The Borneo lowland rain forests blanket most of Borneo below about 1,000 meters elevation, spanning Indonesian Kalimantan, the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and Brunei. These are classic dipterocarp forests: towering members of the family Dipterocarpaceae form the emergent canopy, with characteristic genera including Shorea, Dipterocarpus, Dryobalanops, Hopea, and Vatica. The climate is stable, wet, and tropical, with rainfall spread through the year and high humidity, and little seasonal temperature variation. Biodiversity here ranks among the richest on Earth, with the island holding the world's greatest dipterocarp diversity (over 260 species, more than 150 of them endemic to Borneo) alongside hundreds of bird species and flagship mammals such as the Bornean orangutan and Sunda clouded leopard. For gardeners, the region is the native home of horticulturally familiar plants, including a wealth of orchids and the fruit-bearing genus Artocarpus (breadfruit and jackfruit).
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 0.2°N, 110.9°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: +2.9°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
Indomalayan
Approximate area
165,170 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: