全 文 ：Words from the editors
We are pleased to present the first issue of Plant Diversity, a new
international Plant Science journal focusing on evolutionary pro-
cesses that create and maintain plant diversity. We believe that a
journal devoted to understanding how plant diversity evolves
and is maintained is highly needed. This understanding is impos-
sible to achieve without integrated knowledge of the evolutionary
processes acting at the molecular, cellular and whole plant level,
and of the phenomena operating within plant populations and
communities. This is why Plant Diversity will cover various aspects
of plant science, encompassing evolutionary, phylogenetic,
genomic and biogeographical studies at different taxonomic levels.
In addition to research drawn from all plant groups, bryological,
lichenological, mycological and phycological studies will also be
considered.
Yunnan is a renowned hotspot for plant biodiversity. More than
half of all Chinese plant species, about 16,000, are found in Yunnan,
and nearly half of these are endemic. In order to study the rich flora
of Yunnan, Acta Botanica Yunnanica was established and published
its first issue in 1979. In the beginning, the journal was focused on
taxonomy, morphology, floristics and phytochemistry, and many
important and highly cited papers were published. It became an
impactful academic platform for botanical research in China. After
achieving success and establishing its reputation as a Chinese jour-
nal, Acta Botanica Yunnanica wanted to increase its academic
impact, not just in China, but internationally. Its namewas changed
to Plant Diversity and Resources in 2011, and under the new name,
articles were published in both Chinese and English.
Now, with the foundation of the all-English Plant Diversity, the
journal is entering a new and invigorating global phase, which
will serve to disseminate its research findings to a broader, interna-
tional community of plant scientists. An important step to
providing Chinese plant scientists more exposure to the interna-
tional scientific community would be publication of doctoral theses
as English manuscripts.
Supported by the international editorial teamwith experts from
13 countries, the journal guarantees a rapid, thorough and fair peer
review process. We aim to set high editorial standards for Plant Di-
versity. All articles will be subject to peer review including those
commissioned by the editors. We will strive for rapid processing
of the manuscripts enabling the quickest possible peer review,
through the use of e-proofs and then publication via Early View.
We also aim to provide a high level of editorial support for authors
to ensure that articles are clear and well written. We are very
conscious of the specific language editing needs of scientists who
are not the native English speakers.
This first issue of Plant Diversity already demonstrates the high
standards of the published papers, the international spectrum of
the authors, and the broad scope of topics. We sincerely hope Plant
Diversitywill grow into an international academic journal and serve
as an important medium for publishing important research discov-
eries in plant sciences from China and the World.
Sergei Volis*
Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Zhekun Zhou
Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, China
E-mail address: chiefeditor@mail.kib.ac.cn.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: chiefeditorvolis@mail.kib.ac.cn (S. Volis).
Available online 26 May 2016
Peer review under responsibility of Editorial Office of Plant Diversity.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Plant Diversity
journal homepage: http: / /www.keaipubl ishing.com/en/ journals /plant-diversi ty /
ht tp: / / journal .k ib.ac.cn
Plant Diversity 38 (2016) 1
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2016.05.005
2468-2659/Copyright © 2016 Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This
is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).