Sumatran tropical pine forests
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The Sumatran tropical pine forests is a tropical coniferous forest
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
on the island of
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
.


Location and description

These pine forests are found on the higher slopes of Sumatra, especially in the north of the island near
Lake Toba Lake Toba (, Toba Batak: ᯖᯀᯬ ᯖᯬᯅ; romanized: ''Tao Toba'') is a large natural lake in North Sumatra, Indonesia, occupying the caldera of the Toba supervolcano. The lake is located in the middle of the northern part of the island of ...
and along the
Barisan Mountains The Bukit Barisan or the Barisan Mountains are a mountain range on the western side of Sumatra, Indonesia, covering nearly 1,700 km (1,050 mi) from the north to the south of the island. The Bukit Barisan range consists primarily of volca ...
, including the tall Mount Leuser. With 2500mm of rainfall per year, the pine forests have a
tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...
but are drier than the thick rainforest areas lower down the slopes, especially on the drier eastern aspects of the mountains.


Flora

This ecoregion is one of the rare areas of pine forest in the tropics with the dominant species Sumatran pine (''Pinus merkusii''), which has become established in areas where rainforest has been disturbed throughout history by events including landslides and forest fires, as well as human clearance. Forest fire is an ongoing and continuous feature of the life-cycle of the forest.


Fauna

There is less wildlife here than in the rainforest that covers most of the island, and there are no endemic mammals, but there are still a number of near-endemic species, including birds like the Sunda robin.


Threats and preservation

The pine forests of the higher areas are less vulnerable to clearance than the valuable hardwood rainforests lower down, and furthermore, a third of them are within the Kerinci Seblat and other national parks.


See also

* List of ecoregions in Indonesia


References

{{reflist Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby Loucks; et al. (2002). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment''. Island Press;
Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
. Ecoregions of Indonesia Ecoregions of Malesia Indomalayan ecoregions Montane forests Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests Tropical rainforests of Indonesia