The Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests are a

temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needl ...

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 ...

of the middle to upper 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 ...

and southeast

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...

. The ecoregion occurs in southeastern

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of � ...

, China, in northern and eastern

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and extreme eastern

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 ...

Setting

Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests cover in the southeast Tibetan Plateau, occurring between . The forests are mostly in the

Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, also known as the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, the Tsangpo Canyon, the Brahmaputra Canyon or the Tsangpo Gorge ('), is a canyon along the Yarlung Tsangpo River (Tibet), Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet Autonomous ...

, where the

Yarlung Tsangpo River The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo () is the upper stream of the Brahmaputra River located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The upper section is also called D ...

wraps around the eastern edge of the

and descends from the Tibetan Plateau. Tributary valleys of the Yarlung Tsangpo, including those of the

Nyang River The Nyang River (; ; also transliterated as Niyang or Nanpan) is a major river in south-west Tibet and the second largest tributary of the Yarlung Tsangpo River by discharge. The Nyang has a length of 307.5 km and originates at 5,000 meters ...

and

Parlung Tsangpo Parlung Tsangpo or Parlung Zangbo (; ), also known as Palongzangbu River, is a river in Nyingchi, Tibet, China. It is the largest tributary on the left side of Yarlung Tsangpo. Its source is the Arza Gongla Glacier, at an elevation of 4900m. It fi ...

, host connected portions of the Northeast Himalayan subalpine conifer forests. Isolated pockets of this ecoregion also occur in the Zayü River valley and Tawang Valley. Many of these forests are found in so-called "inner valleys", which are valleys that are shielded from the

South Asian monsoon The Monsoon of South Asia is among several geographically distributed global monsoons. It affects the Indian subcontinent, where it is one of the oldest and most anticipated weather phenomena and an economically important pattern every year fro ...

by mountain ridges but still receive enough precipitation to support thriving forests. In higher elevations, this ecoregion grades into

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 ...

and Southeast Tibet shrub and meadows. In lower elevations it grades into

Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests The Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests is a temperate broadleaf forest ecoregion found in the middle elevations of the eastern Himalayas, including parts of Nepal, India, and Bhutan. These forests have an outstanding richness of wildlife. Settin ...

Flora

The dominant trees are '' Tsuga dumosa,

Picea smithiana ''Picea smithiana'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Pinaceae family It is referred to by the common names morinda spruce and West Himalayan spruce, and is a spruce native to the western Himalaya and adjacent mountains, from northeas ...

'', and ''

Abies Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related t ...

'' spp. Less common are '' Larix griffithiana,

Larix potaninii ''Larix potaninii'' is a species of larch conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found in China and Nepal. The one of southernmost species of the genus ''Larix'', the range of ''Larix potaninii'' extends southward almost to 27° N. Varieties , ...

Pinus wallichiana ''Pinus wallichiana'' is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountains, from eastern Afghanistan east across northern Pakistan and north west India to Yunnan in southwest China. It grows in mountain valle ...

'', and ''

Taxus baccata ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...

''. Near timberline are found various junipers: ''

Juniperus indica ''Juniperus indica'', the black juniper, is a juniper native to high-altitude climates in the Himalaya, occurring in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and China. It is of interest as the highest elevation woody plant known, reported growing as h ...

, Juniperus recurva'', and ''

Juniperus squamata ''Juniperus squamata'', the flaky juniper, or Himalayan juniper is a species of coniferous shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the Himalayas and China. It represents the provincial tree of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (unofficial). ...

''. '' Betula utilis'' is often found with the conifers. Other broadleaf plants include '' Acer'' spp., ''

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'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

'' spp., ''

Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, rowan ( mountain-ash) and service tree. The exact number of species is disputed depe ...

'' spp., ''

Viburnum ''Viburnum'' is a genus of about 150–175 species of flowering plants in the moschatel family Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny. It was previously included in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. The membe ...

'' spp., Lauraceae, and

Araliaceae The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely, but it is predominantly distinguish ...

. Rhododendrons reach their pinnacle in this ecoregion. The number of rhododendron species seems to increase above , and the

gorge alone may harbor over 60 of them. The highest forest in the world is found in this ecoregion, with Tibetan juniper reaching heights of in

Baxoi County Pasho County or Baxoi County (; }) is a county under the administration of Chamdo Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The county seat is at Pema (), which is also called the Pasho Town. The county population is 35,273 (1999). It contain ...

Fauna

Important mammals in this ecoregion include the

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 ...

takin The takin (''Budorcas taxicolor''; ), also called cattle chamois or gnu goat, is a large species of ungulate of the subfamily Caprinae found in the eastern Himalayas. It includes four subspecies: the Mishmi takin (''B. t. taxicolor''), the g ...

, musk deer,

red goral The red goral (''Naemorhedus baileyi'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the subfamily Caprinae in the family Bovidae. It is found in India, Tibet and Myanmar. Its natural habitats are seasonal mountainous areas 1,000 to 2,000 meters above s ...

Asiatic black bear The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an or ...

, and leopard. Significant birds include the Tibetan eared-pheasant, white-eared pheasant, and the giant babax.

Conservation

This ecoregion tends to be found on steep, inaccessible terrain and thus has avoided significant human settlement.

References

External links

* {{- Temperate coniferous forests Ecoregions of the Himalayas Himalayan forests Ecoregions of India Ecoregions of China Ecoregions of Bhutan Biota of Bhutan Biota of India Palearctic ecoregions Northeast India Montane forests