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Soil seed banks as natural storage of plant seeds play an important role in the maintenance and regeneration of watershed. Natural regeneration potential of the soil seed bank of Land use types (LUTs) in Ogun River watershed (ORW) was investigated. ORW was stratified using proportionate sampling technique into Guinea Savannah (GS), Rainforest (RF) and Swamp Forest (SF) Ecological Zones (EZs). Three LUTs: Natural Forest (NF), Disturbed Forest (DF) and Farmland (FL) were purposively selected in GS: GSNF, GSDF, GSFL; RF: RFNF, RFDF, RFFL and SF: SFNF, SFDF, SFFL, respectively. Systematic line transects was used in the laying of the sample plots. Sample plots of 25 m×25 m were established in alternate positions. Ten 1 m×1 m quadrats were randomly laid for soil core sampling from previously randomly selected ten plots. The core samples (10) were pooled per plot in each LUT and placed in individual trays. Ten trays with sterilized soil were used as control. The trays were watered regularly and checked for seedlings emergence fortnightly for 18 months. The experimental design used was 3×3 factorial experiments. ANOVA, Diversity index (H') and Similarity index (SI) were used to analyze the data. There was significant difference in seedling emergence among ecological zones and land use types (p＜0.05). A total of 4,400 seedlings emerged from the soil samples. All species were distributed among 32 families. FL in the RF had the highest number of germinated seeds (705±37.33 seedlings) followed by DF in the RF (701±49.6 seedlings). The lowest emergence was in NF of the SF (199±28.41 seedlings). DF in the RF had highest number of species (34) distributed among 22 families. Emergence from soil seed bank of NF in ORW was generally with more of tree species than herbs that were predominant in FL and DF.

A cryopreservation is an essential tool for preservation of germplasm. In this study, the possibility for cryopreservation of embryogenic cells of Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) in liquid nitrogen (-196°C) was evaluated. The effects of glycerol and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at different concentrations (5%, 10% and 20%) as cryoprotectants on regrowth of cryopreserved E. senticosus embryogenic cells were tested. There was significant effect of cryoprotectants on regrowth of embryogenic cells (p=0.0019). The highest and lowest fresh mass gain were achieved when embryogenic cells were frozen with 10% DMSO and 5% glycerol (138.2±5.9 and 61.3±14.6, respectively). The effect of the cryoprotectants on the frequency embryo germination was tested. There was no significant difference between glycerol and DMSO (p=0.846). Three different concentrations of cryoprotectants did not significantly affect the frequency embryo germination (p=0.534). Finally, the genetic fidelity of the plantlets regenerated from non-cryopreserved and cryopreserved embryogenic cells was tested by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analysis. RAPD and ISSR analysises showed that there was no genetic variation among regenerants.

Genus of Rhododendron has been used in traditional medicine since ancient times and is known to be effective in immune function, inflammation, and cold symptoms. And the reason for this activity is the flavanonol type among flavonoids in the genus of Rhododendron. Among the flavanonol types, Taxifolin-3-O-arabinopyranoside was isolated from the root of native R. mucronulatum in Korea, and the structure was finally identified through HPLC, LC-MS/MS, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. Taxifolin-3-O-arabinopyranoside is a compound mainly found in R. mucronulatum, a representative species of the genus of Rhododendron, and exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-atopic activities. In this study, Taxifolin-3-O-arabinopyranoside was chemotaxonomic significant in 5 species of the genus Rhododendron native to Korea (R. mucronulatum, R. mucronulatum var. ciliatum, R. schlippenbachii, R. yedoense var. Poukhanense, R. japonicum for. Flavum). Compared with the existing literature, Taxifolin-3-O-arabinopyranoside was identified for the first time in 4 species of Rhododendron except for the R. mucronulatum.

The study aims to examine population indices of mature trees in Jebel Elgarrie forest, Blue Nile State, Sudan. We used remote sensing techniques to stratify the forest into vegetation classes depending on tree density. We distributed 97 circular sample plots (0.1 ha) proportionally to the area of the vegetation classes. In each sample plot we identified, counted and recorded all mature trees (DBH ≥10 cm). We calculated frequency, density, abundance, richness, evenness and diversity for each species and we drew abundance rank curve of mature trees. We used One-Way ANOVA to test for differences (=0.05) in mean density (No./ha) of mature trees between vegetation classes. Results revealed that the forest was conveniently sub-divided into high density (C1), medium density (C2), low density (C3) and bare farm land (C4) classes. We identified fifteen tree species that belong to 10 families and 14 genera. Combretaceae and Fabaceae were the common families while Anogeissus leiocarpa was the most frequently occurring species. While species diversity varied between vegetation classes, diversity of the forest as a whole is low. While mean density of mature trees in C1, C2, C3 and C4 it was 100, 74, 10, and 0, respectively, it was 54 for the whole forest indicating low stocking, Following One-Way ANOVA, multiple comparisons revealed significant differences in mean density of mature trees between C1 & C3 and C2 & C3. The study provided empirical results on population indices of mature tree species, which would be of importance for successful management and conservation of the forest.

Triplochiton scleroxylon K. Schum is the plant species most affected by logging activities in the East Region of Cameroon due to its market value. This logging has impacted the ecological niche of the fern plant for which limited research has been done. The aim of this study is to contribute towards improving knowledge of fern richness and biomass on T. scleroxylon within the Central African sub-region. Fern data collection was done on 20 felled/harvested T. scleroxylon where, in addition to fern inventory, fern biomass was collected by the destructive method. The diameter and height of T. scleroxylon measured were used as explanatory variables in allometric equations for fern biomass estimation. Fern inventory was characterized using diversity index. Eight fern species were recorded on T. scleroxylon (≈5 species/T. scleroxylon). The minimum diameter where fern could be found is 59.4 cm. The average fern biomass found was 23.62 kg/T. scleroxylon. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a positive correlation (r˃0.55) between fern biomass and T. scleroxylon diameter. For allometric equation, the logarithmic model improved better the adjustment than the non-logarithmic model. However, the quality of the adjustment is improved more when only the diameter is considered as an explanatory variable. Fern biomass is estimated to 90.08 kg/ha-1 with 76.02 kg/ha-1 being lost due to T. scleroxylon exploitation in the study area. This study is a contribution towards increasing knowledge of fern diversity specific to T. scleroxylon, and also fern biomass contribution to climate change mitigation and the potential carbon loss due to T. scleroxylon exploitation.

Gaining an understanding of bird communities in different habitat types is essential for the conservation of ecologically important habitats. Wetlands possess different types of habitats and provide an important environment for wintering waterbird communities. This study compares avian communities in five different habitat types in the Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary (MWWS), Myanmar. From December 2014 to the first week of February in 2015, bird and habitat data were collected from representative areas of five habitat types (i.e., short grassland, tall grassland, lotus fields, open water areas, and rice fields) at MWWS. We established nine sampling plots in each habitat type, and used the point quadrat method to survey habitats and the point count method to survey birds in the habitats. Simple one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests were used to determine differences between bird communities. We made 95 detections during 19 daily visits to each of the five habitat types. During the survey period, we recorded a total of 10,389 individuals belonging to 52 different bird species, based on 7-min observations at each of the 45 point count stations. Furthermore, we detected significant differences by habitat structure (i.e., vegetation coverage, height, and density; water depth; and plant species diversity) as well as bird communities (i.e., species richness, abundance, and diversity indices). In addition, the detailed analysis of 52 avian species revealed significant differences among 45 species with respect to the mean numbers of observed individuals in the survey habitats. The findings of this study revealed significant differences in the structure and composition of waterbird communities among the five assessed habitat types. Because natural marshes provide preferable habitats for a larger number and greater diversity of birds, relative to rice fields, natural marshes should be prioritized for conservation and restoration in Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary.

We investigated the habitat distribution and diversity of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), a bioindicator for assessing environmental changes on Geumo Mountain, in survey plots at different altitudes on the southern and northern slopes of Geumo Mountain in South Korea. From April to September 2021, we collected 1,384 individuals, 41 species, and 15 families of Carabidae from the survey sites. The dominant species collected was Synuchus cycloderus (347 individuals), followed by Carabus jankowskii (193 individuals). The monthly distributions of species richness and abundance were as follows: 24 beetles of 9 species in April, 115 beetles of 28 species in May, 288 beetles of 32 species in June, peaking at 379 beetles of 32 species in July, 354 beetles of 23 species in August, and 224 beetles of 14 species in September. Additionally, we collected 305 beetles of 32 species at 400 m, 326 beetles of 31 species at 500 m, 359 beetles of 27 species at 600 m, 582 beetles of 16 species at 700 m, and 112 beetles of 7 species at 800 m near the summit. The habitat distribution by slope was 307 beetles (20 species of 8 families) on the southern slope and 1,077 beetles (34 species of 15 families) on the northern slope. For the 307 beetles of 20 species collected from the southern slope, the diversity, evenness, and dominance indices were 0.981, 0.754, and 0.156, respectively. For the 1,077 beetles of 34 species collected from the northern slope, the diversity evenness, and dominance indices were 1.187, 0.775, and 0.101, respectively.