Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32373766›Full record

ArticlePlant diversity2020

Spinescent patterns in the flora of Jiaozi Snow Mountain, Southwestern China.

Qi Xu, Simcha Lev-Yadun, Lu Sun, Zhe Chen, Bo Song, Hang Sun

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Plant diversity, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Qi XuKey Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 132 Lanhei Road, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Simcha Lev-YadunDepartment of Biology & Environment, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa-Oranim, Tivon, 36006, Israel.
Lu SunKey Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 132 Lanhei Road, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Zhe ChenKey Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 132 Lanhei Road, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Bo SongKey Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 132 Lanhei Road, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Hang SunKey Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 132 Lanhei Road, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Spinescence has been thought to have evolved mainly as a defense against herbivores. Thus, studying its evolution in a whole flora is an excellent approach for understanding long-term plant-herbivore interactions. In this study, we characterized the spinescent plant species of Jiaozi Snow Mountain, Southwestern China, in order to explore the effects of life forms, plant organs, phylogenetic position, and phytogeographical origin on spinescence occurrence. The Jiaozi Snow Mountain flora includes 137 spinescent species (9.2%) out of 1488 angiosperm species. We found that in these spinescent species, vegetative organs (70.0%) were significantly more defended than reproductive organs (43.8%). Life form had a significant effect on spinescence occurrence. Woody species (18.6%) were more likely to be spiny than non-woody species (6.4%); moreover, woody species mostly defend their vegetative organs (92.2%), whereas herbaceous species mostly defend their reproductive organs (73.3%). For woody plants, leaf habit has a significant effect on spinescence. Specifically, spinescence was more common on the reproductive organs of deciduous woody species than on those of evergreen woody species; furthermore, spinescence was more common on the leaf blades of evergreens than on those of deciduous species; however, the proportion of spinescent petioles in deciduous species was significantly higher than in evergreens. The most common spine color was yellow (40.8%), followed by white (16.8%), red (15.8%), and brown (14.3%); furthermore, 74.4% of spinescence that showed aposematic color was a different color than the plant organ on which grown. These findings suggest that spinescence is visually aposematic in the Jiaozi Snow Mountain flora. Phylogenetically, more families tended to have spines on vegetative organs (83.3% in vegetative organs, 50.0% in reproductive organs), but the phylogenetic signals were weak. The proportion of spinescence was not significantly different between tropical (9.8% of genera, 7.6% of species) and temperate (13.2% of genera, 9.5% of species) elements. These results indicate that in the Jiaozi Snow Mountain flora spinescence evolved differently in various life forms and plant organs, but that these differences were not influenced by phylogenetic position or phytogeographical origin.

Indexed as

HerbivoryLife formPhysical defensePlant apparencySpinescenceTrade-off

Identifiers

PMID32373766
PMCPMC7195588

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.