Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western China
Sacred natural sites, as probably the oldest form of habitat reserve for religious or cultural causes worldwide, are suggested to have an important role in conserving vegetation; however, there are insufficient data supporting the detailed implications of such sites for vegetation conservation. Thus...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pensoft Publishers
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Nature Conservation |
| Online Access: | https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/article/72215/download/pdf/ |
| _version_ | 1818342148504813568 |
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| author | Zhaoyang Cao Liang Dou Nan Yang Kai Zhang Bin Wang Yu Xu Jianghong Ran |
| author_facet | Zhaoyang Cao Liang Dou Nan Yang Kai Zhang Bin Wang Yu Xu Jianghong Ran |
| author_sort | Zhaoyang Cao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sacred natural sites, as probably the oldest form of habitat reserve for religious or cultural causes worldwide, are suggested to have an important role in conserving vegetation; however, there are insufficient data supporting the detailed implications of such sites for vegetation conservation. Thus, we evaluated the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a Tibetan sacred mountain in Yajiang County, Sichuan, China, by investigating species richness and the structural attributes of higher vascular plant communities on and around the sacred mountain from April to June 2009. The results showed that the number of tree species on the sacred mountain was significantly higher than that in the surrounding area, but there were no notable differences in the numbers of shrub and grass species between the two sites. The sacred mountain harbored a greater number of small, short trees compared with the surrounding area, wherein the low-shrub and grass understory was relatively dense. We conclude that the sacred mountain has a positive impact on indigenous vegetation protection, but disparities in the management of the allowed uses of such sites could reduce their conservation effectiveness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T16:10:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1d584f034e6d4179b1f154287fd6260b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1314-3301 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T16:10:05Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | Pensoft Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-1d584f034e6d4179b1f154287fd6260b2022-12-21T23:38:58ZengPensoft PublishersNature Conservation1314-33012021-11-01451910.3897/natureconservation.45.7221572215Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western ChinaZhaoyang Cao0Liang Dou1Nan Yang2Kai Zhang3Bin Wang4Yu Xu5Jianghong Ran6Guizhou Normal UniversitySichuan UniversitySouthwest Minzu UniversityGuizhou Normal UniversityChina West Normal UniversityGuizhou Normal UniversitySichuan UniversitySacred natural sites, as probably the oldest form of habitat reserve for religious or cultural causes worldwide, are suggested to have an important role in conserving vegetation; however, there are insufficient data supporting the detailed implications of such sites for vegetation conservation. Thus, we evaluated the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a Tibetan sacred mountain in Yajiang County, Sichuan, China, by investigating species richness and the structural attributes of higher vascular plant communities on and around the sacred mountain from April to June 2009. The results showed that the number of tree species on the sacred mountain was significantly higher than that in the surrounding area, but there were no notable differences in the numbers of shrub and grass species between the two sites. The sacred mountain harbored a greater number of small, short trees compared with the surrounding area, wherein the low-shrub and grass understory was relatively dense. We conclude that the sacred mountain has a positive impact on indigenous vegetation protection, but disparities in the management of the allowed uses of such sites could reduce their conservation effectiveness.https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/article/72215/download/pdf/ |
| spellingShingle | Zhaoyang Cao Liang Dou Nan Yang Kai Zhang Bin Wang Yu Xu Jianghong Ran Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western China Nature Conservation |
| title | Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western China |
| title_full | Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western China |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western China |
| title_short | Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western China |
| title_sort | evaluating the effectiveness of vegetation conservation on a sacred mountain in western china |
| url | https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/article/72215/download/pdf/ |
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