Abstract:

Based on the data of field surveys of 1 458 nature reserves, general planning and related openly published literature, an in-situ natural vegetation conservation evaluation index system was established; status quo of the in-situ conservation was analyzed; gaps in the protection of natural vegetation were determined. In line with the evaluation index system, the in-situ natural vegetation conservation in China was divided into 7 levels, that is, “Effectively Protected”, “Well Protected”, “Moderately Protected”, “Less Protected”, “Status Unknown”, “Not Protected”, and “Not Evaluated”. Among the 583 types of natural vegetation in China, 4 were not evaluated and 579 were evaluated. Among the 579, 522 were protected to varying extent. Among the 522 types of vegetation, 58 were sorted into “Effectively Protected”, 154 into “Well Protected”, 110 into “Moderately Protected”, and 200 into “Less Protected”, accounting for 9.9%, 26.4%, 18.9% and 34.3%, respectively, of the total types of vegetation in China. Besides, gaps still existed in conservation of natural vegetation in China, referring to the two types, i.e., “Status Unknown” and “Not Protected”, which, together, accounted for 9.8% of the total types of vegetation in China. Generally speaking, most of the natural vegetation have been put under in-situ protection in China, but the conservation needs to be further intensified. Regarding to the protection gaps, it is suggested that more studies should be done to determine their locations, areas and conservation values, and further to consummate the nature reserve network so as to timely include those in the gap into the nature reserve network of China.

Key words: nature reserve, formations, ecosystem, protection gaps, in-situ  conservation