Central Indochina dry forests
| Central Indochina dry forests | |
|---|---|
| Ecoregion | |
Landscape of the Phi Pan Nam Range.
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 A map of the Central Indochina dry forests ecoregion |
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| Biome | Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests |
| Countries | Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam |
| Area | |
| • Total | 444,000 km2 (171,000 sq mi) |
The Central Indochina dry forests are a large tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion in Southeast Asia.
The ecoregion consists of an area of plateau and low river basin in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam and includes:
These are the drier areas of Indochina with 1,000-1,500 mm rainfall per year and a long dry season when regular fires occur in the undergrowth, some set intentionally to clear the forest or drive out wildlife for hunters.
Great swathes of this ecoregion are densely populated and are used for agriculture or urban development, especially in Thailand.
While some large areas do remain in northeastern Cambodia, much of the original deciduous dipterocarp forest has presently been cleared, especially in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. The remaining woodlands consist of a variety of types of habitat and consequently a wide range of trees and undergrowth plants.
The remaining forests are home to some large mammals including Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee), Eld's deer (Cervus eldii) and three species of wild cattle the gaur (Bos gaurus), the banteng (Bos javanicus) and the kouprey (Bos sauveli). Large herds of these grazing animals were once widespread across the region and were preyed upon by tigers (Panthera tigris), clouded leopard (Felis nebulosa), leopards (Panthera pardus) and dhole (wild dogs) (Cuon alpinus). Both loss of habitat and hunting have seriously reduced numbers of all these animals many of which are endangered with the kouprey very rare and other species such as the Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and Schomburgk's deer (Cervus duvaucelli schomburgki) now extinct in the region.
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