Rakhine hills bamboo brake

Description

Rakhine hills bamboo brake is a dense, monotypic ecosystem dominated by a single bamboo species, Melocanna baccifera (Poaceae; Platt et al., 2010a), although many other species of bamboo occur throughout Myanmar (Bystriakova et al., 2003a, 2003b). It occurs along the Rakhine hills where its high density and vigoruos growing habits inhibit tree growth. In Rakhine, bamboo brake may occur in response to disturbance of other ecosystems, such as Rakhine hills semi- evergreen dry forest (Stamp, 1924b; Davis, 1960). Stamp (1924b) considered that ‘most, if not all’, bamboo break in Myanmar was established following disturbances including shifting cultivation, forest clearing, and frequent fires.

Assessment summary

This ecosystem is widely distributed along the Rakhine hills. With very little data available to assess the criteria, the majority of criteria are considered data deficient. However, map data indicating a range size that exceeds the category thresholds by nearly an order of magnitude, and few threatening processes operating across the entire range, the ecosystem is assessed as Least Concern.