Plant and Fungal Diversity of Western Sichuan and Eastern Xizang, China

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This is a collaborative project between Chinese and American botanists and mycologists to inventory the plants and fungi of unexplored areas of the Hengduan Mountains hotspot of biodiversity in south-central and southwestern China. The Hengduan area, roughly the size of Texas, extends from the Sichuan Basin to eastern Xizang (Tibet) and northernmost Myanmar (Burma) and from southern Gansu southward to the Yunnan plateau. This unique area on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau averages over 4,000 meters in elevation and straddles four of the major rivers of eastern Asia, the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy), Nu Jiang (Salween), Lancang Jiang (Mekong) and Chang Jiang (Yangtze). It is extraordinarily rich in vascular plants, with between 30 and 40 percent of China's roughly 30,000 species, and with more than 3,000 of them possibly endemic. The area is of great interest for the high diversity in several characteristic genera. For example, there are more than 225 species of Rhododendron, more than 100 of Gentiana, more than 100 of Pedicularis and more than 100 of Primula. It is also particularly rich in mosses and fungi. At least 15 new species of fungi and 5 of bryophytes were discovered on the most recent field trips to the region. Extremes of geography and climate and inaccessibility for a variety of reasons have kept much of this area unexplored and mostly biologically unknown. The study will focus on collecting specimens and information about them in the most poorly known areas, on determining biogeographical patterns in the area and on determining the hotspot boundaries. Specimens will be deposited in Chinese herbaria in Kunming and Beijing and in the Harvard University Herbaria. Duplicates will be sent to specialists throughout the world for identification and study. All collections will be georeferenced and computerized in the field, and the data and digital images will be made available via a WWW interface at Harvard University. Fieldwork results will be of major use in phylogenetics, floristics, biogeography, ecology and conservation. The project will also provide training in field techniques and in database development and GIS for Chinese and American students. The data will be freely available on the project's web site, and all collections - herbarium, silica gel, and material collected by special request - will be made available to researchers in need of them.