All Topics  
Sundaland

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Sundaland
 
 
  Topics Sundaland Topic Home

Sundaland is a biogeographical
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 region of Southeastern Asia
Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
 that comprises the Maritime Southeast Asia islands of Sumatra
Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
, Java
Java

Java is an island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu kingdoms, The spread of Islam in Indonesia , and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia....
, Borneo
Borneo

Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
, and surrounding smaller islands. The eastern boundary of Sundaland is the Wallace Line
Wallace Line

The Wallace Line is a boundary that separates the Ecozone of Asia and Wallacea . West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin are present....
, identified by Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace, Order of Merit, Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Natural history, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist....
, which marks the eastern boundary of the Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
's land mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
 fauna, and is the boundary of the Indomalaya
Indomalaya

The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight ecozones that cover the planet's land surface. It extends across most of South Asia and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia....
 and Australasia ecozone
Australasia ecozone

The Australasian zone is an ecozone that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geography region of Australasia. The ecozone includes Australia, the island of New Guinea , and the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Sulawesi, the Moluccan islands and islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timo...
s. The islands east of the Wallace line are known as Wallacea
Wallacea

Wallacea is a biogeography designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australia continental shelf....
, and are considered part of Australasia.

Some scholars like Oppenheimer locate the origin of the Austronesian languages
Austronesian languages

The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia....
 in Sundaland and its upper regions.

Genetic research reported in 2008 indicates that the islands which are the remnants of Sundaland were likely populated as early as 50,000 years ago, contrary to a previous hypothesis that they were populated as late as 10,000 years ago from Taiwan.

islands of Sundaland rest on Asia's shallow continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Sundaland'
Start a new discussion about 'Sundaland'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Sundaland is a biogeographical
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 region of Southeastern Asia
Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
 that comprises the Maritime Southeast Asia islands of Sumatra
Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
, Java
Java

Java is an island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu kingdoms, The spread of Islam in Indonesia , and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia....
, Borneo
Borneo

Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
, and surrounding smaller islands. The eastern boundary of Sundaland is the Wallace Line
Wallace Line

The Wallace Line is a boundary that separates the Ecozone of Asia and Wallacea . West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin are present....
, identified by Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace, Order of Merit, Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Natural history, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist....
, which marks the eastern boundary of the Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
's land mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
 fauna, and is the boundary of the Indomalaya
Indomalaya

The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight ecozones that cover the planet's land surface. It extends across most of South Asia and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia....
 and Australasia ecozone
Australasia ecozone

The Australasian zone is an ecozone that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geography region of Australasia. The ecozone includes Australia, the island of New Guinea , and the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Sulawesi, the Moluccan islands and islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timo...
s. The islands east of the Wallace line are known as Wallacea
Wallacea

Wallacea is a biogeography designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australia continental shelf....
, and are considered part of Australasia.

Some scholars like Oppenheimer locate the origin of the Austronesian languages
Austronesian languages

The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia....
 in Sundaland and its upper regions.

Genetic research reported in 2008 indicates that the islands which are the remnants of Sundaland were likely populated as early as 50,000 years ago, contrary to a previous hypothesis that they were populated as late as 10,000 years ago from Taiwan.

Ecology

The islands of Sundaland rest on Asia's shallow continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
. During the ice age
Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
s, sea levels were lower and all of Sundaland was an extension of the Asian continent. As a result, the islands of Sundaland are home to many Asian mammals, including monkey
Monkey

A monkey is a nonhuman primate mammal with the exception usually of the lemurs and tarsiers. More specifically, the term monkey refers to a subset of monkeys: any of the smaller longer-tailed catarrhine or platyrrhine primates as contrasted with the apes....
s, ape
Ape

An ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. In less scientific language, it has various meanings, although it often excludes humans....
s, tiger
Tiger

The tiger is a member of the Felidae family; the largest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an Carnivore#Obligate carnivores....
s, tapir
Tapir

Tapirs are large Herbivory mammals, roughly pig-like in shape, with short, prehensile snouts. They inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia....
s, and rhinoceros
Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros , often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is a name used to group five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae....
. The Wallace Line
Wallace Line

The Wallace Line is a boundary that separates the Ecozone of Asia and Wallacea . West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin are present....
, which includes the Lombok Strait
Lombok Strait

The Lombok Strait is a strait connecting the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean, located between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.Its narrowest point is at its southern opening, with a width of only 18 km, but at the northern opening it is 40 km across....
 between Bali and Lombok
Lombok

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It is part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east....
, and the Makassar Strait
Makassar Strait

Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea....
 between Borneo
Borneo

Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
 and Sulawesi
Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands....
, marks the end of the Asian continental shelf, and the islands of Wallacea are separated from Asia and from Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 by deep ocean.

Botanists often include Sundaland, the adjacent Philippines
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, Wallacea
Wallacea

Wallacea is a biogeography designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australia continental shelf....
 and New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 in a single Floristic province
Floristic province

A Phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phtyochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both regions overlap....
 of Malesia
Malesia

Malesia is a biogeography region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. Malesia was first identified as a floristic province that included the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea, based on a shared tropical flora derived mostly from Asia but also with numerous elements of the Antarctic flo...
, based on similarities in their flora, which is predominantly of Asian origin.

Ecoregions of Sundaland


Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome.Tropical and subtropical forest regions with lower rainfall are home to tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical coniferous forests....
  • Borneo lowland rain forests (Borneo
    Borneo

    Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
    )
  • Borneo montane rain forests (Borneo
    Borneo

    Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
    )
  • Borneo peat swamp forests
    Borneo peat swamp forests

    The Borneo peat swamp forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia....
     (Borneo
    Borneo

    Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
    )
  • Eastern Java-Bali montane rain forests (Bali
    Bali

    Bali is an Indonesian island located at , the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 Provinces of Indonesia with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island....
    , Java)
  • Eastern Java-Bali rain forests (Bali
    Bali

    Bali is an Indonesian island located at , the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 Provinces of Indonesia with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island....
    , Java)
  • Mentawai Islands rain forests (Mentawai Islands
    Mentawai Islands

    The Mentawai Islands are a chain of about seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Siberut is the largest of the islands....
    )
  • Peninsular Malaysian montane rain forests (Malay peninsula
    Malay Peninsula

    The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia. It is also known as the Kra Peninsula and runs approximately north-south through the Kra Isthmus....
    )
  • Peninsular Malaysian peat swamp forests
    Peninsular Malaysian peat swamp forests

    The Peninsular Malaysian peat swamp forests are a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of the Malay Peninsula, which includes portions of Malaysia and southern Thailand....
     (Malay peninsula
    Malay Peninsula

    The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia. It is also known as the Kra Peninsula and runs approximately north-south through the Kra Isthmus....
    )
  • Peninsular Malaysian rain forests (Anambas Islands, Malay peninsula
    Malay Peninsula

    The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia. It is also known as the Kra Peninsula and runs approximately north-south through the Kra Isthmus....
    )
  • Southwest Borneo freshwater swamp forests (Borneo
    Borneo

    Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
    )
  • Sumatran freshwater swamp forests (Sumatra
    Sumatra

    Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
    )
  • Sumatran lowland rain forests (Sumatra
    Sumatra

    Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
    , Nias
    Nias

    Nias is an island off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago, containing the Hinako archipelago....
    , Bangka Island
    Bangka Island

    Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. Population 626,955. Area: c.4,600 sq mi .There is an additional small island named Pulau Bangka in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia....
    )
  • Sumatran montane rain forests (Sumatra
    Sumatra

    Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
    )
  • Sumatran peat swamp forests (Sumatra
    Sumatra

    Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
    )
  • Sundaland heath forests (Indonesia
    Indonesia

    The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
    )
  • Western Java montane rain forests (Java)
  • Western Java rain forests (Java)
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests

Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests are a forest biome. They are located in regions of semi-humid climate at tropical and subtropical latitudes....

  • Sumatran tropical pine forests (Sumatra
    Sumatra

    Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
    )
Montane grasslands and shrublands
Montane grasslands and shrublands

Montane grasslands and shrublands is a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high altitude grasslands and shrublands around the world....

  • Kinabalu montane alpine meadows (Borneo
    Borneo

    Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
    )
Mangroves
  • Sunda Shelf mangroves (Borneo
    Borneo

    Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
    , Sumatra
    Sumatra

    Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
    , Riau Islands)


Further reading

  • Stephen Oppenheimer
    Stephen Oppenheimer

    Stephen Oppenheimer , a British physician, a member of Green College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, carries out and publishes research in the field of genetics....
    . Eden in the East, 1999, Phoenix (Orion) ISBN 0-7538-0679-7


Selected faunal references in Borneo


  • Abdullah MT. 2003. Biogeography and variation of Cynopterus brachyotis in Southeast Asia. PhD thesis. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.


  • Corbet, GB, Hill JE. 1992. The mammals of the Indomalayan region: a systematic review. Oxford University Press, Oxford.


  • Hall LS, Gordon G. Grigg, Craig Moritz, Besar Ketol, Isa Sait, Wahab Marni, Abdullah MT. 2004. Biogeography of fruit bats in Southeast Asia. Sarawak Museum Journal LX(81):191-284.


  • Karim, C., A.A. Tuen, Abdullah MT. 2004. Mammals. Sarawak Museum Journal Special Issue No. 6. 80: 221—234.


  • Mohd. Azlan J., Ibnu Maryanto, Agus P. Kartono, Abdullah MT. 2003 Diversity, Relative Abundance and Conservation of Chiropterans in Kayan Mentarang National Park, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Sarawak Museum Journal 79: 251-265.


  • Hall LS, Richards GC, Abdullah MT. 2002. The bats of Niah National Park, Sarawak. Sarawak Museum Journal. 78: 255-282.


  • Wilson DE, Reeder DM. 2005. Mammal species of the world. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.


See also

  • Sunda Islands
    Sunda Islands

    The Sunda Islands are a group of islands in the western part of Maritime Southeast Asia.They are divided into two groups, with the Greater Sunda group being referred to much less than the Lesser Sunda....
    • Greater Sunda Islands
      Greater Sunda Islands

      The Greater Sunda Islands are a group of islands within the Malay Archipelago. Islands included in the group are Sumatra, Java , Borneo, Sulawesi and adjacent smaller islands....
    • Lesser Sunda Islands
      Lesser Sunda Islands

      The Nusa Tenggara , or Lesser Sunda Islands, are a group of islands in the middle-south part of Maritime Southeast Asia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands....
  • Sunda Trench
  • Australasia
    Australasia

    Australasia is a region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes ....
  • Oceania
    Oceania

    Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville....
  • Biogeography
    Biogeography

    Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
  • Plate tectonic


External links