While benefiting local economies, privatization also prompted con

While benefiting local economies, privatization also prompted concerns about biodiversity loss, as small landholders tend to cut down forests for immediate profit from timber and replace native forests with exotic trees of higher economic value that harbor little native diversity (Xu 2011). For example, Guangxi Province boasted 60 % forest coverage in 2011 (Guangxi Forestry Bureau Official Website: http://​www.​gxly.​cn:​8888/​pub/​cms/​1/​3537/​3544/​86963.​html),

but a third of this area was planted with non-native trees (Guangxi Forestry Bureau check details Official Website: http://​www.​gxly.​cn:​8888/​pub/​cms/​1/​3545/​3559/​3566/​88981.​html). In fact, Guangxi grows the majority of the Eucalyptus in China, partially the outcome of forest tenure reform (Guangxi Forestry Bureau Official Website: http://​www.​gxly.​cn:​8888/​pub/​cms/​1/​3537/​3544/​69239.​html). Restoration-friendly orchid cultivation on privately held lands will provide owners

with much greater economic incentives than Akt phosphorylation other non-native forest products would, as indicated by the higher benefit-cost ratio of the restoration-friendly cultivation of D. catenatum (Table 1; Supplemental Table 1). Therefore, private orchid cultivation can be incorporated as part of a biodiversity-friendly management framework while forest tenure reform continues. This will promote conservation of the remaining natural habitats by offering a viable, profitable alternative to natural forest conversion (Table 1). Table 1 Comparison of initial investment, net present value, and benefit–cost ratio of restoration-friendly woodland cultivation, shade house cultivation of Dendrobium catenatum (tian-pi-shi-hu), and Eucalyptus plantation Crop Initial investmenta (¥/mu) Net present valueb (at the end of 6 years) (¥/mu) Benefit–cost ratioc Woodland cultivation of Dendrobium catenatum 22,000 621,461 28.25 Shadehouse cultivation of Dendrobium catenatum 210,560 4,703,050 23.33 Eucalyptus sp. plantation 370 839 3.268 Endonuclease All monetary values are in Chinese Yuan RMB (¥) per mu. Calculations were based on crop rotation

of 6-year and market prices of 2012 in Guangdong Province, China. ¥1 = US$0.1628; 1 mu = 0.0667 ha aSee supplemental Table 1 for more details on yearly economic costs and benefits bNet present value is difference between the sum of discounted annual net benefits (for 6 years) and the initial investment cBenefit–cost ratio is the ratio of the sum of discounted annual net benefits (for 6 years) to the initial investment Incentives to preserve natural forests are especially needed in orchid-rich southwestern China, which is dominated by karst landscapes. Karst mountain ecosystems are inherently fragile because slopes are often steep, soils are scarce and of low fertility, and surface water can be scarce due to porous substrates (Jiang et al. 2008).

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