Gongga Mountain Observation and Experimental Station of Alpine Ecosystem - China

The GGS (29.6°N, 101.9°E) is located in the Hailuogou Valley on the eastern slope of Mt. Gongga (7556 m a.s.l.), the highest peak of central Hengduan Mountains, south east edge of Tibet Plateau, and is approximately 360 km west of Chengdu city, Sichuan, China. The regional climate in eastern Mt. Gongga is mainly influenced by the Asian summer monsoon with an annual average temperature of 13 °C (1600 m a.s.l.) to 4 °C (3000 m a.s.l.) and an annual average precipitation of 1000 mm (1600 m a.s.l.) to 1900 mm (3000 m a.s.l.). There are remarkable differences in weather, soil and vegetation from low to high elevations along the valley. Uniquely marvelous are subtropics farmlands, alpine primary forests (1900~4000 m a.s.l.) and maritime-type glaciers (2900~7560 m a.s.l.). The alpine ice-snow, biodiversity and human activities interact within a horizontal distance of 16 km that provides an ideal natural-laboratory to explore the high mountain environment changes.