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Cornus elliptica is a species of the Cornus, an evergreen tree endemic to China. Here, we report a complete chloroplast genome sequence of C. elliptica. The chloroplast genome was found to be 157,400bp in length, and G-C contents were 38.1%. The sequence contained 115 unique genes, including 31 tRNA, 4 rRNA, and 80 protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic framework of Cornus is consistent with previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which determined the causes of the population decline of Przewalski's gazelle in Qinghai Lake, China. History of the discovery of Przewalski's gazelle; Methodology; Comparison of several gazelle populations around Qinghai Lake.

The Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is one of the world’s most endangered species. Recently, habitat fragmentation, food scarcity and human hunting have drastically reduced the population size and distribution areas of Amur tigers in the wild, leaving them on the verge of extinction. Presently, they are only found in the north-eastern part of China. In this study, we developed a reference framework using methods and technologies of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS), GAP analysis and Natural Break (Jenks) classification to evaluate the habitat and to set the conservation priorities for Amur tigers in eastern areas of Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces of northeast China. We proposed a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) incorporating 7 factors covering natural conditions and human disturbance. Based on the HSI values, the suitability was classified into five levels from the most to not suitable. Finally, according to results of GAP analysis, we identified six conservation priorities and designed a conservation landscape incorporating four new nature reserves, enlarging two existing ones, and creating four linkages for Amur tigers in northeast China. The case study showed that the core habitats (the most suitable and highly suitable habitats) identified for Amur tigers covered 35,547 km2, accounting for approximately 26.71% of the total study area (1,33,093 km2). However, existing nature reserves protected only (7124 km2 or) 20.04% of the identified core habitats. Thus, enlargement of current reserves is necessary and urgent for the tiger’s conservation and restoration. Moreover, the establishment of wildlife corridors linking core habitats will provide an efficient reserve network for tiger conservation to maintain the evolutionary potential of Amur tigers facing environmental changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]