Borneo lowland rain forests

The Borneo lowland rain forests is a special area on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is part of a bigger group of forests called tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. These forests are very wet and full of many different plants and animals.

This area is home to many plants, birds, and mammals. It is very important for wildlife.

The Borneo lowland rain forests face big problems. People cut down trees for wood. They also hunt animals and change the land for farms and businesses. Because of this, the forests are getting smaller. This can hurt the animals and plants that live there.

Protecting these forests is very important to keep all the species safe and healthy.

Location and description

The Borneo lowland rain forests cover a large part of the island of Borneo. They grow below 1000 meters and are in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Besides these forests, Borneo has other special areas like peat swamp forests, freshwater swamp forests, and heath forests. These areas have unique plants and animals. There are also mangroves along the shores and higher forests in the mountains. Big rivers like the Kapuas River and Barito River split the land and affect where animals live.

Climate

Lowland Borneo has a steady tropical wet climate. Every month, it gets more than 200 millimetres (7.9 inches) of rain. The temperature there hardly changes—it stays within a range of about 10°C all year long.

Flora

The lowlands of Borneo have some of the richest rainforests in the world. The warm, wet weather lets many different kinds of plants grow there—more than all of Africa! These plants include many types of orchids and trees. One special group of trees, called dipterocarps, grows here, and many of these trees grow only in Borneo.

These forests have tall trees that form a thick roof of leaves. Some trees grow very tall—up to 65 meters! In the lower parts of the forest, smaller trees and plants like orchids and ferns grow, creating a green world below. One amazing flower, Rafflesia arnoldii, can be bigger than a meter across, making it the largest flower in the world.

Fauna

The Borneo lowland rain forests are home to many amazing animals. You can find the world's smallest squirrel, the least pygmy squirrel, and Asia's largest land mammal, the Asian elephant. Some special animals include the Sumatran rhinoceros and the Bornean orangutan. There are also twelve other kinds of primates, like the Müller's Bornean gibbon and the Bornean white-bearded gibbon, as well as Bornean bearded pigs and Bornean yellow muntjac deer.

There are many bird species, including eight hornbills, eighteen woodpeckers, and thirteen pittas. Some birds found only here are the black-browed babbler and the white-crowned shama. The forests also have reptiles and amphibians, such as crocodiles and the earless monitor lizard. The sounds of the forest change as different animals come out during the day and night.

Biogeography

During a cold time called the Pleistocene glacial epoch, the island of Borneo was connected to Java, Sumatra, and mainland Indochina. This big landmass was named Sundaland. Because of this connection, plants and animals could move between these areas. Even though Borneo is now separate from the Malay Peninsula and other islands, it still shares many plants and animals. In contrast, the island of Sulawesi has fewer of Borneo’s wildlife.

Main article: Pleistocene
Java
Sumatra
Indochina
Sundaland
Malay Peninsula

Threats and preservation

Main articles: Deforestation in Malaysia and Deforestation in Indonesia

Logging and changing forests into farms and plantations have made many trees disappear in Borneo over the past 50 years. Big fires have also cleared large areas for farming. Scientists say that if this continues, there may not be many forests left in the future.

Some parts of Borneo are protected to help save the forests and the animals that live there. These protected places include national parks and nature reserves in Brunei, Kalimantan, Sabah, and Sarawak.