition among pollinators,leading to increased niche overlap and causing decreased specialization and modularity and vice versa.Further analyses suggested that the season-to-season turnover of interactions was dominated by interaction rewiring.Thus,the seasonal changes in niche overlap among pollinators lead to interaction rewiring,which drives interaction turnover in this community.Hawkmoths had higher values of specialization and Apidae had higher values of species strength compared with other pollinator functional groups.These findings should be considered when exploring plant-pollinator interactions in ecosystems of isolated oceanic islands and in other ecosystems.
