Welcome to the 31st IUBS General Assembly and Conference on ...

oof‐of‐<strong>the</strong>‐world by <strong>the</strong> rise of <strong>the</strong> Himalaya triggered by
<strong>the</strong> collision of Indian tec<strong>to</strong>nic plate with <strong>the</strong> Eurasian
continent in <strong>the</strong> last 70 million years. Especially <strong>the</strong>
ra<strong>the</strong>r recent formation of <strong>the</strong> Qinghai–Tibetan plateau
had considerable impact on <strong>the</strong> monsoon climates <strong>and</strong>
thus impacted not only <strong>the</strong> evolution of plants adapted <strong>to</strong>
<strong>the</strong> alpine conditions in <strong>the</strong> high altitudes of <strong>the</strong> Himalaya
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> xeric habitats in central Asia but also plants
occurring in climatic regions with summer monsoon
climates. The hypo<strong>the</strong>sis of <strong>the</strong> impact of <strong>the</strong> rise of <strong>the</strong>
Himalaya on plant diversity in South East Asia is studied
using phylogenetic approaches incorporating divergence
time estimates, ancestral area reconstruction, inference of
niche evolution, <strong>and</strong> estimates of diversification rates.
The study of existing <strong>and</strong> newly generated phylogenetic
hypo<strong>the</strong>ses on several lineages of angiosperms ferns
recovered evidence supporting this hypo<strong>the</strong>sis of a
substantial impact on <strong>the</strong> assembly of lineage diversity
triggered by <strong>the</strong> rise of <strong>the</strong> Qinghai–Tibetan plateau.
However, <strong>the</strong> recovered patterns indicate <strong>the</strong>
involvement of different processes in <strong>the</strong> response <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>
Cenozoic mountain formations in South America <strong>and</strong>
South East Asia.
Foraging preferences of scatter­hoarding
rodents on tannin content in seeds
Bo WANG
tannin content is inconsistent across years, possibly
responding <strong>to</strong> confounding fac<strong>to</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong> community.
Experiment 2 proved that environmental fac<strong>to</strong>rs, such
as seed abundance <strong>and</strong> background tannin levels, have
no effect on <strong>the</strong> foraging behavior of rodents on tannin.
Experiment 3 proposed that a combination of seed
traits might be important, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> results demonstrated
that 2 key nutrient fac<strong>to</strong>rs, i.e. fat <strong>and</strong> protein, both
could attenuate <strong>the</strong> exclusion of seeds with higher
tannin concentrations by rodents, thus influencing seed
fate. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, aside from <strong>the</strong> concentrations of
tannin, fat, <strong>and</strong> protein, numerous o<strong>the</strong>r traits of plant
seeds may also influence rodent foraging behavior. The
mutualistic interaction between scatter‐hoarding
rodents <strong>and</strong> seed plants has co‐evolved for millions of
years. We suggest that by clarifying rodent foraging
preferences, a clear underst<strong>and</strong>ing of <strong>the</strong> evolution of
plant seed traits may be obtained because of <strong>the</strong>ir strong
potential for selective pressure.
Forecasting sublethal impacts of climate
change in marine ecosystems: sometimes
<strong>the</strong> details make all <strong>the</strong> difference
Brian HELMUTH <strong>and</strong> Mackenzie ZIPPAY
Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC,
USA.Email: zippay@environ.sc.edu
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, CAS, Mengla, Yunnan
666303, China. Email: yangblue@xtbg.org.cn
The mutualistic interaction between scatter‐hoarding
rodents <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir seed plants is highly complex yet poorly
unders<strong>to</strong>od. Plants may benefit from <strong>the</strong> seed dispersal
behavior of rodents, as long as seed consumption is
minimized. Likewise, rodents may maximize foraging
efficiency <strong>and</strong> cache high‐quality resources for future
consumption. Defensive compounds, such as tannins, are
thought <strong>to</strong> be a major mechanism for plant control over
rodent behavior. However, previous studies, using
naturally occurring seeds, have not provided conclusive
evidence <strong>to</strong> support this hypo<strong>the</strong>sis. Here we test <strong>the</strong>
importance of tannin concentrations on <strong>the</strong>
scatter‐hoarding behavior of rodents by using an artificial
seed system for 3 consecutive experiments. Experiment 1
showed that rodent foraging behavior based on seed
An increasing body of research has demonstrated <strong>the</strong>
oftenidiosyncratic responses of organisms <strong>to</strong>
climate‐related fac<strong>to</strong>rs such as increases in air, sea‐ <strong>and</strong>
l<strong>and</strong>‐surface temperatures, especially when coupled
with nonclimatic stressors. This argues that sweeping
generalizations about <strong>the</strong> likely impacts of climate
change on organisms <strong>and</strong> ecosystems are likely less
valuable than process‐based explorations that focus on
key species <strong>and</strong> ecosystems. Mussels in <strong>the</strong> genus
Mytilus have been studied for centuries, <strong>and</strong> much is
known of <strong>the</strong>ir physiology <strong>and</strong> ecology. Like o<strong>the</strong>r
intertidal organisms, <strong>the</strong>se animals may serve as early
indica<strong>to</strong>rs of climate change impacts. As structuring
species, <strong>the</strong>ir survival has cascading impacts on many
o<strong>the</strong>r species, making <strong>the</strong>m ecologically important, in
addition <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir economic value as a food source.
Here we briefly review <strong>the</strong> categories of information
available on <strong>the</strong> effects of temperature change on
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