Northeast India-Myanmar pine forests

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The Northeast India-Myanmar pine forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion of northeastern India and adjacent portions of Myanmar.

[edit] Setting

The ecoregion covers an area of 9700 km² of the Naga Hills, part of the belt of folded mountains that make up the India-Myanmar border region, The pine forests are found between 1500 and 2500 meters elevation, and occur in three enclaves; the largest straddles the boundary between India's Nagaland state and Myanmar, with two smaller enclaves in the southern portion of India's Mizoram state, near Myanmar border. The pine forests are surrounded at lower elevations by the predominantly broadleaf Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests.

[edit] Flora

Pines are the predominant trees in the ecoregion. Tenasserim Pine (Pinus latteri) is the dominant species at lower elevations, sometimes associated with dipterocarps. At higher elevations, Khasi Pine (P. kesiya) and Blue Pine (P. wallichiana) are the predominant species, associated with conifers, including hemlocks (Tsuga) and firs (Abies), and broadleaf trees, including oaks (Quercus) and maples (Acer). Rhododendron, Ilex, Prunus, and bamboo (Arundinaria) are understory shrubs.

[edit] References

Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press; Washington, DC.