The Cauca Valley montane forests cloak the slopes of the Cauca Valley in western Colombia, running south to north between the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Occidental of the Andes. These tropical moist broadleaf forests shift in character with elevation: lower slopes are dominated by legumes and figs (Fabaceae and Moraceae), the mid-montane band by laurels, melastomes, and Rubiaceae, and the highest reaches by heaths and asters (Ericaceae and Asteraceae), with notable woody genera including Alnus, Quercus, Talauma, and Juglans. The climate is humid and equatorial but markedly uneven across the ranges, with dry western foothills giving way to far wetter montane slopes in the central range. Despite harboring more than 500 bird species along with abundant frogs, mammals, and butterflies, the ecoregion is severely fragmented and largely deforested below about 2,000 meters, and its flagship Cauca guan is endangered. For gardeners, its signature native is the wax palm Ceroxylon quindiuense, Colombia's national tree and among the tallest palms in the world.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 4.9°N, 76.0°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.2°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
Neotropic
Approximate area
12,378 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
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 52
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
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: