The complete chloroplast genome of Rhododendron shanii W.P. Fang (Ericaceae), a endemic plant from the Southern Dabie Mountains of China.

Rhododendron shanii W.P. Fang 1983 (Ericaceae) is woody plant naturally distributed in the southwest of Anhui, China. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of R. shanii was generated by whole-genome next-generation sequencing data and assembled based on three Rhododendron species chloroplast genome. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of R. shanii was 204,170 bp and divided into four distinct regions: small single-copy region (2615 bp), large single-copy region (107,189 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (47,183 bp). The genome annotation displayed 150 genes, including 95 protein-coding genes, 47 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis with the Ericaceae reported chloroplast genomes revealed that R. shanii is sister to the clade comprising R. delavayi, R. griersonianum and R. platypodum.

Low ecological representation in the protected area network of China.

Protected areas are considered as an essential strategy to halt the decline of biodiversity. Ecological representation in protected areas is crucial for assessment on the progress toward conservation targets. Although China has established a large number of protected areas since the 1950s, ecological representation of protected areas is poorly understood. Here, we performed the complementarity analysis to evaluate ecological representation of protected areas in China. We used a database of the geographical distribution for 10,396 woody plant species, 2,305 fern species, 406 amphibian species, 460 reptile species, 1,364 bird species, and 590 mammal species from 2,376 counties across China. We identified complementary sets of counties for all species or threatened species of plant and vertebrate species using a complementarity algorithm. We evaluated ecological representation of 3,627 protected areas and discerned conservation gaps by comparing the distribution of protected areas with complementary sets. The results show that the spatially representative and complementary sites for biodiversity are poorly covered, and a fairly large proportion of protected areas is not designed to efficiently represent biodiversity at the national scale. Our methodology can serve as a generic framework for assessment on ecological representation of protected areas at the national scale.

[Automated mapping of urban forests' disturbance and recovery in Nanjing, China].

Using Landsat TM/ETM dense time series observations spanning from 1987 to 2011, taking Laoshan forest farm and Purple Mountain as the research objects, the landsat ecosystem disturbance adaptive processing system (Ledaps) algorithm was used to generate surface reflectance datasets, which were fed to the vegetation change tracker model (VCT) model to derive urban forest disturbance and recovery products over Nanjing, followed by an intensive validation of the products. The results showed that there was a relatively high spatial agreement for forest disturbance products mapped by VCT, ranging from 65.4% to 95.0%. There was an apparent fluctuating forest disturbance and recovery rate over time, and the change trend of forest disturbance occurring at the two sites was roughly similar, but forest recovery was obviously different. Forest coverage in Purple Mountain was less than that in Laoshan forest farm, but the forest disturbance and recovery rates in Laoshan forest farm were larger than those in Purple Mountain.

[Concentrations and safety evaluation of heavy metals in aquatic products of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province].

Current status and intake risk of heavy metal pollution in aquatic products were studied in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. Twenty-two kinds of aquatic products were sampled in May 2012, and the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb and Cr in muscles were measured using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Single factor pollution index (Pg) and metal pollution index (MPI) were used to evaluate the degree of pollution, and provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) and carcinogenic risks were used to assess the edible safety and health risk, respectively. We found all the aquatic products were contaminated, and the pollutions by Cd, Pb and Cr were more serious, with the exceeding rates of 31.8% , 31.8% and 40.9% , respectively. Pi indices indicated the contents of Cd, Pb and Cr exceeded the allowable criteria of " Light Pollution", while Cd and Pb in freshwater fish, Pb and Cr in shellfish, and Cr in cephalopoda reached the criteria of " Heavy Pollution". The MPI results showed that heavy metal pollution in shellfish was the most severe, followed by crustacean, freshwater fish, and cephalopoda, while it was slight in marine fish. At present, the edible safety of heavy metals in aquatic products was acceptable in Yancheng, but the Cr intake of shellfish and cephalopoda was approaching PTWI and that of a minority of marine fishes even exceeded the PTWI value. The model estimation for health risk indicated that the health risk value of heavy metal ingestion was still below the maximal acceptable level (5.0 x 10(-5) a-1), recommended by International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) , but the values of Cr for shellfish and cephalopoda were approaching the criterion. In summary, heavy metal pollution in aquatic products in Yancheng is rather severe, especially for Cr pollution, and more attention should be paid to the pollution status, edible safety and health risk.