School of Botany and Zoology

Hongyan Xie
(02) 6125 8858
hongyan.xie@anu.edu.au

PhD topic: Developing management tools for economically important medicinal plants (genus Meconopsi spp) in Hengduan Mountain Range, Eastern Tibet, China

Hengduan Mountain Range of Eastern Tibet (China) -- an internationally significant biodiversity hotspot -- hosts about half of the plant species in China. Wide-spread harvest and trade in medicinal plants in Hengduan is leading to depletion and endangerment of the wild natural resources and biodiversity. Managing these resources is difficult because little is known about the reproductive ecology of these alpine plants, or about how to study such ecological traits. My PhD research will examine the reproductive ecology and disturbance response in the economically important genus Meconopsis (Himalayan blue poppies), where Meconopsis serves as a model system for understanding limits to population growth and for development of critical management tools.