The Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests cover a scattered archipelago in southeastern Indonesia, spanning the Tanimbar Islands, the Kai Islands, and the Barat Daya Islands (except Wetar) within Wallacea, the transition zone lying between the Asian and Australian faunal realms. Its forests form a mosaic of evergreen and semi-evergreen rain forest, moist deciduous forest, and dry deciduous forest, with characteristic Australo-Melanesian trees such as Dillenia, Pometia, Manilkara, Inocarpus, Heritiera, Diospyros, Garcinia, and Myristica. The climate is a tropical monsoon regime of two seasons: a wetter, more humid west monsoon running from mid-December to June, followed by a drier east monsoon. Despite the small size of these islands, the ecoregion supports an exceptional 21 endemic bird species alongside 22 mammal species, with endemic birds such as the Tanimbar cockatoo and blue-streaked lory threatened by introduced rats and cats. Among its native plants, Myristica includes the nutmeg tree (Myristica fragrans), long valued for the spices nutmeg and mace.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 7.6°S, 131.4°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.8°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Australasia
Approximate area
2,906 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: