Abstract:

The orchid family is considered to be one of the flagship taxa of biodiversity conservation. It is very important to accurately assess the extinction risk of each species for the effective conservation. However, the assessment itself presents a challenge to conservation biology due to the biological features of orchids. Here we try to evaluate the accuracy of the assessment of the extinction risk of Calanthe from China based on both herbarium specimens and field observations. Our results indicate that static information regarding the geographic range and populations of Calanthe can be explored accurately from herbarium specimens, while information based on fieldwork is more accurate for assessing the living condition of each species but less effective for locating species and populations, especially very narrowly distributed species. As a result, two endemic species of Calanthe from China were assessed as Extinct in the Wild (EW), and 16 species identified as Critically Endangered (CR). By contrast, the dimensions of Calanthe from China threatened outnumber the existing research study.

Key words: IUCN Red List, Calanthe, risk assessment, orchid conservation, accuracy