An Overview of Oak Species in Pakistan: Past, Present, and Future Research Perspectives
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
In this review, the authors introduced the morphology, distributions, and traditional uses, especially medicinal uses, of seven oak species in Pakistan. They also summarized the abiotic and biotic threats to those species, and discussed research gap and future directions of oak studies in this region. In general, I think
1) The language could be edited to make this manuscript more understandable and clear. Some contents were repeatedly mentioned, resulting in difficulties in understanding. There are also many grammatical errors. Please check and correct them throughout the manuscript.
2) Many sentences in the section Description of Quercus species in Pakistan are similar to those in Flora of Pakistan. The authors could emphasize the key characteristics that are used to distinguish those seven oak species. Furthermore, it is also needed to introduce which sections (such as sect. Ilex, sect. Quercus) those seven oak species belong to, or how many sections of the genus Quercus does Pakistan have. Such information could be discussed under the updated infrageneric classification schemes of Hipp et al. (2020, New Phytologist, 226, 1198-1212).
There are also some minor comments.
Title: The authors may use ‘An overview of oak species in Pakistan: Their past, present, and future research perspectives’
p. 1, l. 11: Quercus spp.
p. 1, l. 12: Q. baloot Griff.? Q. glauca Thunb.? Please check and make sure that all the species names were used properly in this manuscript.
p. 1, l. 12: Six species? In the main text, seven oak species are mentioned.
p. 1, l. 18: threatened by?
p. 1, l. 21: Indeed, there are many molecular studies on oak species such as Q. robur. So it is better to say that for populations of those species in Pakistan, there are not too many molecular studies.
p. 1, l. 22: these analyses?
p. 1, l. 37: use ‘Q.’ to replace ‘Quercus’. Please make similar corrections throughout the manuscript.
p. 2, l. 51: may remove ‘1770 non Rugel ex A.DC. nec Torr. & A.Gray nec Du Roi’?
p. 2, l. 52: may use ‘northern red oak (Q. rubra L.)’? Please use the form similar to the other parts of this paragraph.
p. 3, l. 113-114: ‘a resilient evergreen tree 2.5-8m tall evergreen small tree or shrub’, please rephrase.
p. 3, l. 116: What are ‘blue coniferous trees’? According to Flora of Pakistan, it refers to blue pine (Pinus wallichiana) (http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=250065550).
p. 3, l. 123: Please make sure that Figure 1C is Quercus glauca. According to the description in line 139, its leaves are whitish pubescent on the underside. Furthermore, please also indicate the authors of the photos in Figures 1 and 2.
p. 3, l. 124: leaves of some oak species in Pakistan
p. 3, l. 127-130: The sentence is too long. Please rephrase.
p. 3, l. 132: remove ‘Quercus plant’. Furthermore, it is better to cite Figure 2 in this sentence.
p. 3, l. 134: between Q. diltata and Q. baloot
p. 4, l. 143: Shoots are puberulous to tomentose.
p. 4, l. 160: Quercus robur is locally known as?
p. 4, l. 167: what do ‘most species’ refer to?
p. 5, l. 170: 20-30 meters feet?
p. 5, l. 171: 12 cm
p. 5, l. 185: Distribution of Quercus species in Pakistan
p. 5, l. 191-192: ‘83840 million ha’ and ‘174403 million ha’ ? It seems that these values are larger than Total land area of the earth.
p. 5, l. 203: require
p. 6, l. 223: Is it possible that more than one oak species occur in some patches of the map? What is the meanings of Sindh, Punjab, … ? Are they names of provinces?
p. 6, l. 246-250: These two sentences could be combined into one sentence.
p. 7, l. 280-283: This sentence is not clear, please revise.
p. 8, l. 318-323: Livestock grazing is mentioned twice in these two sentences. Is it possible to combine them into one?
p. 8, l. 349: Please revise the title of Table 1 because not only medicinal uses were mentioned in the table. This table could be cited in ‘3.1 Medicinal uses’ at first.
p. 11, l. 402: the oak resources of Pakistan
Author Response
Reviewer 1:
In this review, the authors introduced the morphology, distributions, and traditional uses, especially medicinal uses, of seven oak species in Pakistan. They also summarized the abiotic and biotic threats to those species, and discussed research gap and future directions of oak studies in this region. In general, I think
1) The language could be edited to make this manuscript more understandable and clear. Some contents were repeatedly mentioned, resulting in difficulties in understanding. There are also many grammatical errors. Please check and correct them throughout the manuscript.
Answer: Firstly, we really appreciate all the helpful comments and suggestions of the three reviewers. All the answers have been included in bold. The manuscript has been reviewed by the service offered by MDPI and now, we include the English edited version together the clean version of the manuscript.
2) Many sentences in the section Description of Quercus species in Pakistan are similar to those in Flora of Pakistan. The authors could emphasize the key characteristics that are used to distinguish those seven oak species. Furthermore, it is also needed to introduce which sections (such as sect. Ilex, sect. Quercus) those seven oak species belong to, or how many sections of the genus Quercus does Pakistan have. Such information could be discussed under the updated infrageneric classification schemes of Hipp et al. (2020, New Phytologist, 226, 1198-1212).
Answer. The comparative morphological description of the seven species has been provided in Table 1. We have clarified that “All the species found in Pakistan come under the sect. Ilex” (Lines 112-113). The reference of the article published by Hipp et al. has been included as Reference 24.
There are also some minor comments.
Title: The authors may use ‘An overview of oak species in Pakistan: Their past, present, and future research perspectives’
Answer: We appreciate your suggestion. The title has been modified as you propose (lines 2-3).
- 1, l. 11: Quercus spp.
Answer: Added (Line 39)
- 1, l. 12: Q. baloot Griff.? Q. glauca Thunb.? Please check and make sure that all the species names were used properly in this manuscript.
Answer: Following Quercus in Flora in Pakistan, the species appear with these names. For example, Quercus baloot was described by Griffith in 1848 or Provenance variation in seed and seedlings attributes of Quercus glauca Thunb as title of a manuscript published in https://agro.icm.edu.pl/agro/element/bwmeta1.element.agro-0d630cc7-97e0-4e6a-a0af-d1edb975f4cc.
- 1, l. 12: Six species? In the main text, seven oak species are mentioned.
Answer: This has been modified to add “Q. leucotrichophora” that is not included in Flora of Pakistan but has been recently included (lines 12-14).
- 1, l. 18: threatened by?
Answer: Changed (line 20).
- 1, l. 21: Indeed, there are many molecular studies on oak species such as Q. robur. So it is better to say that for populations of those species in Pakistan, there are not too many molecular studies.
Answer: Modified following your suggestion (Lines 23-26).
- 1, l. 22: these analyses?
Answer: Clarified (lines 25-26).
- 1, l. 37: use ‘Q.’ to replace ‘Quercus’. Please make similar corrections throughout the manuscript.
Answer: We have repeated the name of the genus in those species that is the first time that apear in the MS following the style of Forests in MDPI.
- 2, l. 51: may remove ‘1770 non Rugel ex A.DC. nec Torr. & A.Gray nec Du Roi’?
Answer: Removed (line 54-55).
- 2, l. 52: may use ‘northern red oak (Q. rubra L.)’? Please use the form similar to the other parts of this paragraph.
Answer: Modified (line 55).
- 3, l. 113-114: ‘a resilient evergreen tree 2.5-8m tall evergreen small tree or shrub’, please rephrase.
Answer: Rephrased (lines 117-119).
- 3, l. 116: What are ‘blue coniferous trees’? According to Flora of Pakistan, it refers to blue pine (Pinus wallichiana) (http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=250065550).
Answer: Clarified (lines 121).
- 3, l. 123: Please make sure that Figure 1C is Quercus glauca. According to the description in line 139, its leaves are whitish pubescent on the underside. Furthermore, please also indicate the authors of the photos in Figures 1 and 2.
Answer: The detailed description of Quercus glauca is provided in lines (147-154). The photos were provided by Muhammad Khalil Ullah Khan (a Botanist) (Line 135 en Figure 1 and 150 in Figure 2).
- 3, l. 124: leaves of some oak species in Pakistan
Answer: Changed (lines 130-132).
- 3, l. 127-130: The sentence is too long. Please rephrase.
Answer: Rearranged (lines 133-137).
- 3, l. 132: remove ‘Quercus plant’. Furthermore, it is better to cite Figure 2 in this sentence.
Answer: removed (lines 139).
- 3, l. 134: between Q. diltata and Q. baloot
Answer: corrected (line 139).
- 4, l. 143: Shoots are puberulous to tomentose.
Answer: removed (lines 156-157).
- 4, l. 160: Quercus robur is locally known as?
Answer: Quercus robur is locally known as Banj (Line 179)
- 4, l. 167: what do ‘most species’ refer to?
Answer: This has been clarified (lines 186-188).
- 5, l. 170: 20-30 meters feet?
Answer: corrected (line 192).
- 5, l. 171: 12 cm
Answer: corrected (line 193).
- 5, l. 185: Distribution of Quercus species in Pakistan
Answer: species included (line 212).
- 5, l. 191-192: ‘83840 million ha’ and ‘174403 million ha’ ? It seems that these values are larger than Total land area of the earth.
Answer: Corrected (lines 218-219).
- 5, l. 203: require
Answer: corrected (line 231).
- 6, l. 223: Is it possible that more than one oak species occur in some patches of the map? What is the meanings of Sindh, Punjab, …? Are they names of provinces?
Answer: Sindh, and Punjab are provinces described in MS (Lines 245-246).
- 6, l. 246-250: These two sentences could be combined into one sentence.
Answer: Both sentences have been combined (lines 276-278).
- 7, l. 280-283: This sentence is not clear, please revise.
Answer: revised (lines 308-310).
- 8, l. 318-323: Livestock grazing is mentioned twice in these two sentences. Is it possible to combine them into one?
Answer: Rearranged these sentences (349-352)
- 8, l. 349: Please revise the title of Table 1 because not only medicinal uses were mentioned in the table. This table could be cited in ‘3.1 Medicinal uses’ at first.
Answer: revised (lines 382-383).
- 11, l. 402: the oak resources of Pakistan
Answer: added (lines 97-98)
Reviewer 2 Report
1. The paper describes various interesting aspects of the genus Quercus L. in special located in Pakistan
2. In the INTRODUCTION the authors describe relevant uses of various oak species and how the spp is under viewed by Pakistani authorities.
3. The paper point to traditional uses and how the species is important for the ecosystem.
4. The conclusion is extensive but enough.
Author Response
Reviever 2.
- The paper describes various interesting aspects of the genus Quercus L. in special located in Pakistan
- In the INTRODUCTION the authors describe relevant uses of various oak species and how the spp is under viewed by Pakistani authorities.
- The paper point to traditional uses and how the species is important for the ecosystem.
- The conclusion is extensive but enough.
Answer: Thank you so much for your time in reviewing our manuscript. The reviewed version following all the helpful comments and suggestions of the other two reviewers has been included. The manuscript has been reviewed by the service offered by MDPI and now, we include the English edited version together the clean version of the manuscript.
Reviewer 3 Report
1. In abstract you reported six species while in “Description of Quercus species in Pakistan” line number 105-108 you mentioned seven species. Correct it.
2. Quercus semecarpifolia, locally as Khar Banj, is an oak tree species native to Asia. Please correct this sentence.
3. Add the current conservative status of each species?
4. Separate the future prospects from the conclusion.
5. Please add data about the molecular study of the species.
6. Add pictures of the remaining three species also.
Author Response
Reviewer 3:
Firstly, we really appreciate all the helpful comments and suggestions of the three reviewers. All the answers have been included in bold. The manuscript has been reviewed by the service offered by MDPI now, we include the English edited version together the clean version of the manuscript.
- In abstract you reported six species while in “Description of Quercus species in Pakistan” line number 105-108 you mentioned seven species. Correct it.
Answer: Changed (line 12).
- Quercus semecarpifolia, locally as Khar Banj, is an oak tree species native to Asia. Please correct this sentence.
Answer: Corrected (line 190).
- Add the current conservative status of each species?
Answer: Being a review article, full ecological analysis and conservative status of each species is impossible to include here, however, the threats to the Quercus spp. in Pakistan are properly discussed in this article.
- Separate the future prospects from the conclusion.
Answer: Both parts have been separated (conclusion in lines 385-410 and future research perspectives in lines 411-496).
- Please add data about the molecular study of the species.
Answer: As previously stated in this article, there are no proper molecular studies available in the literature from Pakistan.
- Add pictures of the remaining three species also.
Answer: Dear Reviewer, at this movement, we have no pictures of the remaining three species. Currently, the Pakistani author is out of the country. Furthermore, the forest of these species is mostly in the remote areas. So, it is difficult to capture images of these species during this short review period of MS, however, the comprehensive morphological description is provided in the MS, which gives the reader a wealth of clear information about the three remaining species. But, if you consider it, we will remove the figure 1.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
My minor comments are:
(1) According to POWO, Quercus incana Roxb. is a synonym of Q. leucotrichophora A.Camus, and Q. dilatata Royle is a synonym of Q. floribunda Lindl. ex A.Camus. The authors should clarify why not use the accepted names.
(2) Q. glauca Thunb. belongs to sect. Cyclobalanopsis, while Q. robur belongs to sect. Quercus. So it is incorrect to say that all the oak species found in Pakistan come under the section Ilex (lines 115-116). Please correct.
(3) Replace 'blue coniferous trees' with 'blue pines' (line 124).
Author Response
Reviewer 1:
My minor comments are:
(1) According to POWO, Quercus incana Roxb. is a synonym of Q. leucotrichophora A.Camus, and Q. dilatata Royle is a synonym of Q. floribunda Lindl. ex A.Camus. The authors should clarify why not use the accepted names.
Answer: We have used the name published in Flora in Pakistan (Quercus in Flora of Pakistan). Quercus dilatata was validly published and is the correct one (Rao, A. S., & Kumar, S. (1983). Quercus dilatata Royle, a valid and correct name. Indian Journal of Forestry, 6(3), 250-251). As for Q. leucotrichophora, we have followed the manuscript number 23 of the manuscript. In addition, according to (1) Negi, M., 2018. "Impact of anthropogenic and climate induced perturbations on regeneration potential of oak forests in Kumaun Himalaya." PhD thesis, Kumaun University, Nainital and (2) Saxena, A.K., 1979. "Ecology of vegetation complex of North-Western Catchment of river Gola." PhD thesis, Kumaun University, Nainital, Quercus leucotrichophora was earlier known as Q. incana.
(2) Q. glauca Thunb. belongs to sect. Cyclobalanopsis, while Q. robur belongs to sect. Quercus. So it is incorrect to say that all the oak species found in Pakistan come under the section Ilex (lines 115-116). Please correct.
Answer: This has been clarified (lines 106-107).
(3) Replace 'blue coniferous trees' with 'blue pines' (line 124).
Answer: This has been modified (line 113).
