*2.1. Study Area*

The CMNNR (41◦42–42◦25N, 127◦42–128◦17E) was established in 1961. It is located in Jilin Province of northeastern China (Figure 1). The top of the reserve is a volcanic summit cupping a crater lake named Tianchi at 2693 m above sea level on the China-North Korea border. The reserve occupies an area of 195,852 ha in the Chinese side. It has the largest protected temperate forests which supports a significant species gene base and biodiversity in Northeast Asia. The CMNNR was admitted into the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) Man and Biosphere Program in 1979 [70]. This site has a continental temperate climate characterized by a long cold winter and short cool summers with recognizable vertical climate and vegetation zones. The annual average precipitation and temperature range from 700 to 1400 mm and −7 ◦C to 3 ◦C, respectively. This area has dense forests covered 177,082 ha (90.4%). The forests in the reserve are divided into three functional managemen<sup>t</sup> zones including the core, bu ffer, and transition areas [71]. Harvesting and poaching are prohibited in the core area. The human disturbances are prevented from the core area by the bu ffer zone. The endemic species, ecotourism, and bases for reproduction of natural resources are established in the transition area. From the foot of the mountain to the peak, vegetation changes in distinguishable vertical zones with elevation. The distributions include mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest (<1100 m), dark-coniferous spruce-fir forest (1100–1700 m), Ermans birch forest (1700–2000 m), and alpine tundra (>2000 m) [72]. Soils also di ffer in each vertical zone, typically marked by dark-brown and brown earths, meadow, volcanic, bog, and bleached baijiang soil.
