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. 2021 Feb 10;755(Pt 1):142548.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142548. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

Chinese caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) in China: Current distribution, trading, and futures under climate change and overexploitation

Yanqiang Wei  1 , Liang Zhang  2 , Jinniu Wang  3 , Wenwen Wang  4 , Naudiyal Niyati  3 , Yanlong Guo  5 , Xufeng Wang  6
Affiliations

Chinese caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) in China: Current distribution, trading, and futures under climate change and overexploitation

Yanqiang Wei et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

Chinese caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) is a precious traditional medicine which is mostly distributed on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). Due to its medicinal values, it has become one of the most valuable biological commodities and widely traded in recent years worldwide. However, its habitat has changed profoundly in recent years under global warming as well as anthropogenic pressures, resulting in a sharp decline in its wild population in recent years. Based on the occurrence samples, this paper estimates the potential distribution of caterpillar fungus using MaxEnt model. The model simulates potential geographical distribution of the species under current climate conditions, and examine future distributions under different climatic change scenarios (i.e., RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5 have been modelled in 2050s and 2070s, respectively). For examining the impacts of climate change in future, the integrated effects of climatic impact, trading, and overexploitation had been analyzed in detailed routes. The results show that: 1) The distribution patterns of caterpillar fungus under scenario RCP 2.6 have been predicted without obvious changes. However, range shift has been observed with significant shrinks across all classes of suitable areas in Tianshan, Kunlun Mountains, and the southwestern QTP in 2050s and 2070s under RCP 4.5, RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, respectively. 2) The exports were decreasing drastically in recent years. Guangzhou and Hongkong are two international super import and consumption centres of caterpillar fungus in the world. 3) Both ecological and economic sustainable utilization of the caterpillar fungus has been threatened by the combined pressures of climate change and overexploitation. A strict but effective regulation and protection system, even a systematic management plan not just on the collectors but the whole explore process are urgently needed and has to be issued in the QTP.

Keywords: Climate change; Conservation; MaxEnt; Ophiocordyceps sinensis; Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau; Species distribution modelling.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Unlabelled Image
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Ophiocordyceps sinensis: (A) and (B) In the natural habitat; (C) Mature Ophiocordyceps sinensis exposed in hand, cleaned of the mycelial velum that usually encloses the larva; (D) Collected mature samples for trade. (The photos were taken by Yanqiang Wei.).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Geographic locations of caterpillar fungus occurrences in China.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Global total radiative forcing scenarios of every representative concentration pathways (RCPs: RCP 2.6 W/m2, RCP 4.5 W/m2, RCP 6.0 W/m2 and RCP 8.5 W/m2).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The potential and suitable habitats distribution of Ophiocordyceps sinensis in China.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The habitat suitability of caterpillar fungus populations in China under 4 climate scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5) in the year 2050s (A1-A4) and 2070s (B1-B4).
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Total productions of caterpillar fungus (upper) and Fritillaria cirrhosa (lower) in the main production area Nagqu Prefecture in Tibet, China from 1983 to 2017.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
(a) The annual mean temperature in 2010s and its anomalies in 2050s (average for 2041-2060) and 2070s (average for 2061-2080), respectively. (b) The annual mean total precipitation in 2010s and its anomalies in 2050s and 2070s, respectively. Note that the greenhouse gas scenario in this figure is RCP 4.5, the dots are meteorological stations.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
The average produce, consume, import, and export volume and export routes of caterpillar fungus in China during 2007 to 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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