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Japan has significant diversity in flora. Of approximately 5,600 total vascular plant species, almost 40% are endemic. [1] This richness is due to the significant variation in latitude and altitude across the country, a diversity of climatic conditions due to monsoons, and multiple geohistorical incidences of connections with the mainland.
The Hokkaidō deciduous forests ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0423) covers the northern and southern coasts of the island of Hokkaido, the northernmost of the main islands of Japan. The region sits in the transition zone between the colder subarctic forests to the north and the more temperate forests to the south.
Many plants have been introduced to Japan from mainland Asia including important crops like rice and garden plants such as the chrysanthemum. Since the Meiji Restoration, increasing numbers of plants have come from Europe, North America and elsewhere. Native food plants include the water dropwort (Oenanthe javanica) and wasabi (Wasabia japonica).
Japan is within the larger region of East Asia. For the purposes of this category, "Japan" is defined in accordance with the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions . That is, the geographic region is defined as including the following areas, typically defined by the political boundaries of its constituents:
Japan lies at the convergence of three terrestrial realms, the Palearctic, Indomalaya, and Oceania, and its flora and fauna combine elements from all three. The ecoregions that cover the main islands of Japan, Honshū , Hokkaidō, Kyūshū , and Shikoku , along with the nearby islands, are considered part of the Palearctic realm .
The Honshū alpine conifer forests ecoregion covers 4,400 square miles (11,000 km 2) in the high-elevation mountains of central Honshū and the Oshima Peninsula of Hokkaido, Japan. It is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion in the Palearctic realm .
The climate is cooler in the north of Honshu than the south, with deciduous mixed trees typified by Japanese beech (Fagus crenata), Jolcham oak (Quercus serrata), Castanopsis sieboldii, Picea jezoensis, Pinus thunbergii, Pinus pumila, Prunus nipponica, Cryptomeria japonica, Sciadopitys verticillata, Salix pierotii, Camphora officinarum, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Fagus crenata, Carpinus ...
The Japanese temperate rainforest is located in the Japanese archipelago, in small batches over a wide range of islands, from Kyushu in the South to Hokkaido in the North. . Due to its geographic features and climate, the Japanese temperate rainforest is very different from other temperate rainforests in the wo