Phylogenetic studies comparing the Dipterocarpaceae and the Sarcolaenaceae, a tree family endemic to Madagascar, have shown that the Sarcolaenaceae share a common ancestor with Asian dipterocarps. This suggests that Asian dipterocarps drifted away from Madagascar with the India-Seychelles landmass and then dispersed through Asia. Although all dipterocarps examined so far have been found to be ectomycorrhizal, the ectomycorrhizal status of Sarcolaenaceae had not been investigated. Here we establish the ectomycorrhizal status of Sarcolaenaceae using histological and molecular methods. This indicates that the common ancestor of the Sarcolaenaceae and Asian dipterocarps was ectomycorrhizal, at least before the separation of the Madagascar-India landmass, 88 million years ago.

Summary Mangroves are forest ecosystems located at the interface between land and sea where sediments presented a variety of contrasted environmental conditions (i.e. oxic/anoxic, non‐sulfidic/sulfidic, organic matter content) providing an ideal ecosystem to study microbial communities with niche differentiation and distinct community structures. In this work, prokaryotic and fungal compositions were investigated during both wet and dry seasons in New Caledonian mangrove sediments, from the surface to deeper horizons under the two most common tree species in this region (Avicennia marina and Rhizophora stylosa), using high‐throughput sequencing. Our results showed that Bacteria and Archaea communities were mainly shaped by sediment depth while the fungal community was almost evenly distributed according to sediment depth, vegetation cover and season. A detailed analysis of prokaryotic and fungal phyla showed a dominance of Ascomycota over Basidiomycota whatever the compartment, while there was a clear shift in prokaryotic composition. Some prokaryotic phyla were enriched in surface layers such as Proteobacteria, Euryarchaeota while others were mostly associated with deeper layers as Chloroflexi, Bathyarchaeota, Aminicenantes. Our results highlight the importance of considering fungal and prokaryotic counterparts for a better understanding of the microbial succession involved in plant organic matter decomposition in tropical coastal sediments.

The main objective of the online Mangrove Reference Database and Herbarium is to give a current and historic overview of the global, regional and local distribution of true mangrove species. This database has been initiated in 2001 by the Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ) and the Flanders Marine Data and Information Center (VMDC) in collaboration with the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). All the data are based on records containing species location information (literature, maps, herbaria, expert access, etc…) and all mangroves species (approximately 75) display distribution information from many study sites around the world. All the mangrove zones around the world are recorded in this database and a particular species list is available for those sites that have been studied or sampled. This can be viewed and zoomed on easily using a GIS-interface. In addition, the database provides information and pictures of plant physiognomy and ecological adaptations to the intertidal mangrove habitat. Attention is also paid to the nomenclature, systematic (incl. the most recent phylogeny of APGII) as well as vernacular (information can be visualized on synonyms, vernacular names and direct child taxa). Finally, all the information in the database is completed by a Mangrove Reference Herbarium in collaboration with the National Botanical Garden of Belgium and the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, while collaboration with other international herbaria is furthered. Herbarium boards can be consulted using webtools to zoom in on diagnostic characteristics. In summary, the Mangrove Reference Database and Herbarium (abbreviated to 'Mangroves ' in Aphia) has different purposes:to provide a relational database for all true mangrove plant species using an expandable taxonomic tree; to display a fact sheet for each mangrove plant species including basic information with photographs, a scanned herbarium specimen and distribution data;to provide a searchable online distribution map for each species based on point-locations submitted by researchers world-wide (through papers, herbaria or through online access). The aim is to display historic as well as current distribution maps by filtering the data in the database with the respect to the time the fieldwork/collection was done;to preserve a herbarium reference specimen for each true mangrove species; and, on a longer term, to provide an automated determination key to identify mangroves world-wide.This online Mangrove Reference database is an additional step in the knowledge of mangrove species distribution through several examples in many study sites. It is a dynamic database that gives a widespread view of literature, herbaria and other references on mangrove distribution and invites researchers to collaborate on understanding the functioning of this threatened ecosystem.The database is continually updated and can be accessed through:

Abstract. Mangrove forests are declining across the globe, mainly because of human intervention, and therefore require an evaluation of their past and present status (e.g. areal extent, species-level distribution, etc.) to implement better conservation and management strategies. In this paper, mangrove cover dynamics at Gaoqiao (P. R. China) were assessed through time using 1967, 2000 and 2009 satellite imagery (sensors Corona KH-4B, Landsat ETM+, GeoEye-1 respectively). Firstly, multi-temporal analysis of satellite data was undertaken, and secondly biotic and abiotic differences were analysed between the different mangrove stands, assessed through a supervised classification of a high-resolution satellite image. A major decline in mangrove cover (−36%) was observed between 1967 and 2009 due to rice cultivation and aquaculture practices. Moreover, dike construction has prevented mangroves from expanding landward. Although a small increase of mangrove area was observed between 2000 and 2009 (+24%), the ratio mangrove / aquaculture kept decreasing due to increased aquaculture at the expense of rice cultivation in the vicinity. From the land-use/cover map based on ground-truth data (5 × 5 m plot-based tree measurements) (August–September, 2009) as well as spectral reflectance values (obtained from pansharpened GeoEye-1), both Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and small Aegiceras corniculatum are distinguishable at 73–100% accuracy, whereas tall A. corniculatum was correctly classified at only 53% due to its mixed vegetation stands with B. gymnorrhiza (overall classification accuracy: 85%). In the case of sediments, sand proportion was significantly different between the three mangrove classes. Overall, the advantage of very high resolution satellite images like GeoEye-1 (0.5 m) for mangrove spatial heterogeneity assessment and/or species-level discrimination was well demonstrated, along with the complexity to provide a precise classification for non-dominant species (e.g. Kandelia obovata) at Gaoqiao. Despite limitations such as geometric distortion and single panchromatic band, the 42 yr old Corona declassified images are invaluable for land-use/cover change detections when compared to recent satellite data sets.

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Background: Coral reefs are among the most diversified ecosystems in the world, but suffer from anthropogenic and natural disturbances, often causing a shift from coral to algal (or other benthic groups) dominated ecosystems. Linking benthic communities' information with water quality data is urgently needed to understand current and future changes in benthic dominance. This research examined possible environmental causes on the abundance of the zoanthid Palythoa tuberculosa on Okinawa Island in southern Japan. Various water parameters (temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH, particulate organic matter, chlorophyll a, NO 2 -N, NO 3 -N, PO 4 -P, NH 4 -N, and the distance to the river mouth) were recorded along with benthic community composition at eight locations. Results: Turf algae, coralline algae, or sand, rubble and rock dominated most locations in this survey. Coral coverage was moderate (10% to 40%). P. tuberculosa was generally low in abundance, but common at Mizugama (9% of the benthic community) and Oku (25%). Water parameters varied among sites. Salinity was the only parameter correlated with the abundance of Palythoa (R

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