Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests

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Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests
Tayando Islands.JPG
Ecology
Realm Australasian realm
Biome tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Geography
Area7,255 km2 (2,801 sq mi)
Countries Indonesia
Province Maluku
Coordinates 4°33′54″S129°55′12″E / 4.565°S 129.92°E / -4.565; 129.92
Conservation
Conservation status Vulnerable
Protected987 km²% [1]

The Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in Indonesia. The ecoregion includes several island groups in the southwestern Banda Sea, including the Tanimbar Islands, Kai Islands, and the Barat Daya Islands except for Wetar. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Geography

The islands in the ecoregion are part of Wallacea, a group of indonesian islands which lie between the Australian and Asian continents but were never part of either continent. [5]

The islands consist of two concentric island arcs. The Inner Banda Arc is made up of young, active volcanic islands, including the Banda Islands, Serua Island, Nila Island, Teun Island, Damar Island, and Romang Island. [6]

The Outer Banda Arc is made up of oceanic sediments, principally coralline limestone, together with some older metamorphic rocks which accreted as the Australian Plate subducts under the Banda Sea Plate. The Outer Banda Arc includes the Kai Islands, Tanimbar Islands, Babar Islands, and Leti Islands. Yamdena in the Tanimbar Islands is the largest island in the ecoregion. Yamdena is mostly low, with a maximum elevation of 120 meters. Yamdena and several other Outer Arc islands have areas of karst where the island's limestone was uplifted and then eroded. [7]

Climate

The ecoregion has a tropical monsoon climate, with two seasons. The west monsoon season runs from mid-December to June, and brings humidity and higher rainfall. The east monsoon season brings drier weather. On Yamdena, the largest island in the Tanimbar Islands and in the ecoregion, the highest rainfall month is February (380 mm), and the driest month is September (100 mm). [8]

The islands receive more rainfall than Timor, Wetar, and the other islands of Nusa Tenggara to the west.

Flora

The principal plant communities are evergreen rain forest, semi-evergreen rain forest, moist deciduous forest, and dry deciduous forest. [5] Common trees in the Tanimbar and Kai forests include Dillenia papuana, Pometia pinnata, Manilkara kanosiensis, Inocarpus fagifer, Heritiera littoralis, Diospyros spp., Garcinia celebica , and Myristica lancifolia . [9]

Fauna

The ecoregion has 22 species of mammals. The dusky pademelon (Thylogale bruinii) is a kangaroo native to the Kai Islands, as well as the Aru Islands and southern New Guinea. The Kei myotis (Myotis stalkeri) is an endemic bat. The Indonesian tomb bat (Taphozous achates) is native to the ecoregion and neighboring Timor.

The islands are home to several species of mosaic-tailed rats ( Melomys ). In the Tanimbar islands, Melomys cooperae is endemic to Yamdena, and the Riama mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys howi) is endemic to the island of Selaru in the Tanimbar Islands. Bannister's rat (Melomys bannisteri) is endemic to the Kai Islands, and closely related to M. lutillus of New Guinea. The other rodents of the Kai islands are Hydromys chrysogaster and Uromys caudimaculatus , which are also found in New Guinea and Australia. [10]

The ecoregion is home to 225 bird species, including 21 endemic species and subspecies. [5] It corresponds to the Banda Sea Islands endemic bird area. [11]

Endemic birds include the Tanimbar megapode (Megapodius tenimberensis, Megapodiidae), Tanimbar cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana, Cacatuidae), blue-streaked lory (Eos reticulata, Psittaculidae), green-cheeked bronze cuckoo (Chrysococcyx minutillus rufomerus, Cuculidae), Kai coucal (Centropus spilopterus, Cuculidae), Banda myzomela (Myzomela boiei, Meliphagidae), golden-bellied flyrobin, (Microeca hemixantha, Petroicidae), Wallacean whistler (Pachycephala arctitorquis, Pachycephalidae), cinnamon-tailed fantail (Rhipidura fuscorufa, Rhipiduridae), long-tailed fantail (Rhipidura opistherythra, Rhipiduridae), black-bibbed monarch (Symposiachrus mundus, Monarchidae), Kai monarch (Symposiachrus leucurus, Monarchidae), Kai cuckoo-shrike (Edolisoma dispar, Campephagidae), slaty-backed thrush (Geokichla schistacea, Turdidae), fawn-breasted thrush (Zoothera machiki, Turdidae), Tanimbar starling (Aplonis crassa, Sturnidae), Damar flycatcher (Ficedula henrici, Muscicapidae), Great Kai white-eye (Zosterops grayi, Zosteropidae), Little Kai white-eye (Zosterops uropygialis, Zosteropidae), and Tanimbar bush-warbler (Horornis carolinae, Cettiidae). [7]

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 987 km2 (381 sq mi), 14% of the ecoregion, is in protected areas. [1] Protected areas include Kai Besar Nature Reserve.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Indonesia</span>

Indonesia is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia and Oceania, lying between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is located in a strategic location astride or along major sea lanes connecting East Asia, South Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world. Indonesia's various regional cultures have been shaped—although not specifically determined—by centuries of complex interactions with its physical environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanimbar Islands</span> Group of islands in Maluku, Indonesia

The Tanimbar Islands, also called Timur Laut, are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the southwest of Yamdena, Larat and Fordata to the northeast, Maru and Molu to the north, and Seira, Wuliaru, Selu, Wotap and Makasar to the west. The Indonesian phrase timur laut means "east of the sea" or "northeast".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barat Daya Islands</span> Island group in Maluku, Indonesia

The Barat Daya Islands are a group of islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The Indonesian phrase barat daya means 'south-west'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallacea</span> Biogeographical region

Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and many smaller islands. The islands of Wallacea lie between the Sunda Shelf to the west, and the Sahul Shelf including Australia and New Guinea to the south and east. The total land area of Wallacea is 347,000 km2 (134,000 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banda Sea</span> A sea between Sulawesi and Maluku

The Banda Sea is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas. It is about 1000 km (600 mi) east to west, and about 500 km (300 mi) north to south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wetar</span> Island in Indonesia

Wetar is a tropical island which belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Maluku Barat Daya Islands Regency of the Maluku Islands. It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which include nearby Alor and Timor, but it is politically part of the Maluku Islands. To the south, across the Wetar Strait, lies the island of Timor; at its closest it is 50 km away. To the west, across the Ombai Strait, lies the island of Alor. To the southwest is the very small island of Liran, which is also part of West Wetar District and, further southwest, the small East Timorese island of Atauro. To the north is the Banda Sea and to the east lie Romang and Damar Islands, while to the southeast lie the other principal islands of the Barat Daya Islands. Including Liran and other small offshore islands, Wetar has an area of 2,651.8 km2, and had a population of 7,916 at the 2010 Census and 8,622 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 11,109. Administratively, Wetar is divided into four of the districts (kecamatan) of the Maluku Barat Daya Regency.

The Tanahjampea monarch or white-tipped monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. The scientific name commemorates British colonial administrator and zoological collector Alfred Hart Everett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kai monarch</span> Species of bird

The Kai monarch, or white-tailed monarch, is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Kai Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buru monarch</span> Species of bird

The Buru monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banda myzomela</span> Species of bird

The Banda myzomela is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Indonesia. It is found in the Banda, Babar and Tanimbar Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streak-breasted fantail</span> Species of bird

The streak-breasted fantail is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to Indonesia, where it occurs in Seram Island. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed fantail</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed fantail is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to the Tanimbar Islands, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser Sundas deciduous forests</span> Ecoregion in Lesser Sundas, Indonesia

The Lesser Sundas deciduous forests is a tropical dry forest ecoregion in Indonesia. The ecoregion includes the islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, and Alor, along with the many adjacent smaller islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timor and Wetar deciduous forests</span> Ecoregion in Indonesia and East Timor

The Timor and Wetar deciduous forests is a tropical dry forest ecoregion in Indonesia and East Timor. The ecoregion includes the islands of Timor, Wetar, Rote, Savu, and adjacent smaller islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser Sunda Islands</span> Group of islands in Indonesian Archipelago

The Lesser Sunda Islands, now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands, are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali province which is west of the Wallace Line and is within the Sunda Shelf. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands. The islands are part of a volcanic arc, the Sunda Arc, formed by subduction along the Sunda Trench in the Java Sea. In 1930 the population was 3,460,059; today slightly over 15.5 million people live on the islands. Etymologically, Nusa Tenggara means "Southeast Islands" from the words of nusa which means 'island' from Old Javanese language and tenggara means 'southeast'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seram rain forests</span> Ecoregion in Seram, Indonesia

The Seram rain forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in Indonesia. The ecoregion includes the island of Seram and neighboring islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Britain–New Ireland lowland rain forests</span>

The New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in Papua New Guinea. The ecoregion covers the lowland rain forests of New Britain, New Ireland, and nearby islands in the Bismarck Archipelago.

The supertramp fantail is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae that is found on the Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku Islands, Kai Islands and Aru Islands. It was formerly considered to be subspecies of the Arafura fantail. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

References

  1. 1 2 Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b.
  2. "Map of Ecoregions 2017". Resolve. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  3. "Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests". Digital Observatory for Protected Areas. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  4. "Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests". The Encyclopedia of Earth. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press.
  6. "Banda Sea | Indonesia, Volcanic Islands, Coral Reefs | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  7. 1 2 "Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  8. Jepson, Paul, Nick Brickle and Yusup Chayadi (2001). "The conservation status of Tanimbar corella and blue-streaked lory on the Tanimbar Islands, Indonesia: results of a rapid contextual survey". Oryx Vol 35 No 3 July 2001.
  9. Purwanto, Yohanes (2001). "The Environmental Knowledge and the Utilization of Plants by Tanimbar-Kei Society, Southeast Moluccas, Indonesia". Tropics Vol. 11 (3):149-167, May 2002.
  10. Helgen, Kristofer M. (2003). "A review of the rodent fauna of Seram, Moluccas, with the description of a new subspecies of mosaic-tailed rat, Melomys rufescens paveli". Journal of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, (2003) 261, 165–172.
  11. BirdLife International (2020) "Endemic Bird Areas factsheet: Banda Sea Islands." Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/05/2020.