Mt. Konduko, Biliran, Phillippines Photograph by L. Heaney   Southeastern Asia: Philippines Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   40,600 square miles (105,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Ohio Critical/Endangered

· Living in the Wet Zone
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
More Photos

Living in the Wet Zone

You shouldn’t visit this ecoregion if you don’t like rain. Parts of these rain forests, encompassing a number of large Philippine islands, lie directly in the region’s main typhoon track. These typhoons typically occur from July to November, often dumping as much as a third of the islands’ total annual rainfall.

Special Features

This tropical moist climate fosters the growth of a rich forest full of many types of trees and other plants. Beach forest and mangroves along the coasts give way to lowland rain forest and open forest as you move into higher elevations. In the stunted beach forest, Casuarina and Barringtonia trees are mixed with other lowland species, while palms, vines, and bamboo grow in a few back-beach swamps. The dominant tree species in the lowlands, however, is Philippine mahogany, as it is known in the timber trade. Larger trees are often festooned with ferns, orchids, and other epiphytic plants. As you move higher in elevation, these forests begin to blend with oak and chestnut species.

	The endangered golden-capped fruit bat lives in these forests. Weighing in at 2.6 pounds (1.2 kg), it is the heaviest bat in the world. One other species, the large fruit bat, has a larger wingspan but usually weighs less than its golden-capped cousin.

Wild Side

This ecoregion’s main island of Mindanao has long been isolated, so about 80 percent of its non-flying mammals are found nowhere else in the world. Endemic species include the Philippine deer, Philippine warty pig, and Philippine tarsier. The Philippine flying lemur is a small nocturnal mammal that can glide between trees for distances up to 450 feet (135 m). The Philippine tree shrew, which resembles a squirrel but is actually a primate, prefers to travel during the day. The Philippine crocodile, although a rare and endangered species, is nonetheless one of this ecoregion’s top predators. And these forests are also home to 38 endemic or near-endemic bird species, including the critically endangered Philippine eagle and Philippine cockatoo.

Cause for Concern

Although all the islands in the ecoregion were once completely forested, today little forest remains, especially in the lowlands. In some spots, hill and montane forests remain in protected areas. The Philippine warty pig and the Philippine deer suffer from intense hunting and habitat loss, with the warty pig especially endangered because it is considered a pest to farmers.

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