A review of the non-lyctine powder-post beetles of Yunnan (China) with a new genus and new species (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae)

The powder post beetles (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) (except Lyctinae) of Yunnan Province in Southwest China are reviewed for the first time. Keys to twenty-six genera and fifty-two species from the Yunnan region are provided. One new genus and seven new species are described: Dinoderus (Dinoderastes) hongheensis sp. nov., Dinoderus (Dinoderastes) nanxiheensis sp. nov., Gracilenta yingjiangensis gen. nov., sp. nov., Calonistes vittatus sp. nov., Calophagus colombiana sp. nov., Xylodrypta guochuanii sp. nov. and Xylodrypta zhenghei sp. nov.. Fourteen species are recorded in China for the first time. The bostrichid fauna of Yunnan is compared with those of the neighbouring bio-geographically related Southeast Asian and Himalayan regions. The fauna has a close affinity with that of tropical Southeast Asia and a much weaker relationship with the Palearctic region. The differences with the Himalayas may reflect the separate evolutionary and complex geological history of the two areas.

Endophytic Colletotrichum Species from Aquatic Plants in Southwest China

Colletotrichum species are plant pathogens, saprobes, and endophytes in many economically important hosts. Many studies have investigated the diversity and pathogenicity of Colletotrichum species in common ornamentals, fruits, and vegetables. However, Colletotrichum species occurring in aquatic plants are not well known. During the investigation of the diversity of endophytic fungi in aquatic plants in southwest China, 66 Colletotrichum isolates were obtained from aquatic plants there, and 26 of them were selected for sequencing and analyses of actin (ACT), chitin synthase (CHS-1), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, and β-tubulin (TUB2) genomic regions. Based on morphological characterization and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses, 13 Colletotrichum species were recognized, namely, C. baiyuense sp. nov., C. casaense sp. nov., C. demersi sp. nov., C. dianense sp. nov., C. fructicola, C. garzense sp. nov., C. jiangxiense, C. karstii, C. philoxeroidis sp. nov., C. spicati sp. nov., C. tengchongense sp. nov., C. vulgaris sp. nov., C. wuxuhaiense sp. nov. Two species complexes, the C. boninense species complex and C. gloeosporioides species complex, were found to be associated with aquatic plants. Pathogenicity tests revealed a broad diversity in pathogenicity and aggressiveness among the eight new Colletotrichum species.

Farmers’ Strategies to Climate Change and Urbanization: Potential of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation in Rural Chengdu, Southwest China

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is emerging as a cost-effective approach for helping people adapt to climate and non-climate changes. Nowadays, climate change and urbanization have affected agricultural systems, but it is not clear how rural communities have responded or adapted to those changes. Here, we chose two typical villages in the Chengdu Plain, southwest China, through sociological surveys on 90 local farmers with a semi-structured questionnaire, participatory observation, geospatial analysis of land use and land cover, and a literature review, to explore the local people’s perception of changes or disturbances and their adaptation strategies from the perspective of EbA. The results showed that climate change and urbanization had impacted agricultural systems dramatically in the last 40 years. In two case-study sites, climate change and urbanization were perceived by most local farmers as the main drivers impacting on agricultural production, but various resource-use models containing abundant traditional knowledge or practices as well as modern tools, such as information communication technology (ICT), were applied to adapt to these changes. Moreover, culture service through the adaptive decoration of rural landscapes is becoming a new perspective for implementing an EbA strategy. Finally, our findings highlighted the potential value of an EbA strategy for sustaining urban-rural integrated development and enhancing the resilience of agricultural systems.