Geological History, Flora, and Vegetation of Xishuangbanna, Southern Yunnan, China1
2006/03/21 by Hua Zhu, Zhu Hua, Min Cao +1 · 14 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions #Plant Diversity and Evolution #Plant Parasitism and Resistance
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00147.x
Abstract
ABSTRACT Xishuangbanna of southern Yunnan is biogeographically located at a transitional zone from tropical Southeast (SE) Asia to subtropical East Asia, and is at the junction of the Indian and Burmese plates of Gondwana and the Eurasian plate of Laurasia. The flora of the region consists of a recorded 3336 native seed plant species, belonging to 1140 genera in 197 families, among which 83.5 percent are tropical genera and 32.8 percent are endemic to tropical Asia, suggesting a strong affinity to tropical Asian flora. The vegetation of Xishuangbanna is organized into four forest types: tropical rain forest, tropical seasonal moist forest, tropical montane evergreen broad‐leaved forest, and tropical monsoon forest. The tropical rain forest in Xishuangbanna has the same floristic composition of families and genera as some lowland equatorial rain forests in SE Asia, and is dominated (with a few exceptions) by the same families both in species richness and stem dominance. The exceptions include some deciduous trees in the canopy layer, fewer megaphanerophytes and epiphytes, and a higher abundance of lianas and microphyllic plants. We consider the tropical rain forest of Xishuangbanna as a type of tropical Asian rain forest, based on their conspicuous similarities in ecological and floristic characteristics.
Cited by
- Yunnan field mouse Apodemus ilex O. Thomas, 1922 (Rodentia, Muridae); a new species and genus for the Vietnamese fauna, first recorded from Son La Province
- Seasonal differences in leaf-level physiology give lianas a competitive advantage over trees in a tropical seasonal forest. [europepmc]
- An ethnobotanical study of the less known wild edible figs (genus Ficus) native to Xishuangbanna, Southwest China. [europepmc]
- A survey of linyphiid spiders from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China (Araneae, Linyphiidae). [europepmc]
- Seed dormancy-life form profile for 358 species from the Xishuangbanna seasonal tropical rainforest, Yunnan Province, China compared to world database. [europepmc]
- Tropical forest conversion to rubber plantation affects soil micro- & mesofaunal community & diversity. [europepmc]
- Identification of Socio-Economic Impacts as the Main Drivers of Carbon Stocks in China's Tropical Rainforests: Implications for REDD. [europepmc]
- Taxonomic study on Mysmenidae spiders (Mysmenidae, Araneae) from Xishuangbanna of Yunnan, China. [europepmc]
- Exploring ascomycete diversity in Yunnan, China I: resolving ambiguous taxa in Phaeothecoidiellaceae and investigating conservation implications of fungi. [europepmc]
- Dry season temperature and rainy season precipitation significantly affect the spatio-temporal pattern of rubber plantation phenology in Yunnan province. [europepmc]
- Impact of extreme pre-monsoon drought on xylogenesis and intra-annual radial increments of two tree species in a tropical montane evergreen broad-leaved forest, southwest China. [europepmc]
- Predicting the potential geographical distribution of Zingiber striolatum Diels (Zingiberaceae), a medicine food homology plant in China. [europepmc]
- A survey of Hersilia spiders (Araneae, Hersiliidae) from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China. [europepmc]
- Yunnan field mouse Apodemus ilex O. Thomas, 1922 (Rodentia, Muridae); a new species and genus for the Vietnamese fauna, first recorded from Son La Province. [europepmc]
Related