Phytogeographical affinities of forest floras between China and Japan

Abstract

The flora of eastern China is the main part of Sino-Japanese floristic region. It shows by the analysis and comparison that the floristic relations of Eastern China with Japan are closer than that of northeast China with Korea. The similarity indices of genera and species of seed plants in the two regions are very high, being 72.6% and 43.3% respectively. The structure and species composition of broad-leaved evergreen forests in the two regions are also similar, in which there exist the corresponding communities, such as the forests ofCastanopsis carlesii, C. Sieboldii.. Many plants in Easter China are nonspecific with those in Japan, e.g.,Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Magolia sieboldii, Nandina domestica etc.. Though the generaGinkgo, Liriodendron, Sassafras etc. existing now in China are extinct from Japan, their fossils have been discovered from the Tertiary Strata in Japan. It seems to indicate that the phytogeographical affinities between Japan and E. China was closer in ancient time than it is now; and both of the forest floras originated from one same flora. The flora in Japan did not evolve independently until it separated from Chinese continent and drifted to northeast in the late period of the Tertiary.

Keywords

Phytogeogtraphical affinity / Forest flora / Eastern China / Japan

References

[1] Boufford D. E., Sponberg S. A. Eastern Asian-Eastern North American phytogeograohical relationships-a history from the time of Linnaeus to the twentieth century Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard., 1983, 70: 432-439.

[2] Good R. The geography of the flowering plants, 1974 London: Longman Group Ltd.

[3] Hu H. H. A preliminary survey of the first flora of southeastern China Contr. Biol. Lab. Sic. Soc. China., 1926, 2: 1-20.

[4] Hu H. H. Further observation of the forest flora of southeastern China Bull. Fan. Mem. Inst. Biol., 1929, 1: 51-52.

[5] Hu H. H. The characteristics and affinities of Chinese flora Bull. Chinese Bot. Soc., 1936, 2: 67-84.

[6] Li H. L. Floristic significance and problems of eastern Asia. Taiwan., 1950, 1: 1-5.

[7] Li H. L. Endemism in ligneous flora of eastern Asia 7th Pac. Congr. (New Zealand), 1953, 5: 212-216.

[8] Li L. C. A preliminary study on the karyotypes and their evolutionary levels of Taxodiaceae's endemic plants to China and neighboring area Acta Bot. Yunnanica, 1987, 9(3): 325-331.

[9] Numata M. The flora and vegetation of Japan, 1974 Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

[10] Qian H. A study on the floristic relations between the northern part of Dabie mountains in Anhui and the adjacent floristic regions J. Wuhan Bot. Res., 1989, 7(1): 39-48.

[11] Steward A. N. Manual of vascular plants of the lower Yangtze Valley China, 1958 Tokyo: Intern. Acad. Prin. Co. Ltd.

[12] Takhtajan, A. 1969. Flowering plants, origin and dispersal. English ed.

[13] Wang J. X. Relationship of the forest floras among Zhejiang. Taiwan provinces in China and Japan J. Wuhan Bot. Res., 1988, 6(2): 121-128.

[14] Wang W. T. On some distribution patterns and some migration routes found in the eastern Asiatic region Acta Phytotax. Sinica, 1992, 30(1): 1-24.

[15] Wu S. G. The phytographical affinities of pteridophytes between China and Japan Acta Bot. Yunnanica, 1987, 9(2): 167-179.

[16] Wu Z. Y. The regionalization of Chinese flora Acta Bot. Yunnanica, 1979, 1(1): 1-22.

[17] Wu Z. Y. On the significance of pacific intercontinental discontinuity Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard., 1983, 70(40): 577-590.

[18] Xie G. W. Studies on the woody floristic components and characters of Jiangxi Bull. Bot. Res., 1991, 11(1): 91-99.

[19] Xie G. W. A study on the floristics of Mt. Yunjushan in northern Jiangxi Acta Bot. Yunnanica, 1993, 13(4): 391-401.

[20] Xie, G. W. 1993. Studies on the floristics of the tropical plants in Jiangxi. J. Wuhan Bot. Res. 130–136.

[21] Ying T. S., Zhang Z. S. Endemism in the flora of China-studies on the endemic genera Acta Phytotax. Sinica., 1984, 22(4): 259-268.