Variation in rainfall (mm) and air temperature (°C) in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.

<p>Variation in rainfall (mm) and air temperature (°C) in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.</p

A quadratic regression function was used to describe the relationship between soil respiration (F), soil moisture (<i>θ</i>), and litter respiration (F), under normal, no litter, and double litter treatments.

<p>LT means data with soil temperature lower than 17°C, and HT means data with soil temperature higher than 17°C. Values are from 2010 to 2012 at 95% confidence intervals; values were calculated using a procedure of REG of SAS.</p><p>A quadratic regression function was used to describe the relationship between soil respiration (F), soil moisture (<i>θ</i>), and litter respiration (F), under normal, no litter, and double litter treatments.</p

Response surface of litter respiration with normal and double litter treatments as a function of soil moisture and soil temperature from 2010 to 2012.

<p>Response surface of litter respiration with normal and double litter treatments as a function of soil moisture and soil temperature from 2010 to 2012.</p

Variation in litter respiration (μmol m⁻²s⁻¹) with normal and double litter treatments in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.

<p>The asterisk indicates a significant difference at <i>P</i><0.05.</p

Annual soil respiration (g C m⁻² y⁻¹), annual litter respiration (g C m⁻² y⁻¹), annual litter contribution rate (%), and summer rainfall (mm) from 2010 to 2012.

<p>Values are expressed as mean ± SE. Different letters following the data in the same row denote a significant difference at <i>P</i><0.05 levels.</p><p>Annual soil respiration (g C m⁻² y⁻¹), annual litter respiration (g C m⁻² y⁻¹), annual litter contribution rate (%), and summer rainfall (mm) from 2010 to 2012.</p

Variation in soil temperature (°C) at a depth of 5 cm for different litter treatments, including normal litter, no litter, and double litter treatments in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.

<p>The asterisk indicates a significant difference at <i>P</i><0.05.</p

An exponential function was used to describe the relationships between litter respiration (F) and soil temperature (T) with normal and double litter treatments after removing negative litter respiration values.

<p>Values are from 2010 to 2012 at 95% confidence intervals; values were calculated using a procedure of REG of SAS.</p><p>An exponential function was used to describe the relationships between litter respiration (F) and soil temperature (T) with normal and double litter treatments after removing negative litter respiration values.</p

Variation in soil respiration (μmol m⁻²s⁻¹) under normal litter, no litter, and double litter treatments in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.

<p>The asterisk indicates a significant difference at <i>P</i><0.05.</p

An exponential function was used to describe the relationship between soil respiration (F) and soil temperature (T) under normal litter, no litter, and double litter treatments.

<p>A linear function was used to describe the relationship between litter respiration (F) and soil temperature (T) under normal and double litter treatments. Values are from 2010 to 2012 at 95% confidence intervals; the values were calculated using a procedure of REG of SAS.</p><p>An exponential function was used to describe the relationship between soil respiration (F) and soil temperature (T) under normal litter, no litter, and double litter treatments.</p

Exploration of genetic diversity among medicinally important genus <i>Epimedium</i> species based on genomic and EST-SSR marker

<div><p><i>Epimedium</i> species has gained prime importance due to their medicinal and economic values. Therefore, in this study, 26 genomic SSR and 10 EST-SSR markers were developed for 13 medicinal species of the <i>Epimedium</i> genus and one out-group species <i>Vancouveria hexandra</i> W. J. Hooker to explore the existing genetic diversity. A total of 100 alleles by genomic SSR and 65 by EST-SSR were detected. The genomic SSR markers were presented between 2–7 alleles per locus. The observed heterozygosity (<i>H</i>_o) and expected heterozygosity (<i>H</i>_e) ranged from 0.00 to 4.5 and 0.0254 to 2.8108, respectively. Similarly, for EST-SSR, these values were ranged from 3.00 to 4.00 and 1.9650 to 2.7142. The number of alleles for EST-SSR markers ranged from 3 to 10 with an average of 3.51 per loci. It has been concluded that medicinally important species of the genus <i>Epimedium</i> possesses lower intraspecific genetic variation.</p></div