Pollinator diversity benefits natural and agricultural ecosystems, environmental health, and human welfare
September 2022
Biodiversity loss during the Anthropocene is a serious ecological challenge. Pollinators are important vectors that provide multiple essential ecosystem services but are declining rapidly in this changing...
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Recent advances on phylogenomics of gymnosperms and a new classification
July 2022
Living gymnosperms comprise four major groups: cycads, Ginkgo, conifers, and gnetophytes. Relationships among/within these lineages have not been fully resolved. Next generation sequencing has made...
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Plant diversity in a changing world: Status, trends, and conservation needs
February 2016
The conservation of plants has not generated the sense of urgency—or the funding—that drives the conservation of animals, although plants are far more important for us. There are an estimated 500,000...
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U.PhyloMaker: An R package that can generate large phylogenetic trees for plants and animals
May 2023
The previously released packages of the PhyloMaker series (i.e. S.PhyloMaker, V.PhyloMaker, and V.PhyloMaker2) have been broadly used to generate phylogenetic trees for ecological and biogeographical...
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Ethiopian vegetation types, climate and topography
August 2020
Ethiopia is land of geographical contrasts with elevations that range from 125 m below sea level in the Danakil Depression to 4533 m above sea level in the Semien Mountains, a world heritage site. The...
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Physiological diversity of orchids
August 2018
The Orchidaceae is a diverse and wide spread family of flowering plants that are of great value in ornamental, medical, conservation, and evolutionary research. The broad diversity in morphology, growth...
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V.PhyloMaker2: An updated and enlarged R package that can generate very large phylogenies for vascular plants
July 2022
An earlier version of V.PhyloMaker has been broadly used to generate phylogenetic trees of vascular plants for botanical, biogeographical and ecological studies. Here, we update and enlarge this package,...
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The role of botanical gardens in scientific research, conservation, and citizen science
August 2018
Plant diversity is currently being lost at an unprecedented rate, resulting in an associated decrease in ecosystem services. About a third of the world's vascular plant species face the threat of extinction...
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U.Taxonstand: An R package for standardizing scientific names of plants and animals
January 2023
The scientific names of organisms are key identifiers of plants and animals. Correctly treating scientific names is a prerequisite for biodiversity research and documentation. Here, we present an R...
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Maintaining biodiversity will define our long-term success
August 2020
Human beings are not only a part of our planet's ecosystems, but also, they are massively overusing them. This makes ecosystem protection, including biodiversity preservation, vital for humanity's future....
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Flower morphology of Allium (Amaryllidaceae) and its systematic significance
January 2024
Allium is a complicated genus that includes approximately 1000 species. Although its morphology is well studied, the taxonomic importance of many morphological traits, including floral traits, are poorly...
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Global patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of flowering plants: Biodiversity hotspots and coldspots
May 2023
Species diversity of angiosperms (flowering plants) varies greatly among regions. Geographic patterns of variation in species diversity are shaped by the interplay of ecological and evolutionary processes....
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Phylogeny, character evolution, and classification of Selaginellaceae (lycophytes)
November 2023
Selaginella is the largest and most taxonomically complex genus in lycophytes. The fact that over 750 species are currently treated in a single genus makes Selaginellales/Selaginellaceae unique in pteridophytes....
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The tropical-subtropical evergreen forest transition in East Asia: An exploration
August 2020
The transition from tropical to subtropical (warm temperate) evergreen forests is more clearly apparent in East Asia, from Nepal to the western Pacific coast, than elsewhere in the tropics. We review...
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Spatio-temporal variation of water salinity in mangroves revealed by continuous monitoring and its relationship to floristic diversity
January 2024
Salinity is among the most critical factors limiting the growth and species distribution of coastal plants. Water salinity in estuarine ecosystems varies temporally and spatially, but the variation...
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The identity of Dinochloa species and enumeration of Melocalamus (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) in China
March 2023
Three woody bamboo species collected in Hainan, China in 1940 have been described as Dinochloa based on vegetative specimens. However, the identity of these species has long been in doubt, largely because...
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Plastome characteristics and species identification of Chinese medicinal wintergreens (Gaultheria, Ericaceae)
November 2022
Wintergreen oil is a folk medicine widely used in foods, pesticides, cosmetics and drugs. In China, nine out of 47 species within Gaultheria (Ericaceae) are traditionally used as Chinese medicinal wintergreens;...
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Patterns of phylogenetic relatedness of non-native plants across the introduction–naturalization–invasion continuum in China
March 2023
Human activities have caused the exchange of species among different parts of the world. When introduced species become naturalized and invasive, they may cause great negative impacts on the environment...
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Cryptic divergences and repeated hybridizations within the endangered “living fossil” dove tree (Davidia involucrata) revealed by whole genome resequencing
March 2024
The identification and understanding of cryptic intraspecific evolutionary units (lineages) are crucial for planning effective conservation strategies aimed at preserving genetic diversity in endangered...
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Coryphoid palms from the K-Pg boundary of central India and their biogeographical implications: Evidence from megafossil remains
January 2023
Ten palm leaf impressions are documented from the latest Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous) to early Danian (earliest Paleocene) sediments (K-Pg, c. 66–64 Ma) of the Mandla Lobe of the Deccan Inter-trappean...
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Siwalik plant megafossil diversity in the Eastern Himalayas: A review
May 2023
The Eastern Himalayas are renowned for their high plant diversity. To understand how this modern botanical richness formed, it is critical to investigate past plant biodiversity preserved as fossils...
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ROS and oxidative burst: Roots in plant development
February 2020
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are widely generated in various redox reactions in plants. In earlier studies, ROS were considered toxic byproducts of aerobic metabolism. In recent years, it has become...
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Why is the beautyberry so colourful? Evolution, biogeography, and diversification of fruit colours in Callicarpa (Lamiaceae)
January 2023
Fruit colour is essential to seed dispersal, speciation, and biological diversity in global ecosystems. The relationship between fruit-colour variation and species diversification has long been of interest...
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Plant diversity in Yunnan: Current status and future directions
August 2020
Yunnan, located in southwestern China, harbors more than 19,000 higher plants, which represents the highest plant diversity in the country. However, plant diversity in Yunnan faces enormous threats...
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Safeguarding our future by protecting biodiversity
August 2020
The Anthropocene is marked by twin crises: climate change and biodiversity loss. Climate change has tended to dominate the headlines, reflecting, in part, the greater complexity of the biodiversity...
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