Abstract:

According to the items of “Technical Guide of Delimiting National Ecological Protection Redline—Ecological Function Baselines” and the status of plant protection, we discussed principles and methods of delimiting protection redline of rare and endangered plants in China. We selected rare and endangered plants according to the List of Wild Plants under State Protection as protected plants to delimit protection redline, among which first level protected plants were defined as redline key plants. Based on various data sources within the literature and specimen records, we established the attribution database and geographical distribution database of rare and endangered plants in China. On the platform of GIS, the distribution of redline protected plants was studied on the basis of high precision database. Based on the theory of conservation biology, we analyzed and evaluated the in situ protection status of redline protected plants in reserves. Further, on the basis of hotspots and GAP analysis, we identified the typical hotspots and important buffers of plant distribution within the scope of distribution. Combining land use and human interference factors, we finally delimited the overall protection redline of rare and endangered plants in China. By the detailed analysis at national scale, redline of the rare and endangered plants was determined to be 7.163 × 10⁵ km², which accounts for 7.45% of China’s land area. The principles, methods and scheme of delimiting plant protection redline are of great significance in accurately defining the redline of ecological security, and will provide a basis for ecological security in China.

Key words: key protected plants, geographical distribution pattern, hotspots, GAP analysis, ecological security, nature reserves