Narcea—an unknown,ancient cultivated rose variety from northern Spain

The present work reports the discovery and the complete characterisation of an ancient cultivated rose variety found growing in a private garden in the southwest of the Principality of Asturias(northern Spain).The variety is here given the name Narcea.The majority of roses currently cultivated belong to the so-called group of‘Modern Roses’,all of which were obtained after 1867 via artificial crosses and improvement programmes.All are destined for ornamental use.Until the 19th century,the great majority of the many ancient cultivated roses in Europe were used in perfumery and cosmetics,or had medicinal uses.Rosa damascena and Rosa centifollia are still grown and used by the French and Bulgarian perfume industries.The Asturian Massif of the Cantabrian Mountain Range provides a natural habitat for some 75%of the wild members of the genus Rosa,but until now there was no evidence that this area was home to ancient cultivated roses.A complete botanical description is here provided for a discovered ancient rose.It is also characterised according to a series of sequence tagged microsatellite sites,and its agronomic features are reported.In addition,a histological description(optical and scanning electronic microscope studies)of the petals is offered,along with an analysis of the volatile compounds present in these organs as determined by solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy.The results reveal the uniqueness of this ancient type of rose and suggest it may be of interest to the perfume industry.

Effects of the allelopathic plant Artemisia herba-alba Asso on the soil seed bank of a semi-arid plant community

Aims Seed bank strongly influences composition and structure of above-ground vegetation.Little attention has been paid to the role of allel-opathy driving soil seed bank dynamics,even though allelochemicals released by allelopathic plants might determine whether a species can or cannot germinate from the soil seed bank and,therefore,to co-exist in the neighborhood of the allelopathic species.Hence,the effects of allelopathic plants on community organization through the effects of allelochemicals on soil seed bank remain largely unknown.In this study,we assessed spatial heterogeneities in soil seed bank caused by the presence of allelopathic plants,and evaluated allelo-pathic effects on seed bank germination and seedling mortality.Methods We examined the effects of the allelopathic shrub Artemisia herba-alba Asso on the spatial structure(in terms of species richness and seed density)of the soil seed bank of a semi-arid ecosystem in NE Spain.Specifically,we evaluated seed bank richness and density at three microsites:under the canopy of A.herba-alba individuals,under the canopy of Salsola vermiculata L.(a non-allelopathic shrub)individuals,and in bare soil.In addition,we assessed the effects of aqueous extract of A.herba-alba on soil seed bank germination(seed-ling emergence and emergence timing)and seedling mortality.Important Findings We found that seed bank richness and density were higher under shrub canopy than they were in bare soil.A.herba-alba and S.vermiculata microsites had similar seed bank richness.However,seed bank density was higher under A.herba-alba because of the high abundance of A.herba-alba seeds.Aqueous extract reduced seedling emergence from the seed bank by 50%,and affected mortality of some emerged seedlings.On the other hand,aqueous extract did not influence the emergence timing of seedlings.We conclude that,although the presence of allelo-pathic plants does not cause relevant changes in seed bank struc-ture relative to similar non-allelopathic shrubs,their presence can actually result in a reduction of seedling emergence from the seed bank,which leads to low plant species richness and density nearby.To our knowledge,this is the first study to examine the effect of an allelopathic plant on the structure and germination in an entire soil seed bank.

No benefits from warming even for subnival vegetation in the central Himalayas

普遍认为变暖有利于高山植被生态系统,并已经导致冰缘植物向高海拔的扩张.珠峰山谷金字塔气象站(海拔5050 m)1994~2018的气象记录显示,高海拔山区呈显著的暖干化趋势.然而,我们依然不清楚暖干化是否对冰缘植被更新和分布造成显著影响?本研究在喜马拉雅山中段3个山谷建立了8块(30 m×120 m)滇藏方枝柏(Juniperus indica)和高山柏(Juniperus squamata)灌木线样地(海拔介于4344~5074 m之间).样地调查揭示,自20世纪90年代之前所有样地种群更新呈增加的趋势,然而90年代以来更新持续下降.种群更新与春季、夏季温度之间呈现显著的负相关关系,暗示了暖干化加剧了水分胁迫,并限制了种群的更新.另外,近60年来所有灌木线位置稳定.近30年遥感数据也证实,研究区冰缘植被无变绿趋势,甚至出现2%-6%的植被生长减弱现象.因此,进一步研究应该探讨冰缘植被生长减弱对喜马拉雅山区水循环和生物多样性的影响.