The Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests, presently known as East Deccan moist deciduous forests, is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in east-central India. The ecoregion covers an area of 341,100 km2, extending across portions of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Telangana states.

Setting

The Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests extend from the Bay of Bengal coast in northern Andhra Pradesh and southern Orissa, across the northern portion of the Eastern Ghats range and the northeastern Deccan Plateau, to the eastern Satpura Range and the upper Narmada River valley. The forests of the ecoregion are sustained by the moisture-bearing monsoon winds from the Bay of Bengal. The ecoregion is bounded on the north and west by tropical dry deciduous forest ecoregions, including the Central Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests to the southwest and west, the Narmada valley dry deciduous forests to the northwest, and the Chota Nagpur dry deciduous forests to the north and northeast. The drier Northern dry deciduous forests ecoregion, lying west of the Eastern Ghats range, is completely surrounded by the Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests, in the rain shadow of the Ghats, which partially block the moisture-laden monsoon winds off the Bay of Bengal. The humid Orissa semi-evergreen forests ecoregion lies to the northeast in the coastal lowlands of Orissa.

Flora

The ecoregion's forests are dominated by Sal (Shorea robusta), in association with Terminalia, Adina, Toona, Syzygium, Buchanania, Cleistanthus, and Anogeissus, according to soil variations. The flora of the ecoregion shares many species with the moist forests of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas. From the Western Ghats this includes plants like jackfruit and several hu lianas such as Schefflera vine (Heptapleurum venulosum), joint fir (Gnetum edule), and common rattan. From the Eastern Himalayas this includes the peculiar Indian pepper tree and several shrubs, herbs and flowers such as yellow Himalayan raspberry, false nettle (Boehmeria macrophylla), and whipcord cobra lily among others. Several globally threatened plant species are found in this ecoregion, including the two endemic plants Leucas mukerjiana and Phlebophyllum jeyporensis.

Fauna

The ecoregion still harbours large intact areas of tropical moist deciduous forest and is an important refuge for healthy populations of most of the original large vertebrates associated with this habitat. Large mammals include the predators Indian tiger, wolf, dhole, and sloth bear, and the herbivores gaur, chousingha, blackbuck, and chinkara. The Asian elephants that once lived were extirpated long ago. The only endemic species found in the ecoregion is the cave-dwelling Khajuria's leaf-nosed bat.

Conservation

Approximately 25% of the original habitat remains, much of it in blocks of 5000 km2 or larger. 31 protected areas, totaling 13,540 km2, preserve about 4% of the ecoregion's intact habitat. The largest protected area in the ecoregion is Simlipal National Park in Odisha state.