Impact of Simulated Warming on Growthand Floral Characteristics of Two Varieties of Medicinal Epimedium

Abstract

An open top chamber (OTC) warming system was established in natural field conditions to study the impact of simulated warming on growth and floral characteristics of E. wushanense and E. acuminatum.Scientists conducted abundant monitoring and simulation studies and found that the global greenhouse effect beginning from the 20th century has been expanding, and mean surface temperature has risen by 0.6℃ over the past 100 years (Yin et al., 2008) . It has been predicted by the climate model that by the end of the 21st century, global mean surface temperature will rise by 1.6-6.4℃ (IPCC, 2007). At present, the impact of climate warming on terrestrial ecosystem has become a focused concern of the ecologists at home and abroad (Usami et al., 2001). E. wushanense, with the highest potential of development, has aroused great attention of scholars at home and abroad and already become an important medicinal plant over the years (Li et al., 2005). E. acuminatum is a main source of epimedium herbs in Guizhou, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hubei and Jiangxi, etc.(Pei and Guo, 2007) as is recorded in Ethnodrug Standards for Traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials in Guizhou (2003 edition). Current researches about the two kinds of medicinal plants are mainly concentrated in pharmacology and flowering phenology, etc. Because of excessive picking and long-term unreasonable use, wild epimedium resources are increasingly exhausted. To protect the precious resources and for the sake of further rational development and utilization, ecological study becomes quite necessary (Quan and Li, 2013). In this research, OTC simulated warming, a popular approach of ITEX, was adopted to study the impact of simulated warming on growth and floral characteristics of E. wushanense and E. acuminatum, aiming to provide theoretical basis for further development and reasonable utilization. As global warming will inevitably change the external environment condition for plant growth and development, we can better analyze and predict the impact of climate warming on ecosystem based on the field simulated warming experiment and the study about the response of plant growth to temperature changes, which is of great guiding significance for protecting the environment and biodiversity and maintaining stable and sustainable development of the ecosystem. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sample area and experimental fieldJinchengshan forest park, at the junction of Nanchong and Guang'an City in the central Sichuan Basin, is the original habitat of E. wushanense. It belongs to the northern subtropical region and enjoys a subtropical warm and typical monsoon climate, with four distinctive seasons and abundant heat. Biocoenosis structure of original habitat of the transplanted E. wushanense: white oak of fagaceae and cedarwood of cupressaceae, dominant varieties of the tree layer. Azaleas of ericaceae, Chinese mahonia of berberidaceae and A. trifoliatus of araliaceae, dominant varieties of the shrub layer; iris, pilea notata, Indian blackberry, mugwort, etc., d...

Morphological studies and meiotic chromosome analysis of Epimedium elatum (Morr & Decne) - Rare endemic medicinal plant of Northwestern Himalayas in India.

“…High altitude medicinal plants are known to show a significant phenotypic plasticity in the Northwestern Himalayas (Badola and Aitken 2003). Epimedium species too are known to show phenotypic plasticity both in wild and cultivated conditions (Quan et al, 2011;Xu et al, 2013b;Xu et al, 2014;Chen et al, 2015b;Pan and Guo 2016;Xuemei et al, 2016). It indicates the existence of different phenotypes and genotypes in Epimedium species under different environmental conditions.…”