Distribution and conservation of near threatened plants in China

Abstract

Plants classified as Near Threatened (NT) are at high risk of becoming threatened because of anthropogenic interference and climate change. Especially in conservation efforts, such species have however long been overlooked. Here, we obtained 98,419 precise occurrence points for 2442 NT plants in China, and used species richness, species complementarity, and weighted endemism that consider all, endemic and narrow-ranged species in order to identify the diversity hotspots of NT plants. Then we evaluated the conservation effectiveness of current nature reserves for them. Our results indicate that the diversity hotspots of NT plants were mainly confined to southwestern and southern China, and only 35.87% of hotspots and 71.5% of species were protected by nature reserves. Numerous hotspots in southwestern China (e.g., Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hainan) were identified as conservation gaps. Given that NT plants include large proportions of endemic and narrow-ranged species, they represent an important value in conservation priority. So, more conservation efforts in the future should be tilted towards NT plants. Additionally, when comparing with the recently updated NT list, there are already 87 species raised to threatened categories, while 328 species were lowered to least concern, 56 species were now categorized as data deficient, and 119 species considered as uncertain due to changes of scientific names. It is essential to carry out a continuous assessment of species' threatened categories to realize targeting conservation.