Conservation news 811
Commission des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (COMIFAC), Yaoundé, Cameroon. CHARLES DOUMENGE French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), Montpellier University, Montpellier, France
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Rhododendronauritumin Tibet
With the support of the Second Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Integrated Scientific Expedition Project (2017QZKK0502), field investigations were conducted in June 2021 and June 2022 for Rhododendron auritum Tagg, which is categorized as Critically Endangered on The Red List of Rhododendrons (Gibbs et al., 2011, Botanic Gardens Con- servation International). The type specimen of R. auritum was collected by Frank Kingdon-Ward in 1924 in Pemako Chung in Milin County, south-east Tibet, and was deposited in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1932. Since then, no more information on this species had been recorded in the wild. Although we were unable to explore the type location because Pemako Chung was seriously damaged during an earthquake that occurred in 1950, we have discov- ered two additional sites with the species, inMedog County, Tibet. In June 2022, we discovered a previously unknown population of R. auritum, comprising ,100 individuals, in Gedang, at the edge of a fir forest. This population is ex- posed to disturbance from anthropogenic activities, includ- ing road construction. With a population comprising 29 individuals discovered in Lage in 2021, there are now two known populations of R. auritum in Medog county, 43 and 62 km from the type location. Local authorities need to take action to conserve these
two small populations. We have collected seedlings from Lage and planted them in the Kunming Botanical Garden, for ex situ conservation. We have also collected DNA mate- rial from both populations, for investigation of the species’
conservation genetics. Further investigations are needed to locate any other potential wild populations. In addition, we will perform propagation experiments once seeds are mature in the autumn, and some seeds will be preserved in the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species in Kunming Institute of Botany.
HENG SHU (
orcid.org/0000-0002-1558-282X) University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. YONGPENG MA (
orcid.org/0000-0002-7725-3677,
mayongpeng@mail.kib.
ac.cn), DETUAN LIU (
orcid.org/0000-0002-2295-3799) and WEIBANG SUN Yunnan Key Laboratory for Integrative Conservation of Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations, Kunming Botanical Garden, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China. ZIWANG Beijing Botanical Garden, Beijing Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY NC 4.0.
Invitroconservation of Paphiopedilum wenshanenseat Kunming Botanical Garden, China
The orchid Paphiopedilum wenshanense Z. J. Liu & J. Yong Zhang is categorized as a Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations and a grade I national key pro- tected plant. As a result of overexploitation for its beautiful flowers, P. wenshanense has extremely small populations, and its natural distribution range is limited. Additionally, its habitat is fragmented by urbanization. Only 431 wild individuals of P. wenshanense, in three populations, are known, in Shiping and Yanshan Counties in Yunnan Prov- ince, China. The three populations are not located within a protected area. Many threatened plants, including P. wenshanense, have
Flowers of Rhododendron auritum Tagg. Photo: Zi Wang.
weak reproductive capacity in the wild. Tissue culture is an efficient way to multiply such threatened orchid species for conservation purposes. In June 2022, with the support of a conservation programme (grant number: 2021SJ14X-09)of Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Bureau, aseptic seed ger- mination protocols for P. wenshanense were successfully de- veloped in Kunming Botanical Garden, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Germination began after 30 days, with a germination rate of 70%, and root development after an additional 30 days. Seedlings could be planted after a further 2 months of growth, and survival rate was c. 95%. Following this success, population reintroduction or re- inforcement measures can be used to assist the recovery of this threatened species in the wild.Weare planning to estab- lish a near situ conservation population of P. wenshanense within the Wenshan Laojun Mountains National Nature Reserve through working with the local forestry and grass- land bureau. In addition, conservation of the remaining wild
Oryx, 2022, 56(6), 809–813 © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605322001004
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