Threatened conifers of the world

The China Threatened Conifer Region includes most of mainland China. Climatically and topographically it is diverse and one of the world's major centres for plant diversity. It has a rich conifer flora with more than 150 taxa including iconic endemic conifers such as Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Pseudolarix amabilis and Cathaya argyrophylla. Unfortunately almost half have been assessed as threatened. The principal threats arise from conversion of forest for agricultural use, plantation forestry and urbanization as well as recent exploitation for timber. A number of taxa are relictual and naturally have small populations: these are especially susceptible to anthropogenic influences. Several taxa, including, Cupressus funebris, Cunninghamia lanceolata and Platycladus orientalis have a long history of cultivation and their natural distributions have become unclear and it is uncertain if any wild populations still remain. The majority of threatened species are concentrated in the Sino-Himalayan areas of Yunnan and Sichuan, the limestone karst areas of Guangxi and Guizhou and the mountainous areas of Fujian and Zhejiang.