The Central Mountain Range is the principal

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

on the island of Taiwan. It runs from the north of the island to the south. Due to this separation, connecting between the west and east is not very convenient. The tallest peak of the range is Xiuguluan Mountain, .

Names

"Central Range" or "Central Mountain Range" is a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...

of the range's

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

name, the ''Zhōngyāng Shānmài'' or ''Shānmò''. It is also sometimes simply called the Zhongyang or in English. During the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, the range was known as the , from the Wade-Giles

romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

of the Chinese name ''Dàshān'', meaning "Big Mountains".

Geography

In a broad sense, Central Mountain Range includes its conjoint ranges such as

Xueshan Range The Xueshan Range is a mountain range in northern Taiwan. It faces the Chungyang Range on the southeast. The tallest peak of Xueshan Range is Xueshan ("Snowy Mountain"), which has a height of . Shei-Pa National Park is located around the peak ...

and

Yushan Range The Yushan Range, formerly the and also known as the JadeMountain Range, is a mountain range in the central-southern region of Taiwan Island. It spans Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City, and Nantou County. It faces the Central Mountain Range on the ...

; thus the tallest peak of Central Mountain Range in this sense is Yushan (Jade Mountain/Mount Morrison), , and the second tallest peak is

Xueshan Xueshan, formerly known as and by other names, is a mountain in the Heping District of Taichung, Taiwan. It is the 2nd-highest mountain in Taiwan and in East Asia, at above sea level. It is located in the Shei-Pa National Park and is visib ...

(Snow Mountain), .

Ecology

The Central Range lies within the Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests ecoregion, and the composition of the forest varies with elevation. The coastal plains and lower elevations are covered by evergreen laurel-''

Castanopsis ''Castanopsis'', commonly called chinquapin or chinkapin, is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the beech family, Fagaceae. The genus contains about 140 species, which are today restricted to tropical and subtropical eastern Asia. A total o ...

'' forests dominated by ''

Cryptocarya chinensis ''Cryptocarya chinensis'', commonly known as the Chinese cryptocarya, is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to the subtropical forests of Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction ...

'' and '' Castanopsis hystrix'' with scattered stands of the subtropical pine ''

Pinus massoniana ''Pinus massoniana'' ( English: Masson's pine, Chinese red pine, horsetail pine; Chinese: 馬尾松) is a species of pine, native to Taiwan, a wide area of central and southern China, and northern Vietnam. Description It is an evergreen tr ...

''. As elevation increases, the evergreen broadleaf trees are gradually replaced by deciduous broadleaf trees and

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s. At higher elevations, ''

Cyclobalanopsis glauca ''Quercus glauca'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Cyclobalanopsis glauca''), commonly called ring-cupped oak or Japanese blue oak, is a tree in the beech family (Fagaceae). It is native to eastern and southern Asia, where it is found in Afghanistan, ...

'' replaces laurel and ''Castanopsis'' as the dominant tree. Above , deciduous broadleaf trees like

Formosan alder ''Alnus formosana'', the Formosan alder, is a species of alder endemic to Taiwan. It is a medium-sized tree, up to in height and in trunk diameter. Description The formosan alder is a trees up to 20 meters in height with dark gray-brown bark ...

''(Alnus formosana)'' and

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

''(Acer'' spp.) mix with

Taiwan hemlock ''Tsuga chinensis'', commonly referred to as the Taiwan or Chinese hemlock, or in Chinese as tieshan (), is a coniferous tree species native to China, Taiwan, Tibet and Vietnam. The tree is quite variable and has many recognised varieties, thou ...

''(Tsuga chinensis).'' At the highest elevations, subalpine forests are dominated by conifers, including Taiwan hemlock, Taiwan spruce (''Picea morrisonicola''), and Taiwan fir (''Abies kawakamii'').

Names

Geography

Ecology

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links