Western Himalayan broadleaf forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Biome | Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests |
Borders | |
Bird species | 126 [1] |
Mammal species | 115 [1] |
Geography | |
Area | 55,900 km2 (21,600 sq mi) |
Countries | |
Conservation | |
Habitat loss | 78.237% [1] |
Protected | 6.62% [1] |
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. [2]
The ecoregion forms an area of temperate broadleaf forest covering 55,900 square kilometres (21,600 sq mi) in a narrow band between 1,500 to 2,600 metres (4,900 to 8,500 ft) elevation, extending from the Gandaki River gorge in Nepal, through Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir in northern India into parts of northern Pakistan. This ecoregion is drier and the forest is more fragmented than its Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests counterpart, which receive more moisture from the Bay of Bengal monsoon but is still valuable habitat especially as part of the pattern of habitats found at different elevations on the Himalayan mountainsides. Many species of birds and animals migrate up and down the mountains seasonally from the grasslands of the plains below to the high peaks. [3]
At lower elevations, this ecoregion grades into Himalayan subtropical pine forests. At higher elevations, it grades into Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests as well as Northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows and Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows. [4]
The Western Himalayan broadleaf forests may be divided into forests of two types: evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forests.
In both types of forests, the dominated trees are Pinus roxburghii , Pinus hwangshanensis , Juniperus tibetica , Shorea robusta , Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata , and Taxus sumatrana
The evergreen broadleaf forest is dominated by oaks, consisting of Quercus semecarpifolia, Quercus leucotrichophora, Quercus floribunda, Quercus lanata, Quercus glauca and Quercus baloot. This forest is typically found on moister southern slopes, which are more influenced by the monsoon. Various Lauraceae call this forest home, including Machilus odoratissimus, Litsea umbrosa, Litsea lanuginosa , and Phoebe pulcherrima . The understory features a rich assemblage of ferns, mosses, and epiphytes. On northern slopes, drier areas, and higher elevations, conifers like Abies, Picea, Cedrus , and Pinus thrives. The wild olive, olea cuspidata is found here too. [3]
The deciduous forest is found along rivers west of the Gandaki River. It includes Aesculus indica , Juglans regia, Carpinus viminea , Alnus nepalensis , and several Acer species like Acer caesium, Acer acuminatum, Acer cappadocicum, Acer lobelia subsp. pictum, Acer oblongum, etc are found. In drier areas such as the valley of the upper Ghaghara River it includes Populus ciliata , Ulmus wallichiana , and Corylus colurna as well and the riverbanks are dominated by Himalayan alder ( Alnus nitida ).
Although there is less wildlife here than in the wetter Eastern Himalayas, this ecoregion is home to seventy-six species of mammals. These include the Asiatic black bear, leopard, the Himalayan tahr, and the threatened Himalayan serow (Capricornis thar). There is one endemic mammal, the Kashmir cave bat (Myotis longipes) while the threatened Peter's tube-nosed bat (Murina grisea) is near-endemic.
About 315 species of birds have been recorded in this ecoregion from tiny warblers to large pheasants such as the western tragopan (Tragopan melanocephalus), satyr tragopan (Tragopan satyra), koklass pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha), Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus) and cheer pheasant (Catreus wallichi). Near-endemic birds of the forests include the white-cheeked tit, white-throated tit, spectacled finch, Kashmir flycatcher, Tytler's leaf-warbler, orange bullfinch, and Kashmir nuthatch, while the Himalayan quail which used to be found here is now thought to be extinct. [3]
The Himalayas receive large numbers of visitors every year including religious pilgrims and trekkers. Although there a large number of protected areas each of them are quite small and most of original forest has been cleared for logging or for agricultural land, a process which is ongoing. Only a third remains unspoilt, with the largest patches remaining in the west of the ecoregion and any forest clearance on these steep mountainsides quickly results in soil erosion and oversilting of the rivers below. Protected areas in this ecoregion include Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary, and parts of the Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary, Rupi Bhabha Sanctuary and the large Kishtwar National Park. [3]
The Qinling or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan, are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Yellow River systems, providing a natural boundary between North and South China and support a huge variety of plant and wildlife, some of which is found nowhere else on earth.
Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and elongated leaves, known as "laurophyll" or "lauroid". Plants from the laurel family (Lauraceae) may or may not be present, depending on the location.
Singalila National Park is a national park of India located on the Singalila Ridge at an elevation of more than 2,300 metres above sea level, in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It is well known for the trekking route to Sandakphu that runs through it.
California mixed evergreen forest is a plant community found in the mountain ranges of California and southwestern Oregon.
The Himalayan subtropical pine forests are a large subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion covering portions of Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States.
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 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 Northern Triangle temperate forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of thick forest covering the mountains of northern Myanmar.
Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests is an ecoregion, in the temperate coniferous forest biome, which occupies the high mountain ranges of North Africa. The term is also a botanically recognized plant association in the African and Mediterranean literature.
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 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 Po Basin mixed forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in the basin of the Po River in northern Italy and Switzerland's Ticino canton.
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
The Carpathian montane conifer forests, also known as Carpathian montane forests, is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion in the Carpathian Mountains of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine.
The Central Korean deciduous forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion on the Korean Peninsula, covering portions of South Korea and North Korea.
The Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in southwestern Europe. It extends along the Pyrenees mountains which run east and west along the border between France and Spain, and includes all Andorra. The ecoregion extends from the lower slopes of the Pyrenees to its highest peaks, which include Aneto, Posets, and Vignemale.