XVI International Botanical Congess

Compared with the common forest species Liriodendron tulipifera in North America, L. chinese is listed as a rare species in China. Its endangerment mechanism has been studied. Based on the data of geographical distribution pattern, i.e., one belt and five islands, the population characteristics, i.e., small in size with discontinuous age structure and low reproductive capability caused by both environmental conditions and inbreeding, and genetic analysis, i.e., the population differentiation is higher and the gene flow is lower in isolated populations at higher altitudes, authors delivered a new concept AENDANGERING HABITAT@ for conservation biology theory. That is the habitat which makes the population of a certain species located inside it to be endangered.