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

中国？S广袤的兰花多样性，特别是西南地区的中国？S，有很好的记载。许多品种被用于中药，具有悠久的栽培历史和文化欣赏。它们的药用潜力、稀有性和美观性以及栖息地丧失带来的压力，使许多物种面临灭绝的危险。由于生物多样性和文化多样性之间的联系，记录传统兰花知识对于保护兰花文化和多样性是必要的。快速的城市化和农村社区发展的严峻经济压力，增加了对西南中国、S生物文化多样性的危害。该项目将与四川大学颇有成就的环境科学家和植物学家唐雅博士合作，测试城市化对四川省三种兰花知识的影响。四川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。尽管四川省的兰科植物区系在大陆中国中排名第三，但很少有研究集中在那里。兰花数量的迅速减少得到了广泛的认可，但很少有人注意到正式记录这一现象或调查兰花数量减少的影响。城市化和经济发展的压力加剧了四川S生物文化多样性的濒危。本研究探讨城市化对四川兰花文化知识的保存/传播有何作用，并假设其影响取决于所考虑的知识类型。为了验证这一点，将采用半结构访谈的方式进行跨学科知识调查，以评估城市化对四川三种类型兰花知识的影响。兰花生物文化多样性保护的利益相关者，如政府机构、植物园和大学，将从该项目为他们的倡议提供的更多洞察力中受益。该NSF EAPSI奖支持一名美国研究生的研究，并与中国科技部合作提供资金。

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.