Southern Yunnan Province Research Articles

Taxonomic study of Polystachya Hook. (Orchidaceae) from Asia

In Asia, three species of Polystachya (Orchidaceae) are recognized, based on detailed morphological studies. They occur in southern Asia, from Tamil Nadu State in southern India and Yunnan Province in southeastern China to Sumbawa Island in southern Indonesia. As circumscribed here, two Asiatic species are endemic to southern India apart from P. concreta, which is a taxon of pantropical distribution. As part of a detailed nomenclatural review, 21 lectotypes and 1 neotype are designated. For each species treated, a full synonymy, detailed description, illustration, and distribution map are provided. A key for determination of the Asiatic species is included. One species from southeastern India (Kalrayan Hills) is newly described: P. seidenfadeniana. Dendrobium parvum Seidenf. is reduced to a synonym of Polystachya concreta (Jacq.) Garay & H.R. Sweet.

Nitrogen fixation of epiphytic plants enwrapping trees in Ailao Mountain cloud forests, Yunnan, China

Epiphytic plants play an important role in the nutrient cycle of forest ecosystems. There had been fewer studies in subtropical regions than in other climate zones. Prior research showed that the canopy epiphyte could fix nitrogen combined with microorganism in tropical forest. The epiphytic plants enwrapping trees in canopy layer are very abundant in the subtropical mountainous cloud forest of Ailao Mountain (central and southern Yunnan Province, SW China). This forest lacks widespread nitrogen-fixing plants, and the nitrogen origin is elusive. Maybe there also exist such nitrogen-fixing systems in epiphyte community. Nitrogen-fixing potentials of canopy epiphytes increased greatly from dry season to wet season. There occurred an obvious difference on the epiphytic nitrogen fixation abilities between upper canopy layer and sub-canopy layer in alternant period between wet season and dry season. Epiphytic nitrogen-fixing potentials for the subtropical moist forest in Ailao Mountains ranged between 0.027 and 2.24 kg ha(-1) year(-1). Our results indicate that the canopy epiphytes in the subtropical moist forest of Ailao Mountains can fix a significant amount of atmospheric nitrogen. This finding suggests a new nitrogen source for the subtropical forest ecosystem, thus can have profound impact on the studies of nitrogen cycling.

Cryptic Dioecy in Nyssa Yunnanensis (Nyssaceae), A Critically Endangered Species from Tropical Eastern Asia1

Nyssa yunnanensis W. Q. Yin ex H. N. Qin & Phengklai (Nyssaceae) is a critically endangered range-restricted tree species known from only three small populations in a tropical forest area of southern Yunnan Province, southwestern China. Two types, of individuals occur, one bearing staminate flowers and the other with morphologically perfect flowers that produce both pollen and fruit suggesting an androdioecious breeding system. Field an(] laboratory studies conducted between 2004 and 2007 indicate, however, that N yunnanensis is functionally dioecious: pollen front the morphologically perfect flowers is inaperturate and inviable, rendering the trees that bear these flowers functionally female. Field observations showed that the staminate flowers opened 10 to 15 (lays earlier than the protogynous female flowers hot that flowering ceased ill nearly the same time in both sexes. Thirty-six species of insects were observed and collected visting the flowers of N. yunnanensis, four of which served as effective pollinators. Breeding system experiments demonstrated that the predominantly entomophilous pollination system is supplemented by anemophily and further indicated that X yunnanensis is xenogamous and does not appear to exhibit parthenogenesis. The average sex ratio of individuals within the three populations was female-biased (0.5-1:1), but the ratio among flowers was male-biased (2.56:1) because flower production was higher in males. The 37 known trees of N. yunnanensis are likely the remnants of a once more widespread, abundant species that has been heavily impacted by human disturbance, it fine shared with many other threatened Southeast Asian taxa whose continued survival will require dedicated conservation efforts informed by it detailed understanding of population structure an(] reproductive biology.

Study on Pn Velocity and Anisotropy in the Uppermost Mantle of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis and Surrounding Regions

AbstractThe Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS) is a singular point of continental collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates, and has been a focus of geoscientific researches. We added the ISC data of 1964~2006 to a previous Chinese data set used by Pei et al., and 349475 Pn arrivals were selected in all. We have obtained seismic velocities and anisotropy in the uppermost mantle around EHS and surrounding regions by performing tomographic inversion of Pn travel times. Comparing Pn velocity variation with geological results, we find that they have distinct correlation: particularly high velocities always exist in old stable regions such as Sichuan Basin and Indian Plate. Low Pn velocities lie in active tectonic regions, volcanic areas and magmatic rock regions, for example, eastern Tibetan Plateau and North‐South Seismic Zone, southern Yunnan province and northern Indochina. The Pn anisotropy shows that the fast directions of Pn turn around the EHS from NE in southeastern Tibet Plateau, then SE to NS in North‐South Seismic Zone. But the direction changes sharply to EW in the northern Indochina. The rotation of Pn fast direction may be a result of mass extrusion from Tibet under simple shear, which is caused by mass flow in southeastern Tibetan Plateau and North‐South Seismic Zone relative to stable EHS and Sichuan Basin. The EW Pn direction probably results from pure shear, which is caused by compression in NS and extension in EW in Burma back‐arc extensional area. The polarization directions of SKS have similar rotation to Pn, but in northern Indochina the area of EW‐oriented fast direction of Pn has a southward offset of about 3° than SKS, which may result from the faster movement of upper lithosphere in this area.

Novel Hepatitis B Virus Subgenotype in the Southern Yunnan Province of China

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is highly prevalent in China. To identify the genotypes of HBV in the southern Yunnan Province of China, full-length HBV genomes were extracted from 1 Dai and 4 Hani HBV carriers and linked with the pMD T-18 vector. For each patient, 3–10 clones were sequenced directly and a consensus sequence was created. Genotypic and serotypic analysis revealed 4 HBV/B (2 B2 with adw2 and 2 new subgenotypes with ayw1) and 1 HBV/C (C1 with adrq+) genotypes. The divergences of the entire genome sequences of the new subgenotype were 0–0.9% and 2.99–6.48% between other known HBV/B. Divergences in other coding regions revealed that it was more similar to B3 and B4 in the precore/core gene (2.02 and 2.09%, respectively), and similar to B3 and B5 in the preS1/S2/S gene (2.24 and 2.78%, respectively). Phylogenetic trees using the precore/core and X genes both revealed a new clad separating from the major trunk of genotype B with a 99% bootstrap value. These results show that the 2 consensus isolates are a mosaic of B3–B5, which we designated to subgenotype B6. Considering the geographical distances, the relationship between B6 and other HBV/B subgenotypes (B3–B5) and HBV evolution needs to be further studied.

Analysis of the Relationship Between Density and Dominance of <I>Anopheles minimus</I> (Diptera: Culicidae) with Environmental Parameters in Southern Yunnan Province, Peoples Republic of China

The association of environmental factors with fluctuations in the density of the malaria vector Anopheles minimus (Theobald, 1901) was analyzed in Longtang and Dongfanghong, two villages in southern Yunnan Province, Peoples Republic of China. The distance of trap locations to rice fields and the distance from trap locations to rivulets were negatively correlated to the density of An. minimus. The length of a rivulet within a 1-km buffer around a trap location was positively correlated to the density of An. minimus, whereas the rice field area within a 1-km buffer of a trap location was negatively correlated to An. minimus dominance, but the length of a rivulet within a 1-km buffer around a trap location and the distance of trap locations to rice fields were positively correlated to An. minimus dominance. Linear models relating the density and dominance of An. minimus at trap sites in relation to environmental parameters are described. These results could help in the design of malaria control strategies.

Analysis of the Relationship Between Density and Dominance of Anopheles minimus (Diptera: Culicidae) with Environmental Parameters in Southern Yunnan Province, Peoples Republic of China

Analysis of the Relationship Between Density and Dominance of Anopheles minimus (Diptera: Culicidae) with Environmental Parameters in Southern Yunnan Province, Peoples Republic of China

A new member of the family Micromonosporaceae, Planosporangium flavigriseum gen. nov., sp. nov.

A novel actinomycete, designated strain YIM 46034(T), was isolated from an evergreen broadleaved forest at Menghai, in southern Yunnan Province, China. Phenotypic characterization and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the strain belonged to the family Micromonosporaceae. Strain YIM 46,034(T) showed more than 3 % 16S rRNA gene sequence divergence from recognized species of genera in the family Micromonosporaceae. Characteristic features of strain YIM 46,034(T) were the production of two types of spores, namely motile spores, which were formed in sporangia produced on substrate mycelia, and single globose spores, which were observed on short sporophores of the substrate mycelia. The cell wall contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, glycine, arabinose and xylose, which are characteristic components of cell-wall chemotype II of actinomycetes. Phosphatidylethanolamine was the major phospholipid (phospholipid type II). Based on morphological, chemotaxonomic, phenotypic and genetic characteristics, strain YIM 46,034(T) is considered to represent a novel species of a new genus in the family Micromonosporaceae, for which the name Planosporangium flavigriseum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Planosporangium flavigriseum is YIM 46,034(T) (=CCTCC AA 205,013(T) =DSM 44,991(T)).

A New Species of Amolops (Anura: Ranidae) from Southwest China

Abstract A new species of Amolops is described from a mountainous area of southern Yunnan Province, China. The species is unique in having a dark purple dorsum with small light yellow spots. The spots are smaller than the smallest finger disk. Other characters that distinguish this species from other species of Amolops include smooth skin (lacking tubercles) over the entire body and lack of dorsolateral folds, transverse bars on the legs, and a visible pineal body.

Allozymic, Morphological, Phenological, Linguistic, Plant Use, and Nutritional Data of Benincasa hispida (Cucurbitaceae)

Benincasa hispida, from tropical Asia, is cultivated primarily for its edible fruit. To explore its domestication and ethnobotany, we made collections from two regions where it may have been domesticated: (1) Southern China/Southeast Asia, represented by southern Yunnan Province (China) and northern Laos; and (2) the Indian subcontinent, represented by southeastern Nepal. Domestication has resulted in diverse fruit sizes, shapes, and colors; seed sizes and shapes; and, in some accessions, the loss of tendrils. Modern cultivars have larger fruit, earlier flowers, and lower nutritional content than traditional cultivars. Allozyme diversity was low, divergence between these two regions was low, and these results do not clarify the place of domestication. The greater morphological diversity of plants from Yunnan and Laos, as compared to Nepal, suggests domestication in the former region. In all accessions, male flowers precede females. Benincasa hispida is prominent in some traditional stories and rituals.

Brunneocorticium pyriforme, a new corticioid fungal genus and species belonging to the euagarics clade

Evidence derived from molecular studies in recent years has revealed that corticioid fungal genera are present in all major clades of Homobasidiomycetes. Brunneocorticium pyriforme, a corticioid fungus is proposed as a new species and placed in a new genus belonging to the euagarics clade. This fungus has been collected in subtropical-tropical Taiwan and southern Yunnan Province, China. Basidiocarps often occur on bark of living Murraya spp. (Rutaceae). Basidiocarps of B. pyriforme are resupinate with a smooth hymenial surface, a dimitic hyphal system, with nodose-septate generative hyphae and abundant yellowish brown skeletal hyphae, and leptocystidia. It has 2-sterigmate basidia and pear-shaped basidiospores. Phylogenetic analysis based on sequence data derived from LSU rDNA included Brunneocorticium in the euagarics clade of Homobasidiomycetes, allied to the agaricoid genera Marasmiellus, Campanella, etc. The molecular analysis indicated that the Brunneocorticium was independent from other corticioid genera with similar morphological features.

Brunneocorticium pyriforme, a new corticioid fungal genus and species belonging to the euagarics clade

Evidence derived from molecular studies in recent years has revealed that corticioid fungal genera are present in all major clades of Homobasidiomycetes. Brunneocorticium pyriforme, a corticioid fungus is proposed as a new species and placed in a new genus belonging to the euagarics clade. This fungus has been collected in subtropical-tropical Taiwan and southern Yunnan Province, China. Basidiocarps often occur on bark of living Murraya spp. (Rutaceae). Basidiocarps of B. pyriforme are resupinate with a smooth hymenial surface, a dimitic hyphal system, with nodose-septate generative hyphae and abundant yellowish brown skeletal hyphae, and leptocystidia. It has 2-sterigmate basidia and pear-shaped basidiospores. Phylogenetic analysis based on sequence data derived from LSU rDNA included Brunneocorticium in the euagarics clade of Homobasidiomycetes, allied to the agaricoid genera Marasmiellus, Campanella, etc. The molecular analysis indicated that the Brunneocorticium was independent from other corticioid genera with similar morphological features.

Volatile organic compounds from vegetation in southern Yunnan Province, China: Emission rates and some potential regional implications

Little information is currently available regarding emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in southern Asia. To address the need for BVOC emission estimates in regional atmospheric chemistry simulations, 95 common plant species were screened for emissions of BVOC in and near the Xishuangbanna Tropical Biological Gardens in southern Yunnan Province, Peoples’ Republic of China in February 2003. In situ measurements with leaf cuvettes and branch bag enclosures were used in combination with portable gas chromatography, flame ionization, photoionization, and mass spectral detection to identify and quantify BVOC emissions. Forty-four of the species examined emitted isoprene at rates exceeding 20 μg C g −1 (leaf dry weight) h −1. An emphasis was placed on the genus Ficus, which is important in the region and occupies a wide range of ecological niches. Several species in the footprint of a nearby flux tower were also examined. Several palm species and an abundant fern ( Cyclosorus parasiticus) emitted substantial amounts of isoprene, and probably accounted for observed daytime mean isoprene fluxes from the understory of a Hevea brasiliensis plantation of 1.0 and 0.15 mg C m −2 h −1 during the wet and dry seasons, respectively. These measurements verify that both the forest floor and canopy in this region can be sources of isoprene. Monoterpene emissions exceeded 1.0 μg-C g −1 (leaf dry weight) h −1 from only 4 of 38 species surveyed, including some Ficus species and H. brasiliensis. However most of the trees of the latter species were sparsely foliated due to dry season senescence, and emission factors are approximately an order of magnitude lower than those reported during the wet season. BVOC emission rates and physiology of many species are impacted by reduced moisture availability, especially Mangifera indica. South Asia is a region undergoing rapid landuse change and forest plantation establishment, with large increases in area of high BVOC-emitting species in the genera Bambusa, Elaeis, Eucalyptus, Hevea, Pinus, and Populus (among others). This could result in profound changes in atmospheric chemistry in these regions, for instance, terpene emissions from H. brasiliensis could increase wet season biogenic organic aerosol burdens by approximately a factor of 2 in the Xishuangbanna region. Increases in plantation area established with high isoprene emitting species, (e.g. Bambusa spp. and Eucalyptus spp.) are also projected for China and other parts of Southeast Asia in the near future. Thus, landcover change in South Asian landscapes is usually associated with large increases in BVOC flux with the potential to alter the atmospheric chemical composition and air quality over this rapidly developing region.

Land-Use and Land-Cover Change and Farmer Vulnerability in Xishuangbanna Prefecture in Southwestern China

This study investigated land-use and land-cover change in three hamlets and two state rubber farms in the Nan-e watershed of the Xishuangbanna prefecture of Yunnan province in Southwestern China. The overall objective of the study was to understand how state policies affected land use and land cover and how changes in these variables affected farmer vulnerability to economic, social, and political events. Emphasis was placed on the cultivation of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), promoted in southern Yunnan province since the 1950s as a means to meet the demands of rapid economic development. The study combined remote sensing analysis with secondary data and in-field interviews in order to understand the coupling between land-use and land-cover change and farmer vulnerability in light of the geographic, historical, and sociopolitical situation.

Allozymic, Morphological, and Phenological Diversity in Cultivated Luffa acutangula (Cucurbitaceae) from China, Laos, and Nepal, and Allozyme Divergence between L. acutangula and L. aegyptiaca

The immature fruits of domesticated Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb. are a common vegetable in Asia and India. To learn more about traditional cultivars, accessions were collected from southern Yunnan Province of China, northern Laos, and southeastern Nepal, and assessed for various parameters of genetic diversity. The size and shape of the fruits and seeds varied considerably. A form that we found cultivated only in Nepal bore clusters of small fruits that are produced by hermaphrodite flowers. Plants produced male flowers first, and the first node to bear flowers varied from the second to the twenty-seventh. Twenty-nine allozyme loci were assayed. Within L. acutangula one allozyme locus was polymorphic. Luffa acutangula andL. aegyptiaca are fixed for different alleles at nine loci, indicating that they are completely reproductively isolated from each other.

SYSTEMATICS OF CHINESE SPECIES OF THE ANT GENUS PRISTOMYRMEX MAYR (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE)

Abstract This paper examines the systematic relationships of four Chinese species of Pristomyrmex Mayr, i.e. P. brevispinosus Emery, P. formosae Forel, P, pungens Mayr, P. hamatus sp. nov. A key based on worker caste is provided for the known Chinese species. The new species, P. hamutw sp. nov., collected in the tropical rain forest of southern Yunnan Province is close to P. pungens Mayr, but inner margin of mandible with a distinct tooth, in dorsal view apices of propodeal spines curved inward and hook‐like, in profile view domum of ditrunk roundly convex, petiolar node broad and with dorsum relatively straight. The type specimens are deposited in the Insect Collection, Faculty of Resources, Southwest Forestry College, Kunming, yunnan Province, China.

The impact of social, economic and political forces on emerging HIV epidemics.

The impact of social, economic and political forces on emerging HIV epidemics.

Ethnicity Along China's Southwestern Frontier

In China, a multi-ethnic nation-state whose national policy regarding ethnic groups is still in flux, ethnicity is a subject worthy of serious analysis. China plays lip service to cultural diversity within the nation-state, but it is a diversity that must fit within the boundaries drawn by the government. The officially recognized ethnic groups are discriminated against while receiving economic benefits.As far back as the second and first millennia bc, ethnic diversity has been recognized and recorded in China. Archaeologists and ethnohistorians today cite these earlier textual sources in their research and frequently associate them with archaeological material. These archaeological remains are then often directly connected with ethnic groups living in the same region today. In doing so, the archaeologists are linking today’s groups firmly within the framework of Chinese history, but they fail to address certain questions: what is the meaning of ethnicity itself ? How was ethnicity perceived in the past? Is it the same as today? And can we in fact link those people living in the past with the groups living in China today? In asking these questions, this paper investigates the diverse ethnic groups living in southwestern China during the latter half of the first millennium bc, and draws not only upon archaeological and historical data, but also uses ethnographic data collected from the author’s fieldwork carried out among the Tai Lue in southern Yunnan Province during 1988-89.

Echoes of History: Naxi Music in Modern China

Based on fieldwork and documentary research in China, this study is a chronicle of the musical history of Lijiang County in China's southern Yunnan Province. It focuses on Dongjing music, repertoire borrowed from China's Han ethnic majority by the indigenous Naxi inhabitants of Lijiang County. Used in Confucian worship as well as in secular entertainment, Dongjing music played a key role the Naxi minority's assimilation of Han culture over the last 200 years. Prized for its complexity and elegance, which set it apart from rough or simpler indigenous Naxi music, Dongjing played an important role in defining social relationships, since proficiency in the music and membership in the Dongjing associations signified high social status and cultural refinement. In addition, there is a strong political component in its examination of the role of indigenous music in the relation of a socialist state to its ethnic minorities.

Honey bee diversity and beekeeping in Thailand

Traditional beekeeping with the indigenous honey bee, Apis cerana, began in the coconut plantation areas on Samui Island in southern Thailand but there are no records to confirm when it started1. However, literature preserved in the bee museum of the Apiculture Research Institute in Beijing, China, shows that Thai (Tai tribe) beekeeping began about 1000 years ago in Xishuang Banna, southern Yunnan province, China. In addition, numerous ancient medical books indicate that honey has been used widely as an ingredient to mix with several medicinal plants to make traditional Thai medicines. This practice is still used in traditional drug stores in Thailand2,3.