"Taiwan and Orchid Island belong to different ecological systems," Lu Kuang yang, professor of biology at National Taiwan Normal University, explains. "Taiwan belongs to the East Asian system, like Japan and Korea, while Orchid Island belongs the to the South Asian system, like the Philippines. So Orchid Island has many plants and animals that Taiwan doesn't."
「根據調查，台灣與蘭嶼屬不同的生態系，台灣屬東洋系，與日本、韓國較相近；蘭嶼則屬南洋系，和菲律賓一樣，因此蘭嶼有不少台灣本島沒有的動植物」，師大生物系教授呂光洋解釋，有人據此推測蘭嶼最早可能和菲律賓群島相連。