Chemical components of volatile oil from Cinnamomum jensenianum Hand Mazz leaf in Yongzhou, and its antibacterial and antioxidant properties

Purpose: To study the chemical components, and in vitro antibacterial and antioxidant properties of volatile oil extracted from Yongzhou Cinnamomum jensenianum Hand. Mazz leaves.Methods: The extraction process of volatile oil in the leaves of Yongzhou Cinnamomum jensenianum Hand. Mazz was optimized with respect to volatile oil yield, and the oil was subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. In vitro antimicrobial activities against bacteria and fungi were evaluated by the filter paper method, while in vitro antioxidant potential was determined by assaying its ability to scavenge DPPH radicals.Results: The optimized extraction conditions for volatile oil from the leaves of Yongzhou Cinnamomum jensenianum Hand. Mazz were 3.5 h extraction time, solid-liquid ratio of 1:10, and soaking time of 4 h, which resulted in volatile oil yield of 2.4 ± 0.19 %. A total of 37 components were isolated and identified, accounting for 99.19 % of the volatile oil. The in vitro antimicrobial activities against bacteria and fungi were significant, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) between 10 and 20 uL. At a volatile oil concentration of 0.09 mg/mL, the DPPH scavenging ability of the oil was stronger than that of BHT.Conclusion: There is a high level of extractability of volatile oil from the leaves of Yongzhou Cinnamomum jensenianum Hand. Mazz. The main component is linalool (94.45 %), and it has good antibacterial and antioxidant properties.Keywords: Yongzhou Cinnamomum jensenianum Hand. Mazz, Volatile oil, Antibacterial, Antioxidan

Process optimization and insecticidal activity of alkaloids from the root bark of Catalpa ovata G. Don by response surface methodology

Purpose: To optimize the extraction of total alkaloids from the root bark of Catalpa ovata using response surface methodology, and to determine the insecticidal activity of the total alkaloids extracted. Methods: A combination of Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology  (RSM) was used to optimize the acid water extraction of total alkaloids from the root bark of Catalpa ovata, with extraction rate of total alkaloids as index and the single factor experiment as basis, and the extraction time, material: liquid ratio and pH as 3 factors. The insecticidal activity of total alkaloids was determined against the three instar armyworm Mythimna separata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and  diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae).Results: The optimum extraction conditions for total alkaloids were: material: liquid ratio of 1:10; extraction time of 3 h, pH of 1.0, and simmering. Under these  conditions, total alkaloid extraction was 8.62 %, which was very close to the experimental value. The results were accurate and reliable, with reference value. The insecticidal activity of the total alkaloids indicate that when the concentration of the total alkaloids was 10 mg/L, the fatality rate of Plutella xyllostella and oriental armyworm was over 89 %, but the insecticidal activity of the total alkaloids was lower than that of avermectin which was employed as a reference.Conclusion: The alkaloids from the root bark of Catalpa ovata are potential botanical insecticides.Keywords: Catalpa ovata, Root bark, Total alkaloids, Response surface  methodology, Insecticidal activit

Past distribution of epiphyllous liverworts in China: The usability of historical data

Epiphyllous liverworts form a special group of bryophytes that primarily grow on the leaves of understory vascular plants in tropical and subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests. Being sensitive to moisture and temperature changes, epiphyllous liverworts are often considered to be good indicators of climate change and forest degradation. However, they are a poorly collected and taxonomically complicated group, with an only partly identified distribution pattern. In this study, we built four models based on 24 environmental variables at four different spatial resolutions (i.e., 1 km, 5 km, 10 km, and 15 km) to predict the past distribution of epiphyllous liverworts in China, using Maxent model and 63 historical location records (i.e., presence‐only data). Both area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) and true skill statistic (TSS) methods are used to assess the model performance. Results showed that the model with the predictors at a 15‐km resolution achieved the highest predictive accuracy (AUC=0.946; TSS=0.880), although there was no statistically significant difference between the four models (p > 0.05). The most significant environmental variables included aridity, annual precipitation, precipitation of wettest month, precipitation of wettest quarter, and precipitation of warmest quarter, annual mean NDVI, and minimum NDVI. The predicted suitable areas for epiphyllous liverworts were mainly located in the south of Yangtze River and seldom exceed 35°N, which were consistent with the museum and herbarium records, as well as the historical records in scientific literatures. Our study further demonstrated the value of historical data to ecological and evolutionary studies

A New Soil Sampling Design in Coastal Saline Region Using EM38 and VQT Method

Spatial sampling design based on the variability and distribution of soil properties is an important issue with the progress in precision agriculture and soil ecology. Electromagnetic induction (type EM38) and variance quad-tree (VQT) method were both applied to optimize the sampling scheme of soil salinity in a coastal reclamation field in north Jiangsu Province, China. Apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) measured with EM38 was used as an ancillary variable and the spatial distribution of ECa was used as priori information. The process and result of VQT algorithm analysis was illustrated and the obtained sampling strategy was validated using observed soil salinity. Then the spatial precision and sampling efficiency were evaluated. The result indicated that the spatial distribution of soil salinity produced with the VQT scheme was quite similar to that produced with total sampling sites, while sampling quantity of the former was reduced to approximately 1/2 of the latter. The spatial precision of VQT scheme was considerably higher than that of traditional grid method with respect to the same sampling number, and fewer samples were required for VQT scheme to obtain the same precision level. A 17.3% increase in sampling efficiency was achieved by VQT over grid method at the precision level of 90%. The VQT method was proved to be more efficient and economical because it can sample intensively or sparsely according to variation status in local areas. The associated application of EM38 and VQT method provides efficient tools and theoretical basis for saving sampling cost and improving sampling efficiency in coastal saline region and enriching soil ecology

The next widespread bamboo flowering poses a massive risk to the giant panda

The IUCN Red List has downgraded several species from “endangered” to “vulnerable” that still have largely unknown extinction risks. We consider one of those downgraded species, the giant panda, a bamboo specialist. Massive bamboo flowering could be a natural disaster for giant pandas. Using scenario analysis, we explored possible impacts of the next bamboo flowering in the Qinling and Minshan Mountains that are home to most giant pandas. Our results showed that the Qinling Mountains could experience large-scale bamboo flowering leading to a high risk of widespread food shortages for the giant pandas by 2020. The Minshan Mountains could similarly experience a large-scale bamboo flowering with a high risk for giant pandas between 2020 and 2030 without suitable alternative habitat in the surrounding areas. These scenarios highlight thus-far unforeseen dangers of conserving giant pandas in a fragmented habitat. We recommend advance measures to protect giant panda from severe population crashes when flowering happens. This study also suggests the need to anticipate and manage long-term risks to other downgraded species