The outstanding universal value and conservation of Hubei Shennongjia : The World Natural Heritage Site

This book owes a great deal to the outstanding universal value of the natural heritage of Hubei Shennongjia, which offers an outstanding example of the ongoing ecological processes occurring in the development of intact subtropical mixed broad-leaved evergreen and deciduous forests in the northern hemisphere. The book demonstrates the value from the typical example of mountain altitudinal biological zones in the Oriental Deciduous Forest Biogeographical Province, and the vital origin location for global temperate flora, harboring the highest concentration of global temperate genera. Moreover, the heritage value in exceptional biodiversity and key habitat for numerous relic, rare, endangered, endemic, and type specimen species are presented. The richness of deciduous woody species in Shennongjia is the highest in the world. Other Contributors 5 Preface 6 Acknowledgment 7 Contents 8 Chapter 1: Natural Condition 12 1.1 Location 12 1.2 Geological Features 13 1.3 Topography 14 1.4 Climate 16 1.5 Hydrology 18 1.6 Soil 18 Chapter 2: History 21 2.1 Natural History 21 2.2 Human History 22 2.3 History of Protection 23 2.3.1 Human Activities 24 2.3.1.1 Population 24 2.3.1.2 Major Human Activities 24 Forest Management and Protection 24 Tourism Activities 24 Land Use Pattern 25 Scientific Research 25 2.3.2 Government Protection and Management 26 2.3.3 Protection of Local Pledges 26 2.3.4 Natural Conservation Traditions of Local Inhabitants 27 Chapter 3: Plant Diversity 28 3.1 Flora 29 3.2 Ancient and Relic Plants 30 3.3 Endemic Plants 35 3.3.1 Plants Endemic to Shennongjia 35 3.3.2 Plants Endemic to China 38 3.4 Rare and Endangered Plants 40 3.5 Important Type Specimen Plant Hotspot 46 Chapter 4: Animal Diversity 52 4.1 Fauna 52 4.2 Animal Species 52 4.2.1 Mammals 54 4.2.1.1 Sichuan Snub-Nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) 54 4.2.1.2 Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) 54 4.2.1.3 Forest Musk Deer (Moschus berezovskii) 56 4.2.1.4 Chinese Serow (Capricornis milneedwardsii) 56 4.2.1.5 Chinese Goral (Naemorhedus griseus) 57 4.2.2 Birds 57 4.2.2.1 Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) 58 4.2.2.2 Reeves ́s Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) 58 4.2.2.3 Koklass Pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha) 59 4.2.3 Reptiles 60 4.2.3.1 Fea ́s Viper (Azemiops feae) 60 4.2.3.2 Hundred-Pace Viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) 61 4.2.3.3 Striped Racer (Elaphe taeniura) 61 4.2.4 Amphibians 62 4.2.4.1 Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) 63 4.2.4.2 Wushan Salamander (Ranodon shihi) 63 4.2.4.3 Spiny-Bellied Frog (Paa boulengeri) 64 4.2.5 Fishes 65 4.2.6 Insects 65 4.3 Rare and Endangered Animals 65 4.4 Endemic Animals 66 4.5 Ancient/Relic Animal Species 66 4.6 Important Type Specimen Animal Hotspot 66 Chapter 5: Vegetation and Ecosystem 67 5.1 Biogeography 67 5.2 Vegetation Types 67 5.3 Vegetation Altitudinal Zonality 67 5.3.1 Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest Belt 71 5.3.2 Northern Subtropical Mixed Evergreen and Deciduous Broad-Leaved Forest Belt 83 5.3.3 Warm Temperate Deciduous Broad-Leaved Forest Belt 84 5.3.4 Temperate Mixed Needle-Leaved and Broad-Leaved Forest Belt 84 5.3.5 Cold Temperate Coniferous Forest Belt 84 5.3.6 Subalpine Fruticose and Meadow Community Belt 85 5.4 Habitats 87 Chapter 6: Outstanding Universal Value 91 6.1 Ecological and Biological Value 92 6.1.1 Outstanding Examples of Subtropical Mixed Evergreen and Deciduous Broadleaf Forest 92 6.1.2 The Typical Mountain Altitudinal Biological Zones 93 6.1.3 The Highest Concentration of Global Temperate Genera 100 6.1.4 Outstanding Representative of Biological Evolution 101 6.2 Biodiversity Value 102 6.2.1 Richful Deciduous Woody Species 103 6.2.2 Abundant and Intact Ancient/Relic Species 104 6.2.3 Critical Habitat for Endangered and Endemic Species 110 6.2.4 Native Habitat of Rare and Horticulture Species 112 6.2.5 Scientific Shrine for Plant Systematics and Horticultural Science 115 6.3 Integrity of Hubei Shennongjia 116 6.3.1 Protected Status 116 6.3.2 Border and Scope 116 6.3.2.1 Principles of Hubei Shennongjia Boundary and Its Buffer Zone 116 6.3.2.2 Description of the Borders and Buffer Zone 117 6.3.3 Area of Hubei Shennongjia and Its Attributes 119 6.3.4 Negative Effects 120 6.3.5 Protection and Management 121 6.4 Comparison with Other Heritage Site 121 6.4.1 Comparison with Mountain Heritage Sites 121 6.4.2 Comparison with Heritage Sites in Same Biogeographic Province 128 6.4.3 Comparison with Nominated Properties 131 6.4.4 Summary of the Comparisons 134 Chapter 7: Factors Affecting Hubei Shennongjia 135 7.1 Present Conservation State 135 7.1.1 Protection under National Regulations and Laws 135 7.1.2 Management System 135 7.1.3 Boundaries and Monitoring System 136 7.1.4 Current Status of Species, Communities, and Ecosystems 136 7.2 Factors Affecting Hubei Shennongjia ́s Ecosystem and Biodiversity 136 7.2.1 Driving Factors for Forest Area 137 7.2.2 Driving Factors for Forest Coverage 138 7.2.2.1 The Average Forest Coverage of Shennongjia 139 7.2.2.2 The Forest Coverage Change of Shennongjia during 1998-2013 141 7.2.2.3 Factors Driving Forest Coverage Increase 142 7.2.3 Factors Driving Snub-Nosed Monkey Habitat Increase 143 7.2.4 Environmental Pressures and Natural Disasters 146 7.2.5 Pressure from Tourism Development 146 7.2.6 Pressure from Community Development 147 Chapter 8: Protection of Hubei Shennongjia 148 8.1 Protection of the Flagship Species and Key Biodiversity 148 8.1.1 Sichuan Snub-Nosed Monkey 148 8.1.2 Rare and Endangered Plants 149 8.1.3 Primeval Forest 150 8.1.4 Mountain Altitudinal Vegetation 151 8.1.5 Mixed Broad-Leaved Evergreen and Deciduous Forest 151 8.2 Environmental Protection 152 8.2.1 Water Environment 152 8.2.2 Atmospheric Environment 152 8.2.3 Sound Environment 153 8.2.4 Soil Environment 154 8.2.5 Environment Sanitation 154 8.3 Connection of the Two Isolated Components 154 8.3.1 Feasibility of Enhancing the Connectivity 155 8.3.1.1 Requirements for Establishing the Wildlife Corridor 155 8.3.1.2 Requirements for Building Stepping Stone 156 8.3.1.3 Wildlife Crossing Construction and Road-Fence Dismantlement 156 8.3.2 Implementation Scheme 158 8.3.2.1 Establishing Wildlife Corridor and Stepping Stone 158 8.3.2.2 Wildlife Crossing Construction 158 8.3.2.3 Road-Fence Dismantlement 159 8.4 Protection Zoning 159 8.4.1 Prohibited and Limited District 159 8.4.2 Exhibition District 160 8.4.3 Buffer Zone 160 8.4.3.1 Function and Scope of Buffer Zone 160 8.4.3.2 Current State of Buffer Zone 160 8.4.3.3 Protection and Management 161 8.4.3.4 Buffer Zone Management 161 8.5 Managing Units in Hubei Shennongjia 162 8.6 Monitoring in Hubei Shennongjia 162 8.6.1 Monitored Objects 162 8.6.2 Improvements to the Monitoring Systems 162 8.6.2.1 Monitoring Center 162 8.6.2.2 Monitoring Point Distribution 164 8.6.2.3 The Improvement of Monitoring Methods 164 8.6.2.4 Monitoring System 164 8.6.2.5 Improvements to Equipment for Field Staff 165 8.6.2.6 Monitoring Systems of Hubei Shennongjia 165 Chapter 9: Tourism Development Management 166 9.1 Tourism Carrying Capacity 166 9.1.1 Ecological Carrying Capacity 166 9.1.2 Spatial Carrying Capacity 167 9.1.3 Facility Carrying Capacity 168 9.1.4 Summary of Tourism Carrying Capacity 169 9.2 Influences of the Tourism Development after the Airport Opening 170 9.3 The Responses and Strategies for Managing Tourist Development 174 9.3.1 The Responses of the State Party China 174 9.3.2 Strategies for Managing Tourist Numbers 174 9.3.3 Countermeasure and Suggestion 175 Chapter 10: Integrated Management and Community Development 177 10.1 Integrated Management 177 10.1.1 The Establishment of the Co-Management Committee 177 10.1.2 Co-Management with the Community 178 10.1.3 Information Platform for Integrated Management 179 10.2 Willingness of the Community to Property Conservation 180 10.2.1 Attitude of Communities to Hubei Shennongjia Protection 180 10.2.2 Community Willingness to Property Protection 182 10.3 Community Development 183 References 186