Herons on the Banks of the Chaobai River on April 15. Beijing News reporter Hou Shaoqing photographed
Zhong Zhenyu (blue-clad), director of the Ecological Research Office of the Beijing Biodiversity Conservation Research Center, and his colleague Yang Zheng watch birds on the banks of the Chaobai River on April 15. Beijing News reporter Hou Shaoqing photographed
Two great bustards come to the farmland of Taihu Lake to forage for food. Photo by Zhong Zhenyu
Beijing launched a biodiversity survey last year, and a total of 5,086 species of various species have been recorded on the ground; during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the background of biodiversity will be dynamically clarified
Experts say it is related to the improvement of the ecological environment
Today is the International Day of Biodiversity. In 2020, Beijing launched a biodiversity survey, and 5,086 species of various species have been recorded on the ground, and 70 new record species in Beijing have been found, including 12 new record species in China. It is planned to achieve full coverage of the survey grid during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period and dynamically find out the background of the city's biodiversity.
In addition, the Beijing Biodiversity Conservation Research Center has set up a working group of the city sub-center, and experts with rich experience in animal and plant research will conduct a normalized biodiversity survey in Tongzhou District to find out the distribution of animals and plants in Tongzhou.
A few days ago, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment held a press conference, at which it was proposed that in 2020, Beijing launched a biodiversity survey, and 5086 species of various species have been recorded on the ground, and 70 new record species in Beijing have been found, including 12 new record species in China. It is planned to achieve full coverage of the survey grid during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period and dynamically find out the background of the city's biodiversity.
The city divided 212 grids to carry out a comprehensive survey
Cao Zhiping, director of the Department of Natural Ecology and Conservation, introduced that in accordance with the relevant technical standards of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in 2020, the city will be divided into 212 grids, and a comprehensive survey will be carried out on the diversity of some grid ecosystems and the diversity of mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, insects, algae and other species.
Among them, in the background survey work in 2020, a total of 5086 species of various species have been recorded in the field. 70 new record species in Beijing were discovered, including 40 species of bryophytes, 3 species of vascular plants, 16 species of insects and 11 species of macromygi; 12 new record species in China, including 11 species of macromygi and 1 species of insects.
"On the basis of last year's survey, we formulated the Beijing Biodiversity Survey Plan for 2021-2025, planning to achieve full coverage of the survey grid during the '14th Five-Year Plan' period and dynamically find out the background of the city's biodiversity." Cao Zhiping said that it is planned to use 3 to 5 years to analyze and sort out the survey results on the basis of completing a round of 212 grid surveys in the city, and form a series of survey reports on biodiversity in Beijing.
The greening of the central urban area provides habitat for wildlife
The 2020 survey found animals such as the Northeast hedgehog and weasels in the central urban area, and also found birds of prey such as the Japanese pine sparrowhawk and the red-footed falcon, reflecting that in recent years, the central urban area has increased the urban green area in a variety of ways, providing a richer habitat for wild animals.
In the plain area, more forest birds such as bald-headed grebe and woodpecker were found, as well as amphibians and reptiles such as black-spotted side-fold frogs, Chinese forest frogs, and Chifeng snakes, as well as fish such as horsefish and blackfin carp, indicating that in recent years, through afforestation and afforestation of millions of mu, the construction of country parks and the restoration of rivers and lakes and wetlands, the green ecological space has been expanded and the biodiversity has become more abundant.
In recent years, the ecological conservation area is a biodiversity-rich area in Beijing, and in recent years, the areas with the best ecosystem quality in Beijing have been effectively protected by adhering to ecological conservation, strengthening the construction of nature reserves, habitat protection, and water ecological restoration. The survey found threatened species such as the blue-headed diving duck, the brown horse chicken, the large-flowered orchid, and the rotunda shellfish, as well as the ocelot, the spiny horn snake spring fly, the purple lime and other wild animals and plants under national key protection, as well as the wild boar, soft jujube kiwifruit, eleuthero and other key protected wild animals and plants in Beijing.
Follow 1
Multiple indicative species are recorded
The report mentions the discovery of multiple indicative species in Beijing.
Liu Chunlan, vice president of the Beijing Academy of Environmental Protection Sciences, introduced that some species have particularly strict requirements for the living environment, and such species have a certain indication effect on the quality of the local ecological environment. In layman's terms, if these species appear, they can naturally know one or more local environmental quality indicators. So in last year's survey, we found some representative indicator species.
"For example, the buttercup and blackfin carp recorded in Beijing are indicator species recognized by experts for good water quality." In last year's survey, we found these indicator species in the rivers of Haidian and Changpingdi, which to a certain extent showed that the governance and ecological restoration of our urban rivers have achieved certain results. Liu Chunlan said.
"The fireflies that we are more familiar with actually have particularly high requirements for the ecological environment, need to have fresh air, clean water, lush plants, it is also particularly sensitive to light, where there is light interference, it will not survive, so it is particularly sensitive to environmental changes." Liu Chunlan said, "In the past period of time, fireflies have indeed decreased around us, and this investigation has surprised us. In last year's survey, we found fireflies not only in the mountains of Haidian, Mentougou and Pinggu, but also in urban parks in Dongcheng, Haidian, Shijingshan, Daxing District and other places. ”
She believes that fireflies, which are sensitive to air, water, vegetation and light conditions, have been recorded in large quantities in urban parks, which to some extent indicates the improvement of the quality of the urban ecological environment.
Follow 2
Most of the newly recorded species are mosses, insects, etc
Last year's survey found 70 newly recorded species in Beijing and 12 in China. Liu Chunlan said that the discovery of newly recorded species has many reasons.
"The vast majority of new species are discovered due to insufficient historical surveys and basic research, and no one has yet discovered and recorded them, in fact, these species exist in nature, but they are not recognized by humans." There are also species that do not have the identification conditions. Liu Chunlan said that the Beijing Biodiversity Survey found a total of 70 newly recorded species, the vast majority of which are mosses, insects and macrofungal species that are not concerned by scientists.
"The living environment of moss is special, generally living in a particularly hidden niche, and there are many bryophyte species that can only be discovered by us during special growth cycles, so the survey generally does not involve the taxa of moss." But last year we included a moss-specific survey in which a total of 40 new species were recorded. Liu Chunlan said.
The situation of insects is similar, with 16 new species of insects recorded this time. Liu Chunlan said that according to authoritative surveys, there are a total of 3 million to 10 million species of insects in the world, but there are only about 1 million species of insects that can be identified in the world, so at most we only know 1/4 to 1/10. There are about 4,000 species of insects recorded in Beijing, which is estimated to account for only 1/10 of all insects in Beijing.
Liu Chunlan said that there is still a lot of basic research work to be done in the categories of mosses, insects and large fungi, and it is expected that more new record species in Beijing will be discovered in the process of the second survey that will continue in the future. (Reporters Li Yukun and Zhang Lu)
Source: Beijing News