| Himalayan subtropical pine forests | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Ecoregion territory (in purple) | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Indomalayan |
| Biome | Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests |
| Borders | List
|
| Bird species | 469 [1] |
| Mammal species | 162 [1] |
| Geography | |
| Area | 76,200 km2 (29,400 sq mi) |
| Countries | |
| Conservation | |
| Habitat loss | 86.65% [1] |
| Protected | 4.09% [1] |
The Himalayan subtropical pine forests are a large subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion covering portions of Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
This huge pine forest stretches for 3000 km across the lower elevations of the great Himalaya range for almost its entire length including parts of Pakistan's Punjab Province in the west through Azad Kashmir, the northern Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan, which is the eastern extent of the pine forest. Like so many Himalayan ecosystems the pine forests are split by the deep Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal, to the west of which the forest is slightly drier while it is wetter and thicker to the east where the monsoon rains coming off the Bay of Bengal bring more moisture. [2]
The predominant flora of the ecoregion is a thin woodland of drought-resistant Pinus roxburghii , Pinus hwangshanensis , Juniperus tibetica , Shorea robusta , Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata , and Taxus sumatrana trees with a ground cover of thick grass, as regular fires do not allow a shrubby undergrowth to establish itself. The ground cover consists of Arundinella setosa, cogon grass ( Imperata cylindrica ) and Themeda anathera.
Pine forest mainly grows on south-facing slopes although in western Nepal there are areas facing in other directions. Some of the larger areas can be found in the lower elevations of Kangra and Una Districts of Himachal Pradesh and in Bhutan. It occurs in smaller patches in eastern Himachal Pradesh and lower Uttarakhand, in the more thinly populated western Nepal, and on the lower elevations (between 1,000 and 2,000m) of the Sivalik and Himachal ranges.
Although there is not a rich variety of wildlife here when compared to tropical rainforest for example the region is important habitat, especially for birds. Wildlife includes tigers and leopards although in smaller numbers than in the lowland areas where herds of grazing antelopes provide food for them, whereas these slopes do not sustain grazing in large numbers. More typical animals of the pine forest are langurs and other animals of the Himalayas. Birds include the chestnut-breasted partridge and cheer pheasants that hide in the lush grass.
These habitats are vulnerable to logging for firewood or conversion to grazing or farmland and more than half the area has been cleared or degraded which then allows the mountain water to wash away the soil quickly. The most profound changes can be seen in central and eastern Nepal, where the forest has been cleared for terrace farming. The protected areas of pine forest are small but include part of the larger Jim Corbett National Park.
The Himalayas, or Himalaya is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has several peaks exceeding an elevation of 8,000 m (26,000 ft) including Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth. The mountain range runs for 2,400 km (1,500 mi) as an arc from west-northwest to east-southeast at the northern end of the Indian subcontinent.
Pinus roxburghii, commonly known as chir pine or longleaf Indian pine, is a species of pine tree native to the Himalayas. It was named after William Roxburgh.
The Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the Sierra Madre Occidental range from the southwest USA region to the western part of Mexico. They are home to a large number of endemic plants and important habitat for wildlife.
The Terai–Duar savanna and grasslands is a narrow lowland ecoregion at the base of the Himalayas, about 25 km (16 mi) wide, and a continuation of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in India, Nepal and Bhutan. It is colloquially called Terai in the Ganges Basin east to Nepal, then Dooars in West Bengal, Bhutan and Assam east to the Brahmaputra River. It harbours the world's tallest grasslands, which are the most threatened and rare worldwide.
The Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of northern India.
The Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests is an ecoregion that extends from the middle hills of central Nepal through Darjeeling into Bhutan and also into the Indian States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It represents the east–west-directed band of subtropical broadleaf forest at an altitude of between 500 and 1,000 m along the Outer Himalayan Range, and includes several forest types traversing an east to west moisture gradient.
The Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests is a temperate broadleaf forest ecoregion found in the middle elevations of the eastern Himalayas, including parts of Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. These forests have an outstanding richness of wildlife.
The Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion of Nepal, India, and Tibet, which lies between the tree line and snow line in the western portion of the Himalaya Range.
The Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion of Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal, which lies between the tree line and snow line in the eastern portion of the Himalaya Range.
The California montane chaparral and woodlands is an ecoregion defined by the World Wildlife Fund, spanning 7,900 square miles (20,000 km2) of mountains in the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Coast Ranges of southern and central California. The ecoregion is part of the larger California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, and belongs to the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
The Western Himalayan broadleaf forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion which is found in the middle elevations of the western Himalayas, including parts of Nepal, India, and Pakistan.
The Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion which is found in the middle and upper elevations of the eastern Middle Himalayas, in western Nepal, Bhutan, northern Indian states including Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim and adjacent Myanmar and China.
The Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the middle to upper elevations of the eastern Himalayas and southeast Tibetan Plateau. The ecoregion occurs in southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region, China, in northern and eastern Arunachal Pradesh, India, and extreme eastern Bhutan.
The Northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion of the elevations of the northwestern Himalaya of China, India, and Pakistan.
The Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the middle and upper elevations of the western Middle Himalayas of Nepal, India, and Pakistan.
The Southeastern mixed forests are an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome, in the lower portion of the Eastern United States.
The Sierra Madre del Sur pine–oak forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range of southern Mexico.
The ecology of the Himalayas varies with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of climate, altitude, rainfall and soil conditions supports a variety of distinct plant and animal species, such as the Nepal gray langur