Banana Bay Ecological Reserve Introduction
The coastal area between Eluanbi and Kenting was once covered by dense coastal forests. However, due to human activities such as cultivation and the planting of sugarcane, the forest was nearly devastated. It wasn't until the 71st year of the Republic of China (1982) when this area was designated as an ecological protection zone that it gradually began to restore its former appearance. The Banana Bay Ecological Protection Area is divided into two sections, northern and southern, by Provincial Highway 26, with each area exhibiting distinctly different topographical features. The northern section consists of cliff terrain formed by uplifted high-standing coral reef rocks from the Pleistocene, characterized by rugged topography with large fallen coral rock formations scattered throughout. During the winter when the northeast monsoon prevails, small-scale crescent-shaped dunes can form. In contrast, the southern section lies on the Holocene marine terrace, covered beneath modern alluvial layers is the Holocene coral reef, along with coastal areas filled with coastal erosion grooves and reef terrain. In between the erosion grooves, coarse shell sand, coral skeletons, and coral rubble can often be seen. Due to the low-lying nature of the Banana Bay Ecological Protection Area, which has many porous coral reef rocks and high-permeability sand dunes gathering here, the abundant spring water source and the steep topography unfavorable for development have resulted in Banana Bay's coastal forest being the only relatively intact coastal forest area in Taiwan today. Although the forest area is not large, it is quite rich in plant species, which can be divided into four distinct plant zones: the coastal coral reef plant zone, sandy herbaceous plant zone, coastal shrub plant zone, and coastal forest plant zone. The coastal coral reef plant zone is constantly exposed to high light, strong winds, and sea salt mist, causing all the plants to show a creeping and prostrate growth form, with only a few plants on the leeward side growing into shrubs reaching up to 1 meter in height. The sandy herbaceous plant zone, located on the inner side of the coastal coral reef plant zone, has a narrow sandy beach topography, fostering the growth of typical sandy shore vine plants such as saddle vine, beach bean, and rootless vine. The coastal shrub plant zone features larger plants primarily consisting of shrubs and trees like white sea mulberry, coastal seagrape, sea poison tree, and yellow hibiscus, all of which are significantly affected by waves and sea winds, often resulting in a leaning growth habit. The coastal forest plant zone is mainly composed of evergreen broadleaf forests, with the composition of tree species varying based on proximity to the sea and light availability. Commonly found plants near the coast include tanoak, chionanthus, water cashew, hairy persimmon, Chaenomeles speciosa, and pepper tree. Inland, species such as tanoak, Pisonia, large-leaved spar (Dillenia), and Indian olive are prevalent, while the understory, which receives less light, includes species like Ficus carica, wild ginger, red sedge, climbing buckthorn, wind vine, lion's tail, native fairytale, and others.
