China News Service, Beijing, May 22 (Reporter Sun Zifa) May 22 is the "International Biodiversity Day". A set of data released by the Biodiversity Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the same day shows that in 2021, China will publish a total of new vertebrates. 95 species, 1633 new taxa of insects, 342 new taxa of higher plants were published, and 1124 new names of fungi were published.
In the field of arachnids, 8 of the top 30 scholars who have published the most new species in the world are Chinese.
On the "International Biodiversity Day", the Biodiversity Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences officially released the 2022 edition of the "Chinese Biological Species List" online, and shared the specific situation of newly published species in China in 2021:
Rock whiskers (Cassiope selaginoides).
Photo by Lin Qinwen
——In 2021, a total of 95 new vertebrate species will be published in China, including 80 new species and 15 new national records, including 15 new fish species, 28 new amphibian species, 31 new reptile species and 15 new species of reptiles. There are 10 recorded species, 3 national newly recorded bird species and 1 subspecies, 5 new mammal species and 2 new recorded species.
All new mammalian species belong to the group of small animals.
The newly added species of amphibians are concentrated in the order Aurora, and the reptiles are concentrated in the order Squamia, accounting for 97% of the total number of new species.
The distribution of new species this time involves 30 provinces and municipalities, including 32 species in Yunnan, 11 species in Sichuan, 10 species in Guangxi, 7 species in Tibet, and 6 species in Guangdong and Taiwan, accounting for 77% of the total number of new species.
--Insects are the most species-diverse biological group on the planet, accounting for more than half of all species, and a large number of species are currently described and discovered every year.
By summarizing 33 new taxa of China's Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, and Orthoptera published in 2021, it is shown that in 2021, China will publish a total of 1,633 new insect taxa, Including 57 new genera, 2 new subgenera, 1574 new species and subspecies.
Yunnan Province is a hot spot for the discovery of new species in China, and the number of new insect species accounts for 30% of the country's total.
Hydnum subtilior.
Photo by Wang Ke
——In 2021, a total of 342 new taxa of higher plants will be published in China, including 1 new family, 11 new genera, and 289 new species; 62 new national records will be published; the newly published species belong to angiosperms (253 new species). species), ferns (22 new species), and liverworts (5 new species), of which 76 species were assessed as threatened according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria at the time of publication.
Four southwestern provinces, including Yunnan, Tibet, Sichuan, and Guangxi, published the most new species, and provinces such as Taiwan, Hainan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, and Guangdong found the highest density of species.
In 2021, there will be a net increase of 364 taxa of higher plants in China, and 230 higher plant names will be changed.
——In 2021, Chinese scholars have made remarkable achievements in the research of bacterial taxonomy. 380 Chinese scholars participated in the publication of 1,124 new names of fungi, accounting for nearly one-third of the total number of new names in the world (a total of new names of fungi were published globally. 3734 names).
The new species of fungi published this year came from 101 countries and regions in the world. Eastern and southern Asia are the regions with the most new species discovered, while China is the country with the most new species discovered, with a total of 756 species discovered, accounting for 30% of the world's total.
The area south of the Yangtze River is a hotspot for the discovery of new fungi species in China. Yunnan Province has discovered 248 new fungi species, the most in China.
The cover of the 2022 edition of the Chinese Biological Species List.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
——Arachnids include Arachnida and Acarina, and are the fourth largest biological group in China after insects, plants and fungi.
In 2021, 304 Chinese and foreign taxonomists have published 47 new genera and 928 new species originating from 81 countries, including 266 new species from China.
The contribution rate of new spider species published by Chinese domestic scholars in 2021 will account for 34% of the global new species, which is higher than the average contribution rate of 28% from 2016 to 2020. A total of 54 new species from 14 countries including Myanmar and Kenya will be published.
Among the top 30 scholars who published the most new species in the world, 8 are Chinese.
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