15 August 2026, Volume 46 Issue 4

    

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Review
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  Research Progress in the Preparation of Tea-Based Nanomaterials and Their Application in Drug Delivery

  LIN Yanping, YANG Chen, CHENG Bei

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 571-584. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.004

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  Various bioactive constituents in tea have been found to possess favorable reduction, coordination, biocompatibility and interfacial properties, making them ideal nanocarriers for preparing drug delivery nanomaterials. On the basis of reviewing the performances and drawbacks of primary tea-derived bioactive substances, the reaction mechanisms, technical features of dominant fabrication approaches including in situ growth, coordination self-assembly, blending crosslinking and electrostatic assembly were summarized in this paper, together with the applications of resultant nanocarriers in enhancing ingredient stability as well as realizing sustained, controlled and targeted drug delivery. It was proposed that fabrication procedures, targeted modification and stimuli-responsive design should be further optimized to promote the industrialized application of tea-based nanomaterials in drug delivery.
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  Research Progress of α-Farnesene Synthase Gene in Camellia sinensis

  LU Mi, HAI Xingmei, YU Longfeng, WU Tian

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 585-599. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.20260611.001

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  α-Farnesene, a key sesquiterpene, modulates aroma quality and stress response in tea plants. α-Farnesene synthase (AFS), the rate-limiting terminal enzyme in its biosynthetic pathway, serves as a core molecular hub linking terpenoid metabolism, stress-resistant breeding, and quality regulation in Camellia sinensis. Based on the terpenoid secondary metabolic network of tea plants, this study systematically reviewed the cloning, identification, expression patterns, and biological functions of the α-farnesene synthase gene (CsAFS) in Camellia sinensis. It further described the synergistic regulatory network composed of transcription factors, phytohormones and environmental signals, and clarified the scientific implications and intrinsic crosstalk mechanisms of tea-specific regulatory modules involving CsAFS. Through cross-species comparative analysis, this paper revealed the evolutionary conservation and species-specific characteristics of CsAFS, and comprehensively dissected its biological roles in stress response, aroma formation and quality regulation. Meanwhile, potential applications of CsAFS in stress-resistant breeding, ecological tea garden construction, and tea processing quality improvement were discussed. In view of current research gaps, such as incomplete functional characterization of gene family members, immature genetic transformation systems, and insufficient compatibility between regulatory strategies and practical tea production, future research priorities were proposed based on cutting-edge advances in tea science. This study aimed to provide theoretical foundations for stress-resistant breeding, ecological cultivation, and quality improvement in tea plants.
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  Salicylic Acid in Tea Plants: from Biosynthesis and Metabolism to Defense Responses Against Pests and Diseases

  SUN Chenqi, HU Kunzhu, BIAN Lei, LUO Zongxiu, LI Zhaoqun, XIU Chunli, FU Nanxia, CHEN Zongmao, GAO Yu, CAI Xiaoming

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 600-608. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.010

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  Salicylic acid (SA) is a naturally occurring phenolic compound in plants, functions as a key component in signaling pathways that activate and precisely modulate the defense response against pests and diseases. In plants, SA is predominantly synthesized through the isochorismate synthase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase pathways. SA can undergo diverse modifications in plants, such as hydroxylation, glycosylation and methylation, which contribute to SA storage and signal transduction. Activation of the SA signaling pathway significantly reprograms secondary metabolism of plants, consequently enhancing plant resistance. Tea plants (Camellia sinensis) exhibit relatively high endogenous SA content in leaves, with values ranging from 6.9 to 41.4 μg·g^-1. This review summarized the latest research progress on tea plants, specifically focusing on the biosynthesis of SA, SA derivatives, and SA-mediated resistance. The issues in the existing research and the focuses of future research were also discussed. This review provided a reference for the in-depth exploration of the role and mechanism of SA in regulating the disease and pest resistance of tea plants and the development of novel green control technologies.
Research Paper
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  Metabolomic Analysis of Highlighting Superiority and Masking Inferiority in Blended Strong Aroma Oolong Tea

  XU Bixia, WANG Dingze, LIU Lu, JIANG Xiuyu, ZHANG Yafang, ZHU Zhen, LI Hao, LIN Yong, HU Yongsheng, GAO Shuilian

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 609-622. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.20260626.001

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  Taking strong aroma ‘Jinguanyin’ (JGY), ‘Huangdan’ also known as ‘Huangjingui’ (HJG), and ‘Daye Huangdan’ also known as ‘Dadan’ (DD) as raw tea materials, multiple blending tests and sensory evaluation comparisons were carried out. The optimal blended tea sample ‘Fengyan Xiangcong’ (FYXC) was obtained with the blending ratio of JGY 28%, HJG 42% and DD 30%. Widely targeted metabolomics was employed to determine the aroma and taste components of these four samples. The results show that the blended tea (FYXC) was superior to the three raw teas in both sensory quality and main biochemical components. Compared with DD and JGY, the contents of green note-associated (Z)-3-hexenol and scorched note-associated 3-mercapto-3-methylbutyl formate in FYXC were down-regulated, while the content of floral and fruity note-associated δ-decalactone was up-regulated. These changes not only enhanced the floral aroma of the blended tea but also mitigated the inherent defects of the raw teas, such as the green note in DD and the scorched note in HJG. In comparison with the three raw teas, the caffeine content in FYXC was increased, which reduced the odor threshold of aromatic substances including δ-decalactone and further enhanced the floral and fruity aromas of the blended tea. Moreover, compared with HJG and JGY, FYXC had elevated the contents of glutamine (a sweet-tasting component) and aspartic acid (a fresh and brisk-tasting component), while the contents of bitter-tasting leucine, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside (a bitter-enhancing component), were decreased, and the content of simple catechin C was increased. These variations in component contents endowed the blended tea with a fresher, brisker and mellow taste. Collectively, tea blending can alter the compositional profile of chemical components in tea, achieve complementary advantages among raw teas, and exert the effect of highlighting superior characteristics and masking inferior ones, thereby improving the quality of blended strong-aroma oolong tea from southern Fujian. The findings of this study provided a theoretical basis for the blending of strong aroma oolong tea in southern Fujian.
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  Transcriptome-Based Analysis of the Mechanisms Underlying Differences in Cold Tolerance Between ‘Longjing 43’ and Its Variant Cultivars

  XUE Huaqian, CHEN Yao, YI Min, CUI Ye, WANG Xinchao, DING Changqing, YU Jizhong

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 623-636. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.002

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  Low temperature is one of the major environmental factors limiting tea production. Elucidating the regulatory network underlying cold tolerance in tea plants and identifying key functional genes provide a theoretical basis for cold-resistant cultivar breeding through molecular approaches. In this study, ‘Longjing 43’ (LJ43) and its closely related variants ‘Zhongcha Huangya 5’ (ZH5) and ‘Zhongcha 108’ (ZC108), which share highly similar genetic backgrounds, were used as materials. Based on phenotypic observations and measurements of relative electrolyte leakage (REL), maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, the cold tolerance of the three cultivars was found to be in the following order: ZH5 > ZC108 > LJ43. Transcriptome sequencing identified 2 384, 4 186, and 4 434 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Among these DEGs, 999 were shared by all three cultivars. Pathway enrichment analysis reveals that these common DEGs were significantly enriched in early cold-responsive biological processes, including plant hormone signal transduction, MAPK signaling cascade and transcriptional regulation, which constituted the core factors underlying the divergent cold resistance of the three tea cultivars. Further analysis identifies cultivar-specific DEGs in LJ43 (899), ZC108 (1 722) and ZH5 (1 504), which were separately enriched in distinct substance metabolism pathways. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) further demonstrates that modules significantly correlated with cold treatment exhibited obvious disparities among the three cultivars. In summary, these results indicate that tea cultivars adopt genotype-specific strategies to cope with cold stress, and such differential responses serve as a critical contributor to the inter-cultivar variation in cold tolerance. This study clarified the molecular basis underlying the differences in cold tolerance between LJ43 and its variants, expanded the current understanding of cold tolerance regulation in tea plants, and provided a theoretical foundation for cold-resistance breeding.
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  Effects of Direct Covering with Different Shade Nets on The Tea Canopy Microenvironment and Flavonoid Composition of Tencha

  LIU Yijie, CHEN Jiaying, FANG Qiting, YE Jianhui, JIN Zijing

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 637-650. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.009

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  Direct covering is widely used in the production of matcha raw material, with the advantages of easy operation, low cost, and compatibility with mechanized management. However, how shade nets with different materials and colors differentially affect the canopy microenvironment and flavonoid biosynthesis in tea plants remains unclear. In the present study, eight shade nets varying in material and color were applied to the tea cultivar ‘Longjing 43’ in the field to investigate their effects on the canopy microenvironment and flavonoid accumulation in tencha. The results show that direct covering primarily regulated the canopy microenvironment through changes in ultraviolet (UV) radiation, air humidity, and leaf temperature beneath the cover. Net shade percentage was the major determinant of UV intensity under the net. A black inner surface was more effective in reducing leaf temperature, whereas a white outer surface or aluminum-foil material decreased net surface temperature and heat accumulation, thereby lowering the risk of leaf scorching. All covering treatments generally reduced flavonoid accumulation in the processed tencha, with total catechins decreasing by 16.4%-33.6% and total flavonol glycosides by 23.8%-43.3%. Correlation analysis based on both absolute values and treatment-induced changes further demonstrates that reduced UV radiation was the major driver of the decline in flavonoids, particularly flavonol glycosides, whereas a moderate increase in leaf temperature promoted the accumulation of catechins and quercetin glycosides. Therefore, when producing matcha raw materials under direct covering, shade-net types that combine a high shading rate with good heat dissipation properties should be prioritized,in order to both reduce the UV intensity beneath the net and control leaf temperature. This study provided a theoretical basis for optimizing shading practices and designing novel shade nets for the targeted quality regulation of matcha raw materials.
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  Screening and Characterization of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria with Nitrogen-Fixing Ability from Tea Plants in Yigong

  XUE Xiaofan, MA Xiaodan, TAO Ao, XIAO Ying, WANG Zhenhong, GONG Wenfeng, WEI Liping

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 651-666. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.20260610.001

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  This study aimed to isolate and screen elite nitrogen-fixing bacterial strains with multiple plant growth-promoting (PGPR) traits from the rhizosphere of tea plants in the high-altitude Yigong tea area of Xizang, identify their phylogenetic positions, and evaluate their application potential, so as to provide resources and a theoretical basis for developing specialized microbial inoculants for high-altitude tea plantations. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria were isolated using the dilution plate method with Ashby's nitrogen-free medium. Nitrogenase activities of the strains were measured by the acetylene reduction assay. Strain identification was based on morphological, physiological, biochemical characteristics and 16 S rDNA sequence analysis. The abilities of the strains to solubilize phosphate, release potassium, produce siderophores, synthesize indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), as well as their salt tolerance were further determined. Pot experiments using tea plants (the host plants), maize and rapeseed were conducted to verify the practical growth-promoting effects of the strains. The results show that ten nitrogen-fixing bacterial strains were isolated and screened from the tea rhizosphere soil, exhibiting nitrogenase activities ranging from 20.06 to 23.71 nmol·mg^-1·h^-1. The strains MZ-4-74, SC-5-67, MZ-2-5 and FX-2-86 were Serratia odorifera. The strains FX-3-48, FX-4-31, FX-4-73 and MZ-3-16 were Serratia fonticola. The strains FX-2-66 and FX-3-66 were Pseudomonas koreensis and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, respectively. Functional characterization reveals that all 10 strains could solubilize potassium, 8 strains possessed phosphate solubilizing ability, 9 strains could produce siderophores, and 7 strains could synthesize IAA. Among them, FX-3-48, FX-2-86 and SC-5-67 exhibited strong salt tolerance. The pot experiment results demonstrate that inoculation with all strains significantly promoted the growth of tea, maize and rapeseed seedlings. The FX-3-48 treatment shows the most pronounced effect, increasing the fresh weight, stem diameter, plant height, and root length of tea seedlings by 330.77%, 61.54%, 86.09%, and 94.53%, respectively, compared to the CK control. The rhizosphere of tea plants in Yigong in Xizang area harbors abundant nitrogen-fixing bacterial resources with multiple plant growth-promoting functions. The screened strains exhibit significant potential for development into microbial inoculants, holding great importance for promoting green production in high-altitude tea plantations.
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  Investigation of Tea Leaf Diseases and Preliminary Identification of Pathogenic Fungi in Jiangxi Province

  LI Bicong, JIANG Hong, HUANG Jigang, ZHANG Liping, WU Wei, YAO Zhenye, SHI Zhenghai, JI Yu, ZHANG Xiaoyang

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 667-678. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.003

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  To clarify the occurrence of tea leaf diseases and their pathogenic fungi in Jiangxi Province, and to formulate effective green prevention and control measures. From 2019 to 2022, the field investigation of tea leaf diseases was carried out in 61 tea gardens in Jiangxi Province. The diseased leaves were collected, and after isolation and purification of the pathogens, morphological observation and molecular identification based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences were carried out respectively. It was found that there were 25 kinds of tea leaf diseases in Jiangxi Province, and 258 strains of pathogenic fungi were isolated from tea leaves, which were distributed in 19 genera. Among the pathogenic fungi of leaf diseases, Colletotrichum and Pestalotiopsis-like fungi had the highest isolation rate and were the main pathogens of leaf diseases. A total of 7 genera, including Alternaria, Botryosphaeria, Diaporthe, Fusarium, Nigrospora, Phomopsis and Phyllosticta were isolated from diseased leaves of several tea gardens and were identified as secondary pathogens. Tea blister blight and tea white scab are prevalent in high-altitude tea areas, and tea sooty mould is more serious in individual tea gardens.
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  Application of an Improved Lightweight YOLOv8n-GCW Model for Tea Disease Detection

  ZHAO Jinyan, LIU Guangjin, LI Xiang, DONG Siyuan, YANG Xingjie, WANG Xinghua

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 679-692. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.008

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  This study proposed a lightweight YOLOv8n-GCW model to address the challenges of low efficiency in manual disease detection and limited performance in small-scale lesion identification under varying illumination conditions in plateau tea plantations. Based on a dataset of typical diseases in Yunnan large-leaf tea gardens, the model was optimized in three key areas to improve performance: (1) the feature extraction network was reconstructed using GhostNet for edge computing compatibility. (2) The Coordinate attention mechanism was integrated to enhance robustness under complex lighting. (3) The overlapping lesion localization accuracy was optimized through a dynamic Wise-IoUloss function. Experimental results demonstrate that the improved model outperformed the original YOLOv8n, with a 5.6% increase in precision, 4.0% in recall, 5.3 % in F1-score, and 4.5% in mean average precision (mAP@0.5), while reducing the number of parameters by 42.7%. On the validation set, key loss functions decreased by 9.87%-10.74%, and the inference speed reached 53.84FPS, meeting the lightweight deployment requirements of portable agricultural devices. Ablation studies and Grad-CAM visualizations further validated the model's effectiveness. This study provided a lightweight solution for intelligent disease monitoring in plateau tea plantations. Combined with agricultural IoT technology, it held potential for extension to comprehensive smart disease control systems across tea plantations, promoting sustainable development in smart tea cultivation.
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  Effects of Bacillus subtilis and Rhodopseudomonas palustris on the Safe Growth of Tea Seedlings Under Combined PE and Cd Stress

  ZHAO Yinxue, ZHANG Yizhuo, YANG Mincheng, GUAN Yandan, HOU Lin, NI Fangyuan, WANG Kailin, WANG Guofu, WU Liyuan, SUN Xiaohong

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 693-707. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.007

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  To elucidate the remediation potential and underlying mechanisms of a microbial composite agent against polyethylene (PE) microplastic and cadmium (Cd) co-contamination in tea garden soils, a pot experiment was conducted using Camellia sinensis cv. ‘Longjing 43’ seedlings. Soil samples were spiked with PE particle suspension and CdCl₂·5H₂O to simulate co-contamination stress. A microbial composite agent composed of Bacillus subtilis and Rhodopseudomonas palustris with a 1∶1 viable cell ratio was subsequently applied to explore the effects of different application concentrations on soil biological activity, microbial community structure, as well as tea seedling morphology, Cd accumulation, stress resistance, photosynthetic parameters, and related gene expression. The results show that the application of the composite agent significantly enhanced soil enzyme activities, promoted the immobilization of available Cd, optimized the microbial community structure, and increased the abundance of beneficial microbial groups. At the plant level, the agent reduced Cd translocation to tea leaves, alleviated oxidative damage, and restored photosynthetic performance and antioxidant defense in tea seedlings. Expressions of genes related to α-linolenic acid metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, and fatty acid catabolism were up-regulated, indicating the activation of stress-adaptive metabolic pathways. These findings indicate that the microbial composite agent can effectively mitigate oxidative damage and heavy metal toxicity induced by PE-exacerbated Cd stress via regulating the soil environment and the physiological and molecular networks in tea plants in a concentration-dependent manner. This study provided a theoretical basis and technical support for the bioremediation of microplastic and heavy metal co-contamination in tea garden soils and for the safe production of tea plants.
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  Dual-Arm Collaborative Tea Bud Harvesting System

  YANG Yutong, JIANG Zhaoliang, ZHU Xinrui, REN Changxu, ZHU Liang, DAI Huawen

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 708-720. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.011

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  In light of the low efficiency of premium tea harvesting and the insufficient research on dual-arm task allocation and path planning in existing studies, this study used a common-rail gantry dual-arm harvesting platform as the experimental carrier and proposed a dual-arm collaborative task planning and scheduling method for tea bud harvesting. For multi-target tea bud harvesting tasks, a hybrid path planning algorithm based on GA-2Opt was proposed and combined with a region partitioning strategy guided by time costs to achieve adaptive load balancing between the two arms. Meanwhile, an active collision avoidance scheduling mechanism based on temporal sequences was introduced to mitigate interference conflicts in the dual-arm system at the planning layer. Field experiments demonstrate a picking success rate of approximately 79.7% and an average dual-arm parallelism rate of 93.3%. Compared with traditional partitioning strategies, the system significantly reduced total operating time, with an average picking cycle time of 1.39 s per tea bud. These findings validate the robustness of the collaborative strategy in unstructured environments, and provide a high-efficiency solution for automated premium tea harvesting.
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  Fluorescence Spectrophotometric Determination of Perchlorate in Fresh Tea Leaves by Using Toluidine Blue

  ZHENG Guoliang, SUN Hezhi, DAI Zhongyang, GAO Xiaofan, WANG Zhengquan, ZHOU Li

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 721-730. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.012

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  As perchlorate (ClO₄^-) is almost entirely transferred from fresh tea leaves to made tea, establishing a rapid detection method for ClO₄^- in tea materials is of critical importance for estimating its residue levels in tea before processing, thus avoiding resource waste. A rapid and selective fluorescence method based on toluidine blue (TB)-assisted liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) was developed in this research for detecting perchlorate in fresh tea leaves. TB acts as a ClO₄^- specific fluorescent probe, forming an ion-pair complex with ClO₄^- which is more soluble in low-polar organic solvents than in water. This property facilitates the effective elimination of fluorescence interference from various water-soluble complex in tea by utilizing LLE. This results in significant fluorescence enhancement at 677 nm, enabling both visual and instrumental detection of ClO₄^-. The method achieved excellent performance in fresh tea leaves: recoveries of 70.7%-75.7%, relative standard deviation (RSD) <11.7%, limit of quantification (LOQ) at 0.15 mg·kg^-1, and a total procedure time of 20 min. The entire procedure demonstrates good anti-interference, high selectivity, sensitivity and speed. After correction using a 5-fold correction factor, the accuracy of this method was comparable to that of the UPLC-MS/MS method when analyzing actual fresh tea leaf samples. Among the 12 fresh tea leaf samples tested, the ClO₄^- content ranged from not detected (ND, <0.15 mg·kg^-1) to 0.18 mg·kg^-1, with a detection rate of 83.3%. The method achieved an accuracy of 85.7% in determining whether the perchlorate content in fresh tea leaves would exceed the regulatory limit in processed tea products. This method demonstrates high selectivity and sensitivity, along with a rapid detection throughput, making it a promising strategy for the expeditious screening of hazardous analytes in complex sample matrices.
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  Chemical Composition Analysis and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Astragali Radix-Aged White Tea

  GAO Jianjian, JIANG Huimin, HAN Xinyao, WANG Ying, LIN Zhiyuan, HU Zhengyan, ZHOU Mengxue, LIN Zhi, DAI Weidong

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 731-746. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.005

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  This study systematically investigated the quality characteristics and in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of Astragali Radix-aged white tea. The tea was prepared from Fuding aged Shoumei white tea and Hunyuan Astragali Radix and evaluated using sensory assessment, conventional physicochemical analyses, non-targeted metabolomics, and in vivo anti-inflammatory assays. Sensory evaluation shows that the tea retained the sweet and mellow flavor of white tea while exhibiting a moderate herbal aroma, with overall good sensory harmony. Physicochemical analyses indicates that the moisture content, free amino acids, tea polyphenols, and total flavonoids were all within typical ranges. Non-targeted metabolomic profiling identified 155 compounds, including common tea polyphenols, flavonoids, N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-substituted flavanols, amino acids, alkaloids, and phenolic acids, along with several characteristic triterpene saponins and isoflavones derived from Astragali Radix. The results of animal experiments show that the water extract of Astragali Radix-aged white tea significantly reduced xylene-induced ear swelling in mice at both low (0.30 g·kg^-1) and high (0.60 g·kg^-1) doses, with inhibition rates of 47.60% and 41.90%, respectively. This is comparable to the positive control aspirin (41.90%). In addition, notable anti-inflammatory activity was exhibited by the extractin both the carrageenan-induced paw edema model and the cotton pellet-induced granuloma model in rats, with low (0.21 g·kg^-1) and high (0.42 g·kg^-1) doses inhibiting granuloma formation by 35.61% and 33.78%, respectively. Overall, these findings provided a detailed characterization of the chemical composition and in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of Astragali Radix-aged white tea, supporting its potential development as a functional food-medicinal tea product.
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  Potential Spatial Value Assessment of OECMs in Tea Gardens for Bird Habitat Protection: A Case Study of the Candidate Area of Qianjiangyuan National Park

  GAO Yanan, CHEN Heming, HU Lihui

  Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(4): 747-760. https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.04.001

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  Although national parks are the primary means of conserving biodiversity, they face challenges such as limited coverage and insufficient landscape connectivity. Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) represent a key mechanism to bridge these conservation gaps. Focusing on Kaihua County, home to the candidate area of Qianjiangyuan National Park, this study utilized data on 17 key bird species to identify conservation gaps via the MaxEnt model and systematic conservation planning. Additionally, a bivariate spatial autocorrelation model was employed to quantify the supplementary value of tea gardens as potential OECMs. The results indicate that the existing national park covers only 20.63% of highly suitable bird habitats, with approximately 80% of these key areas located outside protected boundaries, revealing a distinct conservation gap. A significant positive spatial correlation was found between tea gardens and priority bird conservation areas (Moran’s I =0.238), with tea gardens in the northwest exhibiting significant “High-High” clustering, confirming their spatial congruence. Furthermore, 57.15% of the tea gardens in the study area effectively covered the bird priority protection space outside the Qianjiangyuan National Park, providing critical habitats for rare species such as the Black-throated Bushtit (Aegithalos concinnus). The unique “tree-shrub” composite structure of tea gardens functions as “ecological stepping stones” consistent with the “unintentional conservation” characteristic of OECMs. This kind of production landscape with high ecological value is incorporated into the OECMs management system, thereby improving the connectivity and stability of the overall ecological network.