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Looking around Guangdong, you will hardly find such a magical place:
It is full of life and is a paradise for endemic wildlife, yellow-bellied horned pheasants dancing among the jungles, mangshan iron heads spitting out letters in the shadows, Tibetan chief monkeys stretching out their loins at the head of trees...
It has a pleasant environment and is the residence of many rare plants, south China five-needle pine swaying sideways to welcome guests, Chinese double fan fern waving "big hands" in the wind to cool down, water lilies in the water with buds to bloom...
It has a unique shape, the main peaks are not connected to each other, independent of each other, the valley is crisscrossed into a glyph or glyph shape, down the mountain through the valley and then up the mountain is the norm here...
It is mysterious, the same latitude is desert or desert, only here is an oasis; all kinds of famous mountains and rivers unheard of mountain dwarf forests thrive here...
Driving north from downtown Guangzhou, it takes more than 4 hours to reach this land , the largest mountain range in southern China and an important physical geographical boundary, which is the Nanling Of Guangdong.
How is this "all-rounder" of Nanling positioned? Zhou Ping, a researcher at the Guangzhou Institute of Geography of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences, summed it up most appropriately: "Nanling is a plump mountain range, which embraces countless precious animals and plants in its arms, creating the largest 'oasis' in the desert belt of the same latitude; Nanling is a magical mountain range, which has experienced the vicissitudes of the sea and mulberry fields, forming many beautiful and peculiar geological landscapes. It is dotted with the world's magnificent diversity, but also shows the pattern of ecological security, is the world's geological and ecological dual treasures. ”
From the historical South Ridge to the ecological South Ridge
The South Ridge is located between latitudes 23°37′ and 27°14′ N, stretching about 700 km from east to west and 400 km wide from north to south. Also known as the Five Ridges, it can be traced back to the article "History of Huainan Hengshan Lie", "so that Wei Tuo overtook the Five Ridges to attack the Hundred Yue". For a long time, Wuling, as a natural barrier, hindered the transportation and economic ties between the Lingnan region and the Central Plains, making the economy and culture of the Lingnan region far inferior to that of the Central Plains, and Lingnan was also known as the "Land of Barbarians" and fulfilled the emperor's dream of the Zhao Tuo Nanyue Dynasty.
In 1913, the Commercial Press published the "New Body of Chinese Geography" for a detailed description of Wuling: "The Nanling Mountains spread for several miles, with different names everywhere... North-south traffic is not limited to the curved river channel, that is, the rugged mountain road, which is difficult and dangerous, and the cover can be imagined. Later, with the development of productive forces and the progress of society, people gradually opened up channels between the mountains, and the exchanges between Lingnan and the Central Plains became frequent.
After entering New China, the function of Nanling as a barrier in the historical Lingnan region has ceased to exist, and its ecological value has gradually been reflected. The 1993 edition (Chinese Encyclopedia of Chinese Geography) has a "Nanling" article, which defines Nanling as "the largest mountain range and an important physical geographical boundary in southern China".
Although it does not play a role in dividing the boundaries of China's temperature belt, according to Yang Qinye, a researcher at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanling is located in the southern edge of central subtropical geography, and the frequent alternating cold and heating groups in different seasons make it one of the rainy areas in China, with annual precipitation between 1100-2000 mm. The difference between north and south, the change of different altitudes, resulting in a variety of types of climate environment in Nanling, rich in climate resources, so that the plants here grow luxuriantly, and the natural vegetation shows the phenomenon of staggering north and south and has a certain vertical distribution, becoming a huge natural plant bank. The variety of wild and rare animals is also unusually diverse. All this has made Nanling one of the complex and diverse biodiversity areas in China.
A well-deserved treasure trove of biodiversity genes
This southern mountain range, from the first day it was noticed, attracted the attention of the world. The same latitude of the earth, from west to east, is distributed in the Mexico Desert of the Americas, the Sahara Desert of Africa, the desert of the Arabian Peninsula in Asia and the Thar Desert in northwestern South Asia, all of which belong to deserts and deserts, and the South Ridge is a precious "oasis".
The reason is that it is precisely because of the existence of this mountain range that most of the northwest monsoon is blocked, and a large number of warm and humid air currents from the southeast sea are left behind, which makes the climate of the southern Guangdong land so warm and humid. This, combined with the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature, has finally made this place a refuge for ancient relict plants, which is also a genetic treasure trove of tropical subthermal plant biodiversity.
As the largest gene bank of biological species in Guangdong Province, the forest coverage rate in Nanling Nature Reserve is more than 98%. Above this "oasis", a complete mountain forest ecosystem and a vertical belt of native vegetation are preserved. At the same time, the superior ecological environment also makes Nanling a habitat for many rare wild animals.
Source of this figure: CCTV
The aforementioned yellow-bellied pheasant and Mangshan iron head branding are the "popular Internet celebrities" of the Nanling species. Among them, the yellow-bellied horned pheasant was endangered as early as the end of the 1970s, and is a national key protected wild animal, known as the bird giant panda. The male has a chestnut-brown upperpart and is covered with pale yellowish round spots with black margins. The crown is black with black and maroon feathers. The flight feathers are black brown with brownish yellow spots. The lower body is almost pure brownish yellow, because the abdominal feathers are yellow in skin, so it is called "yellow-bellied horned pheasant". During the courtship season, the flesh skirt under the male's throat swells and droops, revealing a bright vermilion, emerald blue stripes crisscrossing each other, and the pair of emerald blue flesh horns on the head are straight and prominent, more polished, showing a graceful dance around the female bird. The Mangshan iron head is a National Special Protected Animal in China, with a triangular head, slightly larger, cheek sockets, and looks like a soldering iron, hence the name, which is the largest snake species in the known venomous snake class.
According to statistics, in terms of plants, Nanling has 170 species included in the list of rare and endangered protected plants in China and 111 species listed in the appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; in terms of animals, 82 species are listed in the Red Book of Endangered Animals in China, and 64 species are listed in the appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Build the second largest wildlife germplasm resource bank in China
As the saying goes, "Not a good man is not a good man if he does not reach the Great Wall". Without The South Ridge, it's hard for you to really feel its inner beauty. Drive back and forth between the peaks of the South Ridge, the layers of greenery, thousands of trees, wonderland is picturesque. Towering "Guangdong pine", various strains everywhere, Lingnan monkeys who love to eat and play... It makes people feel very natural and comfortable.
As a well-deserved treasure trove of biodiversity genes, Nanling should implement the major project of biodiversity conservation. This is also an important measure to strengthen the protection of biodiversity in China, which is of great significance for the scientific, rational and orderly use of biological resources, the protection of the stability and health of the ecosystem, the maintenance of Ecological Security in China, the satisfaction of the ecological and environmental needs of the people, the promotion of sustainable development, and the further establishment of China's image as a responsible major country.
On March 27, 2021, the Lingnan Biodiversity Conservation Summit Forum with the theme of "Protecting Nanling Biological Special Fertile Land and Building a Community of Earth Life" was held in Shaoguan. Nearly 30 academicians and experts spoke freely at the meeting and jointly expressed their views and opinions on the conservation of Lingnan biodiversity, and the meeting emphasized that in the context of Guangdong Province's efforts to promote the construction of the natural protected area system with national parks as the main body, the protection and restoration of Nanling biodiversity is not only an important measure to build a new pattern of regional ecological security of "one nuclear, one belt and one region", but also a specific practice to promote high-quality development in high-level protection.
In 2007, China built the first wildlife germplasm resource bank, providing technical support conditions for the protection, research and rational utilization of wildlife germplasm resources. As a dual treasure house of world geology and ecology, a paradise and paradise for animals and plants, Nanling is also shouldering the functions of building a Lingnan biodiversity big data center, a Lingnan biodiversity monitoring network, and many other functions, and is fully capable of building the second largest wildlife germplasm resource bank in China.
South Ridge, the future can be expected!
Text/Guangzhou Daily, Xinhuacheng reporter Dong Yeheng Geng Xujing
Photo/ Guangzhou Daily, Xinhuacheng reporter Dong Yeheng Geng Xujing (except for labeling)
Video/ Guangzhou Daily Xinhuacheng reporter Dong Yeheng Geng Xujing
Guangzhou Daily Xinhuacheng Editor Tang Nan