Qiqi Biological Station near Gongshan, China Photograph by Keith K. Howell/ California Academy of Sciences   Palaearctic Temperate Coniferous Forests   32,000 square miles (82,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of Idaho Critical/Endangered

· Land of Corrugations
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Land of Corrugations

When Western explorers visited the Nujiang-Lancang region of China, they called this area of steep ridges and deep valleys the "land of corrugations," and found it mostly inaccessible. Because of its remoteness, the area remains one of the most intact and biologically diverse parts of China. A variety of trees grows above river gorges on crests as high as 10,000 to 16,000 feet (3,000-5,000 m).

Special Features

The gorge area is notably rich in conifer species. The Kunming Institute of Ecology (Chinese Academy of Sciences) reports that most of the 20 mid-elevation conifer species reported from Yunnan occur here. The Gaoligong National Nature Reserve is of great ecological importance. It includes forests that vary from subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests at low elevations to subalpine conifer forests at higher elevations, large tracts of which are relatively undisturbed. The Nujiang Nature Reserve contains similar forest habitat and supports red pandas, musk deer, and other Himalayan forest species. Many other rare, endangered, and endemic mammals and birds live here, including Gaoligong pikas, Hoolock gibbons, slow lorises, giant nuthatches, white-eared pheasants, and Sclater’s monals.

	Slow lorises creep through trees at night, hunting for fruit and insects. Only about the size of small rabbits, these mammals can hang upside down by their feet, which allows them to eat with both front hands. That's something one of their primate cousins--human beings--can't do!

Wild Side

Gaoligong pikas build nests under rocks, while Hoolock gibbons and slow lorises live mostly in trees. The Baimaxueshan National Nature Reserve contains conifer forests with Yunnan golden monkeys and wetlands where waterfowl such as black-necked cranes can breed. Black snub-nosed monkeys live in the forests, where they eat lichens. Red pandas feed on bamboo, grasses, and fruits.

Cause for Concern

The Gaoligong Nature Reserve would be more effective if it were not so slender and included more low elevation habitat. Farmland and scrub replace forest below 6,500 feet (2,000 m), an elevation that could potentially hold high diversity, and villages have been established up to the lower edge of the forest. Nonetheless, Gaoligong is one of southwest China’s most important protected areas.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.