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Tropical dry forests are the most endangered ecosystems but the least studied tropical habitats in the world. Lack of information on
the ecology and distribution are the constraints for dry forest restoration and conservation. The last description of dry forest
communities in Myanmar was of 1960s, and recent study has not yet been done. We explored the species composition and
developed the distribution models of dry forest community types in the central dry zone of Myanmar. Presence absence vegetation
survey was done and community types were classified by TWINSPAN. We obtained 14 statistically significant community types, and
a new community type dominated by a non indigenous invasive species, Prosopis juliflora, was detected. Community types were
divided into two groups; the woody communities in the forest landscape and those in the anthropogenic landscape. Tectona
hamiltoniana, Terminalia oliveri, Grewia tiliifolia and Hiptage benghalensis were abundant in the community types of forest
landscape whereas Prosopis juliflora, Borassus flabellifer and Amaranthus caudatus were typical in the community types of the
anthropogenic landscape. Acacia catechu, Abutilon indicum and Cymbopogon virgatus were distributed to both of forest and
anthropogenic landscapes. We predicted the distribution of dry forest community types across the study area by GLM based on
landscape types and environmental variables and calculated their potential distribution area. Landscape was the most significant
factor explaining the distribution of dry forest communities, and elevation followed it. Community type 9 is the most abundant and
Community type 2 is the rarest community type in the study area.
Keywords: Distribution model, Myanmar, Species composition, Tropical dry forest, Vegetation classification

Introduction
Tropical dry forests are the most endangered ecosystems, the least well studied tropical habitats but less protected forests
compared to tropical rain forests (Bullock et al. 1995; Janzen 1988; Miles et al. 2006; Murphy and Lugo 1986; Stoner and
Sanchez-Azofeifa 2009). Tropical dry forests are distributed throughout the tropical regions with several months of severe drought
(Mooney et al. 1995) and have higher diversity of life forms including many endangered species (Gentry 1995; Medina 1995).
However, these forests have been received little attention from the conservation community, and most research, policy, and
conservation efforts are directed toward rain forest protection (Bullock et al. 1995; Murphy and Lugo 1986).
In mainland Southeast Asia, only a small proportion of global tropical dry forest was found (Miles et al. 2006). The ecology and
distribution of the dry forests of Southeast Asia have not been well studied compared to neo-tropical forests (Sanchez-Azofeifa et al.
2005) and this is also particularly the case in Myanmar. Recent studies have tried to describe the structure, composition and
dynamics of tropical dry forests in continental Southeast Asia and Southern India (Bunyavejchewin et al. 2011; Suresh et al. 2011)
although little is known about the dry forests in Myanmar due to limited research and political isolation.
Myanmar has one of the greatest biodiversities in the Indo-Pacific region (Myers et al. 2000) and forest types in Myanmar range
from mangrove forest to the south to alpine forests to the north (Kermode 1964; Leimgruber et al. 2005). Dry forests in Myanmar
are found in the arid and semi-arid regions in the central part of the country (known as dry zone of Central Myanmar) with mean
annual rainfall of 1000 mm per year and prolonged dry period of six months below 1200 m elevation (Champion 1936; Kermode

1964; Stamp 1924; Stamp 1925; Troup 1921). As the area is isolated from arid areas of India, Thailand and China by humid
mountains (Hijmans et al. 2005), Myanmar dry forest landscapes forms specialized vegetation types dominating Tectona
hamiltoniana (CEPF 2012; FAO 1987) with many other endemic species. Myanmar dry forest is one of the deforestation hotspot in
Myanmar and has experienced the highest deforestation rate in 1990s (Leimgruber et al. 2005) due to conversion to agriculture,
shifting cultivation and development project (Songer et al. 2009).
The foundation of all plant ecological survey in Myanmar was done over 100 years ago by (Kurz 1875; Kurz 1877). The botanical
collection in the central dry zone was done by (Collett and Hemsley 1890). The classification of forest types in Myanmar dry zone
was done by (Champion 1936; Davis 1960; Kermode 1964; Troup 1921) based primarily on snapshot physiognomy (Whittaker 1962)
relying on their own experiences. Vegetation classification of Myanmar by Stamp in 1923, 1924 and 1925 (Stamp 1924; Stamp
1925; Stamp and Lord 1923) considered seral status in vegetation succession. The vegetation classification system in Myanmar is
based on physiognomy focusing on commercial forest types for production purposes (Kermode 1964) and forest types i