| Taiheiyo evergreen forests | |
|---|---|
 Nametoko Ravine in Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park | |
 | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Palearctic |
| Biome | temperate broadleaf and mixed forests |
| Borders | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 135,819 km2 (52,440 sq mi) |
| Country | Japan |
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | Critical/endangered |
| Protected | 23,487 km² (17%) [1] |
The Taiheiyo evergreen forests is a temperate broadleaf forest ecoregion of Japan.
The ecoregion covers an area of 138,300 square kilometers (53,400 sq mi) on the Pacific (Taiheiyo) side of the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. It also includes Tsushima Island in the Korea Strait between Kyushu and Korea and the volcanic Izu Islands off Honshu's southern coast. [2]
The ecoregion is home to Japan's largest cities, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya.
The ecoregion has a humid subtropical climate. The influence of the Japan Current creates a humid climate with mild winters and a long growing season, which nurtured evergreen broadleaf forests.
Laurel forests grew near the coast, and oak forests were predominant inland. At higher elevations, the Taiheiyo evergreen forests yielded to the Taiheiyo montane deciduous forests of the interior. [2]
The forests include a mix of species with origins in temperate and tropical Asia. Species with tropical origins include two species of the conifer Podocarpus ( Podocarpus macrophyllus and Podocarpus fasciculus ), one species of the Fir Abies firma, two species of Pittosporum , Fatsia japonica , Aspidistra elatior , Castanopsis sieboldii , Persea thunbergii , Cryptomeria japonica , Sciadopitys verticillata , Camphora officinarum , Cercidiphyllum japonicum , Fagus crenata , Carpinus laxiflora , Daphniphyllum macropodum , Ilex integra , Eurya japonica , Pittosporum tobira , Cinnamomum cassia , Durio zibethinus, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Ficus benghalensis, Gnetum gnemon, Mangifera indica, Toona ciliata, Toona sinensis, Cocos nucifera, Tetrameles nudiflora, Ginkgo biloba, Shorea robusta, Prunus serrulata, Tsuga dumosa, Ulmus lanceifolia, Tectona grandis, Terminalia elliptica, Terminalia bellirica , several species in the laurel family (Machilus, Neolitsea, and Camphora (plant)), and the Cycad ( Cycas revoluta (. In more coastal areas, Pinus thunbergii is quite common. Trees with origins in temperate Eurasia include species of evergreen oaks, Castanopsis , Salix pierotii , Picea jezoensis , Pinus thunbergii , Pinus pumila , Prunus nipponica , Tilia amurensis , Larix gmelinii , Larix sibirica , Larix × czekanowskii , Betula dahurica , Betula pendula , Pinus koraiensis , Pinus sibirica , Pinus sylvestris , Picea obovata , Abies sibirica , Quercus acutissima , Quercus mongolica , Quercus glauca , Ginkgo biloba , Prunus serrulata , Prunus padus , Salix babylonica , Acer palmatum , Populus tremula , Ulmus davidiana , Ulmus pumila , Haloxylon ammodendron , Elaeagnus angustifolia , Tamarix ramosissima , Prunus sibirica , and Juglans regia . [3]
Native mammals include the Sika deer (Cervus nippon) and Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata).
Native birds include the fairy pitta (Pitta nympha) and Japanese night heron (Goraschius goisagi).
The terrestrial Odaigahara salamander (Hynobius boulengeri) is native to the ecoregion.
Most of forests have been converted to agriculture or cities. Remnant areas of forest remain around temples and shrines, on steep slopes, and in gorges. Secondary growth woodlands, called Satoyama , are found on hillsides bordering farmlands. [2]
17% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. [1] Protected areas include Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, Ise-Shima National Park, Yoshino-Kumano National Park, Seto Inland Sea National Park, Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park, Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park, Unzen-Amakusa National Park, Saikai National Park, and Suigō-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park (349.56 km2 (134.97 sq mi)). [4] [5]
The Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests is a terrestrial ecoregion of the Ryukyu Islands, also known as the Nansei Islands, in Japan. The Nansei Islands are an island arc that stretches southwest from Kyushu towards Taiwan. The larger islands are mostly volcanic islands and the smaller ones mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island. The highest point is Mount Miyanoura on Yakushima Island at 1,936 metres.
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 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 Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests is an ecoregion that covers most of the island of Taiwan, with the exception of the southern tip of the island, which constitutes the South Taiwan monsoon rain forests ecoregion. The island's concentrated steep mountains host a range of forest types, from subtropical forests in the lowlands to temperate and alpine or montane forests.
The Northern Indochina subtropical forests are a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of northern Indochina, covering portions of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and China's Yunnan Province.
The Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests is a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion which occupies the lower hillsides of the mountainous border region joining Bangladesh, China's Yunnan Province, India, and Myanmar. The ecoregion covers an area of 135,600 square kilometres (52,400 sq mi). Located where the biotas of the Indian Subcontinent and the Indochinese Peninsula meet, and in the transition between subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, the Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests are home to great biodiversity. The WWF rates the ecoregion as "Globally Outstanding" in biological distinctiveness.
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 Southern Korea evergreen forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion at the southern end of the Korean Peninsula.
The Sichuan Basin evergreen broadleaf forests are a critically endangered WWF ecoregion. The ecoregion occupies the Sichuan Basin in China and covers an area of 9,816,054 ha. The broadleaf forest habitat once covered the Sichuan Basin, but today is limited to mountains and preserved temple grounds in the basin and around the basin's rim. An especially well-preserved example of remaining forest exists on Mount Emei at the western edge of the Sichuan Basin. The original forests are thought to have been made up of subtropical oaks, laurels, and Schima. Much of the remaining Sichuan Basin has been converted to anthropogenic agricultural use in the last 5,000 years.
The Daba Mountains evergreen forests are a Global 200 endangered ecoregion located on the Daba Mountains in China. The forests are part of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests containing both coniferous and broadleaf trees covering a swath of Central China. Forests here provide a transitional area between evergreen forests to the south and deciduous forests to the north. The Daba Mountains evergreen forests cover areas of northeast Sichuan Province, southern Shaanxi Province, the northern half of Chongqing Municipality, and western Hubei Province.
The Yunnan Plateau subtropical evergreen forests is an endangered ecoregion in southwestern China. These forests once covered the western parts of the Yungui Plateau but have been significantly reduced and replaced with agricultural land uses. The Yunnan evergreen forests and the neighbouring Guizhou Plateau broadleaf and mixed forests are the only two ecoregions in the Palearctic realm to be classified as part of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome.
The Guizhou Plateau broadleaf and mixed forests are a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungui Plateau of China. Much of the original forest has been replaced by secondary forests.
The Changjiang Plain evergreen forests ecoregion covers the plain of the Yangtze River (Changjiang) from where it leaves the mountains at the Three Gorges in the west, to the mouth of the Yangtze at the East China Sea. This plain is one of the most densely populated areas on Earth, and most of the original oak and conifer forests have long been converted to agriculture. Extensive wetlands, however, provide habitat for migratory waterfowl and for diverse aquatic species.
The Jiang Nan subtropical evergreen forests ecoregion covers the mountainous divide between the lower Yangtze River and the coastal plain of South China. The region is also a climatic divide between the temperate valleys of the north and the subtropical forests of the south. The region is important for biodiversity and endemic species. The rugged limestone karst hills have been relatively protected from conversion to agriculture, and support specialized plant and animal communities.
The Taiheiyo montane deciduous forests ecoregion stretches for about 700 km (430 mi) along the eastern slopes of the island of Honshu, with some small patches on the southern islands of Shikoku and Kyushu. Lower elevations to the east along the coast are in the Taiheiyo evergreen forests ecoregion; higher elevations to the west are in the Nihonkai montane deciduous forests ecoregion. Characteristic forests are of Japanese beech, stone pine, and spruce.
The Nihonkai montane deciduous forests ecoregion covers the Nihonkai mountain slopes of Japan's central island of Honshu, including most of the northern half of the island. Also included in the ecoregion are the forested lowland hills of the Oshima Peninsula, which is the southern extension of Hokkaido Island.
The Nihonkai evergreen forests ecoregion covers a thin strip of land on the western coast of the island of Honshu in Japan. It is bounded on the east by the Nihonkai montane deciduous forests ecoregion.
The Hokkaidō deciduous forests ecoregion covers the northern and southern coasts of the island of Hokkaido, the northernmost of the main islands of Japan. The region sits in the transition zone between the colder subarctic forests to the north and the more temperate forests to the south. Characteristic trees include Mongolian oak, Basswood, and Ash trees.
The Hokkaido montane conifer forests ecoregion covers the mountainous central regions of Hokkaido Island, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. Forests of spruce and fir thrive in the subalpine, cool climate. On the northeastern edge of the island, the conifer forests extend down to the sea under the influence of the cold Oyashio Current coming down from the north, although logging in recent years has put pressure on these stands.
The Northern Triangle subtropical forests ecoregion covers remote, mountainous terrain in the far north of Myanmar. Due to the regions isolation it is relatively untouched and unexplored by humans. Over 95% of the ecoregion is covered with closed evergreen forest, and importantly for conservation, these forests exist in large contiguous blocks. As of the late 1990s, 140 mammal species were known to be in the region, and new species, such the Leaf muntjac discovered in 1997, are still being found.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) Supplemental material 2 table S1b.