The Central Indochina dry forests are a large

tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

Location and description

The ecoregion consists of an area of plateau and low river basin in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, Laos, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and includes: *In Thailand the large

Khorat Plateau The Khorat Plateau ( th, ที่ราบสูงโคราช) is a plateau in the northeastern Thai region of Isan. The plateau forms a natural region, named after the short form of Nakhon Ratchasima, a historical barrier controlling access ...

, the higher elevation plains of the Chao Phraya River basin, the foothills of the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range ( my, တနင်္သာရီ တောင်တန်း, ; th, ทิวเขาตะนาวศรี, , ; ms, Banjaran Tanah Seri/Banjaran Tenang Sari) is the geographical name of a r ...

and other dry areas of the lower slopes of the Khun Tan, Phi Pan Nam and

Phetchabun Phetchabun is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Thailand, capital of Phetchabun Province. It covers the ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of the Phetchabun District, along the Pa Sak River. As of 2005, it had a population of 23,823. Phetchabun lies north o ...

mountain ranges of the north of the country. *In central and southern Laos the wide valley of the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

river system. *In Cambodia a large area of the dry plains of the northern, eastern, and south-central parts of the country. *In Vietnam the uplands of the upper

Tonlé San Tonlé San, also known as Tonlé Se San or Sesan River ( km, ទន្លេសេសាន, , vi, Sông Sê San), is a river that flows through central Vietnam and north-east Cambodia. It is a major tributary of the Mekong River. A short portion ...

and

Srepok River The Srepok River ( km, ទន្លេស្រែពក, ; vi, Sông Sêrêpôk) is a major tributary of the Mekong River. It runs from Đắk Lắk Province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam through the Ratanakiri and Stung Treng province ...

s. These are the drier areas of

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

with 1,000-1,500 mm rainfall per year and a long dry season when regular fires occur in the undergrowth, some set intentionally to clear the forest or drive out wildlife for hunters. Great swathes of this ecoregion are densely populated and are used for agriculture or urban development, especially in Thailand.

Flora

While some large areas do remain in northeastern Cambodia, much of the original

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = f ...

forest has presently been cleared, especially in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. The remaining woodlands consist of a variety of types of habitat and consequently a wide range of trees and undergrowth plants.

Fauna

The remaining forests are home to some large mammals including

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...

s (''Elephas maximus''),

wild water buffalo The wild water buffalo (''Bubalus arnee''), also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and wild buffalo, is a large Bovinae, bovine native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as ''Endangered species, Endangered'' i ...

(''Bubalus arnee''),

Eld's deer Eld's deer (''Rucervus eldii'' or ''Panolia eldii''Pitraa, Fickela, Meijaard, Groves (2004). ''Evolution and phylogeny of old world deer.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33: 880–895.), also known as the thamin or brow-antlered deer, is ...

(''Cervus eldii'') and three species of wild cattle the

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

(''Bos gaurus''), the banteng (''Bos javanicus'') and the

kouprey The kouprey (''Bos sauveli''), also known as forest ox is a forest-dwelling, wild bovine species native to Southeast Asia. A young male was sent to the Paris Zoological Park in 1937 and was described by the French zoologist Achille Urbain who ...

(''Bos sauveli''). Large herds of these grazing animals were once widespread across the region and were preyed upon by

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

s (''Panthera tigris''), clouded leopard (''Felis nebulosa''), leopards (''Panthera pardus'') and

dhole The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...

(wild dogs) (''Cuon alpinus''). Both loss of habitat and hunting have seriously reduced numbers of all these animals many of which are endangered with the kouprey very rare and other species such as the

Javan rhinoceros The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), also known as the Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same ge ...

(''Rhinoceros sondaicus''),

Sumatran rhinoceros The Sumatran rhinoceros (''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis''), also known as the Sumatran rhino, hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros, is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant species of rhinoceros. It is the o ...

(''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis'') and

Schomburgk's deer The Schomburgk's deer (''Rucervus schomburgki'') is an extinct species of deer once endemic to central Thailand. It was described by Edward Blyth in 1863 and named after Sir Robert H. Schomburgk, who was the British consul in Bangkok from 1857 t ...

(''Cervus duvaucelli schomburgki'') now extinct in the region. Other mammals of the region include the

pileated gibbon The pileated gibbon (''Hylobates pileatus'') is a primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae. The pileated gibbon has sexual dimorphism in fur coloration: males have a purely black fur, while the females have a white-grey colored fur with only th ...

, two leaf monkeys (the

silvery lutung The silvery lutung (''Trachypithecus cristatus''), also known as the silvered leaf monkey or the silvery langur, is an Old World monkey. It is arboreal, living in coastal, mangrove, and riverine forests in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borne ...

and

Phayre's leaf monkey Phayre's leaf monkey (''Trachypithecus phayrei''), also known as Phayre's langur, is a species of lutung native to South and Southeast Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Populations from further east are now thought to belong to other s ...

), and the

sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a species in the family Ursidae (the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'') occurring in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the smallest bear, standing nearly at the shoulder and weighing ...

while there are two endemic species, both are

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat famili ...

s - the Szechwan myotis (''Myotis altarium'') and the Chinese pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus pulveratus''). There are 500 species of bird in the region including the critically endangered and possibly extinct

white-eyed river martin The white-eyed river martin (''Pseudochelidon sirintarae'') is a passerine bird, one of only two members of the river martin subfamily of the swallows. Since it has significant differences from its closest relative, the African river martin, it ...

(''Pseudochelidon sirintarae''), the endemic

grey-faced tit-babbler The grey-faced tit-babbler (''Mixornis kelleyi'') is a species of bird in the family Timaliidae. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. See also *Kelley-Roosevelt ...

(''Macronous kelleyi'') and the endangered or threatened

Bengal florican The Bengal florican (''Houbaropsis bengalensis''), also called the Bengal bustard, is a bustard species native to the Indian subcontinent, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List because fewer than 1,00 ...

(''Eupodotis bengalensis''), greater adjutant (''Leptoptilos dubius'') and

white-shouldered ibis The white-shouldered ibis (''Pseudibis davisoni'') is a large species of bird in the family Threskiornithidae. It is native to small regions of Southeast Asia, and is considered to be one of the most threatened bird species on this part of the co ...

(''Pseudibis davisoni''). Other birds of the remaining woodlands of the area include the

silver pheasant The silver pheasant (''Lophura nycthemera'') is a species of pheasant found in forests, mainly in mountains, of mainland Southeast Asia and eastern and southern China, with an introduced population on Victoria Island in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Neu ...

(''Lophura nycthemera''),

Siamese fireback The Siamese fireback (''Lophura diardi''), also known as Diard's fireback, is a fairly large, approximately long, pheasant. The male has a grey plumage with an extensive facial caruncle, crimson legs and feet, ornamental black crest feathers, re ...

(''Lophura diardi''), Mrs. Hume's pheasant (''Syrmaticus humiae''), grey peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron bicalcaratum''), sarus crane (''Grus antigone''),

great hornbill The great hornbill (''Buceros bicornis''), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It ...

(''Buceros bicornis''),

Austen's brown hornbill Austen's brown hornbill (''Anorrhinus austeni'') is a species of hornbill found in forests from northeastern India and south to Vietnam and northern Thailand. It is sometimes included as a subspecies of Tickell's brown hornbill. Description I ...

(''Anorrhinus austeni''), and

wreathed hornbill The wreathed hornbill (''Rhyticeros undulatus'') is an Old World tropical bird of the hornbill family Bucerotidae, also called bar-pouched wreathed hornbill due to its distinctive blue-black band on its lower throat sac. It is named after its cha ...

(''Aceros undulatus''). The reptile and amphibian populations require further study but most likely include endemic species such as a critically endangered Cantor's giant soft-shelled turtle (''

Pelochelys cantorii The Asian giant softshell turtle (''Pelochelys cantorii''), also known commonly as Cantor's giant softshell turtle and the frog-faced softshell turtle, is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Trionychidae. The species is native to Sout ...

''), two geckos (the dtella, '' Gehyra lacerata'' and the sandstone gecko, '' Gekko petricolus'') and the Korat supple skink (''Lygosoma koratense'').

Threats and preservation

Active preservation is required to keep large tracts of the remaining habitat intact and connected rather than being broken into small patches. This is particularly important for the survival of the remaining tiger populations in the wild. About 6% of the area is protected with the largest areas including

Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the largest protected areas in Cambodia and was set aside to protect the critically endangered, possibly extinct Kouprey. It was created by royal decree in 1993. Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary is one ...

Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area covering in eastern Cambodia that was established in 1993. It is heavily forested and straddles Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, and Kratie provinces. It is home to a variety of endangered wildlife such as ...

and Phnom Prich in Cambodia and Xe Piane National Biodiversity Conservation Area in Laos.

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of Asia Ecoregions of Cambodia Ecoregions of Laos Ecoregions of Thailand Ecoregions of Vietnam Indomalayan ecoregions Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests