Livestock rearing is one of the oldest and most important types of smallholder farming worldwide. The sustainability of livestock production depends on the efficient utilization of locally available resources. Some traditional methods of raising livestock may offer valuable lessons in this regard. This study documented and evaluated local knowledge of wild forage plants in the Dulongjiang area in Southwest China in the context of rearing mithun (Bos frontalis) in order to provide a sound evidence base for tree fodder selection and the establishment of integrated tree-crop-livestock systems. The snowball technique was used to identify key informants with specific knowledge about the topic. Free listing and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 58 households. Participatory investigation and transit walks were used to investigate potential fodder species. Ethnobotanical information was collected, documented and organized. Overall, 142 wild forage plants from 58 families and 117 genera were identified. Species of the Poaceae, Rosaceae and Urticaceae families were most abundant, with 16, 14 and 11 species respectively identified as fodder plants. Our results indicated that tree/shrub forage plays a major role in the diet of mithun, unlike that of other ruminants. Mithun prefers to browse and move around the forest in search of food, particularly rough and even barbed leaves. Tree species like Debregeasia orientalis, Saurauia polyneura and Rubus species were identified as being important fodder sources. Farmers in this area have traditionally relied on common property resources such as community-managed forests and grasslands to feed their livestock. Farmers have strong incentive to raise mithuns rather than other livestock species due to Dulong people’s cultural preferences. The wide variety of plants cited by the informants demonstrate the importance of traditional knowledge in gathering information about forage resources. This diversity also offers the prospect of identifying promising species which could be used as fodder plants. Identifying such species and tree fodder species in particular could help smallholder farmers to integrate trees, livestock and crops as part of a sustainable farming system.

Conservation of biodiversity is primary important of today’s critically vulnerable environment. Efficient conservation can be possible only with the long-term participation and understanding of the communities. Ritual beliefs of the indigenous people are one of the important tools to understand the local communities and aid the nature conservation. In this paper, we documented contemporary ritual practices and ritual plant uses among the Naxi people and discussed the importance of traditional knowledge on ritual practice in the conservation of plants in the mountains presenting a case study of the Dongba culture. This study was carried out from July in 2013 to July in 2014. To document and analyze the present state of the ritual plant used by the Naxi people we conducted an ethnobotanical survey. We interviewed local people including Dongba priests using the semi-structured questionnaire. During the field study, we participated in the local religious activities to witness the use of different plants in ritual activities of the Naxi people. We interviewed twenty-two key informants and eleven of them were male. All the specimens of documented species were collected and deposited at the herbarium of Kunming Institute of Botany. The survey results revealed the Naxi people possessed sound knowledge of the traditional ritual plants and great diversity of plants used in many of Naxi rituals and festivals. From the survey, we documented 32 ritual plant species belonging to 24 genera of 17 families used in various ritual activities. The ritual plants were grouped into two categories, namely those burned as incense, and those used for decoration. The incense plants like Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata and Pistacia weinmanniifolia were probably promising natural aromatic resource. Plants of genus Quercus were the most frequently used species. The places for ritual activities were diverse, such as the incense burners inside and outside the house and sacred trees at the Baishuitai. Local people except the young generation had an abundant of traditional knowledge. Our study shows the live ritual activities and the beliefs of the residents are keeping the plant diversity and the entire forest preserved as sacred mountains. Our study emphasizes traditional belief and an alternative view of conservation that is not led mainly by governmental policies, as local practices and ritual plants uses play as constant reminders to the Naxi on nature conservation. However, further research is recommended for in-depth understanding the role of traditional belief in biodiversity conservation.

Background: Handeliodendron Rehder and Eurycorymbus Hand.-Mazz. are the monotypic genera in the Sapindaceae family. The phylogenetic relationship of these endangered species Handeliodendron bodinieri (Lévl.) Rehd. and Eurycorymbus cavaleriei (Lévl.) Rehd. et Hand.-Mazz. with other members of Sapindaceae s.l. is not well resolved. A previous study concluded that the genus Aesculus might be paraphyletic because Handeliodendron was nested within it based on small DNA fragments. Thus, their chloroplast genomic information and comparative genomic analysis with other Sapindaceae species are necessary and crucial to understand the circumscription and plastome evolution of this family. Results: The chloroplast genome sizes of Handeliodendron bodinieri and Eurycorymbus cavaleriei are 151,271 and 158,690 bp, respectively. Results showed that a total of 114 unique genes were annotated in H. bodinieri and E. cavaleriei, and the ycf1 gene contained abundant SSRs in both genomes. Comparative analysis revealed that gene content, PCGs, and total GC content were remarkably similar or identical within 13 genera from Sapindaceae, and the chloroplast genome size of four genera was generally smaller within the family, including Acer, Dipteronia, Aesculus, and Handeliodendron. IR boundaries of the H. bodinieri showed a significant contraction, whereas it presented a notable expansion in E. cavaleriei cp genome. Ycf1, ndhC-trnV-UAC, and rpl32-trnL-UAG-ccsA were remarkably divergent regions in the Sapindaceae species. Analysis of selection pressure showed that there are a few positively selected genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on different datasets, including whole chloroplast genome sequences, coding sequences, large single-copy, small single-copy, and inverted repeat regions, consistently demonstrated that H. bodinieri was sister to the clade consisting of Aesculus chinensis and A. wangii and strongly support Eurycorymbus cavaleriei as sister to Dodonaea viscosa. Conclusion: This study revealed that the cp genome size of the Hippocastanoideae was generally smaller compared to the other subfamilies within Sapindaceae, and three highly divergent regions could be used as the specific DNA barcodes within Sapindaceae. Phylogenetic results strongly support that the subdivision of four subfamilies within Sapindaceae, and Handeliodendron is not nested within the genus Aesculus.

Oreocharis esquirolii, a member of Gesneriaceae, is known as Thamnocharis esquirolii, which has been regarded a synonym of the former. The species is endemic to Guizhou, southwestern China, and is evaluated as vulnerable (VU) under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria. Until now, the sequence and genome information of O. esquirolii remains unknown. In this study, we assembled and characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of O. esquirolii using Illumina sequencing data for the first time. The total length of the cp genome was 154,069 bp with a typical quadripartite structure consisting of a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 25,392 bp separated by a large single copy region (LSC) of 85,156 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of18,129 bp. The genome comprised 114 unique genes with 80 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. Thirty-one repeat sequences and 74 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified. Genome alignment across five plastid genomes of Gesneriaceae indicated a high sequence similarity. Four highly variable sites (rps16-trnQ, trnS-trnG, ndhF-rpl32, and ycf 1) were identified. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that O. esquirolii grouped together with O. mileensis, supporting resurrection of the name Oreocharis esquirolii from Thamnocharisesquirolii. The complete cp genome sequence will contribute to further studies in molecular identification, genetic diversity, and phylogeny.

Introduction: The recently established Linderniaceae, separated from the traditionally defined Scrophulariaceae, is a taxonomically complicated family. Although previous phylogenetic studies based on a few short DNA markers have made great contributions to the taxonomy of Linderniaceae, limited sampling and low resolution of the phylogenetic tree have failed to resolve controversies between some generic circumscriptions. The plastid genome exhibits a powerful ability to solve phylogenetic relationships ranging from shallow to deep taxonomic levels. To date, no plastid phylogenomic studies have been carried out in Linderniaceae.Methods: In this study, we newly sequenced 26 plastid genomes of Linderniaceae, including eight genera and 25 species, to explore the phylogenetic relationships and genome evolution of the family through plastid phylogenomic and comparative genomic analyses.Results: The plastid genome size of Linderniaceae ranged from 152,386 bp to 154,402 bp, exhibiting a typical quartile structure. All plastomes encoded 114 unique genes, comprising 80 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The inverted repeat regions were more conserved compared with the single-copy regions. A total of 1803 microsatellites and 1909 long sequence repeats were identified, and five hypervariable regions (petN-psbM, rps16-trnQ, rpl32-trnL, rpl32, and ycf1) were screened out. Most protein-coding genes were relatively conserved, with only the ycf2 gene found under positive selection in a few species. Phylogenomic analyses confirmed that Linderniaceae was a distinctive lineage and revealed that the presently circumscribed Vandellia and Torenia were non-monophyletic.Discussion: Comparative analyses showed the Linderniaceae plastomes were highly conservative in terms of structure, gene order, and gene content. Combining morphological and molecular evidence, we supported the newly established Yamazakia separating from Vandellia and the monotypic Picria as a separate genus. These findings provide further evidence to recognize the phylogenetic relationships among Linderniaceae and new insights into the evolution of the plastid genomes.