Final Report - Asian Development Bank

Gymnosperm (no. of species) 12 45 26.7 193 23.3
Angiosperm (no. of species) 1,219 3,401 35.8 24,357 14.0
Total: vascular plants 1,302 3,769 34.5 27,150 13.9
Fish (no. of species) 12 109 11.0 1,010 10.8
Amphibians (no. of species) 7 19 36.8 220 6.8
Reptiles (no. of species) 9 26 34.6 380 8.6
Birds (no. of species) 91 308 29.5 1,186 26.0
Mammals (no. of species) 35 115 30.4 509 22.6
Total: vertebrate fauna 154 577 26.7 3,305 17.5
28. Of the approximately 3,124 native species in the flora of the Qinling Mountains about 1,620
(51.9%) are endemic to China. Of the 192 species restricted solely to the Qinling, 60 are woody, 128 are
herbaceous, and four are lianoid. The woody species, except for Jasminum humile L. forma kansuense
(Kobuski) Miao, are all deciduous. Among the 128 herbaceous species only four species (1.6%) are
annual. The proportion of annual endemic species is low in this region. Among these endemic species,
40 are restricted to the western Qinling, 12 to the eastern part, and 136 to the central part, of which 29
extend westward to the western part and ten extend to the eastern part. Only four endemic species have a
widespread distribution across the Qinling. Most of these endemic species occur between 800 and 2,000
m elevation. In addition to the species that are strictly endemic to the Qinling, about 1,428 species in the
flora of the Qinling Mountains are endemic to China. Among these, 1,181 are dicots, 219 are monocots
and 28 are gymnosperms.
29. The Qinling ecosystem is sufficiently biodiverse and distinct from other ecosystems that it is
assigned its own biogeographic unit, the Qinling Mountains. Similar to the case for flora, the fauna of the
Qinling Mountains reflects the meeting of temperate and sub-tropical faunas. Fauna species are listed in
Table 2.
Table 2: Numbers of Vertebrate Species in the Qinling by Taxonomic Order
Order Family Genus Species
Fish 6 13 67 109
Amphibians 2 7 12 19
Reptiles 3 8 26 26
Birds 17 49 166 308
Mammals 7 27 81 115
Total 35 104 462 577
30. The fauna of the Qinling, similar to the flora, is distinguished by its diversity in general, and by
its mammalian diversity in particular. Birds and mammals are the most thoroughly studied, whereas the
invertebrate fauna is relatively unknown but promises to be rich as well. In an eight-year study of the
butterfly fauna of the south slope of the Qinling 191 species were recorded, three of which were new to
China and 44 were new to Shaanxi 9 . One new genus and three species of eriophyid mites were
discovered in the Qinling in 2006 10 . Also in 2006 nine new Qinling species of linyphiid spiders were
assigned to an existing genus while five more new species were assigned to a new genus 11 . Increased
scientific attention to the Qinling invertebrate fauna would probably lead to additional discoveries of new
taxa.
9
Zhou, X, L. Sun, W. S. Pan, Z. Lu, Y. Ni. 2002. The Faunal Study on the Butterflies of the South Slope of Qinling
Mountains. Peking Univ. Vol.37 No.4 pp.454-469.
10
Xue, X.F., Z. W. Song and X. Y. Hong. 2006. A new genus and three new species of Phyllocoptini (Acari:
Eriophyidae: Phyllocoptinae) from the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province, northwestern China. Zootaxa1275:31-
41.
11
Tanasevitch, A. V. 2006. On some Linyphiidae of China, mainly from Taibai Shan, Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi
Province (Arachnida: Araneae). Zootaxa 1325:277-311.