World Natural Heritage: Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas (4)

The Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas is known as “the world’s biological gene bank.” As it was not covered by the continental glacier from the quaternary ice age, and the ranges in this area go from south to north, it consequently has become the main channel and refuge of biological species in Eurasia, and also the area where biological groups in Eurasia are mostly distributed. The area experiences many kinds of climate types, such as the Northern Hemisphere’s south subtropical zone, middle subtropical zone, north subtropical zone, warm temperate zone, temperate zone, cold temperate zone, and frigid zone. The area has more than 20 ecosystems, and accounts for 80 percent of the ecosystem-types in the Northern Hemisphere. The Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas is the epitome of the biological environment of Eurasia, and the area with the most abundant ecosystem-types within the unit area in the world.

Furthermore, it is the area where biological species and groups are most clearly differentiated. The fauna and floristic compositions in the area are complex and diverse, including 10 animal distribution types and 21 subtypes, 10 vegetation types and 23 vegetation subtypes, and more than 90 formations. It is unique that there are so many animal distribution types and vegetation types in such a small area. In the area, there are more than 6,000 species of higher plants, belonging to more than 1,200 genera and more than 210 families, and there are 44 genera and 2,700 families endemic to China including 600 families endemic to the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas. Moreover, there are 33 species of national rare and endangered plants and 37 species of provincial rare and endangered plants, and the area is also the most famous herbarium type locality. The area occupies less than 0.4 percent of China’s land but has more than 20 percent of higher plants and 25 percent of animal species in the country. The rare and endangered animals living in this area are the Yunnan Golden Monkey, Tibetan Antelope, Snow Panther, Bengal Tiger, and the Black-necked Crane, and plants include the Flousiana, Cyathea and Taxus chinensis.