The Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests is a

tropical moist broadleaf forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat (ecology), habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally foun ...

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 l ...

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 bo ...

. The ecoregion occupies the coastal lowlands along the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...

lying east and west of the

Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. Et ...

Geography

The Chao Phraya lowlands moist deciduous forests occupy two separate areas along the

. The western and larger portion lies between the

Dawna Range The Dawna Range (; th, ทิวเขาถนนธงชัยตะวันตก, ทิวเขาดอยมอนกุจู), also known as Dawna Hills, is a mountain range in eastern Burma and northwestern Thailand. Its northern e ...

and Tenasserim Hills on the west and the lower Chao Phraya River to the east. The ecoregion extends to the northwest along the valley of the Khwae Noi River, which separates the Dawna Range from the Bilauktaung sub-range of the Tenasserim Hills. The eastern portion lies west of the Cardamom Mountains in eastern Thailand and Cambodia. The Chao Phraya lowlands that separate them are part of the

Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests The Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in Thailand. It occupies the lowlands of the Chao Phraya River watershed in central Thailand. The ecoregion was once home to extensive swamp ...

ecoregion, although the swamp forests have mostly been converted to rice paddies and farm fields. Both the eastern and western portions are bounded on the north by the

Central Indochina dry forests The Central Indochina dry forests are a large tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion in Southeast Asia. Location and description The ecoregion consists of an area of plateau and low river basin in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and ...

ecoregion.

Climate

The climate is tropical, and rainfall totals 1,000-1,100 mm annually in the west, and 1,300 mm or more in the east. Rainfall is strongly seasonal; 80% of the annual rainfall is during the May-to-October southwest monsoon.

Flora

The forests are characterized by dry-season-deciduous

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'' = fru ...

trees. Much of the forest has been cleared, and much of what remains has been degraded or reduced to small patches.

Fauna

Banteng, Many rare and endangered species live in this ecoregion, which is incredibly biodiverse. Species include mammals such as the banteng, reptiles such as the nearly extinct Siamese crocodile, and birds like the Indochinese magpie, Siamese fireback, green imperial pigeon, and scary-crowned babbler.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 2,756 km², or 14%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.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

/ref> Protected areas include Khao Laem National Park and

Sai Yok National Park Sai Yok National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติไทรโยค) is a List of national parks of Thailand, national park in Sai Yok District, Sai Yok district, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. The park, home to mountains, wa ...

in the Khwae Noi River valley.

References

External links

* {{WWF ecoregion, name=Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests, id=im0108 Ecoregions of Thailand * Indomalayan ecoregions Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests