The Sunda Shelf mangroves

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas o ...

, in the

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

, are on the coasts of the islands of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

and eastern Sumatra in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. They are home to the

proboscis monkey The proboscis monkey (''Nasalis larvatus'') or long-nosed monkey is an arboreal Old World monkey with an unusually large nose, a reddish-brown skin color and a long tail. It is Endemism, endemic to the southeast Asian island of Borneo and is fou ...

. As well as being an important habitat for terrestrial and marine wildlife, mangroves preserve the shape of the coastline.

Flora

There are more plant species here than in most mangrove forests in the world, with five different types of mangrove dominating parts of the region as follows: '' Avicennia'' and '' Sonneratia'' species on the coast where water is saltiest and the tidal wash strongest; '' Rhizophoras'' and '' Bruguieras'' in the swampy areas just behind them; and ''

Nypa fruticans ''Nypa fruticans'', commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from ms, nipah) 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 adapt ...

'' palms in the freshwater streams further inland still.

Fauna

Mammals of the mangroves include the proboscis monkey (''

Nasalis larvatus The proboscis monkey (''Nasalis larvatus'') or long-nosed monkey is an arboreal Old World monkey with an unusually large nose, a reddish-brown skin color and a long tail. It is endemic to the southeast Asian island of Borneo and is found mo ...

''), which solely inhabits these swampy coastal habitats. There are also many species of birds.

Threats and preservation

Mangroves are vulnerable ecosystems as trees are cut for timber, firewood and to clear land for agriculture and urban development such as shrimp farming. This

loss of habitat Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

persists despite the mangroves being part of a large number of protected areas including: on Borneo Bako National Park in Malaysia and Tanjung Puting and Gunung Palung National Parks in Indonesia, and on Sumatra Berbak and

Sembilang National Park Sembilang National Park is a national park covering 2,051 km2 along the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The park is dominated by swamps as peat forests, like the neighbouring Berbak National Park, and both parks are Ramsar wetlands of int ...

References

{{Reflist Central Indo-Pacific Ecoregions of Asia Ecoregions of Brunei Ecoregions of Indonesia Ecoregions of Malaysia * * * Forests of Indonesia Forests of Malaysia Indomalayan ecoregions Mangrove ecoregions Natural history of Brunei