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The Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of northern New Guinea.


Setting

The Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests extend across the northern lowlands of the island of New Guinea, lying between the New Guinea Central Range to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the north. It extends from the eastern shore of
Cenderawasih Bay Cenderawasih Bay ( id, Teluk Cenderawasih, "Bird of Paradise Bay"), also known as Sarera Bay ( id, Teluk Sarera) and formerly Geelvink Bay ( nl, Geelvinkbaai), is a large bay in northern Province of Papua, Central Papua and West Papua, New Guine ...
in Indonesia's Papua Province east to
Morobe Province Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands P ...
of Papua New Guinea. Several east-west mountain ranges, including the Van Rees Mountains, Foja Mountains, Torricelli Mountains, and Finisterre Mountains, rise from the lowlands; these ranges are home to the distinct Northern New Guinea montane rain forests ecoregion. The ecoregion is drained by several of New Guinea's large rivers, including the Mamberamo,
Sepik The Sepik () is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the second largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly River. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provinces of Sandaun (formerly West Sep ...
, and Ramu, and Markham.


Flora

The plant communities of the ecoregion are diverse. Lowland evergreen rain forest is the most extensive, and includes alluvial forests in the plains, and hill forests in the foothills of the adjacent mountains. There are extensive freshwater swamp forests in the coastal lowlands and in the
Lakes Plains The Mamberamo Lakes Plains (Dutch Meervlakte, Malay ''dataran danau-danau'') are a large, flat low-lying area of the Mamberamo River basin in the Indonesian province Papua on the island of New Guinea. The plain is defined by the meandering tribu ...
region between the Van Rees-Foja mountains and the Central Range. The swamp forest habitats are diverse, and include grass swamps, swamp savannas, and swamp woodlands and forests dominated by '' Melaleuca'',
sago palm Sago palm is a common name for several plants which are used to produce a starchy food known as sago. Sago palms may be "true palms" in the family Arecaceae, or cycads with a palm-like appearance. Sago produced from cycads must be detoxified before ...
(''Metroxylon sagu''), ''
Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...
'', '' Campnosperma'', and/or '' Terminalia''.


Fauna

The ecoregion corresponds to the Northern Papuan lowlands Endemic Bird Area. Limited-range and endemic species include the
red-breasted paradise kingfisher The red-breasted paradise kingfisher or fairy paradise kingfisher (''Tanysiptera nympha'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and sub ...
(''Tanysiptera nympha''), brown lory (''Chalcopsitta duivenbodei''), Edwards's fig parrot (''Psittaculirostris edwardsii''), Salvadori's fig parrot (''Psittaculirostris salvadorii''), Brass's friarbird (''Philemon brassi''), white-bellied whistler (''Pachycephala leucogastra''),
brown-headed crow The brown-headed crow (''Corvus fuscicapillus'') is a passerine bird of the genus ''Corvus'' in the family Corvidae. Endemic to Indonesia, it has a fragmented distribution in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropica ...
(''Corvus fuscicapillus''), pale-billed sicklebill (''Drepanornis bruijnii''), and
banded yellow robin The banded yellow robin or olive-yellow robin (''Gennaeodryas placens'') is a species of bird in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae that is found in New Guinea. It is the only species in the genus ''Gennaeodryas''. Its natural habitats ar ...
(''Gennaeodryas placens'').


Conservation and threats

A 2017 assessment found that 15,323 km², or 11%, of the ecoregion is in 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> The largest is Mamberamo Foja Wildlife Reserve, which extends along the Mamberamo River and its tributaries the Tariku and Taritatu from the foothills of the Central Range to the sea, including the Foja Mountains.


External links

* *
Northern Papuan lowlands endemic bird area (BirdLife International)


References

{{reflist Australasian ecoregions Ecoregions of Indonesia Ecoregions of New Guinea Ecoregions of Papua New Guinea * Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests