Alien, Naturalized and Invasive Plants in China.

Invasive species are a subset of naturalized species, and naturalized species are a subset of alien species. Determining the relationship among these three assemblages would be helpful in predicting and preventing biological invasion. Here, we reviewed the families, lifeforms, origins, introduction pathways and phylogenetic diversity of alien, naturalized and invasive vascular plants in China. The results show that species in the Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Poaceae families had a high dominance among alien, naturalized and invasive species. Moreover, almost all alien species in the Amaranthaceae, Solanaceae, Convolvulaceae and Euphorbiaceae families became naturalized species, and about 26.7% of the naturalized species became invasive species. Perennial herbs comprised a higher proportion of alien species than did annual herbs, though annual herbs were more suited to becoming invasive than perennial herbs. A considerable proportion (57.8%) of invasive species were introduced from America. More than half (56.5%) of alien species were introduced for their ornamental value, and half of these have become naturalized in China. Moreover, about half (55.2%) of all invasive species were introduced for their economic value (including ornamental, foraging and medicinal purposes). Invasive species were phylogenetically clustered and phylogenetically distant from alien and naturalized species, which indicates that phylogenetic differences could be helpful in becoming invasive. There is no doubt that human activity plays a significant role in biological invasion. This study suggests that when introducing alien species to a region, decision-makers should certainly consider the species' phylogeny, beyond just its fundamental characteristics.

Phylogenetic Diversity of Wetland Plants across China.

Accelerating and severe wetland loss has made wetland restoration increasingly important. Current wetland restorations do not take into consideration the ecological adaptability of wetland plants at large scales, which likely affects their long-term restoration success. We explored the ecological adaptability, including plant life forms and phylogenetic diversity, of plants across 28 wetlands in China. We found that perennial herbs were more common than annual herbs, with the proportion of perennial herbs accounting for 40-50%, 45-65%, 45-70%, 50-60%, and 60-80% of species in coastal wetlands, human-made wetlands, lake wetlands, river wetlands, and marsh wetlands, respectively. A ranking of phylogenetic diversity indices (PDIs) showed an order of marsh < river < coastal < lake < human-made, meaning that human-made wetlands had the highest phylogenetic diversity and marsh wetlands had the lowest phylogenetic diversity. The nearest taxon index (NTI) was positive in 23 out of 28 wetlands, indicating that species were phylogenetically clustered in wetland habitats. Dominant species tended to be distantly related to non-dominant species, as were alien invasive species and native species. Our study indicated that annual herbs and perennial herbs were found in different proportions in different types of wetlands and that species were phylogenetically clustered in wetland habitats. To improve wetland restoration, we suggest screening for native annual herbs and perennial herbs in proportions that occur naturally and the consideration of the phylogenetic similarity to dominant native species.

[Respiration from density fractions of two cultivated soils and its temperature sensitivity].

To investigate respiration from density fractions of cultivated soils and its temperature sensitivity, laboratory incubations of upland and paddy soils were carried out for a period of 63 days at four temperature levels of 5, 15, 25 and 35 °C. The upland and paddy soil samples were taken from Pingyi of Shandong Province and Taojiang of Hunan Province, respectively. CO2 efflux from light fraction (LF), heavy fraction (HF) and bulk soil (BS) was measured during the incubation. The results indicated that bulk soil respiration was significantly higher than either light or heavy fraction respiration regardless of soil type. Respiration from HF was higher than that from LF in the upland soil. In the temperature range from 5 to 25 °C, light and heavy fraction respiration in the paddy soil did not show significant difference, while the HF exhibited higher respiration than the LF at 35 °C. Over the 63-day incubation with various temperatures, cumulative respiration from the LF, the HF and the BS accounted for 0.3%-2.8%, 0.4%-3.7% and 0.6%-7.0% of the original LF, HF and BS carbon in the upland soil, and 0.4%-3.0%, 0.3%-3.8% and 0.7%-5.3% of their original carbon in the paddy soil. The temperature sensitivity of the CO2 efflux from the LF, HF and BS, which was expressed as Q10 value, declined as the incubation proceeded. The Q10 values for the HF were generally higher than the values for the LF in the paddy soil, while the difference of Q10 values between the HF and the LF was divergent in the upland soil. In the temperature range from 5 to 25 °C, the Q10 values for BS respiration were higher in the upland soil than in the paddy soil, but it was opposite in the temperature range from 25 to 35 °C. Our results using the site-specific soils suggested that the decomposition of organic carbon in the upland soil was faster and could be more sensitive to temperature change than in the paddy soil.