tectonic plate began to split apart from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. As it collided with the Pacific Plate on its northward journey, the high mountain ranges of central New Guinea emerged around 5 million years ago. In the lee of this collision zone, the ancient rock formations of what is now Cape York Peninsula remained largely undisturbed. Laurel forest ecoregions of New Guinea The WWF identifies several distinct montane laurel forest ecoregions on New Guinea, New Britain, and New Ireland. Central Range montane rain forests Huon Peninsula montane rain forests New Britain–New Ireland montane rain forests Northern New Guinea montane rain forests Vogelkop montane rain forests References External links Forests Forest ecology Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Plant communities of the Eastern United States Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the United States Afromontane Palearctic ecoregions Nearctic ecoregions Atlantic Forest