The Changbai Mountains mixed forests
ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0414) covers the
Changbai Mountains and surrounding foothills in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
North Korea. The region features extensive and naturally preserved deciduous and conifer forests. The region exhibits high biodiversity due to its relative isolation, temperate climate with high rainfall, and centrality to central Chinese, Siberian, and European floral communities. In 1979, a significant portion of the ecoregion was designated the Changbaishan
Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.
Location and description
The Changbai Mountains area ranges across the foothills and higher elevations of a volcanic plateau on the north of the Korean peninsula, straddling the border between China and North Korea. The region is surrounded by the lower terrain of the
Manchurian mixed forests ecoregion, but is centered on the volcanic crater of
Paektu Mountain.
Climate
The climate of the Changbai ecoregion is ''
Humid continental climate, warm summer'' (
Köppen climate classification (Dwb)), with a dry winter. This climate is characterized by large seasonal temperature differentials and a warm summer (at least four months averaging over , but no month averaging over , and cold winters having monthly precipitation less than one-tenth of the wettest summer month.
Annual precipitation is 500 to 1,000 mm at the lower and middle elevations, reaching 1,400 mm at the higher points.
Flora and fauna
Because the ecoregion includes altitudes from below 1,100 meters to above 2,600 meters, it features different floristic altitude zones. From the lower altitudes, deciduous trees mixed with conifers characterize the forest up to about the 1,100 meter level. A "dark conifer" belt runs from 1,100 meters to 1,900 meters, and alpine meadows and bare rock at the higher elevations.
The mixed forests feature Korean pine (''
Pinus koraiensis''), Manchurian fir (''
Abies holophylla''), Manchuran lime (''
Tilia
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain a ...
''), and Mongolian oak (''
Quercus mongolica''). The higher dark conifer forest features Yezo spruce (''
Picea jezoensis''), Khingan fir (''
Abies nephrolepis
''Abies nephrolepis'', commonly known as Khingan fir, is a species of fir native to northeastern China (Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi), North Korea, South Korea, and southeastern Russia (Amur Oblast, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Prim ...
''), and Olgan larch (''
Larix olgensis
''Larix gmelinii'' var. ''olgensis'', synonym ''Larix olgensis'', the Olga Bay larch or Olgan larch, is a variety of larch. The variety is named after Olga Bay in the Sea of Japan. The common name in Japanese language is 満洲唐松 (Manshu'u Kar ...
'').
See also
*
Ecoregions in China {{Short description, none
The following is a list of terrestrial ecoregions of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The transition between two of the planet's eight terrestrial biog ...
References
{{reflist
Ecoregions of China
Ecoregions of North Korea
Palearctic ecoregions
Forests of China
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Montane forests