Population age structure and conservation status of Ferula sinkiangensis (Apiaceae) in Xinjiang, China
TIANX IN G L IU † 1,QIUMEI CAO † 2,LEI YANG2 , 3 ZHAOPIN G YAN G * 1 andWEN JUN L I * 2 , 4 , 5 , 6
Abstract Ferula sinkiangensis K.M. Shen is a threatened medicinal plant endemic to Xinjiang, China, with a small population size and a narrow distribution range. We as- sessed the status of this species with respect to its population age structure, the level of threat and extinction risk. Only one population remains, in Yining County, Xinjiang. We conducted field surveys of the population in 2022 and 2023, counting 2,033 and 1,515 individuals, respectively, in 144 sample quadrats. We assessed the age structure of the population by counting the number of basal leaves of each individual. The frequency distribution had an inverted J-shape, indicative of a relatively stable age structure. However, the number of mature individuals was small, rais- ing concerns about the risk of genetic drift and inbreeding. This species is also threatened by habitat destruction and inappropriate collection practices. We recommend that F. sinkiangensis is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List on the basis of criteria B2ab(iii), C2a(i) and D.
Keywords Apiaceae, China, Critically Endangered, Ferula sinkiangensis, IUCN Red List, plant conservation, popula- tion age structure, Xinjiang
et al., 2018) mostly distributed in northern temperate re- gions and high-altitude areas in the tropics (Sayed-Ahmad et al., 2017). The genus Ferula is one of the largest genera in Apiaceae, distributed from Central Asia (mainly in Iran and Afghanistan) westward to the Mediterranean region (Pimenov & Leonov, 1993; Sahebkar & Iranshahi, 2011; Estekhdami & Dehsorkhi, 2019; Mohammadhosseini et al., 2019). It includes c. 170 species, most of which are important medicinal plant resources in montane regions, with a few
A †Contributed equally
*Corresponding author,
liwenjunao@ms.xjb.ac.cn,
yzpzky@163.com 1College of Life Sciences and Technologies, Tarim University, Xinjiang, China 2State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology
and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China 3Xinjiang Key Lab of Conservation and Utilization of Plant Gene Resources,
Urumqi, China 4Sino-Tajikistan Joint Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Biological
Resources, Xinjiang, China 5IUCN Species Survival Commission Chinese Plant Specialist Group 6IUCN Species Survival Commission China Species Specialist Group
Received 8 August 2023. Revision requested 30 October 2023. Accepted 25 March 2024. First published online 4 November 2024.
piaceae, one of the largest families of angiosperms, comprises 3,820 species in 466 genera (Plunkett
in arid climates (Yaqoob & Nawchoo, 2016). Some Ferula species are known for their medicinal value in the treat- ment of stomach disorders, wheezing, lymphatic tubercu- losis, intestinal ulcers and tonsillitis, and for detoxification, detumescence and analgesia (Shan et al., 1992). Ferula sinkiangensis K.M. Shen was reported as a new
species in 1975 based on its holotype (herbarium XJBI, A093) and some paratypes (A069,A072 and A119), all of which were collected in Baishidun, Yining County, Xinjiang, China (Shen et al., 1975). Endemic to Xinjiang, it is a herbaceous perennial and monocarpic plant that grows in semiarid steppe ecosystems (She & Watson, 2005). The species is believed to grow vegetatively for c. 7 years before flowering and fruiting (Shen, 1987), and takes 15 years to complete its life cycle (D.-Y. Tan, unpubl. data, 1995–2009). It is recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission, 1978) and is used as a medicinal herb in China for the treatment of stomach disorders, wound infections, joint pain, and symptoms of ovarian cysts, and for detumescence (Shen, 2011). Since 1970, F. sinkiangensis has been threatened by habitat loss, environmental changes and overexploitation (Zhao et al., 2009). In China, F. sinkiangensis is categorized as a Critically Endangered species (Wang & Xie, 2004;Qin et al., 2017) and a national second-class protection plant (Fu, 1992; National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 2021), but it has not yet been assessed on the IUCN Red List. Because of its narrow distribution range, medicinal value and threatened status, a c. 67 ha fenced reserve was established in 2004 in Yining County to protect the species. The study site is located on the north-west border of
Xinjiang in the centre of the Yili River Valley Basin. This area is characterized by desert conditions and gravelly clay slopes (Fig. 1). We first examined the specimens of F. sinkiangensis in
the Chinese Virtual Herbarium and found that the species has also been collected from Nileke and Manashi counties in Xinjiang. Based on the collection sites and habitat records of these specimens we surveyed the distribution range dur- ing 2016–2022 in three counties in Xinjiang: Yining, Nileke and Manashi. After 7 years of investigation we found two populations of F. sinkiangensis, in Yining and Nileke, but not in Manashi. The Nileke population had only four indi- viduals, but these disappeared in 2018 (Li et al., 2020)asa result of unknown causes (it is possible they were harvested by local people). There is therefore only one remaining
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. Oryx, 2024, 58(5), 627–630 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324000632
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