The wild Pinellia ternata resource was surveyed by field investigation, visiting surveys combine with literature study and changing factors of the wild P. ternata in the area of Huanghuai Plain were analyzed. The results indicated that Huanghuai Plain wild P. ternata resources were scarce and nearly extinct. The chemical farming methods in Huanghuai Plain have endangered the survival of the wild P. ternata.
China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Endangered Species ; Pinellia ; growth & development

It is of great significance to carry out scientific investigation of threatened species and assess their in-situ conservation status in order to guide the conservation and management of these species within a region. In this study, we explored and assessed the biodiversity and in-situ conservation status of the threatened medicinal vascular plants(TMVPs) in central China. The results showed that there were 276 TMVPs in central China, including 18 critically endangered(CR), 77 endangered(EN), and 181 vulnerable(VU) species. Of which, 222 TMVPs were distributed in 49 national nature reserves, with an in-situ conservation rate of 80.43%. And the in-situ conservation rate of CR, EN and NR species were 83.33%, 77.92% and 81.22%, respectively. The complementary algorithm was used to select the nine national nature reserves with the highest protection and complementary contribution to the TMVPs. The cumulative protection contribution rate of these nine nature reserves was 81.98%. Fifty-four TMVPs were distributed outside of national nature reserves, while mainly distributed within 10 hotspot counties including Badong county, Hubei province, Sangzhi county, Hunan province, Jianghua Yao Autonomous county, Hunan province and so on. In general, TMVPs are well protected by the national nature reserves in central China. However, there are still some conservation gaps. It is necessary to carry out further field investigation on the species with conservation gaps and identify the gap areas, so as to provide scientific guidance for the optimization of the conservation of TMVPs in this region.
Biodiversity ; China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Endangered Species ; Plants, Medicinal ; Tracheophyta

OBJECTIVETo investigate the history of the medicinal uses, resources, distribution, habitat and population characteristic of Coptis deltoidea, and provide basis for the protection and rational development and utilization of Radix Coptidis Deltoideae.

METHODThe relevant literature and data was scrutinized and herbarium was compared, interview and field survey methods were carried out.

RESULTThe medicinal history, resources, distribution, population characteristic and protective strategy of C. deltoidea were summarized. The sustainable development of C. deltoidea was discussed.

CONCLUSIONThe resource is endangered, the germplasm resources should be intentionally protected and ensure the sustainable development and utilization of C. deltoidea.

In this paper, the production and marketing of medicinal materials of plant origin are sorted and analyzed. The total annual yield and total output value are presented. The resources sustainable development is discussed by three aspects, i.e., the yield Top 60 items, rare and endangered species and several wild drugs should be deeply concerned. Relevant measures and implementation are recommended respectively.
Conservation of Natural Resources ; economics ; Endangered Species ; Marketing ; Materia Medica ; economics ; Plants, Medicinal ; growth & development

OBJECTIVETo investigate and study the endangered Tibetan medicinal plant species, their moisture content, biomass and resources reserves in Lhasa region.

METHODThe rare and endangered Tibetan medicinal plant resources were investigated by plot-quadrat method, walking and inquiry ways, sampling and drying method.

RESULTThere were 37 species of rare and endangered plants, belonging to 22 families and 34 genera in Lhasa region. The moisture content of aerial part was higher than that of underground part in many plants. The moisture content of Przewalskia tangutica was the highest (91.97%), and the lowest one was Fritillaria delavayi (only 25.99%). The mean biomass of Rubus biflorus was the highest (1 830.480 g), that of Cordyceps sinensis was the lowest (0.291 g). The root-shoot ratio of Asparagus filicinus was the maximum (5.313), the minimum was Aconitum gymnandrum (0.286). The largest output was 18.000 kg x hm(-2) for Berberis agricola, the output of Saxifraga pasumensis was the lowest (0.007 kg x hm(-2)). The resources reserves of the rare and endangered plants were 15683.697 t in Lhasa region, the maximum was 7690.230 t for B. agricola, 49.03% of the total reserves, the minimum was 2.393 t for S. pasumensis, only 0.015%.

CONCLUSIONThe characteristics of rare and endangered plants were as follows: abundant species and complex habitats, widely distribution but uneven, rich reserves and high economic value. We suggested to update the endangered level of medicinal plants, strengthen the scientific research on these plants, maintain sustainable utilization of the rare and endangered plants in Lhasa region.

China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Electricity

The resource of Sinopodophyllum emodi in Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan province were surveyed by the ways of documents, interview, quadrat and market investigation. The results indicated that S. emodi were mainly distributed in central part from Taibai Shan of Shanxi province along the middle and high mountain on either side of Hengduan mountain which from north to south and in Tibetan plateau of China, the suitable eco-environment of S. emodi was dominated by valleys, wet forests and low bush-woods vegetation which comparatively dry on plateau with the altitude focused on 1 5004 500 meters, and the distribution density of simple alpine meadow was relatively lower. Illumination, water, soil, temperature and altitude had significant influences on the growth, distribution and reserves of S. emodi from different angles. In recent years, there was sharp increase of market requirement in Xiaoyelian (fruit) which were used in Tibetan medicine and the underground part which was used for the extraction of podophyllotoxin, excess collection of the underground part was the primary cause of the rapid decreasing resource of S. emodi. It is suggested that the management of rational collection should be strengthen and the development of culturing and production should be meanwhile accelerated.
Berberidaceae ; growth & development ; China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; economics ; statistics & numerical data ; Endangered Species ; economics ; statistics & numerical data ; Plants, Medicinal ; growth & development

The rapid appraisal method was used to identify the botanicals used ethnomedicinally from a total of 300 randomly selected respondents drawn from the existing three geo-political zones of Ekiti State, Nigeria. The results obtained revealed that about 40% of the 71 botanicals identified presently rare. Most of the presently abundant botanicals are species primarily cultivated for other purpose other than medicine. Most of the identified species are valued for their curative effects on malaria and fever, the predominant diseases in the study area. The need for the conservation of the rare species cannot be over emphasised as most rural dwellers in the study area depend mostly on herbs from these species. Strategies towards the attainment of this goal are proposed.
Conservation of Natural Resources ; Nigeria ; Plants, Medicinal

This paper presented a study on the dynamic of essential oil accumulation in Japanese mint SK33 (M. arrvensis L.) and the influence of storage time on its quantity and quality. This mint was cultivated at Co Nhue experimental station, Tu Liem district, Ha Noi City between 2000 and 2002. The results showed that during the vegetation and development process, the essential oil content in the plant gradually increased and achieved maximum at first branch flowering stage and reduced to minimum at the end of flowering stage. The menthol content in essential oil of Japanese mint SK33 reached the highest value at full flowering stage (81.79%). The best harvest time for this mint is from the beginning flowering stage to full flowering period. After harvesting the whole plants can be stored during 20 days without the change in content and quality of essential oil
oils ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Oils, Volatile

This study was conducted to investigate the wild and cultivated resource situation of Rheum tanguticum in main production area of China, estimate its reserves, and put forward the feasible approach for the sustainable utilization of R. tanguticum. On the basis of the literature data about R. tanguticum, conbined with interview, investigation and sampling investigation, the total reserve of resources is estimated using the route-quadrat method and the vegetation and soil-type map area method proposed by our research group. The results indicate that there is no obvious change between the present distribution ranges of the wild R. tanguticum and its historical records, but its population density has changed clearly. The reserve of the wild R. tanguticum has seriously declined in lots of place, even faced the exhaustion in some regions. According to the investigation, the resource reserve of the wild R. tanguticum is no more than 5 000 t, and the cultivated is about 1 607 t. The resource reserve of the wild R. tanguticum is nearly depleted, and this suggests that the wild R. tanguticum should be enrolled in the protection plant list, and the cultivated will become the main resource of Rhubarb in the future. So it is extremely neccessary to collect and protect the germplasm resource of R. tanguticum, establish the germplasm nursery and repository, and conduct breeding research on those bases.
China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Rheum ; growth & development