The long-legged flies (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from Kurile Islands, with description of a new species of the genus Sciapus Zeller, 1842

An annotated list of dolichopodid species recorded from Kurile Archipelago (Russia) is given for the first time. Sciapus basarukini sp. n. from Kunashir Island is described and illustrated. New records for 26 species, including 8 species new for the Kurile Islands, are presented. Long-legged flies are recorded for the first time from the Anuchina, Tanfilyeva, Polonskogo, Urup, Chirpoy, Brat-Chirpoyev, Simushir, Ushishir, Matua, Raikoke, Paramushir, Kharimkotan, Makanrushi, Atlasov, and Onekotan islands. Two species are excluded from the fauna of Kurils. In total, 54 species are recorded from the Kurile Archipelago that appa¬rently makes up 50–60% of the actual dolichopodid fauna in this region. The trends discovered on the Kurile Islands for plant species, i.e. the landscape diversity and the number of plant species increase from small to large islands, and decrease from southern islands northward, are generally supported by the case of flies of the family Dolichopodidae.

Plant Resources Utilization among Different Ethnic Groups of Ladakh in Trans-Himalayan Region

The nomadic pastoral indigenous communities of the Ladakhi people share roots with Tibetan culture in terms of food, clothing, religion, festivals, and habits, and rely widely on plant resources for survival and livelihood. This survey was conducted during 2019–2021 to document the indigenous knowledge about plant resources of the Balti, Beda, and Brokpa communities of the Ladakh region, trans-Himalayas. Open- and close-ended semi-structured interviews (N = 184) and group discussions (N = 17) were used to collect the data. Quantitative data was further analyzed using various statistical tools. A total of 105 plant species belonging to 82 genera and 39 families were used as medicine, fuel wood, fragrance, oil, food, flavor, fodder, decoration, and dye. Among these, medicinal use was most prevalent, with 70% of use reports, followed by fodder and fuel wood. Leaves (27%) were the most preferred plant part used, followed by roots and flowers. The principal component analysis revealed five clusters of ethnobotanical usage, i.e., food, medicine, fuel wood, fodder, and fragrance, oil, dye, and flavor. The maximum number of plant species used was reported by the Brokpa, while the Beda reported the minimum number of plant species uses. Delphinium brunonianum, Waldheimia tomentosa, and Juniperus indica played a significant role in the cultural and religious ritual aspects, whereas Allium przewalskianum, Waldheimia tomentosa, Juniperus indica, and Hippophae rhamnoides were commonly used as a livelihood source among Ladakhi communities. The local people collected most plants (65%) for self-consumption, while the rest (35%) were sold in markets as a source of income. The sustainable utilization and management of plant resources by local people is a strategy to boost livelihoods and food security and alleviate poverty.

Ecological Restoration in Gautam Buddha's Birthplace Lumbini

The historical information about natural vegetation of Lumbini is not clearly known. Modern day human colonization around Mayadevi temple could have been intensified after Khadga Samsher's visit to Lumbini in 1896, followed by the eradication of Malaria in the Tarai of Nepal around the 1950s. The dense human settlements around the Mayadevi temple (place where Buddha was born) was gradually shifted outside the area of Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) (16 x 4 km2 area), and the area was planted with a huge number of plant species. Hence, the forest within LDT is essentially a secondary forest without a scientific method of forest management (only plantation), as a result some species were not able to get naturally established and disappeared gradually. Studies indicated that there were around 354 species of plants species in LDT (Siwakoti, 2008) however, a recent vegetation survey (Tiwari, 1919) recorded only about 250 species including 39 tree species and other herbs and shrubs (the data is being produced, and needs second round survey to confirm). Some very common plant species have not been found from the region, indicating the heavy anthropogenic pressure including construction activities, grazing, fire, and plantation of trees without knowing microhabitat have taken the toll, and also by the encroachment of alien and invasive plant species both in terrestrial and aquatic environment. It is quite important to update the biodiversity, study regeneration of plant and animal species and management of invasive species in order to restore the natural ecosystems of Lumbini to develop it as both a sacred pilgrimage site and nature reserve. Ecosystem conservation and reintroduction at LDT could be done by following the strong reliance of Gautam Buddha's teaching about nature and life.

The relationship between resource abundance and insect herbivory on islands

We examined the relationship between resource abundance and the feeding activity of phytophagous insects on three common island plants. The aim was to investigate the correlation between phytophagous insects’ abundance and availability of food and island geography. We collected 30,835 leaves from three tree species groups (Mallotus japonicus, Prunus species, and Quercus species) on 18 islands in southwest Korea. The number of plant resources for herbivores varied: the number of leaves per shoot was the highest in Mallotus, leaf weight and the water content per leaf was significantly lower in Quercus species. External feeding was higher for Prunus and Quercus species, whereas the internal feeding type was significantly higher for Quercus species. Geography (area and distance), elevation and food resource (elevation, number of plant species, and the forest cover rate) had a variable effect on phytophagous insects feeding activities: distance and the number of plant species were more explainable to the external feeding guild. In contrast, area and forest cover were more to the internal feeding guild.

First quantitative data on the feeding ecology of an arid zone rodent, the Common gundi (Ctenodactylus gundi)

One species of the family Ctenodactylidae, the Common gundi, Ctenodactylus gundi, occupies a restricted area between the Saharan and Mediterranean domains where annual rainfall is between 50 and 400 mm. Its presence seems also conditioned by the vegetation, so its feeding ecology was investigated by the microhistological analysis of faeces collected in two stations (Baniane and Bazem) of the Aurès massif (Eastern Algeria) during two years from June 2015 to May 2017, and by the evaluation of the available food. The diet included a total of 34 plant species, 16 in Baniane and 20 in Bazem. Results show that in Baniane, Asteraceae were predominant with Artemisia herba-alba (relative abundance, A% = 33.13%), followed by Fabaceae with Argyrolobium uniflorum (A% = 20.32%) and Poaceae with Aristida sp. (A% = 14.95%). In Bazem, the most consumed plant species were Lamiaceae with Thymus ciliatus (A% = 42.77%) and Poaceae with Lolium rigidum (A% = 13.19%). Overall, C. gundi fed on a large number of plant species, and its diet appeared to be influenced more by the diversity than by the availability of vegetation. Seasonal variations in diet indicate that this rodent eats perennial vegetation throughout the year and opportunistically consumes annual plants to a lesser extent in the spring, with a certain time shifting between the two stations probably due to rainfall and temperature differences.

Floristic composition of Jahangirnagar University Campus - A semi-natural area of Bangladesh

This study represents comprehensive taxonomic information on current floristic composition in the semi-natural campus area of Jahangirnagar University. This study reveals that this campus area harbours a total of 917 species belonging to 574 genera and 145 families of vascular plants. 70.34% of these species are wild and the rest are cultivated/planted. 63.79% of the species are native and 36.21% are exotic to Bangladesh. Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms are represented by 22 and 12 species, respectively, whereas, Angiosperms by 883 species. Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons) and Liliopsida (monocotyledons) are composed of 618 and 265 species, respectively. The family Poaceae with 89 species is the largest, which is followed by Fabaceae with 44 species and Asteraceae with 40 species. Most of the species are herbs (56.16%) and growing in diverse habitats. All species are economically or ecologically important, but mostly as medicinal, ornamental, fodder and forage, fruit, vegetable, timber and fuel wood. The study area houses 15 plant species, previously listed as threatened to Bangladesh. Thus, the study area is floristically rich in respect to its number of plant species belonging to different groups and its size. This area might serve as a campus-based excellent center of biodiversity conservation by strengthening the existing management and adopting necessary policies and strategies. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(1): 27-60, 2021 (June)

Protocol: analytical methods for visualizing the indolic precursor network leading to auxin biosynthesis

Background The plant hormone auxin plays a central role in regulation of plant growth and response to environmental stimuli. Multiple pathways have been proposed for biosynthesis of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), the primary auxin in a number of plant species. However, utilization of these different pathways under various environmental conditions and developmental time points remains largely unknown. Results Monitoring incorporation of stable isotopes from labeled precursors into proposed intermediates provides a method to trace pathway utilization and characterize new biosynthetic routes to auxin. These techniques can be aided by addition of chemical inhibitors to target specific steps or entire pathways of auxin synthesis. Conclusions Here we describe techniques for pathway analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings using multiple stable isotope-labeled precursors and chemical inhibitors coupled with highly sensitive liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS) methods. These methods should prove to be useful to researchers studying routes of IAA biosynthesis in vivo in a variety of plant tissues.

The P450 multigene family of Fontainea and insights into diterpenoid synthesis

Background Cytochrome P450s (P450s) are enzymes that play critical roles in the biosynthesis of physiologically important compounds across all organisms. Although they have been characterised in a large number of plant species, no information relating to these enzymes are available from the genus Fontainea (family Euphorbiaceae). Fontainea is significant as the genus includes species that produce medicinally significant epoxy-tigliane natural products, one of which has been approved as an anti-cancer therapeutic. Results A comparative species leaf metabolome analysis showed that Fontainea species possess a chemical profile different from various other plant species. The diversity and expression profiles of Fontainea P450s were investigated from leaf and root tissue. A total of 103 and 123 full-length P450 genes in Fontainea picrosperma and Fontainea venosa, respectively (and a further 127/125 partial-length) that were phylogenetically classified into clans, families and subfamilies. The majority of P450 identified are most active within root tissue (66.2% F. picrosperma, 65.0% F. venosa). Representatives within the CYP71D and CYP726A were identified in Fontainea that are excellent candidates for diterpenoid synthesis, of which CYP726A1, CYP726A2 and CYP71D1 appear to be exclusive to Fontainea species and were significantly more highly expressed in root tissue compared to leaf tissue. Conclusion This study presents a comprehensive overview of the P450 gene family in Fontainea that may provide important insights into the biosynthesis of the medicinally significant epoxy-tigliane diterpenes found within the genus.

Influence of Selected Environmental Parameters on Rove Beetle (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) Communities in Central European Floodplain Forests

Wetlands and especially floodplain forests belong to the most endangered ecosystems in Europe, characterized by complex dynamics of flood and dry periods and providing specific irreplaceable habitats for many organisms, including bioindicators. Many rove beetle species, for instance, are well-known detectors in monitoring ecological change, however, their use in environmental assessment requires to expand the insufficient knowledge on ecological environmental particularities of their assemblages. Therefore, we compared the rove beetle communities in eight habitats of floodplain forests from 2015 to 2016. Staphylinids were sampled by pitfall trapping. We compared the rove beetle taxocoenoses in the floodplain forests and their ecotones alongside three rivers (Danube, Tisa and Begej). We evaluated the impact of plant diversity and cover of vegetation layers, area, circumference and age of forest stands, distance to the forest edge, thickness of the litter layer, physical and chemical properties of soil and leaf litter (conductivity, pH, P, N, H, C) and anthropogenic impact on structure of rove beetle communities. We recorded significant interactions between total dynamic activity of rove beetles and number of plant species in shrub vegetation layer. Species richness was significantly positively correlated with number of plant species in shrub vegetation layer and soil pH, and negatively with relative H content of soil. We did not find any significant correlation between Shannon diversity, but evenness was negatively linked with species richness of plant communities in shrub layer.

Phytoalexins and Signalling Metabolites Produced in the Wild Crucifer Neslia Paniculata: Camalexins and Arabidopsides

The metabolites produced in elicited leaves of the wild crucifer <i>Neslia paniculata</i> (L.) Desv. were investigated in abiotically stressed plants. Herein the phytoalexins camalexin, 7-methoxycamalexin and 6,7-dimethoxycamalexin together with the signalling metabolites arabidopsides A and D are reported. This is the first report of occurrence of 7-methoxy and 6,7-dimethoxycamalexins <i>in planta</i> and the third example of synchronized biosynthesis of phytoalexins and galacto-oxylipins. It is suggested that arabidopsides and structurally similar metabolites functioning as signalling molecules are likely to occur in a much larger number of plant species than originally hypothesized. <i>N. paniculata</i> is potentially useful to generate hybrid plants resistant to blackleg disease caused by <i>Leptosphaeria maculans.</i>