Abies fargesii var. faxoniana 

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• Classification Schemes
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• Bibliography
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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
Plantae	Tracheophyta	Pinopsida	Pinales	Pinaceae

Scientific Name:	Abies fargesii Franch. var. faxoniana (Rehd. & E.H.Wilson) T.S.Liu
Parent Species:	See Abies fargesii
Synonym(s):	Abies faxoniana Rehd. & E.H.Wilson
Taxonomic Source(s):	Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Vulnerable A2cde ver 3.1
Year Published:	2013
Date Assessed:	2010-12-14
Assessor(s):	Xiang, Q. & Rushforth, K.
Reviewer(s):	Thomas, P. & Farjon, A.
Justification: An estimated reduction of more than 30% in the past three generations (15 years) due to logging, means that this variety is assessed as Vulnerable.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Enemic to China, occurring from NW Sichuan, S & C Gansu, from Songpan north into the Min Shan and also in a subpopulation in central Gansu.
Countries occurrence:	Native: China (Gansu, Sichuan)
Additional data:	♦ Estimated area of occupancy (AOO) - km2: 57409 ♦ Lower elevation limit (metres): 3000 ♦ Upper elevation limit (metres): 3600
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This variety forms forests in the Min Shan region. Subpopulations are fragmented in the southern part of its range with a disjunct outlier in central Gansu.
Current Population Trend:	Decreasing
Additional data:

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	A. fargesii var. faxoniana  occurs in the high montane to subalpine zones of northern Central China, at elevations between 3,000 m and 3,600 m a.s.l. Soils are mostly grey brown mountain podzols. The climate is cold and moist. At its lowest elevation broad-leaved trees (e.g. Fagus engleriana, Davidia involucrata) are important, but A. fargesii mostly forms either pure forests or mixed coniferous forests with among other species Picea purpurea, P. asperata, P. neoveitchii, P. brachytyla, Larix potaninii, Abies chensiensis, A. recurvata, Tsuga chinensis and Taxus chinensis. Some broad-leaved trees are usually present: Betula spp., Populus spp., and many shrubs: Cotoneaster, Ribes, Spiraea, Rhododendron and Berberis are among the common genera (except in dense Picea-Abies forest).
Systems:	Terrestrial
Continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat:	Yes
Generation Length (years):	50

Use and Trade [top]

Use and Trade:

This variety (and the species as a whole) was heavily exploited in the past for construction timber.

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):

Past logging has reduced the population by more than 30%. There is an on-going risk from acid rain in parts of the population.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:

Logging of this variety is now banned.

Classifications [top]

Bibliography [top]

Farjon, A. 2010. Conifer Database (June 2008). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2010 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., eds). Reading, UK Available at: http://www.catalogueoflife.org/. Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden. IUCN. 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2013.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 12 June 2013).