Hengduan Mountains

Hengduan Mountains
The Hengduan Mountains
Highest point
Peak	Mount Gongga
Elevation	7,556 m (24,790 ft)
Geography
Countries	China and Burma
Range coordinates	27°30′N 99°00′E / 27.5°N 99°E / 27.5; 99Coordinates: 27°30′N 99°00′E / 27.5°N 99°E / 27.5; 99

The Hengduan Mountains (simplified Chinese: 横断山脉; traditional Chinese: 橫斷山脈; pinyin: Héngduàn Shānmài) is a large mountainous region in southwest China (latitude: 22°~32°05'N, longitude: 97°~ 103°E), forming the south-eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and adjacent from the west to the Sichuan Basin.

The mountainous region occupies most of the western part of the present-day Sichuan province (the pre-1955 Xikang), as well as the northwestern corner of Yunnan province and the easternmost section of Tibet Autonomous Region. This approximates the historical region known as Kham.

Mountain ranges in the southern end of the Hengduan system form the border between Burma and China.

The Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests is a palaearctic ecoregion, in the Temperate coniferous forests Biome.

Geography

A bird's-eye view of the "Nujiang 72 turnings"in Tibet.

The Hengduan Mountains system consist of many mountain ranges, most of which run roughly north to south. The mountains stretch from eastern Tibet to Yunnan and Sichuan.^[1]

In the southwestern part of the Hengduan Mountain region, three great rivers of China and Southeast Asia - Yangtze (Jinsha), Mekong (Lancang) and Salween (Nujiang) - run in deep parallel valleys separated by mountain ranges that are components of the Hengduan system. The Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas was created to protect the environment of that region.

Plant and animal life

Part of the mountains are within the Nujiang Langcang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests ecoregion and are largely covered in subalpine conifer forest.^[2][3] Elevations range from 1,300 to 6,000 metres (4,300 to 19,700 ft). The dense, pristine forest, the relative isolation and the fact that most of the area remained free from glaciation during the ice ages provides a very complex habitat with a high degree of biological diversity. This mountainous region is home to the rare and endangered giant panda. Other species native to the mountains are the Chinese yew (Taxus chinensis) and various other rare plants, deer, and primates.

Environmental groups have recognized this ecoregion as being threatened by "a growing human population and the resulting demand for non-timber forests and wildlife products for medicinal and other uses".^[4]

See also

• Global 200

References

External links

• Biodiversity of the Hengduan Mountains and adjacent areas of south-central China - a research project at Harvard University
• PBS NOVA's First Flower discusses botanical diversity in the Hengduan Shan
• The 26 mountains of Yunnan

Mountain ranges of China
Geography of China
Northwest China	Altai Mountains Dzungarian Alatau Tian Shan Borohoro Mountains Tarbagatai Mountains Kunlun Mountains Altyn-Tagh Qilian Mountains Helan Mountains
Qinghai-Tibet and Southwest China	Himalayas Transhimalaya Pamir Mountains Karakoram Argu Tagh Yengisogat Kunlun Mountains Hoh Xil Bayan Har Mountains Amne Machin Tanggula Mountains Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains Hengduan Mountains Gaoligong Mountains Yunling Mountains Ailao Mountains Qionglai Mountains Daxue Mountains Min Mountains
Northeast China	Greater Khingan Lesser Khingan Changbai Mountains Wanda Mountains Qian Mountains
Northern China	Yin Mountains Lang Mountains Lüliang Mountains Taihang Mountains Zhongtiao Mountains Qin Mountains Dabie Mountains Mount Tai
Central China	Daba Mountains Wudang Mountains Jingshan Mountains Dabie Mountains Luoxiao Mountains Jiuling Mountains Mufu Mountains Wugong Mountains Huangshan Tianmu Mountain Wuling Mountains Xuefeng Mountains Yandang Mountains Wuyi Mountains
Southern China	Cang Mountain Daliang Mountains Dalou Mountains Nanling Mountains Jiuyi Mountains Yuecheng Mountains Longmen Mountains Western Mountains
Landforms of China