The Irrawaddy dry forests is a

tropical dry broadleaf forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

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 central Myanmar. The ecoregion occupies portions of the

Irrawaddy Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady may refer to: *Irrawaddy River, the main river of Burma *Irrawaddy Delta, a rice growing region of the country *Irrawaddy, an alternative spelling of Ayeyarwady Region, an administrative division of Burma *''The Irrawaddy'' ...

Sittaung Sittaung (also spelled Sittang and Sittoung) may refer to: * Sittaung, Mon, a village and historical site in Mon State, Myanmar * Sittaung, Sagaing, a town in Sagaing Region, Myanmar * Sittaung Bridge (Moppalin), a bridge over the Sittaung river ...

, and

Salween The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

river basins, in areas with less than 800 mm of annual rainfall.

Geography

The Irrawaddy dry forests occupy an area of 34,988 km². The ecoregion consists of several enclaves in the basins of Irrawaddy, upper Sittaung, and lower

rivers. The dry forests are bounded by the

Irrawaddy moist deciduous forests The Irrawaddy moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in central Myanmar. The ecoregion occupies the central basin of the Irrawaddy River and the lower basin of the Salween River. The ecoregion is characterized by ...

Flora

Dry mixed deciduous forest, also called Than Dahat forest, is predominantly

teak 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 ...

(''Tectona hamiltoniana''), with '' Terminalia oliveri,

Senegalia catechu ''Senegalia catechu'', previously known as ''Acacia catechu'', is a deciduous, thorny tree which grows up to in height. The plant is called ''kachu'' in Malay; the Malay name was Latinized to "catechu" in Linnaean taxonomy, as the species from ...

'', and ''

Bauhinia racemosa ''Bauhinia racemosa'', commonly known as the bidi leaf tree, is a rare medicinal species of flowering shrub with religious significance. It is a small crooked tree with drooping branches that grows tall and flowers between February and May. It i ...

''. Dry deciduous dipterocarp forest, known as Indaing, is an open-canopied woodland with an understory of herbs and grasses.

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 are predominant, including ''

Dipterocarpus tuberculatus ''Dipterocarpus tuberculatus'' ( Khmer ''khlông'',DY PHON Pauline, 2000, Plants Used in Cambodia, self-published, printed by Imprimerie Olympic, Phnom Penh Indian English ''gurjuntree''Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India, 1952 ...

Shorea siamensis ''Shorea siamensis'' is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is native to most of mainland Southeast Asia. Uses In Cambodia, ''Shorea siamensis'' (known in Khmer as រាំងភ្នំ – Raing Phnom) is rare and most oft ...

Shorea obtusa ''Shorea obtusa'', the Siamese sal, is a species of hardwood tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae, native to Southeast Asia. Distribution and habitat ''Shorea obtusa'' is native to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. It grows in relat ...

'', and '' Shorea oblongifolia''. Trees in the pea family (

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

) are also present, including species of ''

Afzelia ''Afzelia'' is a genus of plants in family (biology), family Fabaceae. The thirteen species all are trees, native to tropical Africa or Asia. The genus name of ''Afzelia'' is in honour of Adam Afzelius (1750–1837), a Swedish botanist and an ap ...

Pterocarpus ''Pterocarpus'' is a pantropical tree genus in the Fabaceae family. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of ''Pterocarpus'' yi ...

Dalbergia ''Dalbergia'' is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Dalbergia'' clade (or tribe): the Dalbergieae. The ...

Xylia ''Xylia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Mainland Southeast Asia. Species ''Xylia'' includes nine accepted species: * ''Xylia africana'' Harms * ''Xylia evansii'' Hutch ...

'', and ''

Sindora ''Sindora''Miquel (1861) ''Fl. Ned. Ind., Suppl.'' 1: 287. is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. Species ''Sindora'' comprises the following species: * ''Sindora affinis'' * ''Sindora beccariana'' * ''Sindora bruggemanii'' * ''Sindora cor ...

''. High Indaing is woodland with trees up to 20 meters high. Low Indaing is made up of high shrubs and low trees, and is often the result of repeated cutting and burning of high Indaing.

Fauna

The ecoregion is home several medium-sized and small mammals, including

Indian muntjac The Northern red muntjac (''Muntiacus vaginalis'') is a species of muntjac. It is found in numerous countries of south-central and southeast Asia. The northern red muntjac inhabits various forest types, from tropical rainforests to deciduous an ...

(''Muntiacus muntjak''),

Eld's deer Eld's deer (''Rucervus eldii'' or ''Panolia eldii''Pitraa, Fickela, Meijaard, Groves (2004). ''Evolution and phylogeny of old world deer.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33: 880–895.), also known as the thamin or brow-antlered deer, i ...

(''Cervus eldi''),

sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent, South China and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe huntin ...

(''Cervus unicolor''),

Indian hog deer The Indian hog deer (''Axis porcinus''), or Indochinese hog deer, is a small cervid native to the region of the Indian subcontinent and Indo-Gangetic Plain. Introduced populations are established in Australia, as well as the United States and Sri ...

(''Hyelaphus porcinus''),

Indian jackal The Indian jackal (''Canis aureus indicus''), also known as the Himalayan jackal, is a subspecies of golden jackal native to Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Burma and Nepal. Its karyotype is quite different (2N=78; NF=84) from that of its Eurasian and A ...

(''Canis aureus indicus''),

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...

(''Macaca mulatta''),

western hoolock gibbon The western hoolock gibbon (''Hoolock hoolock'') is a primate from the gibbon family, Hylobatidae. The species is found in Assam, Mizoram, and Meghalaya in India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar west of the Chindwin River. Classification Mootnick and ...

(''Hoolock hoolock''), and

jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat and swamp cat, is a medium-sized cat native from the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Caucasus to parts of Central, South and Southeast Asia. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, ...

(''Felis chaus''). Larger mammals, including Indian elephant and tiger, have been extirpated from the ecoregion. The

Popa langur The Popa langur (''Trachypithecus popa'') is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It occurs only in Myanmar and was named after Mount Popa, where a population of 100 of the monkeys live. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the ...

(''Trachypithecus popa'') is endemic to the ecoregion. The critically endangered species is limited 200 to 250 individuals in four isolated populations, including

Mount Popa Mount Popa (, ) is a dormant volcano 1518 metres (4981 feet) above sea level, and located in central Myanmar in the region of Mandalay Region, Mandalay about southeast of Bagan (Pagan) in the Pegu Range. It can be seen from the Irrawaddy Ri ...

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that only 167 km², or less than 1%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Another 9% is forested but outside of protected areas.Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b

/ref> Protected areas in the ecoregion include

Popa Mountain National Park Popa Mountain National Park is a national park in Myanmar covering . It was established in 1989. In elevation, it ranges from surrounding Mount Popa in Kyaukpadaung Township, Mandalay Region Mandalay Region (, ; formerly Mandalay Division) is ...

and Lawkananda Wildlife Sanctuary.

External links

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of Myanmar * Indomalayan ecoregions Irrawaddy River Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests