List of ecoregions in Indonesia explained

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

Sundaland bioregion

See main article: Sundaland.

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests

Mangroves

Wallacea bioregion

See main article: Wallacea.

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

New Guinea bioregion

See main article: Ecoregions of New Guinea.

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Montane grasslands and shrublands

Mangrove

Freshwater

Sunda Shelf and the Philippines bioregion

See main article: Sundaland.

See main article: Ecoregions of the Philippines.

Montane Freshwaters

Tropical and Subtropical coastal rivers

Wallacea bioregion

See main article: Wallacea.

Montane Freshwaters

Tropical and subtropical coastal rivers

(Indonesia)

New Guinea bioregion

See main article: New Guinea.

Montane Freshwaters

Tropical and subtropical coastal rivers

Marine

Western Indo-Pacific

See main article: Western Indo-Pacific.

Andaman

Central Indo-Pacific

See main article: Central Indo-Pacific.

Sunda Shelf

Java Transitional

Western Coral Triangle

Sahul Shelf

References