The Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests is a subtropical moist broadleaf 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 ...

which occupies the lower hillsides of the mountainous border region joining

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Yunnan Province Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. The ecoregion covers an area of . Located where the biotas of the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

and the Indochinese Peninsula meet, and in the transition between

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

and tropical regions of Asia, the Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests are home to great biodiversity. The WWF rates the ecoregion as "Globally Outstanding" in biological distinctiveness.Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment.'' Island Press; Washington, DC. pp. 377–379

Geography and neighbouring ecoregions

The ecoregion is characterised by semi-evergreen rain forest, covering the lower elevations of the Chin Hills and Arakan Mountains in Myanmar's

Rakhine State Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...

, India's

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

state, the adjacent Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh, and then extending northwards along the Naga Hills and Mizo Hills to cover most of India's

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

and

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

states, and also eastwards across Myanmar's

Sagaing Division Sagaing Region (, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is border ...

and

Kachin State Kachin State (; Jingpho language, Kachin: ) is the northernmost administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet and Yunnan, respectively), Shan State to the sou ...

to the China–Myanmar border. China's Tongbiguan Natural Protection Area（near the China–Myanmar border) might be a part of the ecoregion. The Myanmar coastal rain forests occupy the coastal lowlands of Myanmar south and southwest of this ecoregion. To the west, the ecoregion borders the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion in the Khasi and Garo Hills, and the

Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests The Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of Northeastern India, southern Bhutan and adjacent Bangladesh. Location and description The ecoregion covers and encompasses the alluvial plain of the ...

in the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and ...

lowlands. The Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests extends up to the elevation of the Chin Hills–Arakan Yoma range, and the Chin Hills–Arakan Yoma montane forests occupy the portion of the range above . As the Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin forests extend east across Myanmar, they are bounded by the Irrawaddy moist deciduous forests of the

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River (, , Ayeyarwady) is the principal river of Myanmar, running through the centre of the country. Myanmar’s most important commercial waterway, it is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long. Originating from the confluence of the ...

basin in the south, the higher-elevation Northern Triangle subtropical forests in the north, and the Northern Indochina subtropical forests in the east. The Northeast India–Myanmar pine forests occupy the higher elevations of the Naga Hills along the Nagaland–Myanmar border, and are surrounded by the Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests west, south and east.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and humid, although somewhat cooler than the adjacent lowlands. Rainfall comes mostly from the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

winds from the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

, and parts of the ecoregion can receive up to of rain per year.

Flora

Forest around Pangti Village and Doyang Dam region Nagaland JEG4312

In the Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forest, the predominant plant community is semi-evergreen rain forest, which covers the vast majority of the ecoregion's intact area, a total of 36% of the ecoregion. Other plant communities include tropical wet evergreen forest (5% of the ecoregion's total area), tropical moist deciduous forest (2%), montane wet temperate forest (2%), and subtropical montane forest (1%). 19% of the ecoregion's area has been cleared, primarily for agriculture and grazing, and 34% of the ecoregion consists of degraded areas. The semi-evergreen rain forest is dominated by trees of the dipterocarp family, including '' Dipterocarpus alatus'', '' D. turbinatus'', '' D. griffithii'', '' Parashorea stellata'', '' Hopea odorata'', '' Shorea burmanica'', and '' Anisoptera scaphula''. Trees of other families include '' Swintonia floribunda'', '' Eugenia grandis'', ''

Xylia xylocarpa ''Xylia xylocarpa'' is a species of tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only ...

Gmelina arborea ''Gmelina arborea'', (in English beechwood, gmelina, goomar teak, Kashmir tree, Malay beechwood, white teak, yamane ), locally known as gamhar, is a fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution and habitat ''Gmelina arborea ...

, Bombax insignis,

Bombax ceiba ''Bombax ceiba'', like other trees of the genus ''Bombax'', is commonly known as cotton tree. More specifically, it is sometimes known as Malabar silk-cotton tree; red silk-cotton; red cotton tree; or ambiguously as silk-cotton or kapok, both of ...

, Albizia procera'', and ''

Castanopsis ''Castanopsis'', commonly called chinquapin or chinkapin, is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the beech family, Fagaceae. The genus contains about 140 species, which are today restricted to tropical and subtropical eastern Asia. The Engli ...

'' spp. File:The ever green jungle.jpg, Inside the rainforests File:Dampa Tiger Reserve Forest.jpg, Rainforests in the Dampa Tiger Reserve Forest File:Starr 071024-0098 Congea tomentosa.jpg, Vines like the Shower Orchid are common File:Citrus macroptera.jpg, Wild orange ('' citrus macroptera'') is native to this ecoregion (

Sylhet region Sylhet Division () is a northeastern Divisions of Bangladesh, division of Bangladesh, renowned for its lush tea gardens, rolling hills and vibrant cultural heritage. Covering an area of approximately 12,298 square kilometres, it is bordered by t ...

) File:Unidentified Musa from Nagaland JEG5458.JPG, Trees of the banana-genus grows wild. This particular tree is unidentified. File:Amlaki (Bengali- আমলকী) (4937858995).jpg, Amla trees grows wild File:Silk cotton tree, Bhagamandla Range AJT Johnsingh.JPG, Silk-cotton tree (''bombax ceiba'') is one of many common tree types. In the forests, this tree can grow very large.

Fauna

The ecoregion is home to 149 known species of mammals. This includes two near-

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

species, a bat '' Pipistrellus joffrei'', and a murid rodent '' Hadromys humei''. The ecoregion is home to several endangered and threatened mammal species, including the tiger (''Panthera tigris''), clouded leopard (''Pardofelis nebulosa''),

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

(''Elephas maximus''), Eld's deer (''Cervus eldii''),

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

(''Bos gaurus''), Himalayan goral (''Nemorhaedus goral''),

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

(''Ailurus fulgens''),

smooth-coated otter The smooth-coated otter (''Lutrogale perspicillata'') is a freshwater otter species from regions of South and Southwest Asia, with the majority of its numbers found in Southeast Asia. It has been ranked as " vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List since ...

(''Lutrogale perspicillata''), Indian civet (''Viverra zibetha''), back-striped weasel (''Mustela strigidorsa''), Assamese macaque (''Macaca assamensis''), bear macaque (''Macaca arctoides''),

southern pig-tailed macaque The southern pig-tailed macaque (''Macaca nemestrina''), also known as the Sundaland pig-tailed macaque and the Sunda pig-tailed macaque, is a medium-sized macaque that lives in Sundaland, southern Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It is known ...

(''Macaca nemestrina''), capped leaf monkey (''Semnopithecus pileatus''), and hoolock gibbon (''Hylobates hoolock''). The ecoregion harbours 580 bird species, of which 6 are near-endemics. Some are the Manipur bush quail (''Perdicula manipurensis''), striped laughingthrush (''Garrulax virgatus'') and brown-capped laughingthrush (''Garrulax austeni'').Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment.'' Island Press; Washington, DC. pp. 257–258

Protected areas

5.9% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. The protected areas include: * Barail Sanctuary * Dampa Tiger Reserve * Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary * Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (extension) * Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary * Intanki National Park * Intanki Sanctuary * Keibul Lamjao National Park * Khawnglung Sanctuary * Kyauk Pan Taung Wildlife Sanctuary * Loktak Lake – Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance * Murlen National Park * Ngengpui Sanctuary * Pablakhali Wildlife Sanctuary * Phawngpui Blue Mountain National Park * Pidaung Wildlife Sanctuary * Puliebadze Sanctuary * Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range * Yangoupokpi-Lokchao Wildlife Sanctuary

References

External links

* *
Geographical ecoregion maps and basic info. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests Indomalayan ecoregions Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Ecoregions of Asia Ecoregions of Bangladesh Ecoregions of India Ecoregions of Myanmar Rainforests of Southeast Asia Tropical rainforests of India Forests of Bangladesh Forests of Myanmar * * * Environment of Manipur Geography of Mizoram Geography of Manipur Geography of Kachin State