China Natural Resources Series: Wildlife and Flora Volume

Author: Compiled by the Editorial Committee of the Compendium of Natural Resources of China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1995-11-01
Features: Animal and plant resources are the main components of the biosphere and the material basis for human survival and production. They are a vital renewable resource. Under natural or artificial maintenance, they can regenerate, reproduce, and proliferate. Conversely, under deteriorating environmental conditions and human destruction, they can disintegrate and decline. China has a vast territory, complex and diverse climates, and a complete range of landforms, possessing a rich variety of biological species. However, in the plant kingdom, we still lack complete data on species distribution. In the animal kingdom, even regarding terrestrial animals, the number of species distributed domestically is limited to amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The rest, such as insects, invertebrates in other phyla, and especially marine species, are not included. In the past, large or economically valuable species in China were managed by the livestock sector, with statistics being extremely rough and incomplete, and research on resources was also lacking. Therefore, it is an urgent task to clarify the national resources and master the distribution and quantity of wildlife and plant species, as well as their resource status. This book is a part of the Compendium of Natural Resources of China, approved for compilation by the State Planning Commission, and is written by experts and scholars from relevant institutions such as the State Environmental Protection Administration and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.