Research Needed on China’s Threatened Plants

 By Richard B. Primack

 

“Knowledge is to be acquired only by a corresponding experience. How can we know what we are told merely? Each man can interpret another’s experience only by his own.” Henry David Thoreau in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

 

The Chinese government is placing greater emphasis on the conservation of threatened species in the process of seeking to achieve a sustainable ecological civilization. Obtaining knowledge of these species is a necessary first step in protecting them. 

 

However, a new study shows that 41% of China's 2117 endemic threatened angiosperm species are not mentioned in any Chinese-language or English-language scientific publication. 

 

Photo 1: Panax stipuleanatus is a rare medicinal species of ginseng found in China. 

Further, only 2% of the 44,383 publications that mention threatened plant species are related to conservation research, and over 75% of these conservation publications are found behind a paywall. This means that there is very little accessible information about ecology and conservation for most of China’s endangered plant species.  

 

Photo 2. Camellia micrantha is an endangered Camellia species found in China.

 

The authors of a recent article in Biological Conservation (see link below) propose improving and increasing long-term and comprehensive research on the conservation and management of endemic threatened plants in China. This should include promoting inter-governmental communication and cooperation in plant conservation, and applying new technologies and methods to conservation studies and practices. 

Here is a link to the article: LINK