Viburnumfocesides A - D, 1-O-isovaleroylated iridoid 11-O-alloside derivatives from Viburnum foetidum var. ceanothoides.

Viburnumfocesides A - D, four undescribed 1-O-isovaleroylated iridoid 11-O-allosides modified with (Z / E)-p-coumaric acid, were isolated from the aqueous EtOH extract of the twigs of Viburnum foetidum var. ceanothoides, together with seven known natural products. Their structures were identified on the basis of the spectroscopic data interpretation and chemical derivation studies. Cell-based estrogen biosynthesis assays indicated that viburnumfoceside D (4), (2S,3R)-2,3-dihydro-3-hydroxymethyl-7-methoxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-5-benzofuranpropanol-3a-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (8), and (-)-eriodictyol (11) inhibit estrogen biosynthesis with IC50 values of 5.8, 1.5, and 1.1 µM, respectively, in human ovarian granulosa-like KGN cells via decreasing the expression level of aromatase.

Detecting one-hundred-year environmental changes in Western China using seven-year repeat photography.

Due to its diverse, wondrous plants and unique topography, Western China has drawn great attention from explorers and naturalists from the Western World. Among them, Ernest Henry Wilson (1876 -1930), known as 'Chinese' Wilson, travelled to Western China five times from 1899 to 1918. He took more than 1,000 photos during his travels. These valuable photos illustrated the natural and social environment of Western China a century ago. Since 1997, we had collected E.H. Wilson's old pictures, and then since 2004, along the expedition route of E.H. Wilson, we took 7 years to repeat photographing 250 of these old pictures. Comparing Wilson's photos with ours, we found an obvious warming trend over the 100 years, not only in specific areas but throughout the entire Western China. Such warming trend manifested in phenology changes, community shifts and melting snow in alpine mountains. In this study, we also noted remarkable vegetation changes. Out of 62 picture pairs were related to vegetation change, 39 indicated vegetation has changed to the better condition, 17 for degraded vegetation and six for no obvious change. Also in these photos at a century interval, we found not only rapid urbanization in Western China, but also the disappearance of traditional cultures. Through such comparisons, we should not only be amazed about the significant environmental changes through time in Western China, but also consider its implications for protecting environment while meeting the economic development beyond such changes.

Corridor connecting giant panda habitats from north to south in the Min Mountains, Sichuan, China.

The giant panda faces severe threats from habitat fragmentation and isolation. Currently, giant panda populations have been fragmented into 30 habitat patches. The disappearance of isolated small populations and studies on the genetic diversity of various populations have shown that small isolated panda populations are at a high risk of dying out completely. Habitat fragmentation has seriously impaired the ability of the giant panda to resist climate changes and other natural disasters, such as large-scale, synchronous bamboo blooming. The Min Mountains have the largest population of pandas in China, numbering 581 individuals and accounting for 52% of the total (1114) in China. Geographic isolation means that giant pandas in the Min Mountains are divided into two populations (population A in the north and population B in the south). Population B, which had only 42 individuals in 1989, is severely threatened by high-density human populations and the loss of genetic diversity. However, we have identified an important corridor connecting the two populations. This paper explains the importance and the feasibility of reestablishing this corridor. Due to the special geographic locations of these two populations (two rivers block the migration of giant pandas between south and north), the corridor is the only passage for giant pandas in the region. Recent studies have also shown an increase of giant panda activity in the area of the corridor. However, vegetation in the corridor has been severely degraded. Bamboo forest must be restored in this area to provide food for the pandas during migration. The effects of human activities must be reduced in order to maintain panda habitat. We believe that a restored corridor will be of great benefit to the survival of giant pandas in the Min Mountains, especially for population B. Successful re-establishment of a corridor will be a valuable model for corridor construction in the future.