Spatiotemporal Evolution of Chinese Botanical Gardens over the Last 5000 Years

Botanical gardens are a primary avenue for ex situ biodiversity conservation. China represents a center of origin for many of the world’s cultivated plants, as well as the birthplace of the world’s earliest pharmacopoeia and most ancient gardens. Botanical gardens are thought to have originated in China, the only one of four ancient civilizations that has persisted without interruption for the last 5000 years. This paper aims to demonstrate the spatiotemporal changes of Chinese botanical gardens and explore their driving mechanism. Based on a systematic review of the literature, the development of Chinese botanical gardens can be roughly divided into three major stages: an enlightenment stage for ancient botanical gardens (2800 BC–1859 AD), a colonial-exploration stage for modern botanical gardens (1860–1949), and a gradual-development stage for modern botanical gardens (1950–2022). By the end of 2022, China will contain a total of 456 botanical gardens, the most of any country in the world; these gardens will cover an area of 115,000 hectares and preserve 515,000 species of living plants. In the past 5000 years, the temporal and spatial development of Chinese botanical gardens has been linked to social and economic developments. By assessing the achievements of each stage of botanical-garden development, four major factors driving the rise, dissemination, development, and evolution of Chinese botanical gardens were identified: societal wealth/prosperity, demand-driven developments, support from science and education fields, and the promotion of ecological sustainability. Our findings fill the gap in botanical-garden development theory, and serve as a reference for the construction and management of botanical gardens.