Ankang - Biological Resources

Biological Resources

Ankang is the subtropics continental monsoon climate with assembled biological resources. known as "the mountain of treasure in Qinba area", Ankang has more than 3300 kinds of biological species. There are 2157 kinds of trees, among which katsura tree, horse chestnut, Liriodendron, yew, ginkgo, Cephalotaxus, camphor, nanmu, wingceltis and so on are rare or unique in China, especially Davidia involucrata Baill (Also known as Chinese dove tree) growing in Zhenping County is called as living fossil 250 million years ago which is a rare species in the world. Ankang has a total of 430 kinds of wild animals, of which 34 were classified as national protective rare animals. Ankang is rich in Chinese herbal medicines, with more than 1290 kinds of species. The output of cocoon, Codonopsis pilosula, tea, raw Chinese lacquer, musk tops Shaanxi and the output of raw Chinese lacquer is well known in China. The development of Chinese herbal medicines mainly on Gynostemma pentaphylla, saponin and puerarin has formed industrial groups with certain size. Ankang's tea has a long production history, which is one of seven major tea-planted areas in China. There are 9 counties or districts produce tea, among which Ziyang, Liping, Hanbin, Langao, Han Yin and Shiquan are the main tea-producing areas. In 2006, the tea garden covered an area of 34.52 million mu in Ankang, with a total output of 4735 tons. Ankang is also the largest silkworm and silk production base in Shaanxi, even in the northwest of China whose cocoon output accounts for more than 80% of Shaanxi Province. Ankang is an important base for forest and animal husbandry. The grassland covers an area of 3,130,000 mu and the theoretical animal number of the grasslands is 3,120,000. The forest area is 1,993 mu and the forest coverage of Ankang is 56.5%. The stumpage has reached 55,540,000 cubic meters, accounting for 20.6% of Shaanxi's.