An updated national database on China's biodiversity, known as the "Catalogue of Life China 2022 Annual Checklist," was released on Sunday, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Compared with the 2021 checklist, the 2022 annual checklist added 10,343 species. The total number of species now stands at 138,293, comprising 68,172 animals, 46,725 plants and 17,173 fungi among others.

It was jointly compiled by researchers from the Institute of Zoology, the Institute of Botany, the Institute of Microbiology, the Chengdu Institute of Biology and the Institute of Oceanology under the CAS, as well as other institutions.

China publishes the biological species checklist every year. The database supports a series of biodiversity-related scientific research, conservation policymaking and science popularization and has important significance in supporting China's implementation of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and other relevant international conventions.

The checklist can be downloaded from here. 

(Cover: An aerial view of a forest in China's Yunnan Province. /CFP)

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