South-West Asia (or the Middle-East), shown in Figure 1, is a relatively data sparse region of the world however it is interesting for several reasons. It is a region marked by political conflict. Rapid population growth and water scarcity are common throughout the area, rendering it sensitive to changes in climate. This emphasizes the importance of good meteorological and climatic knowledge to...

Veronica persica Poiret (Family: Scrophulariaceae), the `Common Field Speedwella or `Persian speedwella, is a neophytic weed originally from south-west Asia and widely distributed in the temperate regions (USDA-ARS GRIN database, 1999; Fischer, 1987; Holm et al., 1979). The plants were garden weeds and collected in #ower near Aberystwyth (Tyn-y-Graig, Wales), and a voucher specimen (N9623) of t...

With the One Belt, One Road initiative, China is embarking on a huge project which plans to connect the East and West via the extensive development of infrastructure. It is an expression of Chinese expansion and is aimed at promoting a whole range of Chinese interests. The main focus of the initiative is on the countries within Central Asia, which is precisely where these interests are highly c...

The historical distribution of the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus extended from Africa through the Arabian Peninsula into Iran and Afghanistan. From there, the range continued eastwards to Pakistan and India, and northeast through Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan (Nowell & Jackson 1996). During the Middle Ages, cheetahs also occurred to the west of the Caspian Sea, in Transcaucas...

The Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama is a key pest of citrus as the vector of the bacterium causing the "huanglongbing" disease (HLB). To assess the global mtDNA population genetic structure, and possible dispersal history of the pest, we investigated genetic variation at the COI gene collating newly collected samples with all previously published data. Our dataset consists of 356...

Genetic diversity data, from Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA as well as recent genome-wide autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms, suggested that mainland Southeast Asia was the major geographic source of East Asian populations. However, these studies also detected Central-South Asia (CSA)- and/or West Eurasia (WE)-related genetic components in East Asia, implying either recent population...