Cycads are an ancient lineage of plants that originated in the Permian, which are vital to the interpretation of plant ecology. The evidence in the fossil records indicates that the morphological and anatomical features of cycads are remarkably similar to the extant taxa, which has been instrumental in our understanding the connections between the early origins of seed plants and their present-day counterparts. The cycad ecosystem is an important vegetation type throughout geological time. Research on the ecological function of the cycad plays a significant role in the study of evolutionary ecology. In this study, we investigated the biomass, productivity and total carbon storage (total of vegetation, litter, and soil carbon) of cycad (Cycas panzhihuaensis L. Zhou et S.Y. Yang) ecosystems in the National C. panzhihuaensis Reserve of China (latitude 26°37′, longitude 101°35′, at 1635 m altitude) by applying the site-standard tree sampling harvest.Cycads are considered to be rare and endangered species, and are in the list of key protected wild plants in the world. The National C. panzhihuaensis Reserve is in Southwestern China, which area approximately 1358 ha, growing approximately 20 000 C. panzhihuaensis individuals. 20 sample plots, each 5 × 5 m were established in the spring of 2006. The mean height of cycads within the stand was 0.44 m and the mean basal diameter was 23.2 cm. The biomass and productivity data for other communities was compiled from references published over the past 20 years throughout China. The biomass and productivity of cycad ecosystems (8.102 ± 6.880 t C ha⁻¹ and 1.183 ± 0.975 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively) are smaller than tree fern (Alsophila spinulosa (Wall. ex Hook.) R. M. Tryon) or gymnosperm (Pinaceae, Cupressaceae or Taxodiaceae for representative) ecosystems. The community biomass of Pinaceae-, Cupressaceae- or Taxodiaceae-dominated ecosystems are 6.8, 5.4, and 5.3 times larger than the cycad ecosystem, respectively. The productivity of each is 2.3, 2.8 and 3.8 times larger than the cycad ecosystem. Cycad is an ancient dioecious plant. However, the results show that the differences between the biomass of male and female cycads, as well as the productivity, are not significant.
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