Myagdi River Valley, Nepal Photograph by Chris Carpenter   Indo-Malay Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests   29,400 square miles (76,200 square kilometers) -- about the size of South Carolina Vulnerable

· No Place to Hide
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern

No Place to Hide

Youād have a tough time playing hide-and-seek in these forests. Thereās lots of space between the trees, so youād have to dash from one to the other÷unless you pretended to be a pheasant. Then you could hide among the lush grasses that grow amid the widely spaced trees.

Special Features

This area is the largest subtropical pine forest ecoregion in the Indian subcontinent, stretching almost 1,800 miles (3,000 km) along the Himalayas. It is divided by the worldās deepest river valley, the Kali Gandaki. Drier forests lie to the west of the valley; wetter forests lie to the east. But these two sections share enough species and characteristics to be considered one ecoregion. The chir pine is the dominant tree here. It grows in an open habitat that is maintained by frequent fires, which also encourage the growth of a number of grasses.

	Natural wild fires play important roles in regenerating habitat throughout the world. They prevent shrubs and trees from overtaking grasslands, they clear out underbrush that keeps forests open, and they help some species of trees÷such as the aspen and lodgepole pine of North America÷to reproduce.

Wild Side

The large predators of adjacent ecoregions are mostly absent here because this regionās habitat doesnāt support the variety of hoofed mammals and other prey species that tigers, other large cats, and wild dogs eat. But one hoofed mammal you may hear is a barking deer. These are small- to medium-sized deer also called muntjacs. The yellow-throated marten, a weasel, hunts for small mammals, birds, reptiles, and fruit. More than one hundred other mammal species live here, but they are small creatures such as mice and voles. In contrast, almost 500 species of birds live in these pine forests. Some of them, such as the Cheer pheasant, depend on the grasses that grow among the trees. Others, such as the pied thrush, pass through as they migrate from lowlands to alpine areas.

Cause for Concern

Grazing, conversion to cropland, and collection of firewood all destroy the trees and grasses. Without tree and grass roots holding soil together, the soil erodes away. Road construction also contributes to increasing erosion.

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