NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Ecoregions of Japan

Japan is home to a nine forest ecoregions, which reflect its climate and geography. The islands that constitute Japan generally have a humid climate, which ranges from warm subtropical in the southern islands to cool temperate on the northern island of Hokkaido. Official language Japanese Capital Tokyo Largest City Tokyo Emperor Kennedy Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Area - Total - % water Ranked 60th 377,835 km² 0. ... An ecoregion is a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities. ... Subtropical (or semitropical) areas are those adjacent to the tropics, usually roughly defined as the ranges 23. ... In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... Hokkaidō (Japanese: 北海道, literal meaning: North Sea Route, Ainu: Mosir), formerly known as Ezo, is the second largest island of Japan. ...

Japan lies at the convergence of three terrestrial ecozones, the Palearctic, Indomalaya, and Oceania, and its flora and fauna combine elements from all three. The ecoregions that cover the main islands of Japan, Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, along with the nearby islands, are considered part of the Palearctic ecozone. The island arcs of southern Japan, the Ryukyu Islands to the southwest and the Ogasawara Islands to the southeast, are home to subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregions; the Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests ecoregion of the Ryukyus is part of the Indomalaya ecozone, while the Ogasawara subtropical moist forests of the Ogasawaras is part of the Oceania ecozone. Official language Japanese Capital Tokyo Largest City Tokyo Emperor Kennedy Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Area - Total - % water Ranked 60th 377,835 km² 0. ... Ecozone is a classification system of the world first proposed by Miklos Udvardy under the name biogeographical realms for conservation purposes. ... The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface (see map). ... The Indomalaya Ecozone was previously called the Oriental region. ... Oceania is the smallest of the worlds terrestrial ecozones, and unique in not including any continental land mass. ... Honshū (本州) is the largest island of Japan, called the Mainland; it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and north-east of Kyushu across the Shimonoseki Strait. ... Kyushu region, Japan Kyūshū (九州) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ... Shikoku (四国, four provinces) is the smallest and least populous of the four main islands of Japan. ... The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface (see map). ... An island arc is a type of archipelago formed by plate tectonics as one oceanic tectonic plate subducts under another and produces magma. ... The Ryukyu Islands (琉球列島 Ryūkyū-rettō) are an island group, the southern portion belonging to Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and the northern part belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. ... The Ogasawara Islands (小笠原諸島) are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical islands some 1000 km directly south of central Tokyo, Japan. ... Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical rain forests, are a tropical and subtropical biome. ...

Terrestrial ecoregions

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Ecoregions are defined by the World Wildlife Fund as relatively large units of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major land-use change. Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater... Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical rain forests, are a tropical and subtropical biome. ...

Temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forests are a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. ...

Freshwater ecoregions

(not a complete list) Ecoregions are defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as relatively large units of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major land-use change. Freshwater ecoregions represents the freshwater habitats of a...

Reeds on the shore of Lake Biwa Lake Biwa, or Biwa-ko (琵琶湖), is the largest fresh water lake in Japan, located in Shiga Prefecture, northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. ...

Marine ecoregions

Categories: Ecoregions | Biodiversity hotspots The Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in South Korea, the East Sea of Korea in North Korea, and the Japan Sea in China, is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bound by the Japanese islands of Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu and Sakhalin island to the... The Sea of Okhotsk (from the Russian Okhotskoe more) is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the disputed Russo-Japanese Kurile Islands on the east, the Japanese island of Hokkaido to the south and the island of Sakhalin, the Amur province of Siberia... The East China Sea (Chinese: Dōng Hǎi 東海/东海, literal meaning: East Sea) is a marginal sea and part of the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by Mainland China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. ... The Kuroshio Current is an ocean current found in the western Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Taiwan and flowing northeastward past Japan, where it merges with the easterly drift of the North Pacific Current. ... The Southwest Islands or Nansei-shoto (南西諸島 Nansei-shotō) are an island chain stretching southwestward from Kyushu in Japan. ... The Ogasawara Islands (小笠原諸島) are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical islands some 1000 km directly south of central Tokyo, Japan. ...