Geographic distribution patterns and status assessment of threatened plants in China

Abstract

Large scale heterogeneous distribution of biodiversity has become a hot topic for ecologists and conservationists. A threat status assessment combined with geographic distribution patterns of threatened plants in China has been conducted at a national scale in this study based upon a distribution database that refers to both specimen records and published references. Currently, 302 threatened plant species are cataloged in the ''National Protected Key Wild Plants'' in China belonging to 92 families and 194 genera. Results of the assessment according to the Categories and Criteria system of The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List indicate that three species have been assessed as Extinct in Wild (EW) while a further 79, 99 and 112 species have been assessed as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU), respectively. Distribution patterns of threatened plants were analyzed with GIS to identify areas of high species diversity. It was found that threatened plant species occur unevenly within counties and are concentrated in the following eight hotspots: the central and southern Hengduanshan mountain area; the southeast regions of Yunnan as well as Xishuangbanna and southwestern Guangxi; the southern Hainan island; the border mountainous regions of Guizhou, Hunan and Guangxi provinces; the mountainous regions of southwestern Hubei and northern Hunan; southwestern Zhejiang and western Fujian; central Sichuan and southern Gansu; and the western mountains of Guangdong. Moreover, the 12 counties with the greatest number of threatened plant species represent cumulatively more than 50% of the total listed species and, therefore, are the regions in China that should be prioritized for conservation efforts. By overlapping the map of threatened plant species with the distribution of national nature reserves, a gap was identified in protected areas. This research will ultimately provide insights for prioritizing biodiversity conservation as well as processing the mechanisms of distribution patterns.

Reconsidering the Loss of Evolutionary History: How Does Non-random Extinction Prune the Tree-of-Life?

“…Grenyer et al 2006 ), and at various scales for plants (e.g. Zhang and Ma 2008 ;Daru et al 2013 ). However, hotspots of richness and rarity or threat do not necessarily coincide (Grenyer et al 2006 ).…”

Conservation of Chinese Plant Diversity: An Overview

“…At the beginning of the 2000s it was estimated that, since the 1950s at least 200 plant species had become extinct (Zhang P. et al, 2000); some conspicuous examples of these are Otophora unilocularis (not seen since 1935) and Rhododendron kanehirai, whose natural populations were flooded by a dam in Taiwan although it is extensively cultivated (IUCN, 2010). However, some plant taxa have also been lost from the wild during the last decade (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009), such as Betula halophila, Cystoathyrium chinense or Plantago fengdouensis (Zhang & Ma, 2008;López-Pujol & Zhang, 2009 (Zhang & Ma, 2008). The second batch is currently in preparation and will mean that up to 1,900 plant taxa will be strictly protected in mainland China (CSPCEC, 2008).…”

“…Endangered plant species tend to be concentrated in the southern part of the country (e.g. Tang et al, 2006;Zhang & Ma, 2008), thus showing high congruence with both centres of species richness and centres of endemism (Xu et al, 2008). Thus, 'biodiversity hotspots' in its broadest sense (as centres of species richness, endemism and threatened species) are entirely located in the central and southern mountainous regions of China (Table 2 and Fig.…”

“…Huang et al, 2010) due to their low suitability (too steep). However, other practices such as extensive logging and overgrazing have significantly damaged the natural ecosystems of these areas (CI, 2007;Morell, 2008 Ying et al, 1993;Wang & Zhang, 1994;Ying, 2001;Li et al, 2003;Tang et al, 2006;Zhang & Ma, 2008;Li et al, 2009;López-Pujol et al, 2011). The code numbers for the different hotspots correspond to those in Fig.…”

Effectiveness of nature reserves for natural forests protection in tropical Hainan: a 20 year analysis

“…Hainan Island has a rich biodiversity and preserves the largest rainforests in China (Deng et al, 2008;Zhang and Ma, 2008). However, with the rapid socioeconomic development occurring in recent decades, large areas of rainforests have been destroyed (Hu and Gao, 2008).…”