An insight into the most threatened flora of China

Abstract

China harbors a very rich plant biodiversity both in total number of taxa and in endemism. Nevertheless, a signifi cant fraction of this diversity (up to 20% of the native plants to China) is currently threatened. Among this endangered fl ora, an appreciable but still unquantifi ed number of taxa are in an extreme situation of risk because of their low population sizes, often consisting of fewer than 100 individuals. We have selected 20 plant taxa as a sample of this extremely threatened fl ora, and, from these, information about their geographic range, population size, threats, existing conservation measures, legal status and threat degree (according to the IUCN criteria) is provided. The extreme rarity of these taxa can be linked to their evolutionary history (they are palaeo-or neoendemics) and/or to severe human disturbance (mostly habitat destruction and overexploitation) affecting them.

Conservation of Chinese Plant Diversity: An Overview

“…This wealth of species diversity and endemism is attributable to a series of factors largely related to the biogeography, tectonics and geological history of the country, including: (i) a complex and extended geological history, with many tectonic events, (ii) a large proportion of the area of China within tropical and subtropical latitudes, (iii) the wide and persistent connection of China to tropical regions of Southeast Asia as well as with other regions, (iv) an unbroken connectivity between tropical, subtropical, temperate, and boreal forests, (v) a highly rugged and dissected topography (especially in southern China), and (vi) perhaps the most significant, reduced extinction rates during the late Cenozoic global cooling (e.g. Tiffney, 1985;Latham & Ricklefs, 1993;Axelrod et al, 1996;Guo et al, 1998;Guo, 1999;Qian & Ricklefs, 1999;Qian, 2001Qian, , 2002Ying, 2001;López-Pujol et al, 2006, 2011Qian et al, 2006;Wu et al, 2007;Li, 2008 One of the main features of Chinese vascular flora is its ancient origin; the modern flora of China is still showing a strong relictual character (Thorne, 1999;Qian & Ricklefs, 1999;Qian, 2001;López-Pujol & Ren, 2010;López-Pujol et al, 2011). This is directly linked to the geologic history of China's landmass, with some of the events influencing the flora composition tracing back to the early Mesozoic.…”

Sobre la necesidad de un libro rojo «moderno» para China

“…Martín-López et al, 2011, y referencias allí contenidas). J. LÓPEZ-PUJOL & L. SÁEZ La República Popular China, lamentablemente, no dispone todavía de un libro rojo completo moderno -considerando «moderno» aquél en el que se aplique la versión más reciente de las categorías UICN-ni en un nivel estatal ni provincial 1 , a pesar del volumen de su flora vascular amenazada, que se estima que podría oscilar entre las 3000 y las 5000 especies (lo que representaría hasta el 20% del total de la flora; López-Pujol & Zhang, 2009). Sin embargo, los datos de Xie & Wang (2007) auguran que la flora amenazada china podría superar con cierta holgura estas cifras.…”

“…Sin embargo, los datos de Xie & Wang (2007) auguran que la flora amenazada china podría superar con cierta holgura estas cifras. Se calcula que tan sólo desde los años cincuenta del siglo pasado se habrían extinguido, como mínimo, unas 200 especies de plantas, incluyendo algunas ya listadas en el primer libro rojo de China publicado a principios de la década de los noventa (véase más adelante) como Betula halophila Ching o Cystoathyrium chinense Ching (López-Pujol & Zhang, 2009). Además, debe darse casi por seguro que el crecimiento económico chino (con una cifra cercana al 10% casi ininterrumpidamente desde los años ochenta) seguirá produciéndose principalmente a costa de esquilmar sus recursos naturales y a costa de la destrucción y la progresiva fragmentación de sus hábitats, lo que hace prever un panorama todavía más sombrío en lo que se refiere a la pérdida de especies de flora.…”

China: home for the most endangered plants of the world?

“…In contrast, if you make the same question to a Chinese (or at least to somebody familiar with the Chinese flora) you may get a quite different reply. Much less known than these emblematic trees, a large handful of Chinese plant taxa is currently in a more critical situation, with just a very few individuals surviving (He, 2009;López-pujol & zhang, 2009 (Xie & Wang, 2007), that is, in the verge of extinction.…”

“…The disproportionate number of extremely threatened plants in China may have resulted from the combination of natural and human-induced factors (López-pujol & zhang, 2009). The existence of numerous refuge areas during the Quaternary glacial periods in China (Qian & Ricklefs, 2000;López-pujol, 2008;López-pujol & Ren, 2010) yielded a large number of narrow endemics through survival of relict (pre-Quaternary) lineages as well as by differentiation and speciation in these favourable pockets, most of them located in the southern mountainous regions (Fig.…”