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BEIJING, Aug. 31-- Immediate actions need to be taken to save the native flora, for it is the foundation of the biodiversity that sustains the entire local ecosystem, urged experts. Overshadowed by other endangered species like giant pandas or snow leopards, indigenous plants are also facing grave risks, being pushed toward extinction by expanding human activities and consequent climate change, as well as the spread of invasive species arriving alongside magnified global trade. Greater efforts should be made to study, preserve and protect the aboriginal flora, urged local experts and conservationists. And the Chinese society has begun to take an active role in defending the local biosphere. LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS Recent research has pin-pointed Liaoning, in the northeast of China, to be the birthplace of Archaefructus, the first flowering plant that bloomed on Earth -- probably under or near water -- about 130 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. And for as far back as human civilization dates, China has always been a nation of anthophiles and green thumbs. "Wild plants, oftentimes neglected, little known and seldom appreciated, play a fundamental role in sustaining every ecosystem and are in dire need of protection," said Liu Huajie, professor in bioethics and philosophy with Peking University. He called for greater efforts in studying and preserving "the bedrock of biodiversity and life on Earth." | 
