Information System Of The Rare And Endangered Plants In Yunnan Province

In the present research, the detailed information concerning the classification, morphological characters, ecological characters, geographical distribution and protection value of the rare and endangered plants in Yunnan was clarified on the basis of authoritative publications, and the photographs of living plants and specimen were obtained through field investigation and specimen survey. Furthermore, floristic characters and the present protection situation were analyzed and the construction situation of the biodiversity information system was summarized. By use of computer skills all the information was collected and handled. Lastly, the information system of the rare and endangered plants in Yunnan Province was established with Microsoft Access as the database and ASP(Active Server Pages) realized by VBScript, in which the information of all aspects can be searched by single item or composed items. This information system is helpful for administrative departments and research institutes to obtain relative information quickly and conveniently, which will raise efficiency and consequently be useful to the conservation and sustainable utilization of biodiversity in Yunnan Province.The main research conclusions included in the information system of the rare and endangered plants in Yunnan can be drawn as follows:I. The floristic elements and the protection situation of the rare and endangered plants in Yunnan1. According to the red book of Chinese plants (Vol. 1) and the national important wild conservative plants list (List 1), there are 191 species of 152 genera in 83 families of the rare and endangered plants in Yunnan Province. Among them, there are 17 species of 13 genera in 13 families of Pteridophyta; 24 species of 15 genera in 7 families of Gymnosperm; 150 species of 124 genera in 63 families of Angiosperm. Of the 191 species, the main life form is tree, accounting for 68.6% of the total, which showed that wooden plants especially trees were most seriously endangered.2. The floristic elements of the rare and endangered plants in Yunnan Province have such features as ancient origin, obvious endemism, complicated elements and wide connection with other flora, including many ancient, relic and endemic species. As for the family distribution types, there are 40 families of tropic type, accounting for 57.14% of the total, and 17 families of temperate type, accounting for 24.29% of the total. As for the genus distribution type, there are 75 genera of tropic type, accounting for 53.96% of the total, and 42 genera of temperate type, accouting for 30.22% of the total. The statistics on the family distribution types and genus distribution types of seed plants shows that the rare andendangered plants in Yunnan Province have obvious tropic and subtropic floristic characters.3. The cities of Jinghong and Mengla have the most abundant rare and endangered plants of more than 40 species respectively. In terms of the administrative units as region, city and prefecture, the rare and endangered plants are densely distributed in Wenshan prefecture, Xishuangbanna prefecture, Honghe prefecture, Simao region and Diqing prefecture. It shows that these plants are distributed unevenly, with most species in the South, Southeast and Northwest.4. Up to the end of the year 2002, about 114 nature reserves have been established in Yunnan, which amount to 24 000km2 and account for 6.1% of the total area of Yunnan(394 000km2). Among them, there are 10 national nature reserves, 48 provincial nature reserves and 56 nature reserves of region, city or prefecture, and the quantity and area all rank the first in China. The national nature reserves are situated in the South and Northwest, while more than half of other nature reserves are situated in the South, Southeast and Northwest, which is basically consistent with the distribution of these valuable plants resources. But the construction work of nature reserves needs to be further strengthened.II. The information searching system and the administrati...