Satellite view of Irrawaddy delta, Myanmar Photograph by USGS   Southeastern Asia: Southern Myanmar. Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   5,900 square miles (15,200 square kilometers) -- about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined Critical/Endangered

· Fertile Flatlands
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Fertile Flatlands

If you canoed down the Irrawaddy River to the Bay of Bengal, you might see clouds of silt swirling around your craft as you slip through the water. At the river delta, the river-borne silt has fostered an extremely fertile ecoregion.

Special Features

In these moist flatlands, mangroves and freshwater swamp forests alternate with fan-like marshes, oxbow lakes, and meandering streams to create a diverse ecosystem. A mix of deciduous forests gradually transitions from one forest to the next, with bamboo breaks prevalent throughout the region. Soils vary depending on where you are, changing from clay-like to more sandy as you move from west to east.

	Although once thought to be restricted to coastal tidal areas, the estuarine crocodile is now known to occur deep inland, where it prefers freshwater pools and deep rivers. The species has been recorded in fast-flowing rocky streams as well.

Wild Side

Majestic large mammals that once roved here, including tigers, leopards, and Asian elephants, are now mostly gone. Reptiles, such as the estuarine crocodile, might still exist in the wetlands, but the population is thought to be low. Although elsewhere these crocodiles are still hunted for their skins, here the primary threat is habitat loss. Birds are far more numerous, especially as migratory birds move through. Mongolian plovers, sandpipers, black-tailed godwits, and Asian openbill storks can be found here, as can such resident and wintering water birds as cinnamon bitterns, Indian pond-herons, Pacific reef-egrets, black-bellied terns, and black-headed ibises.

Cause for Concern

Although moderate siltation helped to create this ecoregion, too much can cause vegetation and aquatic species to die. The Irrawaddy River is now one of the most heavily silted rivers in the world. As deforestation and agricultural erosion continue, the sedimentation rate will only worsen. Agricultural expansion, firewood extraction, commercial logging, fishing, and other developments are ongoing threats. As a result of forest fragmentation and degradation, no sizable populations of large mammals exist here anymore, and the future for birds is no better unless their habitats are protected.

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