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During our survey of the diversity of woody litter fungi in China and Thailand, three Hermatomyces species were collected from dead woody twigs of Dipterocarpus sp. (Dipterocarpaceae) and Ehretia acuminata (Boraginaceae). Both morphology and multigene analyses revealed two taxa as new species (Hermatomyces turbinatus and H. jinghaensis) and the remaining collections as new records of H. sphaericus. Hermatomyces turbinatus is characterized by 1) dimorphic conidia, having circular to oval lenticular conidia and 2) turbinate conidia consisting of two columns with two septa composed of 2-3 cells in each column. Hermatomyces jinghaensis is characterized by dimorphic conidia, having circular to oval lenticular conidia and clavate or subcylindrical to cylindrical conidia and consisting of one or two columns with 6-8 cells in each column. Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, ITS, tub2, tef1-a and rpb2 sequence data supports the placement of these new taxa within Hermatomycetaceae with high statistical support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dipterocarpaceae plants are typical lowland tropical trees, and are usually regarded as the flagship species of Asia tropical rainforest. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden(XTBG)is one most important botanical garden focus on tropical plant collection, conservation and research since 1959. This paper reviews Dipterocarpaceae collection history, research and utilization of at XTBG based on the phenological observation, mass growth, and adaptability. The results showed that 34 species of Dipterocarpaceae from 7 genera had been collected in the garden, among which 11 species from China and 28 species abroad. All the species have flowers and fruit collected from China, except for Vatica guangxiensis. There are 13 species that have flowers and fruits collected from overseas. Integrated with seed germination traits, cold and disease resistance data, we concluded that XTBG Dipterocarpaceae plants ex-situ conservation is successful, which may afford a better guide for Dipterocarpaceae plants conservation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The odonatan asiopterid Turanopteron sinensis sp. nov. and the juragomphid Oxfordgomphus trescellulae gen. et sp. nov. are described on the basis of two new fossil wings from the Middle-Upper Jurassic of Henan Province in China. These taxa belong to ancient, Toarcian epiproctophoran stem groups of Anisoptera Selys, 1854. They show important affinities with taxa from the Karatau entomofauna in Kazakhstan. These groups progressively decrease and were replaced by more modern clades of Anisoptera during the Late Jurassic.

A new gomphid species, Ophiogomphus tibeticus sp. nov., from Zoige alpine Wetland, Sichuan is described and illustrated. Assignment to the genus Ophiogomphus Selys, 1854 is based on both morphological and molecular analyses. This new species differs from other known Ophiogomphus mainly in the shape of the caudal appendages.

* Premise of the study: Dipterocarps are the representative component of tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia and hold important economic and ecological significance, but their origin and migration are controversial. Information on dipterocarpaceous fossils, particularly the more convincing reproductive structures, not only can improve the phylogenetic and phytogeographic studies of this family, but also provide important information for reconstructing paleoclimate. * Methods: Morphologically preserved winged fruits and associated leaves were collected from the Late Eocene Huangniuling Formation, Maoming Basin, South China. We determined their taxonomic positions based on comparative morphology with similar extant and fossil specimens and discuss their phytogeographic and paleoclimatic implications by consulting the distribution and habitat of fossil and modern populations. * Key results: The Late Eocene winged fruits are attributed to Shorea Roxburgh ex Gaertner (Dipterocarpaceae) as Shorea maomingensis sp. nov. The associated leaves are recognized as Shorea sp. based on leaf architecture, and they are likely to be conspecific with the winged fruits. * Conclusions: The discovery of dipterocarps indicates that they had arrived in tropical and humid South China by the Late Eocene. Dipterocarps including Shorea exhibit a wide range of physiological tolerance to climate; palynological analysis suggests an increase in aridity and seasonality in the Maoming Basin from the Late Eocene. Dipterocarps became adapted to this seasonal climate from the Late Eocene to Early Miocene, expanded northward in the climatic optimum of the Middle Miocene, and declined and gradually disappeared from the southeastern part of the continent from the Late Miocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the liana diversity and liana-tree relationship in lowland dipterocarp forest at Imbak Canyon, a recently designated conservation area in the heart of Sabah, Malaysia and compared the results with similar studies in the region. In the two 0.1-ha plots, a total of 23 liana species were found growing canopy-ward on trees ⩾ 10 cm diameter at breast height (dbh); dipterocarps were less infested by lianas than non-dipterocarps. The liana species belonged to 12 families and 16 genera. Fabaceae followed by Annonaceae and Icacinaceae were the most abundant and species-rich families. The floristic pattern and the stem density of lianas > 1 cm dbh were similar to other studies conducted in Sabah and northern Sarawak at comparable elevation and site conditions but were distinct from other sites in tropical Asia where Annonaceae is the prevalent climber family. The dominance of species of the genus Spatholobus (Fabaceae) may be a conspicuous feature of lowland dipterocarp forests in Sabah under mesotrophic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dipterocarp rain forest reaches its northern latitudinal limit in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China. We studied the soil seedbank of dipterocarp rain forest in Xishuangbanna during the dry and wet seasons. Results showed that there were large seed accumulations in both the dry (mean ± SD; 3925 ± 2533 seeds/m2) and wet seasons (5415 ± 3232 seeds/m2). One hundred and sixteen species of seed plants were identified from germination, 66 percent of which were woody species. Weed or pioneer species dominated the seedbank. The soil seedbank in Xishuangbanna had similar species composition as compared to those in tropical Asia, but higher seed storage reflects the intense disturbance and forest fragmentation in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The majority of research in genetic diversity yields recommendations rather than actual conservation achievements. We assessed the efficacy of actual in situ and ex situ efforts to conserve Parashorea chinensis (Dipterocarpaceae) against the background of the geographic pattern of genetic variation of this species. Samples from seven natural populations, including three in a nature reserve, and one ex situ conservation population were studied. Across the natural populations, 47.8% of RAPD loci were polymorphic; only 20.8% on average varied at the population level. Mean population genetic diversity was 0.787 within natural populations and 1.410 for the whole species. Significant genetic differentiation among regions and isolation by distance were present on larger scales (among regions). AMOVA revealed that the majority of the among-population variation occurred among regions rather than among populations within regions. Regression analysis, Mantel test, principal coordinates analysis, and cluster analysis consistently demonstrated increasing genetic isolation with increasing geographic distance. Genetic differentiation within the region was quite low compared to that among regions. Multilocus spatial autocorrelation analysis of these three populations revealed random distribution of genetic variation in two populations, but genetic clustering was detected in the third population. The ex situ conserved population contained a medium level of genetic variation compared with the seven natural populations; it contained 77.1% of the total genetic variation of this species and 91% of the moderate to high frequency RAPD fragments (f > 0.05). Exclusive bands were detected in natural populations, but none were found in the ex situ conserved population. The populations protected in the nature reserve contained most of the genetic variation of the whole species, with 81.4% of the total genetic variation and 95.7% of the fragments with moderate to high frequency (f > 0.05) of this species conserved. The results show that the ex situ conserved population does not contain enough genetic variation to meet the need of release in the future, and that more extensive ex situ sampling in natural populations TY, NP, HK, and MG is needed. The in situ conserved population contains representative genetic variation to maintain long-term survival and evolutionary processes of P. chinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parashorea chinensis Wang Hsie and Parashorea chinensis var. kwangsiensis Lin Chi (Dipterocarpaceae) are economically and ecologically important tree taxa in China and Vietnam. Their authorship should be "Wang Hsie" and "Lin Chi", respectively, which represent two logograms of working groups that existed in the particular circumstances from the 1960s to the 1970s in China. The author of Parashorea chinensis has sometimes been designated inappropriately as H. Wang. We herein discuss in detail these two unique cases in the context of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports ten species of the genus Conocephalus Thunberg, 1815 from Guangdong and Nanling region, China, including two new species, i.e. Conocephalus (Anisoptera) dorsalidentatus Li, Zhang Shi, sp. nov. and Conocephalus (Anisoptera) nanlingensis Li, Xin Shi sp. nov. The characteristic photographs and habitus of several species are provided.

This paper reports eight species of the genus Conocephalus from Southwest China, including one new species, Conocephalus (Anisoptera) gracilicercus sp. nov., and provides the characteristic and habitus photographs.

Four new species of the genus Planaeschna, P. robusta sp. nov. (holotype male; Mt. Emeishan, Emeishan City, Sichuan Province, China, 16. VIII. 2007), P. maculifrons sp. nov. (holotype male; Mt. Emeishan, Emeishan City, Sichuan Province, China, 20. VIII. 2007), P. caudispina sp. nov. (holotype male; Mt. Qingchengshan, Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province, China, 30. VIII. 2007) and P. monticola sp. nov. (holotype male; Sanjiacun Stream, Fengyi Town, Dali City, Yunnan Province, China, 19. XI. 2012) are described and illustrated and diagnosed from their congeners. All the holotypes have been deposited in the Collection of Aquatic Animals, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. Brief notes on the biology of each species are also provided.