全 文 ：Plant Conservation in the Future: New Challenges, New Opportunities
Peter H. RAVEN*
(Missouri Botanical Garden, MO 63166, USA)
Abstract: Throughout the world, plant diversity is being reduced rapidly by the extinction of species and of local
differentiated populations. In presenting possible solutions to this very serious problem I will first briefly describe the
factors that have led to the development of China忆s wealth of biodiversity; then examine the causes of extinction,
with an emphasis on the situation in China; and conclude with recommendations on how to most effectively conserve
plants in this huge and botanically diverse country.
Key words: Plant diversity; Biological richness; Human impacts; Plant conservation in China; Strategies for plant
conservation
CLC number: Q 948摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 Document Code: A摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 Article ID: 2095-0845(2011)01-001-09
摇 Throughout the world, plant diversity is being
reduced rapidly by the extinction of species and of
local differentiated populations. In presenting possi鄄
ble solutions to this very serious problem I will first
briefly describe the factors that have led to the de鄄
velopment of China忆s wealth of biodiversity; then ex鄄
amine the causes of extinction, with an emphasis on
the situation in China; and conclude with recom鄄
mendations on how to most effectively conserve
plants in this huge and botanically diverse country.
What I will have to say here about plant diversity ap鄄
plies to biodiversity generally, but the most effective
ways to preserve the diversity of other groups of or鄄
ganisms are often specific to those groups.
China忆s biological richness
China, Europe, and the United States are ap鄄
proximately of equal size, but China is much richer
in biodiversity than the other two areas. For exam鄄
ple, China has about 31 500 species of vascular
plants; the United States about 19 000; and Europe
about 11 500. What accounts for these differences?
There are several historical and contemporary
factors at play in this regard. First, the long period
of climatic deterioration and differentiation of habi鄄
tats that has taken place from the Middle Miocene
Period (15 my) onward and to a lesser extent the
climatic extreme cycles of the Pleistocene have been
important causes of extinction throughout the Nor鄄
thern Hemisphere. As these changes have occurred,
China忆s geography has clearly provided more oppor鄄
tunities for survival than that of the other two re鄄
gions. Thus, the Hengduan and Qinlin mountains of
south鄄central China extend into the tropics and are
virtually continuous with other ranges to the south.
During cooler periods, species of plants and animals
could migrate to the south, returning when milder
and warmer climates were reestablished. In North A鄄
merica, the southern end of the Appalachian
Mountains lies far north of the tropics, with survival
of the earlier, richer and more diverse biological
communities taking place primarily in relatively li鄄
mited areas such as the coast of the Carolinas and
the Edwards Plateau region of central Texas. Further
south, the growing deserts and Gulf of Mexico clear鄄
ly limited the possibilities for southward migration
and survival. In Europe, the Alps and the Mediter鄄
ranean effectively blocked migration to the south, a
植 物 分 类 与 资 源 学 报摇 2011, 33 (1): 1 ~ 9
Plant Diversity and Resources摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 DOI: 10. 3724 / SP. J. 1143. 2011. 10255
* Author for correspondence; E鄄mail: peter. raven@ mobot. org, address: P. O. Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166, USA
Presented at Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, China, October 10, 2010
Received date: 2010-12-17, Accepted date: 2011-01-04
condition that demonstrably led to massive extinction
of the earlier biota of that occurred in the region.
Prior to the Middle Miocene, the fossil record
of the temperate Northern Hemisphere demonstrates
a relatively uniform biological richness across Eura鄄
sia and North America. For example, 40 million
years ago, Metasequoia occurred widely in southern
Europe and was the most abundant kind of tree in
the forests of western North America; today, about
6 000 individuals survive in scattered, relict popula鄄
tions in places of very mild, equable climate in
south鄄central China. Distribution patterns like those
represented today by alligators ( two species of the
genus Alligator), one in the south鄄eastern United
States and the other along the Yangtze River, and
the bird genus Aix, which also consists of only two
species, the wood duck of eastern and central North
America and the Mandarin duck of East Asia, resul鄄
ted from similar patterns of extinction. For similar
reasons, the broad, fertile plains of eastern China
are home to many unique, relictual species and gen鄄
era. These are precious remnants of groups that were
often widely distributed across the Northern Hemi鄄
sphere in earlier times. Since the natural vegetation
has been reduced greatly in this area as a result of
millennia of human occupation, the remnant patches
of forest deserve very special attention in terms of
their conservation. For this task, the Shanghai
Chenshan Botanical Garden, Jiangsu Botanical Gar鄄
den in Nanjing, and sister institutions in the region
are especially well qualified. They should be strong鄄
ly supported in this effort.
A second factor underlying the biological rich鄄
ness of China came about because of the impact of
the Indian subcontinent with Asia, elevating the Hi鄄
malayan Plateau and the numerous, often more鄄or鄄
less parallel mountains of China generally. The ap鄄
pearance of these high mountains over the past tens
of millions of years resulted in the development of a
wide variety of new habitats here, particularly in and
around the Hengduan and Qinlin mountains. Some
40% of China忆s territory lies above 2 000 meters ele鄄
vation, affording ample local habitat differentiation
and opportunities for biological diversitication. Daz鄄
zling arrays of species of plants, animals, and other
organisms have evolved on the Tibetan Plateau and
other mountains of China. These areas are often
home to most of the global diversity for particular
groups of plants, with hundreds of endemic species
of genera such as Rhododendron, Primula, Pedicu鄄
laris, and Carex often restricted to individual moun鄄
tain ranges.
A third factor that adds substantially to the bio鄄
logical diversity of China is the fact that the country
includes substantial areas of fully鄄developed tropical
forest in southern Yunnan Province and on Hainan
Island. Many species and genera for which the main
area of distribution lies to the south extend northward
into China; they add many species to the Chinese
biota. Parenthetically, the plants of these areas need
critical study to place them properly into the context
of their individual groups, but they are rapidly being
lost with the clearing of forests and general develop鄄
ment of the regions where they occur. This situation
calls for a greatly enhanced effort to carry out de鄄
tailed biological inventories in the regions where
tropical vegetation survives in China. Genetically,
these species and the individual populations occur at
the northern limits of distribution for the individual
groups or species globally. Therefore, such popula鄄
tions are of extraordinary interest for their particular
genetic properties and often will be useful for re鄄
establishing populations in the very different regional
climates of the future.
Because of these factors and others, China is
home to at least 8% of the world忆s biodiversity, for
example 31 500 of the estimated 400 000 species of
plants and probably at least 1 million of the esti鄄
mated 12 million species of eukaryotic organisms
generally. I estimate that at least 2 000 additional
species of Chinese plants await discovery, and al鄄
most all of them will be local and of conservation
concern when they are found. More than half of
these species are likely to be represented in Chinese
2摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 植 物 分 类 与 资 源 学 报摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 第 33 卷
herbaria already, and an enhanced study of the a鄄
vailable herbarium material should definitely be a
matter of high priority for Chinese botanists; the
same is true for zoological collections.
My estimate would be that fewer than 10% of
the total number of eukaryotic species that occur in
China have yet been discovered, described, and re鄄
ported. Using plants, vertebrate animals, butterflies
and a few other relatively well鄄known groups of or鄄
ganisms as a guide, about half of all species that oc鄄
cur in China will eventually found to be endemic to
the country. Thus there appear to be about 500 000
species of endemic plants, animals, fungi, and mi鄄
croorganisms other than bacteria in China, and fewer
than 70 000 of them have yet been recorded. Against
this background, the call of Chen Yiyu, President of
the National Science Foundation of China, for a bio鄄
logical inventory of the whole country assumes spe鄄
cial importance and urgency. China忆s future sustain鄄
ability will be based to a large extent on its ability to
manage its biodiversity well. The information to
make that task possible simply does not exist at pres鄄
ent; thousands of unknown species are being lost
with each passing year, more than half of them like鄄
ly to be endemic to China. Most species that will be鄄
come extinct in China, hundreds of thousands of
them in this century, will remain unknown to sci鄄
ence at the time they disappear permanently!
Human impacts on Chinese biodiversity
After more than two million years of prior histo鄄
ry, human beings developed methods to cultivate
crops successfully approximately 10 500 years, or
some 400 generations, ago. The first successful cul鄄
tivation of crop plants and the domestication of cer鄄
tain kinds of animals took place around the eastern
end of the Mediterranean, and it was then replicated
over the following millennia in different places in
Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. For example,
rice was domesticated independently at least twice in
China, once along the Yellow River and again along
the plains bordering the Yangtze River, as well as
independently in India, and quite possibly else鄄
where.
At the time that these earlier discoveries were
taking place, the global human population, spread
over six continents, consisted of only several million
people, a mere fraction of the population of Shanghai
today. Human numbers grew rapidly because of the
newfound ability to store food, thus allowing settled
populations to pass through unfavorable seasons
without moving to find food elsewhere. Because of
the local availability of food, villages, towns, and
then cities were built up in Eurasia, Africa, and the
Americas. Within these growing settlements, the at鄄
tributes of what we consider civilization gradually ap鄄
peared, with individuals specializing in various
trades or professions. Written languages were devel鄄
oped for the first time about 5 500 years ago, and
our history began to be recorded as it occurred.
The global human population grew to several
hundred million people around the time of the Han
Dynasty, the time of Christ, and reached 1 billion
people for the first time early in the 19 th Century, 2
billion people in 1930, and 2. 5 billion in 1950, and
in 2010 approximately 6. 9 billion people, with 2 -
2. 5 billion more projected to be added before a level
population can possibly be attained from the middle
of the 21 st century onward. In recent decades, Chi鄄
na忆s population has not grown as rapidly as that of
the rest of the world. In the mid 1930s, China had a
population of some 500 million people, about 25%
of the world population; today, China忆s 1. 3 billion
people amount to about 19% of the global popula鄄
tion, still the largest number of people living in any
one country. The population of Africa, growing more
rapidly than that of any other area, is projected to
double from just under 1 billion people now to 2 bil鄄
lion people by the middle of this century. By that
time, the population of India is projected to exceed
that of China, about 1. 7 billion people in India to
1. 4 billion in China.
The absolute number of individual human be鄄
ings clearly is of fundamental importance in determi鄄
31 期摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 Peter H. RAVEN: Plant Conservation in the Future: New Challenges, New Opportunities摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇
ning our collective impact on Earth忆s sustainability,
In context, however, it must be multiplied by the
level of consumption per individual and by the kinds
of technology that are employed in supporting a par鄄
ticular area忆s people in order to understand total im鄄
pact. For example, the U. S. uses about twice as
much energy per capita as the people of any other
country, and thus generates at least twice the quanti鄄
ty of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, per per鄄
son than do the people of any other country. On the
other hand, China, which has a population more
than four times that of the U. S. , has just passed the
U. S. in total carbon dioxide emission, but then with
about a quarter of the level of emission per person
than occurs in the U. S. The same relationship now
holds for the production of total waste and waste per
person for these two countries.
The collective pressure placed by our numbers
and our activities on the sustainability of the global
environment has reached frightening and rapidly in鄄
creasing levels, making our common prospects for
the future far from clear. The web site globalfoot鄄
print. org estimates that we are using on a continuing
basis about 150% of the world忆s capacity for sustai鄄
nability. In other words, we are rapidly depleting
the sustainable resources that might otherwise make
possible the maintenance of a productive, healthy,
and diverse world for our descendants. In the face of
this relationship, most of the world忆s people are stri鄄
ving to attain higher levels of consumption every
year; the world cannot for long provide what they
seek. Worldwide, perhaps as many as 2 billion peo鄄
ple are ready to move into middle class status, but
there are really no available resources to support this
transition.
What is really frightening, though, is that near鄄
ly 1 billion people in the world are malnourished,
having access to less than 80% of the U. N. —rec鄄
ommended caloric intake of 2000 Calories per day.
Another 100 million people live on the verge of star鄄
vation. Although we may find short鄄term solutions
and be able to improve the living conditions for some
people, these achievements are likely to be short
lived unless we make fundamental changes in the
way we live. No long鄄term solution will ever be pos鄄
sible if nearly everyone in the world aspires to levels
of consumption as high as possible and we remain
dependent on our present technologies for our supply
of energy and other purposes. Moreover, consider
the 2-2. 5 billion additional people projected to be
added to the world population during the next several
decades. They will clearly enter the world on the
lowest levels of human existence, adding inexorably
to the misery that so many of us feel now. Against
this background, it seems unbelievable that some
governments are encouraging their citizens to have
more children so that the economy will be better able
to support the increasing numbers of elderly people
in their populations, essentially madness in the face
of well鄄understood relationships. Better strategies
must be found!
Moving now to details of the environmental situ鄄
ation in China, which Jianguo Liu and I have re鄄
viewed recently (Liu & Raven, 2010), China has
enjoyed three decades of exceptional economic
growth and become a global economic powerhouse,
with a growth rate three times faster than the world
average. As the Chinese economy has grown, envi鄄
ronmental challenges have increased rapidly. Al鄄
though China has the second鄄largest gross domestic
product (GDP) in the world, its per capita GDP is
still much lower than the per capita GDP of devel鄄
oped countries, with strong efforts being made to in鄄
crease living standards for all citizens. Despite the
fact that China is striving to protect its environment
and improve the efficiency of resource use, increas鄄
ing environmental pollution and resource scarcity
pose a severe challenge to sustainable development.
Because of China忆 s size, the ways that these and
other challenges are met have major implications for
the whole world.
China has chosen environmental protection as a
national principle and sustainable development as a
national strategy and has implemented a series of en鄄
4摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 植 物 分 类 与 资 源 学 报摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 第 33 卷
vironmental programs. Despite these efforts, China忆s
environmental sustainability index remains near the
bottom among all countries. High productivity, as
for example agricultural productivity, has been
bought at the expense of high inputs of fertilizers and
pesticides, which in turn have led to widespread
pollution. Certainly both the government and general
public in China have become increasingly aware of
such problems and have been taking many measures
to protect the environment.
In context, the production, transportation, and
consumption of raw materials and products profound鄄
ly pollute the environment and lead to a variety of
environmental challenges. Sustainable energy cur鄄
rently accounts for 7% of total energy consumed in
China, with hydropower extremely important. How鄄
ever, coal, which is the most polluting form of ener鄄
gy, still predominates. More than 750 000 premature
deaths annually are estimated to occur in China be鄄
cause of > 150 滋 particles emitted by coal鄄burning
plants, a truly disturbing figure. Water shortages
loom, with groundwater levels falling rapidly and
much of the country忆s surface water too polluted for
irrigation, much less for human consumption. Ero鄄
sion, desertification, and urban sprawl have cut the
total agricultural land drastically; the total available
agricultural land is very near the minimum needed to
supply China忆s people adequately with food. In ad鄄
dition, all kinds of natural habitats are being deple鄄
ted and lost rapidly.
Despite widespread reluctance to do so, every
country including China must develop strategies and
economic metrics that take into account the environ鄄
mental costs associated with its development. Devel鄄
opment of the Chinese “green GDP冶 in 2004 repre鄄
sented a positive step in this direction, and, in view
of the extent of environmental problems that are now
so evident, might logically be reinstated. Indeed,
on a global scale, each country must take account of
the effects of its overseas activities as well if the
products of such activities are to be obtained sustain鄄
ably and the world as a whole is to survive in some鄄
thing resembling its present condition.
Turning now to the specific reasons for the ex鄄
tinction of plants and other organisms in China, we
have already discussed habitat degradation and loss,
air pollution, and water pollution, all of which not
only play a major role in the loss of species, but
which are likely to become increasingly important in
the future. The spread of alien invasive species, in鄄
cluding pests and pathogens, is clearly accelerating
in China as it is throughout the world. These inva鄄
ders are driving the loss of species in most regions
and altering natural habitats, often drastically, with
the accompanying loss of many species. The selec鄄
tive harvesting of plants, fungi, and other organisms
used as medicines is an important factor contributing
to the acceleration of extinction rates in China,
where a large majority of the people are dependent
on plants as their major sources of medicine; only
about 15% of the medicines in China are derived
from cultivated sources. These factors leading to ex鄄
tinction that have been well understood for many
years, but they have now been joined by an addi鄄
tional factor, climate change.
In China over the past 50 years, the average
temperature has increased approximately 0. 26益 de鄄
grees per decade. The average temperature in China
is projected to rise 1. 3-2. 1益 by 2020 and 2. 3-
3. 3益 by 2050. In the face of these changes, glac鄄
iers are shrinking, a factor that is alarming in rela鄄
tion to the availability of supplies of water here and
in neighboring countries such as India in the future.
Sea levels throughout the world have risen for many
years and continue to rise by approximately 3 mm per
year, a rate that is steadily accelerating. Climate
change is a very serious factor in biological extinc鄄
tion, especially in a county like China, where so
many species are restricted to high elevations. As
mentioned above, approximately 40% of China忆s ar鄄
ea lies above 2 000 m elevation, and, as the temper鄄
atures increase regionally, the high鄄mountain habi鄄
tats for many species are likely simply to disappear,
their species being lost with them.
51 期摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 Peter H. RAVEN: Plant Conservation in the Future: New Challenges, New Opportunities摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇
Considering habitat destruction, climate change,
the spread of invasive species, and selective hunting
and gathering, it is likely that more than half of the
species in the world will disappear during the 21 st
century. There is no apparent reason to think that
the situation will be better in China. The loss of
such a high proportion of global biodiversity in a sin鄄
gle country would be a tragedy not only for China but
for the world at large; whatever steps are feasible
should be taken to alleviate the problem.
Strategies for plant conservation in China
The plants of China, thanks to the completion
of the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (Wu and
Chen, 2004) and the near completion of its interna鄄
tionally鄄based revision, the Flora of China, which is
on track to be completed in early 2013, are relative鄄
ly well known. Nonetheless, thousands of species
are known only from one or a few collections and a
number that have not been seen in nature for dec鄄
ades. Probably at least 2 000 species, and perhaps
even twice that many, remain to be recognized and
added to the approximately 31 500 that are known
now. In view of this situation, the first criterion for a
truly effective program of plant conservation in China
is to carry out a thorough program of exploration
throughout the country and to reexamine critically
the status of all groups of plants on an ongoing ba鄄
sis. Such an effort will lay the foundation for a really
critical examination of the status of plants in China:
the relative lack of knowledge of many groups of
plants and many areas in China should not be under鄄
estimated.
To determine the conservation status of the
plants of China according to strict IUCN criteria
would be a task of mammoth proportions. In this re鄄
spect, an effort is being made to achieve a level of
understanding and national coordination under the
direction of Qin Haining of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences Institute of Botany, Beijing; some initial
results have been achieved. For eastern China, it
may be possible to organize an effective program for
plant conservation through the collaboration of this
institution with others. For other regions of China as鄄
sessing the conservation status of rare and endan鄄
gered plants will be even more difficult. For exam鄄
ple, in Yunnan Province, most natural habitats at
lower to middle elevations have been or are being
converted rapidly to other uses, with relatively little
inventory work being actively pursued. The Hengdu鄄
an Mountains, the most important region for plant
endemism in China, are large and rugged, with se鄄
ries of local species in many areas that are difficult
of access. The efforts of the Kunming Institute of
Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with
Harvard University and other institutions, to invento鄄
ry the plants of the region and determine their con鄄
servation status, are notable (Sun Hang, this sym鄄
posium). Numerous seed collections are being made
and stored in the Germplasm Bank at Kunming with
duplicates being deposited in the Millennium Seed
Bank at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew ( Li et
al., 2011). It is very important that these efforts be
maintained an that the populations of restricted spe鄄
cies in the Hengduan Mountains, Qinlin Mountains,
and other mountainous areas in China that are rich
in endemic species be monitored continuously in the
future as well in the face of climate change, increas鄄
ing human population pressure, and other factors.
What kinds of plant collections should be built
up in Chinese botanical gardens, including the out鄄
standing new Chenshan Botanical Garden? In past
decades, it appears that there has been far too much
emphasis on the numbers of species and cultivars
held by individual gardens, in a kind of competition
to see which garden has the largest collection. Such
efforts have very limited significance either for China
and globally, and the emphasis ought to continue to
be shifted to native plants and plants of conservation
importance generally. Clearly some Chinese botani鄄
cal gardens will specialize on horticultural plants,
but they too should set more specific criteria for in鄄
cluding individual species and cultivars in their col鄄
lections than has been the case in the past, if they
6摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 植 物 分 类 与 资 源 学 报摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 第 33 卷
are going to do an outstanding job. Mere numbers
may look good in reports, but they simply do not
matter in a world that sorely needs much more fo鄄
cused efforts! In all cases, the original sources of
the plants cultivated ought to be carefully noted and
recorded, with high preference being given to acces鄄
sions of known native origin. In addition, genetical鄄
ly鄄adequate samples of particular species, and espe鄄
cially of native plants, ought to be grown to the ex鄄
tent possible. Such samples would amount to per鄄
haps 30 - 50 individuals in a sexually鄄reproducing
species. Such collections will have the greatest inter鄄
est scientifically and they will also contribute most to
the preservation of the species involved.
Botanical garden collections of this nature
should be built up systematically, with emphasis
placed on the most highly endangered species. If the
botanical gardens of China would form a network,
perhaps similar to that of the highly鄄effected Center
for Plant Conservation in the United States, with
each garden responsible for a particular region and a
defined set of plant species held for conservation
purposes, the overall cause of conservation in China
would be well served. In such a system, the indivi鄄
dual gardens commit to the maintenance of genetical鄄
ly鄄adequate samples of individual, designated spe鄄
cies indefinitely, and also to obtaining samples of
those species to be placed in seed banks. In that
way, the national holdings can be increased most ef鄄
ficiently and the results for conservation optimized.
For the Shanghai region, the Chenshan Botani鄄
cal Garden will assume the primary role in conser鄄
ving native species in the future. The native area on
Chenshan Hill is one important locale for pursing
this goal; native plants can be established well in
the Quarryhill Botanical Garden; and the areas of n鄄
ative vegetation that remain near the research and
administration building can be maintained and per鄄
haps enriched for conservation purposes. The out鄄
standing greenhouse facilities, amounting to some
12 000 m2, will play a prominent role in making it
possible to establish many plant species in the Gar鄄
den. Coordinating the conservation of plants in east
China, using all of the strategies enumerated here
and networking strongly with other botanical gardens
in the region, will be an important function for this
Garden in achieving its conservation objectives. The
Shanghai Botanical Garden, on the other hand, will
now concentrate on horticultural plants and public a鄄
menity, a role that this institution is now playing
with increased effectiveness. Both gardens will con鄄
tinue to display a wide variety of interesting plants,
and both will encourage public participation, inclu鄄
ding the enlistment of the public in the formation of
effective sustainability strategies. The dual funding
that these institutions enjoy from the Shanghai Mu鄄
nicipal Government and the Chinese Academy of
Sciences should allow them to coordinate their activi鄄
ties both in horticulture and in research well to serve
the overall needs of science, conservation, and pub鄄
lic education for the Shanghai region and beyond.
Traditionally, botanical gardens have assumed
that they would be able to build up populations of
endangered species and ultimately reintroduce them
to natural habitats in which they would be able to
maintain themselves. Doing so is difficult at best, as
reviewed recently in an excellent symposium on the
subject sponsored by the Center for Plant Conserva鄄
tion. In the modern world, where the rapid altera鄄
tion and attrition of all natural habitats has become
the “ normal冶 situation, the survival of species is
problematical virtually everywhere. When one con鄄
siders the ongoing effects of global climate change,
the situation becomes even more complex: the cha鄄
racteristics of site selected for reintroduction may
soon change drastically, and even the conditions at
the botanical garden itself where particular species
are being maintained may change so drastically that
their indefinite maintenance can no longer be taken
for granted.
Seed storage, especially given the greatly im鄄
proved techniques for dealing with seeds formerly
considered “ recalcitrant 冶, may therefore prove a
more dependable means of assuring the conservation
71 期摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 Peter H. RAVEN: Plant Conservation in the Future: New Challenges, New Opportunities摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇
for many kinds of plants. In this connection, the es鄄
tablishment of a comprehensive germplasm bank for
the conservation of native plants at the Kunming In鄄
stitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Li
et al., 2011), is a very welcome step. Especially
provided that variation within individual species is
taken into account and collected, seed banks can be
very effective, even though they require indefinite
attention. In the long run, the reestablishment of
plants held in seed banks in natural sites will of
course depend on the establishment of stable climatic
and other conditions in the world of the future.
Without viable material of the species, obviously,
nothing will be possible. Additional seed banks
could certainly be established elsewhere in China,
but it is highly desirable that the seed samples be
collected according to uniform standards and the o鄄
verall program be fully coordinated.
In nature, of course, the preservation of areas
with natural vegetation remains a conservation strate鄄
gy of central importance. China has been building an
impressive system of nature reserves, reaching 2 538
in 2008 and occupying ~1. 49 million km2 ( ~15. 5%
of China忆s territory). For instance, >60 nature re鄄
serves have been established to protect giant pandas.
Unfortunately, the congruence of areas rich in en鄄
demic biodiversity and nature reserves is often not
close, and the boundaries of preserved areas have
rarely been established in such a way as to conserve
plants. Furthermore, many of reserves that have
been established lack sufficient funding and suffer
from ineffective management and integration with the
needs of the people living near them. The control of
invasive species of plants and animals generally but
especially in protected areas clearly must be an inte鄄
gral element in any successful conservation strategy.
Species that are heavily impacted by gathering them
extensively in nature should be brought into cultiva鄄
tion, with steps taken to ensure that cultivated mate鄄
rial will increasingly become the source of the foods,
medicines, or other materials that the plant species
provide.
For global climate change, mitigation on a
world scale is the only strategy that offers a true de鄄
fense against the widespread extinction that will oth鄄
erwise result from the kinds of changes in tempera鄄
tures, precipitation, and other factors that we are
experiencing. To the extent that efforts to mitigate
the changes prove unsuccessful, cultivation in se鄄
lected habitats or the long鄄term preservation of seeds
in seed banks appears to offer the only hope for con鄄
servation.
Concluding remarks
Achieving environmental sustainability is the
most daunting challenge faced by human beings in
their entire history. Considering China忆 s goal to
quadruple 2000忆s per capita GDP by 2020, environ鄄
mental sustainability will be difficult to attain without
a well鄄considered systems approach that engenders
bold action. It is our belief and hope that China will
play an elevated role in promoting the necessary
global transition to sustainability, because China is
endowed with growing sustainability awareness,
technical capacity, improving governance, an excel鄄
lent and rapidly鄄improving education, and rapidly
increasing economic power. Population growth, lev鄄
els of consumption, and the selection of particular
kinds of technology are of fundamental importance in
pursuing the goal of sustainability. In this regard,
cooperation and trust among all nations, and espe鄄
cially between giants like China and the United
States, are particularly important in our common ef鄄
forts to build a sustainable world.
In China, greatly increased prosperity and the
expansion of metropolitan areas with the massive
movement of people from the countryside are posing
serious problems to the continued existence of many
species. The maintenance of wild areas in urban are鄄
as and around farms will not only contribute substan鄄
tially to the maintenance of biodiversity, but it will
also contribute directly to the education of children
who live in these areas to their responsibility for
helping to build a sustainable world. Botanical gar鄄
8摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 植 物 分 类 与 资 源 学 报摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 第 33 卷
dens, including locally the Shanghai Botanical Gar鄄
den and the Chenshan Botanical Garden, can and
should take steps to directly provide information to
the public about sustainability. The gardens should
make it clear to those who visit the gardens that they
can and should play a direct role in assisting pro鄄
gress toward our necessary common goal of building
a sustainable world.
For the direct conservation of China忆 s native
plants, the formation of well鄄selected and well鄄fund鄄
ed nature reserves that take into account the ranges
of threatened and endangered plants; the cultivation
of genetically鄄adequate samples of selected plants in
botanical gardens, accompanied by efforts to reintro鄄
duce them in nature; and the storage of large sample
of seeds representing the genetic diversity of species
in seed banks, will all be important strategies. In
attaining the overall goal of conservation, however,
nothing is of more fundamental importance than edu鄄
cating the general public about sustainability and es鄄
pecially building in all children an appreciation of
nature and the role of human beings here on Earth.
That is a noble cause, and one for which botanical
gardens are especially well suited. All of us gathered
here wish both botanical gardens in Shanghai, and
all of the similar institutions in China, every success
in developing their programs and especially in their
efforts to preserve plant diversity for the future.
Summary of recommendations for plant
conservation in China
1. Rigorous inventories of plants need to be pur鄄
sued in many areas of China and made available
generally.
2. The conservation status of all relatively un鄄
common plants in China ought to be determined ac鄄
cording to IUCN鄄recommended standards.
3. Both recommended activities should be great鄄
ly accelerated in relatively poorly鄄known areas that
are rich in endemic species, such as the Hengduan
and Qinlin mountains.
4. In areas such as Yunnan Province, where
deforestation and the destruction of natural vegetation
is proceeding rapidly, these activities particularly
need to be accelerated.
5. In the East China Plane botanical inventory
needs to be updated and the conservation evaluation
of species should be intensified, accompanied by the
intensification of conservation activities in the re鄄
gion.
6. Genetically adequate samples of rare pant
species, especially of those most highly endangered,
should be brought into cultivation in botanical gar鄄
dens. These taxa should be reintroduced to native
habitats to the extent possible, with the results of
these attempts studied and generalized.
7. Merely accumulating high numbers of species
and cultivars should not be taken as an appropriate
measure of success for botanical gardens; the quality
and nature of their collections provide much more
important goals, and conservation should predomi鄄
nate as a rationale for building the size of botanical
garden collections.
摇 摇 8. In a world of accelerating global climate
change, seed banks will become increasingly neces鄄
sary as a central strategy for conserving plants.
Therefore, increasing the number and quality of
samples in seed banks should receive a very high
priority in conserving Chinese and other plants.
摇 摇 9. Conservation will take place in nature re鄄
serves and similar areas, which now comprise about
one sixth of the total area of China; these protected
areas, however, often lack adequate funding and are
often not integrated well enough with the local com鄄
munities in their vicinities.
References:
Li DZ, Yang XY, Pritchard HW, 2011. Strategies and challenges in
plant germplasm conservation [ J ] . Plant Diversity and Re鄄
sources, 33 (1): 11—18
Wu ZY, Chen SC, 2004. Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, To鄄
mus 1 [M]. Beijing: Science Press
91 期摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 Peter H. RAVEN: Plant Conservation in the Future: New Challenges, New Opportunities摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇 摇