Hang Sun

Kunming Institute of Botany · Key Lab for Plant Diversity and Biogeography, Chinese Academy of Sciences

In the Flora of China account of Saxifraga mengtzeana Engl. & Irmsch., eight synonyms were attributed to it and one variant, recognized as Saxifraga epiphylla Gornall & Ohba, was split from it. This study reevaluates the taxonomic status of some of the synonyms and of the segregated species in light of new evidence presented here. Morphological and...

How species respond to ongoing climate change has been a hot research topic, especially with the controversy in shifting range (movement) or persisting in local habitat (in situ) as the primary response. Assessing the relative roles of range shifts, phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation helps us predict the evolutionary fate of species. We a...

Circaeaster agrestis and Kingdonia uniflora are sister species that reproduce sexually and mainly asexually respectively, providing a good system for comparative genome evolution between taxa with different reproductive models. Comparative genome analyses revealed the two species have similar genome size, but C. agrestis encodes many more genes. Th...

Asexual lineages are perceived to be short-lived on evolutionary timescales. Hence, reports for exceptional cases of putative 'ancient asexuals' usually raise questions about the persistence of such species. So far, there have been few studies to solve the mystery in plants. The mono-typic Kingdonia dating to the early Eocene, contains only K. unif...

The Rubia is one of important medicinal genera of the family Rubiaceae, widely distributed in the Old World with a great chemical diversity of quinones, cyclopeptides and triterpenoids. It has recently aroused us the most attention for its utilization as multi-origin resources and potential anti-tumor constituents of Rubiaceae-type cyclopeptides (R...

The moss Physcomitrium patens is crucial for studying plant development and evolution. Although it has been known that the P. patens genome includes genes acquired from bacteria, fungi and viruses, the functions and evolutionary significance of these acquired genes remain largely unclear. Killer protein 4 (KP4) is a well-studied toxin secreted by a...

The prolonged interplay between orographic and climatic changes creates biogeographic barriers, resulting in the allopatric differentiation of plants in the Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains. Such consequences have led us to investigate the long-term Neogene–Quaternary geo-climatic history of the Eastern Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains. Narrowly distributed...

Uzbekistan is widely regarded as one of the most diversified sources of the species of Tulipa L. The present study provides the synopsis of the genus Tulipa in this area. According to literature reviews and field surveys, this genus includes 33 species (34 taxa) distributed in Uzbekistan. In this paper, more than 3,500 herbarium specimens deposited...

In the Flora of China account (Pan et al. 2001) of Saxifraga mengtzeana Engl. & Irmsch., eight synonyms were attributed to it and one variant, recognised as S. epiphylla Gornall & Ohba, was split from it. This study re-evaluates the taxonomic status of some of the synonyms and of the segregated species in the light of new evidence presented here. M...

Foundational cushion plants sustain a prominent proportion of alpine biodiversity, but they are quite sensitive to climate warming hence their population dynamics have important implications for biodiversity. The potential biodiversity changes with the population dynamics of cushion plants in alpine ecosystems remain, however, unclear. Using eight...

The Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains of southwest China are hotspots of both climatic and species diversity. Yet, the distribution patterns of semi‐arid plant communities that have arisen throughout the region's complex uplift history remain insufficiently understood. In particular, the striking disjunctions of plants associated with dry river...

Biodiversity in arid-lands is very sensitive to some forms of perturbation and very slow to recover. • Arid-lands are vulnerable to agriculture such as grazing of cattle and irrigation, which need certification standards to ensure best practice and reduce impact. • Combined efforts of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and local communities...

Evolutionary convergence is one of the most striking examples of adaptation driven by natural selection. However, genomic evidence for convergent adaptation to extreme environments remains scarce. The Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains represent the world’s most species-rich temperate alpine biota, providing an ideal “natural laboratory” for studying conv...

Alpine plants’ distribution is being pushed higher towards mountaintops due to global warming, finally diminishing their range and thereby increasing the risk of extinction. Plants with specialized ‘glasshouse’ structures have adapted well to harsh alpine environments, notably to the extremely low temperatures, which makes them vulnerable to global...

Polygonaceae has a complex taxonomic history, although a few studies using plastid or nuclear DNA fragments have explored relationships within this family, intrafamilial relationships remain controversial. Here, we newly sequenced and annotated 17 plastomes representing 12 genera within Polygonaceae. Combined with previously published data, a total...

The strategic goals of the United Nations and the Aichi Targets for biodiversity conservation have not been met. Instead, biodiversity has continued to rapidly decrease, especially in developing countries. Setting a new global biodiversity framework requires clarifying future priorities and strategies to bridge challenges and provide representative...

Interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere are most active in the critical zone, a region extending from the tops of trees to the bottom of groundwater. Changes in one or more of these spheres can result in a cascade of changes throughout the system in ways that are often poorly understood. Here we investigate how pa...

In this study, 13 morphological characters in 32 species of Eremurus (Asphodelaceae) from Uzbekistan were examined and subjected to cladistic analysis. In the consensus tree, species from subgenus Eremurus clustered together, but did not form a distinct clade sister to Henningia. The subrotate flowers, tepals with one abaxial nerve, and short stame...

The global herbaceous flora is probably shaped by both ancient and/or recent diversification, companied with the impacts from geographic differences between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Therefore, its biogeographic pattern with respect to temporal and spatial divergence is far from full understanding. Tribe Rubieae, the largest herbaceous...

Aim Biodiversity hotspots are regions with the highest species richness, and the most threatened species. Previous studies have shown that the extinction risk may be more related to evolutionary history than to species' traits. However, there is a knowledge gap on the relationship between evolutionary history and species extinction risk in biodiver...

Although gymnosperms are well known for their large size, being the largest, tallest and most massive living organisms on earth, an exceptionally diminutive gymnosperm, Ephedra monosperma Gmelin ex C. A. Meyer (Ephedraceae), from southwestern China is compared with the much more massive gymnosperms that tend to receive far greater attention and pub...

Background and Aims Macro-and micro-morphology of seeds are diagnostic characteristics of importance in delimiting taxa in Allium (Amaryllidaceae). However, there is no consensus on phylogenetic significance of testa cell characteristics and whether they reflect different evolutionary levels recognized in Allium.  Methods The seeds of 95 species (...

Background and Aims Macro- and micro-morphology of seeds are diagnostic characteristics of importance in delimiting taxa in Allium (Amaryllidaceae). However, there is no consensus on phylogenetic significance of testa cell characteristics and whether they reflect different evolutionary levels recognized in Allium. Methods The seeds of 95 species (...

Asexual lineages are perceived to be short-lived on evolutionary timescales due to accumulation of deleterious mutations. Hence reports for exceptional cases of putative "ancient asexual" species usually raise doubts about whether such species are recently derived or engage in some undocumented sexual reproduction. However, there have been few stud...

The length of time a flower remains open and functional – floral longevity – governs important reproductive processes influencing pollination and mating and varies considerably among angiosperm species. However, little is known about large‐scale biogeographic patterns and the correlates of floral longevity. Using published data on floral longevity...

New data on the phylogeny of four rare and endemic species of Ranunculus L. (sect. Ranunculastrum DC.) of western Pamir-Alai, one of which is new to science, have been obtained. Ranunculus tojibaevii sp. nov., from the Baysuntau Mountains, Western Hissar Range of Uzbekistan, is described. The new species is closely related to R. botschantzevii Ovcz...

Aims The tropical niche conservatism (TNC) hypothesis and the out of the tropics (OTT) hypothesis propose mechanisms generating patterns of species diversity across warm‐to‐cold thermal gradients at large spatial scales. These two hypotheses both integrate ecological and biogeography‐related evolutionary factors, but they predict opposite patterns...

Corydalis microflora and C. lidenii are recognised as separate species in "Flora of China" and the latest plant list. However, based on the examination of type specimens and field investigations, C. lidenii is shown to be conspecific with C. microflora. As a result, C. lidenii is synonymised with C. microflora in this study.

This special issue of the journal Alpine Botany brings together syntheses, macroecological and taxon-specific studies of patterns and processes of plant evolution in major mountain ranges across Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia. Apart from reflecting current conceptual and methodological perspectives in the field, it contributes to our underst...

The new genus and species Pulvinatusia xuegulaensis (Brassicaceae) are described and illustrated. The species is a cushion plant collected from Xuegu La, Xizang, China. Its vegetative parts are most similar to those of Arenaria bryophylla (Caryophyllaceae) co-occurring in the same region, while its leaves and fruits closely resemble those of Xerodr...

In this study, 13 morphological characters in 32 species of Eremurus (Asphodelaceae) from Uzbekistan were examined and subjected to cladistic analysis. In the consensus tree, species from subgenus Eremurus clustered together, but did not form a distinct clade sister to Henningia. The subrotate flowers, tepals with one abaxial nerve, and short stame...

Subgenus Allium is the largest group within the genus Allium (Amaryllidaceae) which detailedphylogenetic classification is still missing despite intensive phylogenetic research. Reconstruction ofthe subgenus phylogeny is impossible without proper coverage of the subgenus members representingCentral Asia, one of the centers of genus (and subgenus) d...

A new species, Oreocharis xieyongii T. Deng, D.G. Zhang & H. Sun, from Hunan Province, central China, is described. The combination of purple zygomorphic corolla with longer adaxial lobes and exserted stamens defines the species and discriminates it from all other current Oreocharis species. Morphological traits of the new species were compared to...

Evolutionary radiations have intrigued biologists for more than a century, yet our understanding of the drivers of radiating diversification is still limited. We investigate the roles of environmental and species-intrinsic factors in driving the rapid radiation of Saussurea (Asteraceae) by deploying a number of palaeoenvironment-, diversity- and tr...

Review history of Macroevolutionary pattern of Saussurea (Asteraceae) provides insights into the drivers of radiating diversification

Species of Rheum have high medicinal value, with the center of diversity in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and adjacent regions. However, phylogenetic relationships of Rheum are still unclear due to fragment markers providing insufficient informative loci. Here, we sequenced and annotated plastomes of nine Rheum species, and compared the genome st...

The fragility and sensitivity to climate change of alpine ecosystems make it difficult to maintain the stability of their plant communities. Thus, it is important to determine which plant propagules are stored in the soils in order to understand community recruitment potential, especially under different environmental conditions. Based on a soil se...

Elevational patterns of trait occurrence and functional diversity provide an important perspective for understanding biodiversity. However, previous studies have mostly examined functional diversity at the community scale. Here, we examined large-scale patterns of trait occurrence and functional diversity in Delphinium along an elevational gradient...

Saxifraga viridiflora , a remarkable new species of the genus Saxifraga sect. Irregulares (Saxifragaceae) from Guangxi, is described and illustrated herein. This new species morphologically differs from all known S. sect. Irregulares taxa by its greenish petals, verruculose sepals, and thick leathery leaf blade abaxially scarlet with white spots.

Previous attempts to elucidate the drivers of speciation mechanisms and spatial distribution patterns of biodiversity in mountain regions have treated different floras within a single geological region as one flora, ignoring the potential contributions of high habitat/ecosystem heterogeneity. Furthermore, current conservation strategies largely foc...

The Sino-Himalaya region is located in the southeast margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) with several Asian rivers in this area, namely the Yarlung Zangbo River (YZR), Salween, Mekong, and Jinshajiang River and their tributaries. All these rivers currently flow independently into the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean) and the...

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is an important cushion plant hotspot. However, the distribution of cushion plants on the QTP is unknown, as are the factors that drive cushion plant distribution, limiting our understanding of the evolution of cushion species in the region. In this study, we assessed spatial patterns of total cushion plant diversity...

Understanding how species adapt to extreme environments is an extension of the main goals of evolutionary biology. While alpine plants are an ideal system for investigating the genetic basis of high-altitude adaptation, genomic resources in these species are still limited. In the present study, we generated reference-level transcriptomic data of fi...

Saxifraga viridiflorum, a remarkable new species of the genus Saxifraga sect. Irregulares (Saxifragaceae) from Guangxi, is described and illustrated herein. This new species morphologically differs from all known congeneric taxa by its greenish petals, verruculose sepals, and thick leathery leaf blade abaxially scarlet with white spots.

Understanding the pattern of species extinction risk is key to biodiversity conservation. Previous studies showed extinction risk correlates strongly with taxon species richness. However, there is no consistent conclusion to this hypothesis, and patterns differ among different taxonomic groups. Here, we collated lists of vascular plant and terrestr...

Resource allocation to reproduction is a critical trait for plant fitness1,2. This trait, called harvest index in the agricultural context3–5, determines how plant biomass is converted to seed yield and consequently financial revenue from numerous major staple crops. While plant diversity has been demonstrated to increase plant biomass6–8, plant di...

A taxonomic revision of Sageretia lucida , S. thea var. cordiformis and S. yunlongensis in China is presented. Sageretia lucida is revised in terms of morphological characters (habit, branchlet color, phyllotaxis and rachis length), distribution, habitat, and phenology; S. thea var. cordiformis is raised to S. cordiformis ; and S. yunlongensis is e...

Endemic plants are important for understanding phylogenetic relationships, biogeographical history, and genetic variation because of their restricted distribution and their role in conserving biodiversity. Here, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships of the Korean endemic F. chiisanensis by reconstructing the molecular phylogeny of Fraxinus...

The flora of northern China forms the main part of the Sino- Japanese floristic re-gion and is located in a south– north vegetative transect in East Asia. Phylogeographic studies have demonstrated that an arid belt in this region has promoted divergence of plants in East Asia. However, little is known about how plants that are restricted to the ari...

The presented dataset contains information about findings of vascular plant species found in Russia and adjacent countries and published in Botanica Pacifica Journal. In total, this dataset includes 38 species belonging to 34 genera and 23 families. The study is based on data obtained during field explorations, as well as during taxonomic revisions...

With this paper we continue a new annual series, the main purpose of which is to make significant floristic findings from Russia and neighboring countries more visible in Russia and abroad. In total, this paper presents new records for 38 vascular plant species from 7 Eurasian countries, obtained during field explorations, as well as during taxonom...

Identifying the contours and correlates of species turnover is central to understanding the nature of biogeographical regions. The Hengduan Mountains region of south-central China (HMR) is well known for its high diversity of plants, but its boundaries and internal floristic structure are poorly understood, especially in relation to geographical an...

Abstract Background and Aims A large number of studies have attempted to determine the mechanisms driving plant diversity and distribution on a global scale, but the diverse and endemic alpine herbs found in harsh environments, showing adaptive evolution, require more studies. Methods Here, we selected 466 species from the genus Saussurea, one of...

A new species Saussurea talungensis S.K.Ghimire & H.K.Rana, sp. nov. (sect. Strictae), from Talung valley of Humla district, Nepal, is described and illustrated. Morphologically, this species resembles Saussurea roylei and Saussurea lanata in habit, though it can be distinguished in having longer leaf petioles, purplish leaf margin, 1 or 3 capitula...

In the Original publication of the article, the funding number was incorrectly published.

Glandular trichomes are well known to participate in plant chemical and physical defenses against herbivores, especially herbivorous insects. However, little is known about large-scale geographical patterns in glandular trichome occurrence. Herbivory pressure is thought to be higher at low elevations because of warmer and more stable climates. We t...

Despite the well‐known biogeographic pattern in the Northern Hemisphere of disjunct distributions in plants between eastern Asia and North America, many details regarding the evolution of the disjunction between lineages of tropical Asia and tropical America remain poorly understood. Berchemia (Rhamnaceae), comprising ca. 32 species, is distributed...

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) encompasses areas with a remarkably high degree of biodiversity, harboring exceptional species-rich radiations. How these radiations formed by interacting with geology, climate and ecology remains seldom examined. We investigate the roles of abiotic (environmental) and biotic (species-intrinsic) factors in driving r...