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

tropical moist broadleaf 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 (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

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 ...

Mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

. The ecoregion extends north–south along the

Kra Isthmus The Kra Isthmus (, ; ), also called the Isthmus of Kra 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 Thailan ...

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

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (, ; , , ; ) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mo ...

and

Bilauktaung Bilauktaung is a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills. It is located in Myanmar on the Myanmar–Thailand border. It extends from the Dawna Range for about along the frontier area to the Kra Isthmus. Geography The Bilauktaung includes Myinmoletkat ...

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 on Mainland Southeast Asia. The ecoregion occupies Myanmar's coastal lowlands along the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Geography The Myanmar coastal rain fores ...

along the Andaman Sea to the west, and the Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests 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 the 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 Malay ...

ecoregion.

Flora

Dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indo ...

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 Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...

and

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

. 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 ''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''),

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

(''Panthera tigris''),

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''),

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

(''Bos javanicus''),

sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a bear species in the Family (biology), family Ursidae found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'' and the smallest bear species, standing nearly ...

(''Helarctos malayanus''),

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

(''Panthera pardus''),

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through Northeast India and Bhutan to mainland Southeast Asia into South China. It w ...

(''Pardofelis nebulosa''), and

binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverridae, viverrid native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on th ...

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

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,

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

(''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 (), located in the Phang Nga Province of the Southern Thailand, encompasses parts of Mueang Phang Nga District and Takua Thung District. The park is predominantly maritime, featuring a section of the Strait of Malacca do ...

Kaeng Krachan National Park Kaeng Krachan National Park (, , ) is the largest List of national parks of Thailand, national park of Thailand. It is on the border with Myanmar (Burma), contiguous with the Tanintharyi Nature Reserve. It is a popular park owing to its proximit ...

Kaeng Krung National Park Kaeng Krung National Park () 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 Surat Thani Province, covering ...

, Khao Pu-Khao Ya National Park,

Khao Sok National Park Khao Sok National Park (, ) 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 Thailand and is a ...

, 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 31 ...

, Tai Romyen National Park, Tanintharyi National Park, Tarutao National Park, and

Thale Ban National Park Thale Ban National Park () 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 October 1980. It covers an ...

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