Researchers conduct fieldwork on Cangshan Mountain. [Photo by the Cangshan scientific survey team/for chinadaily.com.cn]
A comprehensive scientific survey of Cangshan Mountain in Southwest China has, for the first time in more than 40 years, mapped the region's wildlife and ecological profile, confirming it as a key biodiversity hotspot, researchers said.
The three-year project covered nearly 1,000 square kilometers in Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province, and involved multiple research institutions. It is the most systematic study of the mountain since joint international expeditions in the 1980s, according to Zhong Mingchuan, a member of the research team and head of the Yunnan Academy of Forestry and Grassland.
Researchers conduct fieldwork on Cangshan Mountain. [Photo by the Cangshan scientific survey team/for chinadaily.com.cn]
Researchers recorded more than 4,600 species of higher plants—nearly a quarter of Yunnan's total—within an area that accounts for just 0.25 percent of the province's land mass. The survey also identified 578 vertebrate species and hundreds of invertebrates, including newly discovered species and numerous new regional records.
"This is the first time we have a comprehensive understanding of what exists on Cangshan Mountain," Zhong said, adding that the findings address key gaps in baseline data on the region's biological resources.
Researchers conduct fieldwork on Cangshan Mountain. [Photo by the Cangshan scientific survey team/for chinadaily.com.cn]
Iris cangshanensis, a plant species identified in the Cangshan survey. [Photo by the Cangshan scientific survey team/for chinadaily.com.cn]
A gray-bellied white-eye photographed on Cangshan Mountain. [Photo by Zheng Junhui/for chinadaily.com.cn]
A yellow-breasted bunting on Cangshan Mountain. [Photo by the Cangshan scientific survey team/for chinadaily.com.cn]
A rhododendron delavayi in bloom on Cangshan Mountain. [Photo by the Cangshan scientific survey team/for chinadaily.com.cn]
A Lady Amherst's pheasant photographed on Cangshan Mountain. [Photo by Li Depin/for chinadaily.com.cn]
A view of Cangshan Mountain in Yunnan province. [Photo by the Cangshan scientific survey team/for chinadaily.com.cn]
