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Here we report a fossil flora from the Miocene Toupi Formation in Jiangxi Province, southeastern China, including megafossil genera Pinus, Podocarpus, Calocedrus, Cinnamomum, Quercus, Lithocarpus, Carya, Palaeocarya, Acer, and Yua. Among them, Yua jiangxiensis n. sp. is the first fossil record of the genus in Asia. A palynological analysis in this study reveals that the palyno-assemblage contains Selaginella, Pteris, Pinus, Picea, Quercus, Fagus, Carya, Ilex, and Rutaceae. Based on Integrated Plant Records (IPR) vegetation analysis, it is suggested that the fossil flora represents an evergreen broad-leaved forest, and the occurrence of tropical and subtropical Cinnamomum supports a warm and moist climate in the region during the middle Miocene.

Yellowwood or Podocarpus (spp.) holds the esteemed biodiversity status, as key forest species in the mist-belt Afromontane forests of southern Africa. The podocarps are listed as endangered species...

Podocarpus latifolius Wallich (1830: 26, t. 30) non (Thunb.) R.Br. ex Mirbel (1825: 75); ≡ Podocarpus wallichianus Presl (1846: 540). ≡ Nageia wallichiana (C.Presl) Kuntze (1891: 800) [Podocarpaceae]. Lectotype (designated here):— INDIA. “montibus Pundua”, F. De Silva [Wallich’s Cat. no. 6050] (K barcode K000553406 [image!]); Isolectotypes:A barcode A00022519 [image!], BR barcode BR0000013469092 [image!], E barcode E00127472 [image!], P barcodes P00748865 & P00748866 [images!], CAL barcodes CAL0000074778, CAL0000074779, CAL0000074780 [images!]. Note: The name Nageia wallichiana (C.Presl) Kuntze was based on Podocarpus wallichianus C.Presl, a replacement name for P. latifolius Wall. (non (Thunb.) R.Br. ex Mirb.). In the protologue, Wallich (1830: 26) mentioned that he received dried specimens as well as fresh plants, and indicated its discovery by Francis De Silva from “montibus Pundua”, which according to Clarke (1913: 261) would be in Khasia (present-day Meghalaya, see https://stories. rbge.org.uk/archives/5029). When Wallich (1828–1849) drew up his Numerical list of dried specimens in East India Company’s Museum for distribution, he listed this collection (p. 207): “ Podocarpus latifolia Wall., Mt. Sillet FD ” as no. 6050, the number under which it was to be distributed. Collections bearing this catalogue number exist in E, K, and P. Laubenfels (1969: 349) listed “Wallich 6050” as the type. While not indicating a herbarium of deposit for the holotype, he cited an isotype at A (A00022519) and annotated another at BR (BR0000013469092) similarly. Farjon (2010, 2017) mentioned the specimen from the Herb. Wallich in the Kew Herbarium (K) as the holotype. However, Wallich (1830) did not clarify that he used only this single specimen when preparing the account of this species (Turland et al., 2018, Art. 9.1, Note 1). As Wallich likely consulted more than one specimen, we consider K000553406 as a syntype and select it as lectotype. Farjon correctly excluded the specimen K001122895 that also contains this catalogue number from the original material. It was collected from “Tavoy” (now in Myanmar) and this locality was not mentioned in the protologue (Wallich 1830: 26)., Published as part of Khuraijam, Jibankumar Singh & Wiersema, John H., 2022, Typification of three names of Asian conifers, pp. 295-300 in Phytotaxa 550 (3) on page 299, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.550.3.10, http://zenodo.org/record/6650933, {"references":["Wallich, N. (1830) Plantae Asiaticae rariores; or, Descriptions and figures of a select number of unpublished East Indian plants, vol. 1. Treuttel and Wu ¨ rtz, London, 84 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 468","Kuntze, O. (1891) Revisio generum plantarum: Vascularium omnium atque cellularium multarum secundum leges nomenclaturae internationales cum enumeratione plantarum exoticarum in itinere mundi collectarum, vol. 2. Leipzig, A. Felix [etc.]. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 124064","Clarke, C. B. (1913) Notes on the \" Khasia \" localities of Wallich's List. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Royal Gardens, Kew 7: 260 - 261.","Laubenfels, D. J. de (1969) A revision of the Malesian and Pacific rainforest conifers, I. Podocarpaceae, in part. Journal of Arnold Arboretum 50: 315 - 369. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. part. 24691","Farjon, A. (2010) A handbook of the world's conifers. Brill, Leiden & Boston, 1112 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.1163 / 9789047430629","Farjon, A. (2017) A handbook of the world's conifers. 2 nd ed. Brill, Leiden & Boston, 1154 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.1163 / 9789004324510","Turland, N. J., Wiersema, J. H., Barrie, F. R., Greuter, W., Hawksworth, D. L., Herendeen, P. S., Knapp, S., Kusber, W. - H., Li, D. - Z., Marhold, K., May, T. W., McNeill, J., Monro, A. M., Prado, J., Price, M. J. & Smith, G. F. (2018) International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Shenzhen Code) adopted by the Nineteenth International Botanical Congress, Shenzhen, China, July 2017. Regnum Vegetabile 159: i - xxxviii + 1 - 254. https: // doi. org / 10.12705 / Code. 2018"]}

Podocarpus milanjianus Rendle — Habit: Tree. Habitat: LMWF, LMDF; up to 3 400 m. Distribution: II. Voucher: Near Ontulili Forest Station, Alt. 2 198 m, 5 Aug. 2015, SAJIT 003124 (HIB). References: Fries & Fries (1924), Melville (1958), Bussmann (1993, 1994, 2006), Bussmann & Beck (1995a, 1998, 1999), Gathaara (1999)., Published as part of Zhou, Ya-Dong, Mwachala, Geoffrey, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2022, Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Mount Kenya, East Africa, pp. 1-108 in Phytotaxa 546 (1) on page 22, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.546.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6550464, {"references":["Fries, R. E. & Fries, T. C. E. (1924) Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Flora des Kenia, Mt. Aberdare und Mt. Elgon. IV. Notizblatt des Koniglichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin 8 (80): 661 - 704. https: // doi. org / 10.2307 / 3994426","Melville, R. (1958) Gymnospermae. In: Turrill, W. B. & Milne-Redhead, E. (Eds.) Flora of Tropical East Africa. Crown Agents, London, 16 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. (1993) The forest of Mt. Kenya (Kenya): A phytosociological approach with special reference to ecological problems. Ph. D. Thesis, Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen, Tubingen, 119 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. (1994) The forest of Mt. Kenya (Kenya): Vegetation, ecology, destruction and management of a tropical mountain forest ecosystem. Ph. D. dissertation, Universitat Bayreuth Startseite, Bayreuth, 252 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. (2006) Vegetation zonation and nomenclature of African Mountains: An overview. Lyonia 11 (1): 41 - 46.","Bussmann, R. W. & Beck, E. (1995 a) The forests of Mt. Kenya (Kenya), a phytosociological synopsis. Phytocoenologia 25 (4): 467 - 560. https: // doi. org / 10.1127 / phyto / 25 / 1995 / 467","Bussmann, R. W. & Beck, E. (1998) The plant communities of the forests of Mount Kenya - First phytosociological and ecological data. In: Ojany, F. F. (Ed.) African mountains and highlands - planning for sustainable use of mountain resources. United Nations University, Tokyo, pp. 96 - 107.","Bussmann, R. W. & Beck, E. (1999) Vegetation units of Mt. Kenya Forest Reserve: Comment. In: Bitok (Ed.) Vegetations-okologosche, ethnobotanische und faunistische Beitrage uber Aquatorial-Afrika. Bayreuther Forum Okologie 64. Bayreuther Forum Okologie, Bayreuth, pp. 17 - 28.","Gathaara, G. N. (1999) Aerial survey of the destruction of Mt. Kenya, Imenti and Ngare Ndare forests reserves. Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi."]}

Cancer is a major public health problem worldwide, and it is one of the top three major diseases in terms of mortality. Some small molecular synthesized drugs have been used clinically. However, much side-effects were also appeared during treatment of the cancer patients with the synthesized anticancer drugs in clinical. Some Chinese Traditional Plant Medicines have ever been used for treatment of cancer with the low side-effects. Thus, it is essential to find anticancer drugs or drug candidates from Chinese Traditional Plant Medicines. Podocarpus nagicontains different kinds of biological components together with a wide spectrum of biological activities, and it has ever been used in the folk of Yao Nationality for treatment different diseases. It is essential to study this folk plant medicine to discover new drugs or drug candidates. In this work, we obtained different polar extractions and evaluated their in vitro anticancer activity.

A northward trans-Wallacean radiation is demonstrated for Chrysorthenches, a member of the Orthenches group. Here we review Chrysorthenches and allied genera resulting in a generic transfer of Diathryptica callibrya to Chrysorthenches and two new congeners: C. muraseaeSohn & Kobayashisp. nov. from Japan and C. smaragdinaSohnsp. nov. from Thailand. We review morphological characters of Chrysorthenches and allied genera, and find polyphyly of Diathryptica and the association of the Orthenches-group with Glyphipterigidae. These findings were supported in a maximum likelihood phylogeny of DNA barcodes from ten yponomeutoids. We analysed 30 morphological characters for 12 species of Chrysorthenches, plus one outgroup, via a cladistic approach. The resulting cladogram redefined two pre-existing Chrysorthenches species-groups and identified one novel lineage: the C. callibrya species-group. We review the host associations between Chrysorthenches and Podocarpaceae, based on mapping the working phylogenies. Our review suggests that ancestral Chrysorthenches colonized Podocarpus and later shifted to other podocarp genera. Biogeographical patterns of Chrysorthenches show that they evolved long after the Podocarpaceae radiation. Disjunctive trans-Wallacean distribution of the C. callibrya species-group is possibly related to the tracking of their host-plants and the complicated geological history of the island-arc system connecting Australia and East Asia.

Fossil plants in the Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentinean Patagonia, are known since the expedition of Charles Darwin to the Beagle channel. However, only a few fossil plants have been described. In this work, a new fossil leaf collection is studied. It was collected from outcrops of the Cullen Formation (middle Miocene) located in the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina. Over two hundred pieces were collected in three localities: Cabo Espiritu Santo, Arroyo Beta, and Canadon de los Mineros. The taxonomic studies reveal the presence of nine fossil species; six of them are related to Nothofagus Blume (Nothofagaceae), one to Myrtaceae, one to Gesneriaceae and the last one to the genus Podocarpus Labill. Our study agrees with previous ones, which suggested that the Nothofagaceae were dominant in the Cullen Formation area, and support the development of a cold temperate and humid forest in the area. The megafloral association studied result similar to others paleofloras developed in Patagonia during the Neogene, according to the cluster analysis performed. Finally, it was characterized like a Subantartic paleoflora sensu Troncoso & Romero.

Numerous pollens and a few wood fossils with probable affinity to Podocarpus L’Heritier ex Persoon have been discovered from China. However, the leaf fossils of Podocarpus were not well documented....

Two experiments were conducted to determine if a leaching fraction (LF)-guided irrigation practice with fixed irrigation run times between LF tests (LF_FX) could be improved by making additional adjustments to irrigation run times based on real-time weather information, including rain, using an evapotranspiration-based irrigation scheduling program for container production (LF_ET). The effect of the two irrigation practices on plant growth and water use was tested at three target LF values (10%, 20%, and 40%). For both Viburnum odoratissimum (Expt. 1) and Podocarpus macrophyllus (Expt. 2) grown in 36-cm-diameter containers with spray-stake microirrigation, the change in plant size was unaffected by irrigation treatments. LF_ET reduced water use by 10% compared with LF_FX in Expt. 2 but had no effect (P < 0.05) on water use in Expt. 1. Decreasing the target LF from 40% to 20% reduced water use 28% in both experiments and this effect was similar for both irrigation practices. For the irrigation system and irrigation schedule used in these experiments, we concluded that an LF-guided irrigation schedule with a target LF of 10% resulted in plant growth similar to one with a target LF of 40% and that the addition of a real-time weather adjustment to irrigation run times provided little or no improvement in water conservation compared with a periodic adjustment based solely on LF testing.

International audience; Quantitative pollen-based reconstruction of Holocene plant abundance has not been attempted in the tropics so far. Tropical vegetation is characterized by a large number of entomophilous species and pollen-vegetation modelling for such plants is widely considered too problematic. However, there is a pressing need for quantitative reconstructions of Holocene plant cover in tropical regions to better assess climate- and human-induced environmental crises over time. Of particular note is the environmental crisis at the end of the ‘African Humid Period’ (c. 3 thousand years before present [ka BP]) which remains unquantified. Here, we present results from a pilot study in the Cameroon highlands including estimates of relative pollen productivity (RPP) for major taxa of the Afromontane forests and grasslands using the Extended R-Value (ERV) model, and the first reconstructions of past regional and local Holocene plant cover using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA). RPP estimates were obtained for 12 taxa. We found that Celtis, Alchornea, Syzygium, Macaranga/Mallotus, Nuxia type, and Schefflera have RPPs larger than Poaceae, and Moraceae, Combretaceae/Melastomataceae, Prunus africana/Rubus pinnatus, Cyperaceae, and Podocarpus lower RPPs than Poaceae. The LRA was applied to three Holocene pollen records from Cameroon (Bambili, Mbi, Mbalang) and one from Nigeria (Tilla). The results confirm the abruptness of the forest collapse in Cameroon at 3 ka BP, and suggest that it was faster and of larger magnitude than earlier anticipated. The LRA reconstruction also indicates that the regional landscape in the mountain region was more open than uncorrected pollen percentages alone suggest. Moreover, it supports the earlier interpretation of a dense forest at Bambili 11–3.5 ka BP and the local occurrence of Afromontane forest taxa at Mbalang in the Mid-Holocene.

Brown-rot fungi are types of fungi that selectively degrade cellulose and hemicellulose from wood and are perhaps the most important agents involved in the degradation of wood products and dead wood in forest ecosystem. Two new brown-rot species, collected from southern China, are nested within the clades of Fomitopsis sensu stricto and Oligoporus sensu stricto, respectively. Their positions are strongly supported in the Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic tree of the concatenated the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, the large subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nLSU), the small subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nuSSU), the small subunit of mitochondrial rRNA gene (mtSSU), the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB1), the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2) and the translation elongation factor 1-α gene (TEF1) sequences. Fomitopsis bambusae, only found on bamboo, is characterised by its resupinate to effused-reflexed or pileate basidiocarps, small pores (6–9 per mm), the absence of cystidia, short cylindrical to oblong-ellipsoid basidiospores measuring 4.2–6.1 × 2–2.3 μm. Oligoporus podocarpi is characterised by white to pale cream pore surface, round or sometimes angular pores (5–6 per mm), broadly ellipsoid to reniform basidiospores measuring 3.8–4.2 × 2–2.3 μm and growing on Podocarpus. Illustrated descriptions of these two novel species, Fomitopsis bambusae and Oligoporus podocarpi, are provided.

In gymnosperms dioecy occurs in 64.6%, and sex chromosomes have been identified in 0.6% of the total species. All the Cycadidae, Gnetidae, Ginkgo and some species in Pinidae are dioecious. Heteromorphic sex pairs have been studied in six species where the heteromorphic sex may either be male giving rise to XX/XY system or female resulting in ZZ/WZ system. The chromosome determining the male sex may also be formed by the fusion of two telocentrics resulting in X1X2X1X2/X1X2Y system as in some Podocarpus species. In other cases where chromosomal hetromorphism is undetectable, the molecular markers and functional genomics have been applied to facilitate early sex detection while DNA methylation has also been indicated to be associated with sex determination. The multiple origins of dioecy is evident by its presence in evolutionarily distinct taxa, which provides an opportunity to explore diverse types and their mechanisms of sex determination in this group of plants.

The biogeographical history of Mesoamerican cloud forests is complex, encompassing a diverse and heterogeneous mixture of species with temperate and tropical origins. The dynamic geological landscape and climate change from the Miocene to the Pleistocene affected the distributions and composition of cloud forests in the region, and contributed to divergence events at different time scales. We assessed genetic variation of 29 populations of P. matudae, and closely related P. guatemalensis and P. oleifolius (Podocarpaceae) by sequencing 255 samples of the psbA-trnH and trnL-F intergenic spacer regions across the species ranges. We conducted phylogenetic, population and spatial genetic analyses as well as divergence time estimation and ecological niche modelling (ENM) to test the generality of demographic and genetic scenarios for cloud forest-adapted species. The results revealed genetic differentiation among species, with some individuals of P. oleifolius and P. guatemalensis placed in the P. matudae group and some P. oleifolius in the P. guatemalensis group. Predictions of ENMs under past climatic conditions and a strong signal of spatial expansion suggest that the highland P. matudae and P. oleifolius populations experienced expansions into lower elevation during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Contrary to predictions by the two precipitation models and elevational ups and downs for cloud forest taxa during the LGM, genetic differentiation and predicted distribution of suitable habitat support the hypotheses that P. matudae and P. oleifolius remained in situ during the LGM primarily within the current fragmented distribution of the cloud forest and spread into the lowlands during the LGM, whereas the distribution of suitable habitat for P. guatemalensis had no major changes upwards from the Last Inter Glacial (LIG) to current conditions.

The genus Neophyllaphis (Takahashi) (Aphididae: Neophyllaphidinae) is composed of 18 species; however, in the Americas only nine species have been reported previously. A new species, Neophyllaphis varicolor Miller & Halbert, was described in 2014 in USA. Colonies resembling those of this new species have been observed in Costa Rica on Podocarpus spp. In order to determine if N. varicolor is also present in Costa Rica, we sampled Neophyllaphis colonies from Podocarpus falcatus and P. chinensis. Additionally, we sampled individuals from Podocarpus sp. in Spain and Vietnam. DNA of each sample was extracted and used to amplify and sequence the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and elongation factor I (EF-1α) partial regions. According to morphological characteristics, sequences comparisons done in GenBank and BOLD, and phylogenetic analyses, the colonies collected from Podocarpus spp. in Costa Rica and the colony from Vietnam corresponded to the species N. varicolor. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of the presence of N. varicolor in Central America and Vietnam., This research, and the scientific visit of NPH to the CIBCM in 2014, were funded by University of Costa Rica (grants 801-B7-169 and 801-A1-801) and the investigation in Spain was conducted in the context of Project CGL2015-68188-P, funded by “Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad” (MIMECO) of Spain.

Southern Brazil's highland Araucaria forest is ancient, diverse and unique, but its future is under significant threat from 20th Century habitat loss and 21st Century climate change. Palaeoecological studies have revealed that it expanded rapidly over highland grasslands around 1,000 years ago, but whether this expansion was caused by human land use or climate change has been a topic of considerable debate. Discriminating between these potential drivers has so far not been possible with fossil pollen, however, as the palynological representation of floristic and structural differences in Araucaria forest remains poorly understood. Here, we address this shortcoming using modern pollen rain from moss polsters and vegetation surveys in forest areas with minimal current human disturbance. We show that forest plots with evident structural differences lack consistent differences in their floristic composition and cannot be reliably distinguished by their pollen spectra. We quantify pollen-vegetation relationships for 27 key tree genera of Araucaria forest, showing that, despite significant intra-taxon variability, 22 of these are under-represented or absent in the pollen record. These palynologically under-represented and silent taxa include many of the forest’s most ecologically important tree species, with only Araucaria, Lamanonia, Podocarpus, Myrsine and Clethra being more abundant in the pollen rain than vegetation. Our results suggest that subtle structural changes in Araucaria forest, as well as moderate to significant floristic changes, may not be clearly distinguished in fossil pollen records -- an important limitation when attempting to identify past human and climatic impacts on Araucaria forest via pollen analysis.\ud \ud Key words: Araucaria forest, pollen, moss polsters, modern analogues, human impact

Premise of the study It is unclear to what extent the co-occurrence of angiosperm and gymnosperm species in some marginal ecosystems is explained by reduced growth in angiosperms due to carbon (C) limitation and by high stress tolerance in gymnosperms associated with lack of vessels and resource conservation. Methods We examined growth patterns and traits associated with C balance in four evergreen angiosperm species (including one vesselless species, Drimys winteri) and three gymnosperm tree species of a cold-temperate rainforest in southern Chile. We measured the mean basal area increment for the first 50 (BAI50 ) and the last 10 years (BAI10 ), wood density, leaf lifespan, and nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) concentrations in different organs. Key results BAI50 was 6-fold higher in angiosperms than in gymnosperms and ca. 4-fold higher in Drimys than in the fastest-growing gymnosperm. BAI10 and aboveground NSC concentrations were significantly higher and leaf lifespan lower in angiosperms than in gymnosperms; these differences, however, were largely driven by the slow growth and low NSC concentrations of the Cupressaceae species (Pilgerodendron uviferum), while the two Podocarpaceae had BAI10 and NSC concentrations similar to angiosperms. In angiosperms, NSC and starch concentrations were generally higher in species with lower BAI10 , indicating no severe C limitation. Conclusions The co-occurrence of angiosperms and gymnosperms in cold-temperate rainforests of southern Chile is not explained by growth disadvantages and C limitation in angiosperms. Long leaf longevity, but not lack of vessels, appeared to favor resource conservation and C balance in some gymnosperms (Podocarpaceae).

New records of Micropeltidaceae are reported on leaves of Podocarpus parlatorei leaves in the Yungas, Argentina. A new variety, Micropeltis albomarginata var. macrospora is proposed. Dictyopeltis applanata is recorded for the first time in Argentina. Descriptions, illustrations, data on geographical distribution, habitat, and notes are provided. Se reportan nuevos registros de Micropeltidaceae sobre hojas de Podocarpus parlatorei en las Yungas, Argentina. Se propone una nueva variedad, Micropeltis albomarginata var. macrospora. Se registra por primera vez para la Argentina a Dictyopeltis applanata. Se proporcionan descripciones, ilustraciones, datos de distribución geográfica y hábitat. Fil: Gallo, María Cecilia Fátima. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Biotecnología Farmacéutica y Alimentaria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biotecnología Farmacéutica y Alimentaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Química del Noroeste. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. Instituto de Química del Noroeste; Argentina Fil: Romero, Andrea Irene. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Micología y Botánica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Micología y Botánica; Argentina Fil: Catania, Myriam del Valle. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Botánica; Argentina

espanolSeis especies nuevas de los generos Drosophila e Hirtodrosophila provenientes de losbosques tropicales y nublados del Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Provincia de Loja y Zamora Chinchipe,Ecuador, son descritas e ilustradas. Estas especies son: Drosophila cajanuma sp. nov., D. kasha sp. nov.,D. podocarpus sp. nov., D. wachi sp. nov., Hirtodrosophila lojana sp. nov. e Hirtodrosophila villonacu sp.nov. Para las capturas de los drosophilideos se utilizaron trampas con cebo de banano y levadura. EnglishSeven new species of the genera Drosophila and Hirtodrosophila from the tropical andcloud forests of the Podocarpus National Park, province of Loja and Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador, aredescribed and illustrated: The species are: Drosophila cajanuma sp. nov., D. kasha sp. nov., D. podocarpussp. nov., D. wachi sp. nov., Hirtodrosophila lojana sp. nov. and H. villonacu sp. nov. The flies were capturedusing plastic bottles containing pieces of fermented banana with yeast.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Afromontane forests host a unique biodiversity distributed in isolated high-elevation habitats within a matrix of rain forests or savannahs, yet they share a remarkable flora that raises questions about past connectivity between currently isolated forests. Here, we focused on the Podocarpus latifolius-P. milanjianus complex (Podocarpaceae), the most widely distributed conifers throughout sub-Saharan African highlands, to infer its demographic history from genetic data. METHODS: We sequenced the whole plastid genome, mitochondrial DNA regions and nuclear ribosomal DNA of 88 samples from Cameroon to Angola in western Central Africa and from Kenya to the Cape region in eastern and southern Africa to reconstruct time-calibrated phylogenies and perform demographic inferences. KEY RESULTS: We show that P. latifolius and P. milanjianus form a single species, whose lineages diverged during the Pleistocene, mostly between approx, 200 000 and 300 000 years BP, after which they underwent a wide range expansion leading to their current distributions. Confronting phylogenomic and palaeoecological data, we argue that the species originated in East Africa and reached the highlands of the Atlantic side of Africa through two probable latitudinal migration corridors: a northern one towards the Cameroon volcanic line, and a southern one towards Angola. Although the species is now rare in large parts of its range, no demographic decline was detected, probably because it occurred too recently to have left a genetic signature in our DNA sequences. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the ancient and highly fluctuating history of podocarps in Africa revealed by palaeobotanical records, the extended distribution of current P. latifolius/milanjianus lineages is shown to result from a more recent history, mostly during the mid-late Pleistocene, when Afromontane forests were once far more widespread and continuous., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Abra de Zamora is an important biodiversity hotspot in southern Ecuador. Between 1938 and 2010, eleven species of frogs were described from here: Lynchius flavomaculatus, Gastrotheca psychrophila, Pristimantis balionotus, P. colodactylus, P. cryptomelas, P. percultus, P. versicolor, P. vidua, Telmatobius cirrhacelis, P. andinognomus, and Atelopus podocarpus. Unfortunately, many of these species were not re-encountered after their original description, and for the majority DNA samples were not available, making their phylogenetic position unknown. In this study, we assess the current state of the amphibians from Abra de Zamora, by: i. redescribing the species which were first reported from the area, by contributing genetic delimitation (for L. flavomaculatus, P. balionotus, P. colodactylus, P. percultus, and P. vidua), release call (L. flavomaculatus) and advertisement call descriptions (for P. balionotus, P. vidua and P. versicolor); ii. presenting an updated amphibian species list of Abra de Zamora, with the description of two additional Pristimantis species; iii. updating the distribution of these species, including data collected in similar montane habitats from surrounding areas; and iv. amending recommendations regarding their conservation status.

The genus Dyscolus Dejean, 1831 is a highly speciose taxon of neotropical Carabidae and the major component of high-altitude ground beetle communities in the tropical Andes. The aim of this study is threefold: (i) refine the taxonomic position of the equatorial members of Dyscolus using molecular data, (ii) provide a delimitation of the species found in Ecuador in paramo and montane forest environments based on a robust combination of molecular and morphological data, (iii) describe the new species and take the nomenclatural decisions made necessary by the results of this study. The seclusion of Dyscolus from more basal platynine clades including Platynus , Batenus and Glyptolenus , is supported by a phylogenetic analysis of the COI marker. Twenty-five new species of Dyscolus , most of them microendemic, are described and illustrated: D. aquator Moret sp. nov. (Tandayapa, Pichincha), D. arauzae Moret sp. nov. (Mt Cayambe, Pichincha), D. arborarius Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Yacuri, Loja), D. barragani Moret sp. nov. (Mt Ayapungu, Chimborazo), D. crespoae Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Zamora-Chinchipe), D. danglesi Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Yacuri, Loja), D. donosoi Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Zamora-Chinchipe), D. eleonorae Moret sp. nov. (Cotopaxi and Pichincha provinces), D. famelicus Moret sp. nov. (Papallacta, Napo), D. giselae Moret sp. nov. (Reserva Otonga, Cotopaxi), D. globoculus Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Zamora-Chinchipe), D. gobbii Moret sp. nov. (Guamani and Mt Antisana, Pichincha), D. incommunis Moret sp. nov. (Tandayapa, Pichincha), D. marini Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Loja), D. piscator Moret sp. nov. (Guamani, Napo), D. placitus Moret sp. nov. (Guamani, Napo), D. ravidus Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Loja), D. rivinus Moret sp. nov. (Reserva Otonga, Cotopaxi), D. rugitarsis Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Yacuri, Loja), D. ruizi Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Loja and Zamora), D. salazarae Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Loja), D. silvestris Moret sp. nov. (Papallacta, Napo), D. sulcipedis Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Yacuri, Loja), D. verecundior Moret sp. nov. (Mt Illiniza and Mt Corazon, Pichincha) and D. verecundissimus Moret sp. nov. (Mt Chimborazo, Chimborazo). Dyscolus palatus Moret, 1998 is newly synonymized with D. denigratus (Bates, 1891). We demonstrate the subgenus Hydrodyscolus Moret, 1996 to be polyphyletic and therefore consider it a junior synonym of Dyscolus Dejean, 1831.

Termites are one of the key ecosystem engineers in tropical forests where they play a major role in decomposition rates, both above and belowground. The interest in termite ecology and biogeography has increased in the last few decades; however, the lack of comparable data has limited the wider impact of termite research. For Ecuador, termite studies are relatively rare and comparable data that are collected using standardized sampling methods are missing. In this study, we aim to 1) provide comparable data of termite species and feeding-group diversity from two primary forests in Ecuador and 2) explore the differences in termite species and feeding-group diversity between the two forest sites. Sampling took place in the national parks of Yasuní and Podocarpus where three belt transects (100 × 2 m) following Jones and Eggleton (2000) were conducted in each forest. We found that termite species richness was higher in Yasuní (56 species) than in Podocarpus (24 species) and that 57% of the sampled termite genera had never previously been recorded in Ecuador. The inter-site species dissimilarity was almost complete (Bray Curtis (±SD), 0.91 ± 0.01), which may have been linked to the difference in tree density and species richness in the two forests. Termite feeding-groups diversity was significantly higher in Yasuní than in Podocarpus with the exception of soil-feeding termites which may have been due to competition between humus- and soil-feeding species.

Accumulating evidence suggests that species sensitivity to climatic change is strongly related to their ecological niches, which are somewhat evolutionary conserved. Insofar as this is true, climate change-driven extinctions may be non-random with respect to phylogeny, and entire branches of the tree of life might be lost. In mountainous regions, where macroecological conditions change abruptly with elevation, evolutionarily lineages may show deep phylogenetic turnover along elevational belts, and such “layering” of the phylogeny may lead to disproportionate losses of phylogenetic diversity. Here, we explored phylogenetic alpha and beta diversity patterns of plant assemblages among six elevational belts at Kilimanjaro (i.e. savanna woodland, lower montane forest, middle-montane Ocotea forest, upper-montane Podocarpus forest, Erica subalpine bushland and Helichrysum alpine scrubland). Specifically, we aimed at determining the degree of elevational turnover of plant evolutionary lineages as a diagnostic tool to assess phylogenetic diversity threats owing to shifting environmental conditions. We found relatively deep phylogenetic discontinuities that roughly matched the main modern vegetation types in East Africa, this is, subalpine-alpine vegetation, montane forests and savannas lowlands. However, the upper-montane Podocarpus forest was phylogenetically closer to subalpine-alpine vegetation than to middle (Ocotea) and lower montane forests, despite all these forest belts constituted a floristically integrated unit. Phylogenetic diversity followed a hump-shape relationship with elevation, with significantly high values in lower montane forest and lower than expected scores in savanna, subalpine and alpine belts. Overall, the phylogenetic layering of Kilimanjaro flora reported here suggests that a disproportionate amount of phylogenetic diversity in mountainous regions might be at risk, although the generality of this pattern is yet to be confirmed. In the particular case of Kilimanjaro, human population growth represents a pervasive threat to montane forest, and particularly to the phylogenetically singular remnants of lower montane forest. Besides, climate-change induced fires in the subalpine belt are causing over-riding shrinkage of the upper-montane Podocarpus forest from the timberline. Should these continuing pressures of global change persist, the montane forests of Kilimanjaro may experience substantial shrinking within the next decades, trapped between the “hammer and the anvil” of climate and land-use change.

The zonal vegetation of the subtropics with year-round rain (“wet subtropics”) consists of evergreen and semi-evergreen laurophyllous forests. Because they are located on the eastern sides of the continents, these forests receive rainfall throughout the year; towards the interior of the continents, maximum rainfall shifts into summer. Particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, these forests often include archaic conifers of the genera Araucaria and Podocarpus. It is remarkable that grassland occurs extensively, particularly in South America (campo, pampa), but also in South Africa, despite the consistently humid climate that would allow forest to occur. This grassland is considered to be a relic of postglacial dry periods; it is maintained by fire and grazing.

Vegetation dynamics during previous warm interglacial periods shed light on the human impacts on natural ecosystems during the Holocene. However, reliable terrestrial records that span such periods are rare and provide little information on regional scale. Here we present a high-resolution marine pollen record from the northern South China Sea, which reveals that during five peak interglacial periods, Marine Isotope Stages 13a, 11c, 9c, 5e and 1 (the Holocene), the vegetation successions in southern China were similar. At the beginning of each interglacial period, tropical rainforest conifers, which include Dacrydium, Dacrycarpus and Podocarpus, and associated broadleaved taxa, such as Altingia, expanded quickly at the expense of the subtropical/temperate montane conifer Pinus. Near the end of the warm periods, Pinus recovered and the tropical taxa retreated. However, the Holocene displays subtle but significant differences in which the species turnover was interrupted and the rainforest conifers did not fully expanded. The Mg/Ca-based sea surface temperature record from the same site reveals that temperature was the major control of the rise and fall of the peak interglacial vegetation. However, exceptionally high charcoal fluxes during the Holocene suggest that human activities through land-use modifications completely, and possibly permanently, altered the natural vegetation trend five to six thousand years ago. Human land use changed the evolution of vegetation in southern China 6,000 years ago, according to analyses of a high-resolution marine pollen record.

The occurrence of a diverse range of conifers and bennettitales is characteristic of the macroflora from the early Cretaceous of the Rajmahal Basin, India. In the present paper two new conifer taxa assigned to the families Cupressaceae and Podocarpaceae are described from the intertrappean sediments of the Rajmahal Formation in Jharkhand State. The remains are silicified, composed of sterile and fertile shoots, detached leaves and dispersed seeds. The specimens have been placed under the family Cupressaceae, are described as Hirandubia cupressoides gen. et sp. nov., a species that shows close affinity with the extant cupressaceous genera Platycladus Spach and Chamaecyparis Spach, and provides the first comprehensive record of Cupressaceae from the Early Cretaceous of India. Elatocladus-type shoots and detached leaves have also been recovered. In association with the shoot fragments and detached leaves, a new kind of podocarpaceous dispersed seed designated as Podocarpospermum podocarpoides sp. nov., occurs together with a microsporangiate cone Podostrobus rajmahalensis (Rao) Rao and Bose, having in situ bisaccate pollen grains. These remains are all attributed to the family Podocarpaceae and have some similarities to extant Podocarpus L’Herit ex Pers. Based on the occurrence of a diverse range of conifers and bennettitales in the Early Cretaceous flora of Rajmahal Formation interpretation palaeoecology and palaeogeography has been done

The origin of modern disjunct plant distributions in the Brazilian Highlands with strong floristic affinities to distant montane rainforests of isolated mountaintops in the northeast and northern Amazonia and the Guyana Shield remains unknown. We tested the hypothesis that these unexplained biogeographical patterns reflect former ecosystem rearrangements sustained by widespread plant migrations possibly due to climatic patterns that are very dissimilar from present-day conditions. To address this issue, we mapped the presence of the montane arboreal taxa Araucaria, Podocarpus, Drimys, Hedyosmum, Ilex, Myrsine, Symplocos, and Weinmannia, and cool-adapted plants in the families Myrtaceae, Ericaceae, and Arecaceae (palms) in 29 palynological records during Heinrich Stadial 1 Event, encompassing a latitudinal range of 30°S to 0°S. In addition, Principal Component Analysis and Species Distribution Modelling were used to represent past and modern habitat suitability for Podocarpus and Araucaria. The data reveals two long-distance patterns of plant migration connecting south/southeast to northeastern Brazil and Amazonia with a third short route extending from one of them. Their paleofloristic compositions suggest a climatic scenario of abundant rainfall and relative lower continental surface temperatures, possibly intensified by the effects of polar air incursions forming cold fronts into the Brazilian Highlands. Although these taxa are sensitive to changes in temperature, the combined pollen and speleothems proxy data indicate that this montane rainforest expansion during Heinrich Stadial 1 Event was triggered mainly by a less seasonal rainfall regime from the subtropics to the equatorial region., This work was funded by FAPESP research grant 2015/50683-2 to P.E. De Oliveira, VULPES Project, Belmount Forum.

Palynological study from the Dharmasthali Formation exposed in the northern part of Kathmandu valley revealed the composition of forest vegetation that were growing in middle Pleistocene (780 kyrs BP) in this area. In a total fifteen samples were collected from the 46 m exposed section for the palynological study. The profile can be divided into two zones on the basis of pollen assemblages. The lower part (DF-I) is dominated by Pteridophyte spores such as Lygodium, Polypodium, Cyathea and Pteris. The dominance of Pteridophytes indicate that the forest floor was moist and humid. The tree pollen consists of Abies, Pinus, Quercus, Podocarpus and Alnus. Other Gymnosperms such as Picea and Tsuga were represented by very low percentage. Poaceae and Cyperaceae show their strong presence indicating grassland and wetland conditions around the depositional basin. In the upper zone (DF-II) there is increase of Gymnosperms such as Picea and Abies. The subtropical Gymnosperm Podocarpus decreased while Tsuga completely became absent in this zone. Cold climate preferring trees such as Cedrus, Betula, Juglans and Ulmus appeared first time in this zone. The climate became even colder and drier in the upper part of the section. Near water plants such as Cyperaceae and Typha show their dominance in this zone. The plant assemblages from bottom part of the Dharmasthali Formation indicate warm climate condition which was becoming colder after 780 kyrs towards the top part of the sequence. Bulletin of Department of Geology, vol. 20-21, 2018, pp:37-48

A partir de adultos recolectados directamente y de la crianza de larvas obtenidas en brotes de Podocarpus spp. (Podocarpaceae), se describe a Magniophaga nuevo género de Depressariidae del centro-sur de Chile. Este género incluye a Magniophaga variabilis sp. nov., cuyas larvas se alimentan de los brotes nuevos de “mañío de hojas largas” (Podocarpus salignus D. Don) y de “mañío de hojas punzantes” (Podocarpus nubigenus Lindley). Se presentan caracteres diagnósticos del nuevo género y especie, se ilustra el adulto, abdomen, las estructuras genitales del macho y de la hembra y se proporcionan antecedentes biológicos de la especie. Con este descubrimiento se incrementa a 14 géneros y 33 especies de Depressariidae presentes en Chile.

The taxonomy of plants provides a great contribution to understanding diversity and conservation. This study provides additional taxonomic notes on Podocarpus species in the Philippines using newly collected specimens to determine new distribution localities of these species. This study recognises ten species of Podocarpus in the Philippines. Notable results of this study are: (1) the existence of variable leaf forms in P. pilgeri Foxw. correlated to the type of habitat where the species occurs; (2) variable leaf forms and sizes observed in mature and juvenile leaves of all species; (3) support of the sectional arrangement of P. palawanensis de Laub. & Silba; (4) differences between the wild and cultivated representatives of P. costalis C.Presl based on leaf characters; (5) new distributions for P. ramosii R.R.Mill, P. pilgeri , P. costalis , P. neriifolius D.Don, P. rumphii Blume and P. polystachyus R.Br.; (5) no support for the inclusion of P. neglectus Blume and P. hookeri de Laub. as new species found in the Philippines; and (6) comprehensive examination and identification of numerous herbarium specimens and recently collected material.

Podolactones are a class of structural diverse diterpenoid lactones, mainly isolated from the Podocarpus species. Several bioactivities have been disclosed for podolactones, including cytotoxicity and anti-atherosclerosis. In this study, the seeds of P. nagi were isolated by comprehensive chromatographic methods to obtain three new podolatones, named nagilactone B 1-O-β-d-glucoside (1), nagilactone N3 3-O-β-d-glucoside (2), and 2-epinagilactone B (3), as well as a known compound, nagilactone B (4). Their structures were determined by analyses of NMR and HRESIMS data. Compounds 1 and 2 significantly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production on LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages, with IC50 values of 0.18 ± 0.04 and 0.53 ± 0.03 μM, respectively. Indomethacin (IC50 4.21 ± 0.32 μM) was used as a positive control. Compound 1 suppressed the expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in a concentration-dependent manner, mediating through inhibiting nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity. This is the first report regarding the anti-inflammatory effect of podolactones, which could be potential anti-inflammatory agents.

Plant cell walls (CWs) are dynamic in that they can change conformation during ontogeny and in response to various stresses. Though seeds are the main propagatory units of higher plants, little is known of the conformational responses of zygotic embryo CWs to drying. This study employed cryo-scanning electron microscopy to compare the effects of desiccation on zygotic embryo CW morphology across three gymnosperm species that were shown here to differ in seed desiccation sensitivity: Podocarpus henkelii (highly desiccation-sensitive), Podocarpus falcatus (moderately desiccation-sensitive), and Pinus elliottii (desiccation-tolerant). Fresh/imbibed (i.e. fresh Podocarpus at shedding and imbibed Pi. elliottii) embryos showed polyhedral cells with regular walls, typical of turgid cells with an intact plasmalemma. Upon desiccation to c. 0.05 g g−1 (dry mass basis), CWs assumed an undulating conformation, the severity of which appeared to depend on the amount and type of dry matter accumulated. After desiccation, intercellular spaces between cortical cells in all species were comparably enlarged relative to those of fresh/imbibed embryos. After rehydration, meristematic and cotyledonary CWs of P. henkelii and meristematic CWs of P. falcatus remained slightly undulated, suggestive of plasmalemma and/or CW damage, while those of Pi. elliottii returned to their original conformation. Cell areas in dried-rehydrated P. henkelii root meristem and cotyledon were also significantly lower than those from fresh embryos, suggesting incomplete recovery, even though embryo water contents were comparable between the two states. Electrolyte leakage measurements suggest that the two desiccation-sensitive species incurred significant plasmalemma damage relative to the tolerant species upon desiccation, in agreement with the CW abnormalities observed in these species after rehydration. Immunocytochemistry studies revealed that of the four CW epitopes common to embryos of all three species, an increase in arabinan (LM6) upon desiccation and rehydration in desiccation-tolerant Pi. elliottii was the only difference, although this was not statistically significant. Seed desiccation sensitivity in species like P. henkelii and P. falcatus may therefore be partly based on the inability of the plasmalemma and consequently CWs of dried embryos to regain their original conformation following rehydration.

Elevational diversity gradients are typically studied without considering the complex small-scale topography of large mountains, which generates habitats of strongly different environmental conditions within the same elevational zones. Here we analyzed the importance of small-scale topography for elevational diversity patterns of hyperdiverse tropical leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). We compared patterns of elevational diversity and species composition of beetles in two types of forests (on mountain ridges and in valleys) and analyzed whether differences in the rate of species turnover among forest habitats lead to shifts in patterns of elevational diversity when scaling up from the local study site to the elevational belt level. We sampled beetle assemblages at 36 sites in the Podocarpus National Park, Ecuador, which were equally distributed over two forest habitats and three elevational levels. DNA barcoding and Poisson tree processes modelling were used to delimitate putative species. On average, local leaf beetle diversity showed a clear hump-shaped pattern. However, only diversity in forests on mountain ridges peaked at mid-elevation, while beetle diversity in valleys was similarly high at low- and mid-elevation and only declined at highest elevations. A higher turnover of species assemblages at lower than at mid-elevations caused a shift from a hump-shaped diversity pattern found at the local level to a low-elevation plateau pattern (with similar species numbers at low and mid-elevation) at the elevational belt level. Our study reveals an important role of small-scale topography and spatial scale for the inference on gradients of elevational species diversity.

Long-standing arguments regarding the early cultural transition, the domestication of plants and the impacts of climate change on past Egyptian societies remain contentious. In this paper, we demonstrate that grazing started at our study site, Kom El-Khilgan in the NE Nile Delta, ca. 7000 years ago, which was several hundred years prior to crop farming. We examined pollen-spores and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) in a 1-m-deep sediment profile (KH-1) in the study site, defined archaeologically as the Pre-Dynastic (>5.9 ka) in age. Our results show that before ca. 7.0 ka, major floods prevailed in the Nile Delta, as highly-concentrated Podocarpus and Polypodiaceae were transported from the East African highlands and Cyperaceae of higher Nile flow indication. This humid phase was succeeded by a brief period of drying climate ca. 7.0–6.6 ka, allowing the entry of the first settlers who commenced grazing their animals on previously inundated wetlands. This change is indicated by the remarkable increase in fungal spores (Cercophora, Sordaria, Coniochaeta cf. Ligniaria) from accumulations of animal dung. At ca. 6.6 ka, the abrupt appearance of domesticated cereal pollen (Poaceae >35 μm) and cereal grass pathogens (Pericornia and Sorosporium) suggests an amelioration of the climate that allowed the introduction of cereal crops and related water management activities. Grazing and cropping co-existed for the remainder of the record during the time when there occurred a mega-tendency of climate drying towards recent time. A drought event recognized ca. 4.2 ka led to the collapse of the Old Kingdom.

Leaf cuticle micromorphology has been cited as an important set of taxonomic characters in gymnosperms, but previous studies have largely been based on small sample sizes. The premise of this study was to understand whether external factors affect cuticular micromorphology of Podocarpaceae. Two example species, Prumnopitys andina and Podocarpus salignus, were studied. Of 21 sampled characters, nine (c.43% of the total) were visually assessed as being moderately reliable or highly reliable for taxonomic discrimination for both species, with an additional six (c.29%) being moderately reliable or highly reliable for only one or other of the example species, and six characters (c.29%) unreliable for both. Seven of the most variable stomatal characters were selected for further analysis to establish whether environmental factors affect them. The relationship between these seven stomatal characters, the environment and climate was analysed using the R ‘vegan’ package and climate data gathered from WorldClim. Our results showed that both species had larger stomata in moist and shady conditions, and a higher density of (smaller) stomata in sunny and drier conditions. An additional novel finding was the presence of stomata on the adaxial leaf surface in 46% of samples of Prumnopitys andina: the first record of adaxial stomata in this species, highlighting the necessity of studying multiple samples of a given species. In conclusion, these results indicate that larger sample sizes than have hitherto been employed in cuticle micromorphological studies are necessary to fully document the amount of phenotypic variation that exists.

The effects of climate change on the lowland vegetation of Amazonia during the last glacial cycle are partially known for the middle and late Pleniglacial intervals (late MIS 3, 59–24 ka and MIS 2, 24–11 ka), but are still unclear for older stages of the last glacial and during the last interglacial. It is known that a more seasonal dry-wet climate caused marginal forest retraction and together with cooling rearranged forest composition to some extent. This is observed in pollen records across Amazonia depicting presence of taxa at glacial times in localities where they do not live presently. The understanding of taxa migration is hindered by the lack of continuous interglacial-glacial lowland records. We present new data from a known locality in NW Amazonia (Six Lakes Hill), showing a vegetation record that probably started during MIS 5 (130–71 ka) and lasted until the onset of the Holocene. The vegetation record unravels a novel pattern in tree taxa migration: (1) from the beginning of this cycle Podocarpus and Myrsine are recorded and (2) only later do Hedyosmum and Alnus appear. The latter group is largely restricted to montane biomes or more distant locations outside Amazonia, whereas the first is found in lowlands close to the study site on sandy soils. These findings imply that Podocarpus and Myrsine responded to environmental changes equally and this reflects their concomitant niche use in NW Amazonia. Temperature drop is not discarded as a trigger of internal forest composition change, but its effects are clearer later in the Pleniglacial rather than the Early Glacial. Therefore early climatic/environmental changes had a first order effect on vegetation that invoke alternative explanations. We claim last glacial climate-induced modifications on forest composition favoured the expansion of geomorphologic-soil related processes that initiated forest rearrangement.

This study details for the first time the food habits of the culpeo or Andean fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) in high areas of the Ecuadorian Andes during a complete annual cycle. Our objective was to identify prey species, calculate their contribution to diet and test for temporal variation. In total, 304 Andean fox scats were collected within the Podocarpus National Park (Loja province, southern Ecuador). By analysing the content of scats 413 prey items were identified and classified into eight prey groups. Sub-sequently, the frequency of occurrence (FO) for each prey group was calculated per month together with the relative contribution of estimated consumed biomass (CB). In addition, the Shannon-Wiener’s index was calculated as a measurement of monthly diet diversity. The results show a diet dominated by cervids belonging to the Mazama and Pudu genus (70% FO), followed by small mammals (30% FO), large rodents (12% FO), carnivorous species (10% FO) and lagomorphs (8% FO). There was temporal variation in the consumption of both deer and small mammals. Cervids also provided the major part of the consumed biomass (70% CB), the remaining prey categories each accounted for less than 11% CB. Negative correlations in consumption were observed between cervids and two other groups, rabbits and small mammals. Trophic diversity values fluctuated throughout the year showing a mean of 1.7. The results obtained show a diets very different from those previously reported; deer being the bulk of the diet instead of rodents or other mammals. The consumption of carnivorous species in the area was also high in comparison with other regions. Overall, this study clearly demonstrates that the culpeo is an important top predator in the high-Andean ecosystem.

The present communication deals with pollen analyses of moss polsters in order to understand the pollen rain from Udhampur District of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The study revealed that the pollen of Pinus sp. (average 46% pollen) dominates the pollen rain, which could be attributed to its high pollen productivity and excellent pollen dispersal efficiency, followed by Cedrus sp., and Podocarpus sp. However, other conifers such as Abies sp., Picea sp., Juniperus sp. and Tsuga sp., as well as the broad-leaved taxa such Alnus sp., Betula sp., Ulmus sp., Quercus sp., Carpinus sp., Corylus sp., Juglans sp., Ilex sp., Mallotus sp., Elaeocarpus sp. and Aesculus sp., were sporadically recorded which could be due to either their poor pollen dispersal efficiency or poor preservation in the substrate. Tubuliflorae, Poaceae, Amaranthaceae, Malvaceae and Cerealia are the other prominent taxa of the pollen rain, revealing their actual composition in the ground vegetation.

We describe a new species native to Ecuador and Peru, Miconia complanata . This species has been collected from two different localities: Parque Nacional Podocarpus (Ecuador) and Cordillera del Condor (Ecuador and Peru). The strongly quadrangular to winged stem, ridged nodes and coriaceous leaves make this species distinctive even within a large genus.

Micofloral study of Lameta sediments and associated sauropod coprolites in the Nand-Dongargaon basin in Maharashtra was conducted to understand the diet and habitat of sauropods. The study revealed the presence of pollen, spores, algal and fungal remains, well-preserved cuticles of Poaceae, and testate amoebae. Vegetation during Lameta included tall arboreal taxa, such as conifers (Podocarpus and Araucaria), Cycads (Cycas), Euphorian and Barringtonia and herbs and shrubs, such as Cheirolepidiaceae (Classopollis), Arecaceae (Palmaepollenites), Poaceae (Graminidites), Asteraceae (Compositoipollenites), Caryophyllaceae (Cretacaeiporites and Periporopollenites), and Acanthaceae (Multiareolites). Data suggest that the sauropods ate soft tissues of angiosperms and gymnosperms. The intake of testate amoeba, algal remains, sponge spicules, and diatoms might be through water intake.

The pollen, spore and organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst associations of two marine sediment cores from the Java Sea off the mouths of Jelai River (S Kalimantan) and Solo River (E Java) reflect environment and vegetation changes for the last ca 3500 years. A decline in primary forest taxa (e.g. Agathis, Allophylus, Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Dipterocarpaceae, Phyllocladus and Podocarpus) suggest that the major change in vegetation is caused by forest canopy disturbance possibly as a consequence of human activity. The successive increase in pollen of pioneer tress/shrubs and herb taxa (e.g. Acalypha, Ficus, Macaranga/Mallotus, Trema, Pandanus) indicate the development of secondary vegetation. In Java these changes started much earlier (ca at 2950 cal yr BP) than in Kalimantan (ca at 910 cal yr BP) and seem to be more severe. Changes in the marine realm, reflected by the dinoflagellate cyst association, correspond to the changes in vegetation on land. They reflect a gradual change from relatively well ventilated to more hypoxic bottom/pore water conditions in a more eutrophic environment. Near the coast of Java, the shift of the water trophic status took place between ca 820 and 500 cal yr BP, while near the coast of Kalimantan it occurred as late as at the beginning of the 20th century. We observe an increasing amount of the cysts of Polykrikos schwartzii, P. kofoidii, Lingulodinium machaerophorum, Nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus and Selenopemphix nephroides at times of secondary vegetation development on land, suggesting that human induced terrestrial changes possibly affected the marine environment as well, most likely through increased eutrophication and pollution.

Standing dead trees (or snags) are an important component of forest ecosystems, especially for tree cavity-nesting vertebrate species, but their prevalence in South African forests remains under studied. Consequently, we investigated forest structure, and the presence and abundance of snags in six southern mistbelt forests in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. These forests have had varying levels of timber extraction over the past 150 years or more. We found snags were relatively rare in all six forests (

The characterization of modern pollen rain assemblages along environmental gradients is an essential prerequisite for reliable interpretations of fossil pollen records. In this study, we identify pollen-vegetation relationships using modern pollen rain assemblages in moss polsters (n = 13) and lake sediment surface samples (n = 11) along a steep temperature gradient of 7°C (3100–4200 m above sea level) on the western Andean Cordillera, Ecuador. The pollen rain is correlated to vascular plant abundance data recorded in vegetation relevées (n = 13). Results show that pollen spectra from both moss polsters and sediment surface samples reflect changes in species composition along the temperature gradient, despite overrepresentation of upper montane forest taxa in the latter. Estimated pollen transport distance for a lake (Laguna Llaviucu) situated in a steep upper montane forest valley is 1–2 km, while a lake (Laguna Pallcacocha) in the páramo captures pollen input from a distance of up to 10–40 km. Weinmannia spp., Podocarpus spp., and Hedyosmum sp. are indicators of local upper montane forest vegetation, while Phlegmariurus spp. and Plantago spp. are indicators for local páramo vegetation.

A new species of frog of the genus Pristimantis is described from the paramos of the Nudo de Cajanuma, Podocarpus National Park, on the border between the provinces of Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador. The new species is readily distinguished from all other species of Pristimantis by its large body size (snout-vent length: 50.0–50.5 mm in adult females, 34.7–42.5 mm in adult males), thick glandular skin, large warts on flanks, prominent glandular patches on head and legs, and dark brown dorsum. This new species is among the largest and stoutest Pristimantis frogs of the high Andes. It is only known from its type locality, where it occurs in paramo bambusoid meadows at elevations between 3300 and 3400 m. It is morphologically similar to Pristimantiserythros, P.farisorum, P.obmutescens, P.orcesi, P.racemus, P.simoterus, P.simoteriscus, and P.thymelensis. Notorious morphological characters present in this new species are thick glandular patches covering dorsum and limbs and porous skin texture, which are shared with P.erythros.

This study carried out in the Sudanese field of Cote d'Ivoire aims to contribute to the safeguarding of Ivorian flora through the valorization of plants with decorative potentiality of the North of Cote d'Ivoire. The inventory method used is the roaming survey. It consisted of walking in different directions around large cities with different backgrounds and listing all the plant species with decorative potential encountered, regardless of their size. These species have been analyzed at the National Center for Floristics (NCF). These surveys allowed usto collect 287 plant species divided between 220 genera and 79 botanical families, with a predominance of herbs. The most abundant families are Fabaceae, Apocynaceae and Acanthaceae. Of these species, 73.5% are Phanerophytes and 0.3% epiphytes. Also, an Ivorian endemic species (GCI) Cyphostemma ornatum A.Chev. exHutch. & Dalziel (Vitaceae) was also enumerated. Thirteen species or 4.52% are considered introduced species (i). At the ecological level, hydrophytic species and the species like Senna podocarpus Guill. & Perr. (Fabaceae) which is a hardy plant has been inventoried. These results show a great decorative floristic richness in the Sudanian field. This work contributed to the knowledge of the composition and the diversity of the plants with decorative potentiality of the Sudanese field of Cote d'Ivoire.Cette etude realisee dans le domaine soudanais de la Cote d’Ivoire a pour objectif de contribuer a la sauvegarde de la flore ivoirienne a travers la valorisation des plantes a potentialite decorative du Nord de la Cote d’Ivoire. La methode d’inventaire utilisee est le releve itinerant. Elle a consiste a parcourir dans differentes directions autour des grandes villes ayant differents milieux et a recenser toutes les especes vegetales a potentialite decorative rencontrees, sans tenir compte de leur taille. Ces especes ont ete analysees au Centre National de Floristique (CNF). Ces releves nous ont permis de recolter 287 especes vegetales reparties entre 220 genres et 79 familles botaniques, avec une predominance des herbes. Les familles les plus abondantes sont celles des Fabaceae, des Apocynaceae et des Acanthaceae. Parmi ces especes, 73,5 % sont des Phanerophytes et 0,3 % des epiphytes. Aussi, une espece endemique ivoirienne (GCI) Cyphostemma ornatum A.Chev. exHutch. & Dalziel (Vitaceae) a ete egalement recensee. Treize especes soit 4,52% sont considerees comme especes introduites (i). Au niveau ecologique, des especes hydrophytes et l’espece comme Senna podocarpus Guill. &Perr. (Fabaceae) qui est une des plantes rustiques a ete inventoriee. Ces resultats montrent une grande richesse floristique decorative dans le domaine soudanien. Ces travaux ont contribue a la connaissance de la composition et de la diversite des plantes a potentialite decorative du domaine soudanais de la Cote d’Ivoire.

The genus Neophyllaphis (Takahashi) (Aphididae: Neophyllaphidinae) is composed of 18 species; however, in the Americas only nine species have been reported previously. A new species, Neophyllaphisvaricolor Miller & Halbert, was described in 2014 in USA. Colonies resembling those of this new species have been observed in Costa Rica on Podocarpus spp. In order to determine if N.varicolor is also present in Costa Rica, we sampled Neophyllaphis colonies from Podocarpusfalcatus and P.chinensis. Additionally, we sampled individuals from Podocarpus sp. in Spain and Vietnam. DNA of each sample was extracted and used to amplify and sequence the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and elongation factor I (EF-1α) partial regions. According to morphological characteristics, sequences comparisons done in GenBank and BOLD, and phylogenetic analyses, the colonies collected from Podocarpus spp. in Costa Rica and the colony from Vietnam corresponded to the species N.varicolor. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of the presence of N.varicolor in Central America and Vietnam.

“XM” field, a clastic sedimentary domain within the Albertine Graben, southwestern Uganda, was studied using palynological data, complemented with wire-line well logs, to determine the stratigraphy, age, and depositional setting. Field wide correlation was attempted using additional geological and stratigraphical data from the larger Albertine Graben. The study involved the use of geological computing tools such as Petrel and Strata Bug softwares which allowed for the graphic plots of palynoflora, identification of marker species, species abundances, species first and last occurrences and the geological correlation of the two wells. The palynological marker species identified include; Podocarpus spp., Tournefortia spp., Praedapollis flexibilis, Peregrinipollis nigericus, Gramineae spp., Laevigatosporites spp. and Verrucatosporites usmensis. This association of species indicates Early Pliocene to Holocene age. These species were further used in delineating the Early Pliocene age of well T2 into TZ1a and TZ1b. The TZ1a subzone is marked by index species of Laevigatosporites spp., the quantitative top occurrence of Sapotaceae spp. and Verrucatosporites usmensis. TZ1b is marked by the presence of index species of Laevigatosporites spp. and top occurrence of Sapotaceae spp. Further, the study revealed five informal palynological biozonation of the well T3 into; TZI, TZII, TZIII, TZIV and TZV all ranging in age from Early Pliocene to Holocene and defined based on top occurrences, downhole increases and decreases of some of the stratigraphical important species recorded in the well as follows: TZI is marked by the top occurrence of index specie Gramineae spp. TZII by the presence of index specie of Peregrinipollis nigericus and top occurrence of Praedapollis flexibilis. TZIII is defined by top occurrence of Tournefortia spp. and the downhole decrease in Podocarpus spp. TZIV is defined by the top downhole increase in Podocarpus spp. and TZV by the base downhole decrease in Podocarpus spp. In arriving at these interpretations, data and publications from other basins such as the Niger Delta in West Africa and the Muglad and Burundi Basins in Central and East Africa were used as analogues. The age of the drilled wells ranged from Early Pliocene to Holocene while the paleo environment of deposition was determined to be mostly continental ranging from fluvial to lacustrine settings.

This study examines a one-million-year pollen record from a 194-m-long Lake Magadi core (HSPDP-MAG14-2A) in the south Kenya Rift Valley. The pollen indicate a general trend through the last 740 kyr from wetter conditions to generally drier environments. Grassland dominated with less common Podocarpus and Cyperaceae in a sparse flora between 1000 and 740 ka. Poaceae, woodland and herbaceous plants are common through the remaining core and abundant between 740 and 528 ka and after 200 ka. Pollen diversity increased after 200 ka. Podocarpus and Cyperaceae reached a peak abundance at ~575 ka with a subsequent decline that suggests a progressive increase in aridity, interrupted by wetter intervals. Podocarpus-dominated forests expanded and contracted many times during the Quaternary and document an anti-phased relationship with data from Lake Malawi. Similar anti-phased correlations are noted for herbaceous plants, suggesting that the two basins responded differently to the same climate or were influenced by contrasting climate regimes. Increases in macrocharcoal correlate with increasing pollen abundance and suggest wetter conditions. Data from the Magadi, Koora and Olorgesailie basins indicate similar trends and a dominant climate control on vegetation and habitats. Large lakes characterised all three basins at 740–528 ka with climate subsequently becoming drier, but with many wetter intervals. At various times the lakes expanded, contracted and dried out, except at Lake Magadi where spring inflows maintained lacustrine conditions through the late Quaternary. Faulting also contributed to fragmentation of the landscape and formation of a mosaic of habitats. An especially intense period of aridity at ~528–392 ka coincided with extinction of many large-bodied mammals and may have helped to drive a change from the use of Acheulean hand axes to the production of Middle Stone Age tools by 320 ka. After 200 ka pollen diversity increased substantially with a mix of montane, riparian and dry forest associations that were present in varying amounts through to ~4.2 ka at the core top.

Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the genus Podocarpus diverged around the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, and two monophyletic subgenera Podocarpus and Foliolatus had differentiated during the Paleogene. Most of described fossil remains were related to the subgenus Podocarpus, but those of the subgenus Foliolatus have not been well documented. Here, we described a new species of Podocarpus, P. yunnanensis sp. nov., and P. cf. forrestii from the lower Pliocene of western Yunnan, China based on a detailed comparisons of gross leaf morphology and cuticular structures between the studied fossils and extant Podocarpus. These two fossil taxa together with P. pliomacrophyllus H. Chen et J.Y. Wu from the same horizon, revealed a thriving of Podocarpus in western Yunnan during the Pliocene. For the subgenus Foliolatus, its early representatives might originate from Australasia and spread northward to northeastern India at least during the late Oligocene. The Neriifolius subclade within the subgenus is much older than the estimate of molecular clock studies, and the Indochinese subclade is probably derived from a rapid diversification driven by the continuous uplift of Hengduan Mountains (HDM) with the accompanying climate fluctuations since the late Miocene. Moreover, the thriving of Podocarpus in the Pliocene of western Yunnan reveals a warm and humid climate during that period. The Pleistocene glaciation and the geographic barriers posted by the HDM might contribute to the modern distribution of Podocarpus in South China and Indochina Peninsula.