2020-11-18
Ostrya japonica population, the largest and the most precious commercial tree species in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region was found in Beijing. The discovery was made by a team led by Mu Xianyun, an associate professor of the School of Ecology and Nature Conservation of BFU, during a recent scientific expedition to the Mount Wuling Nature Reserve in Beijing.
Prof. Mu Xianyun told the reporter that among over 50 plants of Ostrya japonica found in this region, there are over half the number with above 20 cm DBH, and some even with about 40 cm DBH and 18 m highest height.
It is reported that Ostrya japonica is widely distributed in China, but the specific amount of the resources remain unknown yet. Only 118 specimens were recorded on NSII, and only 12 specimens were recorded in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the latest of which was collected in 1952, which was 68 years ago.
Prof. Mu said that Beijing has no record of Ostrya japonica. Previously, he had found suspected individual plant of Ostrya japonica in remote mountains of the Mount Wuling Nature Reserve in Beijing in 2014. He found 6 saplings of Ostrya japonica in 2016 and about 20 plants of Ostrya japonica in Mount Wuling in Hebei in 2018.
With the support of the Wild Protection Office of the Beijing Gardening and Greening Bureau and Gardening and Greening Bureau of Miyun District, Dr. Mu Xianyun led his team, together with the staff of the Management Office of Mount Wuling Nature Reserve in Beijing, ventured deep into the Nature Reserve once again recently. At last they discovered this population of Ostrya japonica , which has the largest distribution area and the largest number of individuals in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region.
Ostrya japonica belongs to Ostrya genus, Betulaceae family. Among the eight species in the world, China has five species. The Ostrya japonica species is distributed in Korea, Japan, and Hebei, Henan, Gansu, Shaanxi as well as Sichuan in China.
According to the record of Flora Reipublicae PopularisSinicae , Ostrya japonica is an ideal species for making furniture and building materials for its hard texture and yellowish gray luster.
With great importance attached to the protection of biodiversity in its district, the Greening Bureau of Miyun District has successively carried out wildlife surveys and other work. The discovery of the Ostrya japonica population is one of the important results of the investigation of wild plants in Miyun district.
