Huang He Plain mixed forests
{{Short description|Ecoregion in Northern China}}
{{Infobox ecoregion
|name = Ecoregion: Huang He Plain mixed forests
|image = Shandong Zaozhuang Tengzhou Dongshahezhen (commune) - Mokeng IMG 9413.jpg
|image_size = 300
|image_alt =
|caption = Farms in Shandong Province, on the Huang He Plain
|map = Ecoregion PA0424.png
|map_size = 300
|map_alt = Ecoregion territory (in purple)
|map_caption = Ecoregion territory (in purple)
|ecozone = Palearctic
|biome = Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
|animals =
|bird_species =
|borders =
|area = 434200
|countries = China
|state =
|region_type =
|elevation =
|coordinates = {{coord|37|00|N|112|45|E|display=title,inline}}
|geology =
|seas =
|rivers =
|climate =
|soil =
|conservation =
|global200 =
|habitat_loss =
|habitat_loss_ref =
|protected =
|protected_ref =
}}
The Huang He Plain mixed forests ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0424) covers the flat lower ranges of the Yellow River ("Huang He" means Yellow River). This area is generally known as the North China Plain. While there is some forest habitat, the region has mostly been converted to agriculture, being one of the most populous areas in the world (approximately 190 million people).{{cite web|title=Huang He Plain Mixed Forests|url=https://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Huang_He_Plain_mixed_forests|author=C Michael Hogan |publisher=Encyclopedia of the Earth|language=en|access-date=November 23, 2019}}{{cite journal|title=A River Basin over the Course of Time: Multi-Temporal Analyses of Land Surface Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin (China) Based on Medium Resolution Remote Sensing Data|journal=Remote Sensing|volume=8|issue=3|pages=186|publisher=Remote Sensing 2016|language=en|doi=10.3390/rs8030186|year=2016|last1=Wohlfart|first1=Christian|last2=Liu|first2=Gaohuan|last3=Huang|first3=Chong|last4=Kuenzer|first4=Claudia|bibcode=2016RemS....8..186W|doi-access=free}}{{cite web|title=Map of Ecoregions 2017|url=https://ecoregions2017.appspot.com/|publisher=Resolve, using WWF data|language=en|access-date=September 14, 2019}}
Location and description
{{main|North China Plain}}
The Huang He Mixed Forests ecoregion covers the North China plain, a large alluvial plain which collects the deposits of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Huai River, and the Hai River. The plain is very flat, and averages only 50 meters above sea level.{{cite journal|title=Biodiversity and Biogeography of Rhizobia Associated with Soybean Plants Grown in the North China Plain|journal=Applied and Environmental Microbiology|volume=77|issue=18|pages=6331–6342|doi=10.1128/AEM.00542-11|author=Yang Ming Zhang|publisher=American Society for Microbiology|language=en|year=2011|pmid=21784912 |pmc=3187167 |bibcode=2011ApEnM..77.6331Z |doi-access=free}} Almost 3% of the land area is urbanized.
Climate
The climate of the ecoregion is Humid continental climate, hot summer (Köppen climate classification (Dwa)), with a dry winter. This climate is characterized by large seasonal temperature differentials and a hot summer (at least four months averaging over {{convert|10|C|F}}, at least one month averaging over {{convert|22|C|F}}, and cold winters having monthly precipitation less than one-tenth of the wettest summer month.{{cite web|first1=M. |last1=Kottek |first2=J. |last2=Grieser |first3=C. |last3=Beck |first4=B. |last4=Rudolf |first5=F. |last5=Rubel |date=2006 |title=World Map of Koppen-Geiger Climate Classification Updated|url=http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/pdf/Paper_2006.pdf|publisher=Gebrüder Borntraeger 2006|language=en|access-date=September 14, 2019}}{{cite web|title=Dataset - Koppen climate classifications|url=https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/world-maps-k%C3%B6ppen-geiger-climate-classification|publisher=World Bank|language=en|access-date=September 14, 2019}}
Flora and fauna
As of 2012, only 15% of the surface area (about 65,000 km2) of the ecoregion was in its natural state; the majority of the land is devoted to agriculture.{{cite web|title=Urban expansion dynamics and natural habitat loss in China: a multiscale landscape perspective|url=https://wordpress.clarku.edu/jietian/files/2015/01/2014-Journal-Global-Change-Biology.pdf|author=Chunhang He|publisher=Global Change Biology (2014)|language=en|access-date=November 23, 2019}} A 2005 conservation study reported that the Huang He ecoregion was only 3.29% covered by protected areas, and that the area is "now so populated and degraded that options for PA [protected area] development are very limited".{{cite web|title=GIS Assessment of the Status of Protected Areas in East Asia (March, 2005)|url=https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/8766/GIS_assessment_protected_areas_East_Asia.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y|publisher=IUCN - The World Conservation Union|language=en|access-date=November 23, 2019}}