Final Report - Asian Development Bank

8
TA 4721-PRC: Preparing the Shaanxi-Qinling Mountains Integrated Ecosystem Management Project
Final Report Appendix 5
Table 4: Distribution pattern of genera of seed plants in the Qinling 1
Distribution type Number
of
genera
in region
Percent of
all genera
in region
Number
of species
in region
Percent
of all
species
in region
Number of
species in
China with
this pattern
Cosmopolitan 70 7.8 443 14.2 104 67.3
Pantropic 106 11.9 333 10.7 362 29.3
Tropical Asia & Tropical
America
10 1.1 21 0.7 62 16.1
Old World Tropic 26 2.9 54 1.7 177 14.6
Tropical Asia & Tropical
Australia
Tropical Asia & Tropical
Africa
17 1.9 31 1.0 148 11.5
22 2.5 45 1.4 164 13.4
Tropical Asia 39 4.4 73 2.3 611 6.4
North temperate 229 25.7 1,286 41.2 302 75.8
East Asia & North
America
66 7.4 160 5.1 124 53.2
Old World temperate 91 10.2 258 8.3 164 55.5
Temperate Asia 24 2.7 71 2.3 55 43.6
Mediterranean, West Asia
& Central Asia
23 2.6 42 1.3 171 13.5
Central Asia 11 1.2 13 0.4 116 9.5
East Asia 119 13.3 243 7.8 299 39.8
China endemic 39 4.4 51 1.6 257 15.2
Total 892 100 3,124 100 3,116 31.0
1 Source: Ying and Boufford 1998
Percent of
all genera
in China
with this
pattern
(i) Cosmopolitan genera: Seventy genera, mainly aquatics and mesophytes, are
cosmopolitan. These represent 36 of the 158 native families in the Qinling and include
443 species. They comprise about 14% of the flora of the Qinling, and 23% of the
total families. Many mesophytes such as Carex L., Polygonum L., Ranunculus L.,
Viola L., Gentiana L., and Cyperus L. are either the dominant or common species of
the herbaceous layer in forests and in montane grasslands.
(ii) Pantropical genera: In the Qinling, 106 genera, or 12% of all genera, are pantropical
(found in all three tropical regions, the Americas, Africa-Madagascar, Asia-
Australasia). They contain 333 species, or 11%, of all species in the Qinling.
Although these genera are mainly found in the tropics, some, such as Ilex L.,
Cynanchum L., Impatiens L., Buddleja L., Ficus L., Cuscuta L. and Pilea Lindley,
extend to subtropical or even temperate latitudes. However, the distributions of many
of these genera in the tropics are often in cool, moist, montane areas.
(iii) Tropical America and tropical Asia: Only ten genera in nine families, representing 1.1
% of all genera, are included in this category. These are all woody genera and include
20 species, or only 0.6% of the total Qinling flora. These genera are usually at lower
elevations in the Qinling, but a few occur in forests at higher elevations. In China,
some of these genera, such as Meliosma Blume, Sagereia Brongn. and Picrasma
Blume may extend north of the Qinling but most of them, such as Phoebe Nees.
Sloanea L., Eurya Thunb. and Sapindus L. are distributed only to the south.
(iv) Old World tropics: This distribution type is difficult to distinguish from the subtropical
and sometimes even temperate pattern. One example is the genus Melia L. which
has about 15 species in the Old World tropics but only two species in China, one of
which extends as far north as the northern slope of the Qinling. In the Qinling, 26
genera, or approximately 3% of all genera, are Old World tropical. These contain
about 54 species, or 1.7% of all species in the Qinling. Among them, Elatostema
Gaudichaud, Cayratia Juss. and Asparagus L. are found in the herb layer of the
broadleaved deciduous forests, while the shrub Alangium Lam. is rather common
along streams or at the edges of forests.