The Taiwan

subtropical evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zone ...

s is an

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 ...

that covers most of the island of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, 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 A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

types, from

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

forests in the lowlands to

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

and

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

Flora

The

coastal plains A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...

and lower

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

s are covered by

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

laurel-''Castanopsis'' forests, dominated by Chinese Cryptocarya (''

Cryptocarya chinensis ''Cryptocarya chinensis'', commonly known as the Chinese cryptocarya, is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to the subtropical forests of Taiwan, southern China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan), and Japan Japan ( ja, 日� ...

'') and ''

Castanopsis hystrix ''Castanopsis hystrix'' or Patle katus is a species of evergreen broadleaf tree, which grows up to 30 meters in height. The tree is found in subtropical broadleaved evergreen forests, ranging from the eastern Himalayas of Nepal, Bhutan, and nort ...

'', with scattered stands of the subtropical pine ''

Pinus massoniana ''Pinus massoniana'' (English: Masson's pine, Chinese red pine, horsetail pine; Chinese: 馬尾松) is a species of pine, native to Taiwan, a wide area of central and southern China, and northern Vietnam. Description It is an evergreen tree ...

''. At higher elevations, Japanese blue oak (''

Quercus glauca ''Quercus glauca'' ( syn. ''Cyclobalanopsis glauca''), commonly called ring-cupped oak or Japanese blue oak, is a tree in the beech family (Fagaceae). It is native to eastern and southern Asia, where it is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, nor ...

'') replaces ''Cryptocarya'' and ''Castanopsis'' as the dominant tree. As elevation further increases, the evergreen

broadleaf tree A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with n ...

s are gradually replaced by

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, aft ...

broadleaf trees and

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s. Above 3,000 meters, deciduous broadleaf trees like

Formosan alder ''Alnus formosana'', the Formosan alder, is a species of alder endemic to Taiwan. It is a medium-sized tree, up to in height and in trunk diameter. Description The formosan alder is a trees up to 20 meters in height with dark gray-brown bark ...

(''Alnus formosana'') and

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

(''Acer'' spp.) mix with

Taiwan hemlock ''Tsuga chinensis'', commonly referred to as the Taiwan or Chinese hemlock, or in Chinese as tieshan (), is a coniferous tree species native to China, Taiwan, Tibet and Vietnam. The tree is quite variable and has many recognised varieties, thou ...

(''Tsuga chinensis).'' At the highest elevations, subalpine forests are dominated by conifers, including Taiwan hemlock (''Tsuga chinensis''),

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

s (''Picea'' spp.), and

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

s (''Abies'' spp.).

Fauna

Mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

: There are sixty types of species of animal in Taiwan. *

Birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

: There are over 500 species of birds. The migratory birds in Taiwan are famous all over the world. *

Reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

: There are ninety kinds of reptiles. *

Amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

: There are over thirty species of amphibians. *

Fishes Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

: There are around 150 kinds of fishes. This excludes the sea fishes. *

Insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

: There are 17,600 kinds of insects that have been already recognized and named in Taiwan. *

Butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

: There are 400 kinds of butterflies. There are some rare animal species in Taiwan that are found no where else or otherwise in less numbers. Of particular note are: the Swinhoe Pheasant and the Mikado Pheasant, which are almost extinct in nearby regions. The

Formosan rock macaque The Formosan rock macaque (''Macaca cyclopis''), also known as the Formosan rock monkey or Taiwanese macaque, is a macaque endemic to the island of Taiwan, which has also been introduced to Japan. Besides humans, Formosan rock macaques are the on ...

, a species of monkey, is found only in Taiwan.

Protected areas

20.34% of the ecoregion is in

protected areas Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. Protected areas include:"Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 14 February 2022

/ref> *

Shei-pa National Park Shei-Pa National Park () is a national park located in the central part of Taiwan around the peaks of Hsuehshan and Dabajian Mountain, with an area of , covering the area of Hsinchu County, Miaoli County and Taichung City. High mountain ecology, ...

Taijiang National Park Taijiang National Park () is a national park in Tainan, Taiwan. History Taijiang National Park was established in October 15, 2009. Geology The majority of the park is within the city of Tainan. In total, the park's planned area stretches from ...

Taroko National Park Taroko National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park carved by the Liwu River. The park spans Taichung Municipality, Nantou County, and Hualien County and is lo ...

Yangmingshan National Park Yangmingshan National Park is one of the List of national parks in Taiwan, nine national parks in Taiwan, located in both Taipei and New Taipei City. The districts that are partially in the park include Taipei's Beitou District, Beitou and Sh ...

Yushan National Park Yushan National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the summit Yushan, the highest peak of the park.Temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...

External links

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of Taiwan Environment of Taiwan Forests of Taiwan Indomalayan ecoregions Montane forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests