A 7-person group of scientists from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) completed their third field biodiversity survey in northern Myanmar in May 2016.  They collected 1500 plant specimens of 300 accessions, observed 350 records of bird species, and 10,000 photos by infrared thermal cameras during their one-month field work in Hkakaborazi and Hponkaraz nature reserves in northern Myanmar.
   The field work was conducted jointly with Forest Research Institute of Myanmar, at the invitation of Myanmar Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MoECAF). It was really tough for the field workers to walk from an elevation gradient from 400 meters to 3800 meters in a rainy season. By getting through thick squelch mud, rivers, and even snow mountains, the biologists surveyed forests ranging from tropical seasonal rainforest to alpine pine forest. They collected a large amount of scientific data and photos on plants and birds in the northern parts of Myanmar.
    This is the third large research trip since 2014 headed by XTBG in northern myanmar,  as an important part of the work of the Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS-SEABRI). Prof. Quan Ruichang headed up the field survey team.