Lost in transition： Forest transition and natural forest loss in tropical China

The term forest transition refers to a change in forest cover over a given area from a period of net forest area loss to a period of net gain. Whether transitioning from deforestation to reforestation can lead to improved ecosystem services, depends on the quality and characteristics of the newly established forest cover. Using publicly available data, we examine forest transition in two regions of tropical China: Hainan Island and Xishuangbanna. We found that the overall increase of forest cover in both areas during the1980 s was due to an increase in plantation forests rather than to increases in the area covered by natural forest. We also found a time lag between the increase in overall forest cover and an increase in natural forest. On Hainan Island, natural forest continued to decline beyond the point in time when overall forest cover had started to increase, and only began to recover ten years after the turning point in 1978. In Xishuangbanna, where the transition point occurred ten years later, the decline of natural forest cover is still going on. These divergent trends underlying forest transition are concealed by the continued practice to apply the term "forest" broadly, without distinguishing between natural forests and planted forests.Due to the use of undiscriminating terminology, the loss of natural forest may go unnoticed, increasing the risk of plantation forests displacing natural forests in the course of forest transition. Our findings are important for programs related to forest management and ecosystem services improvement, including reforestation and Payments for Ecosystem Services programs.

Genetic effects of historical anthropogenic disturbance on a long-lived endangered tropical tree Vatica mangachapoi

The endangered Vatica mangachapoi,a longlived,tropical tree with economic and ecological importance found in Hainan,China,was used to assess the hypothesis that historical human activities in Hainan’s tropical rain forest could have negative effects on the genetic diversity of V.mangachapoi.Three hundred and twenty individuals from 11 natural populations—which were classified into three groups according to levels of disturbance—were sampled and analyzed with ISSRmarkers.Although genetic diversity of V.mangachapoi is high at the species level,it is relatively low within populations.A significant genetic differentiation occurs among different disturbance levels.Significant isolation-by-distance indicated relevant historical anthropogenic changes.Our findings showed that historical human disturbances significantly increase the genetic differentiation and slightly decrease the genetic diversity of long-lived tree V.mangachapoi.Relevant targeting conservation actions were recommended.

Morphological and molecular identification of Panus conchatus(Polyporaceae,Polyporales)from Yunnan Province,China

Panus conchatus is a species of lentinoid fungi in the family Polyporaceae.This species is characterized by its concave,smooth,deeply decurrent gills,with distinctive purple grey to greyish magenta basidiocarps.This fungus is widely distributed in both tropical and temperate regions.Here,we report a specimen of P.conchatus collected from a temperate region in Yunnan Province,China.The specimen is described and illustrated based on macro-and micro-morphological characteristics.Phylogenetic analyses were done based on the sequence data of ITS and LSU,and the placement of the taxon was confirmed.This is the first time P.conchatus has been reported with molecular phylogenetic data from China.Full description,illustrations,color photographs,and a phylogenetic tree to show the placement of P.conchatus are provided.