Mt. Baimaxueshan (白马雪山)

Mt. Baimaxueshan is located in Baimaxueshan National Nature Reserve (98°55′-99°24′E, 27°24′-28°35′N), Deqin and Weixi counties, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest Yunnan, China. It lies in the middle Hengduan Mountains on the southern extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The reserve features prominent vertical mountain climate. It belongs to the cold-temperate mountain monsoon climate, with distinct dry-wet seasons, long cold winter and short summer. The average annual temperature is 4.7 ℃, the annual precipitation ranges from 633.7-850 mm, and the mean relative humidity is 71%.

Baimaxueshan

Vegetation and Flora

Baimaxueshan National Nature Reserve has complete mountain vertical vegetation spectra, containing 7 vegetation zones, 11 vegetation subtypes and 37 formations, dominated by alpine dark coniferous forests.

A total of 2343 vascular plant species, belonging to 687 genera and 156 families, have been recorded in the reserve. Two plant species belong to the first-class protected plants of China, and 24 species belong to the second-class protected plants of China.

Fauna

There are 521 vertebrate species and 447 insect species recorded in the nature reserve. Eleven vertebrate species belong to the first-class protected animals of China, including Rhinopithecus bieti, Panthera uncia, Neofelis nebulosa and so on.

Research sites of BEST network

Baimaxueshan elevational gradient series (SL29-SL34, 6 plots): continuous elevational gradient from 3200 m (Pinus armandii forest) →3400 m (Pinus densata forest / conifer-broad-leaved mixed forest) →3600 m (Quercus aquifolioides forest) →3800 m (Abies georgei forest) →4000 m (Larix potaninii var. macrocarpa forest). Each plot is 100 m × 100 m.

Principal Investigator

Zhiming Zhang (张志明) from Yunnan University: zhiming_zhang76@hotmail.com

Research Team:

  • Zhiming Zhang（张志明，Yunnan University）

  • Lin Cao（曹林，Yunnan University）

  • Min Deng（邓敏，Yunnan University）

  • Xiaoli Cheng（程晓莉，Yunnan University）

  • Zhiqiang Zhang（张志强，Yunnan University）

  • Jianli Zhao（赵建立，Yunnan University）

  • Xiaokun Ou（欧晓昆，Yunnan University）

  • Lide Tian（田立德，Yunnan University）

  • Zhe Chen（陈哲，Yunnan University）

  • Wenli Wang（王文礼，Yunnan University）

  • Wenjun Liu（刘文俊，Yunnan University）

  • Luxiang Lin（林露湘，Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences）

  • Zexin Fan（范泽鑫，Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences）

  • Qinghai Song（宋清海，Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences）

  • Ge Sang（格桑，Ecological Research Institute, Yunnan Baimaxueshan National Nature Reserve）

Selected Publications

  1. FEYISSA A, RAZA S, CHENG X L. Soil carbon stabilization and potential stabilizing mechanisms along elevational gradients in alpine forest and grassland ecosystems of Southwest China[J]. Catena, 2023, 229: 107210.
  2. FEYISSA A, RAZA S T, GOMEZ-CASANOVAS N, et al. Linking extracellular enzyme activities in soil aggregates to carbon stabilization along an elevational gradient in alpine forest and grassland ecosystems[J]. Catena, 2025, 250: 107210.
  3. ZHANG D D, WU B Y, LI J S, et al. Soil microbial relative resource limitation exhibited contrasting seasonal patterns along an elevational gradient in Yulong Snow Mountain[J]. Functional Ecology, 2023, 37(6): 1328-1338.
  4. ZHANG D D, LI J S, ZHANG Z, et al. Drivers of microbial necromass carbon and its contribution to soil organic carbon along an elevational gradient[J]. Journal of Plant Ecology, 2025, 18(6): rtaf119.
  5. HUANG Z Y, ZHANG Q, MEN X X, et al. Elevation-Driven Contrasting Mechanisms of Carbon-Degrading Enzyme Activities Between Topsoil and Subsoil in Hengduan Mountain Forests[J]. Land Degradation & Development, 2025.
  6. MEN X X, BAO Y, ZHAI D P, et al. Different regulatory mechanisms on carbon-degrading enzyme activities under short-term litter input manipulations in subalpine coniferous and broad-leaved forest soils[J]. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2025, 196: 109512.
  7. MEN X X, BAO Y, ZHAI D P, et al. Soil microbial metabolic limitations under subalpine coniferous and broad‐leaved forests responding to litter input and removal treatments[J]. Functional Ecology, 2025, 39(9): 2803-2816.
  8. Liu P Y, Zhang C C, Zhang Z M, et al. Resprouting traits and their elevational differentiation patterns of woody plants in Baima Snow Mountain, Yunnan[J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2024, 36(2): 418-426.

Site Support

This site has been supported by:

  • School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University

  • Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences

  • Baimaxueshan National Nature Reserve

Copyright © Jian Zhang 2019 –
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