Studies on the Distribution of Wild Soybean (Glycine soja) in China

Abstract

Investigations showed that wild soybean grew in a vast area from about 24N (middle-northern Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regions) in the south to 53N (Heilongjiang River valley) in the northern China and that there was no wild soybean to find in three regions Xinjiang, Qinghai and Hainan. The area of 30 to 45N was a diverse region of the wild soybean in China, where the wild soybean has an extensive distribution, large populations and rich types. The highest point of wild soybean distribution in China was 2670 m, locating at 2730'N, Ninglang County, Yunnan Province. Two critical meteorological indexes related temperature and humidity was key factors to influence the distribution of wild soybean in China: no wild soybeans were found in the areas having a monthly mean temperature of below 20C in the warmest months or lasting seven months and over bf more than 20C monthly mean temperature and having an annual precipitation of less than 300 mm during a year.