In the living world, animals and plants are linked together in inseparable and intimate relationships. In ecological terms plants play a double role, being involved in both synthesis (green Plants) and decomposition (fungi). Thus they form an irreplaceable link in the cycles of matter and energy.
Taiwan has more than 4,200 native species of higher vascular plants, of which some 1,100 are endemic. Due to many years of environmental destruction and the effects of human logging and harvesting, they face great threats to their survival. Over recent year this problem has received ever greater attention, and gradually more scholars and experts have begun to engage in research. For instance, Professor Lai Ming-chou in his Red Data Book on Plant in Taiwan identifies rare and endangered native vascular plants, listing three extinct species, 14 endangered species, 62 vulnerable species and 423 rare species, totalling 502 species in all . The Formosan amentotaxus, Taiwan cycas, Taiwan cow-tail fir (David keteleeria), Lanyu maki and Kanehira azalea are listed as endangered, the ceriops is listed as extince and the small-leaved barringtonia and Epilobium nankotaizanense are listed as rare.