Species Diversity and Ecological Significance of Wall Plants on Traditional Volcanic Villages in Northern Hainan
Welcome to Chinese Journal of Tropical Crops,

Chinese Journal of Tropical Crops ›› 2019, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (4): 822-829.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-2561.2019.04.029

• Bibliometrics and Ecology • Previous Articles    

Species Diversity and Ecological Significance of Wall Plants on Traditional Volcanic Villages in Northern Hainan

HONG Feng1,WEI Yaqing1,YUAN Langxing1,SHI Youhai1,2,*()   

  1. 1. Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan 570228, China
    2. Research Center for Terrestrial Biodiversity of the South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan 570228, China
  • Received:2018-11-17 Revised:2019-02-12 Online:2019-04-15 Published:2019-05-21
  • Contact: Youhai SHI

Abstract:

The investigation of wall plants on eight traditional volcanic villages in Northern Hainan Island was carried out to determine the species diversity and ecological significance. 88 species from 77 genera of 43 families were recorded, consisting of 8 ferns and 80 angiosperms. Among them, 68 plants were native species (including two endemic species and one endangered plants), accounting for 77.27%. Five plants were cultivars (accounting for 5.68%), one plant was naturalized species (accounting for 1.14%), four plants were escaping species (accounting for 4.55%), and 10 plants were exotic invasive species (accounting for 11.36%). The proportion of woody plants and herbaceous plants was 43.18% and 56.82% respectively. There were 79 tropical species, accounting for 89.77% of the total plants. It was also found that the walls of volcanic villages had important ecological functions, which could well preserve the native species and avoid their loss due to agricultural production. Therefore, in the practice of traditional village protection and rural tourism, it was necessary to protect and utilize these wall plants reasonably, so as to achieve the balance between the protection of ancient buildings and biodiversity.

Key words: volcanic villages, walls vascular epiphytes, species diversity, plants composition, rural tourism