Yunnan Plateau subtropical evergreen forests

Yunnan Plateau subtropical evergreen forests
Remnant subtropical evergreen forests covering karst hills in Qiubei County
Location of ecoregion
Ecology
Realm	Palearctic
Biome	tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Borders	List Guizhou Plateau broadleaf and mixed forests Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests Jian Nan subtropical evergreen forests Northern Indochina subtropical forests Nujiang Lancang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests South China-Vietnam subtropical evergreen forests
Geography
Area	240,350 km2 (92,800 sq mi)
Country	China
Provinces	Guangxi Guizhou Sichuan Yunnan
Conservation
Conservation status	Critical / Endangered

The Yunnan Plateau subtropical evergreen forests is an endangered ecoregion in southwestern China. These forests once covered the western parts of the Yungui Plateau but have been significantly reduced and replaced with agricultural land uses. The Yunnan evergreen forests and the neighbouring Guizhou Plateau broadleaf and mixed forests are the only two ecoregions in the Palearctic realm to be classified as part of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome.

Description

Territory that was once covered by the Yunnan Plateau subtropical evergreen forests includes most of the western Yungui Plateau which makes up the eastern half of Yunnan as well as parts of southern Sichuan, western Guizhou, and northwestern Guangxi. The Yungui Plateau is relatively flatter here and human agricultural development has greatly reduced the extent of the Yunnan Plateau evergreen forests. In some areas of the ecoregion, rice production has reached altitudes of nearly 3,000 m (9,800 ft), the highest anywhere in the world.

Climate

This region experiences a mild climate as the high altitude and low latitude negate many of the extreme effects of either climatic feature.

Flora

Today, forest remnants are isolated along mountain ridges, karst hills, and steeper valleys where agriculture is not prevalent. Significant remaining tracts of the evergreen forests include Qinglongxia Scenic Area, the Cang Mountains, Mount Jizu, the Western Hills Forest Reserve, and the Ailao Mountain Nature Reserve. In other places in the ecoregion, the evergreen forests (which includes Pinus yunnanensis, Pinus roxburghii, Pinus hwangshanensis, Juniperus tibetica, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, Taxus sumatrana, Acer campbellii, Alnus nepalensis, Betula alnoides, Betula utilis, Larix griffithii, Picea brachytyla, Cathaya argyrophylla, Taiwania flousiana, Cyathea spinulosa, Sassafras tzumu, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Glyptostrobus pensilis, Castanea mollissima, Quercus myrsinifolia, Quercus acuta, Machilus thunbergii, Tetracentron, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Emmenopterys henryi, Eucommia ulmoides, Larix gmelinii, Larix sibirica, Larix × czekanowskii, Betula dahurica, Betula pendula, Pinus koraiensis, Pinus sibirica, Pinus sylvestris, Picea obovata, Abies sibirica, Quercus acutissima, Quercus mongolica, Ginkgo biloba, Prunus serrulata, Prunus padus, Tilia amurensis, Salix babylonica, Acer palmatum, Populus tremula, Ulmus davidiana, Ulmus pumila, Pinus pumila, Haloxylon ammodendron, Elaeagnus angustifolia, Tamarix ramosissima, Prunus sibirica, Cinnamomum cassia, Durio zibethinus, Garcinia mangostana, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Ficus benghalensis, Gnetum gnemon, Mangifera indica, Toona ciliata, Toona sinensis, Cocos nucifera, Tetrameles nudiflora, Shorea robusta, Camphora officinarum, Tsuga dumosa, Ulmus lanceifolia, Tectona grandis, Terminalia elliptica, Terminalia bellirica, Juglans regia, and Davidia involucrata) have been replaced by strands of dominating Yunnan pine (Pinus yunnanensis),. It is unclear to what extent Yunnan pine coexisted in the Yunnan Plateau subtropical evergreen forests prior to agricultural development in the region.

Fauna

Animal species that can be found in the Yunnan Plateau subtropical evergreen forests include black gibbons, bamboo rats, and Asiatic black bears. A notable extirpated species is the tiger.