The Cardamom Mountains rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, as identified by the WWF. The ecoregion covers the

Cardamom Mountains The Cardamom Mountains (, ; , ), or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the southwest part of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the range is within Cambodia. The silhouette of the Cardamom Mountains appears in the Sea ...

and Elephant Mountains and the adjacent coastal lowlands in eastern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and southwestern

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, as well as the

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese island of Dao Phu Quoc.

Geography

The Cardamom Mountains rain forests ecoregion spans a total of of relatively unexplored rain forest. The ecoregion is bounded by the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

to the southwest, and the Indochina mangroves ecoregion fringes its shores. The

Central Indochina dry forests The Central Indochina dry forests are a large tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion in Southeast Asia. Location and description The ecoregion consists of an area of plateau and low river basin in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Viet ...

lie to the east and north, in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

of the mountains. The Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests lie to the northwest.

Flora

There are several forest types present. Lowland evergreen forests grow in the narrow coastal plain between the mountains and the Gulf of Thailand. These forests have mostly disappeared. Dwarf rain forests occupy waterlogged areas in the southern slopes of the mountains, with the tree canopy not exceeding 12 meters in height. The

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

s '' Dacrydium elatum'' and '' Podocarpus neriifolius'' are the predominant trees, with scattered '' Nageia fleuryi'' and '' Dacrycarpus imbricatus''. Montane forests cover large parts of the ecoregion above 700 metres elevation. Trees form a dense canopy up to 30 meters high. Trees in the beech family (

Fagaceae The Fagaceae (; ) are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with around 1,000 or more species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species ...

) are prominent, including ''Lithocarpus cambodiensis, Lithocarpus guinieri, Lithocarpus farinulentus, Lithocarpus harmandii'', and ''Castanopsis cambodiana''. Other prominent trees are in the laurel family (

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...

), including species of ''

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 234 species, distributed in ...

'' and '' Litsea'', and the myrtle family (

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

), including species of '' Syzygium'' and '' Tristaniopsis''. The montane forests are also home to diverse palms, understory shrubs, tree ferns, and

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s, including many

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s. Dwarf montane forests grow in acidic sandstone-derived soils in the southern Elephant Mountains, where the conifers ''Dacrydium elatum, Dacrycarpus imbricatus'', and other trees form a low canopy 5–10 meters high. Forests dominated by '' Pinus latteri'' are found on the Kirirom Plateau in the Elephant Mountains. The Cardamom Mountains rain forests are part of the regional Indo-Burma Hotspot, a

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a ecoregion, biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after ...

of global importance with a large biological variation, and home to many rare, threatened and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

species. The Cardamom Mountains rain forests is home to many endemic species. Because of its remote location, very small human population, and difficult terrain, most of these forests remain relatively unexplored by scientists.

Fauna

The ecoregion is home to several large mammals, including

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

(''Elephas maximus''),

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

(''Panthera tigris''),

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through Northeast India and Bhutan to mainland Southeast Asia into South China. It w ...

(''Pardofelis nebulosa''),

dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

(''Cuon alpinus''),

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

(''Bos gaurus''),

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

(''Bos javanicus''), Sumatran serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis''), and pileated gibbon (''Hylobates pileatus''). The ecoregion is home to over 450 species of birds, including two

species, the chestnut-headed partridge (''Arborophila cambodiana'') and Siamese partridge (''Arborophila diversa)''. Endemic reptiles include the Cardamom Mountains wolf snake (''Lycodon cardamomensis'') and Cardamom Mountains bent-toed gecko (''Cyrtodactylus cardamomensis'').

Protected areas

The Cardamom Mountains rain forest is one of the last intact rain forests left in Southeast Asia. It is also one of the most species-rich areas in the world, including many rare, threatened and endemic species. After the Cambodian peace agreements and normalization in the 1990s, large parts of the Cardamom Mountains, and adjoining lowlands of the ecoregion, were designated as protected areas, mostly

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s and wildlife sanctuaries. With the establishment of the large Southern Cardamom National Park in May 2016, nearly all of the mountain range is now under some form of high level protection. ;Thailand * Namtok Khlong Kaeo National Park *

Namtok Phlio National Park Namtok Phlio National Park () is a national park in Chanthaburi Province, Thailand. The park is home to forested mountains, waterfalls, and many stupas and chedis from the reign of King Rama V. The mountains here are also known as Khao Sa Bap, ...

* Khao Khitchakut National Park * Khao Chamao-Khao Wong National Park *

Khao Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary Khao Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary () is a wildlife sanctuary in Thailand's Chanthaburi Province. It covers the area around Khao Soi Dao Tai and Khao Soi Dao Nuea (south and north Soi Dao mountains), the two highest peaks in the Chanthaburi Mountains ...

* Klong Kruewai Chalerm Prakiat Wildlife Sanctuary *

Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary The Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary () is a protected area at the western extremities of the Cardamom Mountains in Chachoengsao Province, Thailand. Founded in 1977, it is an IUCN Category IV wildlife sanctuary, with an area of 674,352 rai ~ ...

. ;Cambodia * Samlaut Multiple Use Area *

Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in western Cambodia, bordering Thailand. The sanctuary was established in 1993 and covers . It is also designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary is located ...

* Central Cardamom Mountains National Park * Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary * Southern Cardamom National Park * Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary * Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary * Botum-Sakor National Park * Kirirom National Park * Preah Monivong National Park (aka Bokor National Park) ; Vietnam * Phu Quoc National Park

Conservation status

Even though most of the ecoregion is under protection, it is under pressure from many degrading and destructive activities. This includes construction and infrastructure projects, mining, clearing for plantations, sand pumping, illegal loggings, hunting and

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

(both opportunistic and organized). The protection laws has been poorly enforced and the Cambodian government has accepted and even encouraged destructive activities throughout, including national park areas. The establishment of the Southern Cardamom National Park in 2016, may signal a change and improvement of the protection enforcement on ground level, as international organisations has stepped in with financing and practical help with park ranger tasks in an administrative collaboration with the Cambodian government. Also, a number of planned construction, plantation and mining projects has been put on hold.Cardamom National Park, Cambodia
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Ecoregion designation

The WWF's numerical designation for the ecoregion is IM0106.

Sources

* *

References

External links

* {{WWF ecoregion, name=Cardamom Mountains rain forests, id=im0106 Ecoregions of Asia Ecoregions of Cambodia Ecoregions of Thailand Ecoregions of Vietnam * Indomalayan ecoregions Montane forests Rainforests of Southeast Asia Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests