INDONESIA A Megadiversity Country Prepared by Samrathang Palunwa Roll No. 10 Environmental Science, 2nd Year, Semester I Submitted to Dr. Smriti Gurung Associate Professor, Dept. of Environmental Science and Engineering “Due to its tropical setting and geological complexity, Indonesia is one of the most biologically diverse nations in the world with very high levels of both terrestrial and marine diversity and a high level of endemism.” (Crame, 2000; Mora et al., 2003) Indonesia: A Brief Introduction Indonesia is a country located off the coast of mainland Southeast Asia in the Indian and Pacific oceans. ● Population: 272,248,500 (4th largest country by population) ● Area: 1919440.0 km2 ● Latitude: -2° 32' 56.13" S ● Longitude: 118° 00' 53.51" E ● Main Islands: the Greater Sunda Islands of Sumatra, Java, the southern extent of Borneo (Kalimatan), Celebes (Sulawesi) and the western extent of New Guinea (Papua) N Satellite Image retrieved from Google Maps Indonesia: From a biodiversity perspective ● The Indonesian archipelago comprises 17,000 islands with many different types of habitats and an extremely complicated geological history, although the latter counts not only for Indonesia but for Southeast Asia in general (Bruyn et al. 2014). ● Biogeographic, geological, climatic and ecological factors led to the evolution of a megadiverse fauna and flora with a high number of endemic and ecologically highly-adapted species (Lohman et al. 2011). ● Indonesia has, for example, the second highest number of indigenous medicinal plants, after the Amazon rain forests(Elfahmi et al. 2014), 10% of the world’s flowering plant species, about 12% of the world’s mammals, about 16% of the world’s reptiles and 17% of the total species of birds (CBD Secretariat 2016). Indonesia: Ecosystem ● Indonesia has a tropical climate with a monsoon and dry season.The humidity is generally high (> 80%). ● Rainfall varies from a mean of 1,780–3,175 mm in the lowlands to in excess of 6,100 mm in mountainous areas. ● A minimum estimated 51000 square kilometers of coral reefs protect Indonesia’s shores from erosion. Coral reefs represent a highly structured ecosystem that supports a diverse array of plants and animals. ● Majority of Indonesia is Humid Tropical while only small areas are Semi- Arid tropical. Indonesia: Ecosystem (contd..) ● There are no cold seasons in either biome and both biomes are warm, hot and moist all year round, allowing vegetation to flourish. E.g. Jakarta gets 98.6% solar insolation as it is 10 degrees of latitude making it a very hot environment which is also humid from the high rainfall. ● Indonesia straddles two of the Earth's biogeographical realms, The Indomalayan realm extends across the western half of the archipelago, and the eastern half is in the Australasian realm. The Wallace Line, which runs between Borneo and Sulawesi, Bali and Lombok, is the dividing line. Wallace Line (Retrieved from researchgate.net) Major Bioregions of Indonesia Sundaland: ● The portion of Indonesia west of the Wallace Line is known as the Sundaland bioregion, which also includes Malaysia and Brunei. ● Home to approximately 17 000 equatorial islands and is dominated by three of the world’s largest islands; Borneo, Java and Sumatra. ● Holds about 25,000 species of vascular plants out of which 15,000 are endemic. There are at least 117 endemic plant genera in the hotspot; 59( Borneo), 17 (Sumatra), and 41( Malay Peninsula). ● Of Sundaland's more than 380 mammal species, more 170 are endemic to the hotspot, including the endemic genus Simias. Major Bioregions of Indonesia Wallacea: ● East of the Wallace Line lies the Wallacea bioregion, which is a transitional region between Asia and Australia.Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa and other small islands. ● More than half of the mammals, 40 % of birds and 65 % of amphibians are endemic. ● Along with New Guinea, it has more marine species than anywhere else on the planet, forming the “Coral Triangle." ● There are about 10,000 species of vascular plants with roughly 1,500 endemic species. ● More than 220 reptile species, nearly 100 of which are endemic including the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), the largest lizard on the planet. Wallacea is the group of islands within the red area. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3968730 http://phsyiography-indonesia.blogspot.com/2014/08/sundalan d.html Mammals ● Bornean Orangutan (Photo: Tanjung Puting National Park) Total 773 mammal species (Checklist of The Mammals of Indonesia, 2019) ● 408 of them are endemic (52% endemicity). E.g. silvery gibbon (Hylobates moloch), Sulawesi bear cuscus (Ailurops ursinus), Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), Black giant squirrel( Ratufa bicolor) etc. ● Endemic mammals’ families include: Artiodactyla - Bovidae, Chiroptera Hipposideridae, Rodentia - Muridae etc. Giant Black Squirrel (Photo: H Kaiser) Birds ● Maleo (Photo: Andrew Spencer) A total of 1788 bird species ( HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, 2017) ● 417 of them are endemic (23% endemicity). E.g. Waigeo Brush-turkey (Aepypodius bruijnii), Red-billed Brush-turkey (Talegalla cuvieri) ,Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) etc. ● Endemic birds’ families include: Galliformes Megapodiidae, Galliformes Phasianidae, Strigiformes Strigidae etc. Waigeo Brush Turkeyl (Photo: Earth.com) Threats to Biodiversity ● The seas of Indonesia support one of the world’s largest fisheries. Coastal communities in Indonesia rely heavily on fish for their daily subsistence (Reaka-Kudla,1997; Burke et al. 2002). Blast fishing is one of the most destructive forms of fishing and a direct threat to the health of coral reefs. ● Logging is a major disturbance in tropical rainforests (Putz et al., 2001).Indonesia in particular suffers from post-logging encroachment and invasion of hunters and illegal loggers, which can have a much more detrimental impact than the original logging (Lambert and Collar, 2002).One of the most adverse environmental effects of logging, even at low intensity, is that it can change the forest microclimate and fuel load (Peres, 1999). ● Wildfire is also an important global source of disturbance and influences long-term patterns of carbon storage and ecosystem productivity (Wardle et al., 2003). During the 1997/98 ENSO event at least 17 national parks and protected areas in Indonesia were damaged by fire (Hoffmann et al., 1999). References ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Britannica, T. Information Architects of Encyclopaedia (Retrieved September 15, 2022). Indonesia. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/facts/Indonesia Sundaland - Biodiversity Hotspots LCS ESS. (n.d.). Retrieved September 16, 2022, from https://sites.google.com/a/lincoln.edu.gh/biodiversity-hotspots-lcs-ess/sundaland Wallacea | CEPF. (n.d.). Retrieved September 16, 2022, from https://www.cepf.net/our-work/biodiversity-hotspots/wallacea About. (n.d.). Indonesia. Retrieved September 16, 2022, from https://indonesiafoodsecurityinquiry.weebly.com/about.html https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319628690_A_review_of_biodiversity-related_issues_and_challenges_in_ megadiverse_Indonesia_and_other_Southeast_Asian_countries Geographic Regions for Living National Treasures. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2022, from http://lntreasures.com/regions.html Retrieved September 17, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lyndon-Devantier/publication/216791440_Indonesia_Threats_to_the_Country%27s_Biodiv ersity/links/5a14c0750f7e9b925cd517e2/Indonesia-Threats-to-the-Countrys-Biodiversity.pdf?origin=publication_detail