· Lakes of Celebration
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
· Looking Ahead

Global 200 Snapshot

The Yunnan Lakes and Streams ecoregion contains some of the most diverse freshwater ecosystems in the country.  

Lakes of Celebration

When Lord Buddha was born, the story goes, a dragon marked the occasion by sprinkling the baby with water. Today, the Dai people keep this legend alive by having a water festival every New Year. They have a lot to celebrate, since the province where they live contains so many remarkable freshwater systems. The Yunnan Lakes and Streams ecoregion is home to diverse, unusual species that don't live anywhere else.

Special Features

Plateaus are usually flat, but the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is not. With an average elevation of about 6,562 feet (2,000 m), it has some mountain peaks that are twice that high. The rest of the plateau is covered with rolling hills, deep river gorges, and dense forests. Much of the plateau is built of limestone, which absorbs water and erodes over thousands of years to form underground caverns. These caverns are the home of blind fishes and other strange animals. Many lakes in this region were formed thousands of years ago when huge slabs of stone broke apart, leaving empty spaces that gradually filled with water. Some of these lakes, such as Tien, Fuxianhu, and Luguhu, are very deep and often fed by melting glaciers and mountain streams.

Although Yunnan Province supports almost half of China’s plant and animal species, it makes up only a small proportion of China’s total area. Yunnan is so diverse because it has many climates, ranging from tropical river valleys to glaciated mountain summits. It is also located near the tropics, a region of the Earth that supports the highest biological diversity. All in all, Yunnan is host to 15,000 species of plants, including 60 percent of the plants used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Wild Side

The mountains within this ecoregion keep the rivers and streams separate from each other. Because of this, many species evolved only in particular bodies of water. The ecoregion contains many different species of fish, amphibians, invertebrates, and plants. Unique species found in the Yunnan Lakes and Streams include the Yunnan firebelly newt, Shanjing crocodile newt, seven cave fishes, and the bubble fish. (When threatened, this fish inflates itself with air as a defense against predators.) The Chinese giant salamander, the largest salamander in the world, lives only in China and can grow to be more than 63 inches (160 cm) long! The Ailao spiny toad has 10 to16 large black spines sticking out from its upper lip, and because of this locals call it "the mustached frog."

Cause for Concern

One of the two subtropical forests that still exist in China is located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. But deforestation along the lakes and streams has caused soil erosion and destroyed habitat. Pollution is also a significant threat. In particular, Lake Dianchi, which once supported a unique group of fish, has suffered from sewage, industrial pollutants, and introduced species.

Looking Ahead

The Nature Conservancy is exploring the possibility of creating an international park in the northwest corner of China’s Yunnan Province. The World Bank and Chinese government began a project in 1996 to clean up Lake Dianchi and to protect water sources throughout the Yunnan Province.