The Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests occupy the coastal lowlands along the Gulf of Thailand, spanning two separate areas that flank the lower Chao Phraya River basin entirely within Thailand, with a western portion bounded by the Dawna Range and Tenasserim Hills and an eastern portion lying west of the Cardamom Mountains. Sitting at the nexus of freshwater swamp forests, dry forests, and rainforests, the ecoregion is not homogeneous but a mosaic of vegetation types with affinities to its neighboring forests, and limestone karst formations rise from the plains around Ratchaburi and Phetchaburi. The climate is tropical and strongly monsoonal, with annual rainfall of roughly 1,000 to 1,300 millimeters and about 80 percent of it falling during the May-to-October southwest monsoon. Once home to Asian elephants, tigers, banteng, and Siamese crocodiles, much of the forest has been cleared, and only about 14 percent of the ecoregion lies within protected areas, where the Siamese fireback serves as a flagship species. For gardeners, the native and long-cultivated flora here includes familiar trees such as teak (Tectona grandis), oak (Quercus acutissima), mango (Mangifera indica), durian (Durio zibethinus), mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), and jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus).
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 12.9°N, 101.1°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.4°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
7,881 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
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: