Picea brachytyla var. complanata | Threatened Conifers of the World (en-GB)

Pinaceae

Picea brachytyla var. complanata (Mast.) W.C.Cheng ex Rehder

Widley distributed in the Sino-Himalayan region where logging has greatly reduced the population and caused fragmentation

Distribution

China: W Sichuan, NW Yunnan, SE Xizang [Tibet]; N Myanmar [Burma]; Possibly also in India: east Arunachal Pradesh.

Habitat and Ecology

In coniferous forests at elevations between (1600) 2000 and 3600 (3800) m on mountain slopes and in high river basins.

Conservation Status

Global status

Vulnerable A2d

Global rationale

The fragmented range and effects of past logging (more than 30% population reduction in past 100 years) render this variety Vulnerable. The fact that the decline may not be reversible justifies use of criterion A2 rather than A1 of the China Plant Specialist Group assessment (Wang and Xie 2004).

Global threats

Logging and deforestation have substantially reduced the extent of coniferous forests in the region and have had an impact especially on this variety with its more restricted range.

Conservation Actions

The ban on logging will reduce the rate of loss of trees but is unlikely to cause the loss to cease altogether. Establishment of a conservation programme desirable.

References and further reading

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
Wang, S. & Xie, Y. (2004). China Species Red List. Vol. 1 Red List. Higher Education Press, Beijing, China.
Zhang, D, Katsuki, T. & Rushforth, K. (2013). Picea brachytyla var. complanata. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 14 July 2013.