The Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests is a temperate broadleaf forest

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 ...

found in the middle elevations of the eastern

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, including parts of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

. These forests have an outstanding richness of wildlife.

Setting

This ecoregion covers an area of and constitutes a band of temperate broadleaf forests lying on steep mountain slopes of the Himalayas between approximately . It extends from the

Kali Gandaki River The Gandaki River, also known as the Narayani and the Gandak, is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left bank tributary of the Ganges in India. Its total catchment area amounts to , most of it in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, it is not ...

across

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Sil ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

in India,

, and the Indian state of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...

. The temperate broadleaf forests transition into the Himalayan subtropical pine forests and the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests at lower elevations, and into the

Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests The Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion which is found in the middle and upper elevations of the eastern Middle Himalayas, in western Nepal, Bhutan, and northern Indian states including Arunachal ...

at higher elevations. This area receives over 2000 mm of rainfall per year, mostly falling from May to September during the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

Flora

The Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests are diverse and species-rich, with a great diversity (of oaks and

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 nati ...

s in particular) and many endemic species including plants of

Indomalayan The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indi ...

Indochinese Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, 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 the west an ...

, Himalayan, Eastern Asiatic and even

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final sta ...

n origin. The ecoregion has two broad forest types: evergreen and deciduous. Evergreen forests are characterized by oaks ''(Quercus'' spp.), chiefly '' Quercus lamellosa,'' together with ''

Lithocarpus pachyphylla ''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 have ...

Rhododendron arboreum ''Rhododendron arboreum'', the tree rhododendron, is an evergreen shrub or small tree with a showy display of bright red flowers. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Thailand. It is the national flower of ...

Rhododendron falconeri ''Rhododendron falconeri'', the falconer rhododendron, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to the eastern Himalayas. Description It is a tree, and sometimes the dominant canopy tree, that typically grows to 12–15 me ...

Rhododendron thomsonii ''Rhododendron thomsonii'' (半圆叶杜鹃) is a rhododendron species native to northern India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, and southern Xizang in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is ...

, Magnolia doltsopa, Magnolia cathcartii, Exbucklandia populnea, Symplocos cochinchinensis,

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

'' spp., ''

Cinnamomum ''Cinnamomum'' is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of ''Cinnamomum'' have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 250 species, distributed in ...

'' spp., and ''

Machilus ''Machilus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae. It is found in temperate, subtropical, and tropical forest, occurring in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indochina, the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philip ...

'' spp. The many rhododendron species include more than fifty in Sikkim and another sixty in Bhutan. In the deciduous forests meanwhile the predominant tree species are Himalayan maple (''

Acer campbellii ''Acer campbellii'' (Campbell's maple, 藏南枫) is a species of maple tree indigenous to mixed forests at altitudes of 1800–3700 meters in Bhutan, northern India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam, as well as southern Sichuan, southern Xizang, and ...

''), ''

Juglans regia ''Juglans regia'', the Persian walnut, English walnut, Carpathian walnut, Madeira walnut, or especially in Great Britain, common walnut, is an Old World walnut tree species native to the region stretching from the Balkans eastward to the Himala ...

'', ''

Alnus nepalensis ''Alnus nepalensis'' is a large alder tree found in the subtropical highlands of the Himalayas. The tree is called Utis in Nepali and Nepalese alder in English. It is used in land reclamation, as firewood and for making charcoal. Description ...

'', ''

Betula alnoides ''Betula alnoides'' (; th, กำลังเสือโคร่ง, , literally: "tiger power") is a species of birch that can be found in natural condition of such countries as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal ...

'', ''

Betula utilis ''Betula utilis'', the Himalayan birch (''bhojpatra'', sa, भूर्ज ''bhūrjá''), is a deciduous tree native to the Western Himalayas, growing at elevations up to . The Latin specific epithet ''utilis'' means "useful", and refers to the ...

'', and '' Echinocarpus dasycarpus''. Finally in Eastern Nepal there are wetter areas dominated by a mixture of ''

Magnolia campbellii ''Magnolia campbellii'', or Campbell's magnolia, is a species of ''Magnolia'' that grows in sheltered valleys in the Himalaya from eastern Nepal, Sikkim and Assam, India, east to southwestern China (southern Xizang, Yunnan, southern Sichuan) and ...

'', ''Acer campbellii'' and '' Osmanthus suavis'' along with Himalayan hazel ('' Corylus ferox'').

Fauna

The forests are home to over 500 species of bird some of which migrate to the higher Himalayas in the hot summer. There are twelve near-endemic bird species as well as the strictly endemic rufous-throated wren-babbler. A number of bird species especially

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

tragopan ''Tragopan'' is a bird genus in the pheasant family Phasianidae. Member of the genus are commonly called "horned pheasants" because males have two brightly colored, fleshy horns on their head that can be erected during courtship displays. The hab ...

and

hornbill Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandibl ...

are easily threatened by changes to their habitat and those found here include the globally threatened rufous-necked hornbill (''Aceros nipalensis''), Sclater's monal (''Lophophorus sclateri''),

white-bellied heron The white-bellied heron (''Ardea insignis'') also known as the imperial heron or great white-bellied heron, is a large heron species living in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in northeast India and Bhutan to northern Myanmar. It inhabits un ...

(''Ardea insignis''), Blyth's tragopan (''Tragopan blythii'') and

Ward's trogon Ward's trogon (''Harpactes wardi'') is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. Its range includes the northeastern parts of the Indian subcontinent stretching eastwards to Southeast Asia. It is found in Bhutan, India, Tibet, and Myanmar. I ...

(''Harpactes wardi''). There are four endemic or near-endemic mammals including Gee's golden langur ('' Trachypithecus geei'') which is found north of the

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. I ...

between the Sankosh and Manas Rivers. Other endemic mammals are Hodgson's giant flying squirrel ('' Petaurista magnificus''), Namdapha flying squirrel ('' Biswamoyopterus biswasi'') and Brahma white-bellied rat ('' Niviventer brahma''), while

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

found here include a population of

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present i ...

s adapted to higher mountain slopes and having a high conservation priority. Other endangered species include takin (''Budorcas taxicolor'') and

Himalayan serow The Himalayan serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis thar''), also known as the thar ( , ), is a subspecies of the mainland serow native to the Himalayas. It was previously considered its own species, as ''Capricornis thar''. It is the official state ...

(a subspecies of ''Capricornis sumatraensis'') as well as the vulnerable Mandelli's mouse-eared bat ('' Myotis sicarius''), Assam macaque (''Macaca assamensis''),

stump-tailed macaque The stump-tailed macaque (''Macaca arctoides''), also called the bear macaque, is a species of macaque native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. In India, it occurs south of the Brahmaputra River, in the northeastern part of the country. Its range ...

(''Macaca arctoides''),

dhole The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...

(''Cuon alpinus''),

back-striped weasel The back-striped weasel (''Mustela strigidorsa''), also called the stripe-backed weasel, is a weasel widely distributed in Southeastern Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in view of its presumed large population, occurrenc ...

(''Mustela strigidorsa''),

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called the mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through mainland Southeast Asia into South China. In the early 19th century, a ...

(''Neofelis nebulosa''), and

Irrawaddy squirrel The Irrawaddy squirrel (''Callosciurus pygerythrus'') or hoary-bellied Himalayan squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. Description Irrawaddy squirrels vary in fur color, some squirrels being greyish-brown and reddish-brown, ...

(''Callosciurus pygerythrus''). The area also includes patches of fir forest with a bamboo undergrowth that are home to the endangered

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle ...

(''Ailurus fulgens'').

Conservation

Most of the forest is intact as these are steep inaccessible slopes, although the ''

Quercus lanata ''Quercus lanata'', the woolly-leaved oak, is a species of ''Quercus'' native to southern and southeastern Asia, including India (from eastern Uttarakhand to Arunachal Pradesh), Bhutan, Nepal, Indochina (Vietnam, Myanmar, northern Thailand), and ...

'' forests of the lower elevations are vulnerable to clearance, while the upper slopes are liable to be used for livestock grazing, especially in more densely populated Nepal. Protected areas include

Namdapha National Park Namdapha National Park is a large protected area in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India. The park was established in 1983. With more than 1,000 floral and about 1,400 faunal species, it is a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas. The ...

and Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh,

Makalu Barun National Park Makalu Barun National Park is a national park in the Himalayas of Nepal that was established in 1992 as eastern extension of Sagarmatha National Park. It is the world's only protected area with an elevation gain of more than enclosing tropical for ...

in Nepal, and parts of Thrumshingla,

Jigme Dorji Dasho Jigme Palden Dorji (14 December 1919 – 6 April 1964) was a Bhutanese politician and member of the Dorji family. By marriage, he was also a member of the House of Wangchuck. The brother-in-law of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Dorji was c ...

, and Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Parks and

Kulong Chu Wildlife Sanctuary The Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary (also spelled Bumdelling or Bomdeling), which contains the former Kulong Chu Wildlife Sanctuary, covers in northeastern Bhutan at elevations between and . The sanctuary covers most of Trashiyangtse Distric ...

in Bhutan. There are plans to create corridors of protection linking some of these areas in Bhutan and in India. The area around Namdapha National Park has been increasingly settled by

Chakma Chakma may refer to: *Chakma people, a Tibeto-Burman people of Bangladesh and Northeast India *Chakma language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them **Chakma script The Chakma Script (''Ajhā pāṭh''), also called Ajhā pāṭh, Ojhapath, O ...

refugees from Bangladesh. Another threat is the plan to build a dam on the Dihing River. One area of importance that is currently unprotected is Mount Phulchowki in the

Kathmandu valley The Kathmandu Valley ( ne, काठमाडौं उपत्यका; also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley ( ne, नेपाः उपत्यका, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः)), ...

Protected areas

In 1997, 15 protected areas were identified in this ecoregion, with a combined area of approximately that includes 7% of the ecoregion's area: * Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary,

(also extends into the Himalayan subtropical pine forests) () *

Mouling National Park Mouling National Park is a national park located in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, spread primarily over the Upper Siang district and parts of the West Siang and East Siang district. It was the second national park to be created in the ...

, Arunachal Pradesh (also extends into the Himalayan subtropical pine forests) () * Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh (also extends into the Himalayan subtropical pine forests and

Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests The Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of Northeastern India and southern Bhutan. Location and description The ecoregion covers and encompasses the alluvial plain of the upper Brahmaputra R ...

) (() *

Royal Manas National Park Royal Manas National Park is Bhutan's oldest national park, and the Royal government considers it the "conservation showpiece of the Kingdom" and a "genetic depository" for valuable plants. It has an area of and covers eastern Sarpang District ...

, Bhutan (also extends into the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests) () *

Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park is the ninth national park in Nepal and was established in 2002. It is located in the country's mid-hills on the northern fringe of the Kathmandu Valley and named after Shivapuri Peak of altitude. It covers an ar ...

, Nepal ()Bhuju, U. R., Shakya, P. R., Basnet, T. B., Shrestha, S. (2007). Nepal Biodiversity Resource Book. Protected Areas, Ramsar Sites, and World Heritage Sites. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, in cooperation with United Nations Environment Programme, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Kathmandu, * Makalu-Barun National Park, Nepal (); also extends into the

and

Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows The Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion of Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal, which lies between the tree line and snow line in the eastern portion of the Himalaya Range. Setting The ...

Neora Valley National Park Neora Valley National Park is a national park in Kalimpong district, West Bengal, India that was established in 1986. It spreads over an area of , and is a rich biological zone in eastern India. It is the land of the red panda in the pristine undi ...

, West Bengal ()Shakya, B., Joshi, R. M. (2008). Protected Areas and Biodiversity Conservation in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region with Special Reference to the Kangchenjunga Landscape. In: N. Chettri, B. Shakya, E. Sharma (eds.) Biodiversity Conservation in the Kangchenjunga Landscape. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu. Pp. 13–20. *

Torsa Strict Nature Reserve __NOTOC__ The Torsa Strict Nature Reserve (officially Jigme Khesar Strict Nature Reserve) in Bhutan covers 609.51 square kilometres in Haa District, occupying most of its area. Founded along with other national parks in 1993 by decision of the ...

, Bhutan (); also extends into the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests and Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows * Jigme Dorji National Park, Bhutan (also extends into the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests and Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows) () * Thrumshingla National Park, Bhutan (also extends into the Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows) () *

Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary The Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary (also spelled Bumdelling or Bomdeling), which contains the former Kulong Chu Wildlife Sanctuary, covers in northeastern Bhutan at elevations between and . The sanctuary covers most of Trashiyangtse Distri ...

, Bhutan (also extends into the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests) () * Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park, Bhutan (also extends into the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests and Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows) () *

, Bhutan () *

Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary The Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary, established in 1989, is the 50th Tiger reserve in India. The Sanctuary is rich with floral and faunal diversity. It is situated in the Lohit District of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The pa ...

, Arunachal Pradesh () * Chayu Nature Reserve, Tibet (also extends into the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests) ()

References

External links

WWF: ''Map of ecoregions in Nepal'', showing the Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests
{{ecoregions of India Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Ecoregions of the Himalayas Himalayan forests . Ecoregions of Bhutan Ecoregions of India Ecoregions of Nepal Forests of India Ecoregions of Asia Indomalayan ecoregions Forests of Nepal

Setting

Flora

Fauna

Conservation

Protected areas

See also

References

External links