Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world. Consisting of around 16,000 islands, Indonesia looks so beautiful and green when seen far from the earth’s surface. Why is that? This is because Indonesia has so many green forests.
The forest ecosystem in Indonesia is indeed the largest ecosystem that Indonesia has. There are also many types of forest types in Indonesia. Indonesia has forests that grow in various places, from low-lying coastal areas, to high mountain areas.
Each type of forest in Indonesia also has its own characteristics and types. So, what are the types of forests in Indonesia? Here is a list for you.
Chapter List ☰
1) Mangrove Forest
Mangrove forests are a type of forest that grows in tidal areas, such as in protected coastal areas, in lagoon areas and in river mouth areas. This area of mangrove forest is usually in an area that is inundated and free from inundation when it recedes. In addition, the community grows mangrove forests tolerating salt.
Indonesia has the largest mangrove forest in the world with an area of 4.125 million hectares. This mangrove forest is spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago, with the most ecosystems in the regions of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua.
In the mangrove forest, the population that forms it consists of mangrove trees, nipah, pandanus and grass. The population and species of trees in mangrove forests are influenced by habitat factors including tides, substrates and salinity related to fresh water supply.
2) Freshwater Swamp Forest
Freshwater swamp forests are generally located behind mangrove forests with boundary marks in the form of nibung grass or Oncozperma tigilaria . Large areas of freshwater swamp forest in Indonesia can be found in eastern Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua.
The population that lives in this freshwater swamp forest can be in the form of a canopy of lepat and trees that can reach up to 30 meters high. Some types of trees that are widely found in freshwater swamp forests include pandanus trees, sago, campnosperms, sp and others.
3) Freshwater Swamp Vegetation
Freshwater swamp vegetation is dominated by kumpai grass or panicum stagnium, mimosa peltigera, and puzzles. Freshwater swamp vegetation is commonly found in East Kalimantan and Papua. In the west wind season, this vegetation is flooded with water on a regular basis.
Usually, in the middle of the event there are poor and short vegetation, such as moss, nails, shrubs, sago and pandanus.
4) Sago Forest
Sago or Metrcxylon sago is a plant that is widespread in freshwater swamp forest areas. The most extensive distribution of sago forests is found in Papua and Maluku, especially in the areas of Bacan, Halmahera, Aru Islands and Sulu Islands.
In addition, sago forests are also found in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Sago forests can generally grow tall. However, sago forests grow stunted in places with brackish water.
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5) River Bank Forest
This riverside forest is also commonly referred to as riparian forest . This type of forest exists in areas along large rivers. Riverfront forest in Kalimantan is a habitat of tengkawang trees and ironwood. Besides in Kalimantan, there are also many riverside forests in Papua.
6) Peat Swamp Forest
Peat swamp forest has a characteristic form of limited flora . In the peat swamp forest, the pephones are tall, thin and not thick. This tree is characterized by its peat habitat in the form of peat deposits with a very acidic pH of 4, and low soil nutrient content.
Peat thickness in this forest generally ranges from 0.5 to 20 meters. Peat swamp forests generally live side by side with freshwater swamp forests. This vegetation is widely found in the eastern coastal regions of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua. Sumatra itself has a vast peat swamp forest area, which is around 9.7 million hectares while in Kalimantan peat swamp forest is 6.3 million hectares.
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7) Equatorial Rain Forest
This forest is in an area with a height of 0-800 meters above sea level. Equatorial rain forest has trees whose height can reach 45 to 60 meters. In addition, another characteristic of the equatorial rainforest is its dense trees, which have dense canopies and are always green.
Equatorial rain forests found in sedimentary rock habitats in Sumatra and Kalimantan, dominated by camphor trees. Whereas in the sandy land area and areas with wavy topography dominated by ironwood.
8) Sand and Coral Beach Vegetation
Sand and coral vegetation can be found in sandy or sandy coastal areas, and is usually not far from the beach inland. In the sand and coral vegetation community, various livestock, creepers and grasses can be found.
9) Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical forest forests can be found in the regions of Sumatra, Maluku, Papua and Sulawesi, or rather there are many east of Wallace’s imaginary line. This type of forest in Indonesia has characteristics that resemble equatorial rain forests. Only difference, the trees in tropical rain forests are lower and the canopy height ranges from 30 to 40 meters.
10) Keranggas Forest
This forest type in Indonesia can be found in areas of height of 0 to 800 meters. Keranggas forest is overgrown with flora that resembles peat swamp forest. This forest is mostly found in the Kalimantan region, such as in the Sampit area, where there is a lot of agathis wood dominated.
This type of dense forest is quite difficult to reforest. So, if there are natural disturbances such as fire or even clear felling of vegetation in this forest, then this forest will be very difficult to restore.
11) Lower Mountain Forest
This type of mountain forest below is at an altitude of 1000 to 2000 meters. This type of forest in Indonesia is still not much exploited, except in Java. The hallmark of the lower mountain forest is its trees, which are lower and smaller in diameter, when the height of the place increases.
This means that the trees located in the ridge and mountain area are relatively shorter and are often in the form of ferns, bushes, and dense moss. Then in an area of more than 1,500 meters, the vegetation is dominated by mosses, epiphytes, ferns and orchids.
Lower mountain forests in Central and East Java often form pure stands because of their drier climate. Then in Nusa Tenggara, mountain forests that are above 1,000 meters are dominated by eucalyptus .
12) Lower Alpin Sub Forest
This type of sub alpine htuan can be found in areas with an altitude of 2,400 to 3,800 meters. The hallmark of this forest is its small, short trees. In Java, this forest type is dominated by Vaccinium, Albazia, and Myrcs species .
Lower Alpin Sub Forests can also be found in the Kemabu Plateau region and Mount Ore in Papua. There, this forest can form peat soils with a thickness of up to 30 cm.
13) Upper Alpin Sub Forest
This type of sub alpine forest can be found in the Papua region with a height of more than 3,800 meters to 4,200 meters. Vegetation that lives in this type of forest resembles vegetation found in the lower sub alpine forest area. However, the sub alpine of the trees is smaller with a tree height of only about 6 to 8 meters.
Another distinctive feature of this forest is that the trees can grow dense, but are not sustainable because there are some areas that are exposed to rock or overgrown with grass.
