Ecoregions in the Philippines

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The Philippine archipelago is one of the world's great reservoirs
of biodiversity and endemism. The archipelago includes over 7000 islands, and a total
land area of 300,780 km².
The Philippines was never connected to mainland Asia via land bridges,[dubious  –  discuss] so the
flora and fauna of the islands had to cross ocean straits to reach the Philippines. The
Philippines is part of the Indomalayan realm, and its flora and fauna is mostly derived
from tropical Asia. Botanically, the Philippines are part of Malesia, a floristic
province that includes the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, and New Guinea. Most of the
Malesian flora is derived from tropical Asia, including the dipterocarps, which are the
characteristic tree of the Philippine forests. Elements of the Antarctic flora, which
originated in the ancient southern hemisphere supercontinent of Gondwana, are also
present, including ancient conifers like podocarps (Podocarpus, Nageia, Sundacarpus)
and araucarias (Agathis).
The ecoregions of the Philippines are defined primarily by the sea levels during the Ice
Ages, which were 120 meters lower than at present, as billions of gallons of water were
locked away in huge continental ice sheets. This drop in sea level connected many
presently separate islands into larger islands, which allowed for exchanges of flora and
fauna:

 Greater Luzon included Luzon, Catanduanes, Marinduque, Polillo, and several

small islands.
 Greater Mindanao included Mindanao, Basilan, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, and adjacent
small islands.
 Greater Palawan included Palawan, Balabac, Busuanga, Culion, Cuyo, and
adjacent small islands.
 Greater Negros–Panay included Negros, Panay, Cebu, and Masbate.
 Greater Sulu included the most of the Sulu Archipelago, from Tawi Tawi to Jolo.
These formerly-linked islands each constitute a separate ecoregion, as does Mindoro,
which remained separate from the rest, along with a few smaller islands, notably
Camiguin, Sibuyan, and Siquijor.
Each group of islands that were linked by land bridges in the ice ages also constitutes a
separate faunal region. The lack of a land bridge to the Asian continent prevented most
of the Asian megafauna, including elephants, rhinoceros, tapirs, tigers, leopards,
and gibbons, from reaching the Philippines, although they do inhabit the
adjacent Indonesian islands of Sundaland, which were formerly linked to the Asian
continent by lowered sea levels.
The other main factor that defines the Philippine ecoregions is elevation; the
high mountains of Luzon and Mindanao host distinct montane rain forest ecoregions.
The mountains of Luzon are also home to the Luzon tropical pine forests.
Terrestrial ecoregions[edit]
by major habitat type[1]
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

 Greater Negros-Panay rain forests

 Luzon montane rain forests
 Luzon rain forests
 Mindanao montane rain forests
 Mindanao-Eastern Visayas rain forests
 Mindoro rain forests
 Palawan rain forests
 South Philippine Sea (disputed
between China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam)
 Sulu Archipelago rain forests
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests

 Luzon tropical pine forests

Freshwater ecoregions[edit]
 Northern Philippine Islands
 Palawan – Busuanga – Mindoro
 Mindanao
 Lake Lanao
[2]

Marine ecoregions[edit]
by marine province[3]
Central Indo-Pacific[edit]
 South Philippine Sea
o South Philippine Sea
 Coral Triangle
o Western Coral Triangle
 Palawan/North Borneo
 Eastern Philippines
 Sulawesi Sea/Makassar Strait

Plant Biodiversity in the Philippines

 Plants are an important piece of a region's biodiversity. They're vital to ecosystems
and are essential resources for both wildlife and humans. The Philippines is home to
between 10,000 and 14,000 species of plants. Of these, more than half are endemic to
the country, meaning they're found only in the Philippines and nowhere else. The
Philippines possesses around five percent of the earth's plant species and ranks fifth
in the world for the overall number of plant species existing within the country.

Endangered Plant Species

Species or subspecies whose survival in the wild is in danger due to existing threats
are called endangered species. In the Philippines, some of these endangered plants
include the following:

 Mangifera odorata: Also known as the huani or kuini mango, this plant can also be
found in other Southeast Asian countries.
 Kibatalia puberula: A small evergreen tree found only on Samar Island in the
Philippines.
 Phalaenopsis lindenii: A white-petaled orchid tinged with pale pink or lavender.

Critically Endangered Plant Species

Species that face a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future are
classified as critically endangered. Some of the Philippines' critically endangered plant
species include the following:

 Dendrobium schuetzei: An orchid species with white flowers, found only on

Mindanao Island.
 Alocasia atropurpurea: An endemic small plant with large leaves.
 Hopea philippinensis: A small rainforest tree.
 Cycas wadei: A small palm-like tree.

Threats to Species Survival

Human activities are the main threat to plant species in the Philippines. Grassland and
rainforest habitats are being destroyed in favor of building new residential areas,
industrial hubs, and roads and highways. Education and sustainable development
could be two of the keys to saving the Philippines' endangered plant species and
preserving the country's bountiful biodiversity.
 17
One of the 17 Megadiverse Country
Although relatively small among the 17 megadiverse countries, the Philippines has the greatest
concentration of unique species per unit area in the world.

70%
60%-70% of the Worlds Biodiversity

Philippines has more than 52,177 described species, half of which are endemic or found nowhere else on
earth.

10
Top 10 in terms of Endemism

The Philippines’s species are among the world’s top 10 in terms of endemism.
In terms of terrestrial vertebrates, the Philippines is known to host 1,238 species of which 618 (or
50%) is endemic.