Plant introduction and ex-situ conservation in South China National Botanical Garden

Abstract

Based on the analysis of introduction and survival records, this paper reports the status of introduction, survival, and ex-situ conservation of plant species in the South China National Botanical Garden (SCNBG). The results are as follows: (1) A total of 19 154 species, 99 subspecies and 136 varieties (80 597 accession numbers) of vascular plants belonging to 325 families and 3 952 genera have been introduced since 1956, of which 11 581 species, 52 subspecies and 80 varieties (24 352 accession number) belonging to 290 families and 2 777 genera are surviving currently; the introduction records include 565 species of National Key Protected Wild Plants (421 species survived), covering 94.7% (36/38) of the first-class National Key Protected Wild Plants (29 species survived), 76.4%（269/352）of the second-class National Key Protected Wild Plants (229 species survived), and 54.3%（547/1 008）threatened species (414 species survived) in South China. (2) The most species are introduced from Guangdong Province (7 193 accession numbers, 2 523 species), followed by Hainan Province (3 658 accession numbers, 1 593 species), Guangxi Province (4 744 accession numbers, 1 559 species) and other surrounding provinces (regions); the SCNBG has obtained some precious plant resources from the same latitude regions by introducing and exchanging species with 61 countries around the world. (3) 17 specialized gardens for ex-situ conservation based on plant taxa (e. g. Magnolia Garden) show a high level in terms of introduction quantity and survival rate. (4) The correlation between the number of surviving species and the frequency of introduction is extremely significant (r = 0.85***). (5) The survival rate of introduced species distributed naturally in South China is higher than that in other provinces. In the future, the SCNBG needs to strengthen the ex-situ conservation of plants through following points: (1) On the basis of investigation, cataloguing, evaluation and research, strengthening the introduction and collection of rare and endangered plants, native plants and economically important plants in tropical and subtropical regions, further improving the quantity and quality of ex-situ conservation; (2) Establishing an ex-situ conservation network system for plants in South China to effectively protect plant diversity in this region; (3) Improving the infrastructure construction and information management level of ex-situ conservation for higher efficiency; (4) Enhancing international scientific research cooperation and species exchange.

Keywords

• botanical garden
• ex-situ conservation
• vascular plants
• plant introduction
• survival