Road expansion and persistence in forests of the Congo Basin

ISSN:2398-962

Rate accelerations in nuclear 18S rDNA of mycoheterotrophic and parasitic angiosperms

Rate variation in genes from all three genomes has been observed frequently in plant lineages with a parasitic and mycoheterotrophic mode of life. While the loss of photosynthetic ability leads to a relaxation of evolutionary constraints in genes involved in the photosynthetic apparatus, it remains to be determined how prevalent increased substitution rates are in nuclear DNA of non-photosynthetic angiosperms. In this study we infer rates of molecular evolution of 18S rDNA of all parasitic and mycoheterotorphic plant families (except Lauraceae and Polygalaceae) using relative rate tests. In several holoparasitic and mycoheterotrophic plant lineages extremely high substitution rates are observed compared to other photosynthetic angiosperms. The position and frequency of these substitutions have been identified to understand the mutation dynamics of 18S rRNA in achlorophyllous plants. Despite the presence of significantly elevated substitution rates, very few mutations occur in major functional and structural regions of the small ribosomal molecule, providing evidence that the efficiency of the translational apparatus in non-photosynthetic plants has not been affected

Building adaptive capacity to climate change in tropical coastal communities

To minimize the impacts of climate change on human wellbeing, governments, development agencies, and civil society organizations have made substantial investments in improving people's capacity to adapt to change. Yet to date, these investments have tended to focus on a very narrow understanding of adaptive capacity. Here, we propose an approach to build adaptive capacity across five domains: the assets that people can draw upon in times of need; the flexibility to change strategies; the ability to organize and act collectively; learning to recognize and respond to change; and the agency to determine whether to change or not

Are food-deceptive orchid species really functionally specialized for pollinators?

Food-deceptive orchid species have traditionally been considered pollination specialized to bees or butterflies. However, it is unclear to which concept of specialization this assumption is related; if to that of phenotypic specialization or of functional specialization. The main aim of this work was to verify if pollinators of five widespread food-deceptive orchid species (Anacamptis morio (L.) R.M. Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W. Chase, Anacamptis pyramidalis (L.) Rich., Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann, Orchis purpurea Huds. and Orchis simia Lam.) predicted from the phenotypic point of view matched with the observed ones. We addressed the question by defining target orchids phenotypic specialization on the basis of their floral traits, and we compared the expected guilds of pollinators with the observed ones. Target orchid pollinators were collected by conducting a meta-analysis of the available literature and adding unpublished field observations, carried out in temperate dry grasslands in NE Italy. Pollinator species were subsequently grouped into guilds and differences in the guild spectra among orchid species grouped according to their phenotype were tested. In contradiction to expectations derived from the phenotypic point of view, food-deceptive orchid species were found to be highly functionally generalized for pollinators, and no differences in the pollinator guild spectra could be revealed among orchid groups. Our results may lead to reconsider food-deceptive orchid pollination ecology by revaluating the traditional equation orchid-pollination specialization

Non-woody life-form contribution to vascular plant species richness in a tropical American forest

We provide total vascular plant species counts for three 1-ha plots in deciduous, semi-deciduous and evergreen forests in central Bolivia. Species richness ranged from 297 species and 22,360 individuals/ha in the dry deciduous forest to 382 species and 31,670 individuals/ha in the evergreen forest. Orchidaceae, Pteridophyta and Leguminosae were among the most species-rich major plant groups in each plot, and Peperomia (Piperaceae), Pleurothallis (Orchidaceae) and Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae), all epiphytes, were the most species-rich genera. This dominance of a few but very diverse and/or widespread taxa contrasted with the low compositional similarity between plots. In a neotropical context, these Central Bolivian forest plots are similar in total species richness to other dry deciduous and humid montane forests, but less rich than most Amazonian forests. Nevertheless, lianas, terrestrial herbs and especially epiphytes proved to be of equal or higher species richness than most other neotropical forest inventories from which data are available. We therefore highlight the importance of non-woody life-forms (especially epiphytes and terrestrial herbs) in Andean foothill forest ecosystems in terms of species richness and numbers of individuals, representing in some cases nearly 50% of the species and more than 75% of the individuals. These figures stress the need for an increased inventory effort on non-woody plant groups in order to accurately direct conservation actions

Ecoregional distribution of potentially useful species of Araceae and Bromeliaceae as non-timber forest products in Bolivia

In Bolivia, the plant families Araceae and Bromeliaceae offer numerous non-timber products, including ornamental plants, medicines, foods, and fibers. The economic potential for the utilization of these resources depends critically on the distribution of potentially useful species in different ecoregions in Bolivia. We conducted both a bibliographical revision of uses and ecological field work at 43 sites in the Bolivian Andes and lowlands to assess the potential for sustainable use as suggested by the Rapid Vulnerability Assessment method. The ecological criteria used for the evaluation were abundance (frequency), life form, geographical distribution, and habitat preference. We found that Bolivia has a striking number of potentially useful species of both families but that their potential use differs among ecoregions. Araceae were most species-rich and frequent in the humid lowland and montane forests. In these ecoregions, this family has a particular local importance mainly as traditional medicines and a great potential as ornamental plants. In contrast, economically useful bromeliads are best represented in seasonally dry forest habitats, especially for the production of fibres. Many species of bromeliads, which also occur in humid montane forests, although rare, are potentially important for commercialisation as ornamental species. This study shows that the uses of Araceae and Bromeliaceae are manifold and could be greatly increased through efficient management, although with different strategies according to the different ecoregions

Human impact of wild firewood species in the Rural Andes community of Apillapampa, Bolivia

Firewood is the basic fuel source in rural Bolivia. A study was conducted in an Andean village of subsistence farmers to investigate human impact on wild firewood species. A total of 114 different fuel species was inventoried during fieldtrips and transect sampling. Specific data on abundance and growth height of wild firewood species were collected in thirty-six transects of 50 x2 m(2). Information on fuel uses of plants was obtained from 13 local Quechua key participants. To appraise the impact of fuel harvest, the extraction impact value (EIV) index was developed. This index takes into account local participants' appreciation of (1) decreasing plant abundance; (2) regeneration capacity of plants; (3) impact of root harvesting; and (4) quality of firewood. Results suggest that several (sub-)woody plant species are negatively affected by firewood harvesting. We found that anthropogenic pressure, expressed as EIV, covaried with density of firewood species, which could entail higher human pressure on more abundant and/or more accessible species. The apparent negative impact of anthropogenic pressure on populations of wild fuel species is corroborated by our finding that, in addition to altitude, several anthropogenic variables (i.e. site accessibility, cultivation of exotics and burning practices) explain part of the variation in height of firewood species in the surroundings of Apillapampa