Taiwan, located at the northernmost extent of Huxley’s Line, marks the furthest point along this biogeographic boundary where exchanges of flora and fauna occur. The genus Piper , a globally distributed and taxonomically complex group of both economic and evolutionary importance, has a convoluted taxonomic history in this transitional zone that requires comprehensive study. Here, we integrate morphological, molecular, and dist...

The island of Taiwan represents an ideal context for studying the effects of climatic oscillations and topographic variation on large herbivores due to its varied tropical to sub-tropical climate zones at different elevational ranges. We explored the phylogenetics of Formosan sambar deer ( Rusa unicolor swinhoii ) using the control region of the mitochondrial genome. We detected 18 haplotypes among 454 sequences across the isl...

In contrast to other seagrass meadows where seawater carbonate chemistry generally shows strong diel variations with higher pH but lower partial pressure of CO 2 ( p CO 2 ) during the daytime and lower pH but higher p CO 2 during nighttime due to the alternation in photosynthesis and respiration, the seagrass meadows of the inner lagoon (IL) on Dongsha Island had a unique diel pattern with extremely high pH and low p CO 2 acro...

The mechanisms that control estuarine sediment transport are complicated due to the interaction between riverine flows, tidal currents, waves, and wave-driven currents. In the past decade, severe seabed erosion and shoreline retreat along the sandy coast of western Taiwan have raised concerns regarding the sustainability of coastal structures. In this study, ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) and turbidity meters were d...