Students, villagers put huge strain on city's rare species, says ecologist

Beijing's wild ornamental plants are facing a fight for survival as students and residents continue to raid their natural habitats, ecologists have warned.

"Many of the precious species that used to flourish in certain areas of the capital have diminished sharply over the past 20 years," said expert Ding Xuexin. "Some may have already disappeared for good."

As founder of the Mountain Plant Research Office, he has kept a close eye on Beijing's plantlife for more than two decades and says there have been some worrying developments of late.

Research carried out by Ding and experts at Beijing Forestry University suggests at least 100 varieties have suffered sharp reductions in numbers since 2009.

No official figures are available.

"Many plants that were once abundant were extremely hard to find in their usual habitats during our research," said Ding. "The bigger problem is that there is no official judgment of whether they have disappeared or not."

Among the chief culprits for the decline are university students and amateur horticulturists, who are snatching up rare specimens during expeditions into the wilds of Beijing.

Xiaolongmen Forestry Station in Mentougou district, for example, accepts tens of thousands of novice botanists every year to collect a set list of plants for field practice.

"I once checked a student's collection bag and it contained many types of precious orchids that were not on the list. There were also many of the same specimen," Ding told METRO.

"Enthusiasts steal the plants to put in their greenhouses, too. They may think they're doing research, but it's actually worsening the situation."

Villagers are partially to blame, especially farmers who destroy habitats to use the land for economic crops, he said.

"In Haituo Mountain, residents tried to replace natural alpine meadow with larch, which will cause many wild plants that grew there to die out."

Mining projects and the growth in suburban tourism, which is swallowing up land for new facilities, has also had an impact.

Song Jun, a spokesman for the Beijing Tourism Development Commission, told METRO that district authorities are responsible for approving new attractions, as well as any relevant ecological studies.

Although rare to Beijing, the 1,100 or so species of wild plant that grow within its boundary can all be found in other parts of the country.

However, statistics show roughly 20 percent are considered "precious" in the capital, with one-fourth highly sensitive to changes in the environment.

Ding admitted he is not confident about the trend being reversed.

"The reasons I've mentioned, together with the increasingly dry weather, have seen the disappearance of many hygrophilous plants (those that thrive in wet or moist soil) from their habitats," he said.

"Cypripedium flavum, one of the rarest wild plants in Beijing, was once only found on Baiwang Mountain. There has been no record of it now for 20 years.

"Since there isn't much we can do about the weather, the most effective way may be to tell professionals and students that there are other ways of watching and investigating plants, such as taking photos and visiting often," he added.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/08/2011)