Borneo montane rain forests

The Borneo montane rain forests are an ecoregion, of cloud forest, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, of the island of Borneo in south-east Asia.

This ecoregion consists of tropical mountain cloud forest and laurel forest. In the higher elevations, above 1000 m, in the centre of Borneo with sections in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei-owned territories of the island. These cooler and moister slopes stick up out of the carpet of thick rainforest that covers the warmer lowlands below, and as well as additional rainfall also derive moisture from low cloud. Soils are poorer and more acidic than the lowlands.

The isolated higher and cooler forests of the island are home to a rich and distinctive set of plants of both Asian and Australian origin. There are especially large numbers of Nepenthes pitcher plants (>15 species), rhododendrons, and orchids. This ecoregion also contains important areas of forest on limestone upland, especially Mount Api which has clear altitudinal zones of differing vegetation. Long Pasia in the Meligan Range and the Usun Apau plateau have important areas of high-altitude wetland.

The montane forests are home to a distinct fauna including large numbers of mammals such as civets (such as the rare Hose's civet Diplogale hosei, endemic to these montane forests), tree shrews, squirrels, and rats and primates such as orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), gibbons, and langurs. Although most of these primates prefer lower elevations there are especially good numbers of the large macaque monkeys and as the forests are less-disturbed at higher elevations larger animals such as orangutans and Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) have retreated here from the lowlands. Although there are fewer birds in the Bornean mountains than in the lowlands there is a higher proportion of endemic species, indeed most of Borneo's unique birds live in the montane forests e.g. on Mount Mulu in Sarawak there are 171 different birds in the lowlands and only 12 species at 1300m.

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Wikipedia