Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests

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Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests
Veal Thom Grasslands.jpg
Ecoregion IM0210.png
Ecoregion territory (in purple)
Ecology
Realm Indomalayan
Biome tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
Borders
Geography
Area123,778 km2 (47,791 sq mi)
Countries
Conservation
Conservation status vulnerable
Protected28,210 km2 (23%) [1]

The Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion of Indochina.

Contents

Setting

The ecoregion covers an area of 124,300 square kilometers (48,000 sq mi), extending across portions of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests occupy the lower portion of the Mekong Basin, where they are intertwined with the Central Indochina dry forests. The Southern Annamites montane rain forests border the dry evergreen forests on the east, occupying the higher elevations of the Annamite Range. To the south, the Indochina mangroves lie between tropical seasonal forests and the South China Sea. The Tonle Sap-Mekong peat swamp forests and Tonle Sap freshwater swamp forests lie to the southeast, in the seasonally and permanently flooded lowlands along the Tonle Sap and lower Mekong rivers and Tonle Sap Lake.

Flora

The Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests are one of three dry broadleaf forest ecoregions with predominantly evergreen trees; trees in dry broadleaf forests typically lose their leaves during the dry season. The predoninant trees are Cinnamomum cassia, Durio zibethinus, Garcinia mangostana, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Ficus benghalensis, Gnetum gnemon, Mangifera indica, Toona ciliata, Toona sinensis, Cocos nucifera, Tetrameles nudiflora, Ginkgo biloba, Shorea robusta, Prunus serrulata, Camphora officinarum, Tsuga dumosa, Ulmus lanceifolia, Tectona grandis, Quercus acutissima, Terminalia elliptica , and Terminalia bellirica .

Fauna

The ecoregion is home to many large mammals, including the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), tiger (Panthera tigris), previously one of two known populations of the now extinct Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus), Eld's Deer (Cervus eldi), banteng (Bos javanicus), gaur (Bos gaurus), clouded leopard (Pardofelis nebulosa), leopard (Panthera pardus), Malayan sun bear (Ursus malayanus), and khting-vor (Pseudonovibos spiralis). [2]

Conservation

A 2017 assessment found that 28,210 km2, or 23%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Another 23% is forested but outside protected areas. [3]

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References

  1. 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. "Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  3. 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.