Boundaries

This ecoregion encompsses the lower Yangtze (Chang Jiang) and adjacent coastal basins. The western border lies roughly east of the Yangtze confluence with the Qing River. It includes the Yuan, Xi, Xiang, Gan, Huai, and Qiantang rivers.

Terrestrial habitats

This ecoregion encompasses the Changjiang Plain evergreen forests. Other terrestrial ecoregions that lie partly in this ecoregion include the Huang He Plain mixed forests, Qin Ling Mountains deciduous forests, Daba Mountains evergreen forests, Guizhou Plateau broadleaf and mixed forests, and Jian Nan subtropical evergreen forests (Wikramanayake et al. 2002).

Description of endemic fishes

The ecoregion contains around 30 recorded endemic species, including species in the genera Pseudobagrus, Ctenogobius, and Leptobotia.

Justification for delineation

For Southeast Asia, delineations were determined using a bottom-up approach that employed both published and unpublished field data and expert assessment (Abell et al. 2008). The ecoregion is noted for its extensive floodplains. Dongting Lake and the Wuhan lakes are noted for their exceptional biodiversity interest (Kottelat & Whitten 1996). Information from Li (1981) was used to help delineate ecoregions of the Yangtze basin.