Priority areas for the conservation of perennial plants in China

With over 35,000 higher plants recorded, China is among the countries with the highest plant diversity. However, due to increasing human population, land-use intensification, and economic development, the habitat of most species is under considerable threat. Here we develop conservation priority maps covering all of China based on plant species distribution models in combination with spatially explicit decision making tools for systematic conservation planning. Our aim was to find spatial scenarios that maximize the success of conservation goals while minimizing the required land area to achieve these goals, so that economic development can proceed with minimal damage to existing biodiversity resources. We built species distribution models for 7427 vascular plant species at a 10 × 10′ resolution covering whole China, using geo-referenced herbarium collections and detailed environmental data, corrected for spatial bias using a null model. Based on these models we mapped: (1) species richness centers for common species (3535), endemic species (1965) and Chinese red list species (1927); (2) priority areas for conservation, distinguishing between conservation targets for common species (15% of the predicted suitable habitat), endemic species (25% the predicted suitable habitat) and red list species (35% the predicted suitable habitat); and (3) downscaled land-use pattern in each priority area for conservation. Clear priorities for the development of a sustainable and feasible biodiversity conservation strategy can now be provided based on our maps at national and regional levels.