Lishui city boasts a remarkably pristine natural ecosystem. [Photo/WeChat account: wxlishui]

A book entitled Xiu Shan Li Shui Wan Wu Sheng – which details the background to the results of a comprehensive survey into the rich biodiversity of Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – was published recently.

The book is divided into four chapters: Entering Lishui, the Ecological Barrier, Charming Creatures and Looking into the Future. It shows the unique charms of Lishui as the "biological kingdom of East China" from multiple perspectives.

More than 90 percent of Lihui is mountainous, with 3,573 peaks that are over 1,000 meters above sea level. To top it off, the city is the birthplace of many rivers.

This extraordinary natural ecosystem has created rich biodiversity in Lishui. Numerous rare wild animals and plants live and grow there, with the vast forests and wetlands providing excellent shelter for them.

The book systematically summarizes the historical data of Lishui's biodiversity, as well as data obtained from the field survey that was conducted from December 2019 to June 2022.

It shows that now distributed in Lishui are 3,687 species of vascular plants in 231 families in 1,207 genuses, 635 species of land vertebrates in 32 orders in 129 families, 642 species of aquatic organisms in 45 orders in 143 families, 2,608 species of land insects in 23 orders in 322 families and 2,040 species of macrofungi in 22 orders in 94 families.

The city is also home to 78 species of wild plants and 138 species of wild animals under State key protection.