628 T. Liu et al.
FIG. 1 Location of the remaining population of Ferula sinkiangensis in Yining County, and the survey sites in Nileke County and Manashi County, Xinjiang, China.
TABLE 1 Number of Ferula sinkiangensis individuals recorded in our surveys of two subpopulations in Yining County, Xinjiang, China (Fig. 1), in 2022 and 2023.
Total individuals
Subpopulation Altitude (m) 1,065–1,127
I II Total Mature individuals
2022 2023 2022 2023 673 568 0
1,066–1,139 1,360 947 0 2,033 1,515 0
0 5 5
population of F. sinkiangensis, with one subpopulation in each of two valleys in Yining, at altitudes of 1,065–1,139 m, separated by a small hill. We investigated population age structure during April–May in 2022 and 2023. We estab- lished 18 survey plots (each measuring 20 × 20 m) in each of the two subpopulations and placed four 3 × 3 m quadrats in each plot, resulting in a total of 144 sample quadrats. We counted the number of surviving individuals and the number of basal leaves of each individual in each quadrat. Considering the small population size and degree of threat, we used space instead of time to identify age groups accord- ing to the number of basal leaves, which increases with age (Harper & White, 1974), identifying nine age classes. We calculated the area of occupancy and extent of occur- rence using the IUCN Guidelines (IUCN, 2022). In 2022 and 2023, we found a total of 673 and 1,360 indi-
viduals, respectively, in the surveyed plots of subpopulation I and 568 and 947 in the surveyed plots of subpopulation II. We found no flowering individuals in 2022 and only five flowering individuals in 2023 (Table 1). The number of basal leaves per individual had an inverted J-shaped distri- bution in both subpopulations. The highest number of indi- viduals was in the 3–4 year age group, after which the
FIG. 2 Frequency distribution of the number of basal leaves in the two Ferula sinkiangensis subpopulations in Yining County, Xinjiang, China (Fig. 1).
number of individuals declined with increasing age (Fig. 2), indicative of a relatively stable age structure. Although F. sinkiangensis was previously widely distribu-
ted in the premountain desert areas of the western Junggar Basin, these areas have been converted into farmland,
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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