Reassessment of Begonia arboreta and B. sonlaensis (Begoniaceae) based on field observation and type examination

Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 381 (1) ◽  
pp. 132 ◽  
Author(s):  
WEN-HONG CHEN ◽  
SIRILAK RADBOUCHOOM ◽  
HIEU QUANG NGUYEN ◽  
THAMARAT PHUTTHAI ◽  
LEONID V. AVERYANOV ◽  
...  

Due to the unavailability of specimens and publications in the past, some gaps exist in knowledge of similar species from various adjacent countries. After more recently detailed observations from field surveys and examinations on herbaria specimens, we confirmed the status of Begonia arboreta and B. sonlaensis as synonyms of B. garrettii and B. pseudodryadis from China and Thailand, and from China and Vietnam, respectively. The taxonomic treatment is based on the examination of both available herbarium specimens and living plants from different populations. Taxonomy revision of the allied species is very important for understanding plant diversity in the above neighboring countries.

PhytoKeys ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 1-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuvenalis Morara Mbuni ◽  
Yadong Zhou ◽  
Shengwei Wang ◽  
Veronicah Mutele Ngumbau ◽  
Paul Mutuku Musili ◽  
...  

Cherangani hills, located in Western Kenya, comprises of 12 forest blocks, maintaining great plant diversity. However, little attention to plant diversity studies has been paid to it in the past years. Here, we present a checklist of the vascular plants of this region obtained through intensive field investigations and matching of herbarium specimens. In total, 1296 species, including 17 endemic species are documented, belonging to 130 families and 608 genera. This flora represents 18.50%, 43.83% and 54.17% of the Kenyan species, genera and families, respectively. The habit, habitat and voucher specimens, as well as brief notes on the distribution of each taxon recorded are presented in this checklist. It is the first exhaustive inventory of the terrestrial vascular plants in Cherangani hills which is a significant regional centre for plant diversity.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 317 (3) ◽  
pp. 219 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD V. LANSDOWN ◽  
RENE GLEN ◽  
GUSTAVO HASSEMER

Historically there has been confusion over the status and identification of Callitriche species in South Africa. Review of herbarium specimens and fieldwork have enabled confirmation of the presence of C. deflexa as a naturalised species in this country and confirmed that C. compressa and specimens named as C. bolusii are conspecific. Field surveys showed that C. compressa still occurs in the areas from which most historic collections were made with no evidence of a decline, it is widespread but local in Kwa-Zulu Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces and extends into eastern Western Cape Province. However because it is known from only five widely scattered sites, it is classed as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List. We also typify here the names C. compressa and C. deflexa.


Oryx ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Li ◽  
Bosco Pui Lok Chan

AbstractThree species of otters are known from China; the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra is widespread throughout the country and the smooth-coated Lutrogale perspicillata and Asian small-clawed otters Aonyx cinereus occur in tropical and subtropical regions. We summarize the past status and distribution of otters in China, and provide an update based on a literature review, interviews and field surveys. Otter populations have undergone a dramatic countrywide decline, and are extirpated over much of their former ranges. Relict populations persist, however, in well-protected nature reserves, in sparsely populated headwaters of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, at remote sites along international borders, and in densely populated deltas and floodplains. Recent records were mostly of the Eurasian otter, and we could find no confirmed recent record of the smooth-coated otter. The otters that survive in certain well-protected sites could act as source populations for recolonization if adequate conservation interventions are implemented. Urgent, focused action is needed to protect the remaining populations, and to study the taxonomy and ecology of China's otters.


Author(s):  
Nao Ota

Niche partitioning is often vital for the coexistence of ecologically similar species under limited resources. Here I will report the nesting strategy of the two sympatric songbirds and the species differences, which have been overlooked in the past. Blue-capped and red-cheeked cordon-bleus are socially monogamous, biparental songbirds (family Estrildidae) that sympatrically inhabit East Africa. My field observation during their breeding season revealed that red-cheeked cordon-bleus build their nests near wasp nests more frequently than blue-capped cordon-bleus. Blue-capped cordon-bleus instead tended to take over weaver’s old nest more often or use a broader range of nesting materials compared to red-cheeked cordon-bleus. These nesting strategies are already described in the literature as common behaviors in both species. However, the species differences of the adopting strategies have never been reported. While Estrildid finches are one of the best well-studied bird families of their behavior under the captive condition, my finding suggests that we still have limited knowledge of their wild behaviors and ecological plausibility, which is required to understand the functions and evolution.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-224
Author(s):  
ʿĀʾiḍ B. Sad Al-Dawsarī

The story of Lot is one of many shared by the Qur'an and the Torah, and Lot's offer of his two daughters to his people is presented in a similar way in the two books. This article compares the status of Lot in the Qur'an and Torah, and explores the moral dimensions of his character, and what scholars of the two religions make of this story. The significance of the episodes in which Lot offers his daughters to his people lies in the similarities and differences of the accounts given in the two books and the fact that, in both the past and the present, this story has presented moral problems and criticism has been leveled at Lot. Context is crucial in understanding this story, and exploration of the ways in which Lot and his people are presented is also useful in terms of comparative studies of the two scriptures. This article is divided into three sections: the first explores the depiction of Lot in the two texts, the second explores his moral limitations, and the third discusses the interpretations of various exegetes and scholars of the two books. Although there are similarities between the Qur'anic and Talmudic accounts of this episode, it is read differently by scholars from the two religions because of the different contexts of the respective accounts.


2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 61-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. I. Monchenko ◽  
L. P. Gaponova ◽  
V. R. Alekseev

Crossbreeding experiments were used to estimate cryptic species in water bodies of Ukraine and Russia because the most useful criterion in species independence is reproductive isolation. The problem of cryptic species in the genus Eucyclops was examined using interpopulation crosses of populations collected from Baltic Sea basin (pond of Strelka river basin) and Black Sea basin (water-reservoires of Dnieper, Dniester and Danube rivers basins). The results of reciprocal crosses in Eucyclops serrulatus-group are shown that E. serrulatus from different populations but from water bodies belonging to the same river basin crossed each others successfully. The interpopulation crosses of E. serrulatus populations collected from different river basins (Dnipro, Danube and Dniester river basins) were sterile. In this group of experiments we assigned evidence of sterility to four categories: 1) incomplete copulation or absence of copulation; 2) nonviable eggs; 3) absence of egg membranes or egg sacs 4) empty egg membranes. These crossbreeding studies suggest the presence of cryptic species in the E. serrulatus inhabiting ecologically different populations in many parts of its range. The same crossbreeding experiments were carries out between Eucyclops serrulatus and morphological similar species – Eucyclops macruroides from Baltic and Black Sea basins. The reciprocal crossings between these two species were sterile. Thus taxonomic heterogeneity among species of genus Eucyclops lower in E. macruroides than in E. serrulatus. The interpopulation crosses of E. macruroides populations collected from distant part of range were fertile. These crossbreeding studies suggest that E. macruroides species complex was evaluated as more stable than E. serrulatus species complex.


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hunud Abia Kadouf ◽  
Umar Aimhanosi Oseini ◽  
Ainul Jaria Maidin

The primary function of Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah (Faculty) of Laws, at the very beginning of its inception, was that of teaching civil law and Sharî’ah subjects. As it matured, its vision has been varied from teaching to that of research with the aim of attaining the status of a full research institution that provides both quality research and best legal education in the region. Similar to other institutions of higher education in Malaysia, the responsibility of research is a shared function of both graduate students and the academic staff. The research output, on the part of the students is mostly composed of either Master Dissertations or PhD Theses. The academic members of the Faculty, however, are involved either in direct research, individually or jointly, supervision, and publications of their findings. By investigating and analyzing factors influencing research activities at AIKOL in the past twenty years, the researchers will be able to identify the general trends and development of research as it unfolded over years. The researchers hope that the policymakers, at both Faculty and University levels, will use the findings to improve research quality by boldly addressing the problems hampering research progress at AIKOL.


Author(s):  
Caroline Fleay

Throughout the past forty years various leaders from both major political parties in Australia have categorized the arrival by boat of people seeking asylum as a “crisis” and the people themselves as “illegal.” This is despite Australia being a signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and receiving relatively few people who seek asylum compared with many other countries. Punitive government policies and processes have further reinforced these representations, such that “crisis” and “illegal” can now be understood as both categories of analysis and practice. The repeated use of such categories may be helping to produce and reproduce prejudice and racism and obscure the needs and experiences of people seeking asylum.


Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Verónica Motta ◽  
Miguel A. García-Aspeitia ◽  
Alberto Hernández-Almada ◽  
Juan Magaña ◽  
Tomás Verdugo

The accelerated expansion of the Universe is one of the main discoveries of the past decades, indicating the presence of an unknown component: the dark energy. Evidence of its presence is being gathered by a succession of observational experiments with increasing precision in its measurements. However, the most accepted model for explaining the dynamic of our Universe, the so-called Lambda cold dark matter, faces several problems related to the nature of such energy component. This has led to a growing exploration of alternative models attempting to solve those drawbacks. In this review, we briefly summarize the characteristics of a (non-exhaustive) list of dark energy models as well as some of the most used cosmological samples. Next, we discuss how to constrain each model’s parameters using observational data. Finally, we summarize the status of dark energy modeling.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2323
Author(s):  
Lloyd A. Courtenay ◽  
Darío Herranz-Rodrigo ◽  
José Yravedra ◽  
José Mª Vázquez-Rodríguez ◽  
Rosa Huguet ◽  
...  

Human populations have been known to develop complex relationships with large carnivore species throughout time, with evidence of both competition and collaboration to obtain resources throughout the Pleistocene. From this perspective, many archaeological and palaeontological sites present evidence of carnivore modifications to bone. In response to this, specialists in the study of microscopic bone surface modifications have resorted to the use of 3D modeling and data science techniques for the inspection of these elements, reaching novel limits for the discerning of carnivore agencies. The present research analyzes the tooth mark variability produced by multiple Iberian wolf individuals, with the aim of studying how captivity may affect the nature of tooth marks left on bone. In addition to this, four different populations of both wild and captive Iberian wolves are also compared for a more in-depth comparison of intra-species variability. This research statistically shows that large canid tooth pits are the least affected by captivity, while tooth scores appear more superficial when produced by captive wolves. The superficial nature of captive wolf tooth scores is additionally seen to correlate with other metric features, thus influencing overall mark morphologies. In light of this, the present study opens a new dialogue on the reasons behind this, advising caution when using tooth scores for carnivore identification and contemplating how elements such as stress may be affecting the wolves under study.


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