The Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests is a

tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in la ...

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 ...

in Thailand. It occupies the lowlands of the

Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya River is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. Etymology Written evidence of the river being referred to by the ...

watershed in central Thailand. The ecoregion was once home to extensive swamp forests and wetlands. The ecoregion has mostly been converted to agriculture and cities, and very little natural forest remains. The ecoregion's rice paddies and waterways still sustain some wildlife.

Geography

The ecoregion has an area of 38,858 km². It extends about north to south and east to west. The original swamp forests have almost entirely been removed as the plain has been converted to rice paddies, other agriculture, and urban areas like

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Flora

Today we can only guess at the original habitat and wildlife by comparing it with neighbouring countries. It is believed that the area would have consisted of freshwater swamps inland (which consist of ''

Cinnamomum cassia ''Cinnamomum cassia'', called Chinese cassia or Chinese cinnamon, is an evergreen tree originating in southern China and widely cultivated there and elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia. It is one of several species of ''Cinnamomum'' used prim ...

'', '' Durio zibethinus'', '' Garcinia mangostana'', '' Artocarpus heterophyllus'', ''

Ficus benghalensis ''Ficus benghalensis'', ''Ficus indica'', or ''Ficus audrey'' commonly known as the banyan, banyan fig and Indian banyan, is a tree native to the Indian Subcontinent. Specimens in India are among the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage. ...

'', '' Gnetum gnemon'', ''

Mangifera indica ''Mangifera indica'', commonly known as mango, is an evergreen species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a large fruit tree, capable of growing to a height and width of . There are two distinct genetic populations in modern m ...

'', ''

Toona ciliata ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout South Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), tone, toon or toona (als ...

'', ''

Toona sinensis ''Toona sinensis'', common name, commonly called Chinese mahogany, Chinese cedar, Chinese toon, beef and onion plant, or red toon (; ; ; ; ) is a species of ''Toona'' native to eastern and southeastern Asia, ranging from northern Korean peninsula ...

'', ''

Cocos nucifera The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

'', ''

Tetrameles nudiflora ''Tetrameles'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Tetramelaceae with one species, ''Tetrameles nudiflora''. It grows as a large deciduous tree and is found across southern Asia from India through southeast Asia, Malesia, and into northe ...

'', ''

Ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million year ...

'', ''

Shorea robusta ''Shorea robusta'', the sal tree, sāla, shala, sakhua, or sarai, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The tree is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and across the Himalayan regions. Evolution Fossil evidence from lig ...

'', ''

Prunus serrulata ''Prunus serrulata'' or Japanese cherry is a species of cherry tree that grows wild in Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indones ...

'', ''

Camphora officinarum ''Camphora officinarum'' is a species of evergreen tree indigenous to warm temperate to subtropical regions of East Asia, including countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. It is known by various names, most notably the camph ...

'', '' Tsuga dumosa'', '' Ulmus lanceifolia'', ''

Tectona grandis Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

'', ''

Terminalia elliptica ''Terminalia elliptica'' (sin. ''Terminalia tormentosa'') is a species of '' Terminalia'' native to southern and southeast Asia in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.Sal and Saaj Deforestation in West Nepal"T ...

'', '' Terminalia bellirica'', ''

Quercus acutissima ''Quercus acutissima'', the sawtooth oak, is an Asian species of oak native to China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Siberia, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Indochina (Vietnam, Thailand, ...

'', and

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indo ...

s) and salty ''

Avicennia ''Avicennia'' is a genus of flowering plants currently placed in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. It contains mangrove trees, which occur in the intertidal zones of estuarine areas and are characterized by its "pencil roots", which ar ...

- Rhizophora- Sonneratia-

Nypa fruticans ''Nypa fruticans'', commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from ) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapted to the ...

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

s on the coast and the river estuaries. The swamp would have been covered in ''

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial plant, perennial reed (plant), reed Poaceae, grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Famili ...

'' marsh grasses. Today there is a small area of this remaining in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, a relic of the original landscape.

Fauna

Much of the wildlife that once inhabited these plains has disappeared, including a large number of fish in the river systems, birds such as vultures, the

Oriental darter The Oriental darter (''Anhinga melanogaster'') is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a long and slender neck with a straight, pointed bill and, like the cormorant, it hunts for fish while its body is submerged in water ...

(''Anhinga melanogaster''), white-eyed river martin (''Pseudochelidon sirintarae''), the

sarus crane The sarus crane (''Antigone antigone'') is a large nonmigratory Crane (bird), crane found in parts of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. The tallest of the flying birds, standing at a height of up to , they are a c ...

(''Grus antigone'') and mammals such as

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 ...

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 ...

s, and

Javan rhinoceros The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros is a critically endangered member of the genus ''Rhinoceros'', of the rhinoceros family Rhinocerotidae, and one of the five remainin ...

es.IUCN 1991. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and the Pacific. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd.

Schomburgk's deer The Schomburgk's deer (''Rucervus schomburgki'') is an extinct species of deer once endemic to central Thailand. It was described by Edward Blyth in 1863 and named after Sir Robert H. Schomburgk, who was the British consul in Bangkok from 1857 t ...

(''Rucervus schomburgki''), which was endemic to the ecoregion, is believed to be extinct. There are populations of threatened birds, including colonies of breeding water birds such as the world's largest populations of the near-threatened Asian openbill (''Anastomus oscitans''), and other birds such as the wintering black kite (''Milvus migrans''). Endemic mammals that remain are the limestone rat (''Niviventer hinpoon''), Neill's long-tailed giant rat (''Leopoldamys neilli''), and the near-endemic Thailand roundleaf bat (''Hipposideros halophyllus''). The Chao Phraya basin is home to about half a dozen endemic

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

and

damselflies Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the win ...

. The conservation status of most of these in unclear (they are rated as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

), but '' Cryptophaea saukra'' is

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

and '' Caliphaea angka'' is

endangered 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, inv ...

.Allen, D.J.; Smith, K.G. & Darwall, W.R.T. (editors)(2008).
The status and distribution of freshwater fishes of Indo-Burma.
''

. .

Conservation and threats

As so much has been cleared or altered the potential for creating large protected areas to preserve original habitat no longer exists. However much wildlife does remain in the rice fields and steps may be taken to preserve these as urban and industrial development on the plains is ongoing and the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand has very little control or planning over this. Particular threats come from the conversion of rice paddies to large-scale production of prawns by pumping in seawater, and the use of pesticides to eliminate the introduced snail,'' Pomacea canaliculata'', which damages rice plants.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 290 km², or less than 1%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.

References

{{reflist

External links

Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests (WWF)

Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests (DOPA)

Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests (EOE)
Ecoregions of Thailand Indomalayan ecoregions Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests