The Qilian Mountains subalpine meadows occupy the high meadows and shrubland of the Qilian Mountains along the northeastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau in central China, straddling Qinghai and Gansu provinces where the range divides the Gobi Desert to the north from the Qaidam Basin and plateau to the south. Vegetation is sharply zoned by altitude: graminoid meadows of feather grass (Stipa), wild rye (Elymus), and sedges (Kobresia) give way to deciduous scrub of willow and Caragana between roughly 3,300 and 4,500 meters, with cushion plants and bare rock above. Sitting above 3,000 meters and rising past 5,500-meter glaciated peaks, the ecoregion has a tundra climate with a short growing season, low species richness, and low primary productivity. Wild yak, white-lipped deer, Tibetan gazelle, Himalayan marmots, and large carnivores including snow leopard, Eurasian lynx, gray wolf, and brown bear range here, though the grasslands face heavy pressure from livestock over-grazing and commercial harvesting of caterpillar fungus and medicinal plants. Gardeners may recognize native ornamental wildflower genera such as Gentiana and Pedicularis among the summer-blooming meadow flora.

At a glance

About the montane grasslands & shrublands biome

High-elevation grasslands, meadows, and shrublands above the treeline or in mountain basins, including alpine and páramo systems. Cool temperatures, intense sunlight, and specialized, often endemic flora characterize them.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions