EAPSI: Understanding How Increasing Urbanization Affects Cultural and Biological Knowledge Preservation in Sichuan Province, China

中国吗?what’兰花种类繁多，尤其是中国西南部？在四川，有很好的文献记载。许多品种被用于中药，具有悠久的栽培历史和文化欣赏。由于它们的药用潜力、稀有性和美丽，以及栖息地的丧失，许多物种面临灭绝的危险。由于生物多样性与文化多样性之间的联系，记录传统的兰花知识是保护兰花文化和多样性的必要条件。快速的城市化和农村社区发展面临的严峻经济压力加剧了中国西南地区的濒危程度。S生物和文化多样性。该项目与四川大学环境科学家和植物学家唐亚博士合作，将测试城市化对四川省三种兰花知识的影响。该省独特的文化和生物多样性使这项研究为保护工作提供了有价值的见解。尽管四川省的兰花种类在中国大陆排名第三，但集中在那里的研究却少得不成比例。兰花数量的迅速下降是公认的，但很少有人关注正式记录这一现象或调查其损失的影响。城市化和经济发展压力加剧了四川的濒危？生物文化多样性。本研究提出了城市化对四川兰花文化知识保存/传播的作用，并假设影响取决于所考虑的知识类型。为了验证这一点，本研究采用半结构化访谈的跨学科知识调查方法，评估城市化对四川三种兰花知识的影响。兰花生物多样性保护的利益相关者，如政府机构、植物园和大学，将受益于该项目将为他们的倡议提供更大的洞察力。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会EAPSI与中国科技部合作资助，支持一名美国研究生的研究。

China?s vast orchid diversity, particularly Southwest China?s Sichuan Province, is well documented. Many species are used in traditional Chinese medicine, with a long history of cultivation and cultural appreciation. Pressures resulting from their pharmaceutical potential, rarity, and beauty, and from habitat loss, risk extinction of many species. Due to the link between biodiversity and cultural diversity, documenting traditional orchid knowledge is necessary to conserve the orchid culture and diversity. Rapid urbanization and the acute economic pressures for rural communities to develop have increased endangerment of Southwest China?s biological and cultural diversity. In collaboration with Dr. Ya Tang, an accomplished environmental scientist and botanist at Sichuan University, this project will test the effect of urbanization on three types of orchid knowledge in Sichuan Province. The unique cultural and biological diversity of the province position this study to yield valuable insights for conservation efforts.Though the orchid flora of Sichuan Province is the third most diverse in Mainland China, a dispro¬portionately small amount of research studies have focused there. Rapidly declining orchid populations are widely recognized, but little attention has been paid to formally documenting this phenomenon or investigating the impact of their loss. Urbanization and economic development pressures compound the endangerment of Sichuan?s biocultural diversity. This study asks what role urbanization has on the preservation/dissemination of orchid cultural knowledge in Sichuan, hypothesizing that the effect depends on the type of knowledge considered. To test this, an interdisciplinary knowledge survey, employing semi-structured interviews, will be conducted to assess impacts of urbanization on three types of orchid knowledge in Sichuan. Stakeholders in orchid biocultural diversity conservation such as government agencies, botanical gardens, and universities will benefit from the greater insight this project will provide for their initiatives. This NSF EAPSI award supports the research of a U.S. graduate student and is funded in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.