
Tianmu Mountain Nature Reserve has the fame of "Natural
Arboretum", in which there are 1,718 spermatophyte
species, 151 pteridophyte species, and 291 moss species,
35 of which are rare and endangered species. Complex
topography and plentiful vegetation resources provide
ideal habitat conditions for wildlife. There are 74
mammal species, 148 bird species, 44 reptile species,
20 amphibian species, 55 fish species, and documented
1,853 insect species. Among them, cloud leopard (Neofelis
nebulosa), black muntjac (

Muntiacus
crinifrons), white neck and long tail pheasant (Syrmaticus
ellioti), Chinese tiger butterfly are the species
enlisted under National Protected Wildlife. Tianmu
Mountain is therefore well-known as "the biological
gene bank". The biological resource with rich
species variety provides the ideal conditions for
scientific research and educational field practice.
Since Bates, a German entomologist, published his
new discovery of "Anoplodera Excavata Bates":
the first animal species named after Tianmu (Tianmu
Festoon Capricorn Beetle) in 1884 and Chen Huanyong,
a Chinese scholar, published the first new found plant
species in Tianmu Mountain in 1927 which was named
as Ostrya rehderiana (Tianmu ironwood), Chinese and
foreign scholars have found and named 37 plants and
48 animals with Tianmu as part of their name. Tianmu
Mountain is also famous for generating mode specimens:
83 vegetable mode specimens and 181 animal mode specimens
have been collected here. Unique topography and abundant
biological resources attract professors and students
from Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Nanjing
Forestry University, Zhejiang Forestry College, East
China Normal University, Zhejiang Normal College and
other institutes to conduct biological, geological,
geographical, hydrological and soil field work in
Tianmu Mountain. Foreign scholars from Germany, Canada,
the United States and other countries also come to
visit and conduct field research in the reserve.