Taiheiyo evergreen forests
The Taiheiyo evergreen forests is a temperate broadleaf forest ecoregion of Japan.
The ecoregion covers an area of 138,300 square kilometers (53,400 sq mi) on the Pacific (Taiheiyo) side of the islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. The influence of the Japan Current creates a humid climate with mild winters and a long growing season, which nurtured evergreen broadleaf forests. Laurel forests grew near the coast, and Oak forests were predominant inland. At higher elevations, the Taiheiyo evergreen forests yielded to the Taiheiyo montane deciduous forests of the interior.[1]
The forests include a mix of species with origins in temperate and tropical Asia. Species with tropical origins include two species of the conifer Podocarpus,, two species of Pittosporum, several species in the Laurel family (Machilus, Neolitsea, and Cinnamomum), and the Cycad Cycas revoluta. Trees with origins in temperate Eurasia include species of evergreen Oaks and Castanopsis.[2]
The ecoregion is home to Japan's largest cities, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya, and most of forests have been converted to agriculture or cities. Remnant areas of forest remain around temples and shrines, on steep slopes, and in gorges. Secondary growth woodlands, called Satoyama, are found on hillsides bordering farmlands.
See also
References
- ↑ World Wildlife Fund (2001). "Taiheiyo evergreen forests". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ↑ Haggett, Peter (2002). Encyclopedia of World Geography. 2nd Ed. Marshall Cavendish Co., Tarrytown, New York. p. 3089
External links
Palearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests |
Apennine deciduous montane forests |
Italy |
Atlantic mixed forests |
Denmark, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands |
Azores temperate mixed forests |
Portugal |
Balkan mixed forests |
Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey |
Baltic mixed forests |
Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland |
Cantabrian mixed forests |
Spain, Portugal |
Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests |
Iran, Azerbaijan |
Caucasus mixed forests |
Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey |
Celtic broadleaf forests |
United Kingdom, Ireland |
Central Anatolian deciduous forests |
Turkey |
Central China loess plateau mixed forests |
China |
Central European mixed forests |
Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Belarus, Czech Republic |
Central Korean deciduous forests |
North Korea, South Korea |
Changbai Mountains mixed forests |
China, North Korea |
Changjiang Plain evergreen forests |
China |
Crimean Submediterranean forest complex |
Russia, Ukraine |
Daba Mountains evergreen forests |
China |
Dinaric Mountains mixed forests |
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia |
East European forest steppe |
Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine |
Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests |
Turkey |
English Lowlands beech forests |
United Kingdom |
Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests |
Bulgaria, Georgia, Turkey |
Hokkaido deciduous forests |
Japan |
Huang He Plain mixed forests |
China |
Madeira evergreen forests |
Portugal |
Manchurian mixed forests |
China, North Korea, Russia, South Korea |
Nihonkai evergreen forests |
Japan |
Nihonkai montane deciduous forests |
Japan |
North Atlantic moist mixed forests |
Ireland, United Kingdom |
Northeast China Plain deciduous forests |
China |
Pannonian mixed forests |
Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia |
Po Basin mixed forests |
Italy |
Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests |
France, Spain, Andorra |
Qin Ling Mountains deciduous forests |
China |
Rodope montane mixed forests |
Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia |
Sarmatic mixed forests |
Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus |
Sichuan Basin evergreen broadleaf forests |
China |
South Sakhalin-Kurile mixed forests |
Russia |
Southern Korea evergreen forests |
South Korea |
Taiheiyo evergreen forests |
Japan |
Taiheiyo montane deciduous forests |
Japan |
Tarim Basin deciduous forests and steppe |
China |
Ussuri broadleaf and mixed forests |
Russia |
West Siberian broadleaf and mixed forests |
Russia |
Western European broadleaf forests |
Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, Czech Republic |
Zagros Mountains forest steppe |
Iran, Arabian Peninsula |