The Western Java 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 ...

(

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

ID: IM0168) covers the lowland

rain forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

s below 1,000 meters in elevation in the western half 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 ...

. There are a variety of forest types -

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

, semi-evergreen, moist

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

, and even some patches of freshwater swamp. The forests have degraded by conversion of the low areas to agriculture, and by logging. National parks protect some of the last remaining untouched rain forest. A number of endangered mammals are found in the ecoregion, including the

Javan rhinoceros The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), also known as the Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same g ...

, the

silvery gibbon The silvery gibbon (''Hylobates moloch''), also known as the Javan gibbon, is a primate in the gibbon family Hylobatidae. It is endemic to the Indonesian island of Java, where it inhabits undisturbed rainforests up to an altitude of . It is liste ...

, and the

Javan surili The Javan surili (''Presbytis comata'') is a vulnerable species of Old World monkey endemic to the western half of Java, Indonesia, a biodiversity hotspot. Other common names by which it is known by include gray, grizzled or Sunda Island surili; ...

Location and description

The ecoregion surrounds the interior volcanic mountain ridge of western Java, stretching 500 km in length but nowhere more than 60 km wide. Above 1,000 meters in elevation the ecoregion transitions into the Western Java montane rain forests ecoregion.

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

Almost 40% of the ecoregion is either under cultivation for agriculture or in built-urban areas. The remainder is 40% closed evergreen broadleaf forest, 14% open forest, and 6% other cover. The forest is, however, highly degraded by logging. The evergreen forest's common plants include ''

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 ...

'' (a tree in the mulberry family), yellow mahogany (''

Dysoxylum parasiticum ''Dysoxylum parasiticum'', known as yellow mahogany, is a species of rainforest trees in the family Meliaceae. The specific epithet ' is from the Latin meaning "parasitic", referring to the idea (now known to be incorrect) that the flowers are pa ...

''), langsat (''

Lansium domesticum ''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 ''Planchonia valida'' grows as a tree up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is grey brown. The flowers are green. The tree grows in a variety of habitats from sea level to elevation. ''P. valida'' is found in the Andaman an ...

'' (a tree in the ''

Lecythidaceae The Lecythidaceae comprise a family of about 20 genera and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa (including Madagascar), Asia and Australia. The most important member of the family in world trade is the B ...

'' family). The areas of moist deciduous forest generally have 1,500 to 4,000 mm/year of precipitation. These forests feature palmyra palm (genus ''

Borassus ''Borassus'' (palmyra palm) is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Papua New Guinea. Description These massive palms can grow up to high and have robust trunks with distinct leaf scars; in so ...

'') and palm trees of genus ''

Corypha ''Corypha'' (gebang palm, buri palm or talipot palm) is a genus of palms (family Arecaceae), native to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and northeastern Australia (Cape York Peninsula, Queensland). They are fan palms (s ...

''.

Fauna

The ecoregion supports 101 species of mammals, five of which are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

. Mammals of conservation interest include the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros (''

Rhinoceros sondaicus The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), also known as the Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same ge ...

''), the endangered silvery gibbon (''

Hylobates moloch The silvery gibbon (''Hylobates moloch''), also known as the Javan gibbon, is a primate in the gibbon family Hylobatidae. It is endemic to the Indonesian island of Java, where it inhabits undisturbed rainforests up to an altitude of . It is liste ...

''), the endangered Javan surili (''

Presbytis comata The Javan surili (''Presbytis comata'') is a vulnerable species of Old World monkey endemic to the western half of Java, Indonesia, a biodiversity hotspot. Other common names by which it is known by include gray, grizzled or Sunda Island su ...

''), the vulnerable fishing cat (''

Prionailurus viverrinus The fishing cat (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2016, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and have decline ...

''), the endangered banteng (''

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

''), and the endangered Sunda slow loris (''

Nycticebus coucang The Sunda slow loris (''Nycticebus coucang'') or greater slow loris is a strepsirrhine primate and a species of slow loris native to Indonesia, West Malaysia, southern Thailand and Singapore. It measures from head to tail and weighs between . ...

'').

Protected areas

Only 2% of the ecoregion is officially protected. These protected areas include: *

Mount Ciremai National Park Mount Ciremai National Park is located around 50 km to the south of the city of Cirebon in West Java, Indonesia. The park extends into the Kuningan and Majalengka regencies south of Cirebon. The park surrounds Mt Ceremai, an active volcano, ...

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 ...

Ujung Kulon National Park Ujung Kulon National Park is at the westernmost tip of Java, in Banten province of Indonesia. It includes the volcanic island group of Krakatoa in Lampung province, and other islands including Panaitan, as well as smaller offshore islets such ...

References

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