◎ Special correspondent of this magazine Xiao Ye wrote/photographed
[Speaking of giant salamanders, many people are familiar with "baby fish", in fact, in nature, there is a species commonly known as "little baby fish", that is, "small salamander". The salamander is in the same era as the dinosaurs, and is an ancient rare animal that is 320 million years old, and is known as a "living fossil". In the "China Biodiversity Red List and Vertebrates", there are many kinds of salamanders that are included in the "critically endangered" and "endangered" levels, such as the Anji salamander and the Hanging Mountain Salamander as "critically endangered" species, and the Chinese salamander and the cat salamander have been "endangered". According to a previous report by China News Agency, "Chinese salamanders" were found in a small stream crevice in Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. What are the characteristics of the Chinese salamander? What is its protection status? On November 26, the reporter of "Environment and Life" went to Guanyin Mountain to find out. 】
The staff of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park found a suspected species of Chinese salamander in the park, with four toes on each of its forelimbs and five toes on its hind limbs.
<h1>Strange trees and beasts live in peace</h1>
On the morning of November 26, after the rain, a reporter from Environment and Life magazine came to Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park in Zhangmutou Town, east of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. At the entrance of the park is a gate tower, and the inside and outside are planted with "beautiful kapok", and the flowers are blooming, like a pink ocean. Entering the park, the green of the mountains is full of mountains, the mountains are stretched, the mountains are stacked, the water vapor rises, and the water vapor is like a dream.
Guanyin Mountain staff Ying Chuanfeng told "Environment and Life" that on December 23, 2005, Guangdong Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park was officially established with the approval of the former State Forestry Administration, and is the only national forest park among the 14 forest parks in Dongguan, covering an area of about 18 square kilometers and with a forest coverage rate of 99%. After years of construction and maintenance, Guanyin Mountain has changed from an obscure green mountain to a well-known "natural oxygen bar" and "green pearl" in Lingnan, and is even known as dongguan's "urban green lung".
In guanyin mountain national forest park, camphor trees of different ages stand up leafily.
At the end of 2017, the total number of national forest parks in the country was 881, and Guanyin Mountain was the first private national forest park. "It has many biological resources that can be called 'treasures', strange flowers and grasses are scattered all over the mountains, and rare birds and animals are infested from time to time, just like a huge 'natural museum'." Ying Chuanfeng said that there are more than 1,000 kinds of plants here, of which 22 species are nationally protected plants, and at least 7 species are endangered species, such as the national first-class protected plant Golden Camellia. In November 2005, Professor Chen Bangyu, Senior Engineer Chen Binghui and Professor Zhang Guicai of the South China Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, found dozens of cycad ferns distributed on the slopes of Guanyin Mountain. In March 2006, Chen Binghui discovered two nationally endangered plants, Bai Gui, in Guanyin Mountain, "the first time that Bai Gui was found in Dongguan, and two were found to be even rarer."
Researchers have also found five-leaf god grass, an endangered and rare citrus variety, wild golden bean, and a large number of wild pepper trees in the primitive secondary forest of Qingyun Road in Guanyin Mountain. In addition, there are more than 300 kinds of wild animals such as wild boar, yellow fox, python, wren, thrush and so on.
<h1>The "golden key" in the evolutionary history of modern paleontology in Guanyin Mountain? </h1>
According to The China News Agency, staff at Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park found two dinosaur-era ancient rare animals, the Chinese salamander, in a small stream crevice near Qingyun Road in the park on December 9, 2007; in November 2008, the staff of the park accidentally observed the mating process of the Chinese salamander: the female salamander lay on the back of the male salamander, and one of the female salamander's forefoots was bitten by the male salamander with its mouth, and the female salamander reflexively wrapped around the male salamander.
Chen Shiji, a staff member of Guanyin Mountain, confirmed the news to the reporter of Environment and Life magazine. He described that 11 years ago, the patrol security personnel of Guanyin Mountain saw two "four-legged fish that resemble fish instead of fish, and lizards instead of lizards" in the primitive secondary forest near Qingyun Road in the park, and brought them back for observation. He also witnessed the appearance of a "four-legged fish": about 13 centimeters long and about 3 centimeters wide, with two feet in front and behind, four toes on the forelimbs and five toes on the hind limbs. The head is flattened and ovoid, the torso is cylindrical and slightly flattened, and a long tail is dragged behind it. They have smooth bodies, with one back being black and the other pale black.
Judging from the photos taken by the staff of Guanyin Mountain, the suspected "Chinese salamander" shows that its abdomen is dotted with many orange-red patches of different sizes.
Salamanders are amphibians that look like lizards but have no scales, their bodies are covered with soft, moist skin, and they live in damp, dark places, feeding on small animals. The well-known giant salamander is a baby fish in the Yangtze River Basin, and the salamander is much smaller than the giant salamander, with a body length of no more than 25 cm. The tail of the giant salamander accounts for about 1/3 of the total length, and the salamander is 1/2; the giant salamander is slow to move, and the salamander is the opposite.
Chinese salamanders are amphibians, calyxes, salamanders, and salamanders. Tailed animals have a lifelong tail and limbs, and the larvae are more similar to adults. Salamander is widely distributed in East Asia, such as Japan, the Korean Peninsula and China. The diversity of East Asia's geography has led to its sharp differentiation, resulting in a rich diversity. There are more than ten kinds of salamanders reported in China, including the Northeast Salamander, the Chinese Salamander, the Chunan Salamander, the Taiwan Salamander, the Alishan Salamander, the Manchurian Salamander, the Yiwu Salamander, the Anji Salamander, the Henan Salamander, the Hanging Mountain Salamander, the Huayuan Salamander, the Maoershan Salamander, the Taiwan Salamander and the Nanhu Salamander. This species, which shared an era of development with dinosaurs, is known as the "golden key" that can open the evolutionary history of paleontology.
<h1>It inhabits shallow streams</h1>
After more than 300 million years of breeding, the salamander has survived to this day, but its number and distribution area are very small. In 1889, the Chinese salamander was named by the British zoologist Albert Günter based on two specimens found by the British naturalist Antwerp Edgar Pratt in Yichang, Hubei Province. In 1986, the Chinese salamander was included in the Red Book of Endangered Animals of China, along with the national treasure giant panda. In the "China Biodiversity Red List and Vertebrates", the Chinese salamander is listed as an endangered species.
In 1987, Zhao Ermi of the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences borrowed the chinese salamander full-scale specimen No. 2, which was preserved in the British Museum of Natural History in London, England, and described it as having a large head, a head length significantly larger than the head width, and a rounded snout. The dorsal side of the eye is slightly prominent, the eye diameter is shorter than the length of the snout, the pupil is rounded; the nostrils are in the middle of the eye and slightly closer to the end of the snout, the nasal spacing is slightly greater than or equal to the distance between the eyes, the top of the head has a "V" crest; there is no lip fold, there is a neck fold... The upper and lower jaws have fine teeth; the tongue is oval, very large, and occupies the bottom of the mouth. The plow bone dentition "V" shape ... The trunk is thick and short, with 11 ribs, and the left and right ribs meet in the midline of the abdomen. Longer limbs... Four toes of the forelimbs, four toes of several equal lengths; five toes of the hind limbs, the finger toes are flattened, free and webless; no palmar process and plantar process; the base of the tail is slightly rounded, the posterior side is flattened, the end is blade-shaped, and the upper edge is pointed... Smooth skin on the surface of the body.
The plough bone teeth are small teeth that grow on the plough bones of the oral palate of amphibians, and many small teeth are arranged in a certain shape, which is one of the basis for the classification of amphibians. There are 4 types of salamander's plow bone teeth: wide "U" type, narrow "U" type, wide "V" type, narrow "V" type, according to statistics, 80% of the salamander plough bone teeth are wide and narrow "U" type.
Salamanders can breathe with their lungs, and like frogs, they need to exchange gases with the help of moist skin as an aid to breathing. Shallow streams with soft, moist soil and dense vegetation and surrounding areas are their favorite habitats.
Salamanders can breathe with their lungs, and like frogs, they need to exchange gases with the help of moist skin as an aid to breathing.
<h1>Cannibalism leads to "difficulty in people"</h1>
Adult salamanders prefer to live alone, while young salamanders like to live in groups, often living together. As carnivorous animals, salamanders hunt fiercely, using their forelimbs to find, prey on insects, earthworms and small arthropods, etc., with a huge amount of food, and a full meal can be eaten for several days. Young salamanders feed on water earthworms, algae and rotifers, and if there is a shortage of food, they kill each other, feeding on unhatched salamander eggs, and the killing of the same family makes it difficult for the salamander family to "prosper".
From November to March of the following year, the breeding period of salamanders is generally the breeding season. When breeding, males generally choose spawning grounds with a water depth of 20 to 30 cm and fresh water quality, lure females in, pair up after a period of playful chasing, and fertilize in vitro. The female salamander produces a pair of egg sheath bags, one end of which is stalk-shaped and attached to a stone wall or aquatic plant, and the other end is free and floats in the water. Egg sheath pouch is when mature eggs move backwards in the fallopian tube, the protein secreted by the tube wall wraps the egg and produces it, and the protein layer absorbs water to expand to form a sheath bag, and the eggs are staggered in a single row or multiple rows in the bag.
The egg sheath bag is tough, about 2 cm in diameter and about 6 cm long when it is just discharged, and then absorbs water and expands, and can be up to 15 to 18 cm long and 5 to 5.4 cm in diameter after 10 days. A pair of egg sacs contains 120 to 165 eggs, each with a diameter of 2 to 2.5 mm. The female leaves after ovulation, while the male is on the side and leaves after 3 to 7 days.
Fertilized eggs develop slowly, are very sensitive to water temperature, and it takes 43 to 60 days to be born by the larvae breaking the membrane; after 80 to 100 days of life in the water, the gills can recede and grow lungs in the summer until they are full, and gradually begin terrestrial life. Hatching and metamorphosis of young salamanders are completed in water, and they often forage for algae and aquatic insects on the shore or in the water, and the development time is longer.
They are less self-protective and are a "vulnerable group" in nature, susceptible to environmental factors such as predators, water bodies, atmosphere and food. In addition to birds of prey such as eagle falcons, common birds are also their natural enemies. Juvenile salamanders are easily served on the plate for dragonfly larvae and frogs. The breeding season sometimes enters a dry period, and the water surface area shrinks, resulting in some egg sheath bags being exposed to the air, and small life dies in the bags. Those who survive must also beware of predators. In winter they return to the water to reproduce. According to statistics, the survival rate of salamanders from fertilized eggs to sexual maturity is only 1/1000.
<h1>The search for primary secondary forests was fruitless</h1>
The purpose of the "Environment and Life" reporter's visit is to visit the true appearance of the "Chinese salamander". Ying Chuanfeng took the reporter to Qingyun Road, which is about 500 meters above sea level. Only to see that the intersection is fenced off to prevent tourists from entering, and there are signs indicating that snakes and insects are infested. He introduced that this is a protected area in the park, which is not easy for outsiders to step into and minimize human interference.
The protected area of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park is closed to tourists, and there are signs indicating the presence of snakes and insects.
Ying Chuanfeng mentioned that in 2007, Guanyin Mountain carried out regional planning, and delineated three major areas of protected areas, ecological core areas and moderate development zones according to the trend of the mountain and the vegetation growth environment, focusing on protection and construction and maintenance for different areas. The reserve and ecological core area are the growth areas of the primary secondary forest of Guanyin Mountain.
It is understood that Guanyin Mountain prohibits tourists from carrying lighters, organizes forest defense teams to carry out cross patrols every day, removes wild boar clips, etc., prevents nearby villagers from destroying forests and opening up wasteland, stealing wild animals and plants, and eliminates various safety hazards. "There is a miniature fire station in the park, fully equipped, and the fire extinguishing equipment is inspected once a week, which is higher than the requirements of the fire brigade." Every year from November to April is the forest fire season, and Guanyin Mountain has set up an emergency detachment and conducted forest fire prevention exercises.
Guanyin Mountain organizes cross-patrols by forest defense teams every day to eliminate various safety hazards.
From the mountain, the "cement forest" lined with buildings envelops the green primary secondary forest of Guanyin Mountain. "The total area of Dongguan is 2465 square kilometers, and the planned area of Guanyin Mountain Park is 18 square kilometers, accounting for 0.73% of the area of Dongguan City. In Dongguan, which is famous for its manufacturing industry and developed industry, it is particularly precious to have such a large area of primary secondary forest as Guanyin Mountain. Ying Chuanfeng said proudly.
Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park covers an area of about 18 square kilometers, with a forest coverage rate of 99%. Guanyin Mountain Park /Courtesy photo
Walking in the lush and quiet mountains, there are birds chirping and insects chirping in the mountains from time to time, and the camphor branches of different rings stand leafily in the distant mountains and near the valley, and the water vapor and the fragrance of grass and trees blend together in the mountains. Ying Chuanfeng told reporters that Zhangmutou Town was named after the camphor forest during the Qing Dynasty, and now the shadow of the camphor tree is almost invisible in the town, but there are still many ancient camphor trees in the protected area of Guanyin Mountain, with high chest diameter, some 8 trees in pieces, some in the shape of the "Big Dipper", "after the baptism of time, it is still full of vitality."
Walking deep into the forest, the road became choppy, there was slippery moss on the road, and the reporter almost slipped several times. After walking about two kilometers of mountain trails, I suddenly heard the sound of babbling water, and the reporter and his party couldn't help but get excited, because where there was water, there was hope to see the salamander.
The streams in the protected area of Guanyin Mountain are crystal clear and may contain Chinese salamanders.
The mountain road is lined with small streams, the water is crystal clear, the amount of water is not large, and it flows slowly through the mossy gravel. The reporter and his party walked lightly, afraid of scaring away the possible salamanders, and at the same time stared at the area around the water to look for the figure of the salamander. Unfortunately, there was no trace of the salamander along the way. Ying Chuanfeng told "Environment and Life" that the previous two discoveries of small salamanders were accidentally encountered by security personnel when patrolling the mountain, "can not be sought"
<h1>Three major projects harbor potential threats</h1>
Ying Chuanfeng said that amphibians are the best "alarms" for the environment. The small salamander has weak migration ability, high requirements for habitat environmental quality, weak adaptability, and requires the most natural and primitive ecological environment to reproduce and maintain population stability, and its existence confirms the high-quality natural environmental quality of Guanyin Mountain to some extent.
However, a staff member surnamed Li of the Engineering Department of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park expressed his concern about species such as salamanders to "Environment and Life": "If the salamander wants to survive in a small pond for a long time, it must rely on the stability of the surrounding environment and the small intensity of human activity." The expansion of human activities, the destruction of the natural environment and the shrinking of the habitat may lead to a decrease in its number. ”
According to the staff member surnamed Li, Guanyin Mountain has encountered three construction projects of "crossing crisis", in addition to affecting and destroying the landscape of the national forest park, it is posing a major threat to the protection of wild species such as salamanders. They are the Qingxi Branch Line Project of the Expressway from Guanguan (Conghua to Dongguan) crossing Guanyin Mountain by tunneling 3 kilometers, the Guangshen Branch Line of the second line of PetroChina's "West-to-East Gas Transmission" crossing Guanyin Mountain by landfill for 2 kilometers, and the 6 groups of high-voltage transmission lines of The Dongguan Power Supply Bureau of China Southern Power Grid and other units crossing Guanyin Mountain to erect a line tower.
It is understood that the Qingxi Branch Line Project from the Guan expressway crosses guanyin mountain for 3 kilometers by opening a tunnel.
"The three major projects did not obtain the consent of guanyin mountain, and a large number of trees were cut down under construction, resulting in irreversible ecological hazards such as forest damage, soil erosion, animal migration, and landscape damage." Highway traffic, noise, etc. can have a certain impact on the forest ecosystem and affect the survival of wild animals. Natural gas is a flammable and explosive gas, and the forest coverage here is more than 90%, once the pipeline explodes and catches fire, the forest may become a sea of fire. ”
The staff member surnamed Li pointed to the dense high-voltage line tower with a worried face: "The high-voltage line is too dense, the height is too close to the road in the park, the nearest place is only four or five meters, in the summer due to thermal expansion, the high-voltage line will sag, which is very easy to cause forest fires." There are also nearby villagers building villas in the mountains, repairing luxurious tombs, and doing stone processing, which are potential threats to the survival of the salamander. The salamander's protective path is like the mountain trail we just walked, with all kinds of difficulties and obstacles. But as long as you find a way to overcome it, you can reach your destination. ”
Guanyin Mountain staff are worried that artificial interference such as high-voltage transmission lines (triangular parts) in the park will affect the survival of wild species
<h1>Research needs to be deepened</h1>
Judging from the photos of the "Chinese salamander" taken by the staff of Guanyin Mountain, its abdomen is embellished with many orange-red patches of different sizes, and some netizens questioned that this may be another species of "salamander". In the "Red List of Biodiversity and Vertebrates of China", many species of the salamander family are also classified as critically endangered and endangered. The size, weight, eyelids, longitudinal folds on the side of the body, skin color and living environment of salamanders are very similar to salamanders, and it is difficult for ordinary people to distinguish them.
Guanyin Mountain staff Chen Shiji told the "Environment and Life" that when the species was first discovered, it knew very little about it, but brought it back to the fish tank to take pictures, and then released it, "Because I did not understand their habits, I was afraid of death, and I failed to ask relevant experts to do further identification in time. ”
At present, the academic community's understanding of the Chinese salamander is only a rough grasp of its morphology and ecology, and others are almost blank, such as population number and change trends, migration laws and genetic diversity, etc., and relevant scientific research investment needs to be strengthened.
【Environmental Encyclopedia】
National Forest Park
China's forest parks are divided into national forest parks, provincial forest parks and municipal and county-level forest parks, of which the national forest park refers to a particularly beautiful forest landscape, a relatively concentrated cultural scenery, ornamental, scientific, cultural value, special geographical location, with a certain regional representative, tourism service facilities, a high visibility, for people to visit, rest or scientific, cultural and educational activities of the place. (Xiao Ye / Finishing)
The original title of the original article is "Living Fossil" Chinese Salamander Encounters Survival Crisis in Guanyin Mountain, Dongguan? Searching for salamanders in the mountains, the three major projects hide hidden dangers》
Original, please contact Environment & Life Magazine.
Editor-in-charge: Ye Xiaoting
Editor: Cui Yue