Study area
This study focused on three climate regions in Yunnan Province,
southwest China (21°09′–29°15′N and 97°32′–106°12′ E). The three
regions are similar in area, but differ greatly in climate, geography,
and vegetation (Table 1). The southern region has a tropical monsoon
climate and contains a tropical flora that was shaped by the strike-slip
extrusion of Indochina plate. The northwestern region has a temperate
climate and contains a temperate flora shaped by the uplift of the
Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau. The central region has a subtropical climate
and contains a subtropical flora with a combination of nearly equal
proportions of species from both northwestern and southern floras
(Zhu 2012; Liu et al. 2017).
The overall floras of the regions combined are representative of East
Asia (Zhu 2012; Liu et al. 2017).