Walking in the Xiaonanchuan of Liupanshan National Nature Reserve, the waterfalls and springs sing all the way, the insects that cannot see the figure are accompanied by the chirping under their feet, the forests and grasses are abundant, the mountain flowers are blooming, the moss is dense, and sometimes the birds are chirping... "Into nature, feel the landscape of Ningxia" The reporters of the media group also forgot the fatigue of running all the way in such a landscape and water scenery.
Liupanshan Nature Reserve has a total of 1.365 million mu and 904 square kilometers. Forest cover was 27 per cent in 1958, 47.6 per cent in 2000 and now 64.5 per cent. According to 2019 data, the accumulation of living standing wood accounts for half of Ningxia. According to climate experts, from 2013 to 2020, the average annual rainfall in Liupanshan is more than 1,000 mm.
Wildlife Kingdom
Liupan Mountain is majestic, the reserve is dominated by mountains and hills, is the only area in Ningxia with surplus water resources, the huge water conservation function is called "natural water tower", and the rich animal and plant resources make it a "germplasm resource gene bank" for biological resource diversity. The good ecological environment has created the biodiversity of the Liupanshan area, and the rich animal, plant and insect resources and the profound historical and cultural heritage have made it known as the "green pearl" and cool resort on the Loess Plateau. Liupanshan Nature Reserve has become a key area for the protection of wild animals and plants in Ningxia, northwest China and even the whole country, and has become a "kingdom of wild animals and plants".
The humid plant communities and semi-arid plant communities of Liupanshan Nature Reserve are intertwined, and the vegetation changes with the change of altitude, which can be called the "green island" on the Loess Plateau. At present, there are 180 species of vascular plants, 3 species of wild plants under national key protection, peach seven, astragalus and ash willow, 153 species of resource plants with high economic value, 51 species of important medicinal plants, and two kinds of plants unique to Liupanshan, four-flowered early maturing grass and purple ear goose grass.
At present, there are 273 species of terrestrial vertebrates in Liupanshan Nature Reserve, including 10 species of birds including the national level I key protection of mammals, such as the golden leopard, the forest musk and the golden eagle, and 51 species of red-bellied golden pheasant and other species under national level II key protection. Guo Zhihong, deputy director of the office of the Liupanshan Nature Reserve Management Bureau, told reporters happily: "Just before your arrival on August 20, I monitored a class II bird black kite, so that there are 62 species of class II birds in Lund. ”
A happy home for birds
Black-throated singing plover. Images taken and provided by Guo Zhihong
Blue Bunting. Images taken and provided by Guo Zhihong
Sandpiper.1 Images taken and provided by Guo Zhihong
The exquisite "Liupanshan Bird Atlas" was published, pouring countless painstaking efforts into scientific researchers and bird watching enthusiasts.
Liupan Mountain is also a paradise for birds, and the distribution of bird resources has typical broad-spectrum characteristics, including vultures, gray-backed Burrows, black-throated stone-throated plovers, black-throated red-tailed plovers, etc. related to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, as well as crested larks, wedge-tailed burrows, rock pigeons and other birds that are related to Central Asia and Mengxin District. Guo Zhihong said that due to the limitations of technology and methods, the two comprehensive scientific expeditions launched by the reserve before have recorded 158 species of birds, and the diversity of birds has basically not changed.
With the participation of relevant researchers and bird watching enthusiasts from Lanzhou University, Shaanxi Institute of Animal Science, ningxia Bird Watching Association, the survey launched in 2019, infrared camera technology is used to monitor birds 24 hours a day, and at the same time, the monitored birds are tracked and crouched to take pictures, which comprehensively and accurately reflects the changes in bird diversity in the reserve, and there are many new discoveries. After more than three years of joint efforts by researchers and bird watchers, a total of 200 species of birds have been collected as of 2019. In 2019, the "Atlas of Birds of Liupanshan Mountain" was compiled in a graphic and textual manner, which was the first time in the history of the Liupanshan Forestry Bureau and Liupanshan Nature Reserve in 1958 that a book was written for birds. The Atlas takes each bird as a page, records pictures of birds, and details the ecological characteristics, living habits, residence status, protection status and other information of birds, preserves existing information, popularizes the knowledge of wildlife protection, and provides an important reference for enthusiasts and stewards of Liupanshan birds in the future, which is of great significance.
It is reported that as of August 20, 2021, the collection of bird photos has reached 234 species.
Birds are the "barometer" of the ecological environment, Guo Zhihong said, the black-throated singing bird, the latest "National Key Protected Wildlife Directory" will upgrade it to a national second-level protected bird. This bird has high requirements for the living environment, the distribution range is particularly narrow, in the distribution map to see only the size of sesame seeds, previously only found once in the Qinling Mountains, after seven years no one has seen it again. In June 2019, it was observed near the Liupanshan Mountain Forest Farm; in May 2021, it was seen again in this place. There are also sandpipers and brown river crows, which can be called a weather vane that controls the quality of water and the quality of the environment in a place, and the water in their habitat can be directly drunk by humans. "These two kinds of birds have six pan mountains." In 2016, Guo Zhihong found three ibis-billed sandpipers in LiupanShan. From 2016 to August 2021, there were at least 9-12 ibis-billed sandpipers in Liupanshan. "Their presence shows that the water quality here is in very good condition." Guo Zhihong's words were filled with joy and pride.
A "treasure trove" in the eyes of researchers
North China Leopard. Image courtesy of Guo Zhihong
At the beginning of 2020, the Liupanshan Forestry Bureau of Guyuan City, Wang Fang of the School of Life Sciences of Fudan University, and the China Feline Alliance jointly carried out the north China leopard conservation survey in Liupanshan, which was planned to last three years. It is understood that the North China leopard is the only species in the subspecies of the golden leopard that lives in China, so it is also called the Chinese leopard.
Liupan Mountain is a key area where geography and fauna meet north and south. In Liupan Mountain, you can see not only many northern animals such as roe deer, but also southern animals such as forest musk deer, hairy-crowned deer, and small chamois. The northern species are as far south as LiupanShan, and the northernmost point of the distribution of many southern species is also Liupanshan. Because of this, once the climate changes or the environment changes significantly, whether it is good or bad, the animals here will respond the fastest and adapt to the fastest.
Wang Fang, doctoral supervisor of the School of Life Sciences of Fudan University, once said, "In our hearts, Liupanshan is a representative of China, and if we make this place clear, we can apply the experience and technology here to other broader places." Wang Fang said that the study of the Liupanshan area is equivalent to a more efficient study of the wider area of China, and the research results can be borrowed and applied to other places and other fields, such as natural environmental protection and ecological restoration.
According to preliminary statistics, there are 35 North China leopards living on Liupan Mountain, of which 17 can determine gender and other identity characteristics. LiupanShan has become one of the areas with the highest density of leopard populations in North China.
Surprises keep coming
In February 2018, a video of the wild golden leopard, a national first-class protected animal, was filmed for the first time in Liupanshan;
On September 2, 2020, the staff of Liupanshan took the image of the golden leopard at close range for the first time (shooting distance of less than 10 meters);
In April 2020, the yellow-legged fishing owl, a national grade II protected species, was first discovered in the Erlong River in Liupanshan Mountain;
On February 8, 2021, the employees of the Erlonghe State-owned Forest Farm of the Liupanshan Forestry Bureau met with four red deer, less than 100 meters apart;
On April 7, 2021, in the depths of Liupan Mountain, infrared cameras captured north China leopards;
On April 19, 2021, a Chinese giant salamander, commonly known as the "baby fish", was found in the Jinghe No. 6 Dam in Jingyuan County. Giant salamander is the source of human life - the "barometer" of the water environment, the water quality requirements are very high, only pure and pollution-free spring water or stream water can survive.
The infrared cameras placed by researchers in the depths of Liupan Mountain also captured a large number of wild animals such as forest musk, hairy-crowned deer, Chinese impala, iguana, porcupine, and badgers, which are all species that live in the south all year round.
The ecological environment is constantly improving
Liupan Mountain has always exuded its unique charm. Guo Zhihong often took his more than ten pounds of bird shooting "long cannon" tirelessly wading through the mountains and waters, and what he heard was always what birds were monitored, but he never mentioned the steep mountain road during the shooting process. There is also a group of "bird people", who have been chasing the migration route of birds for a long time, listening to the crisp birdsong in the forest and by the stream, and have been tirelessly investigating and recording the changes in the types and living habits of birds for generations.
Guo Zhihong and his bird shooting "long cannon".
In the latest weekly report of the "Bird Powder" WeChat public account, 46 pictures of animals and plants taken in LiupanShan were released in one week.
Liupanshan Nature Reserve attaches great importance to the protection of wild animals and plants, establishes and improves the protection system of wild animals and plants with the scientific layout and efficient management and protection of the protected area as the main body, effectively protects wildlife resources, and promotes harmony between man and nature. From 2019 to 2020, Liupanshan Nature Reserve implemented the forest quality improvement project to improve the forest quality of Liupan Mountain, and carried out nursery experiments on the north China larch and oil pine forest branches that were closed into forests, which is an important measure to promote the ecological protection and high-quality development pilot zone construction of the Yellow River Basin and achieve the improvement of forest efficiency. There are many links, large workload, and high technical requirements, but the forest and grass people have never stopped.
With the increasing restoration of ecology, Liupanshan Nature Reserve has become one of the areas with the richest biodiversity, richest species resources and most complete ecological preservation in the entire northwest region, which fully proves the continuous improvement of the ecological environment of Liupanshan Nature Reserve, and proves that the ecological governance projects implemented by Guyuan City such as returning farmland to forests and grasslands, comprehensive management of small watersheds, and natural forest protection have achieved great results. (Ningxia News Network reporter Du Aihong/text)