The South Taiwan monsoon rain forests

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 ...

(WWF ID: IM0171) covers the southern tip 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 ...

, 200 km east of the mainland. The area is one of high biodiversity, due to its location between temperate and subtropical zones, its monsoon exposure, and its high altitude variation (from mangrove forests at sea level to inland mountains).

Location and description

The ecoregion covers only the southernmost 60 km of the island, 70 km west to east at its widest. The central ridge is mountainous, with a flat coastal flat on the northwest. The ecoregion is only 1,000 square miles in area. Much of the southern tip of the island is protected by

Kenting National Park Kenting National Park (), commonly known as Kenting (), is a national park located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, Checheng, and Manzhou Townships. Established on 1 January 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest a ...

. It is bounded on the north by the

Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests The Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests is an ecoregion that covers most of the island of Taiwan, with the exception of the southern tip of the island, which constitutes the South Taiwan monsoon rain forests ecoregion. The island's concentrated ...

ecoregion.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is ''

tropical monsoon An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

(Am)). This climate is characterized as having no month averaging below , and typically a very rainy wet season and relatively short dry season.

Flora and fauna

The inland mountains support forests of both evergreen and deciduous trees. The evergreens include Chinese banyan ('' Ficus microcarpa'') and 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� ...

)''; deciduous trees include Kapok (''

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 ...

''). The coastal mangrove forests feature the Asiatic mangrove (''

Rhizophora mucronata ''Rhizophora mucronata'' (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Description ''Rhizophora mucronata'' is a small to medium si ...

'') and Black mangrove (''

Bruguiera gymnorhiza ''Bruguiera gymnorhiza'', the large-leafed orange mangrove or oriental mangrove,) is a mangrove tree that grows usually to 7-20m high, but sometimes up to 35m, that belongs to the family Rhizophoraceae. It is found on the seaward side of mangrov ...

''). The coastal areas support migratory birds on the

East Asian–Australasian Flyway The East Asian–Australasian Flyway is one of the world's great flyways. At its northernmost it stretches eastwards from the Taimyr Peninsula in Russia to Alaska. Its southern end encompasses Australia and New Zealand. Between these extremes the ...

Conservation

A 2017 assessment found that 349 km², or 14%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Another 68% 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:"South Taiwan monsoon rain forests". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 14 February 2022

/ref> *

* Dawu Working Circle Taiwan Amentotaxus Nature Reserve * Dawushan Nature Reserve * Kenting Uplifted Coral Reefs Nature Reserve * Xuhai-Guanyinbi Nature Reserve * Dawu Taiwan Keteleeria Forest Reserve * Chachayalaishan Major Wildlife Habitat * Jin-shuei-ying Major Wildlife Habitat

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of China Ecoregions of Taiwan Indomalayan ecoregions Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Location and description

Climate

Flora and fauna

Conservation

See also

References