The Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests are a

temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial ecoregion, 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 ...

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 ...

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 Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

and southeast

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

. The ecoregion occurs in southeastern

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, in northern and eastern

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and extreme eastern

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

Setting

Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests cover in the southeast Tibetan Plateau, occurring between . The forests are mostly in the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, where the Yarlung Tsangpo River 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 and Parlung Tsangpo, 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 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 and Southeast Tibet shrub and meadows. In lower elevations it grades into Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests.

Flora

The dominant trees are '' Tsuga dumosa, Picea brachytyla, Picea likiangensis, Cupressus austrotibetica, Cupressus gigantea, Cupressus torulosa'', and '' Abies'' spp. Less common are '' Larix griffithiana, Larix potaninii, Pinus wallichiana'', '' Abies spectabilis, Pinus roxburghii, Pinus hwangshanensis, Shorea robusta, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, Alnus nepalensis, Picea brachytyla, Juglans regia, Larix sibirica, Larix × czekanowskii, Pinus koraiensis,

Pinus sibirica ''Pinus sibirica'', or Siberian pine, in the family Pinaceae is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58°E in the Ural Mountains east to 126°E in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68°N in the l ...

Pinus sylvestris ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native plant, native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly s ...

, Picea obovata, Abies sibirica, Quercus acutissima, Quercus mongolica, Ginkgo biloba,

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 ...

Prunus padus ''Prunus padus'', known as bird cherry, hackberry (unrelated to the genus ''Celtis''), hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the Rosaceae, rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to tall. It ...

, Tilia amurensis,

Salix babylonica ''Salix babylonica'' (Babylon willow or weeping willow; ) is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, and Siberia but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southw ...

, Acer palmatum, Populus tremula, Ulmus davidiana, Ulmus pumila, Pinus pumila, Haloxylon ammodendron, Elaeagnus angustifolia, Tamarix ramosissima, Prunus sibirica'', '' Cathaya argyrophylla'', '' Taiwania cryptomerioides'', '' Cyathea spinulosa'', '' Sassafras tzumu'', '' Davidia involucrata'', '' Metasequoia glyptostroboides'', '' Glyptostrobus pensilis'', '' Castanea mollissima'', '' Quercus myrsinifolia'', '' Quercus acuta'', '' Machilus thunbergii'', '' Tetracentron'', ''

Cercidiphyllum japonicum ''Cercidiphyllum japonicum'', known as the Katsura (from its Japanese name カツラ, 桂), is a species of flowering tree in the family Cercidiphyllaceae native to China and Japan. It is sometimes called ''caramel tree'' for the light caramel sm ...

'', '' Emmenopterys henryi'', '' Eucommia ulmoides'', and ''

Taxus baccata ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family (botany), family Taxaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe and Southern Europe, as well as Northwest Africa, and parts of Southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Bri ...

''. Near timberline are found various junipers: '' Juniperus indica, Juniperus recurva'', '' Juniperus tibetica'', and '' Juniperus squamata''. '' Betula utilis, Betula alnoides, Betula dahurica, and

Betula pendula ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in so ...

'' is often found with the conifers. Conifer trees in this ecoregion can grow up to be very tall, sometimes up to 70-80m. '' Cupressus torulosa'' (Himalayan cypress) is one of the tallest known species of trees(can grow up to 102.3m), and it can be found in this ecoregion. Other broadleaf plants include '' Acer'' spp., '' Magnolia'' spp., ''

Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' ('' s.str.'') are commonly known as rowan or mountain-ash. The genus used to include species commonly known as whitebeam, cheque ...

'' spp., '' Viburnum'' spp.,

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 ...

, 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 commonly called the ginseng family. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely ...

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s reach their pinnacle in this ecoregion. The number of

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

species seems to increase above , and the Yarlung Tsangpo River 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,

Fauna

Important mammals in this ecoregion include the red panda, takin,

musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all eight, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family (biology), family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, b ...

, red goral, Asiatic black bear, and

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

. 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