Characteristics and maintenance strategies of plant diversity in an ecologically protected rural village in western Fujian

Plant diversity plays a fundamental role in rural ecological revitalization and sustainable development. Studying the characteristics and influencing factors of rural plant diversity has important theoretical and practical implications for maintaining and enhancing rural biodiversity. In this study, we identified the composition and community types of plant species and explored the effects of natural and human activities in Changkou Village, an ecologically protected village in western Fujian Province. We identified 578 plant species belonging to 130 families and 378 genera, including 396 wild plant species and 53 cultivated agricultural species, exhibiting high plant diversity. Seventeen species of invasive plants have not yet posed a threat to rural biodiversity. The seed plant flora in this rural area was complex, with 14 types of genera, including 188 tropical genera, and showed transitional features from tropical to temperate zones. There were 106 plant vegetation alliances, including 52 natural and semi-natural vegetation, 25 agricultural vegetation, and 29 green space vegetation alliances, which were representative of this region. Natural and semi-natural vegetation were mainly composed of different natural and semi-natural forests, such as the Castanopsis fargesii Forest Alliance and Pinus massoniana + Castanopsis fargesii Forest Alliance, whereas agricultural and green space vegetation areas were very small. Green space vegetation was mainly composed of Cinnamomum camphora and Osmanthus fragrans, and green space tree species predominated in subtropical rural areas. Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between the differences in species composition in different rural areas and differences in comprehensive environmental factors. Specifically, the plant species composition of natural and semi-natural vegetation was mainly driven by natural factors, whereas the differences of plant species composition of green space vegetation significantly increased with the increasing distance to roads and residential areas. Overall, these results indicate that ecologically protected rural areas are important reserves for plant diversity and have important maintenance value. The composition of plant species and vegetation alliances completely differs between different vegetation categories in rural areas, and altitude plays a key role. We highlight the necessity of incorporating ecological conservation-oriented rural areas into biodiversity conservation management, and emphasize various maintenance and improvement strategies, such as zoning management of rural plant diversity and building habitat networks. This study could provide useful references for promoting plant diversity in the process of rural revitalization in other regions of China.