Source: Taiwan Straits Network
Polymorphic oil bladder mushroom (Courtesy of Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment)
Wuyi forest frog (Courtesy of Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment)
According to a report by Fujian Daily on November 2 (Fujian Daily reporter Zhang Hui correspondent Wu Bingxian Huang Hai)
Continue to set new biodiversity records
On the 1st, the reporter learned from the Fujian Provincial Forestry Bureau that wuyishan national park once again found new species - amphibian new species "Wuyi forest frog", large fungus new species "polymorphic oil bladder mushroom". The relevant scientific research results have been published in the international academic journals "zookeys" and "mycokeys".
The Wuyi forest frog is a member of the toe-ditch frog breed group and is similar in size to the Zhenhai forest frog distributed in the same region. In contrast, the dorsal side of the limbs of the Wuyi forest frog has multiple rows of fine skin folds arranged horizontally. Since August last year, scientific researchers have repeatedly found this forest frog in relevant waters, and after laboratory specimen comparison and gene sequencing, the results show that this is a new species that has never been described.
The last new species of frogs found in Wuyishan National Park was a new species of the genus Officinalis in the broad sense of the genus Zootaxa published in zootaxa magazine in 2019 - The Rain God Horned Toad. The new species was accidentally obtained by the team of Kevin, a foreign professor at Nanjing Forestry University, during scientific research activities in Wuyi Mountain, and after two years of searching and specimen collection, the name was finally identified.
"Discovering a new species of amphibian or reptile is extremely difficult. In the United States, a new two-climb species can only be discovered every 10 years; looking at China, about 10 new two-climb species can be found every year. Ruan Honghua, dean of the School of Ecology and Environment of Nanjing Forestry University, said.
The genus Oleander mushroom is a new record genus in China. Previously, it was recorded in temperate regions of Europe and North America. The discovery of polymorphic oil bladder mushrooms in Wuyishan National Park in the subtropical region has greatly enriched its distribution range and provided important basic data for the study of the distribution, origin and evolution of oil bladder mushroom species.
"During the high incidence of large fungi from May to October this year, we organized 60 people's inspections, collected more than 400 specimens, taken more than 1,600 photos, and identified 164 species of large fungi, of which two-thirds are newly recorded species in Wuyishan and 9 new recorded species in China, making up for the distribution gap of Wuyishan National Park and many large fungi in China." Zeng Hui, one of the discoverers of multi-shaped oil capsule mushrooms and director of the Institute of Edible Mushrooms of the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that with further in-depth identification, a number of new fungal species will be published one after another.
In addition, Zeng Hui's team also discovered for the first time in Wuyishan National Park a number of rare food and medicinal fungal germplasm resources such as Kaohsiung Mountain Cordyceps, Round Ganoderma lucidum, coral monkey head and Pointed Head Cordyceps, providing valuable indigenous germplasm resources for the future creation of new varieties of edible and medicinal mushrooms in our province.
From a decade of scientific expeditions to national parks
Since the launch of the pilot work of the national park system in 2016, Wuyishan National Park has successively discovered 5 new species such as The Rain God Horned Toad, Fujian Tianma, Wuyi Fengxian Flower, Wuyishan Pair Leaf Orchid, and Wuyishan Baby Ginseng. The discoveries of Wuyi forest frog and polymorphic oil sac mushroom originated from the comprehensive and systematic background survey of biological resources that was pioneered in The country.
In April this year, Wuyishan National Park launched a three-year background survey of biological resources, systematically carrying out background surveys of ecosystems, vegetation, higher plants, terrestrial vertebrates, aquatic organisms, insects, microorganisms and so on within the scope of Wuyishan National Park.
In the past six months, hundreds of experts and scholars from more than 20 colleges and universities and scientific research institutes, such as the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Institute of Edible Mushrooms of the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, have carried out more than 50 multidisciplinary field investigations, laid out 350 infrared cameras, completed 863 survey lines, 2307 sample points, and collected more than 10,000 specimens.
At present, the survey has achieved phased results: two new species were found; 4 new record species in China and 122 new recorded species in Wuyi mountain were found; 3 national first-level protected animals such as yellow-bellied horned pheasant, white-necked long-tailed pheasant and golden-spotted beaked pheasant were recorded; 43 national second-level protected animals, national first-level protected wild plants such as southern yew trees, and 10 national second-level protected wild plants were recorded.
Good ecology and rich biodiversity provide a broad space and platform for scientific and technological workers.
Wuyishan National Park spans Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, and the Huanggang Mountains in the territory are the first peak in the southeast of mainland China. The local biological resources are rich, the biodiversity is abundant, preserving the most complete, typical and largest central subtropical native forest ecosystem in the same latitude zone in the world, and is known as the "kingdom of snakes", "the paradise of birds", "the world of insects", "the origin of world biological model specimens" and "the key to the study of Asian amphibians and reptiles".
Biodiversity research in Mount Wuyi dates back to the journey of Western missionaries hundreds of years ago. The village of Hangdun, deep in the mountains, has always been a blessed place in the eyes of global biologists. Over the centuries, more than 50 species of vertebrate specimens have been produced here, and there are many species named after them - hanging mound crow finches, hanging mound horn toads, hanging mound scale ferns and other well-known. Many biological specimens from the British Museum of Nature are collected here. After the founding of New China, the biodiversity research of Wuyishan mountain was truly led by local scientists.
In 1979, scientific and technological workers from domestic scientific research institutions and colleges and universities formed a comprehensive expedition team to conduct scientific expeditions in Wuyishan. The scientific expedition attracted nearly 1,000 people from all over the country to participate, which lasted for ten years, collected more than 1 million specimens of various types, and discovered a number of new families, new genera and new species. In 2010, the country's first regional biodiversity research information platform, the Wuyishan Biodiversity Research Information Platform in Fujian Province, China, was launched. The platform digitizes the "ten-year scientific expedition" of Wuyi Mountain and its subsequent research results, and the total number of species identified so far exceeds 10,000.
The construction of national parks not only injects new kinetic energy into the ecological protection of Wuyi Mountain, but also brings new opportunities for ecological scientific research.
"We have carried out a number of monitoring of ecosystems, animal and plant resources, water, gas, soil, micro, forest pests and cultural heritage covering the whole region by setting up a scientific research and monitoring center of Wuyishan National Park, setting up ecological positioning stations, laying animal and plant plot monitoring points and infrared camera monitoring lines, and building a natural resource database." Zhang Huiguang, director of the Wuyishan National Park Scientific Research and Monitoring Center, said that Wuyishan National Park has also actively introduced external forces, established a national park think tank, jointly built a national park research institute and a postdoctoral research mobile station with Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, jointly built a national park meteorological observatory with the Fujian Meteorological Bureau, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with 7 universities and research institutes inside and outside the province, and jointly carried out the "Focus on Forests, Explore Wuyi" ecological scientific expedition activities and ecological environment investigation, monitoring, evaluation and research.
◆ Reporter's Note
Innovative mechanisms for the sustainable use of biodiversity
Fujian Daily reporter Zhang Hui
Biodiversity is the foundation on which human beings depend for their survival and development, and is the bloodline and foundation of the community of life on earth. Protecting biodiversity is not only an important task in the field of ecological environmental protection, but also can provide strong support for the development of modern industries, especially modern agriculture with characteristics.
Taking the background survey of ecological resources in Wuyishan National Park as an example, a number of new fungal species and new recorded species represented by polymorphic oil cyst mushrooms have been discovered, filling the gap in the distribution of many large fungi in China. These precious germplasm resources have excellent performance in disease resistance, insect resistance, drought resistance, cold resistance, etc., or have unique functional attributes, providing unattainable biological materials for the future creation of new varieties of edible and medicinal mushrooms and industrial development and utilization. For example, the expert team of the Institute of Edible Mushrooms of the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Fucao leather found in the field in Wuyishan National Park, naturally blue-purple, once it has been domesticated and improved to achieve mass production, it can be promoted as an excellent biological dye in the textile industry.
Protecting biodiversity is not only to protect green waters and green mountains, but also to reserve gold mountains and silver mountains. Therefore, while strengthening the conservation of biodiversity, it is necessary to continuously innovate the mechanism of sustainable use of biodiversity.
On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the research on the development of biological resources and sustainable utilization technologies, carry out dynamic investigation and research on the development of new crops, new varieties, new strains, new genetic materials and crop diseases and insect pests, and improve the level of biotechnology for the improvement of germplasm resource varieties; on the other hand, standardize biodiversity-friendly business activities, guide the standardized use of biological resources, and promote the research and development of alternative resources in brewing, fuel, environment, medicine and other aspects.