A noteworthy case of rewilding Chinese yew from a garden population in eastern China

Diversity, pathogenicity and two new species of pestalotioid fungi (Amphisphaeriales) associated with Chinese Yew in Guangxi, China

Chinese yew, Taxuschinensisvar.mairei is an endangered shrub native to south-eastern China and is widely known for its medicinal value. The increased cultivation of Chinese yew has increased the incidence of various fungal diseases. In this study, Pestalotioid fungi associated with needle spot of Chinese yew were isolated from Guangxi Province. Based on morphological examinations and multi-locus (ITS, tub2, tef-1α) phylogenies, these isolates were identified to five species, including two new species, Pestalotiopsistaxicola and P.multicolor, two potential novel Neopestalotiopsis species, Neopestalotiopsis sp. 3 and Neopestalotiopsis sp. 4, with a known Pestalotiopsis species (Pestalotiopsistrachycarpicola), firstly recorded from Chinese yew. These two new Pestalotiopsis species were morphologically and phylogenetically distinct from the extant Pestalotioid species in Chinese yew. Pathogenicity and culture characteristic tests of these five Pestalotioid species were also performed in this study. The pathogenicity test results revealed that Neopestalotiopsis sp. 3 can cause diseases in Chinese yew needles. These results have indicated that the diversity of Pestalotioid species associated with Chinese yew was greater than previously determined and provided helpful information for Chinese yew disease diagnosis and management.

Predicting the potential distribution of 12 threatened medicinal plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with a maximum entropy model

Climate change is a vital driver of biodiversity patterns and species distributions, understanding how organisms respond to climate change will shed light on the conservation of endangered species. In this study, the MaxEnt model was used to predict the potential suitable area of 12 threatened medicinal plants in the QTP (Qinghai-Tibet Plateau) under the current and future (2050s, 2070s) three climate scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP8.5). The results showed that the climatically suitable habitats for the threatened medicinal plants were primarily found in the eastern, southeast, southern, and some parts of the central regions on the QTP. Moreover, 25% of the threatened medicinal plants would have reduced suitable habitat areas within the next 30-50 years in the different future global warming scenarios. Among these medicinal plants, RT (Rheum tanguticum) would miss the most habitat (98.97%), while the RAN (Rhododendron anthopogonoides) would miss the least habitat (10.15%). Nevertheless, 33.3% of the threatened medicinal plants showed an increase in their future habitat area because of their physiological characteristics which are more adaptable to a wide range of climates. The climatic suitable habitat for 50% of the threatened medicinal plants would migrate to higher altitudes or higher latitudes regions. This study provides a data foundation for the conservation of biodiversity and wild medicinal plants on the QTP.

Competitive Advantage of Broussonetia papyrifera Growing in a Native Area as Suggested by Structural Diversity

Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) is currently an invasive species on several continents. However, little is known about whether paper mulberry has a competitive advantage over its surrounding trees in its native distribution range, subtropical regions of China. Here, we determined the relative intraspecific and interspecific competitive capacity of paper mulberry in three subtropical deciduous broad-leaved forests using the indices of structural diversity including the mixing index, the tree-tree interval index, and the diameter/height differentiation index. It was found that more than 80% of mingling index values were not greater than 0.25, suggesting a stronger competitiveness of paper mulberry relative to other tree species. The tree-tree interval index values ranged between 1 m and 2 m, suggesting a strong competition between paper mulberry and its neighbors. Moreover, more than 60% of the height differentiation index and diameter differentiation index values were positive, suggesting that the reference paper mulberry had a slight competitive advantage over neighboring trees in both the horizontal and vertical planes. These collectively suggest a competitive advantage over other tree species in the native distribution range, which may play a significant role in the ecological invasion of paper mulberry. Our findings not only help to reveal the invasion mechanism of paper mulberry, but also provide an important reference for the management and utilization of paper mulberry in invaded areas.

Response of distribution patterns of two closely related species in Taxus genus to climate change since last inter-glacial

Climate change affects the species spatio-temporal distribution deeply. However, how climate affects the spatio-temporal distribution pattern of related species on the large scale remains largely unclear. Here, we selected two closely related species in Taxus genus Taxus chinensis and Taxus mairei to explore their distribution pattern. Four environmental variables were employed to simulate the distribution patterns using the optimized Maxent model. The results showed that the highly suitable area of T. chinensis and T. mairei in current period was 1.616 × 10⁵ km² and 3.093 × 10⁵ km², respectively. The distribution area of T. chinensis was smaller than that of T. mairei in different periods. Comparison of different periods shown that the distribution area of the two species was almost in stasis from LIG to the future periods. Temperature and precipitation were the main climate factors that determined the potential distribution of the two species. The centroids of T. chinensis and T. mairei were in Sichuan and Hunan provinces in current period, respectively. In the future, the centroid migration direction of the two species would shift towards northeast. Our results revealed that the average elevation distribution of T. chinensis was higher than that of T. mairei. This study sheds new insights into the habitat preference and limiting environment factors of the two related species and provides a valuable reference for the conservation of these two threatened species.