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Caryota obtusa of Arecaceae is a fascinating palm tree native to southwestern China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It is an economically important and threatened species and appears as a canopy dominant in some karst areas in Yunnan. We aim to clarify the forest structure, species diversity, population status and regeneration dynamics of C. obtusa in the karst forest ecosystem of Yunnan, China. We established 56 vegetation plots dominated by C. obtusa in 10 counties of southern Yunnan. Based on the plot data, we analyzed the community stratification, floristic composition and C. obtusa’s population structure. We used questionnaires to interview local people and recorded the human activity history in C. obtusa-dominated forests. Caryota obtusa palm forests were distributed on limestone mountain slopes and gullies. There were seven forest community types. The stratification of each community included arborous layer, shrub layer and understory. The communities had rich species composition. For all the plots as a whole of each community type, Shannon–Wiener diversity index of either woody or herbaceous species ranged from 2.1 to 3.8. The diameter at breast height (DBH)-class frequency distribution of C. obtusa was a multimodal type. The regeneration was sporadic and dependent on intermediate natural disturbances. In the current population structure, a number of C. obtusa trees with small DBHs consisted mainly of the forest communities with no or a slight degree of human disturbances. Intensive human activities terribly hindered recruitment of C. obtuse, followed by the medium intensity of human activities.

Urbanization in mountainous areas concentrates in intermountain basins (locally named as “bazi”) formed by various geomorphological processes, resulted in a unique urban landscape patterns (ULP) and hierarchically structured determinants. Detecting ULP in basins across the mountainous Yunnan Province in Southwest China; disentangling the impacts of physical and social drivers on ULP in basins of variable sizes and administrative levels. Five indices of ULP were extracted from Landsat 8 OLA, and linked to causal variables of basin geomorphology, land cover types, administrative structure, road network, within-basin topography and climate; and generalized linear regression and random forest models were applied to estimate factor importance for variation of ULP within basins. (1) The capital cities of Yunnan Province and its 100% prefectures, 70% counties and 30% townships were located inside a total of 1198 basins with the area ranging from 1.0 to 1385.1 km2. (2) ULP patterns in basins of county and higher administrative levels were prominently constrained by physical and social features of basins, and were less interpretable in basins of lower administrative level. (3) Basin area but not shape showed dominant impact on ULP, with direct limit effect revealed only in basins of small size and high administrative level. The administrative structure dominated the spatial configuration of ULP (i.e. patch density, connectance and agglomeration) in basins, and regulated the role of road system, topography and climate with hierarchical differences. The ULP in mountain areas was co-dominated by physical and social features of basins. Mountain urbanization impacts should be reduced by rational urban development planning harmonizing physical constraints and administrative optimization.

Background Schima genus of Theaceae is confined to subtropics and tropics of South, East and Southeast Asia. Thirteen species of Schima are distributed in subtropical China. Many of them appear as dominant canopy species in the subtropical forests. To date, Schima species richness distribution patterns of China have remained unknown. Meanwhile, there has been a longtime debate as to whether forests dominated by Schima species are early or late successional forests. We aim to clarify Schima species richness patterns and these species’ roles in the forest succession and regeneration dynamics of the subtropical ecosystem in Yunnan Province, China. Method We mapped Schima species richness distribution patterns in China. Based on 71 vegetation plots, we analyzed forest characteristics, population structure, and regeneration dynamics of Schima species in Yunnan. Results Yunnan was found to harbor the greatest richness and the highest rarity-weighted richness of Schima species in the subtropical regions of China. We classified five primary and six secondary forest types containing Schima species as one of dominants. Yunnan had the high floristic diversity and varying stand structure of forests containing Schima species. The Schima species studied generally had a sporadic regeneration type and a long life-span. Four species (Schima argentea, Schima villosa, Schima sinensis, Schima sericans) were shade-intolerant. But three species (Schima noronhae, Schima khasiana and Schima wallichii) were considered as bi-modal type species having shade-intolerant and shade-tolerant traits. Schima noronhae was seen to be a top dominant in late successional forests, while S. wallichii was found as a top-dominant in early or middle or late successional forests. S. khasiana, Schima villosa, Schima sinensis usually appeared as a top dominant in early or middle successional secondary forests, though they also presented as a second dominant in late-successional forests. Schima argentea and Schima sericans dominated only in the early or middle/seral successional forests. Schima species’ regeneration establishment depended mainly on forest canopy gap formation through moderate human and natural disturbances. Conclusions Yunnan has high species richness and rarity-weighted richness of Schima. Both moderate human and natural disturbances have provided regeneration niches for Schima species. Some of the Schima species studied as a second dominant (rare as the top-dominant) present in the late-successional forests. Some of them are more often as the top-dominant in early or middle successional forests, where as time goes by the dominance of Schima species would be replaced by their associated dominant taxa such as Castanopsis species.

The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. Forest community characteristics and population structure of G. pensilis in China have remained unknown up to now. We investigated six swamp forest stands and analyzed their forest community characteristics (i.e. vertical stratification, species composition, and diversity) and population structure, including the frequency distribution of DBH (diameter at breast height) and age-classes as found in Fujian Province, southeastern China.The vertical stratifications of all the forest stands were rather simple. The remaining wild specimens ranged from roughly 15 to some 357 years for an average of ca. 85 years, with only a few individuals less than 20 years old. Compared with the stands and populations of G. pensilis in Vietnam, the taxonomic compositions of the stands in the two regions were different, except for the dominant species-G. pensilis. The Shannon–Wiener index showed the overstory of each stand had much lower diversity (0.26 on average) in Fujian Province than that (1.97 on average) in Vietnam, whereas the diversity indices were about the same (around 2.41) for the understories in the two regions. Furthermore, we discovered 18 G. pensilis seedlings at the study sites in Fujian Province. This discovery demonstrates that G. pensilis regeneration is extremely poor and its populations are declining, although these populations are relatively healthier than those in Vietnam. Keywords: Age-class, Fujian Province, Glyptostrobus, Regeneration, Relict plant, Vietnam

Today East Asia harbors many “relict” plant species whose ranges were much larger during the Paleogene-Neogene and earlier. The ecological and climatic conditions suitable for these relict species have not been identified. Here, we map the abundance and distribution patterns of relict species, showing high abundance in the humid subtropical/warm-temperate forest regions. We further use Ecological Niche Modeling to show that these patterns align with maps of climate refugia, and we predict species’ chances of persistence given the future climatic changes expected for East Asia. By 2070, potentially suitable areas with high richness of relict species will decrease, although the areas as a whole will probably expand. We identify areas in southwestern China and northern Vietnam as long-term climatically stable refugia likely to preserve ancient lineages, highlighting areas that could be prioritized for conservation of such species., We acknowledge funding by the Global Environmental Research (S-14) of the Ministry of the Environment (Japan), the Proyecto Intramural Especial, PIE (grant no. 201630I024) from the CSIC, Spain, the Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC (cstc2016jcyjA0379) (China), and the Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University (Thailand).

We built a classification tree (CT) model to estimate climatic factors controllingthe cold temperate coniferous forest (CTCF) distributions in Yunnan provinceand to predict its potential habitats under the current and future climates, using seven climate change scenarios, projected over the years of 2070-2099. The accurate CT model on CTCFs showed that minimum temperature of coldest month (TMW) was the overwhelmingly potent factor among the six climate variables.The areas of TMW

The distribution of forest vegetation and forest carbon sequestration potential are significantly influenced by climate change. In this study, a map of the current distribution of vegetation in Yunnan Province was compiled based on data from remote sensing imagery from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) from 2008 to 2011. A classification and regression tree (CART) model was used to predict the potential distribution of the main forest vegetation types in Yunnan Province and estimate the changes in carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential (CSP) in response to increasing temperature. The results show that the current total forest area in Yunnan Province is 1.86 × 107 ha and that forest covers 48.63% of the area. As the temperature increases, the area of forest distribution first increases and then decreases, and it decreases by 11% when the temperature increases from 1.5 to 2 °C. The mean carbon density of the seven types of forest vegetation in Yunnan Province is 84.69 Mg/ha. The total carbon storage of the current forest vegetation in Yunnan Province is 871.14 TgC, and the CSP is 1100.61 TgC. The largest CSP (1114.82 TgC) occurs when the temperature increases by 0.5 °C. Incremental warming of 2 °C will sharply decrease the forest CSP, especially in those regions with mature coniferous forest vegetation. Semi-humid evergreen broad-leaved forests were highly sensitive to temperature changes, and the CSP of these forests will decrease with increasing temperature. Warm-hot coniferous forests have the greatest CSP in all simulation scenarios except the scenario of a 2 °C temperature increase. These results indicate that temperature increases can influence the CSP in Yunnan Province, and the largest impact emerged in the 2 °C increase scenario.

In the original version of this Article, an incorrect sample size was provided for the number of relict species (443 instead of 442) and the number of relict forests (423 instead of 422). These errors have been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Two types of shape-stabilized phase change materials (PCMs) based on polyethylene glycol (PEG) and graphene oxide (GO) were prepared by two different methods, including a simple blending process and esterification reaction. The interactions between PEG and GO for the blending product (PEG/GO PCMs) is physical and weak, while for the grafting product (PEG-g-GO) is chemical and strong. In the PEG-g-GO composites, almost all PEG segments were restricted due to the strong chemical interactions and therefore no endothermic peak was observed in the DSC curve. As the interactions between PEG and GO in the PEG/GO composites is weak and physical, the phase change enthalpy of the PEG/GO composites is as much as 163 J/g when the PEG content is 90 wt%. The result indicates that the shape-stabilized PCMs with weak physical interactions are more proper for thermal energy storage than that with strong chemical interactions.

Shape-stabilized phase change material (PCM) composed of polyethylene glycol and silica hollow nanospheres was prepared by a vacuum impregnating method. Thermal properties of the composite PCM were investigated by various techniques. Lower phase change temperature and enthalpy of the composite PCM were observed. It is concluded that the phase change properties of the composite PCM are influenced by the adsorption confinement of the PEG segments from the porous structure of the silica hollow nanospheres.

Central Yunnan, China was once dominated by evergreen broad-leaved forests. After a long period of destructive exploitation including agriculture development, overlogging for timber and cutting for fuelwood, these forests are being allowed to reestablish themselves. A large area is now dominated by the conifer Pinus yunnanensis forest which has naturally regenerated and represents an early intermediate stage in the reestablishment of the evergreen broad-leaved forest. In 2006, a mega-fire burned approximately 18.49 km 2 of this forest. The Pinus is growing back. To examine the process of regeneration dynamics and recovery of the Pinus community after the mega-fire, we investigated plant communities in burned and unburned areas, including a P . yunnanensis shrubland regenerated after the fire, a P . yunnanensis forest without fire occurrence, a P . yunnanensis and Lithocarpus mairei mixed forest, and a Castanopsis orthacantha and Lithocarpus dealbatus evergreen broad-leaved forest, as well as a plantation of P . yunnanensis . Abundant seedlings and saplings of P . yunnanensis and some light-demanding deciduous and evergreen broad-leaved tree species were found in the Pinus shrubland five years after the fire. The frequency distribution by height-classes after the fire was of an inverse-J type, representing very good regeneration. We used space-for-time substitution to obtain an understanding of the directions and pathways of the succession. The approximate successional trend in the area was from the Pinus shrubland to the Pinus forest, then to the mixed coniferous and evergreen broad-leaved Pinus – Lithocarpus forest, then to the evergreen broad-leaved Castanopsis – Lithocarpus forest. In the early successional stage, the floristic richness and species diversity of the Pinus shrubland had lower values as compared to those in the middle and late successional stages, but much higher than those of the Pinus plantation. Our results indicate that the natural recovery of P . yunnanensis after the fire was more efficient than that of a man-made forest of the same species. Nature’s process outpaced human intervention.

The effect of vinylene carbonate (VC) as electrolyte additive on the electrochemical performances of the Si/disordered carbon (Si/DC) composite electrode / liquid electrolyte interface was studied in this paper. The electrochemical performances of Si/disordered carbon (Si/DC) composite electrode were systematically investigated by constant current charge-discharge. Field scanning electron microscopy (FSEM) was used to observe the change of electrodes in morphology after given cycle numbers. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) techniques were employed to understand the influences of different electrolytes on the formation of Solid electrolyte interface(SEI) layers. The electrochemical performances were drastically improved by the introduction of a few percent of VC additive. It was found that the SEI layer formed in VC-containing electrolyte has a better resists to the stress caused by large volume variations associated with lithiation and delithiation reactions. This study highlights the importance of the SEI which governs the electrochemical performances of Si/disordered carbon (Si/DC) composite electrode.

The persistence of the Tertiary relict tree Tetracentron sinense Oliv. on the eastern slope of the Ailao Mountains, Yunnan, SW China, was here studied in terms of population structure (size, age) and regeneration patterns. T. sinense occurred in unstable habitats by stream banks, on steep slopes, on scree slopes, or on roadsides near streams in narrow valleys, all places subject to frequent natural disturbances, whereas none were found on stable gentle slopes free of major disturbances at similar altitudes. Further, no established saplings of T. sinense were found in forests having high bamboo (Yushania crassicollis Yi) coverage in their understory. The size and age structure of T. sinense were multimodal. The reproduction of the tree was either by means of abundant minute wind-dispersed seeds or by resprouts in unstable habitats. These populations depended on disturbance or gap regeneration to survive. T. sinense, along with other tree life-forms including evergreen broad-leaved species and conifers, dominated in the forest canopy layer, even reaching the emergent layer in places. Results of the study provide insight into the ecological characteristics and survival mechanisms of this East Asian paleoendemic tree species. The study will provide a scientific basis for recommendations for the conservation of this species and for other Tertiary relict plants having similar regeneration dynamics.