The First Phase Achievement Exhibition of Shanghai’s First Biodiversity Survey Opens at SNHM

On September 10, the exhibition titled “Vibrant International Metropolis · Poetry and the Distant Lands——The First Phase Achievement Exhibition of Shanghai’s First Biodiversity Survey” opened at SNHM. The exhibition presents the interim results of Shanghai’s first comprehensive biodiversity baseline survey, including two newly discovered species and 149 newly recorded species.

In December 2023, Shanghai launched its first comprehensive biodiversity survey to gain a thorough understanding of the city’s biodiversity status and to provide scientific support for biodiversity conservation, management, and policy-making. Led by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, the survey was jointly organized by municipal and district ecological and environmental departments, with broad participation from universities, research institutes, and the public. More than 5,000 participants have been involved in the project. Across all 16 districts of Shanghai, surveys on species diversity and genetic diversity were conducted, documenting a range of protected species, newly discovered species, and newly recorded species.

According to the results of the remote sensing survey on ecosystem diversity, Shanghai’s ecological landscape is mainly composed of four major ecosystem types: urban areas, farmlands, forests, and wetlands. Statistics show that Shanghai is home to 44 recorded species of wild mammals, 83 species of large benthic animals, and 330 species of fish. Currently, a total of 534 bird species have been recorded in Shanghai, including 29 species under national first-class protection and 93 under national second-class protection. Compared with the 463 species recorded in 2015, the number of bird species in Shanghai has increased by 71.