| Cardamom Mountains rain forests | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Ecoregion territory (in purple) | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Indomalayan realm |
| Biome | tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests |
| Borders | |
| Bird species | 450 |
| Mammal species | 100+ |
| Geography | |
| Area | 44,289 km2 (17,100 mi2) |
| Countries | |
| Provinces | |
| Elevation | 0-1,800 metres |
| Geology | Sandstone with some limestone, volcanic rock and granite |
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | relatively stable/intact |
| Protected | 18,647 km² (43%)[1] |
TheCardamom Mountains rain forests is atropical moist broadleaf forestecoregion inSoutheast Asia, as identified by theWWF. The ecoregion covers theCardamom Mountains andElephant Mountains and the adjacent coastal lowlands in easternThailand and southwesternCambodia, as well as theVietnamese island ofDao Phu Quoc.
The Cardamom Mountains rain forests ecoregion spans a total of 44,288.8 km2 (17,100.0 sq mi) of relatively unexplored rain forest. The ecoregion is bounded by theGulf of Thailand to the southwest, and theIndochina mangroves ecoregion fringes its shores. TheCentral Indochina dry forests lie to the east and north, in therain shadow of the mountains. TheChao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests lie to the northwest.
There are several forest types present.
Lowland evergreen forests grow in the narrow coastal plain between the mountains and the Gulf of Thailand. These forests have mostly disappeared.
Dwarf rain forests occupy waterlogged areas in the southern slopes of the mountains, with the tree canopy not exceeding 12 meters in height. TheconifersDacrydium elatum andPodocarpus neriifolius are the predominant trees, with scatteredNageia fleuryi andDacrycarpus imbricatus.[2]
Montane forests cover large parts of the ecoregion above 700 metres elevation. Trees form a dense canopy up to 30 meters high. Trees in the beech family (Fagaceae) are prominent, includingLithocarpus cambodiensis, Lithocarpus guinieri, Lithocarpus farinulentus, Lithocarpus harmandii, andCastanopsis cambodiana. Other prominent trees are in the laurel family (Lauraceae), including species ofCinnamomum andLitsea, and the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), including species ofSyzygium andTristaniopsis. The montane forests are also home to diverse palms, understory shrubs, tree ferns, andepiphytes, including manyorchids.[2]
Dwarf montane forests grow in acidic sandstone-derived soils in the southern Elephant Mountains, where the conifersDacrydium elatum, Dacrycarpus imbricatus, and other trees form a low canopy 5–10 meters high. Forests dominated byPinus latteri are found on the Kirirom Plateau in the Elephant Mountains.[2]
The Cardamom Mountains rain forests are part of the regionalIndo-Burma Hotspot, abiodiversity hotspot of global importance with a large biological variation, and home to many rare, threatened andendemic species.[3] The Cardamom Mountains rain forests is home to many endemic species. Because of its remote location, very small human population, and difficult terrain, most of these forests remain relatively unexplored by scientists.
The ecoregion is home to several large mammals, includingAsian elephant (Elephas maximus),tiger (Panthera tigris),clouded leopard (Pardofelis nebulosa),dhole (Cuon alpinus),gaur (Bos gaurus),banteng (Bos javanicus),Sumatran serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), andpileated gibbon (Hylobates pileatus).
The ecoregion is home to over 450 species of birds, including twoendemic species, thechestnut-headed partridge (Arborophila cambodiana) andSiamese partridge (Arborophila diversa).[4]
Endemic reptiles include theCardamom Mountains wolf snake (Lycodon cardamomensis) andCardamom Mountains bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus cardamomensis).[5]
The Cardamom Mountains rain forest is one of the last intact rain forests left in Southeast Asia. It is also one of the most species-rich areas in the world, including many rare, threatened and endemic species.[6][7]
After theCambodian peace agreements and normalization in the 1990s, large parts of the Cardamom Mountains, and adjoining lowlands of the ecoregion, were designated as protected areas, mostlynational parks andwildlife sanctuaries. With the establishment of the large Southern Cardamom National Park in May 2016, nearly all of the mountain range is now under some form of high level protection.[8]
Even though most of the ecoregion is under protection, it is under pressure from many degrading and destructive activities. This includes construction and infrastructure projects, mining, clearing for plantations,sand pumping, illegal loggings, hunting andpoaching (both opportunistic and organized).[9][10][8]
The protection laws has been poorly enforced and the Cambodian government has accepted and even encouraged destructive activities throughout, including national park areas.[11] The establishment of the Southern Cardamom National Park in 2016, may signal a change and improvement of the protection enforcement on ground level, as international organisations has stepped in with financing and practical help with park ranger tasks in an administrative collaboration with the Cambodian government. Also, a number of planned construction, plantation and mining projects has been put on hold.[12]
The WWF's numerical designation for the ecoregion is IM0106.
Media related toCardamom Mountains rain forests at Wikimedia Commons