New Guinea Montane Forests - A Global Ecoregion
Home to Echidnas, the unusual egg-laying mammals
Snapshot: Ecoregion 15
Size:
288,000 sq. km (110,000 sq.miles)
Habitat type:
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Geographic Location:
The island of New Guinea, north of Australia
Conservation Status:
Relatively Stable/Intact
Did You Know!
New Guinea's montane forests are home to the largest butterfly in the world - Queen Alexandra's birdwing - which has a wingspan of nearly 1 foot or 30 cm!
About the Area
This Global ecoregion is made up of these terrestrial ecoregions: Vogelkop montane rain forests; Central Range montane rain forests; Huon Peninsula montane rain forests; Southeastern Papuan rain forests.
New Guinea is the largest tropical island in the world, and it contains an extraordinary diversity of ecosystems.Forests cover 65% of the land area and sustain many organisms found here and nowhere else, including more than 6,000 species of plants, 44 species of birds, and 38 species of mammals.
Local Species
Look out for fascinating small mammals such as the Doria's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus dorianus) - brown, furry marsupials with soft, yellow tails, the only members of the kangaroo family that climb trees, the Striped bandicoot (Microperoryctes longicauda), long-tailed Pygmy possum (Cercartetus caudatus), the endemic Coppery ringtail (Pseudochirops cupreus), Mountain cuscus (P. carmelitae), the endemic Telefomin horseshoe-bat (Hipposideros corynophyllus), and the long-beaked Echidna (Zaglossus bruijni).
Echidnas are unusual egg-laying mammals that shuffle about searching for ants, termites, and other invertebrates, to slurp up with their long tongues. Bird species include the King bird of paradise (Cicinnurus regius), the rare Black sicklebill (Epimachus fastuosus), and the endemic Blue bird of paradise (Paradisaea rudolphi).
Threats
Logging, road construction, shifting cultivation, agricultural expansion, and related livestock activities all threaten the integrity of these forests.
Resources
• NationalGeographic.com
