The Site near Longbao Town in Qinghai Province lies at over 4,000 metres in altitude and has a subarctic climate. Numerous streams from the surrounding mountains flow into the plains, forming a long narrow lake, marshes, and peat soils. The large difference in elevation within the Site creates a distinct pattern of plant distribution. From lower to higher elevation, there are aquatic plants, herbaceous marshes, swampy meadows, alpine meadows and cushion-like vegetation. The lake and marshes provide spawning and breeding areas for the endemic fish Schizopygopsis malacanthus and birds such as black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) and common merganser (Mergus merganser). The swamp meadows are inhabited by various amphibians while the alpine meadows are inhabited by mammals including plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) and grey wolf (Canis lupus). There are also rare and threatened species such as steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) and white-lipped deer (Przewalskium albirostre). The Site is the source of the Yiqu River and plays a great role in water and soil conservation, climate regulation, groundwater supplement, and surface runoff mitigation. The total carbon pool of the peat in the Site amounts to almost 300,000 tonnes, making it one of the main peat distribution areas in the country.