Ecological adaptation of plants and control of rocky-desertification on karst region of South-west China.

Karst region of Southwest China is ecologically very fragile. It has been suffering from severe rock-desertification and its vegetation has been damaging heavily. The restoration or reconstruction of the vegetation is extremely dif- ficult. In recent years, a lot of pure and application-oriented basic researches have been performed in order to sci- entifically and technologically support the management of the rock-desertification. In this paper, we summarize habitat characteristics of the karst region and review the progress in ecological researches on plant adaptation, plant population, plant community and ecosystem in the region. In addition, as for current situation in manage- ment of the rock-desertification, we propose, particularly from angle of plant ecology, expectations for further researches in the region.