Rhododendron diversity patterns and priority conservation areas in China

A comprehensive analysis identifies twelve Rhododendron hotspots across China, covering 1.4% of the country's land area, with five key regions—southern Chongqing, south-eastern Tibet, north-western Yunnan, south-western Sichuan, and northern Guangdong—emerging as priority conservation areas due to their high diversity and overlap with threatened species. The study used a spatially explicit species assemblage modeling (SESAM) framework on a 10 × 10 km grid to predict the distribution of 212 Rhododendron species, evaluating diversity based on species richness, β-diversity, and weighted endemism. While 86.3% of threatened Rhododendron hotspots overlap with general hotspots, regions like southern Zhejiang and north-eastern Guizhou require additional protection to ensure comprehensive conservation. This is the first study to map Rhododendron diversity across China using these metrics, providing critical insights for conservation efforts.

Yu, F., Skidmore, A. K., Wang, T., Huang, J., Ma, K., & Groen, T. A. (2017). Rhododendron diversity patterns and priority conservation areas in China. Diversity and Distributions, 23(10), 1143–1156. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12607