Format: ORAL

Qiang Wang De-Yuan Hong

Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Pan-Himalaya covers the northeastern Hindu-Kush, Karakoram, Himalaya, and Hengduan mountains. These majestic mountain ranges form the highest region in the world, which is called the roof of the world. Three biodiversity hotspots are wholly or partially included in Pan-Himalaya, i.e., Himalaya, Mountains of Southwest China, and Indo-Burma. However, although this region is an important and indispensable source of biodiversity, the plant diversity of Pan-Himalaya is poorly known. There is even no complete record of the flora for this most unique region. The aim of the Flora of Pan-Himalaya (FPH) project is to understand the plant diversity of Pan-Himalaya, and present the first complete record of the flora of Pan-Himalaya. For the last ten years, the FPH project has organized 15 comprehensive expeditions (10 taxonomists) and more than 400 teams (each consisting of 35 taxonomists), and has investigated nearly all areas of Pan-Himalaya (except those areas in Northeast Afghanistan). Members of these expeditions have collected more than 150, 000 specimens, and have taken more than 200, 000 pictures of vascular plants in Pan-Himalaya. Observation data, living seeds, and silica gel-dried leaves have been collected as well. New or updated illustrations have been drawn for more than 1, 000 representative species. Based on extensive field work and integrative phylogenetic analysis, one new family, 10 new genera, and more than 100 new species from Pan-Himalaya have been described. A sound knowledge of the plant diversity of Pan-Himalaya is the only way to achieve sustainability, and it is also essential for ecological civilization development, which is now an important national policy of China. The FPH project is the first and key step in improving our knowledge of the plant diversity in Pan-Himalaya.