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In the original publication of the article, one of the author names, “Tao Fuijwara” was published incorrectly. The correct name is Tao Fujiwara.

In the original publication of the article, one of the author names

A new species of the species-rich fern genus Lepisorus (Polypodiales, Polypodiaceae) has been found to occur in Shan state, Myanmar. Lepisorus medioximus is described based on morphological characters and phylogenetic evidence. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the specimens of L. medioximus formed a distinct clade nested in the Pseudovittaria clade. The morphological comparison demonstrated that the species is distinct from phylogenetically related species, namely L. elegans , L. contortus , and L. tosaensis , in the morphology of the rhizome scales, size, and shape of the lamina, position of sori, and paraphyses.

The genus Thylacopteris is a small, phylogenetically isolated genus belonging to the fern family Polypodiaceae. This study describes a new species, Thylacopteris minuta , based on collections obtained during field surveys of Shan State, Myanmar. This new species is distinct from other species of Thylacopteris in its small size and presence of sclerenchyma strands in the rhizome. This species is also distinct from the only other species of Thylacopteris with molecular data available, T. papillosa , in a plastid rbcL phylogeny of Polypodiaceae. This new discovery of Thylacopteris from Myanmar suggests that this genus is still overlooked in Southeast Asia.

Although the montane forests of northern Myanmar are part of one of the most biodiverse areas of the world, our knowledge of species richness and elevational distribution of species within these forests is poor and scattered at both spatial and temporal scales. Over the last five decades, very few floristic assessments have been undertaken. This is especially true for ferns and lycophytes. An international collaborative project team undertook the first plot-based inventory of vascular plant species' elevational distribution in northern and northwestern Myanmar in 2012, 2013 and 2014. At elevational gradients in northern and north-western Myanmar, four 400 m2 plots were sampled at intervals of 200 m in natural or little-disturbed forests and alpine thickets. We recorded all ferns and lycophytes from 132 plots, producing a total of 3,978 specimens. Based on these collections we present a list of fern and lycophyte species. A total of 299 species from 72 genera and 24 families were identified. This pilot project is a contribution to the upcoming Flora of Myanmar and provides a baseline dataset of the region to set priorities for conservation and the gazetting of protected areas.

AimTo assess richness patterns of ferns and lycophytes in relation to climatic factors in Eastern Asia, analysing eight elevational gradients, situated along a latitudinal gradient.LocationEast and Southeast Asia (4° S to 43.3° N).MethodsFerns and lycophytes were recorded in 480 plots of 400 m2 along eight elevational gradients. We related macroclimatic factors to local fern species richness using generalized linear models. We tested the predictive power of macroclimatic variables by a leave‐one‐(gradient‐) out cross‐validation (LOOCV) and tested the predictive power of each model using Spearman's rank correlation, and predicted the respective models spatially. Model residuals were related to two available local (plot scale) factors, terrain inclination and terrain heterogeneity using simple linear regression.ResultsLocal fern species richness declined linearly towards higher latitudes, and simultaneously elevational richness peaks shifted towards lowlands with increasing distance from the equator, transitioning from unimodal to linear patterns. Temperature was the macroclimatic factor with the highest predictive power for fern species richness. In combination with other variables, especially cloud cover, macroclimatic factors could explain up to about 60% of species richness distributions.Main conclusionsMacroclimatic factors, such as temperature and cloud cover, are able to predict a substantial proportion of the variation in local fern species richness in East and Southeast Asia. Using predictive models based on LOOCV substantially increases the accuracy of species richness predictions as compared to simply searching for correlates along all gradients.

Aim To disentangle the influence of environmental factors at different spatial grains (regional and local) on fern and lycophyte species richness and to ask how regional and plot‐level richness are related to each other. Location Global. Taxon Ferns and lycophytes. Methods We explored fern and lycophyte species richness at two spatial grains, regional (hexagonal grid cells of 7,666 km2) and plot level (300–500 m2), in relation to environmental data at regional and local grains (the 7,666 km2 hexagonal grid cells and 4 km2 square grid cells, respectively). For the regional grain, we obtained species richness data for 1,243 spatial units and used them together with climatic and topographical predictors to model global fern richness. For the plot‐level grain, we collated a global dataset of nearly 83,000 vegetation plots with a surface area in the range 300–500 m2 in which all fern and lycophyte species had been counted. We used structural equation modelling to identify which regional and local factors have the biggest effect on plot‐level fern and lycophyte species richness worldwide. We investigate how plot‐level richness is related to modelled regional richness at the plot's location. Results Plot‐level fern and lycophyte species richness were best explained by models allowing a link between regional environment and plot‐level richness. A link between regional richness and plot‐level richness was essential, as models without it were rejected, while models without the regional environment‐plot‐level richness link were still valid but had a worse goodness‐of‐fit value. Plot‐level richness showed a hump‐shaped relationship with regional richness. Main conclusions Regional environment and regional fern and lycophyte species richness each are important determinants of plot‐level richness, and the inclusion of one does not substitute the inclusion of the other. Plot‐level richness increases with regional richness until a saturation point is reached, after which plot‐level richness decreases despite increasing regional richness, possibly reflecting species interactions.

The Chinese occurrences of the marattioid fern genus Christensenia have been considered as requiring protection because of its extreme rarity and very small population size. Here, we explored different biological aspects to enable protection of these rare ferns, well known as Mesozoic living fossils. Firstly, we documented the cytology of the Chinese occurrences for the first time. This is the second tetraploid record of Christensenia worth for further studies to confirm its taxonomic status. Secondly, we obtained the first complete plastid genome of this genus, which confirmed the proposed conservatism of the plastid genome structure in marattioid ferns. By comparing the chloroplast genome with other marattioids, we identified several candidate regions to develop highly variable markers to investigate the intra-species diversity of marattioid ferns. Thirdly, phylogenetic analyses of rbcL sequences implied that there are at least two distinct species of Christensenia. Finally, we re-assessed the conservation status of Christensenia in the context of its local and global distribution by assessing specimen information extracted from publications and digitized voucher information. This assessment confirmed the need to obtain more accurate information about the distribution of this genus to assess the status incorporating the disjunct distribution from southern China and India in the North towards the Solomon Islands in the South.

In the original publication of the article, one of the author names, “Tao Fuijwara” was published incorrectly. The correct name is Tao Fujiwara.

 A new species of the species-rich fern genus Lepisorus (Polypodiales, Polypodiaceae) has been found to occur in Shan state, Myanmar. Lepisorus medioximus is described based on morphological characters and phylogenetic evidence. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the specimens of L. medioximus formed a distinct clade nested in the Pseudovittaria clade. The morphological comparison demonstrated that the species is distinct from phylogenetically related species, namely L. elegans , L. contortus , and L. tosaensis , in the morphology of the rhizome scales, size, and shape of the lamina, position of sori, and paraphyses. Keywords: Epiphyte, integrative taxonomy, micromorphology, overlooked species diversity, phylogeny