Global Comparative Analysis And World Heritage Values Of Fagus Forest In Fanjingshan Mountain

The declaration of World Natural Heritage is an important way to protect the common natural wealth of mankind.It is necessary to understand the community characteristics and World Heritage value in order to provide scientific support for the application of Fanjingshan Mountain for World Heritage.Based on the basic principles of geography,geology,botany,ecology,and the theory of sustainable development,we selected the most dominant and controlled Fagus forest as the research objects and based on the combination of outdoor work and indoor work,3 sample lines and six sample plots were established,which the sample plot size is 30 × 30 m,including 9 quadrats with area of 10 × 10 m in each plot,and then we analyzed the obtained data to describe the community characteristics of Fagus forest.And combing with global comparative analysis,the Fagus forest in Fanjingshan,where is a metamorphic rock mountain protruding from “karst ocean”,has been compared with the existing World Heritage sites,nominated properties and key protected areas in subtropical zone,so that the value of Fagus forest in Fanjingshan can be raised to the height of World Heritage value.(1)Fanjingshan is a geological “isolated island” of metamorphic rocks uplifted from karst region in the subtropical zone.Because of the great relative altitude,warm and humid climate and fertile soil,the mountain has preserved a primitive continuously distributed Fagus forest with large area.Although the three Fagus(Fagus longipetiolata,Fagus lucida,Fagus engleriana)populations are all declining type population,but almost big trees has no sigh of senescence and grow well.The Fagus community has the characteristics with rich species composition,complex,ancient and tropical flora,stable synusias structure and abundant evergreen components.Fanjingshan is a dome faulted mountain with a prominent uplift in the surrounding karst area in the middle subtropical zone.It is one of the best preserved forests in the same latitude,which has given birth to rich biodiversity,and it is one of the important sanctuaries and preserves of many ancient relict species.The Tertiary relict plant Fagus is the tall deciduous tree,which has the widest distribution area and the largest vertical range,and it has grown to a large area forest as constructive species.In general,the climate in the distribution area of Fagus forest has the characteristics of cold and moist in winter and cool and heavy rain in summer,and the yellow soil and yellow brown soil are dominant in soil environment.Among the three Fagus populations,the Fagus longipetiolata population and Fagus lucida population are characterized by owned big trees which more than one hundred years and theirs natural regeneration is not enough,and the Fagus lucida population is the most important vegetation type of Fanjingshan.The Fagus engleriana population can not form a dominant population because of its small and clumped trunks.In Fanjingshan,the Fagus community composed of three species and other plant species has the characteristics of rich species composition,which has 178 woody plants belonging to 93 genera,47 families and more than 120 herb plants belonging to 47 genera,28 families,more evergreen plants,complex flora,multi-tropical composition,special spatial hierarchy and bimodal distribution.(2)Fanjingshan is the only nominated property among the comparative World Heritage sides and nominated properties that is located in subtropical zone,represents the evolution process of Fagus in subtropical zone and preserves three kinds of Fagus simultaneously.Fagus forest in Fanjingshan is the one with the largest area,the most extensive in continuous distribution,the largest abundant species diversity and the most in populations in subtropical zone.Through the comparison analysis,it is concluded that: Due to the unique natural environment,Fanjingshan have preserved three Fagus species,which is a significant difference from the Shirakami-Sanchi and European mountains that only have one Fagus species severally.Fanjingshan has preserved the gene bank of Fagus in subtropical zone,and the original Fagus forest here is also the key habitat for Guizhou Golden Monkey for its foraging,hiding,playing and breeding.The Shirakami-Sanchi and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe have preserved the gene bank of Fagus in temperate zone,and they are habitats for their local species.The geographical environment,the preserved Fagus species,the altitude range and the significance of large Fagus in Fanjingshan make the Mountain obviously different from those of the existing two world heritage sites.Fanjingshan is the only place that preserved three Fagus species at the same time,located in subtropical zone and represented the process of biological and ecological evolution among the nominated properties.The broader region of Mount Olympus as well as Zagorochoria – North Pindos National Park protected Fagus sylvatica only,and Hyrcanian Forest(Caspian Forest)protected Fagus orientalis only,and the Fagus forests in the above three places all recorded the evolution history of European temperate deciduous broadleaved forests – mixed coniferous and broadleaved forests and preserved temperate gene bank.Therefore,Fanjingshan is special and unique among the nominated properties.Fanjingshan owned the subtropical Fagus forests,which is of largest area,continuous distribution and the richest biodiversity in subtropical zone that is more typical than other comparative Non-Heritage sites.(3)In Fanjingshan,the typical subtropical mountain forest ecosustem represented by Fagus forest is an outstanding representative of the evolution of mountain forest ecosustem in subtropical zone.The Fagus forest exhibits a unique ecological process with its relict property,including the settlement and evolution of Fagus in Fanjingshan,coordinate symbiosis(evolution)process between Fagus and creatures undergrowth,and evolution process of creatures that treat Fagus forest as their habitat.The dominant and controlled role of the Fagus forest on the ecosystem function is the strongest,which is unique in the vertical bands.The Fagus forest in Fanjingshan is the most natural habitat for in situ conservation of niodiversity,especially the habitat for those endangered species with outstanding value like Guizhou Golden Monkey.Through the analysis of World Heritage Value of Fagus forest in Fanjingshan,it could be find that: Fagus lived in Fanjingshan since the Cretaceous Period,which means the mountain is one of origin centers for the genus;Fagus forest in Fanjingshan is the typical representative in subtropical zone of the world Fagus forests from the habitat characteristics;Fagus in Fanjingshan is an important part of the genus in the world,and Fanjingshan is one of the key gene bank and preserve place for Fagus population and may be an important turning point for Fagus in China from the population characteristics;Fagus community in Fanjingshan enriched the evergreen composition and coexisting(coevolution)species for the communities of the world,and it has an ancient,isolated,complex and more tropical flora form the community characteristics.If Fanjingshan is successfully listed as a World Heritage site,the more tropical community will fill the gap of the Fagus World Heritage series in subtropical zone.The habitat,population and community characteristics of Fagus forest in Fanjingshan met the World Natural Heritage criterion(?)and criterion(?)jointly.