message: A report from the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) says many factors could cause the death of bamboo at Qingmuchuan: the earthquake and changes in climate and soil; Rhizomys sinensis, the Chinese bamboo rat, had devoured the root systems and pushed the plant down from 1,300 meters to 1,000 meters; 30% of the bamboo groves on the shady slopes had been frozen by the heavy snow in 2008; and large areas of bamboo died unexplained deaths in Yindongzi and Maojialiang.