The Sumatran tropical pine forests is a
tropical coniferous forest 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 ...
on the island of
Sumatra in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
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 ( id, Danau Toba) ( Toba Batak: ᯖᯀᯬ ᯖᯬᯅ; romanized: ''Tao Toba'') is a large natural lake in North Sumatra, Indonesia, occupying the caldera of a supervolcano. The lake is located in the middle of the northern part of the i ...
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
The Leuser Range or Leuser Massif, known as Mount Leuser is a group of three peaks, is the highest mountain in the Indonesian province of Aceh. The range lies to the south and west of the Alas River that flows east from the highlands of centra ...
. With 2500mm of rainfall per year, the pine forests have a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical 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 southea ...
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
The Javan blue robin (''Myiomela diana'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Indonesian island of Java. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The Sumatran blue robin (''Myiomela ...
.
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
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
.
Ecoregions of Indonesia
Ecoregions of Malesia
Indomalayan ecoregions
Montane forests
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests
Tropical rainforests of Indonesia