Global Comparative Analysis On Ecosystem Diversity And World Heritage Value In Fanjingshan

As a representative area with rich ecosystem diversity in subtropical monsoon and monsoon humid climate zones worldwide,Fanjingshan Mountain represents significant ecological value.Fanjingshan is recommended to the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO as a nominated property for World Natural Heritage by China,the State Party,being made up by the Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve and the Yinjiang Yangxi Provincial Nature Reserve.Because there are little researches focusing on the basic features of subtropical mountain ecosystems and ecological value in World Heritage level like Fanjingshan,this paper has made some relevant supplements.Guided by geography,ecology and other subjects and based on field investigation,lab and literature analysis and comparison,the paper has studied on the basic features of mountain ecosystem,the global comparative analysis of biodiversity and Fagus(beech)community,and the World Heritage value of ecosystem in Fanjingshan during 2014-2017.(1)With plentiful plant species,ancient origin and complex geographical elements of flora,Fanjingshan becomes a key blending place of tropical,subtropical and temperate plants and a vital corridor of East Asian plants with diffuse types.Fanjingshan is not only an important habitat for tropical plants diffusing to the north and a refuge for temperate plants extending to the south,but also buffer zone of the interinfiltration of Sino-Himalaya(SH)elements and Sino-Japan(SJ)elements.At the same time,Fanjingshan be the boundary of many plants respectively diffusing in south,north,east and west directions.In addition,as a main peak and significant component of Wulingshan bridge,plenty of East Asian elements are diffusing in Fanjingshan.According to the study on diffused Spermatophytes of East Asia,there are over half of East Asian plants with diffused type distributed in Fanjingshan,which are diffusing mainly in west-east direction.(2)Both tropical forest elements and temperate forest elements are flourishing in Fanjingshan and perfectly preserved and represented by mountain mass effect,which makes it a typical research site for community succession.Fanjingshan has gone through a long geological change since Tertiary Period.Arbors are dominating within the group that Fanjingshan is its northern boundary and the group that Fanjingshan is its eastern boundary,but evergreen elementsw with an area of 16,302 ha are prevailing of the former type,while deciduous elements with an area of 16,464 ha are primary of the latter type.Therefore,it is significant that both tropical forest elements and temperate forest elements are flourishing and well developing in Fanjingshan,which is a typical transition area between tropical zone and temperate zone.Fanjingshan provides an important habitat for both evergreen and deciduous arbors and their intersection,growth and competition,and an excellent study site of the species competition and coexistence within evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest and community succession.(3)Fanjingshan has kinds of category of scenic value and ecosystem from ecosystem-type to ecosystem-genus,and its vegetative community diversity and species diversity are better than many World Heritage sites inscribed as criterion VII and criterion ?in the same climatic region.Its complex topographic features,huge relative height and changeable climate together constitute multiple habitats and lush ecosystem types in different levels.All above develop 7 category of scenic value and provide an environmental basis for the habitat divercity,vegetative community diversity and species diversity in Fanjingshan.There are 6 vegetation type groups,19 vegetation forms,62 vegetation formations and more than 7,100 species of animals and plants.Fanjingshan concentratively shows vegetative community types with different temperature bands and abundant species in a relatively small area.(4)Fagus community in Fanjingshan is the most important typical representation of the subtropical Fagus.As one of the species diversity centres and modern differentiation centres of Fagus globally,Fanjingshan will fills the gaps that there are no World Heritage series with outstanding Fagus communities in subtropical regions,if it was inscribed in the World Heritage List.Furthermore,its Fagus community should be equally protected as same as the cold temperate Fagus communities in Europe and Japan.The distribution area of Fagus community in Fanjingshan is 15,646 ha,which is the largest distribution area of subtropical Fagus communities as known in the world.Compared with Shennongjia located in northern edge of subtropics with only 17.02% of evergreen species within Fagus comminity,and the North American subtropical Fagus distribution areas,which is discontinuous and decreasing because of the affection of hurricane and lumbering,the Fagus community with subtropical nature in Fanjingshan is much better than all known global subtropical Fagus distribution sites in distribution area,vertical span,species composition,evergreen component,structure of community,etc.It's one of the species diversity centres and modern differentiation centres of Fagus globally,and probably one of the origin centres of Fagus,so Fanjingshan will provide a key place for researches on global evolution process of primitive subtropical Fagus communities.