Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Qingfeng Ma, Liping Zhu, Ruimin Yang, Lei Huang, Junbo Wang, Lingyu Tang
Summary: This study investigates the modern pollen distribution in the lower Yarlung Zangbo River and its relationship with vegetation and climate, aiming to provide a reference for paleoenvironmental reconstructions and improve understanding of pollen dispersal patterns in mountainous regions. The results show that pollen assemblages and indicator species from moss polsters can reflect the vertical distribution of vegetation belts. Precipitation and wind speed are identified as the main factors influencing pollen distribution in the study area.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Cristina Bellini, Francesco Ciani, Lia Pignotti, Riccardo Maria Baldini, Tiziana Gonnelli, Marta Mariotti Lippi
Summary: This study investigates the flora and vegetation of the river estuaries in Southern Oman, focusing on the plants growing on different substrates. The analysis of surface soil samples provides insights into the pollen diffusion and representation of these plants in the current pollen rain. The pollen records offer a general picture of the flora and vegetation in the area and are important for the interpretation of pollen records from ancient soils.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Ratan Kar, Kriti Mishra, Shailesh Agrawal, Swati Tripathi, M. Firoze Quamar, Ruchika Bajpai Mohanty, Amit Kumar Mishra
Summary: This study analyzed the sediment composition of the Chorabari Glacier in Kedarnath, India, and found that the pollen assemblages do not align with the present vegetation, suggesting differences in past and present climates. The study also revealed the impact of human activities on vegetation and the prevalence of grazing animals.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Caiming Shen, Kam-biu Liu, Lingyu Tang, Jonathan T. Overpeck
Summary: This study described 234 pollen surface samples from the Tibetan Plateau to explore the relationship between modern pollen rain and vegetation. Samples collected from forests, shrublands, shrub meadows, meadows, steppes, and deserts show that different vegetation types have distinct pollen assemblages.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Changting Chi, Xiayun Xiao, Jianjun Wang, Rui Ke, Baoyan Jia
Summary: This study conducted a modern pollen rain analysis in Medog County, a tropical mountainous area in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The results show that modern pollen rain accurately reflects the characteristics of the current vegetation in the region. Pollen of Cyclobalanopsis, Tsuga, and Abies can be used as indicator species for reconstructions of paleovegetation. Mean annual precipitation is the most important climatic factor affecting pollen distribution. The study area exhibits a bimodal pattern of plant diversity with increasing altitude, and the plant diversity below 2100 m is explained by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria Riofrio, Carlos Naranjo, Alberto Mendoza, David Draper, Isabel Marques
Summary: Ecuador has a high diversity of orchids, but knowledge about their genetic diversity is limited. Deforestation and fragmentation pose a threat to the survival of orchids that depend on other species for germination and growth. Overcollection and illegal trade also jeopardize wild orchid populations. The study found that overcollection has led to reduced genetic diversity in certain orchid species.
Article
Ecology
Timothy L. Staples, Wolfgang Kiessling, John M. Pandolfi
Summary: Anthropogenic disturbance and climate change can greatly increase the emergence of new, ecologically novel communities. Post-glacial warming of the past 8000 years led to a threefold increase in the emergence of local novel communities. However, in the last 200 years, the emergence of local novel communities has already matched estimates of glacial retreat. These novel communities are mainly found in high latitude regions and are influenced by global and local temperature changes.
Article
Geography, Physical
Lina Liu, Xiaohuan Hou, Xiaoshan Yu, Nannan Wang, Yanrong Zhang, Xianyong Cao
Summary: This study presents pollen and grain-size records from Lake Saiyong Co in the central Tibetan Plateau to reveal the vegetation and lake environmental history since the Last Glacial Maximum. The results show that the lake basin was initially a marsh environment before becoming a lake. Changes in vegetation and lake level were primarily influenced by climate change, with two major events identified. The study highlights the importance of considering lake size in the interpretation of fossil pollen data from small lakes.
Review
Entomology
David W. Roubik
Summary: Stingless bees are perennial honey-making insects that have a long evolutionary history in tropical forests. They have diverse ecological adaptations, excel in nesting site selection and mutualisms with other organisms, and display opportunistic behaviors. However, the expansion of human activities and exploitation pose challenges to their survival and reproduction.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Nagendra Prasad, Mohammad Firoze Quamar
Summary: The study of modern pollen-vegetation relationship is crucial for interpreting fossil pollen records. Analysis of surface samples from the Mahasamund District, central India, reveals an open mixed tropical deciduous forest vegetation dominated by non-arboreal pollen taxa. However, the modern pollen assemblages do not directly reflect the actual extant vegetation.
Article
Ecology
Jennifer Michel, Marcus Lehnert, Dietmar Quandt
Summary: This study reveals that ferns in a low-montane tropical rainforest in Eastern Ecuador are highly sensitive to changes in elevation and soil environment, indicating potential threats to biodiversity caused by environmental changes.
JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Ziqiang Ma, Siyu Zhu, Jun Yang
Summary: This study proposes an all-day near-real-time quantitative precipitation estimation framework based on multispectral analysis from the Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager onboard Chinese FY-4 series satellites. By comprehensively utilizing infrared channel observations, this framework provides more accurate detection of precipitation events and outperforms other methods in terms of performance. The results suggest that this approach is promising and applicable for generating all-day near-real-time rain-rate information.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Gar W. Rothwell, Ruth A. Stockey
Summary: This study utilizes anatomical analysis of fossils from Vancouver Island, Canada, to support the development of a whole plant concept for the Eocene species of Gleichenia and provide data for the first organismal concept of an extinct species of Gleichenia from the Cenozoic fossil record. The findings suggest that the characteristics of the Gleicheniaceae family were present during the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods, with modern species well-established and diversifying.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Plant Sciences
Kathrin Ganz, Cesar Morales-Molino, Erika Gobet, Dmytro Kiosak, Nadezhda Kotova, Jacqueline van Leeuwen, Sergey Makhortykh, Christoph Schworer, Willy Tinner
Summary: This study presents a palaeoecological reinvestigation from the Kardashynskyi mire in southern Ukraine, reconstructing the vegetation dynamics, fire history, and land use for the past 8300 years. The results show that both climate and human activities have driven the vegetation changes, and the remaining special vegetation types are severely threatened under current conditions.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Plant Sciences
Willem O. van der Knaap, Bas van Geel, Jacqueline F. N. van Leeuwen, Frans Roescher, Dick Mol
Summary: Pollen analysis of fossilized teeth from a giant deer found in The Netherlands provides insights into the diet, landscape, and climate of the specimen. The study suggests that the giant deer most likely lived during the early Eemian or an early Weichselian interstadial.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yun Guo, Yu Zhou, Josef Psenicka, Jiri Bek, Jana Votockova Frojdova, Zhuo Feng
Summary: A new species of adpressed leptosporangiate fern, Szea yunnanensis sp. nov., is described from Yunnan Province, Southwest China. The fronds of this new species have unique characteristics such as fertile pinnules with triangular to falcate shape and abaxial sori arranged in one row on each side of the midvein.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Plant Sciences
Adele C. M. Julier, Glynis J. Humphrey, Caitlin Dixon, Lindsey Gillson
Summary: The relationships between woody vegetation cover and fire, climate, herbivory, and human activities in African savanna ecosystems are complex. Fire suppression policies implemented in a national park in northeast Namibia from 1888 to 2005 did not lead to noticeable decreases in fire or enhanced tree recruitment, suggesting that fire occurrence in savanna ecosystems is more closely linked to climate than management. Fire management should adapt to rainfall variability and integrate customs of early dry season burning.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Plant Sciences
Milan Libertin, Jiri Kvacek, Jiri Bek
Summary: This paper revises the genus Aberlemnia from the Early Devonian of Scotland based on its type-material A. caledonica and describes a new species, Aberlemnia krizii sp. nov, from the Silurian of Czechia. The study provides detailed diagnoses and highlights the differences between the two species. Aberlemnia is positioned on an evolutionary clade line leading to the Lycophytina.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2024)