Throughout the world, plant diversity is being reduced rapidly by the extinction of species and of local differentiated populations. In presenting possible solutions to this very serious problem I will first briefly describe the factors that have led to the development of China′s wealth of biodiversity; then examine the causes of extinction, with an emphasis on the situation in China; and conclude with recommendations on how to most effectively conserve plants in this huge and botanically diverse country.
植物种质资源保存，特别是种子库保存是各种迁地保护措施中最为经济有效的方法。通过对成千上万个物种的有效保存，种子库为减缓物种的灭绝和气候变化对生物多样性的影响发挥了特别关键的作用。本文较为详细地介绍了“中国西南野生生物种质资源库”的立项背景和最新进展，同时介绍了世界上其它几个主要的植物迁地保存设施，特别是英国皇家植物园的“千年种子库”。结合“全球植物保护策略”讨论了中国植物濒危状况，估计我国受威胁的物种比例达20-25%，甚至更高。本文还简要讨论了种子保存中的一些科学问题，包括超低温保存，并强调了植物分类学和种子生物学的学科建设在植物种质资源保护中的重要意义。
In China, a new period of development in the first decade of the 21st Century with rapid urbanization, was marked by investment in construction of over five billion yuan. At this time of rapid change it is important for botanical gardens to follow three principles, “scientific contents, artistic appearance, and cultural display”, so as not to become public parks. The scientific component is important. It is not necessary for every botanical garden to do basic botanical research but they should all be involved in plant conservation issues, especially ex-situ conservation and keep accurate data on their living collections. Although a heavy responsibility this documentation is the foundation and the bottom line of scientific meaning for a botanical garden. Economic plant research, exploring new resources, was a major contribution of botanical gardens historically and remains important for sustainable cities and the national economy of China. Education and ecotourism are important ways for botanical gardens to serve the public displaying the interesting plant collections to enhance relaxation and well-being. It is reasonable to make income through all activities in a botanical garden but this should not be the major goal. It should be understood botanical gardens are comprehensive and multi-functional bodies determined by science, the arts and culture.
The last decade in China has been a period of great growth and renewal. More and more public garden has been built, many those gardens are built with Western-influenced styles and lack of Chinese factor. A garden with a strong sense of place will clearly put the visitor in a specific locality by astute use of design to support a distinctive regional character. Here the author gives several examples of famous gardens about how to keep the sense of place and try to give some useful suggestion on Chinese garden build.
The history of botanic gardens in the United Kingdom is sketched out with particular reference to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and its changing role to meet societal requirements over 250 years. Kew′s position as a modern scientific institution confronting today′s environmental issues through its Breathing Planet Programme yet retaining its heritage buildings and collections is pinpointed.
Scholars in the natural sciences rely on historic literature more than any other branch of science. Yet much of this material has limited global distribution and much of it is available in only a few select libraries. This wealth of knowledge is available only to those few who can gain direct access to significant library collections, a situation that is considered one of the chief impediments to the efficiency of research in the field. Community support and new technologies led to the formation of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The BHL is an international collaboration of natural history libraries working together to make biodiversity literature available for use by the widest possible audience through open access and sustainable management.
The National Natural History Museum plays a key role in the implementation of the GSPC through its botanical gardens, the Conservatoire Botanique National du Bassin Parisien, the Herbarium, and also by providing expertise on all areas of the Strategy (botany, conservation, ethonobotany, article 8j, substainable use), etc. For 2 of the goals of GSPC (conserving plant diversity, Understanding and Documenting Plant Diversity), the Muséum has developed activities all over the world, including compilation of various flora and description of new species, as well as establishment of plant conservation schemes and habitat protection policies. It also conserves endangered species in the botanical garden.
Plants can generate an overwhelming variety of structurally diversified organic compounds called secondary metabolites. These compounds usually perform interesting biological activities and important functions in influencing interactions between plants and other organisms. They are also widely utilized as pharmaceuticals, insecticides, dyes, flavors and fragrances. Plant genome sequencing, transcriptome and metabolome analyses have provided huge amounts of data to explain the great diversity of secondary metabolites. This knowledge in turn will help us better understand their ecological role and is a creating novel tool for genetic engineering of plant secondary metabolism.
China is the birth-place of Traditional Chines Medicine (TCM) and has a rich diversity of medicinal plant resources. With the rapid increase in consumer demands for crude drugs and natural health products, many medicinal plant species are threatened with extinction from overexploitation and habitat destruction. To ensure the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources, we discuss in this article, a conservation framework consisting of conservation strategies, cultivation practices and various technologies. Conservation strategies include establishing in-situ and ex-situ conservation centers, setting up government policies and regulations, establishing methods for resource surveying and trade monitoring and establishing and enforcing Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). In terms of technologies, we use a remote multi-level sensing system and DNA barcoding technologies as examples to demonstrate their roles in the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plant resources in China.
Biodiversity research increasingly relies on distribution networks for dealing with large-scale primary data. Up-to-date information on biodiversity is critical for the proper management and conservation of any area. The first step towards conservation should be to compile an authoritative species inventory or checklist. Catalogue of Life: Higher Plants in China (CNPC) is an ongoing biodiversity informatics project with the aim to integrate existing higher plants inventory data, and provide access via an internet based web service to public user and the scientific community. The CNPC, for the first time, provides integrated and authoritative taxonomic information on higher plant species found in China, and this database will be permanent, free and continously updated. Presently, a total of 34377 species have been included in the database. Among of them, 16620 species are only found in China. Taxa are classified into 432 families and 3941 genera. The CNPC will be an important source for scientists working on Chinese flora, and will play an important role in helping to achieve the targets set under the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in the future.
The continuously increasing demands on botanic gardens during the last few decades have led to a huge in increase administration and an urgent need for additional specialized personnel, especially botanists, teachers, database specialists and administrative staff. Instead of meeting these requirements, many botanic gardens are faceing a severe decrease in funding and personnel. Larger gardens provide the opportunity to distribute several tasks to different employees, whereas small gardens are short staffed and often run by a single curator who has to fulfill all functions. In order to meet actual demands more easily, the Austrian botanic gardens are linked nationally via an active workgroup. This network not only allows the distribution of information but also facilitates the sharing of duties. A listserver speeds up the communication and correspondence within the workgroup, collection priorities and projects (e.g., GSPC) are coordinated, seedbanking becomes decentralized, printed matters are shared and distributed, etc. Small gardens with only few employees can participate in projects by taking on small-ideally using with their special resources-in order not to fall behind. In addition, there is also an urgent need for international networking by means of plant and seed exchange (Index Seminum), BGCI membership, discussion groups, personal contacts and projects. Mission statements, special marketing strategies for public relations, integrating projects of other workgroup members and adapted public awareness programs are important to focus attention to small gardens and to help them keep alive.
China′s rich floral diversity includes more than 33000 vascular plant species, representing approximately 10 percent of all known plant species. Over half of these species are endemic to China. However, China′s rapid economic development in the last 30 years and continuous population growth have seriously damaged plant resources in the wild and the ecological environment, resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of endangered species. There are nearly 4000 to 5000 higher plants that are now threatened or on the verge of extinction. To help halt the loss of Chinese plant diversity, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) has developed a China programme and opened its first office based in Guangzhou in 2008. This office works along with Chinese partners aiming to secure Chinese plant diversity through integrated conservation approaches with reintroduction/population reinforcement, engagement of local communities in conservation activities, capacity building in horticulture and environmental education and public outreach.
上海辰山植物园于2005年开始筹建，与此同时启动了的植物收集工作。本文就辰山植物园基本情况、植物收集中长远规划、进展及技术策略进行了论述。活植物收集和标本收集是辰山植物园植物收集工作的两个方面。活植物收集包括以华东植物区系植物为主的物种收集和以上海适生的观赏植物为主的园艺品种收集，如鸢尾属、绣球属、荚蒾属、锦带属和绣线菊属的观赏园艺品种。截止到2010年，辰山植物园共收集了9000种和园艺品种。其中，华东植物区系物种有1700种，来自世界范围专业苗圃的园艺品种有2800个，另有4500种和品种是种植于温室的热带和亚热带植物。目前共收集了近10000份标本，多数为研究和活植物收集的凭证标本，全部存放于上海辰山植物园标本馆（CSH）。
由于横断山地区特殊的地理效应，第四纪冰期气候的反复变化对该地区植物的地理分布和居群遗传结构产生重要影响。为了揭示该地区分布的物种的谱系地理结构，检测了该地区特有的、生于湿地环境的植物海仙报春(Primula poissonii)的叶绿体trnL-F和trnT-L两个序列变异。共对13个居群167个个体的两个叶绿体片段进行测序，共发现11个单倍型。三种单倍型被共享，其他单倍型都只存在于单个居群内。分子变异分析 (AMOVA) 结果表明分布区内海仙报春的遗传变异主要存在于居群间 (99.08%), 且居群间的遗传分化很高 (GST =0.916, FST=0.99077, NST=0.973), 有着极显著的谱系地理学结构 (NST>GST, P<0.01) 和较低的居群间平均基因流 (Nm=0.08)。结合嵌套分支分析 (NCA)，本文的研究结果推测该物种在冰期可能存在多个避难所, 并没有表现出大多数温带植物在第四纪冰期所经历过的种群集体扩张和迁移的现象,异域片段化被认为是该物种现有单倍型分布格局形成的主要原因。海仙报春的谱系地理结构是气候的反复波动和横断山特殊的地理环境互相作用的结果。
福建地处亚热带，其维管植物多样性已经有过广泛的研究，但其苔类和角苔类植物的多样性却鲜为人知。在本研究中，作者基于先前的苔藓植物文献报道和近期的野外工作以及对华东师范大学标本馆部分馆藏标本的研究结果，编写了福建苔类和角苔类植物的最新名录。福建共有苔类植物41科79属351种，角苔类植物1科4属6种。本研究新增福建苔类新记录82种。福建苔类和角苔类植物区系主要由细鳞苔科（94种），耳叶苔科（32种），羽苔科（25种），扁萼苔科（23种）和指叶苔科（21种）等一些热带和亚热带的大科组成。除种数较多的属以外，63个属的种数不足5种，其中包括33个单种属。福建苔类和角苔类植物的区系地理分布主要以东亚、热带亚洲和北温带成分为主。福建特有种仅Solenostoma parviperianthum一种。与台湾相比，尽管两地植物间具有较高的相似性，福建在苔类和角苔类植物的多样性以及特有成分上都还远不及台湾丰富。
As leaders calling for the conservation of the world′s plants, botanical gardens protect plants within living collections. Many also study, manage and restore plants in natural habitats. Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario, Canada) has integrated both horticultural and natural heritage in its mission for decades. Envisioned by municipal leaders in the 1920s as a combination of nature sanctuaries and civic gardens, RBG now includes forests, wetlands and other habitats, gardens and built spaces. Today RBG is Canada′s largest botanical garden on the basis of area. In the 1950s RBG began to inventory plant diversity. The checklist of spontaneous vascular plants now exceeds 1170 species, of which 752 are native. This is 37% of Ontario′s native vascular plants and 19% of the native vascular flora of Canada. The RBG nature sanctuaries are among the richest locations in Canada for species-level diversity. We examine the history of floristic exploration within RBG and compare plant species-area relationships among protected natural areas in Ontario. This comparison supports the contention that the nature sanctuaries, and in particular Cootes Paradise, could be considered an important area for plants in Canada, and relative to the nation′s flora, a biodiversity hotspot. The fact that a candidate vascular plant hotspot for Canada lies within a major botanical garden presents opportunities for raising public awareness of the importance of plant diversity, as well as focusing attention on the scientific and conservation biology needs of communities and individual species in this area.
基于中国外来入侵植物的相关报道和文献，发现一些入侵植物的学名使用比较混乱，一个物种存在两个或两个以上的名称。依据最新植物志资料，对国内30种外来入侵植物学名进行了考证，包括中名、基名（若存在）、异名、原产地以及在中国的分布等。
