The Western Java montane 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 o ...

(WWF ID: IM0167) covers the montane rain forest above 1,000 meters in the volcanic mountain ridges in the west of the island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Several mammals and bird species are found only in this ecoregion, including the Javan mastiff bat ''( Otomops formosus)'' and the Volcano mouse ''( Mus vulcani)''. Only about one-fifth of the original rainforest remains in its original state, as human pressures are encroaching on the mountain slopes.

Location and description

The ecoregion stretches 500 km from west to east across western and central Java. This mountainous region, historically known as

Parahyangan Parahyangan ( su, ᮕᮛᮠᮡᮀᮠᮔ᮪; Bantenese: Priangan; Dutch: Preanger) is a cultural and mountainous region in West Java province on the Indonesian island of Java. Covering a little less than one sixth of Java, it is the heartl ...

, is only 30-80 km wide. Major volcanoes, from west to east, include

Mount Salak Mount Salak ( id, Gunung Salak, su, Gunung Salak) is an eroded volcano in West Java, Indonesia. It has several satellite cones on its southeast flank and the northern foot, along with two additional craters at the summit. Mount Salak has been e ...

Mount Pangrango Mount Pangrango is a dormant stratovolcano located in the Sunda Arc of West Java, Indonesia. The mountain formed by a subduction zone on the southern coast of Java facing the Indian Ocean. It is located about 80 km south of Jakarta, capital of ...

Mount Guntur Mount Guntur ( id, Gunung Guntur) is an active stratovolcano in western Java. It is part of a complex of several overlapping stratovolcanoes about northwest of the city of Garut. The last eruption was in 1847. At an elevation of , Mount Guntur ...

, Galunggung, Mount Cereme,

Mount Slamet Mount Slamet or Gunung Slamet is an active stratovolcano in the Purbalingga Regency of Central Java, Indonesia. It has a cluster of around three dozen cinder cones on the lower southeast-northeast flanks and a single cinder cone on the western ...

, Mount Sindoro,

Mount Sumbing Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

, and

Mount Merbabu Mount Merbabu ( id, Gunung Merbabu) is a dormant stratovolcano in Central Java province on the Indonesian island of Java. The name ''Merbabu'' could be loosely translated as 'Mountain of Ash' from the Javanese combined words; '' Meru'' means "mo ...

. The highest elevation is at Mount Slamet. The ecoregion is completely surrounded by the Western Java rain forests ecoregion at lower elevations.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is ''

Tropical monsoon climate 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, nota ...

(Am)). This climate is characterized by relatively even temperatures throughout the year (all months being greater than average temperature), and a pronounced dry season. The driest month has less than 60 mm of precipitation, but more than (100-(average/25) mm. This climate is mid-way between a tropical rainforest and a tropical savannah.

Flora and fauna

About 65% of the ecoregion is covered in closed forest, mostly broadleaf evergreen, an additional 20% is open forest. The evergreen forest includes ''(

Artocarpus elasticus ''Artocarpus elasticus'' of the Mulberry Family (Moraceae) and commonly called terap nasi or terap, is a rainforest tree of maritime and mainland Southeast Asia, growing up to (occasionally as much as 214 feet (65 meters)) in height with a diam ...

)'', Yellow mahogany ''( Dysoxylum caulostachyum)'', Langsat ''(

Lansium parasiticum ''Lansium parasiticum'', commonly known as langsat (), lanzones (), or longkong in English; duku in Indonesian or dokong in Terengganu Malay, is a species of tree in the Mahogany family with commercially cultivated edible fruits. The species ...

)'', and ''( Planchonia valida)''. Common montane tree species include ''

Lithocarpus ''Lithocarpus'' is a genus in the beech family, Fagaceae. Trees in this genus are commonly known as the stone oaks and differ from ''Quercus'' primarily because they produce insect-pollinated flowers on erect spikes and the female flowers ha ...

'', ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ' ...

'', 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. A total ...

'' spp., as well as

laurels ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. I ...

. At higher elevations, characteristic species are heath (family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

) such as ''

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nativ ...

''. There are 64 species of mammals in the ecoregion, 16 of which are endemic. Mammals of conservation interest include the endangered Javan surili ''( Presbytis comata)'', the endangered Silvery gibbon'' ( Hylobates moloch)'', and the critically endangered Javan leopard ''( Panthera pardus melas)''.

Protected areas

Over 7% of the ecoregion is officially protected. These protected areas include: *

Mount Halimun Salak National Park Mount Halimun Salak National Park is a 400 km2 conservation area in the Indonesian province of West Java on the island of Java. Established in 1992, the park comprises two mountains, Mount Salak and Mount Halimun with an 11-kilometer forest c ...

Mount Gede Pangrango National Park Mount Gede Pangrango National Park is a national park in West Java, Indonesia. The park is centred on two volcanoes— Mount Gede and Mount Pangrango—and is 150 km² in area. It evolved from already existing conservation areas, such as ...

* Mount Ciremai National Park

References

{{reflist Indomalayan ecoregions Ecoregions of Indonesia Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Ecoregions of Malesia Montane forests