Tibetan medicinal plants have recently become popular in China, Japan, Europe, and the United States. Snow Lotus (Saussurea laniceps and S. medusa) are slow-growing plants that may not be able to withstand the harvesting pressures necessary to sustain global demand. Past studies have primarily focused on harvesting effects on population growth rates. However, these studies have not considered additional evolutionary and ecological effects that harvesting produces (e.g., alteration of a trait as human-mediated selection removes plants with certain qualities, or interference with essential pollinators). These effects play a large role in destabilization of plant populations. By monitoring plants under heavy collection pressure and those protected from collection in sacred areas, this study analyzes harvesting effects of Snow Lotus. These plants are particularly susceptible to harvesting effects because collection of the whole plant occurs during the plant's only flowering stage, before pollination and fertilization occurs. First, the investigators will gather demographic information and use matrix models to study the effects of plant removal on the population growth rate. Second, they will assess the evolutionary impact that selection may have on the size of the plants by using historic data provided by herbarium specimens. Finally, the consequence of harvesting (reduced population density) on the interaction of Snow Lotus and its pollinators will be examined. This information will help provide a scientific basis for determining the level of threat to Snow Lotus. This study will not only help provide information on effects of harvesting, but will also have broader impacts in supporting the conservation of threatened plants that are important components of Tibetan medicinal culture.
