Included here is the island of Taiwan and the Sakishima Islands.

Taiwanese Evergreen Sclerophyllus Broad-Leaved Montane Forest

This formation tends to occur at altitudes between 500m and 2000m and is chiefly dominated by various Castanopsis species including C. hystrix (C.taiwaniana) and C. tribuloides (C. formosana), Quercus species including Q. gilva and Q. longinux), and Pasana species including P. amygdaloides and P. kawakamii). The lauraceous element includes Actinodaphne mushaensis, Beilschmiedia erythrophloia, Cinnamomum japonica and the rare endemic Cinnamomum brevipedunclatum (Lauraceae). Conifers include Podocarpus nakaii, Keteleeria davidiana, Amentotaxus argotaenia and the endemic or near endemic Pinus formosus (Pinaceae), while other forest components include the two endemics Magnolia kachirachirai (Magoliaceae) and Turpinia formosana (Staphyleaceae). Tree ferns are represented by Alsophila tomentosa and endemic Cibotium taiwaniana (Cibotiaceae)

Taiwanese Montane Conifer Forest

These forests embody an upper and lower zone. The lower zone is characterized by Chamaecyparis and includes the endemic C. formosensus (Cupressaceae), the largest conifer in eastern Asia, together with the endemic C. obtusa ssp. formosana. This is also the habitat of Taiwania cryptomerioides which was also originally thought to be endemic the Taiwan, but has since been found in sheltered valleys of the upper Nu-Kiang and Chiu-Kiang where some were found to be over 800 years old. It has also been found near Lichuan close to stands of the ancient conifer Metasequoia glyptostroboides. These are though to be remnants of an ancient forest of giant confer that were in the same era as the Sequoia forests of the New World. Some regard all mainland examples of Taiwania to be a separate species (T. flousiana). The upper zone is chiefly composed of the endemic Abies kawakamii (Pinaceae) together with Tsuga chinensis, Pinus armandi and two other endemics - Picea morrisonicola and Pinus taiwanensis (Pinaceae). In terms of generic composition these forests have much in common with their boreal counterparts and yet they are situated south of the Tropic of Cancer, but since snow can also occur in these high mountains, it is not surprising that this vegetation has similarities with more northern climes.

References

Li, Hui-Lin. 1963. Woody flora of Taiwan. Livingstone Publishing Company, Pennsylvania.

Li, Hui-Lin & Keng, H. 1950. Phytogeographical affinities of southern Taiwan. Taiwania, 1: 103-128.

Richardson, S. D. Date ? Forestry in communist China. The John Hopkins Press, Baltimore.

Sun, I-F., Hsieh, C-F. & Hubbell, S. P. 1998. Structure and species composition of a sub-tropical rain forest in southern Taiwan on a wind-stressed gradient. In: Forest Biodiversity Research, Monitoring and Modeling. Eds. F. Dallmeier and J. A. Comiskey. Man and the Biosphere Series, Volume 40. The Parthenon Publishing Group.

Wang, Chi-Wu. 1961. The forests of China with a survey of grassland and desert vegetation. Maria Moors Cabot Foundation, Publication No. 5. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Yong-Chang, S. & Guo-Shi, X. 2003. A scheme of vegetation classification of Taiwan, China. Acta Botanica Sinica, 45: 883-895.