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Plant Distributed (plant + distributed)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Impact of land use on the ecology of uncultivated plant species in the Rwenzori mountain range, mid western Uganda

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009
Moses Muhumuza
Abstract Rwenzori mountain range is important for its high diversity of unique species and as a water catchment area and yet very fragile to human interference. The study documented the impact of land use on ecology of uncultivated plant species in the Rwenzori mountain range using Bugoye sub-county as a reference site. The ecological aspects of the plants studied included distribution, abundance and diversity of the plant species in and around the various land uses as well as in degraded, disturbed and undisturbed areas. Land uses identified were; agriculture, built up area and land with other activities (conservation and abandoned fields). The study revealed that agriculture was the main land use category taking up 69.7% of land use area. Plants distributed in and around the land uses were mainly trees with species diversity of 34.5%. Generally, there was no relationship in the distribution of plant species in degraded, undisturbed and disturbed areas (a = 0.01). In disturbed areas, there was vegetation cover especially of plant species that occur as secondary re-growth, and in degraded areas, the ground was sparsely covered by primary succession species while in the undisturbed areas, plant species growing in a ,natural. habitat dominated and most of them were climax species. Résumé Le Massif de Ruwenzori est important pour sa grande diversité d'espèces uniques et comme zone de captage d'eau, et il est pourtant très sensible à toute interférence humaine. L'étude a documenté l'impact de l'utilisation du sol sur l'écologie d'espèces de plantes sauvages dans le massif du Ruwenzori, en employant le sous-comté de Bugoye comme site de référence. Les aspects écologiques des plantes étudiées incluaient la distribution, l'abondance et la diversité des espèces végétales dans et autour de sites avec diverses utilisations du sol ainsi que dans des zones dégradées, perturbées et non perturbées. Les utilisations de sol identifiées étaient : agriculture, zone construite et terrain avec autres activités (conservation et champs abandonnés). L'étude a révélé que l'agriculture était la principale catégorie d'utilisation de sol, avec 69,7% de la superficie utilisée. Les plantes réparties dans et autour des sols utilisés étaient principalement des arbres, avec une diversité d'espèces de 34.5%. Généralement, il n'y avait aucune relation dans la distribution des espèces végétales dans les zones dégradées, non perturbées et perturbées (a = 0.01). Dans les zones perturbées, il y avait une couverture végétale composée principalement d'espèces qui se rencontrent comme repousses secondaires, et dans les zones dégradées, le sol était recouvert, de façon éparse, par des espèces de succession primaire, alors que dans les zones non perturbées, les espèces végétales poussant dans un habitat naturel dominaient, la plupart d'entre elles étant des espèces climaciques. [source]

Characterization of six microsatellite markers in Trillium camschatcense using a dual-suppression-polymerase chain reaction technique

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 4 2006
S. KUBOTA
Abstract Trillium camschatcense is a herbaceous perennial plant distributed in Hokkaido and northern Honshu, Japan. Geographical variations in the breeding system (partial selfing or obligate outcrossing) are reported in the populations of Hokkaido. We isolated six polymorphic microsatellite loci from this species. The number of allele per locus ranged from four to 12, whereas the expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.69 to 0.83. These markers may allow further investigations to reveal the evolutionary and ecological processes of mating system in T. camschatcense. [source]

Antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects of punicalagin and punicalin on acetaminophen-induced liver damage in rats

PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH, Issue 3 2001
Chun-Ching Lin
Abstract Punicalagin and punicalin were isolated from the leaves of Terminalia catappa L., a Combretaceous plant distributed throughout tropical and subtropical beaches, which is used for the treatment of dermatitis and hepatitis. Our previous studies showed that both of these compounds exert antioxidative activity. In this study, the antihepatotoxic activity of punicalagin and punicalin on acetaminophen-induced toxicity in the rat liver was evaluated. After evaluating the changes of several biochemical functions in serum, the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were increased by acetaminophen administration and reduced by punicalagin and punicalin. Histological changes around the hepatic central vein and oxidative damage induced by acetaminophen were also recovered by both compounds. The data show that both punicalagin and punicalin exert antihepatotoxic activity, but treatment with larger doses enhanced liver damage. These results suggest that even if punicalagin and punicalin have antioxidant activity at small doses, treatment with larger doses will possibly induce some cell toxicities. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

SYSTEMATICS OF GRACILARIOPSIS (GRACILARIALES, RHODOPHYTA) BASED ON rbcL SEQUENCE ANALYSES AND MORPHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE,

JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 1 2003
Carlos Frederico D. Gurgel
A phylogeny has been inferred from parsimony and likelihood analyses of plastid rbcL DNA sequences for seven recognized and six undescribed species of Gracilariopsis (Gp.) (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta). New descriptions and illustrations of cystocarp morphology are provided for four Gracilariopsis species from North and South America. The generitype, Gp. sjoestedtii (Kylin) Dawson, is reinstated to include plants distributed from British Columbia to Pacific Baja California, and the name is corrected to Gp. andersonii (Grunow) Dawson. Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis (Bory) Dawson, Acleto et Foldvik is shown not to have a worldwide distribution but to be restricted to the vicinity of Peru. Gracilariopsis costaricensis is recognized with the provision that it may prove to be conspecific with Gp. lemaneiformis. Gracilariopsis "lemaneiformis" from North and South Carolina is described as a new species, Gp. carolinensis Liao et Hommersand sp. nov. Gracilariopsis longissima (Gmelin) Steentoft, Irvine et Farnham from Western Europe and the Mediterranean Sea and Gp. tenuifrons (Bird et Oliveira) Fredericq et Hommersand from the Ca-ribbean Sea and Brazil are recognized. Entities that have been referred to Gp. "lemaneiformis" from China and Japan constitute an undescribed species that is related to Gp. heteroclada Zhang et Xia. An invasive species from the Gulf of California, Mexico, and South Australia that has been assigned to Gp. "lemaneiformis" is resolved in a clade that includes Gp. longissima. Four undescribed species are included in the molecular analyses. The systematics of Gracilariopsis is discussed in the light of the morphological and molecular evidence. [source]