Staff at the Gutian Provincial Nature Reserve in Huidong County, Huizhou, recently recorded Urariopsis brevissima, a rare plant species classified as near-threatened, during a patrol and monitoring operation. It is the second time the species has been recorded in the reserve, after it was first found there in 2023, indicating the presence of a stable wild population.
At present, only four wild sites of the species are known in China. Gutian Provincial Nature Reserve in Huidong is its only recorded site in Guangdong and the easternmost point of its known range in China.
Liao Yuanfang, a senior forestry engineer at the reserve's management office, said the species is rare for three main reasons. First, it is known from very few sites in the wild, and its natural populations are small. Second, it has highly specific habitat requirements, so its populations can easily decline when disturbed by human activity or when vegetation is damaged. Third, little scientific research on the species has been published, leaving many basic questions about its phenology, reproduction and seed germination unanswered. These knowledge gaps make the species particularly valuable for further research.
Author | Liu Yue
Photos | Nanfang Plus
