The Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests are 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 of

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

Setting

The ecoregion covers an area of , extending across portions of

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 ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

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

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 ...

. The Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests occupy the lower portion of the

Mekong Basin The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of water ...

, where they are intertwined with 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 ...

. The

Southern Annamites montane rain forests The Southern Annamites montane rain forests ecoregion (WWF ID: IM0152) covers a region of high biodiversity in the central and southern mountains of the Annamite Range in Vietnam. Terrain ranges from wet lowland forest to evergreen hardwood an ...

border the dry evergreen forests on the east, occupying the higher elevations of the

Annamite Range The Annamite Range (; ) is a major mountain range of Mainland Southeast Asia, extending approximately through Laos, Vietnam, and a small area in northeast Cambodia. Geography The highest points of the Annamite Range are the -high Phou Bia, th ...

. To the south, the

Indochina mangroves The Indochina mangroves are a large mangrove ecoregion on the coasts of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. Location and description Mangrove forests occur on coasts that are regularly washed with saltwater by tidal movem ...

lie between

tropical seasonal forest Seasonal tropical forest, also known as moist deciduous, semi-evergreen seasonal, tropical mixed or monsoon forest, typically contains a range of tree species: only some of which drop some or all of their leaves during the dry season. This tropic ...

s and the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. The Tonle Sap-Mekong peat swamp forests and Tonle Sap freshwater swamp forests lie to the southeast, in the seasonally and permanently flooded lowlands along the Tonle Sap and lower

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

rivers and Tonle Sap Lake.

Flora

The Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests are one of three dry broadleaf forest ecoregions with predominantly evergreen trees; trees in dry broadleaf forests typically lose their leaves during the dry season.

Fauna

The ecoregion is home to many large mammals, including the

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''), previously one of two known populations of the now extinct

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 ...

(''Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus''),

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''),

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''),

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''),

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''),

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 ...

(''Panthera pardus''), and

Malayan sun bear The Malayan sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus malayanus'') is a subspecies of sun bear, occurring in southeast Asia. In 2025, Malayan sun bear along with the Bornean sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus euryspilus''), have been selected to be new campai ...

(''Ursus malayanus'').

Conservation

A 2017 assessment found that 28,210 km², or 23%, of the ecoregion is in

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s. Another 23% is forested but outside 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>

References

External links

* * {{NatGeo ecoregion, id=im0210, name=Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests Ecoregions of Cambodia Ecoregions of Laos Ecoregions of Thailand Ecoregions of Vietnam Indomalayan ecoregions Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests