linguistic:paraphrasing, linguistic:translation
Distribution and habitat

Although Ginkgo biloba and other species of the genus were once widespread throughout the world, its habitat had shrunk by two million years ago.

For centuries, it was thought to be extinct in the wild, but is now a common tree cultivated throughout eastern China, Korea, and Japan. Many municipalities in Korea and Japan use Ginkgos as street trees, and Ginkgo leaves are the emblem of prominent educational institutions such as the University of Tokyo and Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. Despite their widespread habitat, high genetic uniformity exists among ginkgo trees, with some Chinese scholars suggesting that ginkgo trees in these areas may have been planted and preserved by Chinese monks over about 1,000 years. A study demonstrates a greater genetic diversity in Southwestern China populations, supporting glacial refugia in mountains surrounding the eastern Tibetan Plateau, where several old-growth candidates for wild populations have been reported. Recently, the findings of Ginkgo trees aged 1,500 years in Samcheok-si, Korea (the Neukguri Ginkgo, designated as Korea's natural artifact in 1986), and aged 1,200 in Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Japan have discredited theories claiming Chinese origins of Ginkgo. Whether native ginkgo populations still exist has not been demonstrated unequivocally, but there is genetic evidence that these Southwestern populations may be wild, as well as evidence that the largest and oldest Ginkgo biloba trees may be older than surrounding human settlements.

Where it occurs in the wild, Ginkgo is found infrequently in deciduous forests and valleys on acidic loess (i.e. fine, silty soil) with good drainage. The soil it inhabits is typically in the pH range of 5.0 to 5.5.