EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

The Major Stone Forest

Stone Forest of Shilin
Kunming,Yunnan Province, China

Explanation:  The yellow brick road to Oz?  No, this is the cobble-stone road to Shilin ... otherwise known as the Stone Forest of Yunnan Province, southern China.

The Stone Forest is an astounding landscape of limestone pinnacles, peaks, towers, and hanging boulders, formed by karst erosion.  

Its geological history, dating to 270 million years, is complemented by its anthropological history.  The area has been known and revered since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) by the indigenous Sani people, a part of the Yi ethnic group, who hold annual festivals to this day in this landscape of rock walls.  

The Stone Forest covers some 400 square kilometers (150 square miles).  It includes the larger "Major Stone Forest," the smaller "Minor Stone Forest," the Bushao Mountain Scenic Area, the Liziyuanqing Scenic Area, and the Wannianlingzhi (Eternal Mushroom) Scenic Area, and contains several lakes and water trapments.  

One can wander the snaking trails to caves, waterfalls, ponds, and peaks.  

Sparse vegetation hangs tough in the crevices and more open parts of the region.   One study (Xu et al. 2006) found that the vegetation biomass and species diversity of epiphytes -- lichens, mosses, and smaller vascular plants -- was greater on the stone surfaces than on the trees.  

  
Information:
     Xu, H.-q., W.-y. Liu, Y.-x. Shen, L.-h. Liu, and Y.-h. Liu.  2006.  A preliminary study of epiphytes in semi-humid evergreen broad-leaved forest in Stone-forest Karst Region, Yunnan Province.  Guihaia  http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-GXZW200601011.htm