The Nujiang Lancang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests are a

temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needl ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

China and northeastern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The forests cover mountains and valleys in the western Hengduan Mountains and because of the extreme topography and relative remoteness, remain one of the best preserved

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s in China.

Geography

The Nujiang Lancang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests stretch from southern

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

and eastern

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of � ...

in the north to

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

Province in the south. Portions of the forests also extend into extreme western

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

(China) and eastern Kachin State (Myanmar). The primary physical features to support the Nujiang forests are the Nu (Salween) and Lancang (Mekong) River valleys from approximately elevation to elevation. The southern part of this ecoregion forms the core of the Three Parallel Rivers

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. In addition to the mountain valleys, the Nujiang Lancang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests are found across parts of the Hengduan Mountains including, from west to east, the

Taniantaweng Mountains Taniantaweng Shan is a mountain range in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, near the border with Qinghai. Its elevation is . It lies approximately from Lhasa and approximately from Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized ...

, the

Gaoligong Mountains The Gaoligong Mountains () are a mountainous sub-range of the southern Hengduan Mountain Range, located in the western Yunnan highlands and straddling the border of southwestern China and northern Myanmar (Burma). Geography The Gaoligong Mount ...

, the

Nu Mountains Nu or NU may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Nu metal, a heavy metal fusion genre * Nu jazz, a jazz fusion genre * Nu-disco, a genre of dance music * Nu gaze, a shoegaze fusion genre * Nu prog, a subgenre of progressive rock * Nu-funk, ...

, and the

Yun Range The Yun Range () are a mountain range running north–south in northwestern Yunnan province, China. They were formerly romanized as the Yun Ling and tautologically as the Yun-ling Mountains. The Yun Range runs between the Lancang River (Mekong) ...

Flora and fauna

The mountains in this region of the Hengduan are steep and provide few opportunities for access between valleys and gorges. This has led to the isolated nature of these forests. Notable endangered and vulnerable species in the Nujiang Lancang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests include the

Yunnan snub-nosed monkey The black-and-white snub-nosed monkey (''Rhinopithecus bieti''), also known as the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, is a large black and white primate that lives only in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, where it is known to the locals as the Yun ...

(endemic to this ecoregion),

Gaoligong pika The Gaoligong pika (''Ochotona gaoligongensis'') is a species of mammal in the family Ochotonidae. It is endemic to China. Many of the general physical characteristics of the pika species, are shared by Gaoligong pikas. However, the Gaoligong pik ...

, and ''

Taiwania flousiana ''Taiwania'', with the single living species ''Taiwania cryptomerioides'', is a large coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Etymology ''Taiwania'' means 'from Taiwan', while ''Cryptomerioides'' means 'resembling ''Cryptomeria''.G ...

''.

Ecological threats

Forests in this ecoregion have long been threatened by logging, though since the 1990s the intensity of logging has declined in China. In the Myanmar portion, however, logging is still uncontrolled. Lower elevation sections of the Nujiang forests are threatened by hydroelectric projects harnessing the power of the wild rivers.

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of China Ecoregions of Myanmar Montane forests Palearctic ecoregions Temperate coniferous forests