Phylogeographic Structure of a Tethyan Relict Capparis spinosa (Capparaceae) Traces Pleistocene Geologic and Climatic Changes in the Western Himalayas, Tianshan Mountains, and Adjacent Desert Regions.

Complex geological movements more or less affected or changed floristic structures, while the alternation of glacials and interglacials is presumed to have further shaped the present discontinuous genetic pattern of temperate plants. Here we consider Capparis spinosa, a xeromorphic Tethyan relict, to discuss its divergence pattern and explore how it responded in a stepwise fashion to Pleistocene geologic and climatic changes. 267 individuals from 31 populations were sampled and 24 haplotypes were identified, based on three cpDNA fragments (trnL-trnF, rps12-rpl20, and ndhF). SAMOVA clustered the 31 populations into 5 major clades. AMOVA suggests that gene flow between them might be restricted by vicariance. Molecular clock dating indicates that intraspecific divergence began in early Pleistocene, consistent with a time of intense uplift of the Himalaya and Tianshan Mountains, and intensified in mid-Pleistocene. Species distribution modeling suggests range reduction in the high mountains during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as a result of cold climates when glacier advanced, while gorges at midelevations in Tianshan appear to have served as refugia. Populations of low-altitude desert regions, on the other hand, probably experienced only marginal impacts from glaciation, according to the high levels of genetic diversity.

Species richness patterns and water-energy dynamics in the drylands of Northwest China.

Dryland ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climatic and land-use changes, while the mechanisms underlying patterns of dryland species richness are still elusive. With distributions of 3637 native vascular plants, 154 mammals, and 425 birds in Xinjiang, China, we tested the water-energy dynamics hypothesis for species richness patterns in Central Asian drylands. Our results supported the water-energy dynamics hypothesis. We found that species richness of all three groups was a hump-shaped function of energy availability, but a linear function of water availability. We further found that water availability had stronger effects on plant richness, but weaker effects on vertebrate richness than energy availability. We conducted piecewise linear regressions to detect the breakpoints in the relationship between species richness and potential evapotranspiration which divided Xinjiang into low and high energy regions. The concordance between mammal and plant richness was stronger in high than in low energy regions, which was opposite to that between birds and plants. Plant richness had stronger effects than climate on mammal richness regardless of energy levels, but on bird richness only in high energy regions. The changes in the concordance between vertebrate and plant richness along the climatic gradient suggest that cautions are needed when using concordance between taxa in conservation planning.

Comparison of five Calligonum species in Tarim Basin based on morphological and molecular data.

Five Calligonum species endemic to the Tarim Basin - C. roborowskii, C. kuerlese, C. juoqiangense,C. yengisaricum, and C. taklimakanense - were compared using 14 morphological characteristics and nrDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL-F molecular data. Intraspecific and interspecific morphological variation was uncovered, with variation between species significant for most characteristics. Based on Euclidean distances, C. roborowskii and C. kuerlese were the most similar, and C. yengisaricum and C. kuerlese were the most divergent. There was very little variation in the molecular sequence data: although several variable sites were present in ITS and trnL-F regions, none of them were parsimony informative. Results of morphological and molecular analyses suggest that the various morphological characteristics of the studied Calligonum species are strongly shaped by environmental factors, with the observed intraspecific and interspecific morphological variation a product of the spatial isolation and extreme drought of the Tarim Basin.

[Effects of microbial agents on litter decomposition in urban protective greenbelts of arid zone].

In order to explore the ways for promoting litter decomposition in urban protective greenbelts of arid zone, litter falls were collected from the protective greenbelts in north suburb of Karamay, Xinjiang, and a composting experiment with the inoculation of three kinds of microbial agents, i.e., Qingzhu, Jiegan, and Sufu, was carried out for 198 days in late October 2007. At the early stage (0-30 d) of composing, inoculating microbial agents promoted the decomposition of the litter falls, and the effect of Sufu agent was significant, compared with CK. The N, P, and Ca concentrations in the composing litter falls increased persistently with time. By the end of the experiment, the nutrient concentrations in the composed litter falls were 14.2%-252.9% higher than their initial values. During the whole composing process, the decomposition rate of the litter falls organic C increased continuously, and the C/N ratio decreased gradually. It was suggested that inoculating microbial agents could accelerate the composting process, and increase the nutrient concentrations in composted litter falls. Among the three test microbial agents, Jiegan agent was the best one.

[Contribution of soil seed bank to the regeneration of damaged vegetation on floodplain].

A field germination experiment of soil seed bank was carried out on two typical floodplains in the lower reaches of Tarim River, and a comparison was made between the soil seed banks and corresponding seedling banks on the two floodplains, aimed to assess the contribution of soil seed bank to the regeneration of damaged vegetation. The results showed that there were 12 plant species in the soil seed banks, and the life forms were mainly perennial herbs and shrubs. The soil seed banks had a density of 282.5 seeds m(-2) and 173.2 seeds x m(-2), and the seeds in top soil (0-2 cm) accounted for 76.9% and 71.0% of the total, respectively. The soil seed banks had significant effects on the seedlings species composition and density, and 84.7% and 99.4% of the seedlings on the two floodplains were emerged from corresponding soil seed banks. The similarity coefficient between soil seed bank and seedling bank of the two floodplains was 0.72 and 0.63, respectively, and there existed significant positive correlation between seedling density and soil seed bank density, illustrating that soil seed bank made important contribution to the natural regeneration of vegetation.