Wikipedia

List of ecoregions in Indonesia

The following is a list of ecoregions in Indonesia. An ecoregion is defined by the WWF as a "large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities". There are terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecoregions. Ecoregions classified into biomes or major habitat types.

Indonesia straddles two of the Earth's biogeographical realms, large-scale divisions of the Earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals. Realms are subdivided into bioregions (and marine realms into provinces), which are in turn made up of multiple ecoregions. The Indomalayan realm extends across the western half of the archipelago, and the eastern half is in the Australasian realm. The Wallace Line, which runs between Borneo and Sulawesi, Bali and Lombok, is the dividing line.

The portion of Indonesia west of the Wallace Line is known as the Sundaland bioregion, which also includes Malaysia and Brunei. When sea levels fell during the ice ages, the shallow Sunda Shelf was exposed, linking the Islands of Sundaland to the Asian continent. Sundaland has many large mammals of Asian origin, including rhinoceros, Asian elephants, and apes.

East of the Wallace Line lies the Wallacea bioregion, made up of islands that were never linked to a continent, but were instead pushed up by the Australian continent's northward movement. Wallacea is a transitional region between Asia and Australia. It has a flora of mostly Indomalayan origin, with elements from Australasia, with a reptile and bird fauna of mainly Australian origin and no large mammal fauna.

The Aru Islands and the Indonesian portion of New Guinea are connected by the shallow Sahul Shelf to the Australian continent, and were connected by land during the ice ages. New Guinea has a flora of chiefly Asian origin with many Australasian elements, and a fauna similar to that of Australia.

Terrestrial

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Sundaland bioregion

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Main article: Sundaland

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

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Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests

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Mangroves

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Wallacea bioregion

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Main article: Wallacea

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

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Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

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New Guinea bioregion

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Main article: Ecoregions of New Guinea

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

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Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

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Montane grasslands and shrublands

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Mangrove

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Freshwater

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Sunda Shelf and the Philippines bioregion

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Main article: Sundaland
Main article: Ecoregions of the Philippines

Montane Freshwaters

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Tropical and Subtropical coastal rivers

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  • Aceh
  • Central & Eastern Java
  • Eastern Borneo
  • Indian Ocean Slope of Sumatra & Java
  • Kapuas
  • Malay Peninsula Eastern Slope
  • Northeastern Borneo
  • Northern Central Sumatra - Western Malaysia
  • Northern Philippine Islands
  • Northwestern Borneo
  • Southeastern Borneo
  • Southern Central Sumatra
  • Southern Sumatra - Western Java

Wallacea bioregion

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Main article: Wallacea

Montane Freshwaters

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Tropical and subtropical coastal rivers

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New Guinea bioregion

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Main article: New Guinea

Montane Freshwaters

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Tropical and subtropical coastal rivers

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Marine

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Western Indo-Pacific

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Main article: Western Indo-Pacific

Andaman

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  • Western Sumatra

Central Indo-Pacific

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Main article: Central Indo-Pacific

Sunda Shelf

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Java Transitional

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  • Southern Java

Western Coral Triangle

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Sahul Shelf

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References

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  • Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press; Washington, DC.
  • Freshwater Ecoregions of the World
  • Abell, R., Michele L. Thieme, Carmen Revenga, Mark Bryer et al. "Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Biogeographic Units for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation". Bioscience Vol. 58 No. 5, May 2008, pp. 403-414.
  • Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson et al. "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". Bioscience Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–583.
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