Meru Betiri National Park, Java, Indonesia Photograph by John Morrison   Southeastern Asia: Islands of Java and Bali in Indonesia Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   20,800 square miles (53,900 square kilometers) -- about half the size of Tennessee Critical/Endangered

· Islands of Activity
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Islands of Activity

Nothing here is still. Bats flit in and out of caves. Wild dogs and leopards stalk prey in the forests. Hawk-eagles soar overhead. And, in the background, volcanoes rumble and vent--making Java and Bali the most active volcanic islands in the world.

Special Features

This ecoregion is represented by the lowland moist forests of eastern Java and Bali in the Indonesian archipelago. These forests are predominantly moist deciduous forests, with semi-evergreen rain forest along the south coast and dry deciduous forest along the north coast. Common lowland deciduous trees in eastern Java and Bali include delingsem, Indian albizia, and puttacharyamaram--a type of acacia. With two to four dry months each year, semi-evergreen rain forests have more pronounced seasons than the evergreen rain forest found in western Java. The most common tree species in the Javan rain forests are benda (or wild breadfruit), langsat (a tree with pear-like fruit), and putat gajah (related to the Brazil-nut tree).

	During courtship, male and female Bali starlings stand next to each other and perform a bobbing dance. They may also provide their own "music," making rhythmic clicking and croaking sounds that end in a high shriek. Once they pair up and start a family, both males and females help incubate the eggs.

Wild Side

In the Kangean Islands off the northern coast of Java, caves conceal creatures of particular importance to this ecoregion: bats. Fourteen of this ecoregion’s 15 bat species can be found in these caves. Fruit bats play an especially important ecological role by pollinating plants and dispersing seeds. No fewer than 103 mammal species live here, including the Javan pig, the endangered Bawean deer, the banteng, the leopard, and the wild dog (also called the dhole). However, two subspecies of tiger, the Javan and the Balinese, are now extinct. Unless its habitat is protected, the same may someday be said of the rare Bali starling. One of the ecoregion’s 350 bird species, this starling is considered to be among the world’s most endangered songbirds.

Cause for Concern

The natural habitat of this ecoregion has long been cleared by logging interests and for agriculture and human settlements. Only fragments of natural forests remain, and these are also disturbed. Fire and hunting are ongoing threats.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.