As an important event of the 2023 Vegetation Ecology and Classification Symposium, Vegegraphy of Hainan (Volume 1-3) is officially launched. This book, published by Science Publishing House, makes an account of the history of research on Hainan’s vegetation, pointing out the past problems and controversies in its classification, and clarifies the complex vegetation classification system of Hainan with a huge amount of sample data.

Vegegraphy of Hainan was completed by the team led by Dr. Yang Xiaobo, a distinguished professor from the School of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University and also its lead author. The book is a summary of the 40,000-plus specimens with a million entries on plant information collected over 35 years. As a landmark achievement in the natural resources conservation/utilization and ecological environment protection in China’s hot zones, the book ends the history of there being no complete vegetation-related monograph.

According to Vegegraphy of Hainan, Hainan’s native vegetation classification system can be divided into the following categories: the first is the zonal vegetation, of which the horizontal zonal vegetation of tropical rainforest and monsoon rainforest, vertical zonal vegetation can be divided into lowland rainforest, mountain rainforest, alpine dwarf forest (cloud forest) and hilltop scrubs; the second is non-zonal vegetation, including thermal coniferous forests, mangrove forests, freshwater wetland vegetation, coastal (riverine) jungles, scrubs, island jungles, scrubs and rattan scrubs, and many other kinds of vegetation.

Due go the damage of human activities, many primary vegetation had transformed in to a variety of secondary vegetation types ( secondary forests, secondary scrubs and grasses,etc.).Some misnamed terminology in Hainan, including savanna (is actually secondary scrub formed by the destroyed monsoon rainforest), evergreen monsoon rainforest (actually can be categorized as lowland rainforest) and mountainous evergreen broad-leaved forest (mountain rainforest) have been corrected.

In practice, Vegegraphy of Hainan can not only be directly applied to the planning and development of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park and other protected areas, but also benefit the forest restoration of damaged mangrove forests, wetlands, and barren hills and slopes. It can provide references for the local government in the scientific planning of the land for ecological conservation, residential, and production purpose based on biodiversity and vegetation protection.