The Tenasserim–South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests are a

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

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 ...

in Southeast Asia. The ecoregion extends north–south along the

Kra Isthmus The Kra Isthmus ( th, คอคอดกระ, ) in Thailand is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailand. The ...

. It includes lowland forests along the coasts, and montane forests in 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

Bilauktaung Bilauktaung is a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills. It is located in Burma on the border with Thailand. It extends from the Dawna Range for about 400 km along the frontier area to the Kra Isthmus. Geography The Bilauktaung includes Myinmolet ...

range, which form the mountainous spine of the isthmus.

Geography

In the northern portion of the ecoregion, it is bounded by other tropical forest ecoregions in the coastal lowlands – the

Myanmar coastal rain forests The Myanmar coastal rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in Myanmar. The ecoregion occupies Myanmar's coastal lowlands along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. Geography The Myanmar coastal rain forests occupy the coastal ...

along the Andaman Sea to the west, and the

Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests The Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in Thailand. The ecoregion occupies the coastal lowlands along the Gulf of Thailand lying east and west of the Chao Phraya River. Geography The Chao P ...

to the east along the Gulf of Thailand. In its southern portion the ecoregion extends all the way to the coast. On the south it is bounded by the

Peninsular Malaysian rain forests The Peninsular Malaysian rain forests is an ecoregion on Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands. It is in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome. Geography The ecoregion covers most of the southern Malay Peninsula in Malaysia ...

ecoregion.

Flora

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 ...

s are the dominant trees, and species vary with elevation and latitude. Semi-evergreen trees that lose some of their leaves during the dry season are common in the lowlands, and evergreen trees are predominant in the montane forests. The Kangar-Pattani floristic boundary forms the southern end of the ecoregion, and marks the boundary between the mostly deciduous and semi-evergreen forests of Indochina and the mostly evergreen forests of

Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It ...

and

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

. South of the boundary rainfall becomes more year-round without as pronounced a dry season.

Fauna

The ecoregion's extensive areas of intact forests support some large mammals, include the

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 ...

(''Elephas maximus''),

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 u ...

(''Panthera tigris''),

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''),

banteng The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of cattle found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their domesticated counterparts, but are otherw ...

(''Bos javanicus''),

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 ...

(''Helarctos malayanus''),

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

(''Panthera pardus''),

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called the mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through mainland Southeast Asia into South China. In the early 19th century, a cl ...

(''Pardofelis nebulosa''), and

binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of a declining popu ...

(''Arctictis binturong''). The ecoregion is home to 560 species of birds, including one

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species,

Gurney's pitta Gurney's pitta (''Hydrornis gurneyi'') ( th, นกแต้วแร้วท้องดำ) is a medium-sized passerine bird. It breeds in the Malay Peninsula, with populations mainly in Myanmar. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate ...

(''Pitta gurneyi'').

Conservation

A 2017 assessment found that 21,105 km², or 22%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Another 72% of the ecoregion is forested but outside 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

Ao Phang Nga National Park Ao Phang Nga National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติอ่าวพังงา) is in Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand. It includes coastal sections of Mueang Phang Nga District and Takua Thung District. Most of t ...

Kaeng Krachan National Park Kaeng Krachan National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติแก่งกระจาน, , ) is the largest national park of Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thaila ...

Kaeng Krung National Park Kaeng Krung National Park ( th, แก่งกรุง) is a national park in southern Thailand, protecting 338,125 rai ~ of forests in the Phuket mountain range. It was declared a national park on 4 December 1991. The park is in northwest Su ...

, Khao Pu-Khao Ya National Park,

Khao Sok National Park Khao Sok National Park ( th, เขาสก, ) is in Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Its area is 461,712 rai ~ , and it includes the Cheow Lan Lake contained by the Ratchaprapha Dam. The park is the largest area of virgin forest in southern T ...

, Lenya National Park,

Mu Ko Phetra National Park Mu Ko Phetra is a marine national park in the Strait of Malacca off Thailand, covering mostly intact coastal line, open water, and about 30 islands of the southern part of Trang Province and the northern part of Satun Province. Established on 3 ...

, Tai Romyen National Park, Tanintharyi National Park,

Tarutao National Park Tarutao National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติตะรุเตา) consists of 51 islands in the Strait of Malacca, off the coast of Satun Province of southern Thailand. The Tarutao National Park consists of two isla ...

, and

Thale Ban National Park Thale Ban National Park ( th, ทะเลบัน) is a forested area south of the Banthat Mountains in southern Thailand, in the south of Satun Province bordering Malaysia; it borders Taman Negeri Perlis park. The park was established on 27 O ...

in Thailand.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests Ecoregions of Asia Ecoregions of Malaysia Ecoregions of Myanmar Ecoregions of Thailand * Indomalayan ecoregions Montane forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests