A Study of Rare Plants in Hehuan Mountain Area

• Main Authors: Chun-Hui Chang, 張鈞惠
• Other Authors: Huey-Chu Chang
• Format: Others
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/r9cvw3

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 自然資源與環境學系 === 100 === 　　Hehuan Mountain is famous for its rich biodiversity. Because of road development and recreation activities, many rare plants are in danger of extinction. Still, few researches on rare plant conservation are insufficient for applying possible strategies in time. This study based on the literature, herbarium specimens, and field investigation to build a list of rare plants of Hehuan Mountain, the author also collected information about habitat types of rare plants, and mapped the distributions of rare plants. Refer to the “Plant Red List of Taiwan”(2008) screened rare species of Hehuan Mountain. Then used questionnaire to evaluate the factor of threaten to rare plants. 　　The results show that plants of Hehuan Mountain are totally 403 species, including 75 families and 228 genera. Among them, there are 384 native species and 188 endemic species. The percentage of endemic species is 49%.The Compositae, Rosaceae, Orchidaceae, and Poaceae are the majority of species. There are 19 invasive plants, among which Compositae is the most dominant family, followed by Leguminosae and Gramineae. According to “Plant Red List of Taiwan”(2008) indicates that there are 74 rare species, belonging to 42 families, 61 genera, and among them, 7 are attributed to the conservation category of Vulnerable (VU); 13 plants are Near Threatened (NT); 54 plants are not categorized yet. The major life-form of these plants is herb, followed by shrub. The rare plants are distributed in 9 habitat types. By using questionnaire, 20 rare species of Hehuan Mountain are further evaluate by population size, factors of threaten, distributions of habitat types, and an endemic feature. The values of conservation scores are between 7~13, and 3 ranks are used to assess these plants. 2 species of Rank I (13 scores) are Cypripedium macranthum Sw. and Chrysosplenium hebetatum Ohwi. 10 species of Rank II (10~12 scores) are Cypripedium formosanum Hayata and Barbarea taiwaniana Ohwi, etc. 8 species of Rank III (7~9 scores) are Mahonia japonica (Thunb. ex Murray) DC., and Mahonia oiwakensis Hayata, etc. 　　Long-term observation of related management institutions is suggested to make database perfect and benefit future research. Moreover, invasive plants have threatened the survival of rare plants of Hehuan Mountain. Therefore, native plants should be the top priority to use in future restoration program to avoid invasive plants.