A Survey of the Biological Diversity of the Gaoligong Shan, Western Yunnan, China

Yunnan Expedition Team

We decided we would start with a single expedition. If the expedition was successful and we decided that we should continue with this collaboration, we would strive to develop a long-term cooperative project. The Academy sent four participants on this expedition including David Kavanaugh (entomologist), Charles Griswold (arachnologist), Carl Ferraris (ichthyologist), and Bruce Bartholomew (botanist).

The starting point for our expedition was Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province where we arrived on October 5th. From here it was a two-day drive to the Salween River that flows along the base of the eastern slope of Gaoligong Shan. Here the actual collecting portion of the expedition began. We split into two groups during most of the expedition. This was necessary because of the diverse types of organisms we were trying to collect, and the interest of the Chinese zoologists along with us who worked on groups including amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Each organism required different techniques and necessitated sampling habitats in different ways.

Osbeckia nepalensis

There were four major areas where we collected: from the Salween River at the small city of Liuku across Gaoligong Shan to the border town of Pianma and north along the Myanmar border to Gangfang; the area along the east slope of Gaolingong Shan to the south of Liuku; north of Tengchong on the east side of Gaoligong Shan; and near the top and on the western slope of the Gaoligong Shan near Nankang and Daheping.

In order to collect fish, Carl needed to spend his collecting time along streams and small rivers at the base of Gaoligong Shan rather than on the steep slopes and ridges. Dave and Charles needed to stay for extended periods in primary forest where they could collect insects and spiders at night and could survey a relatively small area for an extended period. For botanical specimens, I needed to sample as many different habitats as possible but not stay as long in any one area.

The immediate results of our pilot project were the specimens we collected. These will not only add many taxa to the collections at the Academy but will help in the efforts to develop a biological inventory of Gaoligong Shan. We hope that this will be just the beginning of a longstanding joint project.