UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory

	Biosphere Reserve Information
	China BOGEDA	© Photo: Bogeda BR


General Description	Bogeda Biosphere Reserve is located in the east part of the Tianshan Mountains on the southern brim of the Kurbantungut desert of the Zhunger Basin. Ranging from its highest elevation at 5,445 meters and the lowest at 460 meters above sea level, this biosphere reserve encompasses glaciers, (sub-) alpine meadows, forests, steppes, deserts, sand dunes and alluvial plains. One habitat of special interest is the mid-mountain forest which prevents floods and erosion and represents an important water reservoir for the area. The well preserved Haloxylon spp. vegetation along the southern edge of the Kurbantungut desert is an important barrier preventing the spread of the desert. Some 4,000 people are permanent residents of the core area, 10,000 people live in the buffer zone and 120,000 people in the transition area of the biosphere reserve (2001). People are living from livestock raising, the collection of medicinal plants, tourism, coal mining and small-scale industry. Some 350,000 tourists come to the biosphere reserve each year (2001), visiting for example a shrine of Taoism at Lake Tianchi in the core area.
Major ecosystem type	Mixed mountain and highland systems / Cold-winter (continental) deserts and semi-deserts
Major habitats & land cover types	Alpine glacier snow and cushion vegetation and scope belt above 3,100 meters; alpine and sub-alpine meadows (2,000 to 2,900 m) with Kobresia capilliformis, Polygonum viviparum, Thalictrum alpinum and Potentilla gelida; mid-mountain forest-meadow landscape (1,600 to 2,700 m) characterized by Bromus inermis, Calamagrostis epigeios, Alchemilla erythropleura etc.; needle-leaf forest with Picea tianshanica; hill steppe and desertified steppe (1,100 to 1,700 m) with Stipa capillata, Festuca sulcata etc.; erosion hill micro-semifrotex desert landscape (600 to 1,000 m) dominated by Artemisia abrotanum; upper alluvial plain; alluvial plain shrub desert zone dominated by Reaumuria soongorica; low plain lingo halophyte vegetation desert zone dominated by Suaeda physophora, Kalidium caspicum, K. foliatum etc.; sand dune and depressions; agroecosystems with wheat, water melon, rape etc.; forestry systems; pasture land; coal mine
Location	43°45' to 44°30'N; 87°45' to 88°05'E
Area (hectares)
Total	128,690
Core area(s)	48,690
Buffer zone(s)	40,000
Transition area(s) when given	40,000
Altitude (metres above sea level)	+450 to +5,445
Year designated	1990
Administrative authorities	Conservation bureau of Tianchi Nature Reserve, department of forestry of Xinjiang and Fukang government

Brief description	Study on structure, function and optimization model of oasis ecosystems Nutrition cycling and balance of oasis agriculture Study on nutrition cycling and productivity in desert-oasis ecosystems Study on water balance and relationship with productivity in desert-oasis ecosystems Classification of irrigation water in arid and semi-arid zones Study on the relationships between plant differentiation and movement of soil, salt and water on the edge of the oasis Biodiversity of arid zones and its sustainable development Long term desert ecosystem research and monitoring (Chinese Ecological Research Network (CERN))
*Specific variables...*
Abiotic	Hydrology, nutrients, soil.
Biodiversity	Arid/Semi-arid, biodiversity, ecology, ecosystem functioning/ecosystem structure, methodologies, modelling, natural resources, plants, productivity.
Socio-economic	Agriculture/Production systems.
Integrated monitoring	Integrated studies/Interdisciplinaty, sustainable development/sustainable use.

Contact address	Jin Fajun Bogeda Nature Reserve Administration 41, Wuqi East Road 831500 Fukang City, Xinjiand China
Telephone	(86.994) 352 6477
Fax	(86.994) 322 2532
E-mail	ycwangh@public.yc.js.cn

	n.a.

Last updated: 12/12/2007