UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory

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	Biosphere Reserve Information
	China MAOLAN	© Photo: Maolan BR


General Description	Maolan Biosphere Reserve is situated in the Guizhou Province in south-east China. The region is famous for its virgin forest that is well preserved on the karst landscape, in the middle subtropical zone of China. The main habitats include subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest, subtropical evergreen and deciduous broadleaf mixed forest, agroecosystems (with rice, rape, sweet potato and medicinal plants) and forestry ecosystems. The fauna is rich with many rare or endangered species including forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii), rhesus monkey (Macaca mulata) and the south China tiger (Panthera tigris). The landscape with its Karst springs, streams and ponds attract about 60,000 visitors per year (1994). About 4,300 people of six ethnic origins (Shui, Buyi, Yao, Miao, Han and Zhuang) live in the biosphere reserve (1994). They are mostly making their living from agriculture and forestry.
Major ecosystem type	Subtropical and temperate rainforests
Major habitats & land cover types	Subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest with Sapium rotundifolium, Carpinus lipoensis and Platycarya longipes; subtropical evergreen and deciduous broadleaf mixed forest with Pseudotsuga brevifolia, Tsuga tchekiangensis and Pinus kwangtungensis; agroecosystems with rice, rape, sweet potato and medicinal plants; forestry ecosystems with Dendrocalamus tsiangii and Galla chinensis.
Location	25°09' to 25°20'N; 107°52' to 108°05'E
Area (hectares)
Total	21,330
Core area(s)	8,350
Buffer zone(s)	8,130
Transition area(s) when given	4,850
Altitude (metres above sea level)	+430 to + 1,078
Year designated	1996
Administrative authorities	Ministry of Forestry and provincial Forestry Department Maolan National Nature Reserve Bureau in Guizhou

Brief description	Karst geology research Karst forest ecology, environment and karst function Inventory of fishes, other vertebrates and invertebrates Rare and precious species protection, breeding and planting Fire history and effects Ethnobiology Land/water use history Mapping of the different zones of the biosphere reserve There are plans to build an ecology observation station
*Specific variables...*
Abiotic	Geology.
Biodiversity	Breeding/Reproduction, conservation, ecology, ecosystem functioning/ecosystem structure, fauna, fires/fire ecology, fishes, forest systems, invertebrates/insects/spiders, rare/endangered/threatened species, species inventorying/inventory.
Socio-economic	Resource use, traditional practices/ethnology/traditional knowledge.
Integrated monitoring	Impact and risk studies/Environmental impact, land use/land cover, mapping, planning and zoning measures/zonation.

Contact address	Ran Jinchen Maolan National Nature Reserve Bureau Libo County 558400 Guizhou Province China
Telephone	(86 854) 361 0676
Fax	(86 854) 361 0675
E-mail	rcj68cn@163.com

	n.a.

Last updated: 12/12/2007