An inventory of county-level biodiversity in Northwest Yunnan

Northwest Yunnan, particularly within the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, exhibits exceptional biodiversity richness, with Yulong County standing out as a hotspot for both vegetation formations and species diversity. The region boasts 108 distinct vegetation formations in Yulong alone, surpassing other counties, and harbors over 4,550 higher plant species, 625 vertebrates, and 222 macro-fungi, with notable proportions of endemic species—up to 50% for plants and 17% for animals. This comprehensive county-level inventory, conducted between 2010 and 2011 by Chinese research institutions, serves as a critical baseline for understanding biodiversity patterns in this globally significant area. The study underscores the urgent need for large-scale biodiversity assessments to inform conservation strategies, particularly within China's designated Biodiversity Priority Areas.

Wu, J., Peng, H., Jiang, X., Xue, D., Du, F., Han, L., Yang, Z., Shui, Y., Liu, P., Yang, X., Jiang, W., Wang, Y., Zhao, F., & Dai, R. (2016). An inventory of county-level biodiversity in Northwest Yunnan. Biodiversity Science, 24(12), 1414–1420. https://doi.org/10.17520/biods.2016154